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In the wake of the recent conflict in Ferguson, Missouri, the White House issued Executive Order 13684, which established the National Initiative on Building Community Trust and Justice (National Initiative).  The National Initiative is designed to improve relationships and increase trust between minority communities and the criminal justice system. The National Initiative authorizes the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to satisfy five (5) major components. Select pilot sites to test strategies and provide training on procedural justice, implicit bias, and racial reconciliation (Pittsburgh, PA; Birmingham, AL; Fort Worth, TX; Gary, IN; Minneapolis, MN; and Stockton, CA); Create a central information clearinghouse that will provide technical assistance to the field;.Support new research; Develop materials to help carry that research into practice; and, Promote public discussion of issues around race and policing. The $4.75 million initiative will seek to assess the police-community relationship in each of the six pilot sites and develop a detailed site-specific plan that will enhance procedural justice, reduce bias and support reconciliation in communities where trust has been eroded. It is apparent that Pittsburgh has been identified as a candidate for this National Initiative, in part, due to the perception of the relationship between the Pittsburgh Police and the members of the community. According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the six (6) above referenced pilot cities, by helping to develop programs that serve their own diverse experiences, these cities will stand on the leading edge of our effort to confront pressing issues in communities across the country. Already seeking to increase diversity within the ranks of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the City of Pittsburgh signed a legal agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union on May 7, 2015 to secure cutting-edge improvements to police hiring methods. Interesting developments to be sure, particularly when considered in context with ongoing support for the use body cameras, and debate revolving around concern of the “militarization” of local law enforcement agencies and flow of federal funding.  Stay tuned…

In 1962, at West Point, General Douglas MacArthur addressed the Corps of Cadets, as his long career in the US Army came to a close. He chose the theme of “Duty, Honor, Country” from the motto of our United States Military Academy – words inscribed on its ancient coat of arms. This weekend, our country marks another Memorial Day. As our longest war continues, with our military deployed around the globe to fight that war, General MacArthur’s now 53 year-old lessons should come to mind. Here is how a man some called our greatest general described American soldiers at war:. . .on the other side of the globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts; those boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms; the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails; the bitterness of long separation from those they loved and cherished; the deadly pestilence of tropical disease; the horror of stricken areas of war; their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory -- always victory. Always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men reverently following your password of: Duty, Honor, Country. The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines embrace daily the “highest moral laws” of which General MacArthur spoke. Receiving little in return, they prepare to sacrifice everything they have, and everything they ever could have, for the safety of our families, our communities, and our country. Nearly a million and a half Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice and proved the General’s point. Their embodiment of Duty, Honor, Country recalls the words of John’s Gospel: “Greater love hath no man than this, then that he lays down his life for his friends.” In his reverence for the self-sacrificing souls who do our fighting, General MacArthur made it clear that love and support for our troops does not mean seeking out wars to fight. He reminded the class of ’62: his does not mean that you are war mongers. On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Half a century later, Plato is proven right again. But though our long war continues, we must both pray and work for peace, and remember the sacrifices our warriors make when we call them out to fight. We remember on Memorial Day that our military does not even participate in anything as lowly as politics. As General MacArthur explained in his address to our Cadets: Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice. The Founders envisioned a military entirely separate from politics, and so should we. The valor, skill and professionalism our troops display must never be used to justify their reckless or unwarranted deployment. Now that fully two centuries of unbroken service have been given to our nation, on Memorial Day we must give something back. Some of our time, some of our thoughts, some of our effort should be devoted to the memory of the multitudes who have given all they had, so we could live freely, and justly. After two hundred years, America’s dead are buried everywhere, in the marked graves that are visited and remembered, and in the lonely places known only to God. They have earned more than one day a year from us. Read General MacArthur’s final charge to the Corps. It has outlasted him, and can never be forgotten by anyone who has heard it: You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country. This Memorial Day, remember the men and women who have never failed us.

