Legion hosts flag disposal ceremony

By

-

June 10, 2015

By Frank Lewis

If you are flying a torn or damaged American flag maybe the time has come for you to get a replacement. But once you have replaced that tattered flag with a newer one, what do you do with the unserviceable flag? Mike Phillips, commander of James Dickey Post 23, of the American Legion says there is a proper way to dispose of that flag, and Post 23 will be holding a flag disposal ceremony this weekend.

“At 3 o’clock (p.m.) we’re going to have a ceremony,” Phillips said. “Everybody will be in uniform and I’ve got a burner that I fixed up and we’ll be having it there and anybody that has a flag and would like to drop it off at that time we’ll be glad to accept it and dispose of it the proper way. We’re more than pleased to help everybody out.”

The Ceremony for Disposal of Unserviceable Flags is outlined in Resolution No. 440, passed by the 19th National Convention of The American Legion in New York, Sept. 20-23, 1937. The ceremony has been an integral part of American Legion ritual since that date.

“The SAL (Sons of the American Legion) are putting together a hamburger and hot dog feed for the people that are going to be attending,” Phillips said.

The purpose of The American Legion in adopting the ceremony was to encourage proper respect for the flag of the United States and to provide for disposal of unserviceable flags in a dignified manner. Resolution No. 373, approved by the National Convention of The American Legion meeting in Chicago, Illinois, September 18-20, 1944, re-emphasized the purpose of proper public flag disposal ceremonies and encouraged greater use of this ceremony by The American Legion.

Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.

Lucasville Trade Days this weekend

By

Portsmouth Daily Times

-

June 10, 2015

.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}

Submitted photo Past Lucasville Trade Days event held at the fairgrounds.

By Portia Williams

[email protected]

LUCASVILLE —Lucasville Trade Days, held at the fairgrounds in Lucasville, has become a popular attraction in the local area, bringing in droves of avid shoppers seeking items from jewelry to live animals. The official Trade Days will kick off Saturday at 7 a.m.

Jim Wirth, promoter of the Lucasville Trade Days, said shoppers seeking early bird bargains may enter on Friday, June 12.

“We will actually have early bird vendors, for the ones who want to get in there and find the shopping bargains, treasures and things, they will come in starting Friday at 3 p.m.,” Wirth said. “Technically, we open Saturday at 7 a.m., but what happens is, there is a certain amount of people that want in early so we have created a policy where we let them in, but instead of the $1 admission, its $2 per head if you want in early, and that’s Friday from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.”

He said the Trade Days event starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday and on Sunday.

“It is going to be pretty crowded. We have a little over 2,000 vendors stationed at full capacity, and I think that we have sold more than three fourths of those for this show,” he said.

The public should keep in mind that no birds of any type will be permitted into the Lucasville Trade Days event. This comes in compliance with a new directive from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODOA), who has canceled all live bird exhibitions this year, in an effort to help the poultry industry recently hit from the avian flu which has made such an overwhelmingly negative impact on poultry-producing states.

“The State of Ohio has put a 100 percent ban on the distribution of any kind of birds. In the history of our show, poultry and chickens have certainly been an important part of that,” he said. “But, we will not be allowing any birds, nothing from parakeets to peacocks. No ducks, no chickens, no geese. Vendors who have sold birds at our events in the past will be coming, but they will be bringing their pigs, or whatever else they choose to sell.”

Traffic has been an issue for past Lucasville Trade Days events. Wirth said they have been in communication with the Ohio State Highway Patrol to implement strategies for improved traffic management.

“We’ve been to see, and talk with the State Highway Patrol, and we’ve talked with the Ohio Department of Transportation and sought their advice about being able to handle more traffic more quickly, and hopefully people won’t ever have to worry about that kind of crisis again,” he said.

The Trade Days events are made possible through a team work effort.

“We have a team of people, and our top managers really don’t look as anyone as the big boss,” he said. “We really have a big crew, our guy George is in charge of traffic and parking, Steve is in charge of setup and operations, and Della is in charge of the office and transactions, and like the general trouble shooter, going all over the grounds and making decisions that need to be made throughout the day.”

For more information regarding the upcoming Lucasville Trade Days, visit the Lucasville Trade Days Facebook page.

Reach Portia Williams at 740-353-3101, 1929, or on Twitter @PortiaWillPDT.

