Features

Give a gift that helps your favorite gardeners enjoy the flavors of their garden well past the end of the growing season.

Garden centers, florists and grocery stores are filling their shelves with a variety of holiday plants; a sure sign the holidays are approaching. This is the time of year to give, receive or fill your home with colorful poinsettias, Christmas cactus, cyclamen, and other holiday plants. Extend their beauty and longevity with proper care.

The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program is returning to Highland County. District 16, centered in Wilmington, petitioned the state organization for permission to pull Highland County into its district, thereby providing this valuable service to taxpayers here without requiring a drive to Clinton County.

The Ohio Department of Development and the Area Agency on Aging District 7 want to remind seniors in Ohio that assistance is available to help with their home energy bills. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) helps Ohioans at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty guidelines pay their heating bills.

The membership of one of higher education’s most recognized honor societies, Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), was enhanced by the induction of several new members at a Nov. 17 ceremony held on the Southern State Community College Central Campus.

The Greenfield Middle School ag program had its first solo competition Dec. 1. It was held in Columbus and was called the Career Conversations CDE. There were multiple contests held and Greenfield took two teams as well as an individual to the contest. Hailey Cornett did a speech as an individual and placed seventh in the state. It was about careers in agriculture. They also had a quiz bowl team made up of eighth graders who placed eighth in the preliminary round. The final team did a presentation about careers in agriculture and they placed second in the state. They had to come up with an essay as well as an 8-12 minute presentation with four different poster boards for their own talking pieces.

The Connecticut community of Newtown experienced an unfathomable tragedy on Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 innocent people — 20 young children and six adult staff members — before taking his own life.

The Waw-wil-a-way Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented Good Citizenship Awards to area high school seniors for their essays. Receiving her award at the meeting was Abby Mustard from McClain. Regent Elissa Zornes will present the award for the winning essay to Sidney Sanders at the Fairfield Board of Education meeting. Other school winners not in attendance were Madalyn Ross, Hillsboro High; and Carson Emery, Whiteoak High School. Members donated items this month to the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center in Hillsboro. Some of the members are shown with donated items.

Apple Farm Service will host the Precision Academy on Jan. 6 at the Hueston Woods State Park Conference Center in College Corner, Ohio.

New Vienna Lions Club veterans are pictured (from left) active duty Heath Holbert, Robert Mobley, Paul Cooper, Charlie Martin and Dana Dunseith.