Thanks to Facebook, I have been flooded with memories of high school this week and thoughts of how those who devote themselves to educating teenagers impact the lives of so many in ways that will never be fully realized and appreciated. First, there was the post about Virginia Ryan, the “cookie lady” who spent 28 years of her life waking up before dawn to bake cookies and prepare meals for the students of Wheeling Central Catholic High School.  If you have ever had one of Mrs. Ryan’s cookies, you know there is nothing that can compare.  But she did more than bake cookies for teenagers.  She took an interest in their lives and would go out of her way to lend an ear or say a kind word to anyone she thought needed a little extra love at that moment.  But it was a post that I saw early Thursday morning, May 21, that made me realize it was time to say thank you to the teachers and staff at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, particularly those who were there in the late 1980s-early 1990s (yes I am dating myself) for the positive impact you have had on so many lives. In the wee morning hours of May 21, 2015, Greg Schultz announced via Facebook to his former students that he was starting his last week of teaching at Wheeling Central before retirement.  By 8 a.m., there were hundreds of “likes” and well wishes from his former students and colleagues, including me, and I began thinking about the impact that man had on so many.  Mr. Schultz has been a fixture at Wheeling Central for as long as I can remember.  His gravelly voice is unmistakable.  He did more than teach in the classroom.  He developed young people.  I will never forget when he took a group of us during our senior year to a Shakespearean festival in Canada.  While I remember nothing about the plays we saw, our ride in a Volkswagen bus/van (whatever that thing was) and the antics at the house which hosted us are forever etched in my mind. So thank you Mr. Schultz for everything you did then and for continuing to stay connected with and involved in your former students’ lives in this social media world. Mr. Schultz is one of many forever etched in my mind and there is no way to succinctly recount the many memories and adequately thank them all.  Like Mr. Schultz, the teachers at Wheeling Central have made many personal sacrifices to devote their lives to developing teenagers into well-rounded and productive adults.  When I was there, we students thought many of the rules were stupid.  Detention was doled out for such minor infractions as going up or down the steps the wrong way or being caught at your locker during class time.  Mr. Duffy, the Dean of Discipline, seemed to have eyes everywhere.  Seriously, I think that man could identify you by your ankles if you were taking a short cut and going the wrong way on the steps.  You would hear his voice say, “(Insert name) we will see you in detention,” before ever seeing where he was.  Mr. Duffy was not the only rule enforcer, just the most prominent.  What many of us now know is that these “silly” rules and their strict enforcement weren’t simply ways for the teachers to annoy us.  They were meant to teach us discipline and that every decision in life, however minor, has a consequence.  They taught us taking short-cuts in life rarely pays off.  They taught us to be prepared and think about the consequences of an action before acting.  They taught us to show consideration and respect for others even when you may not particularly care for a person.  If you show respect, you will be respected. So to “Mr. Schultz,” thank you for taking me down memory lane and best wishes on your well-deserved retirement.  And to Earl “Mickey” Duffy, Joseph “Doc” Viglietta, Alice Harkins, Steve Turkley, Sally Beatty, Debra Toland, Terry Williamson, Cathy Bishop, Lynn Papagan, Stan Kaniecki, Frank Przybysz, Terry Edwards, Floyd Deaton, Sister Mary Florence, and all the others I know that I am forgetting, thank you for the impact you have had on my life.  Lou Volpe, even though you abandoned my class during our senior year to take a well-deserved break, I can’t forget you.  You are a Wheeling Central legend.  All of you are fixtures in my life that will never be forgotten.  You gave me the tools to get where I am today.  My thoughts of following in your footsteps were replaced by the realization that I would not be able to repay my very large student loan debt and support myself on a Catholic school teacher’s salary.  So thank you also for the financial sacrifices you made to devote your lives to your students.  I am aware of very few other schools where former students and teachers continue to stay so connected and involved in each other’s lives long after graduation.  While I sometimes think of giving up the legal profession to return to my original thoughts teaching, there is only one place where I would ever consider going.   You set the bar high and made sure your students surpassed it.  I hope each of you receive satisfaction knowing the positive impact you have had on so many lives.  Best wishes to Greg Schultz on his retirement and to all of my former Wheeling Central teachers, wherever you may be today.

