 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
There was a record crowd for the Creston ATV poker run. 368 riders signed up and extra parking had to be brought into account to accommodate all the vehicles and trailers. Mark Cunningham of Grantsville placed first while Kevin Eagle of Ripley was second and Coty Giles of Millwood came in third. Camie Lee of Norton Ohio won the 50/50. They all left with smiles on their faces.
Lemon & Barrett set up a booth and showcased their ATVs and accessories. The workers at the booth reported having a great day.
The Community would like to thank all the merchants who donated door prizes as well as all who came for a fun day. The workers are to be given a big thank you too. The kitchen folks were run ragged as folks consumed hot dogs with Creston sauce, soup beans, home made desserts, etc.
One rider ended up in the hospital after his chariot's axle broke causing a wheel to come off and throwing him on the road. Another fellow, it was reported, missed a straight stretch and ended up in a meadow belonging to a member of the Department of Public Safety. Some others got hung in mud holes or in deep ruts on some state roads.
The route went from Creston, up Rock Camp, down lower Barnes Run, out Mulberry, down Hedges Fork, up Bear Run, down Crane Nest, out to the Fairview Church, down Stutler's Run, up Folly Run and out the ridge to Thorn's Run, down to Channel Fork and then up to the historic Buffalo Church, then down Round Bottom, up Lee's Run, down Bear Run, out Monroe Ridge with its scenic vistas and Ground Hog and back to Creston. There were lots of turkey, deer, squirrels and whistle pigs on the route as well as trilliums, Dutchman's breeches, phlox, redbud, bluebells, etc. Very, very few of the riders had been to several of the areas traversed by the run.
Several political candidates showed up for the activities and some rode the route. The next ride will be July 12.
Ted Grim and a comely lady motored down from Erie Pennsylvania to visit relatives & friends and help with the poker run. Garold McKown who worked in Barberton helped Jack Nutter and another put out the signs and then the tire rod end fell off his ATV just when Jack pulled into the school house lot.
Dorothy Lynch's bleeding heart and columbine are now in their glory. She always has beautiful flowers.
Don Rhodes was among those calling on C. Glen Arthur.
Rick & Becky Starcher & P. E. Graham were among those working on Charles & Euell Russell's water pump.
A number of area residents have been consulting with their physicians. P.
E. Graham noted that he had been suffering from intestinal distress.
Keith Belt brought the message at the Burning Springs M. E. church. Local residents, like those elsewhere, were impressed by the papal visit. The ceremony with the president in Washington and the military band were especially inspirational.
Local residents attended the Wirt County FFA banquet Saturday evening at the high school in Elizabeth. Andrew Schreckengost, who works in the summer for Creston Well Service, and Derek Egbert were both honored for making the American FFA degree. One half of 1% of FFA members are so honored.
Jerry Snyder's nephew is adding a room on his house in Creston.
Paul Goodrich and Duane Whiting were in Creston hauling crude oil. On Friday the price of local crude rose to $110.50/bbl. The increase in the price of energy continues to fuel a drilling boom in the state. Last week Equitable permitted 10 more horizontal wells in Logan County. The Haughts permitted a Huntersville Chert well in Lewis County and another near Smithville. Wells are being drilled from Marshall County down to McDowell and from Cabell County all the way over to Pendleton where an Oriskany well was permitted.
Dominion Transmission has announced $ several hundred million in upgrades and new facilities to ship gas out of state to markets elsewhere. Clever entrepreneurs will come up with ways to use the gas locally to create both jobs and wealth.
The "hard times" politicians continue to sing the economic woes/no jobs blues hoping for votes even though it is quite obvious that the problem is a lack of willing workers. A local resident's brother who owns a home in Peoria Illinois has been unable to find anyone to install new windows in his property and has made up his mind to do the project himself. Last year a lawyer in a nearby town who was having a house built in Maine had to do the painting himself as, at $24/hour, painters were very hard to find.
Closer to home the Border Patrol and associates found over 100 wetbacks working in a chicken processing plant in the eastern panhandle. While some may not look at such work as "glamorous" it does pay and employees do not have to worry about being exposed to hazardous substances, etc. Some have noted that the economic problem facing the nation is the large number of folks who draw checks who do not and never did work. After a time the host gets so many parasites that it becomes weak and then things get only worse unless there is action taken to eliminate the parasites. One high school guidance counselor noted that part of that job is now filling out applications for SSI. It was also noted in the same discussion that those "who talk about 'all the hunger in America'" wouldn't, if their lives depended upon it, raise a garden. Of course they won't as long as "do gooders" hand out food stamps paid for by Americans who work.
Mr. & Mrs. Carl Ferrell were attending to business up in Ohio.
Grass is growing and some cattle have been turned out on pasture. Government imported pests such as multiflora rose and autumn olive are leafed out and Japanese knotweed is almost four feet tall already. While there was frost three days running it seems that the fruit was not damaged. Someone noted that it was in "the light of the moon". There are lots of tadpoles & now the toads are trilling so there should be more.
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