Courier’s Elsa Salyers is honored by Ky. House of

Letters Column

Miranda’s ColumnBy

Miranda M. Cantrell

PAGE FOUR The Licking VaLLey courierThursday, sepTember 6, 2012

P.O. Box 187 - West Liberty, Ky. 41472 - Phone 606-743-3551USPS Permit Number 312-040

The Licking Valley Courier

GREGORY KINNERBusiness Mgr.

MIRANDA CANTRELLNews Editor

EARL W. KINNERPublisher

CARLA COLLINSWORTHOffi ce Manager

RICK ADKINSAdvertising

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address and all forms to the above address. The Licking Valley Courier is published on Thursdays 51 weeks a year. Peri-odicals postage paid at the West Liberty Post Offi ce, West Liberty, Kentucky. Editor reserves the right to edit and/or omit all items submitted for publication.

P.O. Box 187 - West Liberty, Ky. 41472 - Phone 606-743-3551USPS Permit Number 312-040

The Licking Valley Courier

GREGORY KINNERBusiness Mgr.

MIRANDA CANTRELLNews Editor

EARL W. KINNERPublisher

CARLA COLLINSWORTHOffice Manager

RICK ADKINSAdvertising

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address and all forms to the above address. The Licking Valley Courier is published on Thursdays 51 weeks a year. Peri-odicals postage paid at the West Liberty Post Office, West Liberty, Kentucky. Editor reserves the right to edit and/or omit all items submitted for publication.

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Six Months Later:Battling Back

Last Friday night I attended Morgan County High School’s first home football game of the season against Estill County. My knowledge of the sport is admittedly very limited, but I went because I knew it would be a landmark event for our community.

The March 2 tornado de-stroyed Herdman Field, and many people questioned wheth-er school officials would have the facility renovated in time for the game. But they delivered, and the field was re-christened with an emotional 44-8 Cougar win.

This was more than just a big victory for MCHS, though. It was symbolic of a much greater feat for Morgan County as a whole. Because two days later on Sept. 2, we marked six months the since the face of our town and our lives changed forever.

Approximately a month af-ter the tornado, an especially poignant photograph ran on the front page of The Licking Val-ley Courier that captured the destruction of the Commercial Bank building. An American flag hung from the wreckage. It was hauntingly reminiscent of

the flag that firefighters hung from the Pentagon following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In the tornado aftermath, most of us looked upon the devastation and felt that shell-shocked 9/11 feeling once again. Magnified a million times, of course, because this tragedy was not unfolding on television in a faraway land. This was happen-ing to us. It was just so mixed-up and irrevocably wrong.

Six months later, several buildings that once stood on Main Street are gone. Two beautiful historical churches are razed. Countless homes throughout the county are no more. The landscape from Woodsbend to Moon will un-doubtedly bear tornado scars for years to come.

Sometimes it is painful to sit at my desk, in this temporary office trailer, and look out my window to see remnants of the destruction. It is hard for everybody to reconcile this dis-mal picture with the postcard-perfect West Liberty that we loved so dearly.

It would have been easy for local government and com-merce leaders and citizens to say, “Why bother?” and let

Morgan County die a quiet death. But we opted to do some-thing else instead:

We chose to battle back.Judge Executive Tim Conley

noted during his Aug. 24 fish fry that the majority of citizens who lost their homes to the tornado are currently in the rebuild-ing process. Many residential structures have been renovated or completely replaced, as re-construction efforts continue to be chronicled via numerous media outlets.

Several businesses were dec-imated, but many of those sites now boast signs vowing returns to downtown West Liberty.

Commercial Bank’s new Index branch opened in May, and eventually the current Main Street building will be razed so a more modern banking center can rise in the business district's heart. Citizens Bank officials will hold a groundbreaking cer-emony for their new facility on Sept. 14. Work also continues on Bank of the Mountains’s downtown branch and drive-thru location, as well as a new conference hall.

Countless other business triumphs are recorded in The Courier’s news reports and advertisements, in addition to success stories from local government agencies, schools, churches and civic groups – in-cluding the completion of West Liberty Fire Department’s new headquarters, the re-opening of West Liberty Elementary School at Boneal, faith-based volunteer efforts and July’s Independence Day celebration.

