A gathering of former Ernie Blankenship Memorial Radio-Telethon for the Benefit of the Highland County Society for Children and Adults poster children, poster adults and their family members met for a reunion at NCB Bank in Hillsboro Wednesday as a precursor to the 50th local radio-telethon at the Hillsboro Orpheum on March 30.
Each year, the Hillsboro and Greenfield Rotary Clubs organize the radio-telethon to support the Highland County Society for Children and Adults. The society provides for medical needs of Highland County residents when other help is unavailable.
“I will tell you, I’m a family nurse practitioner, and this is my 39th year of being a nurse, and my granddaughter [Emily Davis] has been a poster child three times, and I’ve seen what the society does through the help that she has received through all of her medical issues,” said Patty Day, the society’s executive secretary.
Former poster children Emily Davis, Christa Moore and Matilda Burns attended the reunion. Karen Miller, the mother of James Garrett, a late poster adult, also attended the reunion with Garrett’s nephew, Jacob Shaw.
Garrett was the poster adult for the Highland County Society for Children and Adults in 2006, the year he was placed on a list for a heart transplant. He contracted a virus that attacked his heart and, unable to work, he was unsure how he could afford an expensive medication that was not covered by his insurance. A CVS pharmacy technician informed his mother Karen about the society and Garrett was approved for the assistance.
“Ten years later his heart wasn’t good, so he got a heart and went through the transplant, and then things just kind of went south, and he didn’t make it through that, but we’re very thankful to the society, and I refer them to a lot of people who are struggling to pay for medication or even gas to go to the doctor,” said Miller. “They were very good to us, so I came here to represent him today.”
Christa Moore, a poster child from 1989 and 1995, was born with ataxia cerebral palsy. As a result, she is legally blind and unable to walk. She can say some words, but primarily communicates by gestures and sign language. The society has assisted with costs for doctor appointments and a motorized scooter which allowed her to enroll in Hillsboro High School from where she graduated in 1995.
Moore currently works at the Family Diner in Lynchburg, placing sugar packets in the bowls and visiting with her many friends.
This year’s radio-telethon will be hosted by NCB Bank and its employees from 7-9 p.m.
The Hillsboro Rotary Club event will be broadcast live on Channel 13 of the Spectrum Cable System, on WSRW 101.5 FM and WSRW AM 1590, iHeart radio. It will also be livestreamed on the society’s website — hisco.org and on Tech-t.com.
The Greenfield Rotary Club event will be broadcast live the same evening from the McClain High School studio in Greenfield, on WVNU Radio, and the Spectrum community access channel in the Greenfield area.
Rotarians at both locations will take pledges during the event by telephone or in person. Pledges can be made during the radio-telethon by calling 937-402-5557 in Hillsboro or 937-981-7731 in Greenfield. Checks payable to HCCSA can be dropped off at any local bank or mailed to the society at P.O. Box 792, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133.
The two Rotary clubs raised just under $95,000 during the 2021 event.
“I just hope folks can come out and join us at the Orpheum, but if you’re not able to you can still donate,” said Day. “Anyone is welcome to come, and there is plenty of space, and it will be a good time I think.”
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
