Profile 2013
Citizens of the Year Linda Dalton & Juanita Southers
Lawrence County’s past, present and future
A supplement to The Tribune
Welcome to Ironton Family Care Center, Urgent Care Center and Home Medical Equipment store . . .
your medical home.
We are privileged to serve you and to be your healthcare coordinator for both wellness and illness. As your medical home, we offer you multiple providers and extended hours for all your healthcare needs, from the common cold to home medical equipment to inpatient referrals. Family Care Center
Home Medical Equipment
Our services include: • imaging services – X-ray, CT scans, ultrasounds, MRI, mammograms • EKG testing • on-site laboratory testing • cardiology • referral center for specialists and community based resources
Our Home Medical Equipment store is adjacent to the Family Care Center. Products include walkers, crutches, wheelchairs, orthopedic bracing, nebulizers, diabetic supplies, feeding supplements, oxygen and respiratory products, bath safety equipment, women’s health products and apparel, and much more.
(740) 534-0021
toll free (888) 246-0340 Hours: Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
We treat the illnesses and injuries of adults and children who cannot wait for a traditional physician appointment, but do not require the services of a hospital emergency department. At Urgent Care we treat you quickly – without an appointment.
(740) 532-1100
Hours: Monday through Friday
4 p.m. to midnight Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Open holidays
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(740) 532-9403
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
We are conveniently located at the intersection of highways 52 and 93. 912 Park Ave., Ironton, Ohio
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The first minutes of a heart attack are critical. So is our collaboration with Marshall University cardiologists. Behind the walls of the Cabell Huntington Hospital ER is a team of board-certified emergency physicians and highly trained nurses who work together with Marshall University cardiologists during the first critical minutes of a heart emergency. Whether it’s a heart attack or other cardiac condition, Cabell Huntington is ready to take care of you at any time – and help you get back to your active life. The Cabell Huntington Hospital ER. Right place. Right time. 24/7.
www.cabellhuntington.org
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Index of Advertisers
Profile 2013
A special publication of The Ironton Tribune
February 24, 2013
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following advertisers for jumping on board and making this year’s Profile 2013 such a success. A Touch of Grace ......................................................100 Albert Insurance Inc. ..................................................98 America Lube .............................................................98 AmericasStyrenics LLC...............................................87 Appalachian Uprising .................................................91 Area Agency on Aging District 7, Inc. ........................89 Ashland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau........101 Ashland/Huntington West KOA Campground ...........73 Automated Mailing ....................................................81 Bailey Granite and Monuments .................................81 Bartram’s ....................................................................97 Basedow Family Clinic ...............................................24 BC Tool and Party Rentals ..........................................37 Big Branch Church ......................................................17 Brenda’s Photography ................................................89 Briggs Lawrence County Public Library......................32 Buckeye REC...............................................................83 C&A Tree Service, Inc. .............................................100 Cabell Huntington Hospital ......................................103 Calvary Baptist Church ...............................................17 Carey Chiropractic ......................................................81 Central Christian Church ............................................16 Charlie’s Tire Sales, Inc. .............................................74 Chesapeake Union Exempted Village School District .........................................................55 Christ Episcopal Church .............................................16 Church of the King......................................................17 Citizens Deposit Bank ................................................15 City Mission Church ...................................................16 Clear-View Sales ......................................................101 Bob Clyse Chevrolet-Buick-GMC .................................3 CNS Guns and Fishing Supply..................................101 Collins Career Center .................................................15 Community Missionary Baptist Church .....................16 Concrete Poured Walls ..............................................43 The Cowboy Cabin .....................................................90 Cross Community Church ...........................................17 Dawson-Bryant Schools .............................................46 Desco Federal Credit Union .......................................68 Dickess Auto Repair ...................................................24 The Dow Chemical Company .....................................87 Downtown Used Auto Sales ....................................100 Eagle Awning ...........................................................101 Eastham and Associates ............................................98 Fairchild’s Auto Sales .................................................99 Fairland Local School District ....................................69 Fields’ Welding Supply ..............................................98 First Presbyterian Church ...........................................17 First United Methodist Church ...................................17 Forth’s Foodfair ...........................................................49 The Framing Bird ........................................................99
Freeman Heating and Cooling....................................45 Garage Doors Plus, Inc. ..............................................99 Gateway Baptist Church ............................................16 General Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. ...............97 Giovanni’s Pizza ..........................................................85 Don Gleim Auctions and Real Estate, LLC .................98 Gold Street Muffler ...............................................37,98 Gordy’s Boot and Shoe Care ......................................99 Grandview Home Improvement Outlet ......................85 Greasy Ridge Church of Christ ...................................17 Greg’s Gunwerks ......................................................100 Guy’s Floor Covering ...................................................97 K. Heaberlin Painting ...............................................100 Heaberlin Heating and Air Conditioning ......................9 Hecla Water Association ...........................................13 Heffner Sand and Gravel............................................99 Dr. Kurt Hofmann........................................................73 Holzer Health System.................................................75 Hometown Hardware ...............................................100 Hospice of Huntington ...............................................97 Jim Howard and Son Body Shop and Towing............98 Huntington Symphony Orchestra ...............................49 Ironton First Nazarene Church ...................................16 Ironton Vision Center .................................................67 Johnny on the Spot, Inc./Storage on the Spot, Inc....93 Johnson’s Glass .......................................................101 Kenova Appliance ....................................................100 Kinder’s Insurance Agency, LTD .................................81 King’s Daughters Medical Center ............................104 Chris Laber/Voice and Piano Lessons ........................99 Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce .................50 Lawrence County Early Childhood Academy ........13,68 Lawrence County Museum ........................................73 Leatherwood Missionary Baptist Church ..................17 Leo’s Carry Out ...........................................................93 Lindsey Wilson College..............................................10 Lou’s Style Shop .........................................................98 M&M Realty.............................................................100 Mamre Baptist Church ...............................................16 Marathon Catlettsburg Refinery, LLC .........................21 McDonald’s ................................................................63 Members Choice Credit Union ...................................49 Murdock Realty ........................................................101 Music Box Express ...................................................101 New Valley Missionary Baptist Church .....................17 The Office Peddler ....................................................101 Ohio University Southern ...........................................71 O’Keefe-Baker Funeral Home.....................................73 Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital ..................51,52,53,54 Park Avenue Apts./Storms Creek Apts./ 10th Street apts./Riverview Apts. ..........................11
Parnell Painting and Home Maintenance ..................99 The Party Barn ............................................................99 Patrick Insurance Agency ...........................................99 Pickett Concrete .........................................................43 Powerwash Car Wash................................................33 The Printing Express, Inc. ...........................................62 Quality Care Nursing Services/ Ultimate Health Care ..............................................68 River Cities Bone and Joint Centre/ Dr. Joseph R. Leith ..................................................15 River Cities Motors, Inc..............................................98 E.L. Robinson Engineering..........................................30 Rock Hill Local Schools ..............................................39 RW Rentals and Supply .............................................83 St. Mary’s Medical Center ...........................................2 St. Mary’s/CAO Family Medical Centers .....................4 St. Paul Lutheran Church............................................16 Sam’s Club ..................................................................25 Sanctuary of the Ohio Valley .....................................98 Sand and Gravel .......................................................100 Second Street Auto ....................................................33 Servpro of Southern Scioto and Lawrence Counties .98 Slack and Wallace Funeral Home ..............................45 Small Wonders Learning Center ................................99 Solid Rock Construction ...........................................101 Solida Baptist Church.................................................17 South Point Church of Christ ......................................16 South Point Local Schools..........................................36 South Point United Methodist Church .......................16 Southern Ohio Medical Center .............................64,65 Spectrum Outreach Services LTD...............................60 Staley’s Pharmacy .................................................77,98 Sugar Creek Missionary Baptist Church ....................17 Super Wash New Express Laundry..............................9 Symmes Valley Schools .............................................47 J. Taylor Auto Collection ............................................29 Taylor Iron and Metal .................................................29 Tea Party Treats and Sweets .....................................90 Tim’s Handyman Service ..........................................100 Tri-State Baptist Temple ............................................17 Tri-State HVAC, LLC....................................................99 Village Floor Covering ................................................89 Walmart Super Center ...............................................25 Wayne National Forest/Ironton Ranger District ........59 Whitlock Processing.................................................101 Whitt’s Tire Town .....................................................100 Woodland Chapel Freewill Baptist Church ................16 Workforce Development Resource Center ................79 Worth-A-Stop ...........................................................100 Zoar Baptist Church....................................................16
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HERE’S MY CARD
CNS Guns and Fishing Supply 318 S. Second St. Ironton, Ohio
WHITLOCK PROCESSING
Fiberglass, Plastic, Rubber and Rust Repair Kits Primers • Body Fillers • 3M Products • Thinners Clips and Fasteners • Sherwin Williams dimension paint
Custom processing for your farm raised meats
740-532-5040 Buy, Trade, Sell and Lay-A-Way Stocking Dealer of Kimber and Benelli Live Bait and Tackle Tim Kincaid - Owner
• Custom cut to your order • Vacuum packaging at no extra cost • Cured and smoked meats at no extra cost • Only premium spices used in our sausage • Link and polish sausages available
3171 Allcorn Rd. • Greenup, Ky.
(304) 522-1968
302 Fourth Ave. • Huntington, W.Va.
606-473-0363 • 606-473-5926
Open: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-noon
The OFFICE
Demolition
PEDDLER
Trucking
Wheelersburg, Ohio 45694 FAST, FREE DELIVERY Office Supplies, Furniture, Business Cards
(740) 574-6333 Toll Free 1-800-574-9880
Fax: (740) 574-8791
Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Excavation Authorized Dealer New and Used Instruments Blueridge Guitars • Alvarez Guitars
SOLID ROCK CONSTRUCTION
2160 Winchester Ave. • Ashland, Ky. (606) 329-0354
1350 Galena Pike West Portsmouth, Ohio 45663
Mon.-Fri. 9-6; Sat. 9-5; Sun. Closed Randy Ackerson
Site Development Asbestos Abatement Office: 740-858-3111 Fax: 740-858-1972
Eagle Awning
Free estimates - Fabric and Aluminum
Auto, Commercial, Residential Plate Glass, Table Tops, Custom Mirrors
L. Douglas Hines - Owner
Mobile Service Available
Dave Johnson Office: 740-532-0611 Cell: 740-547-4884 or 740-547-4550 Fax: 740-533-0499 Insurance Claims 230 Twp. Rd. 294 Welcome Pedro, Ohio 45659
Robin R. Murdock Realtor, Ohio
Murdock Realty 416 S. Fourth St. Ironton, Ohio 45638 740.534.1996 office 740.534-7126 cell nascarbristol@yahoo.com
740-357-0215 (C) dhines1949@yahoo.com 1133 Hogan Street Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
606.329.1007 800.377.6249 Cell 606.329.923.0670 Fax 606.329.1056 sue.dowdy@visitashlandky.com
1509 Winchester Ave. • Ashland, Ky. Visit Our Website For Current Schedules www.visitashlandky.com
740-353-7390 (B) 740-353-9186 (F)
Ironton, Chesapeake, Proctorville, Focus, Community, Opinion, Local, Nation, World, Sports, Advertising, Records, Comics, Classifieds, Announcements, Lifestyle, Arts & Culture, Tri-State Scene, Out on the Town, On Display, In Print, Living, Healthy Life, The Pulse, Life 101, On the Road, Difference Makers, Shopping, Tri-State Treasures, Fashionistas, In the Biz, Features, Homes, Showcase, DIY, Food, On the Stove, In the Kitchen, From the Cookbook, Off the Air, Face in the Crowd, Questions & Answers, Top Five List, History Lesson, Then & Now, The Last Word, Ironton, Chesapeake, magazine Proctorville, Focus, Community, Opinion, Local, Nation, World, Sports, Advertising, Records, Comics, Classifieds, Announcements, Lifestyle, Arts & Culture, Tri-State Scene, Out on the Town, On Display, In Print, Living, Healthy Life, The Pulse, Life 101, On the Road, Difference Makers, Shopping, Tri-State Treasures, Fashionistas, In the Biz, Features, Homes, Showcase, DIY, Food, On the Stove, In the Kitchen, From the Cookbook, Off the Air, Face in the Crowd, Questions & Answers, Top Five List, History Lesson, Then & Now, The Last Word, Ironton, Chesapeake, Proctorville, Focus, Community, Opinion, Classifi Local, Nation, World, Sports, Advertising,Executive Records, Comics, Classifieds, Announcements, ed Account Lifestyle, Arts & Culture, Tri-State Scene, Out on the Town, On Display, In Print, Living, Healthy Life, The Pulse, Life 740.532.1445 fax: 740.532.1506 101, On the Road, Difference Makers, Shopping, ext. Tri-State31 Treasures, Fashionistas, In the Biz, Features, Homes, Showcase, DIY, Food, On the email: Stove, In the shirley.watson@irontontribune.com Kitchen, From the Cookbook, Off the Air, Face in the Crowd, Questions & Answers, Top Five List, History Lesson, Then & Now, The Last Word, Ironton, Chesapeake, Proctorville, Focus, Community, Opinion, Local, Nation, World, Sports, Advertising, Records, Comics, Classifieds, Announcements, Lifestyle, Arts & Culture, TriState Scene, Out on the Town, On Display, In Print, Living, Healthy Life, The Pulse, Life 101, On the Road, Difference Makers, Shopping, Tri-State Treasures, Fashionistas, In the Biz, Features, Homes, Showcase, DIY, Food, On the Stove, Classifi ed Account Executive In the Kitchen, From the Cookbook, Off the Air, Face in the Crowd, Questions & Answers, Top Five List, History 740.532.1445 ext. 15 fax: 740.532.1506 Lesson, Then & Now, The Last Word, Ironton, Chesapeake, Proctorville, Focus, Community, Opinion, Local, Nation, email: bonita.creger@irontontribune.com World, Sports, Advertising, Records, Comics, Classifieds, Announcements, Lifestyle, Arts & Culture, Tri-State Scene,
Shirley Watson Bonita Creger
OutP.O. on the Display, In Print, Living, HealthyOhio Life, 45638 The Pulse, BoxTown, 647 •On 2903 S. Fifth Street • Ironton,
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Profile 2013
HERE’S MY CARD C&A Tree Service, Inc. 740-894-1085
WORLD WIDE WIRE SERVICE
Kenova Appliance Buy • Sell Parts • Repair 1901 Oak St. • Kenova, W.Va.
304-908-1213 Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
No tree is too dangerous. Tree trimming, removals, and lot clearing. Lic. & Ins.
Convenience • Carryout • Gas
30 yrs. exp. Free Est. CHEAPER RATES!
worth-a-stop@att.net
NEED YOUR OIL CHANGED?
24.99
$
Valvoline Oil up to 5 qts. Some filters - 47¢
Tires • Brakes • Alignments Most ALL Mechanical Work
WHITT’S TIRE TOWN 1901 Argillite Road • Flatwoods, Ky.
606-836-2807 • 606-836-1824
740-451-1116 SAND AND GRAVEL
Limestone, Washed Gravel, Fill Sand, Top Soil, Mason Sand, Fill Dirt, Pickup or Delivery Bulk Rate Available on New 52 Chesapeake, OH 740-867-4244
2441 S. Third St. • Ironton, Ohio (740) 532-3332 Ed and Miriam Whitworth
TIM’S HANDYMAN SERVICE
Repair Water Lines Reasonable Rates. Licensed and insured. No job too small! 740-479-7213
DOWNTOWN USED AUTO SALES 304-529-AUTO
Hometown Hardware
505 State St. Proctorville, Ohio
WORTH-A-
2614 Louisa St. • Catlettsburg, Ky.
(606) 739-4866
Gregory McCain, Owner Gregory@gregsgunwerks.com
Buy Here Pay Here All Payments $200/Month 1307 Third Ave. • Huntington, W.Va. www.downtownusedautosales.com
ATTENTION RENTAL OWNERS: Tired of tenants that surprise you even after a background check? We are now offering property management and a landlord support forum. If we all work together we can eliminate problems! Call today for details. M&M Realty 740-532-1035
Free Estimates Licensed Insured
Interior and Exterior Painting Pressure Washing 740-533-1968
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HERE’S MY CARD
The Framing Bird
Custom Picture Framing 1210 Bellefonte Road Flatwoods, Ky. 41139 606-833-1766 • Fax: 606-833-1766 email: adkins5071@roadrunner.com Owners: John R. and Gayle Adkins
Parnell Painting and Home Maintenance “No job is too small” • Painting • Electrical • Carpentry • Plumbing • Drywall • Power Washing Call Mike at 740-646-2304
Patrick Insurance Agency 301 S. Third St. Ironton
532-4793 • Auto • Home • Boat • Business • Life • Health
TRI-STATE HVAC, LLC HEATING & COOLING
SERVICE • REPAIR • INSTALLATION Free Estimates Emergency Services Available
740-237-3049 740-858-8798
www.tristate-hvac.com
• State Certified Digital Scales • Pick up or delivery • Bulk rates available • Materials carried in stock are state approved
• Limestone • Washed Gravel • Fill Sand • Topsoil • Mason Sand • Fill Dirt
21 Twp Rd 287 N., Chesapeake Ohio • 740-451-1800
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION OPERATORS & CONTROLS
GARAGE DOORS PLUS, Inc.
Book your next party here!
804 Solida Rd., South Point, Ohio 45680 www.garagedoorplusinc.com
OFFICE: 740-894-4060 KENTUCKY: 606-475-3380
DISTRIBUTOR OF
Music
Voice and Piano Lessons
Call Chris Laber today! Credentials include:
• Doctor of Musical Arts American Conservatory of Music • Winner of WV district of the Metropolitan Opera • Church Musician
532-4172
small wonders
LEARNING CENTER Preschool, Infant Care, Day Care, Summer Camp Program, Hot Meals, Large Gym and Play Area For more information: Call Nancy Robinson, Director 606-836-3415 Owners: Scott and Joy Conley We now are accepting major credit cards.
FAIRCHILD’S AUTO SALES “Buy Here - Pay Here” Low Monthly Payments Greenup, Kentucky
606-473-2030
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OF SOUTHERN SCIOTO AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES PROFESSIONAL CLEANING AND RESTORATION
Hometown Owned Since 1945!
STALEY’S PHARMACIES, INC.
621 S. Third St. • Ironton, Ohio
• Pressure Washing • Mold Remediation • General Construction Services
#1 - 217 S. Third St. • Ironton • 532-7943
CALL US TODAY!
Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
#2 - 2024 S. Ninth St. • Ironton • 532-2546
Fast, Friendly Service
• THE SERVICE PROFESSIONALS • Residential and Commercial
24 Hour Emergency Service • Free Estimates Insurance Specialist in Disaster Restoration
• Emergency Water Removal • Fire Damage • Smoke Damage • Odor Removal • Ceiling and Wall Cleaning • Fire Retardants • Soil Protectants • Air Duct Cleaning P.O. Box 78 Ironton, Ohio 45638
Wed. • Thurs. • Fri 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Office: (740) 534-9210 Fax: (740) 534-9267 Lou Pyles Owner
Lous‘ STYLE SHOP
533-2977 2526 S. Fifth St. Ironton, Ohio 45638
Ronald L. Eastham, PS President
3992 State Route 7 Chesapeake, Ohio 45619
Voice (740) 867-8369 (800) 424-5258 Cell (304) 633-4025 Fax (740) 867-8146
Doing business since 1969
2932 South 5th St. Ironton, OH 45638 Phone: (740) 532-6188 Fax: (740) 532-4824
• Color Matching • Insurance Work Specialists • Painting • Towing
Where Quality Is Affordable
RIVER CITIES MOTORS, INC. 1116 Greenup Ave. Ashland, Ky.
(606) 324-3353
www.rivercitiesmotors.com
FIELDS’ WELDING SUPPLY Welding and Safety Supplies Sales • Rental • Repairs 1882 St. Rt. 243 • Ironton
740-533-3502
E-mail: reastham@eastham-assoc.com http://www.eastham-assoc.com
Debby Moore Director of Admissions
dmoore@omnilife.org www.sanctuaryseniorliving.com
532-4653
1812 St. Rt. 93 • Ironton, Ohio
(740) 533-1396
ALBERT INSURANCE INC. “DON’T STEW CALL LEW”
630 GALLIA PIKE IRONTON, OHIO 45638-8082 Phone: (740) 532-7415 Fax: (740) 532-6245 Email: albert.insurance@yahoo.com
PATRICIA L. MOWERY INSURANCE AGENT
Property and Casualty Insurance Personal and Business
IS GOD YOUR LIFE PARTNER? CHRIST HIS SON YOUR SAVIOUR? FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE BE ETERNALLY SURE. WHEN YOU SEE ME DON’T THINK ABOUT INSURANCE BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT INSURANCE SEE ME.
David Fields
D G
DON GLEIM AUCTIONS AND REAL ESTATE LLC Complete Auction Service to Lawrence and Scioto County
Estates, Real Estate, Farms, Household, Personal Don Gleim Jr, Auctioneer/Broker Donald Gleim III, Auctioneer/Realtor Licensed Bonded State of Ohio Serving Ohio and Kentucky
740-574-2700
Toll Free 1-866-390-2437 (BIDS)
America Lube 2945 S. Third St. • Ironton, Ohio
(740) 532-3312 • Oil Changes • Wiper Blades • Air Filters • Transmission Flushes Owner: Matt Burcham
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Jack and Will Patterson, Owners
Residential & Commercial Family Owned & Operated Service all makes & Models FREE In-Home Estimates Financing Available 24-hour Emergency Repair Serving the Tri-State area since 1968!
Rebates Up To $800 Available Through Utiltiy Companies Call For Complete Details
1401 Argillite Road, Flatwoods KY
606-836-8143 • 740-533-1776 800-532-3511 • 304-522-6871 WV Lic #WV010900 KY Lic #M01155 OH Lic #24852
Thank you to all of our customers and employees for your loyalty and dedication!
Bartram’s
Hospice of Huntington serves patients in Cabell, Lincoln, Mason and Wayne counties in West Virginia and southern Ohio. Ask about our specialized programs for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). We’re helping patients to Breathe Easy.
www.hospiceofhuntington.org 1.800.788.5480
MAIN OFFICE 1101 Sixth Avenue | Huntington, WV 25701 | 304.529.4217 OHIO 1408 Campbell Drive | Ste. C200 | Ironton, OH 45638 | 740.237.1006
STRETCH Your Return Sale!
Bret may not be able to do your taxes for you, but he can show you how to invest your return on a new, hardwood, carpet or ceramic tile floor at a great price! Call us today for a free estimate!
