Ashland Inc. employees donate to area agencies

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — What started out as the 12 days of Christmas in an eastern Kentucky town has grown into the 12 weeks of Christmas.

Ashland Inc. employees Christi Clarke and Terri Gabbard asked each of their 12 co-workers a couple of weeks before Christmas to donate a jar of peanut butter for Community Kitchen.

Clarke and Gabbard told The Independent of Ashland that the effort in 2009 was a way for them to get back into the Christmas spirit .

“We decided to get excited about Christmas and we needed to do something for somebody else,” Gabbard said. “It was supposed to be inexpensive things that individually wouldn’t be hard on anybody to buy but collectively would be something nice to take to an agency and it would make a difference.”

“Everybody in our departments jumped on the bandwagon,” Clarke said. “It was amazing how much 12 people could collect.”

They ended up with more peanut butter than requested and now, two years later, the effort has expanded to 12 weeks and includes 50 workers in different departments of the Russell office where they work.

Clarke says the additional time makes it easier to collect donations and deliver them to the appropriate agency.

Collections will begin in late September for agencies that will benefit at Christmastime. The women said they haven’t completed the list of agencies who will receive donations this year.

Places that have benefited from past collections include nursing homes, a pregnancy care center and the Boyd County Animal Shelter.

Although the program is not affiliated with Ashland, the company recognized it and Clarke last year.

Clarke received the Chairman’s Award for Community Enrichment for her volunteer work, including the 12 Weeks of Giving program. Along with the award, the company offers a $10,000 donation to the agency of the winner’s choice.

Clarke’s choice was Community Kitchen, where she serves a board member.

New honors program launches fall semester

PORTSMOUTH — A special orientation presented for honor students this semester provided an introduction to the honors program at Shawnee State University.

The students were also introduced to a new Honors Residence Hall where all the students will be living on campus. A total of 80 students will be in the program Fall Semester with 35 of them new incoming students at SSU.

“We are very proud of the integrity of our honors program,” said Dr. Rhoni Maxwell-Rader, director of the honors program. “The orientation provides our students with the opportunity to connect with one another, and our Honors faculty to become more familiar with the campus resources, and learn what it means to be an Honors scholar.”

To be in the honors program, students must maintain at least a 3.3 GPA while taking the specially designed honors courses, yet they often achieve far above this.

All of the 2011 graduates were magna (at least a 3.75 GPA) and summa cum laude (at least a 3.9 GPA).

Students Bethany Heidenreich, Lisa Morrissette, Stacey Shepherd and Abigail Teske were orientation team leaders for the program.

Hallmark Quartet to perform Sept. 4

ASHLAND, Ky. — The Hallmark Quartet will perform at Beech Street Christian Church at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The concert is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted.

OLBH mobile health center releases schedule

RUSSELL, Ky. — The Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital (OLBH) Mobile Health Center schedule for the month of September has been released. The center will visit the following locations with all times 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted:

• Verity Middle School, 2800 Kansas St. – Ashland — Thursday

• Rock Hill High School, 2415 County Road 26, Ironton – Friday, Sept. 2

• Bellefonte Primary Care- Grayson, 100 Bellefonte Drive, Grayson – Tuesday, Sept. 6 and Monday, Sept. 26

• Grahn Community Center, 7380 Aden Road, Grahn– Monday, Sept. 12

• Bellefonte Primary & Urgent Care- Cannonsburg, 12470 U.S. Route 60, Cannonsburg – Tuesday, Sept. 13

• Lewis County Health Department, Lyons Lane, Vanceburg – Wednesday, Sept. 14

• Stultz Pharmacy, Applegate Shopping Center, Greenup – Thursday, Sept. 15

• Bellefonte Primary Care-South Ashland, 2910 Carter Avenue, Ashland – Monday, Sept. 19

• Bellefonte Primary Care-South Shore, US 23, South Shore – Tuesday, Sept. 20

• Office of Dr. Sanjiv Gupta, 300 St. Hwy. 1947, Grayson – Wednesday, Sept. 21

• Ashland Community and Technical College Technology Drive Campus, 902 Technology Drive, Grayson – Wednesday, Sept. 28

• Valley Medical Center, Ironton Hills Plaza, Ironton, Ohio – Thursday, Sept. 29

Those who wish to attend any of the scheduled stops of the OLBH Mobile Health Center must schedule an appointment by calling the OLBH Women’s Center at (606) 836-PINK (7465).

W.Va. to open squirrel-hunting season Sept. 10

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s squirrel-hunting season opens Sept. 10.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources says the season has been moved up a month from last year’s opening date, giving hunters more time to shoot the state’s most popular small-game animals.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that the daily bag limit will remain at six and the possession limit at 24. Squirrel season ends Jan. 12.

Reminisce Day is Sept. 2 at BCPL

CATLETTSBURG, Ky. — Remember and celebrate the past with others at the 6th annual Reminisce Day on Friday.

The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Catlettsburg Branch of Boyd County Public Library, 2704 Louisa St. It is held in conjunction with the city’s Labor Day festivities.

The library will have scrapbooks, pictures, yearbooks and other memorabilia to look through. Those who attend are asked to bring any special photos or other items they have. Swap stories and talk about the good ole days in Catlettsburg.

Refreshments will be served throughout the day.

The Catlettsburg Branch will be closed on Saturday because of the Labor Day festivities in town.

For more information, call (606) 739-8332. To find out more about library programs and services, visit the online branch at www.thebookplace.org.