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Wintersville club welcomes sheriff as speaker

CLUB SPEAKER — Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, shown with Mary Beth Allan, president of the Wintersville Woman’s Club, was the guest speaker at the organization’s Feb. 20 meeting. -- Janice Kiaski

WINTERSVILLE — The Rev. Ashley Steele, executive director of Urban Mission Ministries, will be the guest speaker when Wintersville Woman’s Club members gather for their noon luncheon and business meeting on March 19 at St. Florian Event Center in Wintersville.

Members are reminded to return baby bottles in which change was to be collected as a donation for the Aim Women’s Center in Steubenville. They also are to bring bags of jelly beans for donation to Urban Mission.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla was the speaker at the club’s Feb. 20 meeting, touching on several topics, mainly child abuse and scams.

Abdalla entertained questions and offered insights into his career as county sherriff, noting he is in his 36th year. “They used to say if you want to get away with murder, come to Jefferson County — you’ll never get caught,” he told the group. In last 36 years, however, he said 53 or 55 murders were solved, some very easy, some difficult.

“I was all about protecting our children and senior citizens, especially our children,” he said. “There was so much sexual abuse going on and nothing being done about it. In the last 36 years we’re in the neighborhood of about 400 people have been arrested for sexually abusing children,” he said. “We investigated 800 cases or more and 400 of those people came with an attorney and refused to talk to us and at that point in time I can’t do anything, but probably 90 percent of those individuals were guilty of abusing our children.”

Abdalla said he and audience members likely have raised with safety advice including being cautious of strangers, “but of the 400 people, not one was a stranger — stepdads, grandpaps, mom’s boyfriend, cousins and uncles. It’s someone supposed to love this child, someone that that child trusted, I can’t for the life of me, (understand) how can a father sexually abuse his own child?”

Last year was “a banner year” involving arrests of people sexually abusing children, according to Abdalla. “I know this goes on in Ohio and Jefferson County — there are 87 other counties, 49 other states — and this goes on around the world, so the last prayer out of my mouth every night, I’ll ask God to reach out and touch the children of the world because I see so much of it. It lives with me. I can’t get it out of my mind, especially babies beaten, broken bones,” Abdalla said.

Scams was another topic with Abdalla offering the familiar saying as a still valid rule of thumb — “If it’s too good to be true…” suspicion is in order.

He shared about local cases where residents had been bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from phone calls where they’re led to believe they were winning money by sending money somewhere; helping a grandchild in trouble with the law and in need of bond money; or owing the IRS money.

“There are so many scams out there,” Abdalla said.

President Mary Beth Allan presided at the business meeting where Tyra Timmons led in opening exercises. Judy Ostrowsky read the minutes of the January meeting and took roll call to the question “Did you marry your high school sweetheart?”

Correspondence included thank-you notes to the club for donations to Wintersville Good Neighbors, the Friendship Room, Urban Mission and the Wintersville Police Department. The latter was elaborated on by Allan, who explained that in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day of service, she provided food for the police and fire departments on the club’s behalf.

Karen Hill gave the treasurer’s report.

Members were reminded that the GFWC-Ohio Southeast District Legislation Day will be held at the Belpre Church of Christ on March 21. The cost for lunch and registration fee is $15.

Pat Ketzell, a member of the Wintersville club but also Southeast District president, explained to the club that from now on, district meetings will be held in Belpre because the Southeast District “being so vast,” covering, for example, from East Springfield to Proctorville, close to six hours away. Past practice has been clubs taking turns to host such events. Now, clubs will still take turns, but host in Belpre.

Ketzell also said the Legislation Day project is collecting donations of nonperishable snack size food items for schoolchildren. She also reminded members that Legislation Day is where clubs win awards that enable advances for wins on the state level.

April 25, she added, will be a special day she hopes local club members will support as Wintersville club member Marjean Sizemore becomes Ohio GFWC president. “She has done a wonderful job, and we are so proud of her,” Ketzell said of Sizemore, who has been active locally and on the district and state level. A reception will be held in her honor, and there also will be one held locally in the summer.

Under community reports, Natalie Doty, arts, noted there were no writing essay entries from the school, and about 125 Valentine cards were presented on behalf of the club to residents of nursing homes.

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