A COMMUNITY GIFT FOR EVERYONE

Yesterday I stopped by Licking Memorial Hospital after an early morning appointment. While walking through the entrance, I stopped to reread a plague at the entrance to the "Betsy Eaton O'Neill Health Resource Center". Opened to the public, the resource center was created to support and educate patients, family members and friends of patients. The O'Neill Family was very generous making the center possible. The center is staffed full time by knowledgeable volunteers.

Click here to find out more.

NOW, my reason for visiting Licking Memorial Hospital was to stop for a Dobio Espresso. At the entrance to the Resource Center is the best coffee shop in West Newark. It is well worth the extra steps to park in the parking lot to purchase and enjoy Starbucks Coffee and one of the high end quality pastries. Every time I have stopped, there are quest in the Resource Center and a small line at the coffee shop's counter.

Another good move to make if you have time: purchase your coffee on the main floor and then proceed to the cafeteria for a piece of delicious pie.

ANOTHER USE FOR A SALAD FORK

Moving furniture around for placement of our Christmas Tree is not fun. There are always furniture impressions in the carpet and in a visible spot. Vacuuming will not fluff the spot, I remember reading a magazine about using a fork to lightly scrap the impression. It worked.

My next problem: January 1, I will not have the impressions to know where the furniture exactly needs to be placed after the tree is packed away. Should have taken a photo first.
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Licking County Court House

Santa came this evening to help all the children light the Licking County Court House for Christmas. Chilly, but a fun evening.
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NOT A GOOD THANKSGIVING OR CHRISTMAS

A bunch of years ago I remembered on a Christmas afternoon a residential fire started by a turkey fryers. During this past week I have been in Walmart & Meijers, noticing turkey fryers on sale along with the large containers of peanut oil. I just hope everyone goes through a practice run before actually cooking their dinner.

The Heath, Ohio Christmas Day fire was started by a turkey fryer on the patio, a light snow was falling just enough to over boil the fryer when the lid was open. Two thirds of the home was destroyed. Be careful and enjoy your turkey.

Thanksgiving Eve Celebration

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Change St. Rt. 16 & St. Rt. 37 to St. Rt. 161

Late this afternoon, I attended a meeting hosted by ODOT to explain their reasoning for choosing Alternative #5 for the future St. Rt. 16 & Cherry Valley Road interchange between Newark, Ohio and Granville, Ohio. First of all I was very impressed on how many ODOT employees were present in the entry OSU-Newark's Reese Center lined with large project maps . No less than a dozen times did someone come up to me to ask if I had questions or if I needed an explanation of the project.

The hard part is a strong fact: this will not be constructed for many years to come. But at least the drawings are complete, the properties identified for land acquisition and people know what is going to take place.

I am a proponent of roundabout intersections because of their safety features. It is to shame the interchange will not be constructed immediately. The use of roundabouts for this project would show how effective they are for intersections and perhaps set an example on more roundabouts in the cities, villages and other areas of the county to be constructed.

If ODOT would like to place some icing on the cake, the entire highway from 270 in Franklin County, through Licking County and further east should be re-numbered as St. Rt. 161. How simple would it be to give directions for someone coming from the west to Licking County or for our 911 Center to identify addresses for emergencies. We need to work on this and say goodbye to a confusing mess.

Click here to read Rick Platt's comments posted this past March.

DO YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING LOCALLY

Saturday's Newark Advocate always has an editorial "Pluses & Minuses" every week. Saturday's had a very good plus for all of us to remember during the start of the Holiday shopping season:

Plus: With the holiday season upon us, it's worth a reminder to all to shop in Licking County whenever possible. We know the allure of easy online shopping or a special trip to Columbus can be tempting, but it's important to remember that every dollar you spend locally ends up in the bank account of an employee who then might shop at your company or business. These transactions in turn create local tax revenue, which supports our communities and provides for a better place for all of us to live and shop. With the growth of the retail outlets in Licking County, there's plenty of places to find nice gifts right here at home.

Please keep this in mind, click here to read the entire editorial.