I am constantly amazed at how much things have changed in our world today. The biggest change, in my view, is how public schools react to “religion” in the classroom, hallways and on campus. When I was in high school years and years and years ago, we had a Youth For Christ Club in the school.  Our football coach was our sponsor and we met every Wednesday at noon in the gym.  We usually had around 200 kids in attendance. When I look at my yearbook and read the profiles of the seniors, approximately 50 percent list Bible Club as one of their clubs.  Lest you think we had a small school with a small graduating class, over 400 graduated in the class of 1961. I was in the Youth For Christ trio that sometimes sang in the club meetings and more importantly to me, I quizzed on the Youth For Christ quiz team.  This meant memorizing or practically memorizing whole chapters of the Bible and quizzing against other schools on Saturday night in Charleston at the Youth For Christ rallies. These rallies gathered kids from all the schools in our area – Nitro, St. Albans, Dunbar, South Charleston and Charleston. Each Saturday night, two teams faced off and quizzed on the designated Scripture for that week.  And we had our cheering sections!  Not as many, of course, as football and basketball, but quite a few came the night our school was quizzing. The teams’ chairs were rigged with a buzzer and/or a light which alerted the judges when you jumped up to answer the question.   Sometimes when you tried to fake out someone to get them to jump first, it backfired and you were on the spot.  If the questioner said, “Finish this verse,” and that is all he said and you jumped, you had to pick a verse from the whole book or whole chapter and just take a guess.  Of course, you missed more often than you got it right. If you answered five questions correctly, you “quizzed out” and if you answered three questions wrong, you were out. Teams consisted of five members and the quiz consisted of 20 questions. One quiz I will never forget was for the championship and we were quizzing on the whole Book of John.  The Quizzer said, “Finish this verse” – well, you can guess who tripped her buzzer!  I stood there and I remember shrugging and said, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf.”  The judge looked shocked and said, “That’s correct.”  No one was more surprised that I was. I was also on the All-Star team that represented Charleston YFC in the regionals in Bristol, Virginia. Our team won in Bristol and from there we went to Wynona Lake, Indiana for the Nationals.   We quizzed other All-Star teams from all over the nation.  We didn’t win, but we placed fourth in the nation.  When we returned to Charleston, we were asked to give a demonstration on T.V. Can you imagine any school sponsoring such a club today?  Can you imagine kids willingly going to a rally to watch their team quiz on the Bible?  Can you even imagine kids today memorizing whole portions of the Bible (in King James no less)? Yes, we also had our problems – school was not perfect, kids were not perfect, but we also had the freedom to not just carry our Bibles to school and read them, but to quiz and memorize and have fun with our Christianity.  I can still quote a great deal of scripture from those days (in King James!).  As a matter of fact, I still use King James and can’t really understand modern English Bibles! My intense study of the Bible has been a real blessing to me in my life.  God has used my experience with Youth For Christ many times to bring a verse to my mind in difficult times.

Knowing what to do or where to go after high school or college is very confusing and can be a scary time. Some people know right away what they want to be, where they want to live and have it all planned out.  Others may need more time to find themselves and figure it all out. For me, a key to knowing what I wanted to do was taking a look at my personality and finding something that would allow me to be just who I am. I have always had a deep interest in helping others.  Compassion for others was always prominent in my personality.  I knew I possessed a trait that, quite honestly, could sometimes cause me distress, but I knew I wanted to do something about it.  That trait was my longing to speak up in an unfair situation or when others were afraid to stand up on their own. It all clicked for me when my older brother, Bill, was entering law school.  At that point, I became very interested in law and really saw myself as a paralegal. My interest in the law coupled with my craving to help a variety of people from diverse backgrounds, my obsessive-compulsive organizational skills and my outspokenness…BINGO – I knew what I wanted to do. So many people go through life not utilizing their degrees or enjoying what they do.  They just take a “job” and collect a paycheck. Not me. I was very fortunate to know what I wanted to have as a career.  I’ve always known why I wanted to do it, but the amazing thing for me is that I’ve done just that. Working at Bordas & Bordas has allowed me to grow as a person.  It has enriched my knowledge and confidence.  It has proven that I actually can do something to help others and the experience has been priceless. Whatever degree you seek or career you desire, make it one you love.  Find that area that interests you, involves your “spirit” and most of all helps you grow as a person.

Spring is filled with holidays that celebrate women. For example, March is Women’s History month and in May we celebrate Mother’s Day. When I think of all the influential women throughout our history the one I believe that leads the pack is Mother Teresa.  It takes a very special person to voluntarily walk away from earthly belongings and comforts to live amongst the destitute.  She cared for those who suffered the most.  Those that were malnourished, she fed both body and soul.  Those suffering from diseases, she brought comfort. According to the National Geographic, before her death on September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa had almost 4,000 sisters working in 610 foundations, in 123 countries across six continents.  She had played a hand in opening several hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDs, leprosy and tuberculosis.  She also headed soup kitchens, children’s counseling programs, orphanages, and educational facilities.  She is known throughout the world for her kindness, generosity and her unmovable love for humankind. Mother Teresa was most certainly God’s gift to the world.  Pope John Paul II sums it up perfectly “Mother Teresa marked the history of our century with courage.  She served all human beings by promoting their dignity and respect, and made those who had been defeated by life feel the tenderness of God.” “I see God in every human being.When I wash the leper’s wounds I feel I am nursing the Lord himself.Is it not a beautiful experience?” – Mother Teresa