Mike Huber, Store Manager | Wanda Johnson, Deli Manager Tim Abshire, Meat Dept. Manager | Dakota Willis, Buggy Wrangler
Sixth and Pleasant Street • Ironton, Ohio • 532-5216
GUY’S Floor Covering 3501 S. 3rd St., Ironton, Ohio • 533-9111
96 offered by Grace, or finding other writers to talk can go a long way. “There are lots of other writers’ groups out there or classes where you can get some feedback,” Ramey said. Ramey said after writing the book, she had several people she knew read the book before she sent it to a publisher. While the readers were positive about the book, she wasn’t convinced. “It wasn’t until my (12-year-old) daughter read it and said it was good,” Ramey said about when she felt good about the book. “I knew she would be honest with me. I was much more interested in what kids thought.” Ramey said publishing a book is more difficult than writing it. “There are so many ways to publish,” Ramey said. “You need to do some research behind how publishing works.” Ramey said she wanted to make the book beneficial as a teacher’s resource. “I wanted it to be for children, something the teachers could use in the classroom,” she said. On the website for “Butternut Moon,” Ramey said she has questions for each chapter for teachers to use in the classroom. “I did it with a teacher mindset,” Ramey said. •
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An author’s story ‘Butternut Moon’ reflects light on family history By Jennifer Chapman | The Tribune
W
hen Lorene Rooper shared childhood stories with her daughter Robin Ramey, the younger woman knew she would someday share her mother’s story with the world. In October, the South Point resident’s publication of “Butternut Moon” did just that. “Butternut Moon” is a chapter book, geared for children ages 8 through 12, and is fiction based on Rooper’s life, growing up in the early 1940s. The story is about a southern West Virginia family that has to move to Virginia when the father takes a job building a defense plant. “They move in with their grandfather in a two-room shanty,” Ramey said. “Grandpa turns out to be not a very nice man and the whole family winds up living in a tent. She makes a couple of unexpected friends along the way that kind of help her through the relocation and the family’s adjustment to their new situation.” Ramey, now 37, had always loved children’s literature, had wanted to write a book and had always wanted to share her mother’s story. After taking a life-writing class with Dr. John Patrick Grace, Ramey knew it was time to write the story. It took a year and a half, writing off and on, while working in the Cabell County School district as an instructional coach. Now the book is available at Empire Books & News in Huntington, W.Va., as well as online at Amazon.com and www.butternutmoon.com. Ramey has some advice for people seriously interested in writing their own book.
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When she was 23 years old, she married her first husband, Lindsey Kelley, Senator to the eighth district of Ohio, and ironmaster of Centre Furnace. Rader said Nannie loved roses, so much so that she had 300 tuberoses delivered to decorate the church. She wore a white silk and satin dress with diamond embellishments. From then on, it was nothing short of the most luxurious for Nannie Kelley. “She had wonderful parties,” Rader said. “Some of her parties were catered from Cincinnati, the food brought down on a train. Everything was splendid. I’m sure hers were the best.” Nannie and Lindsey Kelley made their first home in Ironton on the corner of Fourth and Olive streets (now Park Avenue). The couple later moved to a home on South Sixth Street. They had one son, named Lindsey Jr. Nannie Kelley was known as a stern, abrupt woman who demanded and was willing to pay top dollar for excellent service from salespeople, servants, and later on, her employees. “I assume she was stubborn, too,” Rader said. “She wanted her own way. And she loved children but they were very often afraid of her. She was tall and she was abrupt in her manner.” She was also described as loving, devoted and generous to her family and friends. In the late 1890s, Nannie Kelley further proved to me more than just a housewife. The need for iron was in a state of decline and her husband and father-in-law’s furnace closed down. “She just thought surely things would turn around and that there would be a need for iron again,” Rader said. “She wanted that so badly and then it came about. Of course it came about with the war, and that was sad, but still I think she maybe proved a point to her husband, that she could do it.” Rader said she has never heard of another female ironmaster.
“
She just thought surely things would turn around and that there would be a need for iron again. She wanted that so badly and then it came about. Of course it came about with the war, and that was sad, but still I think she maybe proved a point to her husband, that she could do it.
”
— Kay Rader, Lawrence County Historical Society member Nannie Kelley refurbished the furnace and hired workers. She sometimes even wore a calico dress and worked alongside her employees if needed. “They said she was very good to her employees,” Rader said. “When they were talking about unionizing she said she didn’t need a union, because she was good to her employees. It wouldn’t benefit them.” The Spanish American War broke out in 1898 and iron was desperately needed. Nannie Kelley was one of the first ironmasters to be able to ship iron to the Great Lakes region for building ships, cannons and other military equipment. Just a few years later, in 1903, Lindsey Kelley died of pneumonia. Less than a year after that, the couple’s only son died. “I don’t think she had the happiest life because of becoming a widow so young and losing her only son, but she carried on,” Rader said. “So she had a very strong will and she didn’t let the public tell her how to live her life.” By the end of 1904, Nannie Kelley had traveled to London, England, and was presented to the court of King Edward VII. She also took a world tour, the second of three that she would embark on. In all, the adventuresome woman traveled across the Atlantic Ocean 14 times in her life.
Leos‘
In 1906 she sold Centre Furnace to Superior Cement Company and two years later married D. Gregory Wright. The two were said to have met in Paris and their wedding was very fashionable event, held at the First Presbyterian Church in Ironton. Nannie continued to throw lavish parties, including one during the moving of her Sixth Street home. Nannie decided to move the home from the corner of Sixth and Quincy streets to the corner of Sixth and Chestnut streets. She invited friends to attend a party while the house rolled down the street to its new location. She later owned a home on South Fifth and Adams streets, which had murals painted to depict the four seasons and priceless antiques from her world travels. When the stock market crash of 1929 hit, Wright lost most of her wealth. “She didn’t fall to pieces,” Rader said. “She just accepted it. She was 73 years old and didn’t think she would live many more years. She didn’t dream she would live to be 90.” Whenever she needed money, she sold personal belongings to make ends meet. She even had a cupful of unset diamond that she sold at times, Rader said. During her remaining years, Nannie Wright rented several rooms, including one at the Frederick Hotel in Huntington, W.Va., and at the former
Marting Hotel in Ironton where she died on Sept. 12, 1946, at the age of 90. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery in a mausoleum etched with tuberoses. Rader said, although all history is important to preserve, the life of someone as interesting as Nannie Kelley Wright is especially important. The Lawrence County Historical Museum has a room devoted to the woman, featuring many of her personal items from her travels and her home, including her monogrammed gold-rimmed crystal dessert bowls, plates, vanity set and silver flatware. Her walnut and brass filing cabinet and typewriter are also on display as is the dress she wore when presented to the King of England. Over the mantle in the Nannie Kelley Wright Room is a portrait of the woman taken at her home on South Fifth Street sometime during the 1920s. “We have pictures of the interior of her home that are very interesting,” Rader said. “They show that she was artistically inclined. She was also very devoted to her parents. We have pictures of her parents.” As a woman who lives in Ironton and one who knows the life of Nannie Wright well, Rader said she feels a sense of pride knowing everything Wright accomplished as a woman living in a man’s world. “I think she would have fit right in today.” •
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Breaking the mold Nannie Kelley Wright was unique woman for the ages By Michelle Goodman | The Tribune
“A
ge is a quality of the mind.” The first line of a poem by H.S. Fritsch, those words were a favorite philosophy of one of Ironton’s most notable and unique women, Nannie Kelley Wright. Wright kept a copy of the poem in her dictionary, along with others about love, life, death and work. “If you no longer look ahead; if your ambitions are dead, then you are old,” the poem reads. “But if in life you keep the zest; if from life you draw the best, … you are not old.” During a time when the expectations of women were limited to child rearing, housekeeping and socializing, Nannie wasn’t interested in fitting into anyone’s mold, said Lawrence County Historical Society member Kay Rader. Rader has portrayed the role of the woman in the annual ghost walk at Woodland Cemetery for about seven years and has become somewhat of an expert on all things Nannie. “I love it,” Rader said. “I feel like I’m Nannie when I’m doing her. I feel she’s such an interesting character and we have so many things at the museum. She’s one of Ironton’s most favorite people.” When Rader gets into costume for the ghost walk, she dresses how Nannie would have later in her life, with a mink stole, long black dress, hat and, of course, sparkling diamonds. Rader said Nannie was “a lady ahead of her time,” who lived a life full of adventure and extravagance. That extravagance was made clear in the production that was her wedding. Nannie was born in 1856 in Catlettsburg, Ky., a daughter of Capt. Washington and Catherine Honshell, one of four children born to the well-to-do couple.
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trivia time: chesapeake Chesapeake: • In 1875, a one lane steel bridge was built over Symmes Creek to replace a wooden one. A new steel truss was built in 1933. • Incorporated into a village in 1907. The first mayor was Tom Smith. • First post office was established in 1871 near the Symmes Creek Bridge. John Willis was the first postmaster. • Dr. Tom Ramsey was Chesapeake’s first physician. • City water was piped into Chesapeake from Huntington in 1928. • Electricity added in 1921. submitted
Bob and Betty Workman in the 1940s.
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more real she became,” Frank said. “I think she was a wonderful person. Everyone I talked to had such wonderful things to say about her, about how she treated people. “I think she was the kind of person who could help people who had problems. She always had a smile on her face, always laughing. No matter what was going on in her life, she was always upbeat.” She became Betty Cazad when she remarried in July 1971. Much like the early years of Betty’s life, the latter stages were filled with challenges and heartbreak. Even though she had quit, years of smoking eventually caught up with Betty. Betty Workman Cazad died of lung cancer in December 1992 in Huntington. She is laid to rest in Ridgelawn Cemetery on Route 60. The journey continues Although he now feels as if he knows a mother he never got to meet and enjoys a relationship with his long-lost siblings, Frank Christlieb’s research continues. Writing that book remains on the horizon. The format is still to be determined, but one thing is certain: He will collaborate with Crys on it. “Everyone who has been adopted or put a child up has a story,” Frank said. New information comes slow, but each piece illuminates new facets of his birth parents, he said. Just in the past few weeks, he found some people who worked with Bob Workman at a business in Huntington in the 1950s. The Ironton aspect of his research remains the most challenging. He has recently spoken to a few Ironton oldtimers, in addition to recently sending emails to some 1950s IHS grads to see if they might have seen Betty at the Sand Bar or elsewhere. So far, no luck. “I think it is pretty much a situation where most of the people who would’ve crossed paths with Betty, in Ironton during the five or six months in 1960 she lived there with my older
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submitted
A photo of Betty Workman with two of her children, Crys and Teresa, taken in 1988.
birth siblings, have either passed away or moved away.” As the book continues to take shape, Frank has taken to other creative avenues to tell the story and further connect with his mother. “My heart aches over the burden you carried all those years after you lost me. I know you couldn’t have supported a fourth child. But I believe with all my being that you were also determined to protect me from my father. I’m grateful for the steps you took to keep all of your children safe,”
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Frank wrote in a column published in The Dallas Morning News. “It hurts me to know of your suffering and how unfair much of your life was. But it is heartening to learn you never stopped being the Betty everyone adored. Although, sadly, I didn’t find you in time, I did — in the character you instilled in my siblings.” So Frank will keep working on his research, painstakingly recreating the details of the life of a woman who he now knows and also knows he will meet, one day. •
Did you know Betty? Frank Christlieb continues the search for people who knew his mother, Betty Workman, during her time in Ironton in 1960 or those who visited The Sand Bar in that era. Anyone with information can contact him at frank.christlieb@yahoo. com or (817) 995-1914.
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submitted
An employee photo from Lawrence Drugstore in downtown Huntington taken in 1964 shows Betty Workman (in the middle wearing white gloves and black heels, the slightly shorter one on the right) with her colleagues. Her son, Frank Christlieb believes this is likely very close to what Betty would have looked like when she was living in Ironton in 1960. She was a natural brunette but began coloring her hair lighter around this time.
been good, the bad times were punctuated with emotional and physical abuse, Frank said. Finally, Betty had had enough. The divorce was official in April 1959. But something must have happened. Whether it was an attempt at reconciliation or just one night of an attempt to rekindle what they once had, Frank was conceived in 1960. “My siblings and I theorize that,
at some point, Betty found out she was pregnant, and, fearing that Bob might do something drastic if he found out about the pregnancy, we strongly believe she was trying to protect me,” Frank wrote in an email. “And that’s why she packed up the kids and moved out of Huntington for awhile.” That was how Betty Workman ended up in Ironton in the summer and fall of 1960, working at the Marting/
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MacArthur Hotel waiting tables and singing at the hotel’s Sand Bar with a small dance band called the Harry Ware Trio. For Frank, hearing recordings of his mother — as well as singing along and dancing to them — has brought them closer together and conjured images of “might have beens” and of opportunities missed. “She could have made it big at some
point if she had the chance,” he said. But during these few months of 1960 — about June to November — she was pregnant with him. The family lived in an apartment above the old Anderson’s Super Market at 420 S. Third St. Crys remembers quite a bit about their brief time in Ironton and said he once went to the hotel and watched Betty rehearse with the band. “The more I learned about her the
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submitted
Frank Christlieb, pictured far left, met his birth siblings for the very first time in July 2005 when Frank and his family drove to Colorado to meet Crys, far right, and Teresa, center. His other brother, Robin, is not pictured.
A new family It turns out Betty Workman and her husband, Bob, married in Ironton and had three children: Crys, Robin and Teresa. The very next day, after learning of them, Frank made what he thought would be an awkward phone call to Crys in Colorado. The rapport was instant. “It was incredible,” Frank said. “It felt like there was a connection right away.” Crys felt the same way. The emotions all hit at once, memories of his time in Ironton came rushing back to him. “I was really happy. My next thought was, ‘My God, I have a brother. I have got to see him,’” Crys said. “I was just overwhelmed. I was nervous. I was excited. I wanted to meet him. I wanted to hug him.” DNA tests brought more revelations: They all shared the same father, too. Betty had divorced her alcoholic
husband in 1959 but then conceived a fourth child with him about a year after the divorce, at the age of 39. She told her three children that she had lost the baby and they lived more than 40 years without knowing the truth. Crys will turn 69 on Feb. 28 — coincidentally sharing a birthday with Frank who will turn 52. Robin Workman passed away four years ago at the age of 61. Teresa Workman is 58. Crys especially remembers their time in Ironton. He was a junior in high school. When Betty was about six months pregnant the family moved back to Huntington, but Crys stayed behind and lived with the Lawless family for the next few months so he could continue to play for the IHS varsity basketball team. “I loved the town. I helped decorate the town that fall for Christmas,” he said. “I loved the small-town atmosphere and that everyone knew
everybody.” Everything his new siblings told him was enlightening, but Frank later provided them something they didn’t know about the father no one had seen in decades. Frank learned that Bob Workman moved to Tampa sometime in 1960 where a tragic life turned worse. He became homeless and drowned in July 1962 in the Hillsborough River after an altercation with another homeless man. Although the research before and after meeting his siblings has added depth and details, nothing could compare to the stories they told and the fact they think Betty would have appreciated the reunion. “The kind of person she was, she would have been very happy,” Crys said. “Frank is like her. He would do anything for anybody.” Finally, after more than four decades, Frank Christlieb began to know his mother.
Who was Betty? Betty Louise Campbell was born in July 1921 in Huntington. Much of her early years have been lost to time, but she was considered a raven-haired beauty with a singing voice that stood out. That love for music likely drew the teenager to Bob Workman, a Navy man who was five years her senior but was known to be a guitar player. The couple married in Ironton in 1939 and they soon began raising a family in Huntington. It was early 1944 when Crys arrived. Robin came three years later. The fledgling family was doing OK, with Bob and Betty playing music locally. They lived in Logan for a few years. But Bob’s battles with alcohol were never far from the surface, Frank said, and the home deteriorated. Just before Christmas in 1954, the couple welcomed their third child, Teresa. Things continued to get worse. Although the good times may have
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This explained a lot. Now he knew why the resemblance wasn’t there. It helped him understand his rocky family life and the alienation he sometimes felt. The perspective change had begun. “I had a difficult childhood,” he said. “My adoptive family life was difficult, to put it mildly.” He wanted answers, but life took over. Frank graduated from A&M, began a successful newspaper career, married and had two children of his own. It took another 25 years and some short-term turmoil within his adoptive family before he committed to finding his biological parents, specifically his mother. The search begins In 2005, as he was approaching 44, Frank Christlieb knew he had to get serious, that his life wouldn’t be complete if he didn’t do this. He immersed himself in the search for his mother. The research was somewhat of a cathartic journey, said Frank. He has written letters to the editor, made hundreds of phone calls, spent years on the Internet. Someday it will be a book. It was a frustrating and agonizing process. “I had waited so long to search. I let more time go by,” he said. “The passage of time was making it very difficult.” Finally, a breakthrough came with a phone call. A Huntington woman had solved the mystery. Frank Christlieb’s mother was a woman name Betty Workman. But, heartbreakingly, she died 13 years earlier in Huntington. But the caller had another revelation Frank had never really prepared himself for: Betty had three other children, all alive and well.
submitted
Clockwise, from top. Betty Workman in a photograph taken around 1939 or 1940; a photo of the Huntington woman from the 1970s; and another of Betty taken around 1955.
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It has now been four and one half years since Americas Styrenics was formed as a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Chevron-Phillips combining the two companies’ polystyrene businesses. Further changes occurred in 2010 when Dow sold it’s share of Americas Styrenics, along with several other businesses, to Bain LLC, a venture capital company. Bain named the new company the “Styron Corp.” Americas Styrenics parent companies are now the Styron Corp and Chevron-Phillips. Americas Styrenics is the largest polystyrene producer in North America with facilities at other U.S. sites located at Marietta,OH, Joliet,IL., Allyns Point CT., Torrance, CA. and St. James, LA. There is also an Americas Styrenics polystyrene plant located in Cartagena, Columbia in South America. Polystyrene is sold as plastic pellets to other manufacturers who in turn use the resin to make appliance housings, video cassettes, CD cases, medical ‘glassware’, plastic cups, plates, and utensils, packaging, and many other uses. The sign at the front gate on County Road 1A bears the logos of both the Dow Chemical Company and Americas Styrenics. The Styrofoam® Plant at the site remains a part of The Dow Chemical Co. While there are now two separate companies on site, both companies work closely together and share many common facilities. Despite all of the changes, we continue to be very proud of the excellent safety and environmental performance of both companies reflecting the dedication and commitment of everyone working here.
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Knowing Betty The story of a son’s quest to find his birth mother
By Michael Caldwell | The Tribune
L
ike many sons, Frank Christlieb possesses an iconic mental picture of his mother as a beautiful, charismatic, intelligent, loving woman. But the formation of that image has been far from typical for the 51-year-old Huntington native with unique Ironton ties. Frank’s idealized visualization of the woman who once captivated audiences at the Sand Bar lounge in Ironton’s Marting/MacArthur Hotel is pieced together from a handful of snapshots, scratchy audio recordings and second-hand — or even third and fourth-hand — stories gathered through hours and hours of research over the past eight years. It has been a long, heartbreaking, eye opening and infinitely rewarding journey for Frank — one that isn’t over yet — that has brought him closer to the woman he never got the chance to meet.
“The more I learn about her, the more I want to meet her,” Frank said, adding that his faith tells him he still will one day. “My wife says everything you learn about her, and the type of person she was, is her gift to you.” This is Frank’s story, but it is very much the story of Betty Workman. Welcome to the world On Feb. 28, 1961, Frank Lindsay Christlieb entered the world at Cabell Huntington Hospital, weighing in at 7 pounds and 1.5 ounces. The son of Clark and Olga Christlieb, his family moved to the Houston area while he was still an infant. It wasn’t the Norman Rockwell image of growing up. Olga battled personal demons with alcoholism, making the formative years difficult for Frank and his brother. Two decades after he was born, while studying journalism at Texas A&M, Frank discovered a worldshaking secret: He was adopted.
(ABOVE) A photo of Betty Workman taken in the late 1950s. (LEFT) Frank Christlieb has been on a more than 8 year search to find his birth parents, a journey that connected him with three siblings he never knew he had. submitted
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the tribune/jessica st. james
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“Ohio puts out a standard of what you have to have on each ambulance,” Buddy Fry, county EMS director, said. “We exceed that standard. They don’t require an ambulance to have an EKG monitor. You can run an EMT service, but the patients are missing out on additional care.” There are 25 different drugs the paramedics for Lawrence County can administer en route, from respiratory to cardiac medications. Attaching the 12 leads from the $27,000 EKG monitor can show the paramedics a true picture of the heart condition of the patient. “It gives a picture of the heart’s rhythm.” Zornes said. “We can start heart treatment from house to hospital.” Another piece of equipment found on these county ambulances is a CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure machine. “That is something everybody doesn’t use, something you would get if you were in the hospital,” Fry said. “Every pre-hospital doesn’t provide this. We do care that is way beyond the standard. It is better treatment, a better outcome for the patient. “It is what they would have to wait to get at the hospital to get started. If you want to give them medications to do a certain thing, you can do it now. “It is faster recovery time, less chance the patient will deteriorate into something worse. If they are having a bad heart rhythm that in 10 minutes will go into cardiac arrest, maybe we will give them a drug for heart rhythm and convert it back to normal.” Working for an EMS isn’t the typical job and it takes a special kind of person to do it, Fry says. “You have to have an aptitude,” Fry said. “You have to be pretty tough mentally. You will see anything. This is not just a job. You don’t walk into a Walmart and stock shelves. You have to have that desire upfront. I know that sounds like a cliché, but you have to have a desire to help people.” •
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the tribune/jessica st. james
Partners Pete Lunsford and David Zornes are seen inside one of the Lawrence County Emergency Medical Services ambulances.
Life Savers
Lawrence County’s paramedics, EMTs ready for any emergency By Benita Heath | The Tribune
P
ete Lunsford sits down on the sectional sofa in the living room at the Ironton EMS station to catch his breath. Across from him the television plays that night’s edition of Jeopardy. Trivia buffs stand eagerly at their podiums, hoping to turn quick responses into cash. But the sound is low, no one at the station is really watching. For Lunsford and his partner, David Zornes, this has been one of those days — almost non-stop runs from the time they started their shift at 9 a.m., 10 hours earlier. As it is at so many emergency medical services, the paramedics and EMTs at the Lawrence County Emergency Medical Services work 24 hours on,
then get 48 hours off. It’s a schedule both men say they have easily adjusted to. That and the high-level energy they have to draw on instantly when the alarm sounds for the next run and the unknowns they must face. “You get used to being on a really bad run, the chaos and the pandemonium,” Zornes said. Then it’s over and they’re back at the station. “It hits you and you feel like the air has been let out of the balloon,” Zornes said. “You adapt to the ups and downs.” Each time the two men jump into one of their ambulances, they take off not knowing what they’ll see or find. Gunshot wounds. A child dying in the backseat of a sideswiped car. A burn victim. An unmanageable drunk. “Some we take more personally,
especially abuse,” Lunsford said. “You can’t come back and eat a peanut butter sandwich.” The Lawrence County EMS started two years ago out of necessity, when its predecessor — the Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services — disbanded. However, both men, as are many of their colleagues, are veterans of the SEOEMS era, giving them almost a decade each of time in the field. Fifteen minutes have gone by when the squawky siren that means there is an emergency call blasts through the headquarters. Zornes hooks up with the 911 dispatcher. It’s a case of afibrillation. The men jump into the ambulance. Lunsford drives. Zornes is in the back. Arriving at their destination, Lunsford hops out of the cab to help Zornes pull
the stretcher out of the back. The patient is calm, but watches the two men intently. Zornes puts monitors on the patient’s wrist and stomach to hook him up to a mobile EKG monitor. That will immediately give the vital information the two men, and the hospital, needs. Zornes clips another monitor on the patient’s thumb. “I want to check your oxygen level,” he says. “Anything you want to tell me? Your pulse rate is good and regular.” Then they’re off to the hospital with Zornes radioing in vitals to the ER. “We’re about five minutes away,” he tells the ER nurse. The ride is quick and uneventful. But, with the county’s new $90,000 ambulances loaded with $35,000 plus in equipment, the two men could have handled almost anything.
