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• Their missions, the goods and services they provide and the way they look to the future might vary widely, but businesses and organizations that have served the region for decades all share at least one thing in common:
They are committed to putting a quality effort into everything they do.
A reminder came on Nov. 15, when Valley Hospice held its recognition and dueling pianos fundraising event at the St. Florian Event Center in Wintersville.
"Forty years ago, Valley Hospice began with one promise: We do the right thing, for every patient, every family and every moment," said Andrea Hale, while addressing the hundreds of volunteers, supporters and friends of the organization. "We could not have fulfilled that promise without each of you. Because of your belief and generosity, we now provide the broadest reach of hospice and palliative care in the entire Ohio Valley."
Hale, the nonprofit organization's CEO, wrote in the evening's program that by listening to the needs of the community, Valley Hospice has been able to create one-of-a-kind programs.
"With all of you supporters, partners, leaders and members of the Valley Hospice family, this celebration becomes more than an anniversary," she explained. "It becomes a reminder of what is possible when a community comes together with purpose, compassion and love."
Hale, who is a registered nurse and holds an MBA, said in the organization's history, she's just one of three nurses to have held the CEO's spot. She credited the other two -- Karen Nichols and Cynthia Bougher -- as being mentors who helped move the organization forward.
"Their legacy lives on in every caregiver who steps into a home at 2 a.m., in every hand held in our care centers and in every family who finds peace because of the work we do," Hale said. "They taught me that true commitment to nonprofit hospice is not for the faint of heart. It means showing up in the easy moments and the hard ones, asking the tough questions and protecting the mission when others might step back."
Recognized during the evening, which carried the "Wizard of Oz"-based theme of There's No Place Like Valley Hospice, were the recipients of this year's Visionary Awards, Tom Timmons, Jim Padden and Trinity Health System.
While it was important to be able to recognize a big milestone for the organization and the work that has been done, Hale said the focus will continue to be on the future.
"As we celebrate 40 years, we look ahead," she said. "There are still gaps in care for our community, and we will continue filling them together."
• No matter where you work, it seems like a common complaint is that it's tough to find people to fill openings. There's no profession or occupation immune from that issue, and that includes law enforcement.
It was a message shared when Lt. Robert Bodo, commander of the Steubenville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, spoke at the Nov. 19 meeting of the Steubenville Rotary Club.
Bodo, a 24-year veteran of the OSHP, explained that the local post serves Jefferson and Harrison counties with 11 troopers, four supervisors and himself.
Speaking at the JeffCo Event Center, the Catholic Central High School graduate explained that, overall, the patrol is down between 300 and 350 troopers. And, when you add in the extra duties troopers are tasked with -- a list that includes providing security for the governor, assisting the Secret Service when Vice President J.D. Vance returns to his Ohio home, assisting at protests and other big events across the state and helping with security at Ohio State University football games -- troopers can be spread pretty thin.
That's one of the reasons why the patrol has a trooper out every day, trying to recruit local men and women who are interested in law enforcement.
"When I graduated from the academy, you got sent to where there was an opening," Bodo explained. "Now they're putting you within 50 miles of your hometown. So, you can live here, and they'll either put you in St. Clairsville or here. That's one of the recruitment tactics they're using, so, if we don't get local people, we're not going to get anybody to fill this place."
He added that while there are problem areas throughout the 12-county Cambridge district the local post is a part of, there are some particular concerns in our region.
"The Steubenville Post leads the district in drunk driving arrests, drug arrests and felony arrests," he said. "So, we do have an issue in our area with that. There are some weekends when we do get help from other posts to help combat OVI and other problems we have locally.
"Everybody thinks of drunken driving and impaired driving as people out drinking and driving," he said. "A majority of our arrests are impaired drivers -- they're drug-induced impaired drivers, so we are seeing a lot of that. We've sent several of our troopers to other states to get certified in drug recognition. These troopers, pretty much just by talking to you, can tell you exactly what drug you took and how long ago you took it."
There's another step the patrol is taking after that type of arrest.
"We're starting to work really closely with the Jefferson County Prevention and Recovery Board," Bodo said. "After every drug arrest or OVI arrest we make, I send a list to the recovery board and they are reaching out to those people who need help. Hopefully, it will cut down on the recidivism rate."
Interesting takes from the front line of law enforcement.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. He is a member and past president of the Steubenville Rotary Club.)