I will acknowledge that naming the three recipients of our annual awards might have been the easiest of the five groups.

Ron Cochran, Principal Chuck Thompson, and my bride 👰‍♂ of 40 some years, Linda Carter. For the second time in three ” ceremonies,” the presentation centered some pizza 🍕. This time, the location was O’Fallon, Missouri, where Lin is recovering from her latest surgery.

Six years ago, when the thought process for OneofUs.Care was created, we were living on a Resort Island 🏝 located between the coast of Washington state and British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦.

Ron Cochran assisted me every step of the way, and for that, I’m incredibly grateful 🙏. His willingness to help me with my intentions allowed us to do so much more. Every town needs a shopkeeper like Ron!

The learning curve of the inner workings of a high school, the size of our school on The Hill, was large, to say the least. Absorbing the daily effort of Mr Thompson across the years led to an appreciation for both the man and the position.

Back in September of last year, I contacted Mr Thompson to let him know that we had gone through the $200,000.00 earmarked for our efforts and $50,000.00 that wasn’t. At that time, school 🏫 had already started, so the decision to finish up everything you began kicked in. We completed the year, just using our wit and determination.

Now, back to Linda and why the choice to acknowledge her. I’m not sure how many people have ever started a conversation with their spouse that went like this :

Honey, I want to move to the middle of nowhere, where we know not a soul, take a piece of money, and see if we can accomplish two things. Raise the bar on education and give people hope and comfort.

  The fact that she went along with a vision that even the lawyer that set it up said it would never work. The fear for him was that there was no clear message for people to latch on to.

Reality is a picked a place that was way, way too big. The goal was to move somewhere that you could get five people in a room and move mountains ⛰️.

Laurel Fork is a great size, so if there’s ever a high school 🏫 built out there……

Linda wasn’t feeling up to having her picture taken yesterday, so the answer is an easy one. Use the one of her standing next to our friend, Vickey Ritchie !

So much has been made on my site about the need for people to have role models. For me, Aaron Sorkin and Jimmy Buffett taught me how to write ✍️ a story, but it’s Tim Tebow and his foundation that I have been trying my best to mimic. This is the reason why I make myself available each time possible to assist the efforts of Vickey Ritchie.

Lean towards kindness and help others who can use the assistance. Love yourself, your family, and God, not necessarily in that order.

Back to the gold watches to mark the retirement of David Broyles and Allen Worrell. Apparently, fake gold is in short supply nowadays, but know that they are on their way!

Thank you to Chuck Thompson, Ron Cochran, and Linda Carter. The world 🌎 is a better place with you all in it !

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Thank you to Mr DeHaven for passing along the tennis 🎾 score from yesterday afternoon. The high flying Abingdon Falcons ended the season for our boys’ team 5-0.

Congratulations to Coach McGuire and his team for qualifying for the Regional tournament. Individual and doubles begin play on Thursday.

Have a Blessed Day 🙌