Published: March 24, 2006 10:44 pm      

Thumbs, Saturday, March 25, 2006

Thumbs up ... to Mr. and Mrs. A.H. Dunlap of Crab Orchard, who won the Harley-Davidson given away by the United Way of Southern West Virginia in a fund-raiser. Charlie Sedlock of Fayetteville won a diamond ring and Dale Crookshanks of Rupert won $3,000 cash.



Thumbs up ... to a group of Rutgers University students who spent their spring break assisting the Southern Appalachian Labor School with home construction in Page and Oak Hill.



Thumbs up ... to Eugene Skaggs VFW Post 7695, which broke ground for the New Haven Veterans’ Memorial. The memorial has been designed by architect John Thomas Cashion, an Ansted native. It will honor veterans from the New Haven District from all wars and all military branches. A special section up front will recognize those killed in battle, while various segments will honor those who served in the different branches.



Thumbs up ... to the 30th annual Wilderness District Cub Scout Father-Son Bake-off staged at The Greenbrier. Jarod Short of Mount Nebo, Pack 872, and his helper, Scott Short, walked away with Best of Bake-off honors. The Best Presentation award went to Noah Riner of Fayetteville, Pack 149, whose helper was Sam Riner.

Thumbs up ... to businesses that are pledging money toward a new Greenbrier East High School Spartan statue and are offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of those involved in the destruction of the original statue.



Thumbs up ... to the Beckley Blast for taking the sixth-grade division championship game in the 34th annual Wendy’s/YMCA Biddy Buddy All-Star basketball tournament. It had been 18 years since a Beckley team won a championship in the event.



Thumbs up ... to West Virginia’s effort to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten for receiving high marks in a national study that examined states’ preschool initiatives. Thirty-five percent of eligible 4-year-olds were enrolled in pre-kindergarten in the 2004-2005 school year, ranking the state fifth in the nation, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University said.



Thumbs up ... to inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution-Beckley for telling their life story in an effort to impress upon Woodrow Wilson students that bad decisions they started making in high school eventually led them to prison, in an effort to spare the kids that same fate.