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trivia time: eastern Lawrence county Proctorville: • The first telephone service was established in 1913, United Fuel Gas in 1914, and electricity in 1920. • The first school house was built in 1870. • Archaeological reports state the southeastern portion of Proctorville was built on an Indian village site. • Fare on the ferry boat “Carrie Brown” was 5 cents from Proctorville to Huntington, W.Va. South point/burlington: • Settled in 1798 by Revolutionary War veteran William Davidson. • Incorporated as a village in 1888 with about 200 residents. • Jerry Davidson was the first mayor of South Point. • In 1891 the village’s first prohibition law was passed.
• The southernmost point in Ohio. • Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church and Old Lawrence County Jail placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. • Preachers and abolitionists William Davidson and William McKee settled in South Point in 1799. • 1848: plantation owner James Twyman of Virginia signed in his will that his 37 slaves be freed upon his death and given $10,000 to make a fresh start. Those 37 settled in Burlington and are buried in the cemetery known as the Burlington “37” Cemetery. • Sept. 2008, the dedication of the Josiah Riley Log Cabin. • Volunteer fire department organized in 1960 with a 1926 model pumper truck. • South Point’s first school was a log structure built on Solida Creek Road in 1812.
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Chesapeake: • Settled by the Kouns family in 1807 near the mouth of Symmes Creek and originally called Kounston. • Chesapeake was originally three villages: Rockwood, above Symmes Creek; Lawrence City, just below Symmes Creek; below Lawrence City was Flemingsburg. • An area once called Chinatown was established by a Chinese settler known as Urisinsee or John China. He died in 1917 and is buried in Tallow Ridge Cemetery. • First school was built in 1816 and had 20 students. • An early establishment was a distillery called Old Charlie Whiskey, which used apples to make brandy. • In 1870, W.G. Frampton operated a ferry boat. The business changed hands over the years until the ferry was sunk by ice in 1936.
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Not just another doc Nephrologist helping residents keep kidneys healthy
By Betsy Donahue | For The Tribune
L
ots of people are skeptical about why they would need to see another doctor, but Lawrence County residents should get to know nephrologist J. Michael Kasey, D.O. Or, at very least, everyone should learn more about the specialty. Kasey is now serving the area at King’s Daughters Medical Specialties, located at 6276 State Route 7 in Proctorville. Nephrologists specialize in kidney care and treating diseases of the kidneys. They are educated in internal medicine and then undergo more training to specialize in treating chronic kidney disease (CKD), polycystic kidney disease (PKD), acute renal failure, high blood pressure, and are educated on all aspects of kidney transplantation and dialysis. Kasey resides in Ashland, Ky., and received his medical education at Wake Forest University School of Medicine at Winston-Salem, N.C., and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine at Lewisburg, W.Va. Chronic kidney disease should be taken seriously. It is a killer that sneaks up on thousands of people with diabetes or untreated high blood pressure. And the incidence of CKD is increasing in the United States, most rapidly in people ages 65 and older.
“Sometimes we have to talk about things that make us uncomfortable,” Kasey said. Our urine, or pee, is a good example. But if you care about adding quality, and even years to your life, get the conversation started, he said. Start with your primary care physician, Kasey suggests. If you’re not having an annual urinalysis, request one. Request a nephrologist referral or call on your own if there are abnormalities in your urine. “Remember, it’s not the quantity of your urine, but it’s quality that needs to be monitored,” Kasey said. “Don’t put off giving the kidneys specialized attention.” Pay close attention to diabetes and high blood pressure. Many people are not diagnosed with chronic kidney disease until they have lost most of their kidney function,” he said. The kidneys are powerful organs that serve several essential regulatory roles. Most are familiar with the function of removing waste to the urinary bladder, but not that the kidneys are important in the regulation of electrolytes, and the regulation of blood pressure through maintaining salt and water balance. CKD slowly gets worse over time. In the early stages, there may be no symptoms. The loss of function usually takes months or years to occur. It may be so slow that symptoms do not appear until kidney function is at 10-15 percent. Lifelong treatment, however, may control the symptoms of CKD, so
early detection is critical. The final stage of chronic kidney disease is called end-stage renal disease. At this stage, the kidneys are no longer able to remove enough waste and excess fluids from the body. The patient needs dialysis or a kidney transplant. Nephrologists are also called kidney doctors, and often confused with urologists by the general public. There is a difference. Nephrologists focus on how the kidneys work. Urologists are more concerned with anatomical kidney problems and deal with the rest of the urinary tract as well. Nephrologists do not perform surgery. Nephrologists often work with patients with diabetes and high blood pressure, while urologists treat kidney stones, urinary and kidney blockages and cancers. The paths of urologists and nephrologists often cross. “I like to explain it this way,” Dr. Kasey said, “Inside the walls of your house, you have plumbing and electrical wiring. They work together, but sometimes you need one or the other looked at by a plumber (urologist) or an electrician (nephrologist).” You take good care of your teeth, your eyes, even your feet. Don’t neglect the almighty kidneys, Dr. Kasey reminds. Dr. J. Michael Kasey can be reached by calling (606) 329-9335 or (740) 886-9867. •
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Even though it is known as the Carlyle Labold Tile and Brick Company, and was purchased by Labold in 1923, the plant was sold to the Mosaic Tile Company in 1935. Mosaic owned the plant until all operations ceased in 1978. The closing of the plant had a massive impact on the community, taking away needed jobs, Markel said. “My father had retired before the plant closed, but there were still a lot of people working there, quite a few families affected,” Markel said. “Of course, it was a lot easier to find work back then than it is now. There were more factories.” After sitting vacant for years, cleanup efforts began in 2006. Nearly 7,000 tons of contaminat-
submitted
A mule is used to carry clay from the nearby quarry to the Carlyle Tile and Brick Company in this undated photo. The trestle used for transport extended over old Highway 52.
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P.O. Box 128 223 S. Fourth St. Ironton, Ohio
Bailey granite and monuments • Cornerstones • Adding Final Dates • Memorials • Headstones • Footstones • Bronze Markers
ed soil were removed from the 33-acre property before the structures were demolished. Ohio EPA announced the property ready for redevelopment in 2012. Dr. Bill Dingus, director of the Lawrence Economic Development Corp, said at the time that the river frontage site that was once an “eyesore at our front door when people came across the Ashland Bridge” is “extremely valuable” for the county. Markel said she hopes the space becomes occupied again soon and becomes a source of employment for the community once again. She warns however, that it should be something clean, something that does not negatively affect the Ohio River. •
Phone: 740-532-3323 Office 740-377-9165 Home 740-532-7459 Fax
Bernard Kinder bernard@kinderagency.com Kristi McComas kristi@kinderagency.com
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The Carlyle Tile and Brick Company was a staple of Coal Grove industry until its collapse in 1978. The plant has been demolished and the area reclaimed.
A bygone landmark Carlyle Tile was once a thriving business By Shane Arrington | The Tribune
I
n the shadow of the colorful Ben Williamson and Simeon Willis Memorial Bridges that connect Ashland, Ky., and Coal Grove, Ohio, lies an empty field. But decades ago, when only one bridge connected the two states, there stood a brick and tile plant known throughout the country. The Carlyle Labold Tile and Brick Company in Coal Grove evolved from the brickyard constructed along the Ohio River by John Peters in the late 1800s. The change to the more commonly known name came after new ownership and expanded products. Perhaps the most remembered aspect of the plant by the average Lawrence County resident was the trestle over the old Highway 52 on which mules were used to carry clay from the nearby quarry. “They usually did it early in the morning or late in the afternoon,” said Juanita Markel, a Coal Grove resident whose father worked at the plant. “I remember traffic would slow down to watch the animal move across the trestle above the road. We didn’t have the highway back then, just the two lane road. It was funny seeing the animal walking above where people were driving.”
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Carlyle Tile and Brick Company administrators show off some of the plant’s products in this undated photo.
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Trivia time: hanging rock, proctorville hanging rock: • The first settlers were Luke Kelley and his wife Mary Keyser and their seven children, who came from Virginia in 1796. • The first charcoal iron furnace, Union Furnace, built north of the Ohio River was built in Hanging Rock in 1819 by John Means of South Carolina. • By 1875, Hanging Rock had 55 furnaces operating. • Robert Hamilton, a founder of Pine Grove Furnace, built the first railroad in Lawrence County, a distance of three miles from Hanging Rock to Newcastle, and introduced the first locomotive in 1847. • Hanging Rock is the principle village in Hamilton Township, which was organized in 1850. Its first election was also in that year. • Until the Iron Railroad was built, Hanging
Rock was the principle shipping port for the furnaces of the region. • Legend says Daniel Boone escaped from Indians by jumping into the Ohio River with his horse from the Hanging Rock ledge, where the village is said to have gotten its name. The rock cliff was destroyed to make way for U.S. 52 . • In 1846, Hanging Rock had one church, four stores, a rolling mill and a foundry. • Sedgwick Methodist Church was organized in 1885 by Hanging Rock Methodists living near Ironton who grew tired of walking two miles to attend services. Proctorville: • Jesse Baldwin, a Quaker, settled in Lawrence County in the fall of 1797. Other Quakers soon followed, establishing the first Quaker settlement in the
Northwest Territory. This settlement, now called Proctorville, was called Quaker Bottom. • Symmes Creek was named for John Cleave Symmes, one of the first territorial judges of the Northwest Territory. En route to common pleas court in Gallipolis, he was stopped by high water. While waiting for the water to subside, he carved his name on a tree near the mouth of the stream, thus naming Symmes Creek. • Jacob Proctor Jr., owned the general store at Proctor’s Landing in 1834 and in 1837 was named the first postmaster. Later the village was named Proctorville and incorporated in 1878. • After a fire in 1900 destroyed much of the business district, the Proctorville Community Volunteer Fire Department and Ladies Auxiliary were organized.
Workforce Development Resource Center 120 N. 3rd Street, Ironton, Ohio • 740-532-3140
The Resource Center provides services and information, as well as social support to ease the transition.
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Resume writing Interviewing Application preparation Labor market information Work Keys Individualized Assessment Career Exploration
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the tribune/JESSICA ST JAMES
Donald Ready adds an array of vegetables including red, orange and yellow peppers and onions during a cooking class at Huntington’s Kitchen.
The cooking instructor for this series is also a clinical dietician from Cabell. Jarvis was 10 when he started learning his way around the kitchen. “My mom had to work a lot and my dad didn’t know how to cook,” he said. “Not having basic information is one of the biggest reasons people turn to the quick and not as healthy prepared foods,” Jarvis said. “They don’t know how to cook from scratch,” he said. “They’ve not been taught to cook and people are afraid to learn.” That’s what Jarvis and Thompson want to change. Before starting the kitchen, Thompson spent about three weeks in England training with Oliver’s food team, churning out four or five recipes a day and learning how to teach them. “A lot of it is you have to experiment,” she said. “People are intimidated to try herbs and spices. They don’t know what goes hand and hand. It is really easier to buy those already prepared mixes made up from a lot of words you don’t understand.” But the main lesson Thompson got from Oliver’s course is far simpler. “Anyone can cook,” she said. •
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the tribune/JESSICA ST JAMES
Chef Danny Jarvis instructs students on how to make Haitian-style chicken and rice.
Like the hour-long Revolution Solution series on Tuesdays at lunch time. “It is in a one-hour time frame,” she said. “It offers a healthy lunch alternative.” One week students learned how to put together a Mediterranean pizza with a side salad, the kind of dish that can keep lunchtime diners out of the fast food line, but not make them feel deprived. And it is not just the nutritionally curious who show up for classes. Many of the kitchen’s students come there to learn how to cook because it’s doctor’s orders. “More and more people are coming in here saying ‘I just left my doctor’s and this is the diet I have to follow,’” Thompson said. “They are not trained to cook that way. A lot of our focus is now geared to chronic disease. We teach a perfect portion course for diabetics. The importance of protein, starch, vegetables and whole grains. Then there is a gluten-free course and we host a bariatric support cooking class.” Then there is the Cooking Matters series in its third year that happens mid-afternoon once a week for six weeks, part cooking class and part nutritional course. This afternoon one of the students wants to experiment to see what making the muffins with all whole wheat flour will taste like and substitute the five tablespoons of oil in the recipe with yogurt. Her classmates are game, although afterwards they wish they hadn’t made such a gooey pastry. After the cooking comes the sampling. Then as they are enjoying the fruits of their labor, they get a quick course in nutrition from a dietician from Cabell Huntington Hospital.
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the tribune/JESSICA ST JAMES
Bryant Harshbarger, left, and Mary Ruth Stephenson, right, work together as they cook up Haitian-style chicken and rice during a cooking class at the Huntington’s Kitchen.
The food groups
Huntington’s Kitchen continues mission of education on healthy eating By Benita Heath | The Tribune
H
UNTINGTON, W.Va. — Kristin Wheatley painstakingly grates a carrot against the small side of the square stainless-steel grater. The caution is not so much to ensure the evenness of the carrot, butbecause scraped knuckles can hurt. “You don’t want pieces of skin in your muffins,” Danny Jarvis, cooking instructor for the day, jokes with his students. “That’s protein,” one of the fledgling cooks pipes up. Once a week these nine show up at
Huntington’s Kitchen on Third Avenue for the Cooking Matters classes to learn how to eat healthy, but also how to create nutritious food in their own kitchens in a budget-friendly way. Each week the drill is the same. First the class gets to watch the experts make the recipes for the day. This time it is pineapple and carrot muffins and apple-walnut salad. Then it is their turn. The nine head for the stainless steel cooking stations at one end of the onetime storefront that is headquarters of Huntington’s Kitchen now. Four cooks per station split the chores of chopping, measuring, stirring and wondering if this week’s dish
will turn out and if they will like it. Huntington’s Kitchen is the byproduct of a British chef and nutrition enthusiast who came to West Virginia four years ago claiming Huntington was the unhealthiest city in the United States and ruffling many an Appalachian feather with his bluntness. Jamie Oliver took that storefront, once a shop for cooking equipment, and turned it into the set for his reality television show, “The Food Revolution.” After Oliver went back home, Ebenezer Medical Outreach, Inc., took over the kitchen with the simple goal of continuing Oliver’s work, as
far as teaching Tri-Staters how to prepare foods from scratch, bypassing the chemicals, fats, salts and sugars found in the easy, but not good for you, frozen dinners and quick meal boxes. “He did plant the seed,” Ashley Thompson, coordinator for the kitchen, said. “We have taken it to meet what our community needs. We are learning people are wanting to learn to cook with herbs, from scratch and organic.” That’s where the classes at the kitchen come in and the enthusiasm for them is taking over the Tri-State. “We are scheduling six to eight weeks out,” Thompson said. “We are getting fuller and fuller.”
Mrs. Charles E. Holzer, Jr.
74 At that time, Railroad Street boasted the Ironton House where Dr. R. J. Scott had his medical office; the Sheridan House, another hotel; Blake’s Building, home of A. Ford, Grocer; and S. Silverman and Brother, Gentleman’s Clothing in the Ward Building where Campbell probably got many of his satin vests and dress coats. Before he started his jaunt to the river’s edge on Railroad, Campbell probably would look behind his house expecting to see the hops-fragrant steam pouring out of Leo Ebert’s Eagle Brewery, creators of fine lager beer, on the corner of Railroad and Seventh streets. Now there is only a vacant building and lot. As he neared the river he would probably keep looking for the roundhouse for the Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad on Front Street at the South corporation line, again obliterated by the 1937 flood control projects. That was a more than 100mile rail line formed in 1879 that went from Dayton to Delphos. Three years later a branch line was constructed from Wellston to Ironton, the northern-most point of the Ironton and Huntington Railway. Coming back from the river to the courthouse square, Campbell would look for Murdock and Co.’s wholesale grocers on the southwest corner of Second and Lawrence streets, and no doubt be amused that at close to that location is another grocery story. And, as he started toward Fourth Street, he would surely stare at the massive courthouse with its majestic dome, a far cry from the long rectangular structure that served as the first courthouse built in Ironton, a year after Campbell’s house was erected. Up on Fifth Street, Campbell would expect to see a church on the northeast corner of Center and Fifth streets, but not one so elaborate as the presentday turreted First Methodist Church. When Campbell was alive that corner was the site of Spencer’s Chapel, a two-story Federal style building. And across Center from the church was in Campbell’s day, the home of C. Ellison, president of Ironton Gas Co. and Lawrence Iron Works, not a limestone office building. A walk down Fifth Street to the next block north would really confuse the industrialist. Where is Olive Street, he probably would ask. The first nine streets that he laid out, Campbell named after furnaces from Vesuvius to Vernon. Olive would be a particularly sentimental favorite for him since he started that furnace operation in 1847 with John Peters, the original owner of the Olive Foundry and Machine Shops. Sixteen tons came
Profile 2013
out of that blast furnace each day. Standing there on the northeast corner, Campbell would probably stare in amazement at the brick structure his guide knows today as the Elks. In Campbell’s day that land was originally owned by his company, The Ohio Iron and Coal Co. This is until he sold it to James Allen Richey in 1852 for $200. Then, in 1892, Richey sold it for $700 to James Nixon, who promptly conveyed it to a relative. There it stayed in the Nixon family until 1913, when it went into the Hart family for the next three years. Then, in 1916, it was sold to the Ironton Lodge 177 of the Elks for $6,850. Two years later the lodge put up the structure that is there today. On up to the south side of Vernon Street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, Campbell would be looking for the E.H. Jones Livery, coach and hack, but only see a residential area. A few years after Campbell’s death Jones moved his operation down to Third and Washington streets, where Yvonne DeKay dance studio is today. Then as the 19th Century industrialist would come back to his beloved home, he might look up and see a tall man with a salt and pepper beard coming out of the side door of the house. He might stop and look at Campbell, partly because he would recognize him from the painting of the man in the foyer of the house. But also because he might think he’d seen the man before. That’s because Ralph Kline, whose office is at the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization, isn’t sure if he hasn’t seen John Campbell before. Like the time Kline and some of his colleagues were sitting around the conference table in a room on the third floor. The door onto the hallway was open and they saw a tall man walk past. At that moment no one thought anything of it. Perhaps he was a messenger dropping a bill off or maybe a report. The group went back to talking until they all realized the stranger never walked back past their doorway. Going out into the hall, they discovered no one was there. And there was no sign anyone had been there. So maybe this fanciful tour of John Campbell through the streets of Ironton is simply whimsy, fun but unnecessary. Maybe Campbell already knows what changes have happened to the city he created and loved. Changes that would have confused and saddened him at times, but just as often thrilled him to see the spirit of progress that drove him is alive and well. Maybe he has been here all along. •
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“The attendance included everybody, of all beliefs, colors, conditions, the rich and poor, the old and young. Never was there such a throng at a funeral in this town.” A cortege of 60 carriages followed the hearse bearing his body to Woodland Cemetery. It included city police and U.S. mail carriers. He would certainly tell his new friend how his fortune started when he saved up $600 from his wages as a general clerk in a store in Ripley to buy part interest in the steamboat “Banner.” From there he discovered the Hanging Rock furnace district and used his acumen to become the founder of Ironton. As the two would enter the house, Campbell would feel again the gracious ambience where he and his wife, Elizabeth, brought up their seven children. He would surely be pleased so many of the house’s architectural features are still intact, like the black walnut cantilevered staircase. Or the hand-pegged parquet floor that he had installed in his study from an intricate design he saw while traveling in Europe with his daughter, Clara. Looking out the second floor windows on the Lawrence Street side, much of what Campbell would see would look familiar as to the far left are still the towers of St. Lawrence O’Toole Roman Catholic Church and straight ahead the Presbyterian Church, built about 10 years before Campbell’s death. He might tell his guide how that was
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Lawrence County Courthouse in 1825.
once the spot where his barn stood and where many of the slaves he helped rescue would hide out before their journey to freedom in the north. Over on the riverside of the house, looking out from the third floor windows of what was once the ballroom, Campbell would probably marvel at how fresh the sky looks. No longer are there dark clouds coming from the Belfont Furnace of his friend, Frederick Norton. Instead is the remnant of another industry, Meehan
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Steel, in the same spot where Norton’s works flourished. Coming back down the staircase, but veering away from that dreaded porch, Campbell would be fascinated to discover the streets that he laid out and had recorded in 1849 are covered with a gray-black substance instead of the dirt he was used to. And no doubt he would be impressed that the hard white substance now used for sidewalks was introduced to Ironton by Norton’s son, Jessie Norton, in 1893,
two years after Campbell’s death. Then called artificial stone walk, Jessie Norton had it installed in front of Spencer’s Chapel, now First United Methodist Church, so his mother wouldn’t have to walk in the mud. Walking down Railroad Street he would be surprised to see that Campbell knew as the main part of town — Front Street — is gone, replaced with high concrete walls and grassy levees as part of flood control not even considered in Campbell’s day.
