Church gives 200 turkey dinners
Cable signs with Huntington University
LOCAL • B1
SPORTS • A6
THE EARLY BIRD Weekend Edition of the Daily Advocate
Online at earlybirdpaper.com
Weekend edition
District seeking donations for stadium project GREENVILLE – Greenville City Schools administrators and board members are hoping for continued community support as they begin the process of completing another phase of renovation to the district’s football stadium. On Nov. 21, during their regular board of education meeting, board members approved a recommendation to set aside $2 million toward the project, which will include the construction of a concession stand, locker room and restroom facility. According to the board meeting agenda, “this money will be available to spend at such time that donors have provided, in cash, the sum of $800,000 for the construction project. At such time, the school board will begin the necessary phases of the project.” According to Superintendent Doug Fries, the $800,000 figure denotes
“a gap” needed to have enough funding on hand to begin the project. The new concession, locker room and restroom facility would service both the football field and track areas. “We’re open to any donors,” Fries said, “in order to move forward with another phase” of the stadium project. In 2017, the district began improvements at the stadium, which have included the construction of the new Jennings Center Track and Field Complex and new turf on the football field, thanks in part to the fundraising efforts of The Friends of Harmon Field. “We wanted to set aside these funds,” board president Brad Gettinger said of the $2 million, in order to begin the process of completing the next phase at the stadium. For more information about how to donate, contact Fries at the school’s administrative offices, 937-548-3185. Reach Managing Editor Susan Hartley by emailing shartley@ aimmediamidwest.com
Send your Letters to Santa NORTH POLE – It’s time to send your letter to Santa! DarkeCountyMedia. com will be helping Santa and his Elves this year by accepting letters from all good boys and girls at the Greenville Daily Advocate and The Early Bird office between Dec. 2-18. Letters will be forwarded to the North Pole and will be published in the Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24 edition of the Advocate. Letters may be submitted via email to shartley@aimmediamidwest. com, dropped off at the newspaper offices or mailed to Letters to Santa, 100 Washington
Ave., Greenville, OH 45331. Please be sure to include both your first and last name, age, town, and a phone number just in case Santa’s elves have any questions! DarkeCountyMedia. com reserves the right to publish legible letters in both the print and online editions of the newspapers. For more information, call 937-569-4312.
Sunday, December 1, 2019 • $1
Thanksgiving dinner continues to grow the church went around to tables asking if anyone had any prayer requests and offered up prayers to those in need,” Kerns said. “It is UNION CITY, Ind. – amazing how it continues The high school gym was to get bigger and I think packed once again Tuesday evening for the annual everyone really enjoys Community Thanksgiving themselves.” Dinner – hosted by Wesley The event is made United Methodist Church possible from all the voland the Union City Jr./Sr. unteers that take a night High School. to donate their time and Clinton Randall | DarkeCountyMedia.com The event started nearly Approximately 1,000 Union City community members attended the funding and donations 15 years ago when memannual Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by Wesley United Methodist Church. from area sponsors. Nearly bers of the church, includ$2,000 was donated for with the school four years serve and others there to ing the current organizer the purchase of this year’s eat and enjoy the experiago to accommodate the Jamie Kerns, looked to turkeys, which were all attendance and even draw ence. The praise band find away to bring their cooked to perfection by small community together in more from surrounding from the Trinity Lutheran Jackie Veitch. Church in UC helped fill communities. while sharing the love of Get updates and more Kerns estimated between the gymnasium with music about this event on their God. 800 and 1,000 people were while everyone enjoyed As the event continued Facebook page at www. on-hand for this year’s din- their meal and fellowship. facebook.com/UCCommuto grow in numbers each year, the church partnered ner…from those helping nityThanksgivingDinner. “This year, members of
Cheers ring out as hero returns GREENVILLE - Greenville’s annual horse parade may have been cancelled because of weather, but there was no way Greenville residents were going to cancel honoring one of their own on Saturday. For the first time since he was severely injured in Raqqa, Syria over two years ago, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy returned to his hometown. Several hundred people gathered around the city building as the snow fell to welcome Kenton and his family home. Chief Petty Officer Stacy, a 2002 graduate of Greenville High School, was clearing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) on the second floor of a hospital in Raqqa when one of the devices exploded causing life-threatening injuries. In 2018, President Donald Trump recognized Stacy and the man who saved his life, Army SSgt. Justin Peck, during his State of the Union speech. For Stacy and his wife, Lindsey, and their four children, the day he was injured changed their lives forever. Stacy, now a quadriplegic and blind in his left eye, is confined to a specialized wheelchair. He was eventually able to move from his hospital room in Texas back to his home in San Diego to be with his family. Kenton, Lindsey and their family were greeted by family and a huge del-
egation of Darke County residents at the Columbus Airport. Their arrival also prompted a huge turnout from the Columbus television stations. Lindsey shared, “We are just incredibly blessed and feel honored that everyone keeps supporting us and made our first time home a tremendous huge event.” Lindsey admitted the reception and coming home was a “little overwhelming and nerve-racking.” She added that coming home “brings back a lot of memories before he got hurt.” While at the airport, the Stacy family received a letter from Governor Mike DeWine. The reception at the airport and drive back to Greenville was organized by the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders with assistance from the Greenville VFW Post 7262’s Michael Maloney. A caravan of Ohio State Highway Patrol cars and the Darke County delegation escorted the family back to their hometown. According to Darke County Veterans Service Commissioner Gaylen Blosser, “This really is a huge event, much more than I expected.” He and his other commissioners witnessed approximately 10 highway patrol cars either leading them and bringing up the rear throughout the entire trip. Overpasses were filled with lights as ambulances, fire
Gaylen Blosser | DarkeCountyMedia.com
The Stacy family came home after a little more than two years since he was severely injured in Raqqa, Syria. Gaylen Blosser | DarkeCountyMedia.com
trucks and police officers as the first-responders saluted as Stacy passed their locations. Lindsey told the Columbus media that her children were excited to see snow and that is exactly what they got. When the caravan made it to Darke County and the rain turned to snow, the caravan was greeted by more lights and sirens as local fire departments and rescue units celebrated his arrival. Once they hit the city limits, local police, fire and rescue units joined the caravan and by the time they got to downtown Greenville, the caravan stretched from the Traffic Circle to Washington Avenue. When the door to the van was opened, a huge cheer erupted. Maloney exclaimed, “Louder, let’s make this place roar.” Lindsey spoke on behalf
of the family, “We just want to thank everyone for their continued love and support. This wouldn’t be possible, us coming home, without it. We ask that you continue to pray for our family. I thank you all for coming out in this weather.” The welcome home celebration wasn’t the only part of their return that needed to be planned. According to Maloney, volunteers helped build a wheelchair ramp for the family through a donation of materials from Lowe’s. The Stacy family will have several Thanksgiving celebrations throughout the week and will be guests of honor at a special dinner on Friday at the Greenville VFW. Contact Editor Ryan Berry at rberry@ aimmediamidwest.com or (937) 5690066. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.