Forty years ago, America looked and acted a bit differently than it does today. The first U.S. Marines had yet to arrive in Da Nang, Vietnam. America was still dreaming of reaching the moon. The Beatles had yet to record their now-famous "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" album. And Lawrence County had no idea what a community action organization was.

My how things have changed.

Saturday, the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization celebrated 40 years of service to the community.

A lot has changed in 40 years - both with the CAO and the community it serves.

Today, the CAO is everywhere in the county, from the highly visible work such as the successful medical facilities and the annual home weatherization programs to projects such as the myriad of grants the agency secures.

The CAO has been a good community partner, especially as the area has gone through low economic times. Throughout the transformation of the local economy from one of heavy manufacturing to its more diverse current state, the Ironton-Lawrence County CAO has been standing beside the community.

Even today, 40 years after its inception, the CAO is continuing to help blaze trails into the future of Lawrence County. The CAO is among the lead groups exploring options for bringing a new hospital to Ironton as well as helping promote recycling and waste clean-up projects in our area.

A sad truth is that the CAO has grown in size at least in part due to the massive need of serving the economically challenged in our community.

We wish the economy would turn around so that everyone in the county was employed and many of the reasons the CAO has grown would go away.

We wish the CAO didn't need to be as all encompassing, but until the economy turns around, we're happy they are standing beside the community and continuing to offer help and assistance. We wish the CAO a happy anniversary and good luck in the future.