Beacon GREENUP
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Covering Life in Greenup County
Volume 5, No. 38
News To Use
Turn your clocks back at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
This week’s Greenup Beacon Video News Magazine will stream live from the new official home of the magazine: the McConnell House in Wurtland with special guest Shawn Moore, who is principal at Russell Middle School. A second guest will be Carrie Wellman a newly licensed Kindermusik instructor. She has opened a new studio in Greenup. We’ll also include a cooking segment with Brittnany Hoback featuring grandma’s banana nut bread with special topping. Join host Brittnany Hoback and cohost Hank Bond at 1 p.m., on: greenupbeacon.com or greenupbeacon2.com Wednesdays. Shows are also archived on the websites.
Bayes Honored with DAISY Award Bon Secours Kentucky Health System has awarded Lora Bayes with the DAISY Award. The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care given by nurses every day. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. As a DAISY Award partner, Bon Secours Kentucky Health System recognizes one of its nurses with this special honor every other month. DAISY Award honorees consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinary compassionate care. They are recognized as outstanding role models in the nursing community. Bayes is a nurse in Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital’s (OLBH) ICU. She has been an employee of OLBH for 16 years. She received her degree in nursing from Ashland Community and Technical College. Bayes resides in
James Sparks, a 2007 Russell High School graduate – son of Sam and Cynthia Sparks – who now resides in Princeton, NJ, will perform Gustav Mahler’s choral masterwork Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick NezetSeguin at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia October 30, November 1 and 2. They will also perform at Carnegie Hall in New York on Friday, October 31. James is a student at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J., and is a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Composed of students at
By Jim Welp Special to The Greenup Beacon It’s not unusual for a Bellarmine student to spend some time abroad in the summer. But when physical therapy student Chinwe Okoro traveled overseas in June it was for an unusual reason: to compete in the Nigerian National Championships in track and field. Okoro is a 2007 graduate of Russell High School. The trip paid off. Ms. Okoro took the gold in discus, was the runner-up in shot put and qualified for the African Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, where she set a new African and Nigerian record for discus. The newest trophies have plenty of company in her trophy case. The University of Louisville biology grad is a two-time Kentucky female athlete of the year and a three-time Big East athlete of the week. She holds the U of L women’s record in both shot put and discus and the Nigerian record in the discus. But when asked about her proudest accomplishments, academics top the list. She is a five-time All-Academic honors award recipient, five-time Big
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Westminster, the Westminster Symphonic Choir has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 79 years. Recognized as one of the world’s leading choral ensembles, the choir has sung more than 350 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone. In addition to this performance, the ensemble’s 20142015 season includes Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Jacques Lacombe; J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick
Nezet-Seguin; and Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Daniele Gatti. Westminster Choir College is a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts. A professional college of music with a unique choral emphasis, Westminster prepares students at the undergraduate and graduate levels for careers in teaching, sacred music and performance. James Sparks is pursuing a master’s degree in collaborative piano. Part of his program is performing with some of the choirs there at Westminster.
James Sparks
Russell grad Okoro takes discus gold
Phillip Wessell
Mark A. Ratliff
Russell/Flatwoods/Greenup, KY
Sparks to perform at Carnegie Hall
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Funeral Ambassador
October 28, 2014
East All-Academic recipient, a Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholar, a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma honor society and a recipient of the Michael Hale Scholarship in Bellarmine’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. And, as any student-athlete knows, it’s not easy balancing athletics and academics. “To be in class for approximately 40 hours per week makes practicing and competing quite a challenge,” she said. “However, school has always been my primary priority. Once I have completed this degree I can turn my focus to athletics.” Practice typically includes weight lifting and throwing drills for shot put and discus. “Each practice can take two hours to complete, but with graduate school the time has had to decrease during the semester,” she said. “Upon the conclusion of each semester I am able to increase my practice times for that break period.” Meanwhile, until May 2016, when Ms. Okoro will complete her DPT, academics come first. “The physical-therapy program is very rigorous,” she said. “However, I have already learned so much about physical therapy, and I have truly been
enjoying the academic and clinical process. The staff has been very supportive in helping all of us succeed, and I sincerely appreciate all their help. I have also made several lifelong friends that have made the difficult road a lot more enjoyable.” “Athletic discipline and dedication can enhance the already challenging education of a DPT student,” said Dr. Whitney Ensor, assistant professor in BU’s physical therapy program. “Chinwe not only represents our profession extremely well but also positively impacts the clients we see in our service learning clinic,” she said. “I’ve witnessed firsthand the impact Chinwe’s work ethic and dedication to her training have on clients that were previously not cooperative with their prescribed exercise program. They know she is not only talking the talk but is also walking the walk and, as a result, they work hard for her. Chinwe has managed to not only manage her studies and training with impressive time-management but also with a humble, appreciative demeanor. She’s truly an inspiration.” Ms. Okoro, holds dual American/Nigerian citizenship and has relished the opportuni-
ty to see the world. “I’ve competed in many states across the U.S., as well as Bydgoszcz, Poland; Porto Novo, Benin; and Lagos and Calabar, Nigeria. It has been a wonderful opportunity to experience many different nations. You learn a little bit about the culture, and an important lesson to never take anything you have for granted because there are some who are not as well off,” she said. This past summer, her travels took her home to Eastern Kentucky. She got some valuable on-the-job clinical training at Premier Physical & Occupational Therapy. “The clinic just happened to have an open position for a student. It was great to have the opportunity to come back,” she said. “I worked alongside a physical therapist for six weeks in order to put into practice what I have learned in the classroom. I worked the same schedule as the therapist, and I was able to interact with every patient he evaluated.” After graduation and further athletic conquests, Okoro will decide which way to steer her physical-therapy career. “I haven’t narrowed down which PT setting I would like to work in just yet, but I like to keep my
options open. I am interested in working with various groups from athletes to geriatrics patients. I have a lot of interests, particularly in traveling PT, sports and home health.” Wherever her future lies, she is eager to express her gratitude. “I would like to thank the Bellarmine physical therapy staff, my classmates, coaches, friends, and family for being very supportive in my athletic endeavors,” she said. “Without God and all these individuals, there is no way I would be where I am today.”
Chinwe Okoro
Photos submitted
Terror by the Tracks this weekend
The Downtown Russell Business Association is sponsoring its annual haunted adventure Terror by the Tracks in downtown Russell. The haunted train rides will be at the Russell Depot on Ferry Street in Russell, located just through the Russell underpass and next to the big blue caboose. The Shriners are again providing the fearful train for this year’s chilling event. Terror by the Tracks will be held Thursday, October 30 through Saturday, November 1. Each evening the haunted trains will begin scary departures at 7 p.m. and will continue to take brave riders until 10 p.m. The cost for the spooky ride is $5 for ages 12 to 112 and $3 for any goblins under 12-years-old. So, if you dare, and you’re feeling courageous, come to the Russell Depot October 30, 31, and November 1 from 7-10 p.m. and join in the frightening fun at Terror by the Tracks!!
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