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Quick takes

DONATION: Tish Dezordo-Menefee and Modern Woodmen of America Fraternal Financial Agency donated $2,500 to the Edison High School baseball program. Through its matching funds program, the agency was able to match the funds generated by the team’s fan cloth clothing fundraiser. The money donated will be used to purchase equipment needed for this season.

APPOINTED: State Secretary of Transportation Tom Smith has named Gus Suwaid district engineer-manager for West Virginia Division of Highways District 6.

The district includes about 2,500 miles of road and 600 large and small bridges in Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Tyler and Wetzel counties. As the district engineer-manager, Suwaid will oversee a $60 million annual budget and about 350 employees.

A Wheeling resident and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, Suwaid has been serving as acting district director since the retirement of Dan Sikora of Weirton in 2015.

Prior to that, he served as project engineer and area manager for the district, positions that involved planning or oversight of the U.S. Route 22 bypass, widening of state Route 2 north of the Market Street Bridge and renovations to the Wheeling Tunnels.

AWARDED: Owners of the Family Roots Farm on state Route 27 in Wellsburg recently attended the West Virginia Small Farms Conference held in Charleston and entered an article written by Herald-Star staff writer Warren Scott into the West Virginia Agritourism Initiative contest.

Scott’s story and photo were awarded third place in the agritourism news or magazine story category, and Family Roots Farms’ owner Britney Farris, who runs the farm with her husband, Charlie, and parents, Fred and Cathy Hervey, received a ribbon from Department of Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt.

The ribbon is on display at the Family Roots Farm’s Sugar Shack.

The story, “Officials offer praise over growth of Wellsburg farm,” was published in the Herald-Star on March 13, 2016, and in the Brooke Scene on March 26, 2016.

“(Warren Scott) does such a wonderful job, not only in Brooke County but in our Ohio Valley,” Britney Farris said.

The business’ Sugar Shack, a 40-by-40-foot building, is where the owners process maple sugar from the maple syrup they collect from more than 500 taps on the farm. The farm’s maple syrup has received high marks, earning a perfect score at the conference.

AWARENESS: Serenity Hair at 200 Walden Ave. in Tiltonsville is sponsoring a Cuts for Autism event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 30.

The event is being held during Autism Awareness Month, according to Serenity Hair hair stylist Kelsie Hinton.

The fundraiser is in its fourth year, and haircuts will cost $10. There will be a drawing, Chinese auction, a bake sale and jewelry sale. All proceeds will go to Autism Speaks, according the Hinton.

APPOINTED: Jodee Verhovec, a board member with the Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, has been appointed to serve as a director with the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

The OFSWCD is the professional association representing the 440 locally elected district supervisors governing the 88 soil and water conservation districts in Ohio.

The OFSWCD boards meet to determine legislative needs, recommend action items and coordinate training and development programs.

Verhovec is serving her fourth elected term as a JSWCD supervisor. She graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in photo journalism and from the University of Dayton with a master’s degree in education. She retired from teaching after more than 30 years with the Buckeye Local School District.

She and her husband, Julius, raise Charolais cattle on her family farm in Smithfield.

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