LAWRENCE COUNTY MUSEUM 506 S. Sixth St. • Ironton, Ohio
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What would John think? Much has changed since days of Ironton founder
By Benita Heath | The Tribune
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he first thing Ironton founder and industrialist John Campbell would probably say if he came back to earth today is, “What did they do to my house?” The three-story, early Victorian buff brick mansion was a labor of love for the poor farm boy from Georgetown who made good, taking close to a year to have it rise from the corner lot at Fifth and Lawrence streets. One of the first mansions in Ironton, the house features rooms larger and more spacious than some of the other homes built by his equally affluent compatriots in the pig iron industry. Campbell first came to what was then called the Hanging Rock area in
the 1830s to meet and become friends and associates with men like Robert Hamilton and Andrew Ellison to partner and build the Lawrence Furnace, the Hanging Rock Iron Forge and the Mt. Vernon Furnace. Over the next 40 years, Campbell built his fortune, which in 1872 was inventoried to be at $1 million in assets. Twenty years earlier he decided to celebrate some of his success with the construction of his dream home. What that house didn’t have in Campbell’s day was a brick front porch, a coat of dusty yellow paint and that attachment in the back that would look to him like half stable-half outhouse. If Campbell were making his journey back through the city he created with a 21st Century guide, he’d be told that curious addition to his house was
John Campbell
once a garage used to house automobiles. No doubt he would be amazed and pleased at that ingenuity, the kind he always brought to his business dealings, like the time he pushed to make the Vesuvius Furnace the first hot blast erected in the United States. After all, it was through industrialization that Campbell was able to become the powerful man that he was, even at the time of his death in Aug. 30, 1891. By that time his fortune was gone, but his influence remained strong and certain. He might pause to tell his modernday companion how crowds gathered in front of his house at the hour of his funeral to show their respect. “For a square the people congregated in throngs, testifying to the universal respect in which Mr. Campbell was held,” The Ironton Register reported.
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trivia time: coal grove coal grove: • The first school was built in about 1850. It was a one room school house on what is now Pike Street. • Prior to the Civil War, county commissioners built the first home for the “aged and penniless” on what is now Lane Street. Construction was finished in 1857. • A county infirmary was built in 1869 on what is now Carlton Davidson Lane. The infirmary was phased out in 1971. The building was torn down in 1981 to make way for Tri-State Industries. • About 100 men from Coal Grove joined the Union Army. • The village was incorporated in 1889 under the name Petersburg, after John Peters Jr., an investor in the community. At that time there were 508 residents. • The village was incorporated with several
sections called Monitor, Jeffersonville, Newton, Maddyville and Coal Grove. • Although incorporated as Petersburg, the post office address was listed as Coal Grove. In 1890, the village was incorporated as Coal Grove. • Dr. William Shattuck was the first doctor in the village. • John A. Jones was the first mayor, William Layne was the first marshal and A.A. Burdette was the first clerk. • 1906: the Coal Grove Telephone CO. organized. • First commencement of Coal Grove High School was in May 1900. • In 1907 the village residents voted that liquor could no longer be sold within the village limits. • In the 1920s, the Portsmouth Auto Club declared the village was a speed trap and urged people to plead not guilty and
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refuse to pay their fines. • 1931: Dawson-Bryant High School was dedicated. The school was named after Homer Dawson and Curtis Bryant, the first World War I causalities from Coal Grove. • 1935: Village purchased its first fire truck. Until that time, fires were fought by bucket brigades or by other local departments. • In 1936, Mayor Sam Lockhart died and Paul Porter, vice president of council, took his seat. At the time he was the youngest mayor in Ohio at the age of 26. He was known as the “Boy Mayor.” He served for nine terms as mayor and three as councilman. In 1989 during the centennial celebration, Paul Porter Park was dedicated in his honor. • The village sewer system was completed in 1988.
For admission information, call 740-533-4656 (Ironton) 740-886-7655 (Proctorville)
IMAGINE YO U R P O S S I B I L I T I E S
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Student Ray Brubaker flips a tire over and over as part of therapy during a visit to Tri-State Rehab Services in Ironton.
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Susan Lockwood exercises on the underwater treadmill while physical therapist Dave Coburn offers encouragement.
sports performance programs such as F.A.S.T. that train in sport-specific areas. The training includes technique and flexibility, not just weightlifting. Isaac said there are plans to expand the business’ sports programs and other fitness classes. “We use a screening process to assess the athlete for possible improvement. Some athletes are more susceptible to an ACL tear than others. We also test their core strength,” Isaac said. “We try to tailor the program to meet their needs and to limit them because of all their insufficiencies. With young athletes, you don’t train everyone the same.” Now known as Tri-State Rehab Services, Isaac and Castle said the key to their success and expansion has been the company employees. “Paul and I couldn’t have grown and expanded without tremendous personnel. We’ve been able to find good people who are skilled and with a passion,” Isaac said. “Dave (Coburn) is the director at the Ironton facility. He’s a key to the growth and success of this office. We wouldn’t be where we are now without him.” It’s been a long and winding road for Isaac, but it has been a ride he has enjoyed regardless of whatever bumps that have cropped up from time to time. “To go from a two-man operation to what it is today is a dream come true. I like where we’re going. We’ve got to be proactive. One of the keys is that instead of being followers, we wanted to set the pace,” Isaac said. “The people of Ironton and surrounding areas gave us a chance and I’m glad for that. Now it’s on me. You can open a business here. People want to stay here. In many ways this is totally different from where we started and from what I intended. I wanted to provide a service. I take pride in being from here.” The long and winding road led Joe Isaac right back home and is a road he will continue to travel. •
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Tony Crowe swings a rope back and forth as part of his physical therapy program.
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FAIRLAND
LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT “A Tradition of Academic Excellence”
FHS Varsity Vocals and Choir present their Christmas Concert
Fairland Middle School Offers New Service for Students homework help program each school day in the mornings, before school begins and during the lunch/recess hour
Fairland Middle School Science Fair Participants
Mrs. Soward’s 2nd grade class Fire Prevention Week
Fairland Middle School Spelling Bee
National Honor Society - United Way
Fairland West Veteran’s Day Program
Fairland West presents “Annie”
Fairland West Students participate in the 2nd annual Writer’s Workshop
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91 Years of
Owner Joe Isaac works with a patient at TriState Rehab Services Ironton.
Caring for Your Eyes
THE TRIBUNE JESSICA ST JAMES
Dr. Steven Milleson, Dr. Patrick Milleson, and Dr. Nick Weber and staff are pleased to welcome you to our office. If you’re looking for quality eyecare with a personal touch, we hope you’ll give us a call. We look forward to the opportunity of serving your family’s eyecare needs and would be delighted to have you as a patient. At Ironton Vision Center, we believe it is important to be thorough. We don’t believe in the “Quick Exam” – YOUR EYES ARE TOO IMPORTANT.
Accepting new patients Dr. Steven Milleson, Dr. Patrick Milleson, Dr. Nick Weber, Optometrists
IRONTON VISION CENTER 220 S. Sixth St. • Ironton, Ohio
“We started to get a reputation for being a sports-centered facility so we started adding more equipment to meet the needs of the athletes,” said Isaac. Equipment was also added to aid the therapy patients. When patients completed their therapy, they would continue to work with the equipment in the gym area of the facility. “It really grew. Patients would ask if their spouse or their sister or their son or daughter could come with them. We decided to include a full fitness center and we out grew our facility on Park Avenue and the parking,” Isaac said. The road then traveled from Park Avenue to the former Burger King building on South Third Street. The business went from 2,000-square feet to 6,000 and the facility has since added an additional 4,000
more square feet. “The added room has allowed us to expand our services,” Isaac said. “We have a pool with a treadmill for patients with arthritis who can’t do land therapy. We’re also doing more specialized training with athletes.” The road to Ironton Physical Therapy has since moved in other directions. The business now has facilities in Louisa, Ky., Westmoreland in the Huntington, W.Va., area, Ashland, Ky., and the newest facility in New Boston. “A lot of physicians approached us about coming their way in Westmoreland. Their said there weren’t any facilities in their area,” Isaac said. “Since then, we’ve had physicians in other areas come to us about the same concerns.” Since athletics have been a beaten path for Isaac, the facility has
800-956-2020 or 740-532-2020
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Chase Higgins, physical therapy assistant, works on a patient at Tri-State Rehab Services on South Third Street in Ironton. THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Getting physical Business growth has been enjoyable journey for Ironton man
By Jim Walker | The Tribune
P
aul McCartney didn’t have Joe Isaac in mind when he wrote “The Long And Winding Road,” but it has certainly been that type of a journey for the Ironton physical therapist. The road began innocently while he was a high school football player. An offensive guard and All-Ohio linebacker for the St. Joseph Flyers, Isaac sustained a shoulder injury and had to undergo treatment. “That sparked my interest in the profession,” Isaac said of the first step on his journey. “I didn’t realize there were specialized services like that.” The natural progression for Isaac was attending college and obtaining a degree in physical therapy. He did some volunteer work initially at college
and hospitals in the Ironton area. “After working in the field, I knew this is what I wanted to do,” Isaac said. After obtaining his degree from Ohio State in 1994, Isaac took a job at a local hospital. But the road he was on was merely a back road for him. He wanted to make his way to the open highway and travel in a different direction. “In the back of my mind, I wanted to open up my own practice. I wanted to go into business for myself,” Isaac said. Most of the patients Isaac was treating were from the Ironton area. Since there was no physical therapy facility in Ironton, Isaac got with a co-worker and friend, Paul Castle, and the pair decided to move toward establishing their own business “since there was a need and it was home.” First, the duo took a job with a home health care firm. Isaac said they took any assignment, no matter how far
away and regardless of the number of patients in the area. They were quite literally traveling a long and winding road of their own. “We told them we would go wherever you want us to go,” said Isaac with a grin. “We went to Williamson (W.Va.), Fort Gay (W.Va.), Inez (Ky.) to see one patient. There were times we lost money on the visit. But we picked up enough home health to start our first office on Park Avenue.” Ironton Physical Therapy opened with basic nautilus equipment and limited parking. Because of a good working relationship with local doctors and the need for local health care, the business began to take hold. “The people of Ironton and surrounding areas were very receptive to someone trying to start a local business and gracious to let us provide a service,” said Isaac. “Word of mouth
spread that we did good work and we began to grow.” The road began to branch off in other directions. Because of Isaac’s affinity toward athletics, he wanted to expand to the treatment of sports injuries. It wasn’t long after that decision Isaac hired another Ironton native and former linebacker, Dave Coburn, who was a not only a physical therapist but an athletic trainer. “With Dave on board, we approached Ironton High School. Coach (Bob) Lutz and coach (Mike) Burcham were very supportive of the idea of providing athletic treatment for injuries,” said Isaac. “Being local guys gave us an opportunity to work with their program.” That was in 1999 and soon the business approached other schools. Coal Grove was next on their list and several other schools have since followed.
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To compare SOMC to other regional healthcare organizations visit www.medicare.gov/ hospitalcompare/. Type in the zip code 45662 or Southern Ohio Medical Center and click search.
Âť Then simply choose the hospitals that you would like to compare.
You have a choice where to receive high-quality healthcare.
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The best quality care has always been close to home. At Southern Ohio Medical Center we strive for perfection in the care we provide. This goal is evident in our publicly reported data.
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trivia time: ironton, coal grove IRONTON: • Briggs Library opened Oct. 29, 1883. • P.T. Barnum’s first visit brought a circus crowd of 10,000 to town. • First electric lights were turned on Dec. 21, 1889. • The first mail delivery was made Nov. 1, 1890. • In 1894, the city council passes an ordinance making it “unlawful for any bicycler to ride a wheel in Ironton that does not carry a bell or other alarm, and this alarm must be sounded whenever the wheel will pass within 10 feet of a pedestrian.” • In 1909, voters approved the closing of the town’s saloons. They reopened by the
vote of the people in 1911. • The Ironton Coke Plant was built in 1912. • The Tanks football team was organized in 1919. The team won 86 of 119 games scheduled in 12 seasons. • The Ironton-Russell Bridge opened in 1922. • General Hospital dedicated in 1936. • Work begins on floodwall in 1938. It was dedicated in 1943. It cost $4 million dollars, $3.5 million of which was paid by the state. • The Vesuvius Recreation Area was completed in 1940. • The Ro-Na Theatre and Restaurant was established in 1949.
coal grove: • Coal Grove was first settled by the Jonathan Melvin family in 1803. • The Village of Coal Grove was named so by river workers after a coaling station about 200 yards west of the Ashland Bridge, as well as a grove of trees near the stations. • A post office was established in about 1830. • Zoar Baptist Church was the community’s first church, built in 1843 on the bank of Ice Creek. It was later moved in 1896 to its present location. • A passenger ferry, called “Winona,” was started in 1849, and ran between Ashland and Coal Grove.
S E T I R O FAV400 CALORIES UNDER
So many choices with so little calories. Chesapeake • Ironton • Proctorville • South Point (Walmart)
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The Printing Express, Inc.
submitted
(ABOVE) Clarence Raymond Stephenson Jr., first row, far right, and Keith Clinton, back row, third from left, pose with their crew in this undated photo. (BELOW) Clarence Raymond Stephenson Jr. as a baby
“She remarried about 10 years after her first husband died and, out of respect to my father, it was never discussed. He always thought I was named after his uncle.” O’Conor said the first Stephenson’s family in Ohio knew of Helen was when Clarence brought her down to be married. Despite geographical and religious differences, Stephenson’s family were devout Protestants while Helen’s family were devout Catholics, the families liked the people and approved the marriage, O’Conor said. So much so that when O’Conor left Akron to travel to Springfield to visit Stephenson’s oldest sister Marjorie, he mentioned she had hoped he was bringing Helen and Ann with him. “Marjorie saw Helen and Ann three times after Raymond’s death,” O’Conor said. “They visited once when Ann was just a baby. They made a second visit when Ann was about 5 years old and the last time she saw Ann was when Ann was about 15 years old. Marjorie’s oldest son, Randy, was at the house when I visited and said he remembered Ann’s visit because she loved rock and roll music and taught Randy how
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Proudly serving Ironton and the Tri-state for 28 years. to dance. The last time Marjorie saw Helen was in 1973.” After meeting with Marjorie, O’Conor hit the road to return home to New York. He said his trip to Ohio has been an amazing one. Along the way he has met wonderful people and shared his story with all who would listen, more than a few who did not have dry eyes when the telling was done, he said. O’Conor is still seeking information about Stephenson from those who knew him, either as a boy in Ironton or a pilot during WWII. He asks anyone who can help to contact him at moconn14@nycap.rr.com. •
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
A portrait of Helen and Clarence Stephenson, Jr., is seen resting alongside Clarence’s gravestone in Woodland Cemetery.
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,
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d r
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(LEFT) Clarence Raymond Stephenson, Jr. and Helen Gregg pose for a wedding photo. (RIGHT) Helen Stephenson with her daughter, Ann Marie.
While in Ironton to gather information on Stephenson, O’Conor visited the home he grew up in and spoke with a neighbor who remembered the family. She did not remember Stephenson because she moved in after he had left for the war, but O’Conor said she had nothing but nice things to say about the family. After he left Ironton, O’Conor went to Akron to meet with Stephenson’s youngest sister, Ruth. While there he discovered Stephenson kept a diary which mentioned his first meeting with the woman he said would change his life. The following are three of the entries from Stephenson’s diary. • “January 31, 1942 - Left Ironton at 10am via bus to Dayton to start ball rolling toward my getting into the Corps. • June 13, 1942 - Met a lovely girl in Central Park
and liked her very much. I made a date with her for next Thursday. Miss Helen Gregg, 424 W. 47th St. I bet this will change my entire future life. • June 18, 1942 - First date with Helen Gregg. I’ve never known a girl like her. Already I’m in love with her.” When Stephenson proposed to Helen she said she would love to, but she could not just then because she was only 17 years old, said O’Conor. On her 18th birthday, Sept. 6, 1943, they travelled to Ironton to be married in the rectory of St. Lawrence Church. Exactly one year after they were married, Sept. 6, 1944, Raymond was killed in action. He never saw his wife again. He never laid eyes on his daughter. “I, of course, knew my mom was married before, but it was never brought up,” O’Conor said.
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Trail Season: April 15 - December 15 Alcohol prohibited on trails,trailheads and some access roads. Helmet with eye protection is required when riding. See Forest web site for details.
www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne
Visit Beautiful Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area “As I started getting ready to write in earnest, I’m thinking I need some advice, a direction to go in to make sure I’ve got my head on straight,” O’Conor said. “I thought, gosh, James Bradley would be a good person to talk to.” Bradley is the New York Times bestselling author of “Flags of Our Fathers,” a book which focuses on the six men who raised the iconic flag at Iwo Jima. Going through a friend of his who knew Bradley’s agent, O’Conor was eventually able to get a chance to speak with Bradley about his plans to write a book telling Stephenson’s story. “I spent an hour and a half on the phone with James Bradley,” O’Conor said. “And he is just telling me about what he did when he first started writing “Flags of Our Fathers.” the research he did and how it took him four years to get everything together. He talked about how he traveled all over the country talking to the guys who raised the flag. It’s just an amazing story.” When he asked Bradley what message he was trying to get across when he wrote the book, O’Conor said Bradley said not to worry about that, just write the book, tell the person’s story and people will get from the book what they get from it. “He asked me to grab a pen and paper and write down one word: history,” O’Conor said. “H-I-S-TO-R-Y. He told me to look at that word. ‘You know what that word says,’ he told me, ‘His story. Ray, just tell his story.’” And that is what O’Conor is seeking to do, he said. And just like Bradley, the mission is taking him all over the country in pursuit of information to add life to his future novel.
• Hunting • Swimming • Boating
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IRONTON RANGER DISTRICT OFFICE 6518 ST RT 93 Pedro, OH
740.534.6500
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Finding his namesake
N.Y. man unknowingly named after long-dead WWII pilot from Ironton By Shane Arrington | The Tribune
T
he gravestone he had been searching for was dirty, so he cleaned it off and took a second look at the name chiseled across the stone — Clarence Raymond Stephenson Jr., As he wiped the dirt off his fingers, his eyes lingered on the middle name, the name they shared. Raymond O’Conor drove hundreds of miles to Ironton from his home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to see the grave and attempt to gather information on the man he only recently found out he was named after. “The way this all started was seven years ago, on my mother’s 80th birthday. We traveled down to Long Island where my mother’s home was,” O’Conor said. “At some point in the day she pulled me aside and said ‘Raymond, come to the bedroom with me, I need your help with something.’ So we sat down and she reaches into a drawer and pulls out a wooden box. From this box she pulls out what appeared to be a very old letter. She said she wanted me to read something, so I pull this letter out of the envelope and the salutation reads ‘My Dearest Darling.’ “I don’t get any further than that and my mom is tearing up. So I read the rest of the letter and it’s just this really sweet letter about how he is looking forward to coming home to meet his daughter Ann, who he has never met and how he is looking forward to getting back together with his beautiful wife. So my mother starts to fill me in on the story.” The story begins in the summer of 1942, as young Stephenson is in New York training to be an aviator in the Army Air Corps. During this time, O’Conor said his mother was living in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, when she bumped into the dashing young man in Central Park. If you want to hear a story of love at first sight, this is the one to hear, O’Conor said. Before coming to Ironton to learn more of Stephenson from his hometown, O’Connor traveled to Michigan to meet with Keith Clinton, the last living member of Stephenson’s flight crew. “Back in March of last year I was sitting in my office and I think I’ve tracked down the right Keith Clinton, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I called him,” O’Conor said. “I called and someone picks up the phone and this old gravelly voice answers ‘helloo.’” I asked if this was Mr. Keith Clinton and answered ‘yup, who’s this?’ I said, ‘Mr. Clinton, my name is Ray O’Conor. You don’t know me, we’ve never met but a real long time ago you met my mom.
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Raymond O’Conor is seen with a portrait of his mother and her first husband Clarence Raymond Stephenson, Jr., who is also O’Conor’s namesake, alongside Clarence’s gravestone located in the Woodland Cemetery Soldiers Plot.
My mom is the widow of Ray Stephenson, your pilot in World War II.’ He paused for a minute and then asked ‘How’s Helen doing?’ And I told him mom was doing just great.” After talking for awhile, O’Conor said he asked Clinton if he could come to see him. He said when Clinton asked him what he was doing Saturday he told him Friday he would be getting ready to get on a plane. So he headed out to Michigan where he met
with Clinton. While there, O’Conor said Clinton was a great source of military information. They discussed missions, looked at old flight records and Clinton shared stories of bygone days. O’Conor went to see Clinton again last summer and a few months after that made a life altering decision: To retire early and commit himself full-time to writing a book about the man whose name he carries and the woman his namesake loved.
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Allen Wheeler, South Point native who now owns a firearms store in Cincinnati, provides instruction of proper loading, unloading and shooting technique to a student of his gun safety class at the First Baptist Church in South Point on Feb. 9.
you know why. Gun safety was really focused on, and that is the main reason I’d recommend this class to anyone. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been shooting, if you intend to carry, a good safety course is important for everybody.” Wheeler said he feels it is important for people to be able to carry guns, so long as they do so responsibly. He said it is a sad fact, but the world has changed since he was a child and you cannot trust
people as you once could. “The problem is, there is no gun law they make that is going to stop crazy,” Wheeler said. “You can’t legislate against that. Criminals don’t follow laws, they just aren’t going to. We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and our kids and it might come down to someone carrying a gun to protect them. A lot of people want to personify a gun by saying it’s evil, but it’s not. It’s plastic and metal.”
Wheeler said he continues traveling back and forth between Cincinnati and Lawrence County to teach gun safety classes because there is nothing more important than gun owners knowing how to properly maintain and use their weapons. The Second Amendment advocate said he takes pride in knowing he helps good people, who want to legally use their guns as “peacemakers,” who will hopefully give the world a better view of guns. •
trivia time: ironton IRONTON: • Ohio Ironton and Coal Co. was chartered in 1849 to build a railroad from Upper Township (now Ironton) northward through the iron-making country to Jackson County and to build a town. Ironton was named at the suggestion of surveyor Thomas Walton since it was designed to ship out tons of iron. • Ironton was recognized by an act of the state legislature on March 21, 1851. • The first election in Ironton was April 19, 1851. The first mayor was James M. Merrill. • The Ironton Cemetery Association was organized Jan. 18, 1851, and the first cemetery was Kelleys, located on the Hecla Pike to the Ohio River. • The first industry built in Ironton was a workshop on Second and Railroad streets for the building of the Iron Railroad. A foundry was also built on Second and Etna streets in 1850 called Ironton
Foundry. A saw mill was built on the river bank at Adams Street. A dry apple house was also built near Seventh and Buckhorn streets. • The first hotels in Ironton were the Ironton House and the Buckeye House • The first bank in Ironton was opened in 1849 in the office of the Ironton Railroad building. The Iron Bank of Ironton was chartered in 1851. First National bank took over the Iron Bank in 1861. • The post office was established in 1850 with Dr. Caleb Briggs as the postmaster. • The federal census in 1850 listed the population at 574 people. • The first school, the Pioneer, was built in 1850. It was a two-room building on Fourth and Center streets. • In 1857, Jacob Blessing established the city’s first brewery, called East Ironton. • The first two volunteer fire department were organized in 1858, one called “Good Intent” with 20 members; the other
called “Good Will” with 21 members. • The first steamboat built in Ironton was named “The Ironton” and launched at Washington Street. It was 82 feet long and 23 feet wide. • First telegraph office was opened in 1864. • 507 Irontonians were listed as serving in the Union Army. • The first game of baseball was played in Ironton in 1867. The Riversides made 19 runs in the third inning to beat Portsmouth 31 to 18. • 1867: Lawrence Street School was built. • The first case of capital punishment in Ironton was ordered by judge and jury in 1869. Sheriff W.T. Elswick hanged Andrew Price for murder. • 1870: African American citizens in Ironton given first opportunity to vote. • During October 1872, 43,600 cigars were manufactured in Ironton.
