Beacon GREENUP
www.greenupbeacon.com
FREE PLEASE TAKE ONE
Covering Life in Greenup County
Volume 5, No. 36
News To Use Beacon Video News Magazine This week’s Greenup Beacon Video News Magazine will stream live from McConnell House in Wurtland with County Extension Agent for Fine Arts Anne Stephens. We’ll also have an interview with Ann Perkins of Safe Harbor. Join host Brittnany Hoback, cohost Hank Bond at 1 p.m., on sites: greenupbeacon. com or greenupbeacon2. com Wednesdays. Shows are also archived on the websites. Society to meet The Greenup County Genealogy & Historical Society will hold its next meeting on Thursday, October 23 at 7 p.m. in the meeting room at the Greenup Public Library. Everyone is welcome! Drive is Nov. 8 If you’re interested in joining an association with years of community service experience, then Greenup County Homemakers is for you! The Greenup County Homemakers are hosting a Homemaker Membership Drive “Christmas Ornament Party” to introduce non-members to the Homemakers Association. The event will be held on Saturday, November 8, from 2 – 4 p.m. at the Greenup County Extension Office in Wurtland. Bring a friend, your favorite Christmas mug, and a Christmas ornament (new or old to exchange). RSVP will be appreciated by Friday, October 31 at (606) 836-0201. Contact Lora Pullin, Greenup County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences, at (606) 8360201 if you have any questions. Holiday market Nov. 1 Come support local vendors at the 2014 Greenup Holiday Market to be held on Saturday, November 1 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Greenup County Extension Office in Wurtland. Local vendors will display and sell hand-crafted items. The cost is FREE! If you are interested in vendor space at the Greenup Holiday Market, please contact Anne Stephens, Extension Agent for Fine Arts, or Lora Pullin, Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences, at 606-836-0201 or anne.stephens@uky.edu or lora.pullin@uky.edu. Deadline to register for vendor space is October 24, 2014. See News On Page 2
As a theatre major, Michael Bond dreamed of performing on stage. He also dreamed of earning a college degree. Thanks to Spencerian College, both of his dreams have come true. On the national stage Shortly after enrolling in the Nursing program, Michael started a local Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) chapter at Spencerian. HOSA, a national student organization, is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education (HSE) Division of the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). Its two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. “This organization teach-
Mark Anthony Ratliff, CFSP, a funeral director with Carman Funeral Home in Flatwoods, has qualified for the designation of Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP), by the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice. Mark joined Bob Greene and the Carman Funeral Home family in 2010 as a Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer. He brought with him a love for funeral service, a passion to help people and 14 years’ experience in the funeral industry. Mark was born in Ashland, Kentucky to Ercel Ratliff of Catlettsburg and the late Peggy Lynn Kruger-Ratliff who passed away in April 1978, her passing and her funeral service is what sparked
The topic of his speech was, “The future starts now.” He illustrated that the future isn’t determined by what is done in the present but that the past can have a larger impact . . . even though you can’t live in the past, its effects determines the future.” He spoke on the life of a remarkable nurse, and her story was part of the reason he chose nursing as his career. The nurse he referenced was his grandmother who was a healthcare pioneer in Home Health Care in Kentucky. She took a family challenge and earned a degree from Duke University after family members told her she would never succeed. At the national level he competed against eight others from across the country and was selected a the gold medal winner.
Choosing Spencerian College was another win After graduating from Easley (SC) High School in 2004, he enrolled at Morehead State University. Like so many other freshmen, he joined a fraternity and tried multiple majors to find a good fit but was never happy with anything. “In truth, I was more concerned about partying and skipping class,“ Michael recalled. “When I was kicked out of school, I tried a community college and was admitted into the LPN program. I failed out because I
still didn’t think it was so important to go to class.” He decided to leave his parents’ house in Russell and move to Louisville, “because if I didn’t fall and fail on my own, then I would never grow up or succeed. Just as I was on the verge of packing and going back home to mom and dad as a failure,” Michael walked into the doors of Spencerian and met Admission Officers Erin Wise and Julie Middleton. See Bond On Page 8
Mark’s desire to enter into the funeral profession. He attended Boyd County High School and in 2000 began his career in funeral service. In 2004 he earned an Associates of Applied Sciences Degree in Funeral Service from Mid-America College of Funeral Service where he served as an officer in the fraternity Pi Sigma Eta. A number of professions grant special recognition to members upon completion of specified academic and professional programs and “CFSP” is the funeral service’s national individual recognition. The Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice, since its 1976 founding, has had as its goals: 1) to recognize those practitioners who
have voluntarily entered into a program of personal and professional growth, 2) to raise and improve the standards of funeral service and 3) to encourage practitioners to make continuing education a life-long process in their own self-interest, the interest of the families they serve, and the community in which they serve. To initially receive this award, the practitioner must complete a 180 hour program of continuing education activities and events. In addition, the practitioner is required to accumulate 20 hours per year to recertify. Credits are awarded by the Academy for work leading to personal and/or professional growth in four areas: Academic Activities; Professional Activities;
Career Review (for retroactive credit); and, Community and Civic Activities Certified Practitioners
may use the CFSP designation with their names See Ratliff On Page 8
Photo by Hank Bond Mark Ratliff of Carman Funeral Home is shown with his certificate of achievement in the industry.
