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Until She Could

By Noel Shreve

Fifth/Sixth Grade 

Division 

The year is 1864, in a small town in Michigan. It was a cold and dark evening, the only noise being the wind rustling outside. A mother was watching over her baby, rocking it gently back and forth in her arms as the baby slept peacefully.

“Oh Celeste, you are so beautiful ...” her mother whispered to Celeste, moving the infant’s thin blonde hair away from her face.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a tall man stood at the doorway, gazing at the mother and baby with a frustrated look in his eyes. 

“Mary, what are you doing? Put the baby back in her cradle, you need to clean up the kitchen,” the man told his wife, his voice cold, yet quiet as to not wake up Celeste.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll do that now Alex,” Mary responded, walking over to Celeste’s cradle and setting her inside. Then, she walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen to clean up.

As the years passed, Celeste grew, and so did her problems. She was never allowed to go to school, although she loved books and learning new things. Her parents thought it was a waste of time, and she never understood that. The boys her age got to go learn, and even some of the girls did.

 One day, when Celeste was 12 years old, she was helping her mother cook dinner for when her father came home.

“Mother, why don’t you work like father does? You’re always at home while he leaves for his job. I want to work like father when I’m older,” Celeste questioned, looking up at her mother as she awaited her response.

“Celeste, you won’t work when you’re older either. Your husband will work to provide for you and your family while you stay at home, cook, and clean like I do. That’s enough work for a lady as it is,” her mother explained, refusing to look at Celeste.

“Mother, that isn’t fair! I have seen women work before, so why can’t I?” Celeste asked, raising her voice.

“Celeste, that is enough,” her mother snapped, “I don’t like it either, but that’s life. Get used to it.” 

Petersburg Church Women United and the Ministerial Association are sponsoring the annual Lenten Luncheons in the fellowship hall at Petersburg Presbyterian Church. 

Lunch, is soup, sandwich and dessert, will be served promptly at noon with a message provided by a local pastor, and will end at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $5. Everyone welcome.

Speakers scheduled are:

April 9 - Rev. Cheryl George of Main Street UM Church.

April 16 - Rev. David Webb of St. John’s United Methodist Church.

Budget, PEIA, Licensing, permitting, prompt payment

By Ann Ali

Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director 

Week ending April 4

Members of the House of Delegates began the process of completing a balanced state for the next state Fiscal Year, which begins July 1.

The House passed its budget bill, House Bill 2026, by a vote of 80 to 17 with three Delegates absent Friday afternoon. The total General Revenue budget in the bill is $5,113,274, 982 with an expected General Revenue surplus of $128,750,000 reserved for what is commonly referred to as the “back of the budget.”

The House Finance Committee built the budget using the Fiscal Year 2025 budget as its starting point and guide. The bill used long-standing vacancies in many agencies to effectuate a small 2% savings as well as roughly $300,000 savings in salaries as a result of department mergers. 

House Bill 2026 increased the employer share to PEIA for all agencies by about $40 million. The House budget put back the broad 10% cut made to the Department of Human Services last year, as well as an increase to the Department’s line items based on its requests for a total of about $90 million. 

The Department of Health’s Birth to Three program sees an increase of $7 million and the Division of Corrections receives a $30 million increase over the previous year’s budget in House Bill 2026. 

Another increase from the previous budget included in this year’s budget bill is $5 million going to appointed counsel as well as a new $1.8 million to court-appointed special advocates. The measure now goes to the Senate for debate.

Below are the opening dates for developed recreation sites on the Monongahela National Forest. The information is intended to be effective through Memorial Day (May 26) but may change based on local conditions or new information. 

An updated schedule of open recreation sites is expected in early June that will cover site operations through the end of July. Please visit the Mon’s Recreation Conditions Report at https://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/mnf/recreation for the most current information. 

Campground and picnic shelter reservations for some sites may be made at www.recreation.gov. Dispersed camping opportunities are not included in the information, below, but are available in many areas of the Forest year-round. 

Visitors can contact ranger district offices listed for details. Important safety reminder - the lack of cell phone service on the Monongahela National Forest is something to consider when trip planning, but with a little preparation, you can unplug and still have a safe and fun trip. 

Learn about recreating safely and responsibly on your national forest at https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/responsible-recreation.

Opening dates for recreation sites on Cheat-Potomac Ranger District (304-478-2000) in the Elkins and Parsons areas:

Opening dates for recreation sites on Cheat-Potomac Ranger District (304-257-4488) in the Petersburg and Seneca Rocks areas:

• Big Bend Campground – April 8

• Dolly Sods Picnic Area – April 15, weather permitting

• Forest Road 19 in the Dolly Sods area – April 1, weather permitting

• Forest Road 75 in the Dolly Sods area – April 15, weather permitting

• Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping (County Route 29) - Area opens when snow-free; toilets open April 15

• Gatewood Group Campground – April 18

• Jess Judy Group Campground – April 8

• Red Creek Campground – April 15, weather permitting

• Seneca Rocks Discovery Center – April 4, through May 18 Friday - Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, May 19 through Sept. 1 daily from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm

• Seneca Rocks Picnic Area – April 1

• Seneca Shadows Campground – April 8

• Spruce Knob Lake – Lake open year-round; toilets open April 15

• Spruce Knob Lake Campground – April 18

• Spruce Knob Observation Tower – Area opens when snow-free; toilets open April 15 

For more information about recreation facilities and other district opening dates, contact the district office near the location you would like to visit. Contact information is listed at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mnf/about-forest/offices.

