Mark’s Musings – March 11, 2015

| March 10, 2015
Mark Fortune

Mark Fortune

Our community stands tall this week. Kids America was awarded the grand prize of $10,000 from Peoples Bank in a contest ranging over several counties. Kids America was the top vote getter in the “Building a Stronger Community” contest that began last fall and concluded at the end of February. Our community – and specifically Kids America – will certainly benefit from this generosity.

The Ridgewood Lady Generals basketball team gave a valiant effort against the Pirates of Garaway in the tournament this past weekend – having a nice lead at halftime which slipped away during the second half. Nothing is to be taken away from Coach Patterson and the girls at Ridgewood for a terrific season. Congratulations ladies!

On the mat, a total of five wrestlers from Coshocton, River View and Ridgewood made it to the state wrestling tournament. Ridgewood’s Colton Bethel (106), Phillip Shannon (152) and Kelly Barthalow (285) made it to state. Bethel is a sophomore while Shannon and Barthalow are seniors. From River View, senior Brendan Scherer (170) will be making his second trip to the state wrestling tourney – he placed seventh at state last year. From Coshocton, senior Dom Johns (182) will make the trip to Columbus. Good luck to all area wrestlers and congratulations on your achievements.

Okay, we all know that the streets have some issues. Let’s be patient, dodge ‘em when you can and when you see the street crews out working hard to fill those pesky potholes, give ‘em a wave and a smile. Yes, it is frustrating to all of us but keep in mind that the folks that work on the streets also drive on the streets so I am sure that they are quite aware of the situation.

The Hopewell Indians basketball team is headed to state – this year the Indians have two teams with one headed to state and another with the opportunity to make it. Success breeds success! Good luck Indians!

Do we want to turn to the Buckeyes men’s basketball performance? Probably not. A dismal and disappointing loss to the Badgers on Sunday sort of puts an exclamation point on this year’s season – but the tournament offers a chance of at least some form of redemption. The Buckeyes begin play on Wednesday night after 9 pm – against the winner of Rutgers and Minnesota. My bet is on Minnesota with Michigan State or Maryland taking the title. I think the Badgers minds will be on the big dance. Could the Buckeyes be the surprise of the tourney? I don’t think so this year but let’s be hopeful.

Ah yes, spring is on the way. Just a few more days and we are there. The forsythia will be blooming, the crocuses (or croci) will be out in full force and we can forget about scenes from The Shining. It was close. Not counting small plants that may loom up through the potholes from the center of the earth – the crocuses will be first up. Not sure who will be first up for the Cleveland Indians. It’s just nice to utter the words. Spring forth.

 

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion

About the Author ()

I live with my beautiful wife Nancy on a small farm just outside Coshocton. We have been married for thirty two years and have two grown children, Jessica and Jacob. Jessica is married to Aaron Mencer and they are employed with Coshocton City Schools. Jacob is a sophomore at Kent State University. I graduated from River View High School, have a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Wesleyan University and am actively involved with the Roscoe United Methodist Church, serve on several local committees and am a member of the Coshocton Kiwanis Club, having served as Past-President. I love reading, especially military thrillers, the Civil War and history in general. My goal is to write a novel. My wife and I are also AdvoCare distributors and encourage anyone wanting to lose weight, gain energy and better health to explore AdvoCare at our website; www.fortunes4advocare.com. I love the media field, innovative technology and have worked in newspapers for over 30 years – in fact, my first job was delivering newspapers. The Beacon is a dream made possible by the support of this community and a great team. I hope to continue serving Coshocton County for many years.

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