The unveiling of the new Veterans Plaza will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the grounds of the Marshall County Courthouse in Moundsville.

The plaza was established to honor Marshall County residents who lost their lives while serving our country.

The Marshall County Commission was approached some 10 1/2 years ago by historian Joe Parriott about the possibility of erecting memorials on the courthouse lawn in honor of persons who had lost their lives. He told the commissioners that he had spent hundreds of hours researching newspapers, books, etc to make sure that everyone from Marshall County who had served in the military had been recognized, and as a result he had discovered that several Marshall Countians who died in service to their country had not been acknowledged, and that he believed that they should be, and that the commissioners should consider honoring them.

Thus some three years ago a meeting was held at which time Parriott, Bob Blazer, Mike Kuzma, William Harris, James Stultz and John Gruzinskas, were named to committee to compile an accurate listing of Marshall County citizens who served in the U.S. military and would be eligible to meet the criteria for having their names on the Veterans Plaza.

County administrator Betsy Frohnapfel was named as the committee’s coordinator.

Among the duties of the committee was to establish the criteria for inclusion of memorial listings, and to review other names which were submitted by family members.

Once all the names were compiled, the county commission employed Tom James to review the final names and verify that the people were eligible to be included on one of the five slabs.

As to the names, they begin with people who served in the military from Marshall County in 1861 with the latest being 2019.

The most names are from 1944, with those from 1918 second.

As to the Veterans Plaza, it is an expansion of an area which formerly was the site of four monuments and a fountain. The new Veterans Plaza, in addition to the small monuments, consists of a new fountain, six benches, a flag pole, better lighting and six granite slabs, five having the names of persons who served in the military from Marshall County who had never been recognized, and the other granite slab recognizing the different branches of service.

As to the program for Wednesday, the welcome will be given by Commissioner Gruzinskas. The invocation will be given by Vietnam Veteran Philip Cameron, a member of the Marshall County Veterans Honor Guard.

The presentation of colors will be by Marshall County Sheriff’s deputies, all of whom have served in the military. They include Sheriff Kevin Cecil, Sgt. James Matthews and Sgt. Rodney Sleeth, Deputy Andrew Gibson, Deputy Douglas Sayman, Deputy Jason Johnson, Deputy Dylan Schrack and Deputy Paul Hebert. Music will consist of the National Anthem and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, followed by acknowledgment of distinguished guests by commission President Scott G. Varner.

Dedication remarks by William Harris will be followed by the unveiling of the monuments by Commissioner Mike Ferro and the sheriff’s office members who were in charge of the presentation of the colors. The program will conclude with Taps and a 21- gun salute by members of the Marshall County Veterans Honor Guard.

Dessert and beverages will be provided following the program inside the courthouse.

For those attending and are concerned with seating, the commission has rented 50 chairs for additional seating. Other seating will be on the Plaza’s permanent benches.

The public is invited to attend this special event.

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To expand beyond what’s available in a third-grade geography textbook, Pam Gatts, a third grade teacher at Hilltop Elementary, has started a unique project that she hopes will inspire her students to discover more about the 50 states from people who live there or from people who have visited a memorable location.

To hopefully carry out this effort, she had her students release a balloon that had a paper seagull attached.

Sammy the Seagull is now flying around the United States and he will be sending the students postcards with information about where he has been.

As postcards are received from Sammy, they will be displayed on a bulletin board, and students will mark a map to allow the places he has traveled.

Of course, the success of the project depends on the amount of correspondence the students receive.

Gatts invites the local community to get involved by writing a postcard themselves or by reaching out to family and friends from around the country to send in postcards.

She said, “If you know anyone who lives elsewhere, please ask them to take a few minutes to write a note to our class.” She added, “They can either pretend to be Sammy, or they could have just spotted him flying overhead.”

All anyone needs to write is a little bit of information about the area in which they live and a few interesting facts about their town. Participants can also send a postcard from a vacation spot.

The goal is to be able to collect postcards from all around the United States.

At the end of the school year the students will welcome Sammy back with a party and the sharing of what they had learned.

I think this is wonderful way to get students interested in United States geography, as well as learn interesting tidbits about other places.

Postcards are to be sent to Hilltop 3rd Grade, 2 Ram Drive, Wheeling WV, 26003. Postcards will be accepted through the beginning of April 2020.

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Beginning Nov. 4 and continuing through Nov. 15, the city of Moundsville will be accepting canned goods for payment of overtime parking meter tickets.

This form of payment will be accepted for overtime parking meter tickets written during the two-week period. The tickets must be paid within 48 hours of being issued to use this form of payment.

Anyone wishing to participate will be required to bring their canned goods in lieu of paying cash to the City Clerk’s Office at 800 Sixth St.

The canned goods will be donated to local food banks.

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A Marshall County Fall Dumpster Clean-Up will be offered from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at Cameron Elementary School.

There will be no provisions to accept tires, white goods, scrap metal, car parts, fuels, hazardous chemicals/materials or household trash.

For additional information contact the Marshall County Solid Waste Authority at 304-780-9866 or Howard Coffield at HowardCof@comcast.net.

This service is provided by the Marshall County Commission and the MCSWA for residential use and is not intended for businesses or industry.

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The second annual Health Fair hosted by the Ladies League of Marshall County and presented by WVU Medicine/Reynolds Memorial Hospital will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the John Marshall High School Gymnasium.

Free blood pressure checks, heart failure information, diabetes information, pulse oximetry readings, grip strength testing, breakout information sessions and more will be given. There will also be door prizes, a 50/50 raffle, healthy snacks and water.

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A film titled “Yesterday,” will be shown at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, 701 Fifth St.

The PG-13 movie is a comedy-fantasy-musical about a struggling musician who realizes he’s the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed.

The movie is 116 minutes in length.

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Tickets for the Moundsville Veterans Honor Guard/Northern Veterans Council Steak Fry to be held from 5-8 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the Earl Francis American Legion Post No. 3, 800 First St., Moundsville, may be obtained at the the Legion Home, or by phoning the Legion at 845-5230.

No tickets will be available at the door.

Ticket costs are $20 per single, or $35 for couple.

Proceeds will go toward both organizations.

The Honor Guard is an organization which exists strictly on donations. Each year the Honor Guard conducts numerous services to help family members of deceased veterans in both Marshall and Ohio counties.

The NPVC’s purpose is to increase awareness of veterans’ services in the Northern Panhandle, to build a better support network for veterans families, and to build a stronger voice to advocate for veteran issues at local, regional, state and federal levels.

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Two Food Handlers Training sessions will take place at either 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the Marshall County Health Department, Sixth Street and Court Avenue, Moundsville.

The class is for those working with foods.

Registration is required by calling the Health Department at 304-845-7840.

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Christmas applications for food and toys by the Salvation Army in Wetzel County will be taken at the former Radio Shack, 416 North State Route 2, Steelton, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Monday through Friday.

Those signing up for a family must bring with them a picture ID, proof of all income in the house hold, proof of expenses (bills), birth certificates/medical card, and proof of guardianship.

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The Cameron Senior Center will hold a “Christmas in November” event on Nov. 8 at the CSC. It will be a yard and bake sale.

Christmas decorations will be sold along with food.

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Representatives from the city of Moundsville and the Moundsville Chamber of Commerce, along with persons who have businesses on Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville, were present for the ribbon cutting/grand opening of a new business, Re/Decorate Consignment, located at 343 Jefferson Ave., this past Thursday.

The business will feature consignment furniture and other related home items.

Nancy Haynes is the store owner.