Published: November 06, 2009 10:30 pm      

Thumbs - Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009

Thumbs up ... to Vietnam Veteran’s group No. 20 for selling chances to win a new Polaris 500 all-terrain vehicle and trailer. All proceeds from the drawing will fund a three-day trip for the group to visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., in April. Any money left over will benefit veterans staying at the VA hospital during the holidays.



Thumbs up ... to organizers of the Friends of Coal Auto Fair for their work on securing entertainment for the 2010 event. Charlie Daniels Band, whose 2006 show was a runaway success, will make a return appearance this summer. The FOC Auto Fair, coming into its seventh year, is a fundraiser for the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.



Thumbs up ... to Victory Baptist Academy, which defeated Beth Haven 25-23, 26-24, 25-14 to capture the West Virginia Christian Athletic Association state championship at Appalachian Bible College. It was the second straight state championship for the Saints.



Thumbs up ... to the Morris Creek Watershed Association for securing money to complete a stream bank stabilization project this fall. The $477,000 in state funding will be used to repair five sections of the stream. The majority of the restoration work will be completed along Morris Drive, the main access road into the Morris Creek Watershed area.



Thumbs up ... to Reba Evelyn Elswick (Byrne) Ball, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday. She is a member of Ida Baptist Church. She is well-known for the popular Reba’s Restaurant that opened in 1954 in Dixie.



Thumbs up ... to Fayetteville, Summers County and Bluefield high schools which are participating in the annual Take a Veteran to School program. Veterans will visit the schools from Nov. 9-19 and give students first-hand accounts of their experiences.



Thumbs up ... to West Virginia’s congressional delegation which offered a resolution that would create a National Miners Day to honor the nation’s coal workers. The resolution was offered by Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, and Reps. Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan, all Democrats, and the lone Republican in the delegation, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.