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Applause to Tina Vial, who recently stepped down as president of the Randolph County Humane Society Board of Directors after filling the role for more than a decade. Vial first started working with the RCHS in 2011, and soon after joining the organization was elected president. The RCHS Board of Directors elected Jenna Lee to replace Vial as president of the non-profit organization. Vial said that, even though she has stepped down as president of the RCHS, she will remain on the board. We applaud her dedication.
Applause to Elkins resident Alyssa White, 16, who will be one of only five athletes from the United States to compete in her age group at the upcoming Union Cycliste Internationale World Championship Cyclocross. White was selected to be a part of the USA Junior Women's Cyclocross Team last year and will travel to the Czech Republic for the UCI event in February. White, who is home-schooled will compete in the 17-18 year-old age group. Close to 60 competitors from around the world will be battling it out for the Junior Women's Cyclocross Championship, which will take place in the town of Tabor. Anyone wishing to watch White compete in the UCI World Championship Cyclocross race on Feb. 3 can do so online at www.flobikes.com.
Applause to all those who organized and attended a pair of Martin Luther King Day celebrations in Randolph County, which took place on schedule despite inclement winter weather. The Woodford Memorial United Methodist Church in Elkins hosted a special program in honor of King Sunday. The program included meaningful quotations from MLK, songs, a dinner and a keynote speech from Michael Jackson, the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program Unit Manager at Huttonsville Correctional Facility. On Monday, Davis & Elkins College's Presidential Initiative on Diversity and Inclusion's Martin Luther King Jr. Discussion took place in the Myles Center for the Arts on the D&E campus. The keynote speaker was Dr. Robert Quarles, who is Dean of Student Affairs at South University -- Richmond & High Point.
Applause once again to all our local emergency responders, who have had their hands full in the last two weeks due to extreme winter weather conditions. Last weekend, about 9,000 homes in our area lost electricity, including more than 5,000 in Upshur County, and more than 3,000 in Tucker County. Anyone driving through our region during the last week probably saw power company trucks out on the roads; one local official said First Energy had more than 600 technicians out in the field trying to resolve the power issues. Here's hoping that, after the winter storm we're experiencing this weekend, the weather returns to -- relatively -- normal conditions.