SOA offers options to non-traditional students

By

Portsmouth Daily Times

-

June 10, 2015

By Joseph Pratt

[email protected]

Just as there isn’t one answer for every problem in the world, not every student fits into the traditional mold of the education structure — but it doesn’t mean that these students cannot succeed. The Southern Ohio Academy (SOA) recently proved this by graduating a majority of its senior class and having high passing test scores.

“SOA is a newer charter school option for the non-traditional student who might need extra assistance or a different type of environment to succeed,” Executive Director of SOA Pat Ciraso explained. “These students are those who might have been unable to connect with the traditional school program. We have been able to work with students and their parents to help them proceed towards a traditional high school diploma, which is the very same any other graduate receives.”

The charter school is sponsored through the Scioto Career and Technical Center and has a partnership with every area school, with the exception of Portsmouth City. This partnership is a strong one, according to Ciraso, and was forged to provide the best opportunities for individual students in the county who were in danger of not graduating.

“The schools provide us with support in the form of transportation and other support services, such as cross-networking counselors and administrators working with us and facilitating any aspect of the learning program for better learning opportunities,” Ciraso explained. “Also, the Scioto County Career and Technical Center (SCCTC) provides career explorative opportunities and the SCCTC and the Educational Service Center provides the framework of our institution.”

The school is a hybrid between online and classroom studies, where 80 percent of work is expected to be done online and twenty in the classroom.

“We do this because many of these students have problems with making it to school, but can complete most of their class work, if given the opportunity,” Ciraso explained. “We do require them to be in the classroom one day a week, though. Of course, the doors are open as many days a week that they want to come in and receive help from a licensed teacher.”

Ciraso said that the program was proven a success with recent numbers coming in at a 84 percent passing rate, which means of all the classes students take, 84 percent of them are passed.

“For an online school, that is remarkable,” Ciraso said. “I’ve been told by people from the Ohio Department of Education that typical online school passing rates are around 38 to 40 percent.”

Ciraso said that the school is not an easy out for students and few actually return to their home districts, because of the inability to juggle coursework at home and complete it all outside of an actual classroom. She also said that while the SOA might be what some students need, she always encourages students to greatly consider their final option, because they also lose out on many opportunities a brick and mortar school provides, from a greater sense of community, extracurricular activities, and sports.

The 2015 graduating class consisted of Clifton E. Abrams, Stephanie Loraine Allison, Kimberly Dawn Conley, Kari Lynn Craig, Alyssa Marie Evans, Joshua E. Frye, Christian Lee Hudson, Morgan Rayann Lang, Dylan Joseph Marshall, Blake Daniel Mayhew, Pamela Sue Parlin, Jacob Brandyn Pyles, Rachel Naomi Skeans, Cody Lee Timberman, Chantel Lace Winters, Makayla Ina Marie Yates-Bishop. Alyssa Evans (3.523 GPA) and Makayla Yates-Bishop(3.030 GPA) were awarded a $500 Medical Mutual Scholarship

“The students work very hard to achieve passage of classes, which is attributed to the hard work of our two full-time teachers and the regular substitutes we’ve used the past few months,” Ciraso explained. “We even had two students who graduated with a 3.0 grade point average or above and received scholarships and will attend Shawnee State University in the fall.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at 740-353-3101, ext. 1932, or by Twitter @JosephPratt03.

City awards MSP $150,000

By

Portsmouth Daily Times

-

June 10, 2015

By Frank Lewis

[email protected]

Main Street Portsmouth will be able to plan ahead a little further thanks to action taken by Portsmouth City Council who passed an ordinance Monday night to give that organization $50,000 a year for each of the next three years, totaling $150,000.

The meeting began with comments from Austin Leedom of Portsmouth during the segment of statements on items on the agenda in which he made references to the ordinance being changed, calling it “deceptive.” However, no member of city council said they knew of any changes in the ordinance from its original wording.

“If there has been a change it has not been brought to me,” City Clerk Diana Ratliff said.

“Did you change it (City Solicitor) John (Haas)?” City Manager Derek Allen asked. “I didn’t ask for it to be changed because my understanding is nothing is different than the day it was submitted to conference agenda.”

That brought out a tongue-in-cheek comment from Mayor Jim Kalb.

“I just wanted to make sure you guys didn’t amend it while I wasn’t looking,” Kalb said.

Sixth Ward Councilman Jeff Kleha said he had asked if the ordinance memorialized what action had been taken in the past and had been told that it did.

“I’ve participated in and I used to be on the board of Main Street Portsmouth,” First Ward Councilman Kevin W. Johnson said. “I have seen no other organization in a long time that has so benefited the downtown anywhere.”