When you’re busy with work, family, church and all the other stuff of life, it’s really hard to maintain a healthy balance of diet and exercise. When you rush home and have a list of projects waiting for you (like yard work), and you want to fix a quick but healthy supper, try this delicious recipe!  It’s easy on the Weight Watcher plan too! Add some grilled chicken and a salad and you’re done!   Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower Nutritional Info (Per serving – makes 4 servings): Calories: 149, Total Fat: 10g, Carbs: 10g, Dietary Fiber: 4g, Protein: 7g Ingredients 1 head cauliflower/florets (8 cups 1-inch-thick slices) 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon marjoram, dried 1/4 teaspoon salt pepper, to taste 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup(s) Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 450°F 2. In large bowl, toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper. Roast on a large rimmed baking sheet until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, about 20 minutes. 3. Remove from oven, toss the cauliflower with vinegar and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and roast until the cheese is melted and any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more. Hope you like it!

In April of 2007, during a weekend camping outing with family and friends, I awoke one morning and discovered that I was very hoarse and that I was losing my voice.  I really thought nothing of it, and thought that maybe the smoke from the campfire the night before had irritated my throat.  My voice eventually came back later that day, we packed up the camper and headed home, and I didn’t give it another thought.  A few days later, while answering the phone at work, I suddenly lost my voice again.  Again, I brushed it off as maybe a spring allergy or possibly still some irritation from campfire smoke.  The following week, during a doctor’s visit for a knee problem, my physician thought that my neck looked “full” and suggested that I go for an ultrasound.  Once again, I really didn’t think anything of this…after all I felt fine, my voice had returned, and the only pain I was experiencing was in my knee.  However, I did go for my ultrasound as she recommended, and was quite surprised when she told me that they had discovered two nodules in my thyroid gland.  She then referred me to an endocrinologist. At this point, a little bit of concern started creeping into my mind.  My endocrinologist informed me that one of my nodules was the size of a pea, and one was the size of a pencil lead.  To this day, I am still amazed that my family doctor noticed that my neck looked full given that these nodules were very small, and also that I could not even feel them myself.  I was informed by my endocrinologist that most of the time these nodules are nothing serious, however, they did need to be biopsied to be sure.  I then underwent a needle biopsy and, unfortunately, my biopsy was inconclusive.  The only way to be sure about these nodules was to undergo surgery and have them removed.  My surgeon suggested removing only the portion of my thyroid gland that contained the nodules, and that if they were cancerous he would have to perform a second surgery to remove my entire thyroid gland.  It made no sense to me to undergo two procedures when I could have it removed during the first surgery, so I instructed him to do a total thyroidectomy.  Approximately a week after the surgery I got the call that changed my life forever—I had Stage One Papillary Thyroid Cancer.  I remember being shocked, scared and in a state of complete disbelief and denial.  In my mind cancer was something that happens to other people—not me.  I then started down the long road of treatment with radiation therapy, PET scans, yearly ultrasounds and whole body scans, and daily medication.  I now know that the voice loss and hoarseness I was experiencing with my voice were the first symptoms of thyroid cancer. Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type of thyroid cancer and accounts for approximately 80 percent of all thyroid cancers.  Papillary thyroid cancer grows very slowly, and can spread to the lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.  If detected early, however, the long-term survival rate is very high—over 90 percent.  There is a 30 percent recurrence rate, however, so I will continue to be monitored for the rest of my life.  As with many forms of cancer, early detection is the key to successful treatment.  If your family physician does not already do a “neck check” at your yearly physical, then ask him or her to do one.  Some of the more common symptoms of thyroid cancer are: *A lump or swelling in your neck. *Pain in your neck and sometimes in your ears. *Difficulty swallowing. *Difficulty breathing or constant wheezing. *Hoarseness that is not related to cold. *A cough that continues and is not related to a cold. Thyroid cancer is a part of my daily life now, but I refuse to let it take control of my life—I am in control, not cancer.  It has taught me to appreciate each and every day that I am still here, to cherish my family, live every day to its fullest and to live my life for me. For more information regarding thyroid cancer, please visit www.thyca.org and www.checkyourneck.com.

