Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Florence E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, N o v e m b e r 2 6 , 2 0 0 9
Volume 15 Number 10 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Collection time
In the next few days your Community Recorder carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Florence Recorder. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any tip you give to Sheets reward good service. This month we’re featuring Todd Sheets, who attends Ockerman Middle School. He likes to play sports and all kinds of music. For information about our carrier program, call district manager Victoria Martin at 442-3463.
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W e b s i t e : N K Y. c o m
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
Flu makes small dent in attendance
By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
The H1N1 epidemic appears not to be hitting Boone County school districts as badly as planned. Walton-Verona Schools attendance this year is about a quarter of a percent off of the rate for the district all of last year. “It’s not as bad as we anticipated,” said Director of Student Services Pam Sayler. District attendance is about 96 percent so far, and district staff had decided they wouldn’t consid-
er any action until attendance dipped to near 80 percent, Sayler said. Attendance has fluctuated through the district, but overall students have been coming to school, she said. There have been bad days for attendance across the district and in individual schools, Sayler said. Sayler credits the high attendance rates to making sure sick students stay home and don’t spread illness. When a student goes home sick, they must check in with the school nurse to be checked for
fever before they are allowed to return to class. In Boone County Schools, attendance for the district is down about 1.5 percent compared to this time last year. “We’re getting beyond the flu bug,” said Director of Pupil Personnel Mike Ford. At one point the district dipped to about 3 percent behind last year, but has since rebounded, Ford said. Ford credits the district’s stable attendance to being a large district. “We saw pockets of the flu, but
Holiday lights contest kicks off
Boone County Parks is conducting is fifth annual holiday lights contest. Judging is Dec. 9-10. Winners receive a prize. The registration deadline is Dec. 5 The entry fee is $5. Read about the categories in our story. – STORY, PAGE A2
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we never had the entire district succumb to it like a small district would,” he said. Earlier in the year when the virus was prevalent in the Union area, causing hundreds of Ryle students to miss school, the other parts of the district were able to hold up attendance rates, Ford said. The district holds an annual goal of 96 percent attendance and so far this year, the district has a 95 percent attendance rate, he said.
Rotary hosts Christmas concert By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
What to do with leftover turkey?
This Thanksgiving should be spent doing just that – giving thanks. These thanks are usually given over a hearty meal with plenty of food – which inevitably leads to an abundance of leftovers. Many may forget about proper food safety during this hectic time or may be running short on ideas of what to do with the excess food. – STORY, PAGE A4
50¢
Sharing her list
PATRICIA A. SCHEYER/CONTRIBUTOR
Six-year-old Cassidy Ransdell of Florence tells Santa all the things she would like to see under the tree on Christmas, including a scooter, at Florence Mall.
Brighton helping women in recovery By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
Tucked away on Weaver Road, a new building is a place to get a new chance at life. Since opening last May, the Brighton Recovery Center in Florence has had more than 30 women complete its recovery program and participate in their New Beginning ceremony. The Brighton Recovery Center is a 100-bed facility for women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. The program lasts 12 to 18 months and takes women from addiction to recovery and eventually helps with job placement and permanent housing. Brighton has a 62 percent rate for women staying sober after finishing the program, which is above the national average.
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A key to the success is community, said program coordinator Shelly Espich. “They hold themselves and each other accountable to behaviors that don’t work,” Espich said. All the cleaning, grounds keeping and cooking at the center is handled by women in the program. During their regular community meetings, the women will call each other out if rooms aren’t spotless, she said. “This place is pristine,” Espich said. The accountability is important because it works just like a job will when the women return back to normal life, she said. “If they don’t change their old behaviors here, they walk out back into them,” Espich said. After working through the program for a few weeks, women get involved in peer mentoring which
allows them to give back and help women who are new to the center. Since opening, the community has been quick to get involved, said development director Bear Clifton. Local businesses donated furniture, government agencies offer financial training and other groups offer food, Clifton said. This help offers women who may have been driven to homelessness by their addictions a clean home where recovery can happen, Espich said. “They haven’t had nice in a while,” she said. Housing nearly 100 women makes the center go through supplies quickly. They’re starting a wish list through Walmart, similar to a wedding registry, with laundry detergent, sanitary items and other necessities that allows others to get involved.
A Christmas tradition is being used to eliminate a disease. The Florence Rotary Club is hosting its annual Angels Among Us Christmas concert at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30, at Lakeside Christian Church, 195 Buttermilk Pike. The evening features more than a dozen performers including Rusty Bird, Ray Cummins, Evan Dallas and Kathie Fink. “It’s going to be nothing but music,” said organizer Gary Stewart. Stewart plans for music all night. Despite the concert officially beginning with the featured performers at 6:30 p.m., doors will open at 5:45 p.m. and music will be playing. “Anyone who comes early won’t just be sitting idly,” Stewart said. This is the 36th concert Stewart has organized, and each year it has grown. It first started at the Crestview Hills Mall, but has moved to the 1,250-seat Lakeside Christian Church. “There is a chance, one of these years, we’ll fill that church,” Stewart said. A concert Rotary hosted in May drew more than 900, and this may be the concert to fill the church, he said. “I’m telling people to get there early,” Stewart said. At the concert’s mid-point, an offering will be taken. All the proceeds will go toward Rotary International’s goal of worldwide polio eradication. “It’s almost gone; there’s only four more countries left,” Stewart said. Because the cause is so important, Stewart is even more appreciative of the performers. “We’re pretty excited that people with this much talent are willing to share that talent free of charge,” he said. Tickets for the concert are available at florencerotary.org or at Stewart Insurance by calling 3717797.
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