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Loaded to bear Lawrence County residents practice gun safety
By Shane Arrington | The Tribune
W
hat does a recent high school graduate, a middle-aged teacher and a retired senior citizen have in common? A fresh desire to carry a personal firearm. Following the tragedy at Newtown, Conn., gun sellers have seen a rise in purchases as people have surged to their shops in an effort to gain what they see as protection against something so terrible happening to them and those they love. Allen Wheeler, a South Point native who now owns a firearms store in Cincinnati, said business over the past two years have been steady, but now people are “buying them like crazy.” “I’ve taught three classes in Lawrence County since December,” Wheeler said. “Two of those have been just for teachers. I personally believe in armed teachers. It’s not perfect. It’s not what we want but it’s what it is. I think it’s sad we’ve come to that,
but we have. Not only for kids who come to school with the intent to shoot, but teachers should also be prepared for something as innocent as Little Johnny, not trying to hurt anybody, bringing his daddy’s gun to class for show and tell. Teachers should at least be familiar enough with a weapon to safely take it, unload it and store it until it can be removed from the school.” With an average of 30 students per class, Wheeler said has taught around 100 students gun safety following the Newtown shooting. He teaches the National Rifle Association Basic Pistol Class, but done in a way which also covers the Ohio Concealed Carry Class, Wheeler said. The class involves 10 hours of classroom training covering a variety of topics that include pistol familiarization, proper shooting techniques, gun maintenance and troubleshooting. The classroom training is followed with two hours of hands-on training at a gun range. “This is a gun safety class, not a self-defense class,” Wheeler said. “I don’t have people doing force-on-
force or anything like that. They need to show me they can use a gun responsibly. What the NRA and Ohio law preaches is they need to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitude necessary to own and operate a firearm safely. That’s what it’s all about.” Wheeler’s classes have had participants ranging from a first-time gun user to a veteran shooter. Marcinda Mers, class participant from Chesapeake, said she has shot guns her entire life, but as the news is more and more saturated with stories involving guns being used to harm people, she thought it was time to take the class needed to get her concealed carry permit. “It’s for protection,” Mers said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I travel a lot by myself and it’s a good idea to be able to carry a gun legally. I had a reference from a friend who attended this class. They said it was a good class, a well-rounded class that didn’t cut corners. I’ve been shooting so long I wasn’t expecting to learn a lot of new things, but he verbalized things that if you’ve been shooting all your life you never really thought about, but now
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Chesapeake Union Exempted Village School District
10183 County Road One • Chesapeake, Ohio 45619 (740) 867-3135 • Fax (740) 867-3136
HIGH SCHOOL
Students showing their school spirit
State 2012 participants performing at the Octoberfest
Golf Team State Participants 2012
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Jr. High Choir members Hunter Kitchen, Jacob Christian, and d Antonio Barnett den Gilpin, an Fifth graders Karrah Parsons, Bray Spirit Week Alaina Collins rockin’ it out during
Project Lead The Way st udents Kent Picklesimer, Wes Malavenda, Chayenne Lubin, and Ja ylynn Pine
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Coach Hutch encourages a group of second grade students. (students left to right: Toby Mullens, Jacob Daniels, Jamie Mullens, Nicholas Wright)
Mural painted by First Grade Teache r Amanda Davis. Mrs. Davis poses wit h (left to right) Madison Ward, Robin Isaacs, Gabby Chinn, Mason Giles, Andrew Davis, Riley Wilson, and Chase Davis
llomy gets Third Grade teacher Jamie Be the latest the students engaged using educational technology.
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the tribune/Shane Arrington
Participants in a public ghost tour listen to the history of the building while in the former locker room of the Chesapeake Community Center. The locker room is said to be one of the places the “not so nice” ghost resides.
people who used to physically walk the halls, but more of a strong emotional imprint left behind. For instance, the janitor died at home, Maynard said. But his love for the children, the school and his job left behind such strong feelings something stayed behind to continue watching over the building he dedicated his life to maintaining. But the emotional imprint is not what he is continuing to look for. “I’m searching for the human soul,” Maynard said. “I’ve lost three very good friends and both my parents and I’d really like to know they are out there somewhere. I think it could be possible, but I’ve never seen it. For me, the soul would be a person who passed over, who still maintains memories and feelings, but have come back to watch over their families.” Maynard said he does not care how long someone has been hunting for ghosts, how many shows they have been on or what they claim, no one is an expert in the field of paranormal investigation. The man said he plans on seeking answers until the day he dies. So, for as long as he walks among the living, Maynard says he continues to search for that one piece of pure evidence that eliminates all doubt about the world he already knows exists. •
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the tribune/Shane Arrington
David Lee Maynard, founder and lead investigator for Quest Paranormal Investigations, Inc., stands in the gym of the Chesapeake Community Center. Maynard says the room is a hot spot for paranormal activity.
Ghost Hunter Local man seeks the unknown, paranormal activity
By Shane Arrington | The Tribune
L
eading a group down dark hallways of the Chesapeake Community Center, silent except for the echoes of footsteps in search of a little girl in a blue dress, a man who used to clean the floors or something not so nice in the basement, this is a typical Saturday night for David Lee Maynard. Of course, it becomes not so typical for those the Ironton man is taking up and down the dark staircases, oftentimes their flashlights the only source of illumination, when the “people” they are looking for have not been with the living for quite some time. Maynard has always had a fascination with the paranormal. He said as a child he would get his hands on whatever books he could find. “I just remember as a kid I was interested in this stuff,” Maynard said. “I would read stories on it. Of course, back then they didn’t have a lot of this
stuff they have on television. There weren’t really a lot of books on it either and of course there was no Internet. So basically anything I could find anywhere that had anything to do not only with hauntings, but also cryptozoology, UFOs, anything like that I would read or watch.” Maynard’s search for the paranormal honed in on the community center after reading an article in his local newspaper about the ghost of a little girl said to haunt the building. After reading the article, Maynard said he had to get access to the building. “My buddy Jim and I came up here and set down with (center director) Ruth (Damron) and she agreed to let us come that night,” Maynard said. “Tim, who works here, had to stay with us that night because they didn’t really know us at the time. We did our thing, caught some decent evidence and over the years we have built a really good relationship with Ruth and the center.” As the relationship grew, Maynard and Quest Paranormal Investigations Inc., the group he started
in 1985 to provide an official outlet for his need to seek the unknown, knew they wanted to help give back to the center that had allowed them free reign to uncover the secrets within. There have been sightings of the little girl, as well as a male figure believed to be a former janitor during the day, but Maynard said less human contamination at night increases the likelihood of sightings, and he wanted to find a way to peak others’ curiosity while helping the center. “About two years ago we started public hunts,” Maynard said. “For a nominal fee we give people the chance to come in at night and learn about the history of the building, the activity and hopefully to see something themselves. The huge majority of the money collected goes back toward the center for equipment and renovations.” Maynard said he believes the building sits upon a vortex, a place where spirits can travel more freely through our world and another. He doesn’t believe those who inhabit the building are the souls of the
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Symmes Valley Schools HOME OF THE VIKINGS www.symmesvalley.k12.oh.us
(RIGHT) Vikings tackle Breast Cancer in the annual Pink Game.
(ABOVE) Kindergarten students celebrating during the kindergarten Graduation Celebration.
(ABOVE) 5th Grade students singing during the Christmas Program. (BELOW) Senior Vice-President Bill Nance leads his class to victory in the annual homecoming games.
(ABOVE) Viking Mascot during Pep assembly. (LEFT) Viking Band members take a break and dance during a pep assembly.
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DAWSON-BRYANT SCHOOLS • DOING WHAT IS BEST FOR ALL STUDENTS •
BOARD OF EDUCATION President - Jim Beals • Vice President - Sadie Mulkey Debra Drummond, Jamie Murphy, DeAnna Holiday
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who did not appear Aug. 23, 1907 someone made a noise and the form vanished as suddenly as it came. He said that just before the ghost disappeared, someone behind him gave him a push and he put his hand before him to prevent his falling too suddenly against the strange visitor, but lo and behold, his hand shot past the white form as if there was nothing there.” Kier and his flock met at the Price home for singing and a prayer service and in hopes of communicating with the ghost. People piled into the rooms
of the home, skeptical of the haunting. “Five hundred people, some in automobiles, some in buggies, but the majority of them on foot, were in the neighborhood of the haunted house shortly before 8:00, the hour set for the meeting of the Rescue Mission workers to begin. The crowd began to assemble shortly after supper and by the time the rain set in, which drove the majority of them to seek shelter and for the time being, give up hopes of seeing the ghost, the street was blocked with people and it required the combined efforts of Officers Higgins and Tate to keep the more venturesome and unbelieving from
forcing open the doors of the house and seeing for themselves what there was in the stories current concerning the strange sights to be seen therein.” The ghost wasn’t seen by anyone that night and the reporter gave his own conjecture as to why. “The crowd in the front room and those standing in the rain on the outside looking into the windows kept up such a racket that no ghost with a grain of self respect would ever think of showing itself.” Despite the ghost’s absences, Kier said he would continue to meet with his congregation at the house, “until he can see the ghost again and have
a talk with it and find out if possible what its reason is for coming back to earth.” Two years later, the newspaper reported the log home was being torn down, with the logs to be used to build other homes. A man named John McDowell supervised the project was said to have done the work “without fear. But then, he is working during the day, and spooks never appear until after the shades of night have fallen.” The article went on to say, “It remains to be seen what revenge the ghosts will take on McDowell for his disturbing their place of meeting.”
Trivia time: Lawrence county Lawrence County: • Lawrence County was created Dec. 20, 1816, and was named for Capt. James Lawrence from Burlington, N.J. • First Court of Common Pleas organized March 4, 1817. • The first election was April 7, 1817. County Commissioners elected were Joseph Davidson, Joel Bowen and David Spurlock. • The first marriage recorded in the county was that of John Ferguson and Elizabeth McCoy, April 11, 1817. • The county seat was moved from Burlington to Ironton Oct. 23, 1852. $1,200 was pledged by the citizens to build a courthouse and jail. • The courthouse in Ironton was built at Fifth and Center streets.
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It was a two-story brick, 70-by-45 feet, with 25 windows and double doors. It was gutted by a fire in 1857, but the walls were saved and the building was repaired. • A new courthouse, which is in use today, was completed in 1908 and was a three-story, high-domed structure with a column façade facing over wide steps leading down to Fourth Street. In the 1970s, the courthouse underwent remodeling, which partitioned the large common pleas courtroom into two smaller ones. An annex was built to house offices. • At the end of the Civil War, Lawrence County had a population of 23,000, with 2,737 men from the county serving in the war.
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A skeleton: Ghastly find of excavators July 21, 1887 from The Ironton Register, “We had a great time keeping n a Saturday afternoon, in quiet, but we succeedJuly 1887, workmen exca- the matter irably,” Cory said. adm e vating dirt were startled by the ed quit was fully decombody the r Afte discovery of human bones and up the bones dug y Cor d, pose a tattered boot, buried 12 feet and put them in a box in his below the surface. “Bystanders viewed with pecu- stable. “Lots of people saw me digliar emotions the fleshless frag, but thought I was doing ments of a human form, and phy- ging work,” Cory said. sicians in the neighborhood were yard While the bones were kept called to confirm the opinion of the stable, Cory said a man in all who saw them, that part of a ed Azro gave lectures on the nam human skeleton had been found,” skeleton, frightening local boys the article said. skull and a lighted candle. Rather than a tale of the super- with the The property was sold, but natural, the story of the bones e of the bones remained in a was explained days later by a som in the stable. A man named local named only as Dr. Cory in box y recalled playing in the Bixb the article, who at one time had Ed le with Will Gonder. stab of loft a stable over the spot where the ld shout, “Look out wou der Gon bones were found, near Third now! He’ll catch you,” which sent and Center streets. up the ladder in terror. Dr. Cory was a former post- Bixby Cory said he took the skull master of Ironton and also owned n he moved, but never took a small drug store near the site whe rest. of where the bones were found. the Gonder family had burThe to r prio s year 25 t abou That was , where they remained them ied the discovery. bed until the excavaDr. Cory explained that he undistur discovery. The bones were found a corpse on the bank of tors’ rned to the dirt near where the Ohio River, an unrecogniz- retu were found. able man who had drowned in they “That’s the history of the the river. Cory and a township es,” Cory said. “I hadn’t trustee named E.J. Folwell car- bon ght of them until this mornried the body up from near the thou many, many years, and for ing East Ironton landing and bured, you are the first person ied it on a lot on upper Second inde es Folwell who ever knew Street, property owned by John besid where I got them.” McMahon.
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The ghost
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from the Semi-Weekly Irontonian,
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n what seemed to be a highly anticipated event, hundreds of people gathered inside and out of the old log home of Mrs. Martha Price on Quincy Street to catch a glimpse of a ghost said to haunt the home. The rain was falling heavily, but local experts said weather of the sort would not keep the spirit from attending the meeting, “for ghosts are said to be partial to wet, dark, nights” The Rev. Kier, a former slave and leader of the Rescue Mission Church,
said he had seen the ghost and called it a “spirit messenger.” Price and her mother, as well as others, had also reported seeing the mysterious spirit. Kier said, “that the spirit came right out of the floor Tuesday night, in the center of the room where there was not even a hole or crack. At first it could scarcely be seen, but it gradually assumed the shape of a human form without visible hands or feet. He said that just before the head could be formed on the neck of the spirit being,
Another Ghost from the Sem Irontonian, i-Weekly Aug. 23, 1907
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re the ghosts holding co nBrown said the Winkles vention in Ironton or were are fri gh tened at what they saw so so many things happ that ening here they calle d him to take a look. just by accident?” “When (Brown) starte That was the question d over to posed to get a closer newspaper readers aft vie w of it, it disaper Ironton peared as my residents Frank Brow n and Mr. come,” the steriously as it had report said. and Mrs. Chas. Wink le saw a There was some conje mysterious visitor on cture of the Ohio who the sp irit may have been. River bank hear th e former Some thought the gh Palace Hotel site. ost was the spirit of a man form Just days before, a ma West n Wilburn Hall reported named Virginia who went to sleep on the seeing a train tracks ghost in the Klondike in front of the depot building on and, wh ile waiting for the tra South Third Street. Othe in, r sightings he was run over and killed. were reported in the ne ighborhood Another man, repor of Seventh and Quincy ted as streets. me an for even suggest Brown’s ghost, he rep ing his or ted , idea, said the ghost was a man dressed all was the spirit in white, of Enginee r Potter, coming back and had been first see n by his to haunt the members of the neighbors, the Winkles . Board of Public Service .
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Levi’s Ghost egister, Dec. 2, 1884 from The Ironton R late-night visit from a mysterious woman left one Ironton man shaking in his nightclothes. A story in the Ironton Register told night the strange tale of Levi Adams, a es bon ry wea his rest watchman trying to ry live is’ Dav of e offic in his bunk at the stable. ms A knock on the office door woke Ada and he went to investigate. a A woman, “nicely dressed, had on k, cloa fine a e gold watch and chain, wor biland bore every evidence of respecta ded nee She r. doo the ity,” was waiting at ld Adams to lend her a lamp so she cou . see in the dark le Adams followed her around the stab l. wal k while the woman felt along the bric a d hire who “Twelve years ago, a man
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ed horse and buggy at this stable conceal in k bric a ind beh s able some rare valu . said e hav to was an wom this wall,” the blue “They are here yet, wrapped in a ked silk handkerchief, and the brick is mar You r. one with a X made with a shoe butt were here then.” he Adams tried to deny the fact that the but le, stab the at had been employed been woman seemed to know he had s. year there for 14 vi The article concluded, saying, “Le the told felt very uncomfortable and lonwoman he would not stay there any ng, sayi left, or ger, and so the strange visit in, aga k bac be ld however, that she wou ce silen that i Lev ning and solemnly war But le. isab adv ve pro ld on his part wou Levi hopes she won’t return.”
Ironton W oman’s Spirit App eared
from the Ir o n t o n S e m i- W e e k ly ia n , N o v . 8, 1907
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n 1907, the spir appear at th it of an Ironton woman was said to strange enou e baptism of an infant. gh, the bapti If th at wasn sm wasn’t ev Ironton, but in en performed ’t Michigan. in Tom J. Finle Lawrence Co y, of St. Louis, Mo., o un ri Star of seeing ty, told his story to the M ginally from his dead aunt ic tism. Mary Hamilt higan Daily on at the bap Not only did claimed the sp Finley see his departed au nt, but he also irit “Tom,” the gh spoke to him. o st said. “We can once innocen ’t realize that t littl we were Finley said h e babes like that, can we? ” e ev en introduced h attendance an is aunt d onstrating a m she shook hands with ev to those in eryone, “dem ost beautiful d emonstration In his letter to .” ing, “Verily fr the Daily Star, Finley con cl ie and Earth th nds, there are stranger th uded by sayings in Heave an we know of, all tending n fact that there to is only a thin veil between establish the us.”
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Strange Stories Newspapers once focused on supernatural happenings By Michelle Goodman | The Tribune
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ightings of the supernatural, accompanied by the roasting of marshmallows and the gentle chirping of crickets, make for good campfire stories, but in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, those stories made headlines in Lawrence County’s newspapers. From mysterious women haunting local homes and strange apparitions floating on the water, to sinister houses and unidentified remains, these are just a few of the strange stories that made the news.
The Fatal House gi st er , fr om Th e Ir on to n Re Ja n. 12 , 18 71 a story of a house ne Ironton Register reporter told some of its resifor ns ntio believed to have ill inte dents. rs, several unusual Within the span of four or five yea long brick house on the deaths happened in a room of a Park Avenue) streets. corner of Sixth and Olive (now the first to die a A man named only as Razor was died simply of a e hav mysterious death. He was said to ous.” ger dan t “sore hand that was not though himself in the g hun yer enm Next, a man named Ost Joe Weitz died in the same room. Then, a man named ed from being run over same room from injuries sustain by a wagon. was written, another A few days before the article alhouse, also fell victim man, by the name of Jacob Co to the Fatal House. bed to light a fire and It was said Coalhouse rose from called for him. Not wife his then returned to bed. Later, his bed, where he was getting an answer, she went to found dead. t it is unlucky to live “The feeling is getting current tha er world have blasted there and that spirits from the oth te. the apartment,” the reporter wro
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Ghosts About
From The Iro nton Registe r, June 27, 186 7
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he Ironton Register rep or The woman was frigh few unusual sightings of ted on a tened but a spirit who friends rid appeared to young wo iculed her so much tha her men living in an dis t she missed the incident. East Ironton home. Th e sightings were A few days later, the always at 3 p.m. in the bloody woman afternoon, lead- appe ared, scaring the youn ing the reporter of the g girl again, article to call the bu t this time she fell down specter “most unghost the stairs. ly.” It was Yet those who saw the ghost were scared said that she was almost literally scared so severely to death. that they never The woman was taken returned to the home. from the home to recover from her sh The ghost was that of oc k and injuries. a yo un g nude She never ret woman, blood dripping urned to the house. from gashes all The article concluded by over her body. been unexceptionably the saying, “It has The first reported sighti case heretofore, ng of the spirit that characters like the one was by two women wh o saw the bloody tio ned, and ghosts general above menghost at the top of the ly made their stairs. A few days ap pearance in the night. later the ghost appeared There is talk again at the same som etimes of ghosts revisiting time and place. The wo men were so fright- of the moon, but of the sun the glimpses ened the family moved — never. from the home. “We sincerely suggest The next family th to those directly at moved in conc ern also experienced sighti ngs. The ghost gobli ed in this affair to arrest the n the next time it appe appeared to another ars, and prosyoung woman in ec ute it for vagrancy or im the home, once again mediately proat the same time cu re the passage of an ordin and at the top of the sta ance, making irs. it unlawful for ghosts to run at large.”
Letter to the editor f r o m T h e I r o n t o n R e g i s t e r , Oct . 2 0 , 1 8 7 3
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n a short letter to the editor, a farmer, identified only as “One Who Saw It,” wrote about a ghost who regularly visited a man and his family who lived in a house on the farm of Turner Kemp. The farmer also warned the Ironton Register that the ghost may pay the editor a visit as well. Sometimes, the farmer penned, the ghost only visited the man’s wife. Other times, the ghost was seen by the entire family, as well as neighbors. The farmer himself said he, too, saw the spirit. “Although I have been taught to disbelieve such things, I must confess that the evidence in this case is so strong that I am forced to admit it a fact,” he wrote.
“The first time I saw it, it was just in the dusk of the evening, as I was returning from the field. It started up from near the fence and flitted along, till it came to the house, and then disappeared rather suddenly.” After his first encounter with the ghost, the farmer said he began to see it more, in broad daylight and after dark and with no particular schedule. “I heard from a reliable source that it had been seen in the courthouse yard last Saturday evening. The last sighting of it was at a small house in East Ironton,” the farmer wrote. “So. Mr. Editor, it may, someday, take a notion to walk into your sanctum.”
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Lawrence County Department of Job and Family Services, Family Medical Center, Family Guidance Center, Community Counseling and Shawnee Mental Health. All must fill out a form that includes their name, home address, number in the household by age and yearly income. For a household of one the yearly income cannot exceed $22,339; for two it is $30,259. For each additional person in the household, that yearly income is increased by $7,920. Then they receive a voucher that allows them a single visit each month. A first-time visitor can use the food pantry once without a voucher. But subsequent times a voucher must be provided. Sometimes Frazer goes shopping daily for the pantry from the Huntington, W.Va., food bank and he gets food delivered once a month from the food bank in Logan. He is also on the reserve list for River Cities Harvest food bank in Ashland, Ky. “Whenever they have extra, they call me,” Frazer said. Frazer estimates he gives out 5,000 pounds of food a month to those in need. But items given out at the pantry can also come from donations by individuals off the street and includes cleaning supplies, diapers, toothpaste, even over the counter allergy medicines. “Those travel sizes from hotels and motels, we take them and divide them out to people who can use it,” Terkhorn said. Off from where the food is stored is another area with racks of warm winter coats “If they come in without a coat, we ask if they need one,” he said. “And we will give them a coat.” The pantry started in 1992 in the basement of First United Methodist Church by Colleen Massey, Mary Jenkins and Ted Hopkins. Massey hasn’t lost her passion for the work and shows up three times a week at the pantry to continue helping out. “We noticed a lot of people coming into the church asking for help and food,” she said. “We thought why not have food here. It grew from there.” So the trio would bring in grocery bags of supplies and help out maybe five or six families a week. “Now they are lining out the door,” she said. •
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Todd Terkhorn loads a buggy full of food for a family of four at the Harvest for the Hungry Food Pantry located along North Fifth Street in Ironton.
