 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Betty Bish spent a few days "relaxing" in the hospital after learning [the hard way] that folks with diverticulitis should not eat berries, nuts, tomato & cucumber seeds, etc. She is on the mend now.
There was a nice crowd on hand for the Creston homecoming at the old Creston school house. Folks brought pictures and shared them with friends & relatives. Others visited with those who had attended school with them decades ago while the young children played on the merry go round and the new playground equipment. Punch, cake and goodies were served to all who came. Winners of the door prizes were Steve Stewart. Sharon Henthorn, Hazel Powell & Alvin Engelke.
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. church.
W. Harrison Schenerlein IV & his little sister Rea attended the Sons of Italy picnic.
There were 17 people at the Creston Area Neighborhood Watch meeting including High Sheriff D. Keith Wilson and Diane Ludwig. A lot of business was discussed including more ways to keep Creston a safe place. Membership cards will be distributed at the next meeting. The scrapbook committee will meet Tuesday, August 30 at 6 P. M. and fundraisers were discussed. The leadership wanted to thank Diane Ludwig for all she has & is doing to help the Neighborhood Watch. Also a big thank you to all who are doing the extra part to keep eyes out throughout the community.
The Creston area received some rain although more is needed.
W. Harrison Schenerlein IV checked out the construction job at the Annamoriah bridge watching the roller, 'dozer, etc. put in fill and the ram break up the big rocks into little ones. Apparently there is no state inspector on the job but the crew picked most of the roots and limbs out of the fill.
For a while it seemed that Calhoun law enforcement had all the major crimes solved as there was talk of "hate crimes" involving non p. c. language as presently defined. Not so long back there was a proposal to make it criminal to "speak badly" about our "leaders" such as The Big Boss, Her Thighness, Senator McVain, the Big Eared One, etc. It wasn't that many years ago that the song book for elementary school had the song, 'Mammy's little babies love shortnin' bread'.
A Marcellus & Utica shale forum will be held Tuesday, August 23 at the Grand Point Conference Center in Vienna. To reserve a seat one should call 1-800-374-6123.
Exxon, via it wholly owned subsidiary XTO, is acquiring leases in Calhoun & Roane Counties.
The wise folks who met down at the Mouth of the Elk messed up on the legislative districts and now have to start over again. Last time there was much ill will, especially from those who were not invited down to the posh watering hole where the maps were actually drawn by the "elite".
Area tobacco farmers have been topping their plants (pinching off the flowers) so that the leaves will become larger. Before Bill & Hill shut down the local growers to give the market to friends in Brazil, many local farmers grew a lot of Burley. Burley is blended with bright (flue cured) & Turkish for smoking blends. The high dollar crop is Turkish but requires a lot of hand work. A USDA study found that 12 year old girls were the best at harvesting the Turkish leaves which are picked during the entire growing season. If the welfare & SSI checks were cut off growing Turkish tobacco would be a boon to W. Va. & eastern Kentucky as poor soil is a requirement (less than 10 bu of corn/acre).
Charles Russell was consulting with Dr. Suresh at Minnie Hamilton and received a good report.
The Cedar Grove homecoming was held on August 14.
The economic chaos that is the result of The Big Eared One's borrowing 42 cents of each dollar that he spends has had some local impact although many aim to avoid the worst damage by canning food for winter, having a generator to keep the freezer and refrigerator going if the power company fails, etc. The price of local Penn grade crude oil fell from $92 to $80.50/bbl and some gasoline in Parkersburg is now under $3.45/gallon. Many feel that we are now in the "double dip" of the double dip recession caused by gross fiscal mismanagement and the proposed "fundamental change" that the Big Eared One promised.
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