High Points of the Valley (Graphic Illustration)

* Parkersburg First Christian Church, the Salvation Army of Parkersburg, Williamstown Legion Post 159, Norwood United Methodist Church, and the Washington County Veterans Service Commission in partnership with Settlers Bank and Westlake Dimex are among those hosting or delivering holiday meals for Thanksgiving this week. Many of these groups could still use some help from volunteers as there will likely be many who take advantage of the good food and community these events provide. Speaking about veterans, WCVSC Executive Director Darren Shearlock said “In a time of thanks and giving, we must not forget them.” Thank goodness there are such organizations and individuals among us. Thank you, folks.

* Branch manager for the Belpre Public Library Cayde Copeland has graduated from a competitive, 18-month leadership program through the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. Copeland was among only 30 library professionals in North America to do so this year. The idea was to help develop strong rural and small library leaders, give them tools to strengthen the communities they serve, and empower them to add their voices to national conversations about libraries. Copeland focused on training front line service staff in the legal aspects of animals in the library including proper protocol surrounding service animals and the options for animal assisted programming such as canine reading partners. Congratulations!

* The Milan Puskar Foundation has awarded $25,000 to the Boys and Girls Club to continue to enhance and expand youth development programming at the Mary Street and Mineral Wells sites. “Now that we’ve opened our Vienna site and continue to expand transportation to more schools, funding is becoming more and more crucial, and we are incredibly grateful to the Milan Puskar Foundation for these dollars,” said Interim COO Darlene Murphy. It is encouraging to see such an important organization receive this level of support. Thank goodness for the community and statewide partners that continue to step up.