Feeding a need New facility allows food pantry to grow outreach
By Benita Heath | The Tribune
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odd Terkhorn is in the back room of Harvest for the Hungry food pantry in downtown Ironton, checking out the shelves of supplies, when Helen Vinson working in the front office calls out, “We have two and three.” The longtime volunteer at the pantry understands that lingo. It means a family of two adults and three children has just come in. It also means he has to do a little readjusting of the shopping cart filled with already-packed grocery bags. It’s standard procedure for volunteers to keep the shopping cart ready with bags of grocery portioned out for two
adults. That way when larger families come in, it takes just a little time to boost the order. Typically one to two people are allotted between 20 and 25 pounds of food including cans of vegetables, bags of cereal, frozen meats and soup. When the request comes in to help feed more people, Terkhorn does what he likes to call “swapping out,” pulling out the smaller sizes of items like jars of jelly for a family-size version of the same item. “It gets adjusted,” he said. “Bigger soups, bigger cans of spaghetti. We will swap out with bigger cereals. Vinson comes into the storage area to help out her fellow volunteer. “They look like they need it,” Vinson tells Terkhorn as she helps him add to
the grocery bags. “You can always tell.” Then Terkhorn goes to one of the refrigerators and freezers banked against the wall to pull out some lastminute perishables. He grabs a frozen package of pork roast with vegetables for a hot meal. “And here is something for some sandwiches while they wait for that to cook,” he said. “Let’s throw on a few more cookies.” Then the pair pushes the cart out to the waiting adults who load it into their car. And that’s the drill at the food pantry for the next three hours, as those volunteers will repeat their “shopping” for those in need. The pantry, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m.
to noon, can serve anywhere from 275 to close to 600 families a month. In September it opened up in a new building at the corner of Railroad and North Fifth streets. The statistics for the past three months show the growing need in the community to help families with something as basic as healthy meals as each month the number that is helped hovers around 500 or more families. In January there were 468 families helped; December, 476 and November 573, according to food pantry manager Dave Frazer, who took over the operation in September. All who use the pantry are referred there by such agencies as the IrontonLawrence County Community Action Organization, Social Security,
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“We lived on 10th and Pine and Dad was representing him on something or other and I remember Ducky getting out of his car with a bottle of whiskey and went into the conference,” Meyers said. Then there’s the famous headline in one of the Ironton newspapers Ironton attorney Craig Allen recalls where Ducky argued that something wasn’t illegal. “Illegal is a sick bird, what it was is il-lawful,” Allen said the newspaper reported. Whether Corn really grasped the finer points of English grammar, he could speak about the legal system, having found himself on the wrong side of the law when he was charged with not paying $10,000 in cabaret taxes. That was in the fall of 1957 in federal court in Columbus where Corn took the stand in his own defense, claiming he knew he had to pay the tax but didn’t have the money to do that at the time. Basically he claimed he was broke. Testifying at the trial as well was Norman Walton, then vice president of Ironton’s First National Bank, who said he had turned down a loan to Corn because he didn’t have sufficient collateral. That wasn’t the first time Corn had gotten in trouble over taxes. From 1950 to 1956 the IRS had filed tax liens against him totaling a half-million dollars. The case was settled but the terms were never revealed. Evidence was presented at the federal trial that he had paid the cabaret taxes later, but Corn claimed he didn’t know he could file a return and not have to pay the taxes at the same time. On Oct. 31, 1957, a federal jury found Corn guilty on 13 counts — five for not filing the tax returns and eight for not paying the tax. The penalty looming was a maximum of 45 years in prison and $130,000 in fines. The nightclub owner spent a couple of days in jail but was released on the grounds that a stint in prison would endanger the life of the diabetic. In a career that spanned almost 25 years, Corn started out running a filling station on Third Street where he hawked watermelons during the summer. That initial experience in finding out what the public wants, plus some training at Davidson Business College, led Corn into the realm of owning and
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operating bistros and bars. One of the most well-known started out as the Ritzy Ray, again only about a half-mile from where he grew up, now the location of Spare Time bowling alley. But in 1954 that was transformed into what Corn described as a nightclub bigger than one of the top clubs in Paris. Ducky talked about it in an interview he gave in the summer of 1954, just before the Ritzy Ray was apotheosized into the Latin Quarter. “Tell ‘em it’s the biggest club in the nation, the world,” he told the reporter. “Expect ‘em in here from up and down the river.” There were to be Las Vegas-style
cabaret shows, a roving photographer, a cigarette girl and uniformed powder room attendants, plus a payroll of 52. “It’s never been tried, but I’m goin’ to do it,” he said. “It’s going to be clean … goin’ to run it the right way.” In between playing impresario Corn had two terms on Ironton City Council and ran the Village of Hanging Rock as mayor. But the private man is the one Ison remembers and centers her thoughts on. “He was wonderful to me,” she said. “In his eyes, I could do no wrong. And I tried not to do anything to disappoint
him. When anybody is that good to you, you try not to disappoint them.” Ison, who goes by the name “Dusty,” was named for her parents, Mary, for her mother and Dustin for her father. “Back then it wasn’t cool to name a girl a guy’s name,” she said. “So it got cut down to Dusty.” In the summers she would ride with her father to his office at the Latin Quarter where she would spend the day. “Sometimes I would get to go out into the bar and they had an automatic glass washer,” she said. “The brush would go into the glass and I would get to clean the glasses.” The Corns originally set up residence at Gray Gables, a house on the edge of Hanging Rock that was once a hospital and later owned by a member of the Means family. Across the road Ducky built a stable where his wife would ride her Tennessee Walkers and Dusty would ride her pony. Then, when Ison was old enough to go to school, Corn moved his family to Ironton and the Marting mansion on the corner of Fifth and Adams streets. There he lived until his death in 1969. Among her memories of her father’s generosity is when the Corns would spend days packing up boxes of food and Ducky would take it around to families he knew needed some help. “He didn’t advertise it or honk his horn,” Ison said. “He would drop off the boxes of food in town and out in the county. At Christmas we would do the same thing.” That was the man Ison remembers and wants people to know. “I know he has a crazy reputation that goes back and forth,” she said. “But he was a good person and he would help anybody.” •
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The legend of “Ducky” Corn Ironton businessman became iconic figure By Benita Heath | The Tribune
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nce upon a time there was a little boy who liked to hang out with his older brothers and their buddies near their home on South Third Street, about the same spot as where Cooke’s Farm Center is today. Sometimes the older boys would jump on a passing train coming into Ironton on the line that ran parallel to the Ohio River to sneak a ride through town. At least as long as there wasn’t a conductor looking their way. When there was, the little boy would signal his brothers not to hop on. That is, he would try to tell them. “He was the youngest and couldn’t talk very plain,” his daughter, Mary Ison, recalled. “He would try to say ‘conductor.’ It would come out ‘ducky.’” And that is the earliest story in the legend that is Dustin “Ducky” Corn, larger than life businessman, entrepreneur, politician and whatever else that is part of the mystique of the man who died more than 40 years ago. A man who is still talked about today. There’s the story about the trained bear that loved to guzzle beer, an action captured in time in a photograph now on the wall of a South Third Street restaurant where Corns’ used car lot was. That he sold nothing at the lot but his own used Cadillacs is a tale often heard but can’t be confirmed. Ison doesn’t recall the bear but remembers a goose with a similar taste for the quasi high life. And after a few sips the inebriated fowl would go pecking at anything and anybody in its way. Ironton attorney Elliott Meyers represented Corn once, his son, Richard Meyers, also an attorney, remembers.
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South Point Local Schools South Point High School 377-4323
South Point Middle School 377-4343
Burlington Elementary 894-4230
South Point Elementary 377-2756
Building the foundation for tomorrow’s leaders
South Point Middlle School Quiz Bowl Team. First place on OVC season with a 12 and 2 season
South Point Fire Department conducts safety drill during National Fire Prevention Week.
Students are rewarded for their great behavior with a dance party.
Seniors presenting their RESPECT skit to the entire student body in our back to school assembly. Students learn about cells by creating t-shirts w/ cell parts labeled in Ms. Taylor’s Biology class.
First grade students learn about warm and cool colors as they created artworks during a recent visit by the Huntington Museum of Art.
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In the theater party room, RC Kids has Re:Claim team members teaching a lesson and doing games and crafts with children from 3 years old through the fifth grade, though as attendance progress, the plan is to have a separate preschool class. The nursery, in the theater conference room, is for children from birth to 2 years old. For nursery and RC Kids, children are checked in and checked out with a computerized system to give matching alphanumeric labels to children and their adults. “We wanted them to have a safety system,” said Brittany Adkins, Corey Adkins’ wife. She said being in such a public place, it was important to play it safe. During the message, Corey Adkins said, “We are here, but we’ve just begun.” Getting to the first few weeks of the new location took a long time and a lot of planning. The group was originally part of a youth group at First Weslyan Church in Huntington, W.Va. Corey Adkins started asking God what was next, he said that’s where this adventure began. The church is still backed by the Wesleyan denomination and has been with the Adkins’ each step of the way, from church planting assessment to training, and even to church planting boot camp. The group had been meeting at a bagel shop in Huntington, at the Hampton Inn, and in several homes for small groups. On a whim, Corey Adkins called Cinemark’s headquarters in Texas to see what they thought about leasing the theater to them for services. “They were very friendly,” Adkins said. “It has a little bit of a price tag to do this, but nothing compared to church overhead and things like that.” He said his church prayed about it for a while, and it was about a five-month process to solidify the lease, which they now have for a year. The set-up for the services proved challenging at first, but now works like clockwork. The volunteers, about 20 of them, show up at 7 a.m., unloading signs, free visitor merchandise, children’s supplies, band equipment, everything, to be ready by 9 a.m. After the service begins, the refreshments and bouncy house, visitors table and signs are moved to another hallway, to empty the lobby area for the theater staff to begin their day. After the service, the volunteers talk to each other and to visitors for 15 minutes, then begin the process of getting everything out the door in time for the theater staff to prepare for their first showing. “It took months to organize it,” Adkins said. He added that the staff of the theater, along with the general manager, have been extremely courteous, welcoming and helpful. Adkins sees the benefits and opportunities endless for ministering from the mall. “Thousands come in and out of here every day,” he said. He added that it is a great outreach opportunity for mall employees who don’t get to go to church all the time, but could go to Re:Claim before work. He said now that there is a building to invite people to, new and different people are coming. “It’s exciting,” Brittany Adkins said. “I was skeptical at first, but I’ve seen it go from a dream to a reality.” “People have seen the vision we have, the community aspect and outreach. It seems like people really grasp it,” Corey Adkins said. “Eventually this will turn into not just a Sunday service, but a church who is on a mission in our community in the area. We just happen to have church in the mall.” •
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The worship band starts the service with praise songs.
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Pastor Corey Adkins preaches his message during the Sunday morning worship service.
Kaylee Adkins plays in the nursery with her doll during the service.
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Re:Claim team members Brandon Barbour and Jenny Jones ask the children questions about the lesson.
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Visitors are greeted at Re:Claim church.
Faithful message, unique location Church takes advantage of movie theater at Huntington Mall
By Jennifer Chapman | The Tribune
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hroughout history, churches have changed, going from cathedrals to simpler buildings with padded pews and stained glass, to school buildings — and even movie theaters. While the buildings of the churches may have changed, their mission remains the same. Re:Claim church recently began meeting at the Cinemark theater in Barboursville, W.Va., at the Huntington Mall. Their mission is something churches can agree on, regardless of where they meet: to love Christ, love others and love mercy. Pastor Corey Adkins said the goal of Re:Claim is to influence the community and share the gospel, taking the message to people where they are. People are comfortable going to a movie theater, whereas some with past negative church experiences might shy away from sanctuary doors.
“One guy said, and I don’t want people to take this the wrong way, but he said ‘It doesn’t feel like a church,’” Adkins said. “I know this fellow, and he really had a bad time with church over the years. So he comes here, hears the message of Jesus and worships, and still doesn’t feel like he is excluded.” Re:Claim volunteer, Alisha Harbour, 19, of Chesapeake, started attending small groups, or house churches, with Re:Claim before the church had settled on a location. “My old church I went to kind of went downhill,” Harbour said. She is also dating Adkins’ brother-inlaw, so she decided to try going to church with him. “I thought, ‘I’ll check it out,’” she said. “We liked it really well.” Then the plans for transitioning to services at the theater began. “It’s not the traditional church setting, where you go and sit in a pew for an hour or two — routine,” Harbour said. “It’s different and exciting each Sunday. You don’t know what to expect. But it
reaches out. People come to the mall.” Harbour said when you first get there, it might seem as if you are going to a movie theater, but when it starts, it feels like a church service. The theater doors open at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings, with donuts and coffee and time to talk, as well as an inflatable for children. By 9:45, people gather in the theater, as the sounds of the worship band, LIFT Ministries, gears up. Concert-style lighting illuminates the band, with the words to the modern praise choruses on the projection screen to encourage participation. Cushioned seats with cup holders begin to fill up with the 50 to 60 people who have been coming over the past month. Offering and prayer come next. The use of technology is abundant, with video clips, excellent sound, and Bible apps on tablets and smart phones making it easier to read in the darkened theater. The message begins and Adkins shares what is on his heart for the week.
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the case with most churches in Ironton. The people of Ironton, for the most part, reached out to help those in need. “So I guess growing up there helped instill in me a sense of social responsibility to help those who may not have a voice. Many of those values I still carry with me as a college professor. I, as a first-generation college student, understand what it is like to work a full-time job or to have to join the Army Reserve in order to pay for my college. As a result, I can often times closely relate to other first-generation college students. Most importantly, with regards to this book, I am able to see the prisoners buried in the cemetery as human beings rather than someone that ‘got what they deserved’ as many may believe.” Wilson said it is the combination of his upbringing and education showing him just how little he knew of the world before he left Ironton that has helped shape him into who he is. His educational pursuits have garnered him friends from many countries and with a myriad of religious and political backgrounds. That has made him realize everyone is more similar than different. Wilson said the most common similarity, which he believes is at the core of what he is doing, is compassion. •
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Wilson said. “The cemetery’s other name, given to it by the inmates, ‘Peckerwood Hill’ essentially means poor and unwanted. Based on my discussions with former Texas Department of Criminal Justice wardens and personnel, TDCJ makes extensive efforts to locate family members of the deceased and most of the time the family simply cannot afford to bring the family member home. I think it is safe to say the normal kneejerk reaction by the general public would be to assume that those buried in the cemetery must have been horrible people to end up there.” Further, the fact that the execution chamber for the state of Texas is located less than two miles away from the cemetery many wrongly assume that most of those buried there are those who were executed. “In fact, the executed only make up around two percent of the graves. Many who are buried there committed victimless crimes and are clearly missed by loved ones, as is evidenced by the family members who attend funeral services and by the flowers that are regularly placed on the graves.” And it is this fact the man who is now a professor of criminal justice as Indiana State University focuses on. “The fact of the matter is that those who are buried there are for the most part, a clear reflection of who we imprison in our country, the poor,” Wilson said. “Further, given that the cemetery dates back to 1850 and that over half of the 3,000 burials occurred after 2000, as a criminologist I can tell you that this is a reflection of the war
Profile 2013
on drugs, the demand for longer prison sentences and subsequent growing elderly population in our prison system. “Based on my research, each year since the 1990s, approximately 100 inmates have been buried in the cemetery, at least until this last year. When I returned to the cemetery in the summer of 2012 I found that in the past year nearly 200 inmates had been buried in the cemetery. In this past year
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we have seen a distinct increase in the number of paupers’ graves in the civilian world and it would appear that the tough economic times are also reflected in this prison graveyard as well.” It is perhaps Wilson’s upbringing that helps him see the prison graveyard and those buried there with unassuming eyes. Wilson said he learned many things growing up in Ironton, some good and some bad, but the
main lesson still holds true: Do what you can to help those in need. “I can remember my mother and other city employees going without pay to help bring the city out of debt and holding potluck dinners to make sure everyone had enough to eat,” Wilson said. “I can remember Lamar and Joyce O’Bryant leading the congregation of Sharon Baptist Church to provide food and clothing to those in need, as was
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A native son
Ironton man tells stories of those buried in prison cemetery By Shane Arrington | The Tribune
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hile running by a graveyard more than a thousand miles away from his hometown of Ironton, Frank Wilson began wondering what circumstances could lead to someone’s life ending in a remote pauper’s graveyard in southeast Texas. An Ironton High School and Ohio University Southern graduate, Wilson was pursuing his Ph.D. in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas when he said a professor there suggested he do some figurative digging. “Dr. Dennis Longmire in the College of Criminal Justice had suggested that I explore who was buried there as a dissertation topic,” Wilson said. “While I chose another topic, the idea never left my mind. Furthermore, my mother and stepfather had visited me in Huntsville, and despite trips to NASA
and others places in the region, the one thing my mother always remembered was the Captain Joe Byrd Prison Cemetery. It imbues one with a lasting impression not unlike that of Arlington Cemetery.” And that lasting impression eventually turned into a fire that caused Wilson to return to his old running ground and seek more information about the cemetery. The 22-acre cemetery has been the final resting place for unclaimed Texas inmates for more than 150 years. Fascinated with the idea of how one becomes a resident of a penal institution, and then to go as far as to be buried with other unclaimed prisoners, Wilson started the project he ignored for his dissertation. He began to write about the people whose names were carved onto the headstones he used to run past. “This book is different in that it will illuminate the common ground we all have with the prisoners buried in the cemetery,” Wilson said. “Those who will be portrayed in it will provide a snapshot of America’s past, present and future. The readers will be able to find the
commonalities, as I have, with those who are buried in the cemetery. In this cemetery you not only find Indian chiefs, circus performers, horse thieves, serial killers, country music singers and rodeo stars, but you also find veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East as well as war heroes including Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipients, children of single parents, people raised in working class communities, former factory workers and so many others.” Wilson’s book has brought him national attention. The New York Times wrote an article on prisoner burials in Texas and quoted Wilson. He said, while most assume those laid to rest in prison cemeteries are bad people, it is more a reflection of one’s socioeconomic status. “Since the Texas prison system started burying inmates on this piece of land around 1850, the majority of those buried in the cemetery are there not because they were unwanted, but because their families could not afford to bring them home,”
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“I will walk this journey and make someone’s day brighter,” she said. Barbie began to do just that. She has spoken at several churches including Tri-State Worship Center in South Point. Barbie said she tells her story not to dwell on what happened but to share how amazing God is. “The reason we do that is because people are hurting,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that their valleys are any less dramatic than mine. They’re hurting. If I can share God is faithful no matter what we encounter, and if somebody sees that, they can see that God is faithful and can bring good from anything we go through.” Pastor Terry Wagner, pastor of Tri-State Worship Center, said the encouraging theme of Barbie’s message was that bad things happen to good people, but God is still good. “Just knowing what she had gone through and be able to stand and pray, and, through that, hold on to her faith,” Wagner said. “That faith will see her through.” Wagner said the way she used the tragedy as a springboard to make a difference was inspiring. “She didn’t let it defeat her,” he said. In addition to public speaking,
Barbie spends much of her time with Faithful Grace, a pending non-profit organization in Evansville, Ind., that provides support for children who are at-risk academically, socially, emotionally, financially and spiritually. The children get a meal, clothes and a lesson. “We help them with their homework. We allow them to develop their leadership skills. We let them start using what they’ve been blessed with to basically help them grow in all areas,” she said. So far, the organization has been able to serve 35 children. They focus on children ages 9 to 14, but Barbie said they never turn a child away. There is an active board of seven members for the organization, and they also participate in the lessons. There are workshops quarterly that integrate the family. “We try to develop great families,” she said. Some of the workshops include outlining what needs to happen when families face domestic violence. Barbie said the families have been receptive. “We had a girl last semester who we fed a meal, and she said, ‘I’m hungry, I’m hungry.’ It was the only meal
she had to eat that day,” Barbie said. “Without Faithful Grace, she would be slipping through the cracks.” While she misses Annaliese every day, she is finding purpose again. “My family may not be set up the same way it was when my baby was here,” Barbie said, “but if me being left
behind means it can give them a place where they are safe, happy and learning, and families are coming together to see that God is always faithful no matter what their circumstances are and those kids grow to a faithful relationship with God, that’s what I want to happen.” •
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submitted
Barbie Bias, pictured far right, has used the tragic death of her daughter as motivation to create Faithful Grace, a non-profit organization that supports children in need.
Barbie later found out Matt had quit his job the day before he killed Annaliese and himself, and she believes his plans for wanting to meet her somewhere else that morning had to mean one of two things. “Either I was meant to watch Anna die or I was supposed to die that day, too,” Barbie said. Barbie said her faith, knowing that God is good no matter what circumstances we go through, and prayers of other people is what has gotten her through the time since the tragedy. Barbie said, after Anna’s death, she felt like she lost her purpose. “I was going downhill,” she said. “It was only by God’s mercy and grace that I could get up in the morning and find happiness again, and take a look at a child’s smile and know my baby girl is smiling in Heaven and that I will see her again.” Barbie began to see glimpses of a new purpose for her life. She said that each day there is someone else’s life she can touch, by giving a smile, a prayer or helping in some way. “Our life is more than within our four walls, or our churches,” she said. “Our life extends to every person we see.” She said seeing God’s blessings and knowing that there are people you can help with a smile, a hug or a gentle word, it can change feelings so negative that make you not want to move and question why you should even get up in the morning.