Allen said the relationship is at the center of community development activities.

“I want to reiterate that, in combination with Jason Kester at the (Southern Ohio) Port Authority and working with Sarah Surina at Main Street Portsmouth – those two entities – along with the city is what is going to move all the redevelopment of our downtown along,” Allen said. “This is a critical thing to be passed so that they (MSP) know that they have funding secured and we’ll be working in partnership over the next few years. I think it’s a wonderful thing.”

Kalb said it is an honor for the city to have Main Street designation.

“I think council has asked for and I think we have all received the financial reports of Main Street,” Kalb said. “They have explained where the money goes. It’s all on paper and I think this is a wise ordinance to pass.”

The vote was taken and the ordinance passed 5-0. Third Ward Councilman Kevin E. Johnson was absent because his son had undergone surgery Monday.

Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.

East’s Scott turning heads

By

Portsmouth Daily Times

-

June 9, 2015

.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}

Alex Hider

[email protected]

It’s been a busy summer for Blaine Scott.

After just one year of high school football, the East sophomore lineman is already generating interest from college coaches across the country. On May 5, he received his first official offer from Ohio University. In the weeks since, he’s been crisscrossing the Midwest, attending college camps and visiting campuses.

On May 31, he was in Athens for Ohio’s camp. On Sunday, he stopped by Purdue. He’s scheduled to hit Virginia Tech, James Madison, Toledo and Ohio State all within the next two weeks. East football coach James Gifford hopes that James Madison and Toledo will officially extend scholarship offers during the campus visits.

“It definitely is overwhelming,” Scott said. “I’ve been really confident trusting in (Gifford)…It’s just coming a little earlier than I expected, I guess.”

College coaches are drawn to Scott’s huge 6-4, 295 pound frame, but are even more excited about his potential. As a sophomore with just three years of football experience, Scott could be in store for a growth spurt or two. And though he hasn’t even attempted to max out his bench press, he estimates he could lift as much as 265 lbs.

In addition, Scott has already proved to be versatile enough to play anywhere on the line. After starting as the Tartans’ center for first half of the 2014 season, he moved out to right tackle to fill in for injured senior Nick Basham. Gifford plans on keeping Scott on the outside this coming season.

“That’s what I had him doing last year, playing center so he could get a year of experience, with the thought in mind that I would end up moving him to tackle,” he said.

With a 5.5 40-yard-dash time, Scott has the footwork to play right tackle. But that hasn’t stopped him from identifying other areas to improve for this upcoming season.

“Just being a smarter overall player, taking the right steps and being able to know what to do in the right situation,” he said.

Scott shouldn’t have a problem picking up the mental part of the game, either. Gifford says Scott is a 4.0 student, and has heard from some of the county’s most prestigious academic schools, like Duke.

Scott is the second East lineman in as many years to garner attention from college football powerhouses. Last summer, tackle Tyler Gerald committed to Ohio State prior to his junior season. After another stellar season with the Tartans, he transferred to IMG Academy, a prep sports boarding school in Florida. He’s since received offers from Alabama, Penn State and Florida State.

“It gives a lot of credibility. Tyler has paved the way for other (Tartans),” Gifford said.

“It’s putting Sciotoville on the map,” Scott added.

Scott has stayed in close contact with Gerald, and continues to learn from his former teammate.

“The biggest thing (Tyler helped me out with) is confidence,” Scott said. “He just helped me out with being confident going into camps, talking to coaches, being able to compete with the best players in the nation.”

Gerald has helped spread the word about Scott — with college coaches and his coaches at IMG. Scott says that he was offered the chance to play for the Ascenders with Gerald this fall, but he didn’t feel a move to Florida was right for him.

“Me and Tyler, we have two completely different situations. I don’t think it would benefit me as much as if benefited him,” Scott said. “Right now, my plan is to graduate at East, become a heck of a player and help lead the team to a state championship.”

Scott is also excited to see Gifford at the helm of East. The long-time offensive line coach is entering his first season as the Tartans’ head coach this fall.

“To me, Coach Giff is the best O-Line coach in the nation, flat out,” he said. “You just don’t get better than him.”

It’s been a hectic summer break, but Scott wouldn’t have it any other way.

“To go on to play college football, you really have to love the sport. You have to be on the grind every single day,” he said.”But, I love every single second of it: The sweat, the grind, the blood, the tears.”

Reach Alex Hider at 740-353-3101 ext. 1931 or on Twitter @PDTSportsWriter