In this weeks edition:

Congratulations…
Like many around the county, I have been fighting a cold, flu or whatever it is, on and off for nearly three weeks. I feel better for a few days then the runny nose, coughing and the like come back. This week was particularly troublesome, but I managed to survive.
In spite of the sniffles, I did have a fun trip to the southern end of the county to interview Bill Ratliff for the story in this issue. Since Bill’s worldly travels as a career military man has kept him away from the county we had a lot to talk about. Bill was in J.W’s karate class at Flatwoods that the kids and I participated in a number of years ago. I hadn’t seen him for some time, so it was certainly good to reminisce.
He has made quite a mark in the Marine Corp which he won’t officially leave until later this year. He currently is commander of a MEP (Military Entry Process) unit for the Marines. His wife Lisa stopped by during the interview so it was nice to see her.
Before he closed his barber shop I used to keep up with Bill and Lisa when I got my haircut at Tom Cools Barber Shop but even that has been some time ago.
Lisa is an educator and has taken a position at Braxton County Middle School.
It is great to see people who have such deep connections to this county return. Of course we are the winners. Bill brings a wealth of experience that he and his son are putting to good use in their new business and Lisa will undoubtedly become a valued asset to our educational system.
I congratulate them on their business venture and wish them well. I have already taken a boat for some long overdue repair and have my eye on some other projects that I think they can help with.
Last week I returned to the office and was greeted by Anna Armstead. I hadn’t seen her for a few years since Jeanine and I had dinner with her, husband Tim, Brent and Jean Boggs during a WV Press Association activity.
I asked her to convey my congratulations to Tim on his election as Speaker of the House of Delegates. She said he was going 90 miles a minute with the start of the Legislative session.
I started to call him previously, but I knew he would be extremely busy. I am very proud of him. Not only did Tim spend most of his adolescence in Braxton County but he was my first intern.
I first became personally acquainted with Tim when we hosted a local contest in conjunction with the Press Association while he was in high school. The contest was an essay about the importance of freedom of speech. We had a lot of entries, but Tim’s was outstanding. As a local winner he was entered into the statewide completion. I and my fellow judges were not the only ones impressed with Tim’s work… He won on the statewide level as well.
One of the most rewarding stories I have written in many years was the piece that appeared in 2013 about the House Majority Leader, then Brent Boggs, and the House Minority Leader, Tim both being from our county. Maybe it was just being in the accompaniment of two fine young men, but that story was very fulfilling to this old writer.
I have followed Tim’s career in state politics and I have no reason to doubt that he will do an outstanding job as House Speaker. Regardless of whether he’s in the minority or majority, Tim Armstead epitomizes what an elected official should be… a true representative of the people.






Will return soon...


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