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Faithful Grace Tragic death of 7-year-old girl leads mother to new calling By Jennifer Chapman | The Tribune
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hen Barbie Bias is asked to describe her only daughter, Annaliese Grace, she smiles. That alone is no small task. Less than a year and a half ago, her energetic and bubbly second-grader’s life tragically ended. The journey Barbie has taken since then is one intrinsically woven with faith. At just 7 years old, Annaliese was a loving and caring little girl with brown hair and big brown eyes. “She was so full of life,” Barbie said. “She loved to make people giggle. When she was with you, she was so focused on you and what would make you smile.” Barbie said Annaliese seemed to want everyone she was with to know how special they were. “She got into her fair share of mischief, but she did it with a smile and a laugh that just lit up the room,” Barbie said. “She was baptized just two months before she went to Heaven. She was a very special little girl.” Barbie, Annaliese, and Annaliese’s father, Matt Bias, had moved from Huntington, W.Va., to Indiana in 2010, and then to Anderson, Ky. During this time, Barbie and Matt started divorce proceedings. Barbie said Annaliese had told a licensed social worker that Matt was abusive, and the social worker recommended that she spend as little time with him as possible. But this was inadmissible in court due to the social worker being across state lines. “Nothing was finalized,” Barbie said. “Not even that we were separated.” Barbie was granted custody on Aug. 15, 2011, and Annaliese was to be returned to Barbie the following day. But she never saw her daughter alive again. On Aug. 16, 2011, rather than meeting at the police station to give Annaliese back to Barbie, Matt sent a text wanting her to meet him somewhere else, but Barbie stood firm that they would meet as planned. While Barbie was at work, she said the police came in with a social worker and spoke to her boss. “I heard my bosses gasp. I said, ‘What happened? Is my baby OK?’ The social worker shook her head no. They told me she was dead,” Barbie said. Barbie said everything that happened after that was a blur. She remembers going to the police station. A pastor from her church came in, knelt down in front of her, and said that Matt had shot Annaliese five times, though later they learned it was six, and had shot himself once. They both died at the scene. The one small comfort Barbie has about what happened is that Annaliese wasn’t awake when she died. “She went to sleep happy and woke up in Heaven,” Barbie said.
Annaliese Grace Bias
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Kiser Jenkins puts away his coat.
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
(LEFT) Teacher Tara Sharp allows children from the Head Start room to choose, designed activities during class at the Ohio University Southern Child Development Center. (RIGHT) Mason Kitts eats breakfast in the infant room. (BELOW) Teacher Cynthia Boyd reads the book “Tooth Trouble” to a group of children.
From then on, a home visit is made once a week for 90 minutes until the child is 4 years old and ready to be transitioned into one of the centerbased programs, like Early Childhood Education. The caseworkers who visit the homes also have degrees in early childhood education but are not making home visits to teach the children. “Our goal is to teach the parents what is appropriate, what to teach, what is the best practice for a healthy life,” Daniels said. The programs are not all about the mothers, and fathers are strongly encouraged to take an active role in the home visits as well as the activities at the center-based programs. Daniels said some children have fathers who are incarcerated, but with the mother’s permission, children can send art and school work to their fathers. “It’s a way to let dad know, you’re still a dad even though you’re incarcerated,” Daniels said. “It’s still important the child knows dad is out there somewhere.” If the child’s father is not involved, Daniels said a strong male role model is encouraged to participate. The LCECA also connects families with community services if needed, such as referrals to the Workforce Development Center to learn about getting a GED or a college education, or finding doctors, housing or even something as small as getting a smoke detector for the home. “We try to look at the whole child, meaning that child lives within the context of a family,” Daniels said. “And the family lives in a community. So we believe it takes the whole village to raise a child. We do not want the parents to be dependent on us. We want them to be self-sufficient.” Assurance Both the Stevens family and Crabtree said the services at the LCECA give their children structure and give them reassurance that their children will be well taken care of. “It does help bring stability, having structure and a schedule,” Elizabeth Stevens said. “It’s something you can depend on. They are always reliable.” Crabtree agreed. “Especially if you are a working mother, it’s nice to know the people you are leaving your child with you are comfortable with. Everyone here is like a second family to me and my kids. Of course they have been here since birth practically. They know them, but you know when you leave your child here they are going to be taken care of. They are going to learn.” •
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Sadie Mulkey teaches interactive reading with children in the toddler room.
“They can get a picture of their baby playing with another baby or reading a story.” In addition to technology areas, the classrooms are divided into several other areas devoted to fine motor skills, music, math, science, dramatic play, art, writing and, of course, reading. “They are not just playing, although play is important, but we make sure the environment is set up to be conducive to their learning,” Daniels said. And to ensure the children will be fully prepared for kindergarten when they leave the LCECA programs, a leadership team meets with each of the county’s school districts to know what is expected of the children. “They let us know what’s expected of their kindergartners from our children,” Daniels said. “So when our kids transition in the kindergarten, we have those readiness skills, and that’s what we are teaching the children.” Although learning is key, the LCECA doesn’t stop with academics. The centers require all children to have dental exams and medical checkups, as well as keep up with blood screenings, height and weight, immunizations and nutrition. The LCECA also works closely with the director
of the WIC clinic to approve all school breakfast and lunch menus to ensure they are nutritious. There is also a registered nurse on staff to monitor health services and identify areas to follow up on. For infants with special needs, a full-time staff member with experience in infant mental health can ensure those children are evaluated early on. Single mother Dusti Crabtree has two children attending the OUS Child Development Center and one on the waiting list. Her oldest daughter, JayLeigh, now 10, also went through the program. Crabtree said she benefited from have the LCECA involved in her children’s lives from infancy. Her 3-year-old, Ellie, was found to have some developmental disabilities, but is being treated at the center with physical and speech therapy. Ellie is doing well. “There is someone from the main center who comes and helps her work through those delays, which is so nice,” Crabtree said. “Had she been at home, or just in a regular daycare, I might not have known.” Even right after birth, the LCECA is notified from area hospitals, through Baby Net, if infants are born with special needs. “We’ll assign a service coordinator to make a
home visit and see what we can do to hook them up with an individual family service plan,” Daniels said. “That child might then receive physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, any number of auxiliary services that that child needs as an infant.” For older children, aides from the Lawrence County Board of Developmental Disabilities assist with special needs children in the classroom. Learning as a family As much as the LCECA prepares children for kindergarten, it also teaches adults how to teach their children and prepares them for parenthood. Mothers can enroll while they are pregnant in the Early Head Start and Help Me Grow programs and begin a prenatal curriculum. The curriculum goes week by week throughout the pregnancy so mothers can learn about breastfeeding, nutrition, weight gain, delivery and what to expect throughout the pregnancy. Moms also have get-togethers to socialize and make crafts for their babies. “As soon as they deliver, our nurse makes a home visit within 10 days of the baby’s birth, to see if mom is doing OK, if the baby is doing OK,” Daniels said.
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
(OPPOSITE PAGE) Ellie Collins spends the morning playing games on the computer. Eliza Deborde, left, Tucker Rowe, right, spend part of the morning reading. (ABOVE) Haylie Aliff practices writing her name.
“We are targeting families that can benefit from having child care while they work, go to school and, sometimes, they just need their child to get a quality preschool education,” Daniels said. The OUS center in Hanging Rock fulfills that need for the Stevens family, as well as other parents who are juggling their lives and the lives of their little ones. “Our target is students, so we can take care of their children while they get an education,” Daniels said.” Childcare is also offered at sites in Proctorville and South Point and is available for infants and children up to 5 years old to families all over the Tri-State. The LCECA is unlike most daycare centers in that children do not just go there to play until their parents pick them up. Those children in the childcare classrooms follow a curriculum, just like the students enrolled in Early Childhood Education programs. “They all receive the same quality of services,” Daniels said. “All the classrooms are equipped in the same manner.” All teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and classrooms are equipped with computer areas with age-appropriate software. Some have smart boards and more recently, iPad Minis. “We are trying to keep up with the modern technology so when children go to kindergarten, they have all these experiences and opportunities that maybe some of the more disadvantaged children might not have experienced if they had not come to our program,” Daniels said. The technology also extends to the parents. Using the iPad Minis, teachers can send parents notes or pictures of their child’s progress. “Parents can be working or going to school and receive this neat thing about their child and I just think it’s so cool,” Daniels said.
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Profile 2013
Joy of learning
Early Childhood Academy focuses on mission of complete education By Michelle Goodman | The Tribune
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t was only 6-week-old Kynnedi’s second day in infant childcare at the Ohio University Southern Child Development Center, but parents Elizabeth and Jack Stevens knew she was in good hands. The Stevens family has been part of the Lawrence County Early Childhood Academy family since their oldest daughter, Lynndan, was 5 month old. Now 20 months old, Lynndan is thriving, the couple said, both intellectually and socially. She used to be a shy, clingy baby, Elizabeth said, but now is friendly and outgoing. “Everyone just brags on how smart she is,” Elizabeth said. “She has done wonderful.” The Stevenses are young parents; Elizabeth, 25, and Jack, 22. When they were expecting Lynndan, both were students at Ohio University Southern and also worked there.
“How are we going to do everything?” Elizabeth said, recalling the couple’s thought process before their baby was born. “It definitely hits you with a moment of shock,” Jack said. The couple from Ashland, Ky., had family support for awhile after Lynndan was born, but eventually needed a more reliable and structured environment for the baby. The couple heard of the childcare option through the LCECA and did some research on some other local daycares. “We actually looked at other daycares initially, just to see what was available and this was one of the only daycares that actually had a curriculum for small children,” Elizabeth said. And the curriculum in the LCECA centers is what sets them apart, said director Sharon Daniels. From developing fine motor skills and dramatic play, to science, math and writing, children who
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attend LCECA centers are given a head start on their way to kindergarten. “Nationwide, there is a higher expectation of Head Start programs to ensure preschool children are ready for kindergarten,” Daniels said. What is LCECA? The LCECA is a non-profit organization that provides comprehensive early childhood services through a variety of programs at 11 sites throughout the county. Funded through federal grants, childcare subsidies, private contracts with school districts and some private-paying families, LCECA runs Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Childhood Education, Help Me Grow and year-round childcare. Overall, the agency serves about 840 children and their families. And no matter which program a child is in, Daniels said they all receive the same quality of services and learning.
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Profile 2013
from the federal government came from donations and ingenuity. Last September a boot drive brought in about $800, which was used to replace batteries in the tanker truck and emergency response vehicle, as well as a defibrillator. Turnout gear for the firefighters had been donated as well as purchased through a FEMA grant. Cox said the only way they could raise the 5 percent match for the grant was thanks to some good fortune. “We got lucky,” Cox said. “They closed this old school up the road here and the guy who bought it didn’t want the playground equipment. So we made a deal to take that equipment down and we took it and sold it to a church in northern Ohio.” The department’s rescue truck was donated to them by the Coal Grove VFD. There was an issue with the starter, Cox said, which he fixed himself. The Ironton Moose Lodge donated a trailer, which hooks to the back of the ATV for rescues. Hecla Water provides their service free of charge to the department. “That is great because if you have to go to a pond to fill your truck and get dirty water, it saves a lot of damage on the equipment,” Cox said. For other equipment, like the Jaws of Life and thermal imaging camera, searching for the best deals is something to Cox has become quite accustomed. Cox said he bought the thermal imaging camera for about $1,500 in 2010, just a fraction of the nearly $15,000 that the equipment usually costs. Looking to the future This year, Cox is putting together a list of equipment for another fire marshal’s grant, should the department be approved. One piece of equipment that Cox has been pushing for is an airboat. In May 2010, heavy rains caused flash flooding all over the county and brought high waters into the fire station. “We had one call for a water rescue where a man was on top of his vehicle floating away,” Cox recalled. “I had water come over the hood of the truck. The headlights were under water.” Cox said airboats skim the surface of the water and float over top of unseen debris, whereas other boats run the risk of getting debris caught in the motor, with the possibility of another person being stranded in rushing water. Training is another area Cox said he would like to improve on. In addition to the yearly countywide fire school, training in the fire station would be ideal. “Long term, I’d like to be able to get more training for our people,” Cox said. “We don’t have the resources to do in-house training the way I’d like to. I’m working on changing that with this current grant to try to get some projectors to do video training inhouse. Hopefully, if we get the grant, we can have a weekly session.” Henry also said he is working with more of his dogs to train them like Shadow. Ideally, Henry said he would like to have three rescue dogs ready to help if needed. “Shadow is the No. 1 right now,” Henry said. “He can find anything if you have a sample of it.” On the way to becoming an expert rescuer is Henry’s other Weimaraner, Sophie.
Sophie recently weaned a litter of pups and Henry kept one to train as well. “I kept the best of the litter out of this one,” Henry said. Henry said he hopes to also have three handlers trained to take the dogs out if there is an emergency. Everything the department has, Cox said, is ready to aid any part of the county, or even the state, if needed. “Everything we’ve got here helps us, but at any given time it could be moved to any other part of this county,” he said. “If Ironton needs that, we go. If Upper, Coal Grove need it, we go. We’ve actually been to South Point three different times on things that they’ve had, search and rescue, brush fires. We have supplied water for Ironton. … All the departments work extra well together.” •
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Decatur VFD Organized in 1982, the Decatur Township Volunteer Fire Department is the lowest-funded department in the county. Thanks to a tax levy passed during that year, the department of 12 members (plus Shadow) gets about $1,952 a year to run the entire operation. Otherwise, the department’s only source of funding is from grants and community support. Last year, the department went on 63 runs, including 10 auto crashes, eight brush fires, eight structure fires, 13 medical assists and a variety of other calls. “That’s quite a few runs for a little department like ours,” said Gene Cox, fire chief. “We have been up as high as 100 runs a year. Any help we get is greatly appreciated.” Cox joined the department in 2005 and became chief in 2007. Since then, Cox said he has worked to make ends meet with what little money comes into the department, working to replace aging equipment and keep members up-to-date on necessary training. “I feel we are very, very blessed to have what we have,” Cox said. There were times early on in his firefighting career that the department’s equipment wasn’t quite up to snuff. “One of the first fires I went on here, on one of the old trucks, the line I put water to, the metal piping, it was old and rusted out, it actually blew in two,” Cox recalled. “So we had to unhook the hose and go to another line, which took several minutes.” The year after Cox became chief, the department bought its first new fire truck. The Decatur Township Trustees applied for a FEMA grant of more than $200,000 and helped meet the 5 percent match requirement. The fire department scraped together about $2,000 to add to the township’s contribution of $12,500. And it just seemed like whenever there was a need for equipment, luck was on the fire department’s side. Last year, Cox applied for grant from the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office and was awarded more than $24,000 for new equipment. With that money, Cox replaced radio equipment and purchased a heavy lift airbag system. And the new buys were anything but arbitrary purchases. “Two summers ago a guy got pinned under a tractor up the road here and we didn’t have any way of lifting it off of him,” Cox said. “We asked for mutual aid from Coal Grove because I knew they had the airbag system.” Now, if faced with a similar scenario, the department could lift a piece of heavy equipment at least 26 inches off the ground with the airbags and their backpack air bottles. The department has also been fortunate to receive equipment from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through its federal surplus loan program. What used to haul jet fuel, the Decatur Township VFD now uses to haul 5,000 gallons of water. ODNR still owns the equipment, but the fire department can use it for as long as it is needed. Through the same program, the department also got a brush truck used to fight off-road brush fires and aid in rescues. The vehicle also tows the department’s ATV and rescue basket. The ATV was purchased with grant money. What wasn’t bought with grant money or loaned
Profile 2013
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Firefighter Don Henry poses with Sofie, one of his search-and-rescue dogs. Don and his other search-and-rescue dog, Shadow, found a missing teenager last year.
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THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Fire Chief Gene Cox shovels coal into the furnace at the Decatur Township Volunteer Fire Department.
Underdog fire department Decatur shows a lot can be accomplished with very little
By Michelle Goodman | The Tribune
O
n Dec. 5, 2012, a 14-year-old Ironton teen walked away from her home at the Lawrence Street Apartments, prompting an urgent search and rescue mission from multiple law enforcement and emergency response agencies in Lawrence County. Amber Farmer left home with little more than her Shih Tzu dog, Tobey, and a small Hello Kitty backpack. Her parents reported her missing at about 4 p.m. that day, but by the time the sun went down, the search efforts turned up unsuccessful. Dozens of law enforcement officers, firefighters and volunteers searching on foot couldn’t find Amber. Helicopters from the Ohio State Highway Patrol couldn’t find her. Bloodhounds from the Huntington, W.Va., Police Department couldn’t find her. It was a member of an underdog volunteer fire
department that found Amber, showing all of Lawrence County that big budgets can’t replace training and dedication. Finding Amber The temperature that night dipped below freezing and the search resumed at about 7:30 a.m., this time with two new members of the search team: Don Henry, Decatur Township Volunteer Firefighter, and his Weimaraner, Shadow. By 9 a.m., Henry and Shadow were searching the wooded hillside near where Amber had been last seen with her dog. Henry used Amber’s pillow and one of her shoes to give Shadow the scent. The 3-year-old dog had been trained by Henry for the past two years, first using hot dogs as training aids, then more difficult items. That day, Shadow’s training paid off in a big way. “I think (Shadow) smelled her dog, because he marked the scent,” Henry recalled. “Then he went
straight up the hillside. We went probably 700 to 800 feet, went straight up a hill another 300 feet. There was no dog barking and (Amber) wasn’t talking. And right there she sat.” Once Shadow’s job was done, Henry’s training as a first responder kicked in. “The first thing you want to do is a walk-around,” Henry said. “You don’t know, maybe someone took her up there. The first thing you want to do is preserve your crime scene, if there is one. … The first thing you do as a first responder, you have to worry about your own safety. Because if you are not safe, you definitely can’t keep them safe.” Henry approached the huddled, motionless girl. “I walked around her and I said, ‘Amber?’” Henry said. “And she goes, ‘Yeah?’ It wasn’t loud and she was so croupy that she couldn’t speak. … Once I found out she was alive and there was no foul play, I was excited that I found her. I was real excited, especially because they had been out there all night. It was emotional.”
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AFTER
18
Profile 2013
Life-changing moment Ironton man succeeds in massive weight loss through diet, exercise
By Benita Heath | The Tribune
W
eighing in at 387 pounds, Mark Moore candidly admits that there was a time when his main — in fact, his only — hobby was eating. “I would come home and sit down in the Lazy Boy recliner and then go to bed,” Moore said. “You hate to move, to do anything that requires you getting up.” The battle with weight had plagued the 49-year-old Ironton man all his life and there was many a diet Moore had tried with short-term success. Take 100 pounds off. Then watch it quickly come back on his 5-foot-10 frame. He’s done that twice. “It was all from poor diet,” he said. “I don’t lay any blame on my parents. They were of the old-school country cooking where you cleaned your plate or you didn’t get to go out and play.” In that world, food was more than fuel and nourishment. It was a way to celebrate. And, for decades, Moore did a lot of celebrating. Even after he had back surgery 12 years ago to remove 40 percent of the Lumbar 5 disc he had hurt in a fall, Moore couldn’t change his ways long-term. Then, almost two years ago, his back started bothering him again. He checked in with his doctor who said what he needed was, not more surgery, but a stepped-up regimen of physical therapy to strengthen his core muscles. “If those muscles are not strong, the spine is not lying in the proper position,” Moore said. That’s when Moore met Dave Coburn, director of physical therapy at Tri-State Rehab in Ironton. In fact, Moore can tell you exactly the moment when his life changed — June 5, 2011. That’s when Coburn teamed up with a group of early risers who came to the center at 4:30 a.m. three days a week to teach Moore the most beneficial way to exercise. Now at 182 pounds, the lean and trim Moore not only knows how to exercise, he craves it.
BEFORE submitteD
Mark Moore, before a program of exercise and healthy eating, weighed 387 pounds.
“It starts your day,” he said. “The days you don’t come in, when you miss, you feel worse than if you do come.” The secret, as Moore sees it, is that this kind of exercise is circuit training. “It is a lot of repetitions,” he said. “You don’t stop. It is continuous. It is functional exercise. You try to take in
every muscle of the body.” Moore will work on a routine where he will do five different exercises of 10 repetitions each. “You see how many of that circuit you can do in 25 minutes,” he said. According to Coburn, there are three key ingredients that makes circuit training so effective.
“First, you are constantly changing, always shocking the muscles and never doing the same routine,” Coburn said. “Your muscles adapt real easy to workouts. If you change, you get more out of it.” The second factor is that circuit training keeps your heart rate up, meaning you burn more calories. “Instead of doing a set of curls and waiting for five minutes,” Coburn said. “And it is functional. It is normal activity. It is things you do every day instead of when you stand and do bicep curls. If you need to move a couch, you will be able to do it. You are moving more than one joint at a time, squatting, stooping and lunging.” While Moore thrives on exercise now, when he started he wasn’t so sure he could cut it. “The first week Dave took it easy on me,” he said. “The next week I thought, ‘I won’t be able to do it.’ But it is a group of guys who never discourage, never ridicule. It is a really encouraging group of people. Exercise changes the physical makeup of your body. You build muscle mass. A lot of people lose weight, but don’t build muscle.” But just as important as exercise has been the way Moore looks at food. “I changed how I eat,” he said. “It was a mindset I had to change. I would go to a family dinner and they would say ‘You can eat this.’ Yes, but I don’t want to. They are not meaning to be destructive. We equate eating with happiness. I can eat it if I want to. I have every right to. I am choosing not to.” Moore understands now that a candy bar only gives the body 30 minutes of fuel. “It doesn’t have the fuel to go the whole day,” he said. “You have sugar for 30 minutes.” He also understands that losing weight doesn’t take a magic formula, just a desire to make the commitment. “If I can do it, anybody can do it,” Moore said. “I am not anybody special. You don’t have to be an athlete. You have to do it for yourself. It’s because I wanted to.” •
17
Profile 2013
SUGAR CREEK
Missionary Baptist Church “Fellowshipping in the Truth since 1889”
Tri-State Baptist Temple
Calvary Baptist Church 824 S. Fifth St. •Ironton, Ohio • 532-3498 Sunday School...................................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ...............................10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Service ....................................6:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study ....................................7:00 p.m. Matt O’Bryant - Pastor www.calvaryironton.org
1300 Co. Rd. 60 • South Point, Ohio 377-4739 Sunday School........................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Service ......................10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Service ........................6:00 p.m.. Kings Army - Wed ..................................6:45 p.m. Lively Stones (teens) - Wed. ..................6:45 p.m. Wednesday Evening Service..................7:00 p.m. Pastor - Tim Jenkins
Sunday School...............................................10:30 a.m. Sunday Worship Service ...............................11:30 a.m. Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting .................7:00 p.m.
“Teaching the Jewish roots of Christianity” People with a passion for Jesus and a love for you!
Pastor - Butch Deer
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Fifth and Railroad streets Ironton, Ohio • 532-0601 firstpresironton@att.net www.firstpresironton.org
Adult Sunday School ................... 9:15 a.m. Sunday Worship ........................ 10:30 a.m. Rev. Jan Williams - Pastor Ms. Sharon Bradshaw - Organist You will find a welcome here!
Relaxed Atmosphere | Friendly People Meaningful Messages | Contemporary www.AroundC3.com for service times & directions Identical Sunday Services at 9:30 & 11:00 am at the Old South Point Elementary School
Pastor: Mike Long • Home of... SUGAR CREEK CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
“Educating for Eternity” Open Enrollment for 13-14 beginning in April LANDMARK BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE
“Ye Shall Know the Truth” Fall Registration August 2013 Call 533-2215 for details or
visit www.sugarcreekmbc.com
GREASY RIDGE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Church of the King 801 S. Fifth St. • Ironton, Ohio 740-418-1318
Cross communty church
First United Methodist 101 N. Fifth St. • Ironton, Ohio • 532-1196
Sunday School ...............................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship......................................... 10:30 a.m. Wednesday Bible Study............................... 7:00 p.m. Pastor - Wayne Young Chad Leach - Senior High Minister Food and Pantry Kitchen 532-9918 or 532-9880
NEW VALLEY MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
2003 Co. Rd. 52 • Ironton, Ohio 532-8505
Sunday School........................... 10:00 a.m. Sunday Evening ........................... 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Bible Study .... 6:00 p.m. Bro. Larry Comer - Pastor Everybody Welcome!
