I thank all those who made the celebration of the 1965-1969 Ashland Tomcat baseball teams a most memorable evening.

First, I thank Bob Lynch for the unbelievable amount of time and effort in compiling information and making contact with many people to make this event possible. A special thanks goes to Ashland baseball Coach Jeff Wilcox and Athletic Director Mark Swift for their outstanding efforts in ensuring this ceremony took place.

I thank the following former Tomcats who were able to attend: David Staten, Greg Dowdy, Dave Cox, Bob Lynch, Bill Lynch, family of Steve Hemlepp, Bob Lynch, Don Lentz, Bo Carter, Tim Huff, Tobey Tolbert, Fred Liebee, John Mullins, Joe Conley, Mike Smith, Danny Dove, and the family of Benny Spears.

Finally, I thank Mark Maynard and The Independent for their outstanding coverage of the event and this very special era of Tomcat baseball.

Derek S. Runyon, principal, Paul G. Blazer High School, Ashland



Kentucky Chapter VIII of the Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club extends a heartfelt thank you to those who participated in our Mother’s Day Rose Event on May 9. Members spent the day delivering a rose to each mother and grandmother at Jo-Lin Health Center in Ironton, Woodland Oaks in Ashland and Morning Pointe in Russell. A total of 260 roses were given to the ladies.

The Blue Knights is a non-profit fraternal organization consisting of active and retired law enforcement men and women who enjoy riding motorcycles and hope to develop a fraternal spirit between law enforcement personnel and the general public.

Sincere thanks go to Steve Cartmell, Walt Curtis, Bob and Sandy Ellis, Ron Fields, Quincy and Debbie Milem, Mark and Chris Salyers, Vicky Shope and Scott Webb. We could not have done this without their support and assistance.

Beverly Stark, Secretary/Treasurer, Blue Knights KY VIII



As coach of the Rose Hill Lady Royals softball team, I thank the City of Ashland, mayor and commissioners, Sean Murray, Amber Berry and the Parks and Recreation Department (Lawrence and staff) for affording our team with such a beautiful facility in AK Sports Park as our “home field.”

This is our second year of using this wonderful city park, and it has been a great blessing for our small school as we do not currently have our own facility.

The city and its staff have been most accommodating in facilitating our needs and we — Rose Hill Lady Royal team members, coaching staff, parents and school, thank them and want the community to know what a great asset we have in our city parks and also about the level of professionalism and courteousness we have within our city leadership and staff.

Chris Hammond, Head coach, Rose Hill Lady Royals softball



As postal workers have done for many years, they again had their “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive on Saturday, May 9. More than 15,000 pounds of food was collected. It was given to service agencies that will distribute it to the less fortunate in our area.

Many thanks to the postal workers and their volunteers for their extra efforts in making this drive a great success at this critical time.

Thanks also go to:

-- Charles Williams of MTS who once again provided the facilities where the food was accumulated and re-distributed.

-- The Ashland Group Home boys who handled the transfer of food from postal vehicles to recipients’ trucks.

-- Ruth and Charlie Rice, Richard Hoffman and Sam Greening for their support.

-- Giovanni’s for providing pizzas for the volunteers.

Jim Fout, River Cities Harvest



Thanks to those who helped make the Russell Endowment Education Foundation’s Harlem Wizards game a success.

Thanks to our sponsors: Time Warner Cable; Peoples Bank; Air Equipment Sales and Service; Area Advertising; City National Bank; McDonald’s; Portable Solutions Group; Tri-State Ophtalmology; Stephen and Susan Kanouse; Ronald E. Lewis; Mike McCathern; Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital; R.M.; Dr. Glen Spradlin; Timothy M. Strait; Shaun and Shelly Kiser; Bruce and Leannah Leslie; Frank and Carolyn Warnock.

In-kind donors were A Boutique, Ashland Optical, Gallaher Group, Huddle House, Identity Salon & Spa, National City Bank, Rob Marshall’s Dancing Oil Can, Mug & Pia, Patsy’s, Pepsi, Pollock’s, Premier Designs Jewelry, Premier Pets, Simply American, SVT Martial Arts & Fitness, Dr. Ralph and Rita Touma, Wal-Mart, Linda Wardle - Massage Therapist, Dr. Rob Whittaker and Windstream Communications.

Most importantly, thanks to all who purchased tickets for the event. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Carolyn Shelton, president, Russell Education Endowment Foundation Board of Directors



I personally thank Boyd County Jailer Joe Burchett, Boyd County Judge-Executive William “Bud” Stevens, and the workers from the Boyd County Detention Center for cleaning up McKnight Cemetery in the Twin Oaks subdivision, where storms had blown trees and limbs down during thr winter. I thank them for all their hard work.

Bill Potter, Ashland



On behalf of the staff and students at Hatcher Elementary, I offer my sincerest thank you to the Boyd County Public Library for all of the contributions provided our students this year. The programs are a tremendous resource to our community and the library’s staff members have shown themselves to be true “Partners in Education” to Hatcher Elementary.

David Greene, principal, Hatcher Elementary