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Thumbs up ... to 170 students from Raleigh, Fayette, Greenbrier, Summers and Wyoming counties who took part in the recent Southern West Virginia Honor Band concert.
Thumbs up ... to two area teachers honored for their classroom contributions as recipients of the 2010 Arch Coal Achievement Awards. Collins Middle School math teacher Greg Minter and Woodrow Wilson High School art instructor Sandra Shaw were among just 13 state teachers chosen.
Thumbs up ... to Shady Spring Middle School eighth-grader Erin Mills, who spelled her way to an opportunity to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee by winning the 2010 Gazette-Mail Regional Spelling Bee. Mills will compete in the national bee June 2-4 in Washington, D.C.
Thumbs up ... to Consol Energy’s Fola Operations’ employees who made winter a little warmer for more than 800 children in four states by purchasing coats and giving them to children in need.
Employee contributions for the coat drive this year totaled $7,747 and Consol added an additional $5,000. The coat drive has been an employee-organized project carried out in the area for several years.
Thumbs up ... to Gilmer Ayers of Eccles, who celebrated his 90th birthday March 1.
Ayers is the father of three sons and grandfather of 12 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
He also has two brothers and six sisters.
Thumbs up ... to Jim Justice, chosen the 2010 Business Leader of the Year by the Greater Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce.
Justice purchased The Greenbrier last spring, rescuing the county’s largest employer from bankruptcy.
In the months since taking over The Greenbrier, Justice has continued to invest in the property, most notably with the construction of a $25 million casino, slated to open sometime before the inaugural Greenbrier Classic PGA golf tournament gets under way this summer.
Thumbs up ... to West Virginia’s exporting $4.8 billion worth of products and commodities last year and leading the nation in coal exports. The Mountain State exported coal valued at $2.1 billion.
Thumbs up ... to Ron Booker of Beckley, selected to serve on the state attorney general’s citizens advisory committee. The group helps residents access consumer protection resources. Booker was commander of the TRIDENT drug task force from 1990 until retiring last year.
Thumbs up ... to the New River, which gained more kudos recently as it was named the Best Whitewater River by readers of Get Out!, the online magazine of outdoor adventure in the Ohio River region.
Snowshoe Mountain was chosen as Best Ski Resort by the magazine’s readers.