“Experiencing and Sharing the Transforming Power of Jesus” 5964 County Road 2 Chesapeake, OH 45619 (740) 867-8076 Visit us at www.greasyridge.com Services: Sunday 9:45 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Tom Miller, Minister
Big Branch Church
2072 Co. Rd. 31 • Chesapeake, Ohio (740) 451-1102
Sunday in SYNC ................................................ 10:00 a.m. Sunday Evening................................................... 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Evening Services - 7:00 p.m. Adult Small Group Studies Christians on the PROWL (teens) Kids 4 Christ Pastor - Randy Henderson Assistant Pastor - Michael Wright
www.bigbranchchurch.org
God loves you, Jesus died for you and we care about you!
Solida Baptist Church “Celebrating 190 years!”
2 miles north on Solida Road • South Point, Ohio 894-6040
Leatherwood Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor - Aaron Childers • • Asst. Pastor: Bruce Day • Youth Director - Melvin Pauley Jr. - Soul Winning, Independent, Christ Honoring Music, King James Bible -
9 1/2 miles east of Coal Grove on St. Rt. 243 Sunday School............................................. 10:00 a.m. Morning Worship ........................................ 11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening Service ................................ 7:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study and Youth Class ..... 7:00 p.m. Broadcast Saturday - WEMM 107.9 .....8:30-9:30 p.m. Pastor - Mike Huff www.leatherwoodmbc.org
Sunday School ......................................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Service.....................................10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Service........................................6:30 p.m. Wednesday Evening Service ................................7:00 p.m. Master Club (Wed. Children’s Program)...............7:00 p.m. Teens in Action (Wednesday)...............................7:00 p.m.
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Profile 2013
South Point Church of Christ
Third and Virginia Streets • South Point, Ohio 377-4846 Sunday Bible Study ........................................ 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Service............................... 10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Service.................................. 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study.................................. 7:00 p.m. Mark Aites - Minister
Zoar Baptist Church 1009 Marion Pike • Coal Grove, Ohio • 532-4028 Sunday School.................................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship .............................10:45 a.m. Sunday Evening Worship ................................6:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Service .............................7:00 p.m. Children’s Master Club (Wednesday)..............6:30 p.m. Teen Bible Study (Wednesday) .......................7:00 p.m.
Pastor - Jim Beals Youth Pastor - Andy Lovejoy
Ironton First Nazarene 2318 S. Fourth St. • Ironton, Ohio • 532-3413 Sunday School...................................................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ...............................10:40 a.m. Sunday Evening Service ....................................6:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Service/F.W. Friends ...........7:00 p.m. Pastor - Robert Hale Assistant Pastor - Brian Taylor Youth Pastor - Paul Ferguson
Community Missionary Baptist Church
4049 St. Rt. 243 • Ironton, Ohio • 533-9263
Sunday School...............................................10:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service ...............................11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening Service ..................................7:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study ..................................7:00 p.m. Awana .........................................Wednesday 6:15 p.m. Wednesday Teen Meeting ..............................6:30 p.m.
Pastor - David Lambert
Mamre Baptist Church “A place to call home!”
Woodland Chapel Freewill Baptist Church
Located 8 miles north on SR 141 in beautiful Kitts Hill, Ohio Sunday Services Wednesday:
Sun. School AM Worship Evening Worship AWANA/TEENS Bible Study
10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.
We have dynamic youth ministries and Bible-centered preaching and teaching...Hope to see you at church!
Senior Pastor - Ryan McKee Assoc. Pastor - John Patterson
Central Christian Church
1541 S. Seventh St. • Ironton, Ohio 532-2930 Sunday School............................................... 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ........................... 10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Worship and Youth Group .. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Evening Bible Study .................. 7:00 p.m. Phil LeMaster - Senior Minister Jim Williams - Minister
St. Paul Lutheran Church 101 S. Sixth St. • Ironton, Ohio 532-4727
Sunday Morning Worship ......... 10:00 a.m. Sunday School........................... 11:15 a.m. Pastor - David Ritchie
116 Twp. Rd. 108 • Ironton, Ohio • 533-2602
Sunday School ........................................... 10:00 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship .......................... 11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening Service............................... 7:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Service ........................... 7:00 p.m. Wednesday Youth Meeting ......................... 7:00 p.m.
City Mission Church
710 N. Fifth St. • Ironton, Ohio • 532-5041
Sunday School.................................................2:00 p.m. Sunday Evening Service ..................................7:00 p.m. Tuesday Evening Service.................................7:00 p.m. Wednesday Youth Service ..............................7:00 p.m. Radio - WEMM Gospel 107.9 FM ......Sunday 5:00 p.m. TV - WQCW ........................................Sunday 9:00 a.m.
Pastor - Rev. Jeff Cremeans
Pastor - Dave Schug • Associate Pastor - Jim Kimble
Transportation Available
South Point United Methodist Church
CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
202 Third St. E • South Point, Ohio 377-4690
An intimate, open minded community of people seeking God and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Traditional music and worship in a beautiful setting. Emphasis is on scripture and the weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Celebrating 160 years in Lawrence County.
GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday School ................................................ 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ............................. 10:45 a.m. Sunday Night Bible Study ............................... 7:00 p.m. Wed. Time of Prayer and Fasting Church open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday Communion ................................... 12 noon
Pastor - Kevin Dotts
Fifth and Park streets • Ironton, Ohio
Sunday at 10 a.m. The Holy Communion and Sunday School Wednesday at 6 p.m. Evening Prayer, Supper and Study
310 S. Sixth St. • Ironton, Ohio 740-532-8837 Sunday School......................................10:00 a.m. Sunday Morning ...................................11:00 a.m. Sunday Evening ......................................6:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study/Youth Group ...7:00 p.m. Pastor - Scott Jenkins
G
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Where it’s about getting a job. 740-867-6641 • www.collins-cc.edu
14
Profile 2013
UNSUNG heroes Kenny Aldridge
K
enny Aldridge, one of my neighbor’s on Slab Fork Road, is always willing to lend a helping hand. On days when the snow is coming down I think of him. When the snow starts gaining inches, Kenny bundles up, gets on his tractor and cleans driveways for the people on our road. Any time of year, if you have a problem and need help, Kenny is always there to help. People like Kenny makes it nice living in our neighborhood. — Anonymous
Peggy Wells
P
eggy Wells is devoted to helping anybody and everybody. She works with the Boy Scouts, even though she has no sons. She helps with everything here at Sherman-Thompson Towers. She’s always serving or cleaning up. She’s a member of the Goodwill Club and would do anything for anybody. Everybody likes Peggy. She never asks for anything but is everyone’s friend. — Margie Collins and Robin Conley
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Profile 2013
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Birth to Age Five • Pre-School Curriculum
HECLA WATER ASSOCIATION
3190 SR 141 • Ironton, Ohio 45638 • (740) 533-0528
This is your Drinking Water Quality Report
Definitions for Test Results Tables
740-532-2905 • 740-894-4100
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter –one part per million corresponds to a single penny in $10,000.
HEAD START
Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter - one part per billion corresponds to a single penny in $10,000,000.
Pay Online: www.heclawater.com
Visit the Hecla Water website to pay your water bill online. On the website, there is a secure HECLA WATER INC. site for customers to view their account history,ASSOCIATION, receive an email of bill notification and print out their water bill. Other general information on the OH website includes a copy of the current 3190 State Route available 141, Ironton, 45638 Water Quality Report, Customer Service, and Regulations.
NOW ENROLLING
EARLY HEAD START
Less Than = < ] [More Than = >] [ N/A or NA = not applicable ] [ nonreg = non regulated by EPA] [TT = treatment technique] [NTU = nephelometric turbidity units]
Variances & Exemptions (V & E) - State of EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions. NOT GIVEN IN OHIO
— Anonymous
Action Level (AL)– the concentration of a contaminant which , if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
I
watched the old Papa John’s building fill up with bikes this past Christmas and thought it was a great and caring thing for John Dickess to take his time to do the bike giveaway for the children of this county. Mr. Dickess is a nice person and I hope he has a bigger and better bike giveaway this Christmas.
Maximum contaminant Level (MCL) - the ―Maximum Allowed‖ (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCL’s are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
John Dickess
(Photo by Kent Sanborn.)
In an effort to make the Hecla Water system better and stronger with fewer chances of water outages in the future, construction projects are under way using funds from savings. Some of the projects include; installing a booster pumping station at Hecla Water garage, drilling test wells on the new property in Hamilton Township, and erecting a new water storage tank at Kitts Hill. The booster station installed at the Hecla Water garage (intersection of SR 141 and CR 7E) cost $150,000 for the station, concrete foundation, electrical equipment and piping to connect station. The property in Hamilton Township was purchased so that a new water plant could be designed and built within 3 to 5 years. Drilling test wells and performing pump test cost $145,000. Kitts Hill is getting a new water storage tank. The existing tank located on Homeless Road was constructed in 1971 during the first construction phase of the Hecla Water system. The painted steel tank with a storage capacity of 50,000 gallons was designed to serve about 100 homes in the Kitts Hill area, Dogfork, and parts of Homeless Road and Oak Ridge Road. A new glass lined steel water storage tank is expected to be in service at the Kitts Hill site June of this year at a cost of $265,560. This tank will have a water storage capacity three times larger than the original tank and service about 774 homes with clean, safe drinking water. Areas to be served by the new tank include: State Route 141 to McKnight Hill, State Route 217 to Andis, Paddle Creek, Martin Ridge, Homeless Road, Oak Ridge Road, Sharps Creek, and Buck Creek. The forty year old existing steel tank requires draining and painting as part of its maintenance whereas the new glass lined steel tank is nearly maintenance free. The addition of the new Kitts Hill tank will increase the amount of glass lined water storage tanks on the Hecla Water system to thirteen. Nearly 10,000 homes in rural Lawrence County depend upon the Hecla Water system to provide the best possible drinking water to their homes and their families. The residents serviced by Lawrence Water Corporation of Scottown also receive their drinking water from the Hecla Water treatment plant. System Reinvestment Plans include replacing and updating older equipment and facilities with any profits generated by the recent water rate increase. The increase raised the minimum water bill $1.00 and $1.00 for each 1,000 gallon used by the consumer. The thirty-nine local residents employed at Hecla Water are dedicated to providing rural Lawrence County with clean, safe drinking water twenty-four hours a day, every day.
Kitts Hill is getting a new water storage tank.
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Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The ―Goal MCLG‖ is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLG allow for a margin of safety.
s u e o .
All drinking water contains a small amount of some contaminants.
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Glass lined water storage tank at Etna Road.
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Profile 2013
UNSUNG heroes Dr. Lewis Motycka
D
r. Lewis Motycka was a vet for Lawrence County for many years. A dedicated Ohio State fan, he would open his doors to our sick or hurt family pet anytime of the day or night. The charge for his service always seemed to meet the little amount of money in your pocket. For years, Dr. Motycka took care of Lawrence County animals and always had many strays around his house to greet you when you came to visit. Now that he has gotten up in years, I think Lawrence County owes this award to one of the finest men, an individual who has spent his life serving the people and animals of Lawrence County. — Sharon Kleinman
Ironton Firefighters
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feel all firefighters are heroes. They are always there when needed. For example, the fire in the 2600 block of South Sixth Street on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, was right next door to our rental, which was just a few feet way. Thanks to the Ironton Fire Department our house was not damaged at all. So let’s give credit and praise to the Ironton Fire Department and Chief Tom Runyon. — David and Judy Daniels
11
Profile 2013
See what we offer! Riverview Apts.
784 County Rd. 411, Proctorville, Ohio 740-886-5009
Park Avenue Apts.
Best value in senior living in the greater Tri-State area
• 1 and 2 spacious bedrooms • All major appliances • On-site laundry facilities • In-house senior center • Off-street parking
Gladys Lewis, a 15-year resident of Riverview, says the apartment is truly a home.
“I love the community and I love Roger Callicoat (the maintenance man).”
Come to our Open House Friday, March 1 from 1-7 p.m. MARCH MOVE-IN SPECIAL: Mention this ad and get $500 off the first month’s rent. HURRY! Subject to availability.
For Information on any one of these residences, An Empowerment please call 740-534-0375 Zone Project
10th Street Apts. Ironton, Ohio
• 1-2 bedroom apartments • Newly renovated • Beautiful historic neighborhood • Conveniently located in residential Ironton, Ohio
Storms Creek Apts.
1505 Lawrence St., Ironton, Ohio
• 2-3 bedroom apartments • New construction • Peaceful country setting only one minute from downtown
10
Profile 2013
UNSUNG heroes Lenville Mays
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n describing an “unsung hero,” two adjectives come to mind: encouraging and faithful. These are not qualities that make the headlines but are definitely traits of an unsung hero. Lenville Mays is a 92-yearold gentleman who has been both an encourager and a man of great faith. For the past several decades, as long as any of his friends can remember, Lenville has been a faithful encourager to the boys and girls in the Fairland Local School District. He is the father of four sons and fell in love with basketball when his sons excelled in the sport. His sons are now up in years; however, Mr. Mays has continued to attend nearly all of the Fairland High School sporting events, particularly basketball. If he is not present the students notice and inquire about
him. They don’t ask about him because they miss hearing him yell from the stands; because Lenville is unable to yell. In fact, he can barely speak above a whisper. For over half his life, Lenville has had to talk with the aid of a hole in his windpipe. He was just a young man when he contracted cancer and had most of his voice box removed. Mr. Mays has never viewed his physical impairment as any sort of a disability. This has not deterred him from being faithful to his church and from being an encourager to the youth of the Rome-Proctorville community. He has been a quiet, faithful encourager for many, many years. He is truly an “unsung hero.” — Rena Allen
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Profile 2013
Kelli Kearns
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hen I think of an “unsung hero,” I think of my daughter, Kelli Kearns. Kelli has three children of her own and has, for nearly seven years, taken in three homeless children. Kelli loved babies and one by one, while they were weeks old, she took them in to love and cherish. Now, the last several years she finds out the little boy, now 6 years old, has a mental problem and that has really changed her home. Three months ago, Kelli’s boy, 11 years old, has come down with St. Vitus Dance disease. Now Patrick can’t walk and has other problems. He has to be carried from house to automobile if the area isn’t be large enough for a wheelchair. Patrick can crawl on his hands
and knees in the house. Other places, Kelli carries him on her back or around her waist. Kelli has been so contented and been so caring through all the doctor’s appointments, therapy, even through rain or snow or the cold. Kelli takes others to school and goes after them. She gives up her evening church services, and sometimes the morning services, but through it all, she tries to smile. It would be nice for Kelli to be an unsung hero because very few know what goes on with her and her little family. Thank you for caring. — Martha Carmon
Visit Super Wash New Express Laundry
On behalf of Shannon, Wayne and the rest of the crew....
2012
...Thank you, Lawrence County, for voting us Best of the Best! Call us and find out why we were named “Best Heating and Air Specialists” seven years in a row!
HEABERLIN HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING Call Us Today • 532-8004
It’s time to lighten the load and take a trip to Super Wash Coin Laundry. With the addition of new 50-Pound Express machines at our Ironton location, Super Wash Coin Laundry is the Tri-State’s only front-load store. When using our Express machines you cut your drying time in half. A laundry drop off service cuts the laundry down to about five minutes. All the customer has to do is drop off their wash and pick it up. Soon enough it will be time to swap down comforters and woolly blankets for cotton sheets and lightweight throws. Your winter bedding will last longer if you take the time to clean and freshen it now. With Super Wash Coin Laundry bigger than ever, consumers will find unique amenities to make the trip more enjoyable. Super Wash Coin Laundry has two convenient locations open 7 days a week. Call 533-9229 for locations and hours of operation.
Owner - Sue Rodriguez
Bring this ad in for a FREE wash!
8
Profile 2013
UNSUNG heroes Marian Suzette “Sue” Lunsford
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am writing this because of my wife, Sue Lunsford. She has done so much for her family and community. We were blessed with two wonderful sons, Gary and Don Lunsford. As they grew up we tried to instill in them the importance of teamwork and helping out in the community. The two of us have always worked as a team to get things done, from housework and child rearing, to shopping, paperwork for jobs and committees. Each of our sons has become a vital part of the area where they live. Sue taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. And still sings in the choir at Sharon Baptist Church. As they were in the Scouts, she was a den mother. They played baseball and she was one of the scorekeepers. As they played other sports she was there. During this time she also worked 40 hours a week as a food manager for K-Mart for 31 years. She received the honor of being chosen as a Kentucky colonel in 1989 and was even nominated by a customer at the store. In 1991 she joined the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Parade Committee at the insistence of Don DeWitz. She was later appointed secretary for a few years. During that time she was instrumental in getting Gov. Ted Strickland to come and march in the parade. She was on the committee called Patriots Path for Woodland Cemetery, to place and restore the cannons and to sell and lay the bricks for the area we have there now. She completed a first responder course for basic response to terrorism in 2003. Sue was chosen as Parade Commander in 2001 and served as Grand Marshal for the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade in 2002. She has worked at Bellefonte Hospital for the past nine years and retired in October 2012. I am proud of her. — Clarence Lunsford
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y mother has been a hard worker her entire life, and has dedicated much of her free time to activities that have greatly benefited the Ironton community ... She continues to be an advocate for patriotism and community involvement. — Donald Lunsford
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Profile 2013
CITIZENS of the Year Linda Dalton & Juanita Southers
By Benita Heath | The Tribune
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wo women, friends for not all that many years, spent a few days before Christmas in Washington, D.C., not really having an agenda, just to see the sights. Asked if they would like to go to Arlington National Cemetery for a special, solemn event they had never heard of, they thought, “why not.” Never did Juanita Southers, a onetime pre-school teacher, and Linda Dalton, a stay-at-home mom, think that visit would inspire them to bring the event back home. But, in doing so, they have showcased the Ironton community’s sense of pride and appreciation for the men and women who have served their country in the armed services. For their enthusiasm, dedication and perseverance in bringing Wreaths Across America to Lawrence County, Juanita Southers and Linda Dalton are The Tribune’s 2013 Citizens of the Year. “My daughter invited us up for Christmas and took us to Arlington,” Southers said. That was her introduction to Wreaths Across America, where on a specified Saturday in December, volunteers decorate with live wreaths the graves of fallen veterans in 600 cemeteries across the country in ceremonies held simultaneously. The wreaths
remain on the graves for one month. “We were coming out of the cemetery right at the bottom of the hill and there was a family burying a young man, 21, 22 years old,” Southers said. “I remember looking at his mother and father and something about that touched my heart.” That’s when the two women started working to raise funds, with the goal of getting enough money to pay for wreaths to cover the veterans section at Woodland Cemetery. That meant speaking to community groups, going to chamber of commerce meetings, any place Southers could get a chance to spread the word. And it was usually Southers doing the speaking. That’s because Dalton candidly admits getting into the public spotlight isn’t for her. “Juanita is the main spokesperson,” Dalton said. “I tell her I am right behind her. I help her.” The two met several years ago when Southers was looking for a musician to hire to play for her church. She found Dalton’s son, Levi. “She hired my son to play piano at her church and as the years went by, we got to doing more things together,” Dalton said. The two of them are “country girls,” Southers said. “It was like a friendship that was meant to be.” So the two women were of the single mind that Wreaths Across America must come to Woodland. That meant Southers spent hours explaining the
project to people, most of whom had never heard of it, to get as much money as they could to pay for as many wreaths as they could afford. That she would put this much effort into the project is an example of the kind of person Southers is, says Annette Cooper, who has known the woman since she taught Cooper’s children more than 25 years ago. “That was just a selfless endeavor,” Cooper said. “She had no one buried at the veterans’ plot, nothing to gain by doing this. She is just a giving person. She helped me out so many times when my children were little. Some people in life are givers and some are takers. She is a giver.” Their goal was to mark every one of the 950 graves at the veterans’ section with a wreath. They came close, stretching the 300 wreaths they were able to buy over 600 graves. Those wreaths were placed on the graves during a special ceremony on a cold December afternoon where representatives from every branch of the military, including a prisoner of war, spoke. Deb Hagerty, an Air Force veteran and representative of the David Malone Memorial AmVets Post 5293, was at that ceremony. “I thought they did a miraculous job,” Hagerty said. “I have set up a lot of programs before and it takes years to get something like that organized. I felt the union and strength between the different veteran organizations.
Sometimes each different organization is in competition with each other. But we all came together as brothers and sisters. It was very overwhelming, very powerful. It was awesome and it brought tears to my eyes.” Radio personality J.B. Miller missed the ceremony, but he was there helping out when the wreaths were removed a month later. “To put a wreath on the grave of a soldier, I think that is absolutely awesome,” Miller said. “I think soldiers’ plots look so sad. Soldiers who have never been able to have their graves decorated, how cool that someone took the initiative to say, ‘we need to do this.’ “Removing those, it was on a cold day, but I was warm because of what was running through my veins. I can’t wait to do it again.” Already the two women are working on this year’s ceremony and are confident they will get enough funds to mark all the graves in the soldiers’ plot. “People are getting more patriotic,” Southers said. “People are just now starting to realize that we have, I think, the greatest country in the world. People are just now starting to appreciate what other people have done for us to be able to enjoy the freedom that we have. This brings to the forefront that we didn’t get all these freedoms just because they are there. We have them because lots of people gave their lives that we might have them.”
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W s u g e n the tribune/jessica st. james
Linda Dalton, left, and Juanita Southers were named The Tribuneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Citizens of the Year for their efforts to bring Wreaths Across America to Lawrence County.
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Profile 2013
Table of Contents 76
40 18
48
58
84
Citizens of the Year..................................6
Loaded to bear......................................56
Unsung heroes........................................8
Finding his namesake............................58
Life-changing moment............................18
Getting physical....................................66
Underdog fire department......................20 Joy of learning.......................................24 Faithful Grace........................................28 A native son..........................................30 Faithful message, unique location..........34 The legend of “Ducky” Corn...................37
What would John think?.........................72 The food groups.....................................76 A bygone landmark................................80 Not just another doc..............................82 Life Savers............................................84
Feeding a need......................................40
Knowing Betty.......................................86
Strange Stories.....................................42
Breaking the mold.................................92
Ghost Hunter.........................................48
An author’s story...................................94
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