Cheers and Jeers

Cheers to Donna Colbert Davis, of Monongah, for her tenacity in coordinating the 100th Annual Monongah High School Reunion and Dinner Dance. Let’s hope someone steps up to keep the tradition going.

Cheers to Dene Thompson for helping out the Monongah Reunion by calling her brother Nick Saban and asking him to throw a few raffle items her way for the Monongah Reunion.

Cheers to all of the write-in candidates who stepped up to run for town council in Rivesville this year. It’s great to see a younger group of people become civically engaged. It looks like thinks may be looking up in Rivesville.

Cheers to Fairmont State University’s Academy for the Arts and its cast of 54 crew members who are staging Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” The cast has worked for a month and a half on the production and this week, they got to perform in front of some of their peers, some of whom shouted with excitement and gave them a standing ovation at the end of the play. This is what a community looks like.

Cheers to Pastor Leo Riley and Brad Merrifield for their work renovating the newly-renamed Howard Center, formerly known as 612 Mac, so it can be a place for kids who don’t always have access to the best opportunities. Cheers to the donors who are helping make the center take shape and begin making a difference.

Cheers to 18-year-old Rhys Davis, of Bridgeport, a completer in the Harrison County Academy of Aviation Technology. Davis was recently awarded a $10,000 scholarship to attend Penn State University where he plans to study mechanical engineering so he can develop the planes of the future. This is what imagination and curiosity look like.

Cheers to Barrackville Middle School eighth grade science teacher Amelia “Amee” Mullens who was recently named as one of three Environmental Teachers of the Year by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. “I grew up in Wyoming County, way far south. I grew up in a holler, playing in the creek, playing in the woods and falling in love with the outdoors,” Mullens said. Keep up the excellent work and share your passion with your students. It does make a difference.

Cheers to the Rivesville Middle School Band which was presented a Legislative Citation from the West Virginia House of Delegates Friday evening at the Inaugural Ram Jam Event at the school. Del. Joey Garcia presented the citation to well-deserving Band Director Josh Tharp. The middle school band, under Tharp’s leadership, earned a superior rating earlier this year at the WVSSAC Region 10 Band Festival.