HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS SUN TELLS A STORY THAT BEGAN ON VALENTINE’S DAY FORTY YEARS AGO! MARTHA JONES SENT A VALENTINE TO COUPLE WHO WAS NEW TO THE SPRINGFIELD AREA. MARTHA SHARED THAT BARBARA WILLIAMSON CAME TO THEIR CHURCH WHERE JONES WAS CHOIR DIRECTOR AND SANG IN THE CHOIR. JONES SENT A VALENTINE TO BOBBY AND BARBARA WILLIAMSON IN 1973 WITH A NOTE. JONES SAYS, “I PUT ON IT, ‘THE ECONOMY IS PRETTY BAD RIGHT NOW, SO THIS CARD MAY HAVE TO LAST.’” BARBARA SAID SHE SAVED THAT CARD AND THE NEXT YEAR, SENT THE CARD BACK TO JONES WITH A NOTE SAYING, “THINGS HAVEN’T IMPROVED THAT MUCH, SO HERE IT IS AGAIN.” AND…EVER SINCE THESE TWO FRIENDS HAVE SENT THAT CARD BACK AND FORTH EACH VALENTINE’S DAY WITH A NEW NOTE. THEIR FRIENDSHIP HAS NOW ENDURED FORTY YEARS WITH MARTHA JONES NOW AT 95 YEARS YOUNG AND BARBARA WILLIAMSON AT 82. WILLIAMSON SHARED, “THERE’S NOT MUCH SPACE LEFT FOR NOTES ON IT ANY MORE.”
THE LONGEST MARRIED COUPLE FOR 2013 WERE HONORED AT A CEREMONY BY WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER. JOHN AND ANN BETAR HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR OVER 80 YEARS! THEY WERE MARRIED ON NOVEMBER 25TH, 1932. MR. BETAR SAID, “SOME PEOPLE SAID IT WOULD NEVER LAST. WE SHOWED THEM.” AND I WOULD SAY THEY SURE DID! WHAT A BLESSING TO BE ABLE TO WISH JOHN AND ANN BETAR A HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
THE BREAST CANCER FOUNDAITON AND THE BREAST CANCER TASK FORCE OF THE GREATER MIAMI VALLEY PRESENTED THE AWARDS FOR THEIR 5TH HIGH SCHOOL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS VIDEO CONTEST TO STUDENTS FROM FOURTEEN AREA HIGH SCHOOLS. THE STUDENTS ENTERED 75 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS FEATURING THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MYTHS AND FACTS WHEN IT COMES TO FIGHTING BREAST CANCER. LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WON SCHOLARSHIPS WORTH MORE THAN $14,000 COLLECTIVELY. THE TOP WINNERS WERE: DAVID MUDRY, MARKUS NEFF AND SALLY McMILLAN OF OAKWOOD, SAMANTHA DAVIS AND ALYSSA HUSTEAD FROM MIAMISBURG, AND JOSHUA MARINO OF CARROLL HIGH SCHOOL. ALSO PLACING IN THE TOP TEN WERE KAITYLYN HAAG OF WEST CARROLLTON, LAUREN RAGAN FROM STEBBINS, TORI TODD OF WAYNE AND FROM CENTERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, BRETT WORRELL. THE VIDEO THAT HAD THE MOST YOUTUBE HITS WAS BY SEBASTIAN ANTHONY CARR FROM STEBBINS HIGH SCHOOL.
KETTERING CITY SCHOOLS HAVE WITHDRAWN ITS LEVY FROM THE MAY 7TH BALLOT BECAUSE OF AN IMPROVED FUNDING OUTLOOK IN THE NEW STATE EDUCATION BUDGET. SUPERINTENDENT JAMES SCHOENLEIN SAID KETTERING SCHOOLS COULD RECEIVE A 25 PERCENT INCREASE IN STATE FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 AND 22.45 PERCENT IN 2015. HE SAID THEY SHOULD KNOW BY JULY ABOUT HOW MUCH TOTAL THE KETTERING SCHOOLS WILL RECEIVE IN THE OHIO BUDGET.
A BARN WAS DESTROYED IN SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP EARLY THIS MORNING. THE FIRE WAS REPORTED JUST AFTER 6AM IN THE 2000 BLOCK OF LEFFEL LANE. NO ANIMALS WERE INJURED OR KILLED IN THAT BLAZE ALTHOUGH THE BARN WAS DESTROYED. PART OF THE BARN COLLAPSED AS CREWS BATTLED THE BLAZE AND OFFICIALS SAID THE BARN IS A TOTAL LOSS.
THERE’S GOOD NEWS FOR FARMERS IN THE AREA WITH THE REPORT THAT A NEW FARM EQUIPMENT DEALER WILL OPEN IN SOUTH CHARLESTON IN EARLY 2014. FARMERS EQUIPMENT INC. HAS 52 EMPLOYEES IN FOUR OHIO LOCATIONS AND WILL BE ADDING 15 EMPLOYEES AS IT OPENS IN SOUTH CHARLESTON. LARRY TIMMONS, JR. PRESIDENT OF THE CLARK COUNTY FARM BUREAU SAID IT WILL BE CLARK COUNTY’S FIRST FARM EQUIPMENT DEALERSHIP IN ABOUT SEVEN YEARS, AND SOUTH CHARLESTON’S FIRST IN ABOUT 30 YEARS. FARMERS EQUIPMENT OPENED IN URBANA IN 2004 AND NOW HAS FOUR LOCATIONS IN OHIO, URBANA, ELIDA, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND LONDON. TODD CHANNELL, CO-OWNER OF FARMERS EQUIPMENT SAID SOUTH CHARLESTON IS A MAJOR HUB OF AGRICULUTRAL ACTIVITY IN THE STATE OF OHIO.
U.S. SENATORS ROB PORTMAN AND SHERROD BROWN INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO INCORPORATE THE WILBERFORCE HOME OF COL. CHARLES YOUNG INTO THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM. PORTMAN SAID, “AS WE COMMEMORATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH, IT’S ONLY FITTING THAT WE HONOR THE LIFE AND VALOR OF COLONEL YOUNG.” PORTMAN CONTINUED, “HIS TREMENDOUS ACADEMIC AND WARTIME ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE SERVED AS AN INSPIRATION TO OTHERS AND ASSOCIATING HIS HOUSE WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WILL FURTHER PRESERVE HIS RICH LEGACY.” SENATOR BROWN ADDED, “COLONEL YOUNG WAS A GROUND-BREAKING MEMBER OF THE MILITARY AND A TRUE EXAMPLE OF THE BEST OF OHIO.” COLONEL YOUNG’S HOME IS LOCATED ON U.S. ROUTE 42 IN WILBERFORCE AND WAS DESIGNATED A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK IN 1974.
THIS VALENTINE’S NIGHT WILL BE COLD WITH LOWS DROPPING TO 28 DEGREES…BUT TEMPERATURES GET EVEN COLDER OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL NIGHTS. FRIDAY’S OVERNIGHT LOWS DIP TO 21 DEGREES, THEN ON DOWN TO 16 DEGREES SATURDAY NIGHT. FRIDAY BRINGS TEMPERATURES NEAR 36 DEGREES WITH A 60 PERCENT POSSIBILITY OF SNOW SHOWERS WHICH COULD ALSO EXTEND INTO FRIDAY NIGHT…MAYBE SATURDAY AS WELL. SATURDAY’S HIGHS WILL ONLY GET TO 26 DEGREES. IT LOOKS LIKE WE SHOULD SEE SOME SUNSHINE ON SUNDAY, BUT TEMPERATURES WILL ONLY RISE TO 28 DEGREES.