Perhaps the greatest accom-plishment since March 2 is that the 42nd Annual Sorghum Fes-tival will be held Sept. 28-30 in downtown West Liberty, same as always. Not even a massive tornado could break this vener-able tradition.

Morgan Countians endured unfathomable hardships in the tornado’s aftermath. Many of us found ourselves charged with heightened responsibilities, but also realized our roles in the community are more crucial than ever. Instead of balking at these challenges, we summoned our inner heroes to save a town that is worth fighting for.

We are – so fervently and so proudly – battling back.

“We Shall Return”You’ve heard the expres-

sion “most things written are not worth the paper they are printed on while other things written are “worth writing home about”. This is one I consider worth writing home about. Just another meaningful lesson in

life as a result of growing up in rural Morgan County.

Even though I was a very young girl at this time, I re-member the place this event happened and how it made such impression on me for a lifetime.

My dad, Jonah B. Wells, had sold a mule to a neighbor “on

time,” as was a very common thing to do, so after a while the neighbor realized he was not able to keep his bargain and he came down the road pulling the mule and returning him to my dad and explaining his plight of not being able to keep his part of the deal.

So my dad, being the kind of man that he was, refused to take the mule back. Because he realized the need this neighbor had for the use of this animal to raise a tobacco crop and food for his family. So he told him to go ahead and use the mule as long as needed and he could pay him whenever he was able to.

This is a kind of people in Morgan County that I knew. This is the kind of place to live. No tornado can destroy the heart and soul of the people left be-hind. You will come alive again and be better than ever before.

“God bless our Morgan County”.

Maxine Wells Jenkins333 Cromwell WayLexington, Ky. 40503

Cooperation Among CooperativesLicking Valley RECC linemen, Travis Nunn, Bill Turner, Ward Dickey, and Eric Adkins travelled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to assist DEMCO – Dixie Electric Membership Corporation in their restoration effort after Hurricane Isaac impacted many of their 100,000 members. Licking Val-ley RECC’s employees joined 75 other men from eight different co-ops from across Kentucky who headed south to offer mutual aid. These men planned to stay about 10 days, and then will come home and other men will be going back if needed.

Gospel groups toconvene at nationalevent in Louisville

Many of the most popular names in Southern Gospel Mu-sic will be featured at this year’s 55th Annual National Quartet Convention in Louisville Sun-day Sept. 9, through Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Kentucky Fair & Expo Center.

Performing throughout this seven-day event during after-noon and evening concerts, will be such renown artists as The Gaither Vocal Band, The Hoppers, The Kingdom Heirs, Gold City, Greater Vision, The Booth Brothers, The Trium-phant Quartet, Legacy Five, Karen Peck & New River, The Isaacs and dozens of others.

Southern Gospel Music lov-ers can enjoy their favorite music all day long, as music spectaculars begin each morn-ing and continue until midnight each evening. Complete infor-mation, including a complete schedule of events, may be obtained by calling 1-800-846-8499 or logging onto www.nqconline.com

Elsa Salyers

West Liberty Artist, Mrs. Elsa Salyers, has recently been honored by the Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Repre-sentatives, with a Citation of honor and congratulations on her artwork she displayed at the Mountain Arts Center, in Prestonsburg, this summer.

She had just finished the ex-hibit and was at the Mountain Arts Center to pick up her paint-ings when she was presented the citation by a staff member there.

The Citation reads as fol-lows:

The House Of Representa-tives of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky Citation

The House of Representa-tives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky hereby honors and congratulates Elsa Salyers upon having her artwork displayed at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, dur-

Elsa Salyers is honored by Ky. House of Representatives

ing the month of June 2012. Inasmuch as this talented lady has demonstrated extraordinary talent as an artist, the members

of this distinguished body are pleased to join Representative John Will Stacy in applauding Elsa Salyers for this stellar ac-complishment and in extending best wishes for her continued success and good fortune.

Done in Frankfort, Kentucky, this ninth day of July, in the year two thousand twelve.

Gregory D. StumboSpeaker,

House of RepresentativesJohn Will Stacy

Member,House of Representatives

Mrs. Salyers is a native of Elliott County. She has enjoyed painting for a number of years, and just recently completed a commission of five landscape pieces. Her artwork has been displayed throughout Eastern Kentucky for a number of years.

Congratulations, Elsa.

Documents

Courier’s Elsa Salyers is honored by Ky. House of