Despite childhood issues McKee finds success
Marjorie Carol McKee By Hank Bond The Greenup Beacon Using her literary skill Marjorie Carol McKee has become a book author and publisher as well as a college professor. She has released “The Demon Slayer Knight.” She has lived in Southern Ohio all of her life born in September of 1968. Her parents are Carol Sue and Sonny Avery. She and her husband Thomas A. McKee have been married 28 years with two children.
Martin “Gene” Myers
Funeral Director, Embalmer, CFSP
es you leadership as well as builds character and integrity,” Michael said. “It is a great networking opportunity with other school across the state as well as the nation and introduces and puts you in contact with health care providers nationally.” HOSA also holds competitions in a variety of categories at the state and national levels. Michael entered Prepared Speaking and found between his classes and working full-time, that writing and memorizing the speech was very stressful and time consuming. However, “the experience of the competition was also very thrilling, knowing that I was getting the chance to represent Spencerian College at the national level.” First Kentuckian to earn a gold medal
Ratliff recognized for new certification
Administrative Assistant
Mark A. Ratliff
Russell/Flatwoods/Greenup, KY
Bond captures degree; national award
Phillip Wessell
Funeral Ambassador
October 14, 2014
Their oldest daughter Heather Dawn McSorley, 28, and her husband Patrick have a child Damien Patrick 3. Marjorie and Thomas’ youngest daughter, Beth Ann McKee is 16. Marjorie was a high school dropout. She attended Barbizon School of Modeling, Columbus, OH in November 1984, at age 15 (While a sophomore in high school). She then attended Dawson-Bryant High School 1983-1986 and after dropping out of high school she persevered and attended the Ironton GED Center earning the coveted diploma in 1990 as Class Valedictorian. Once she held a high school diploma over time she attended Ohio University and in 1997 earned an Associate of Arts in Social Science. In 1998 she earned a Bachelor’s of Specialized Studies in social science. Then in 2009 she added a Master’s Degree of Social Science Now she is quick to explain the opportunities she has pursued in her life. “I am a writer and professor of history. I always keep a note-
book handy to jot down a book idea. When it gets full, I put into my tub of book notes and begin on another one. When I’m out and don’t have anything to write about I either write on my hand or a napkin. I have done that many, many times.” This is something she has done for most of her life. “I have always been a writer since early childhood, and an educator for five years. “As a child, we had the weekly assignment to make stories out of our spelling words and present them in front of the class. Kids would want to know what I wrote about before I was even done with the assignment. “As a little fourth grader, high school and junior high students came to the elementary school playground and sometimes even to my classroom on their lunch breaks. “They were so big in comparison to me at the time it scared me to death until it became a regular habit. These huge football players looked so intimidating as they approached me, using their deep voices.
“They’d ask me something like, “Hey, can you write my mom something real pretty for her birthday?” “For a kid, I was paid quite well to write poems and stories for their loved ones for special occasions. “With lots of hard work, determination and sacrifice of not getting to do activities I wanted to do sometimes. Constantly, I had my nose either in a book studying or writing one while other people got to have fun. Now, I am so glad I stuck to my principles. Truly, it is worth it. Life has dealt Marjorie many hands. “My biological father abandoned my mother before I was born. Then oddly, he began doing business with my grandparents and came around on a regular basis when I was little. Clearly, I remember him being sharply dressed in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase and smelling of British Sterling cologne. “Little did I know that he was my father until I was 17 just before I got married. All of a sudden he wanted to play the lov-
101 Years of Caring...With Many More To Come
CARMAN FUNERAL HOME “People Serving People Since 1913” Place Your Trust In Our Family For Your Pre-Arrangements
444 Bellefont St, ∙ Russell, KY 2301 Argillite Rd ∙ Flatwoods, KY 606.836.8126 606.836.5833 www.CARMANFUNERAL.COM
ing “daddy role.” When I asked my grandfather who raised me to walk me down the aisle, the biological father got mad and disappeared from my life again. “Later in 1990, he visited me for the first time not for business but as his daughter. Tom and I had already been married four years and Heather was 2. “After a very brief visit, he asked me about my future plans. I told him about earning my GED, being the class valedictorian and about my ambitions to attend college. Sarcastically, he looked me straight in the eyes and had a good laugh on my account. He scrunched his nose and patted my shoulder. “I think that’s just a little above you sweetie, because you’re still a high school drop-out. You need to do what you do best; stay home and have more pretty babies,” he informed me. Later, I earned both my degrees. “One day during the small conversation, he again asked me what my future plans were. See McKee On Page 3
Julie M. Westlake
Pre-Need Advisor
Amanda M. Ferrell
Apprentice Funeral Director & Embalmer
R. J. “Bob” Greene Funeral Director, Embalmer