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Backyard Gardener: Dianthus for Mother’s Day

Hello Mid-Ohio Valley gardeners and farmers! A blessed happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there in the valley. West Virginia has a special connection with Mother’s Day, as the first official celebration was held May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton. Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations in honor of her mother to the first formal Mother’s Day service. Over the next few years, Jarvis worked to make Mother’s Day a national holiday and President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in 1914. Carnations became an integral ...

Colonial Gardens

Hello Mid-Ohio Valley gardeners and farmers! This week I want to discuss planting a historical or colonial kitchen garden. 2026 marks Americas 250th Anniversary. Compared to today, colonial gardens were an essential component of survival, located near the house to prevent starvation and treat illness. Gardening meant feeding your family and having a ready supply of medicine. Kitchen gardens were a vital source of daily nutrition. In many instances, gardening today is a hobby or a way to get fresh, great tasting and nutritious produce from your backyard. It is often a pursuit intended ...

70 Years: Hartline

BELPRE — Jim and Shirley Hartline of Belpre will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on March 29, 2026. They were married in Marietta, Ohio, in 1956. Jim is 92, and Shirley is 90. He was a pharmacist, and she worked in retail and was a homemaker. Jim said he married her because she ...

60 Years: Bonnette

Jim Sr. and Darlene Mincks Bonnette will celebrate 60 years of marriage on Feb. 26, 2026. Jim is the son of Denver and Sara Lou Bonnette (both deceased) and is retired from Shell Chemical Co. in Belpre. Darlene is the daughter of Donald and Dorothy Mincks (both deceased) and is retired from ...

67 Years: Rippeto

Keith and Karen Rippeto of Lubeck, W.Va., celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary with a small family gathering. After attending West Virginia University on a gymnastics scholarship, Keith entered the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. After serving, he then worked at E.I. DuPont for 47 ...

100 Years: Rumburg

Helen Evans Rumburg will celebrate her 100th birthday on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. She was born in Jackson County, W.Va., to the late Dan and Carrie Evans. She married the late Ted Rumburg in 1949. She has one daughter, Kimberli Constantino; two grandsons, Evan Bevins and Alex (Gracie) Constantino; and five great-granddaughters, Violet and Charlotte Bevins and Maggie, Corrie and Lottie Constantino Cards can be sent to her at Rockland Ridge, Room 314, 2511 Washington Blvd., Belpre, OH 45714.