This winter was cold, snowy, and a bit too long for my liking. Coming from Elkins, you’d think I wouldn’t be bothered by a bone-chilling wind and a pile of snow up to my knees.  Maybe I’ve grown a little wiser.  Maybe I’ve grown soft in my old age.  Either way, I’m not a big fan of winter anymore. But I have to say there’s something positive that came out of this latest bout of winter.  My granddaughter, Melody, made a new friend. With snow constantly on the ground, we decided to throw some deer corn into the front yard.  Soon the visitors started coming.  Every couple of days, there was a mama deer who would come with a young baby.  Together they would make their way through the snow, devouring cup-fulls of deer corn.  The mama was a little skittish, especially as we all watched through the dining room window.  But the baby was more adventurous.  Even with Melody standing in full view, the baby would come right up to the window to eat. It was fun watching Melody’s reaction.  It’s amazing to me how babies always seem to recognize babies.  The baby deer would stop and look right into the window, eye to eye with Melody.  The look on Melody’s face was precious.  She was all smiles, her eyes twinkled and she worked very hard to suppress an excited scream.  Meanwhile, the baby deer stared intently--knowing, I suppose, that the two of them shared a bond of some kind.  Everyday Melody watched and waited, hoping to catch a glimpse of her new friend. Even though spring has finally arrived, the visiting deer have left a lasting legacy.  Anytime Melody sees my iPhone, she immediately shouts “Deers!  Deers!”  The deer may not be feasting anymore in my yard, but I have a whole gallery of pictures to entertain my granddaughter for months and months to come!

With all of the noise we heard about charter schools earlier this year, it sometimes seemed as if some folks had completely forgotten about the quality of our public school system here in Marshall County. As a member of the Marshall County Schools Pride & Progress Committee, I have been fortunate to get an up-close look at what our schools have to offer, and I’m here to tell you that the opportunities for our students are far beyond anything you have ever imagined. I wish I could take the time to give you an exhaustive listing of the unique course offerings at Cameron and John Marshall.  I wish I had the time and space to detail the dozens and dozens of local, regional, and state-level awards earned by our students.  Unfortunately, an article detailing all of that information would take weeks to write, and far too many pages to publish in this space.  Instead, I will simply touch on one of the most impressive areas of study available to Marshall County students:  the agriculture and natural resources classes at Cameron High School. Last week, I had the opportunity to tour the facilities at the new Cameron High.  I was accompanied by Scott Varner, the Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education in Marshall County.  Our tour guides were John Lockhart and Hattie DeBolt, both of whom teach various agriculture-related courses at Cameron.  Before beginning my tour, I was prepared to be impressed by what I expected to see.  After all, Mr. Varner had recently made a presentation to the Pride & Progress Committee, during which he outlined the multiple awards that had been earned by “ag” students at Cameron.  What I saw, however, vastly exceeded every one of my expectations. My tour began in the meat lab.  It looked more like a hospital operating room.  Sparkling clean floors, stainless steel tables and equipment galore, and a general feel of “ultra-sanitary.”  Mr. Lockhart explained the various items of equipment on display, all designed to help students learn about the proper techniques for processing beef, pork, chicken, lamb and other meats.  As we went further into the lab, I saw a group of students who were preparing various meats for the upcoming FFA banquet.  They were so focused on what they were doing that they didn’t notice our little tour group.  We saw a huge walk-in freezer, a similarly sized cooler and a rail system designed to transport the meat from where it is first unloaded at the back door of the facility all the way through processing.  Once I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I noted how very impressed I was with what I saw.  Mr. Varner, beaming with pride, told me of a conversation he had with an expert in the field, who told him Cameron High had the best meat lab of any institution east of the Mississippi.  Mr. Lockhart then related how the lab had recently been visited by officials from WVU, who were in the process of upgrading their meat lab.  They wanted to pattern what they were doing after what had already been done at Cameron.  Think about THAT for a second.  The largest institution of higher learning in the State of West Virginia came to Cameron High School to learn how to build a top-quality meat lab.  Wow.  I mean, really.  Wow!! After finishing our tour of the meat lab, Mr. Lockhart and Ms. DeBolt took me into a classroom to tell me something about the FFA program at the school.  When most folks think about FFA activities, they think about raising and selling farm animals.  They think rural, simple and unsophisticated.  They could not possibly be more wrong.  Modern farming is a business, and the students at Cameron are being prepped to go into business.  They maintain very detailed logs about their particular projects.  They maintain notebooks that include a journal of their daily activities, itemized income and expense reports, a detailed business plan and profit/loss statements for each project.  I looked through several of the notebooks on hand, and Ph.D. level education or not, I would be hard-pressed to duplicate what I saw. I would be remiss if I wrote this article without saying a few things about the educators who make it possible.  Mr. Lockhart and Ms. DeBolt are both young folks whose passion for and dedication to what they are doing is as obvious as it is infectious.  They are committed to doing the best they can to prepare their students to excel in an agricultural business world that is vastly different than it was 25 years ago.  We have probably all had the experience of that atypical teacher who was simply “going through the motions.”  We can also remember teachers whose dedication and effort was a positive influence in our lives.  After spending an hour or two with Mr. Lockhart and Ms. DeBolt, I can say with absolute confidence that they are a tremendous positive influence for the kids at Cameron. So, do you think we have an average school system here in Marshall County?  You might want to consider that students from Cameron recently were awarded 25 State Degrees by the West Virginia FFA.  Despite a membership of over 5,000 students, prior to this year the highest number of State Degrees ever awarded to a single school--EVER--was 23.  That record was set 15 years ago by Ripley High School, a much larger school with a much higher enrollment than Cameron.  Or perhaps you think that agriculture courses are for students who can’t excel in more traditional areas of study.  If so, you might want to consider that eight of the students who will graduate in the academic “Top Ten” at Cameron High in 2015 were involved in the Agriculture and Natural Resources program. In a previous article, I talked about the top-notch evaluations received by Marshall County Schools in a state-mandated survey.  In a future article, I’m going to talk about the college-level engineering instruction that is coming next year . . . or the leadership initiative that will be put into place to introduce our youngsters to the leader that lives in each and every one of them.  I’m excited to be a small part of a tremendous school system.  Most importantly, I am proud to see what Marshall County Schools have become:  one of the best school systems in West Virginia.

