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Reasons to be a Farm Bureau member

Jefferson County Farm Bureau members were reacquainted with reasons to become a member of the Ohio Farm Bureau at the dinner meeting held at Murray’s Restaurant in Wintersville. John Grafton, membership committee member, was in charge in the absence of Duayne Wetherell being late due to his son D.J.’s Boy Scout meeting.

The 10 reasons given were to develop personal and professional skills through leadership opportunities; saving money through member savings and discounts; staying safe with $2,500 property protection; access to experts on landowner issues such as oil and gas drilling plus private property rights; being informed on legislative issues; learning what is in season with OurOhio.org.; getting to know your food and a farmer at a Grow-and-Know event; getting discounts on Nationwide Insurance products; getting a subscription to Our Ohio magazine; and getting involved in an organization where members work to improve life in their communities.

Gene Omaits won the gift card door prize, and members were given their assigned areas.

Michele Specht told of contest incentives and interesting ways to introduce Farm Bureau to those who live in urban areas, where the membership also is valuable.

The promotion and education women’s group of Farm Bureau met for a luncheon at the Gas Lite Restaurant and Lounge in Wintersville and brought gifts that will be donated to the Ag Baby born during the March 20 to 24, which is Ag Week.

Jeanne Roberts was in charge of the meeting, reading “Love is Like Magic.” She and made pink heart cookies as favors. Connie Crawford gave out playful lip balm that was said to be made from chicken byproducts but was not. Sweetheart candy hearts with sayings were another favor.

Hattie Wetherell, 2, was at the meeting and enjoying the heart-shaped cookies. She is a healthy, little tyke now, but she has had heart problems and surgeries.

“Sleep Tight Farm,” an American Farm Bureau book written by Eugenie Doyle and illustrated by Becca Stadlander, was shown to the group, and members were assigned a school or schools to attend and read to second-grade pupils during Ag Week.

Schools to receive one of the books after the reading session were Buckeye North, South and West; Stanton Elementary and John Gregg; Wintersville Elementary and Hills Elementary; Karaffa School; Wells, Garfield and Pugliese elementary schools; Bishop John King Mussio Elementary; Jefferson County Christian School; and the School of Bright Promise.

Placemats will be distributed to local restaurants to use during Ag Week.

Erika Lyons, ag and natural resources educator, reported on meetings to be held that pertained to pesticides, oil and gas rights and master gardeners.

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Our youngest grandchild, Maggie, who is 8, got her pinkie finger broken in soccer and is now sporting a finger cast and a bigger contraption on her hand to keep it safe so she can continue to play. She never quits. She goes to Plain City Elementary, where the grandson of Tom and Chris McCain and grandson of Corky and Judy Saiter attend. Some of the local graduates gravitated to that area after college and stayed.

Another grandson, Matthew, is looking forward to spring training for baseball to begin at Worthington Christian High School. I could not believe when his dad bought him a baseball bat that cost $400. That wooden stick should jump out and hit the ball every time by itself.

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I am browsing through the Spectator, the Smithfield High School newspaper for many years, and on the feature page, where Elaine Nameth was editor, and my very own cousin Bill McHugh was the adviser, it has a “Stop and Think” column.

“Have you wondered what would have happened if George Washington had gotten picked up by the Coast Guard while crossing the Delaware River? It could have been because he was not wearing a life jacket, but from what I have read in history books, some of the men didn’t even have shoes.

“What if Abraham Lincoln couldn’t find his cuff links and missed the show at Ford Theater?

“What about if Alexander Graham Bell had been hard of hearing. Would he have invented the telephone?”

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Here are some backward glances from Spartan Country:

In 1934, the Spectator, school newspaper, was published for the first time. It had two names before becoming the Spectator. The first was “The Tattler,” and the second was simply Smithfield School News. The Tattler was published in 1928 through 1929 and sold for 10 cents a copy and 60 cents a year. It had a staff of 16. The Smithfield School News contained from one to three pages and was given out free of charge. It was the school’s first mimeographed paper and was distributed after a lack of four years, 1930-34, when there was no adviser to oversee the publication.

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Back in 1944, the Tri-County District Basketball Tournament of Jefferson, Harrison and Belmont counties was held in the Smithfield High School auditorium/basketball floor.

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Karen Hass, a junior in 1969, and her horse, Apache, served as the Smithfield High School mascot, and they would go dashing across the football field before the game, at halftime and afterward.

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The Piney Fork Elementary School organized its first PTA in 1969, with Mrs. Lawrence Hartzell as president; Martin Kinyo, vice president; Mrs. Tony DaGrava as treasurer; and Mrs. Love as secretary. This was back in the time when ladies were still addressed as Mrs. or Miss. There was no Ms. at that time.

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Here is a poem from the Spectator that we should all heed. The author is anonymous.

“Wouldn’t this old world be a better place if folks we meet would say,

“I know something good about you and then treat us all that way?

“Wouldn’t it be fine and dandy if each hand clasp warm and true carried with it this assurance,

“I know something good about you!”

“Wouldn’t life be lots more happy if the good that’s in us all

“Were the only thing about us that folks bothered to recall?

“Wouldn’t life be lots more happy, if we praised the good we see?

“For there’s such a lot of goodness in the worst of you and me.

“Wouldn’t it be great to practice that fine way of thinking, too?

“You know something good about me!

“I know something good about you!”

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As you can see, I still have not been to many events on which to report. Meetings tend to close down for the winter months.

That’s all for now, folks!

(McCoy, a resident of Smithfield, is a staff columnist and food editor for the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. She can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)

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