Maysville Elementary School principal, Megan DiBenedetto, announces the names of those students earning honor status for the third nine weeks of the 2024-25 school year.

A Honor Roll

Lilly Hawk, Karley Kessel, Adilyn Law, Ella Riggleman, Callie Roberts, Reese Rohrbaugh, Dominic See, Nadia Swick, John Watts, Sadie Carr, Alexa Conrad, Lonnie Cook, William Cook, Gracelyn Crocker, Jace Evans, Zoey Evans, Faith Funk, Kaylee Goldizen, Maggie Evans, Jase Kuh, Aaralyn Martin, Paxton Miller, Josiah Morrell, Jemma Poore, Abigail Shirk, Rachel Shreve, Sawyer Welch, Elovie Bogan, Mckenzie Bonner, Lucas Clark, Savannah Goldizen, Myla Heare, Mckenley Hedrick, Christian Herron, Leah Keplinger, Jameson Kessel, Evelyn Kochenderfer, Carson Lambert, Payten Lambert, Paisley Moreland, Chase Nellis, Allie Redman, Kai Rosser, Camden Barger, Chase Berg, Qumaisa Cole, Audrey Hall, Oriana Heavener, Joseph Herrmann, Chasity Jenkins, Tatem Keplinger, Ryleigh Layton, Lillie Roberts, Miley Runion, Madilynn Sullivan, Kaylee Sutherland, McKenna Taylor, Kanon Bell, Hope Berg, Holden Chandler, Kylie Cosner, Brayden Higginbotham, Jacob Lambert, Haven Mongold, Sadie Rohrbaugh, Devlin Rotruck, Hunter Bunker, Brynn Butler, Liam Drake, Jacob Getz, Maverick Harper, Rowan Heare, Greyson Layton, Alylaa Miller, Kendall Mongold, Mason Moreland, Hadessah Morrell, Ryleigh Schell, Remington Shanholtz, John Carson Smith and Reed Welch.

B Honor Roll

Ezra Hesse, Madaline Rohrbaugh, Kyler Evans, Kane Deveas, Mason Kisamore, Zaiden Wilson, Zoey Donaldson, Stihl Eversole, Aiden See, Kynleigh Barger, Aubrey Berg and Hannon Combs.

High school, middle school and post-secondary students from South Branch Career and Technical Center traveled to Fairmont State University the last weekend in March to compete in the SkillsUSA state competition.

GOLD MEDALS

• Callie Sites, Basic Health Care Skills.

• Chloe Miller, Cosmetology, HS.

• Maria Leonardi and Haily Vanmeter, Fantasy Hair and Makeup, HS. 

• Claudia Fitzwater, and Kaylee Wolford, Fantasy Hair and Makeup, MS. 

• Shelby Runion, Natural Hair Design and Braids-MS.

• Emily Adams, T-shirt design, MS.

• Francis VanMeter, model Nataley Hedrick, Nail Care, PS

• Hannah Bennett, Pin Design, HS. 

• Madelyn Cook, Pin Design, MS.

• Avery Feaster, Action Skills.

• William Waddy, Achilles Judy, Jeb Wagner, Aaron Roth and Kailee Armentrout, Quiz Bowl.

The West Virginia University Cancer Institute hosted its first Oncology Nurses Conference March 28, at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown.  

This event brought together more than 218 oncology nurses from 13 WVU Cancer Institute locations for a full day of learning, collaboration, and celebration. 

The conference highlighted the vital role oncology nurses play in advancing patient care and fostering innovation.

Brooklyn Vetter, MSN, RN, WCC, Nurse Manager of the Grant Memorial Hospital Cancer and Infusion Center, shared updates as one of four panel members during a discussion highlighting WVUCI centers. 

In addition to the educational programming, the event celebrated the exceptional contributions of oncology nurses through a special awards ceremony. 

Grant Memorial Hospital announces that Vetter was honored as the first-ever recipient of the 2025 Oncology Nurse Leader of the Year Award. 

She was recognized for outstanding leadership and dedication to elevating oncology nursing standards

Last month marked National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, an important moment to remember not only the youth in the community struggling with developmental disabilities, but the many adults who are impacted by similar struggles. One community organization that is striving to assist those with a developmental disability and their families is the Potomac Highlands Guild, who offers not only support and programs but also fully living support.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), developmental disabilities are defined as a group of conditions creating an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. Oftentimes, these conditions begin during the person’s developmental period, may impact day-to-day functioning and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime. The CDC explains that most developmental disabilities begin before a baby is born, but some can happen after birth because of injury, infection, or other factors.

In total, over 5 million people in the United States were diagnosed with an intellectual and/or developmental disability in 2020, including 2.28 million adults. This does not include the 2.88 million children diagnosed with developmental delays not associated with an intellectual disability (including autism spectrum disorder).

National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month came into place under President Ronald Reagan with the goal of creating more inclusive lives and support for those diagnosed with these disabilities.

“I don’t think we as a community completely understand how impacted our area is by these disabilities,” said Teresa Mowery of the PHG. “I think when autism became more prevalent there was more information that became available, but that has only really been in the past few years. Prior to that it was a very real issue that simply wasn’t widely discussed.”

The causes of developmental disabilities are broad, with the CDC noting that some of the most common known causes of intellectual disability include fetal alcohol syndrome disorder; genetic and chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome; and certain infections during pregnancy. However, other factors such as low birthweight, premature birth, multiple births and infections during pregnancy are also associated with an increased risk for many developmental disabilities.