The Fifth Annual Marshall Animal Rescue League Wine Tasting will be from 6-9 p.m., Thursday, May 14 at River City Ale Works. This year, I’m very humbled and blessed to have been asked to help serve wine for this event. Many years ago, my friend, Barb Scanlon, called my husband, Chuck, and I to tell us that they just had a Great Dane come into the shelter and she wanted us to come down an look at her. Well pre-Facebook, little did Barb know that we had just lost our dog named Ben to cancer a few days before.  I was still grieving for our Ben and anyone who knows me knows I talk to my dogs even when they have gone to the Rainbow Bridge.  Well, I was telling Ben he needed to help me move on and not cry so much for him.  I knew in my heart that our Ben was in a better place.  Not 10 minutes later my phone rang and it was Barb telling me about our Zoey Girl (RIP).  What can I say, Ben did his job and we had Zoey for years of enjoyment until she went to the Rainbow Bridge.  Big dogs don’t live very long, but the impact that they have on us is never short lived.  I will always be indebted to Marshall County Animal Shelter and Barb for calling us about adopting our Zoey Girl. She was a very special pet. Our shelters in our area are blessed to have people like Barb who give so much of their time to those pets lost, unwanted, abused and some even left to die. They have no voice and we the animal lovers, need to be their voice.  We need our shelters to help these four-legged friends find their furever homes.  Most of our local shelters have you fill out an application to make sure the animal you want to take into your home is suitable for you and your family as you are for the animal you want to take into your home and lives. So if you can, please come and taste the wine, have some good food and see some friends on May 14; it is going to be an outstanding event.  If for nothing else, come see me spill wine on myself because you know it’s going to happen! Barley, Guinness and Justice, the Legal Beagle, would love to see you come and support this event for our Marshall County Animal Shelter. Bark On Bordas Dog Nation, Bark On.

Are there strange traditions or phrases that you’ve wondered, “Where did that come from?” The following explains a few:  In the 1500s, most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet of flowers when getting married.  Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all, the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying... don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I know, gross! Houses had thatched roofs (thick straw piled high) with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained, it became very slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying... It's raining cats and dogs. There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.  This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying… dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying… a thresh hold. In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.  Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme... peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could… bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and... chew the fat. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.  Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or… the upper crust. Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of… holding a wake. England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night ( the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. Interesting.  Do you remember some old sayings?  I can still remember my Grandmother saying things like:  “Land of Goshen!” Or “Great Day in the Morning!”  Brings back good memories!