The Greater Ashland Beacon Reflects on 2022
By: Sasha Bush
The Greater Ashland Beacon
2022 has been nothing short of amazing! This past year has brought with it so many great milestones for our local businesses, our youth and our community in general. The Greater Ashland Beacon takes great pride in having the pleasure of being there for it all. Let’s take a brief look at some of the Greater Ashland Beacon’s most popular featured articles of 2022. Here is your Ashland Beacon year in review…
Jan. 2022 was a very exciting month, it kicked off with “Not All Superheroes Wear Capes: Onans Fight for Superheroes to Help Families.” This was an amazing story about how one boy’s strength and fight against cancer sparked a legacy that will be around for years to come. Onan’s Fight for Superheroes is a nonprofit organization that helps to raise money for the families of children that are battling cancer. The month of Jan. also included the announcement of Thomas A. Dearing’s book, Dillon Carmichael’s visit to Boyd County, and the grand opening of Franklin + Doodles Boutique.
The month of Feb. started off with the announcement of a new playground for Ashland’s Central Park. Of course, the month of Feb. also brought with it the highly anticipated Dancing with our Stars event. Greenup County Cheerleaders made history when they took home the Cheer World Championship Title, earning them the coveted white jacket. Students at Ashland Paul Blazer also made headlines during the month of Feb. for their “Dodge, Duck, Donate” fundraising that they held to help raise money for Hopes Place. ACTC’s Al Baker was named to KHSAA’s Hall of Fame during the month of March. We also celebrated the 100th birthday of James Chapman. Fairview High School also announced their new football coach, Brent Wilcoxon while Ashland Blazer bid farewell to coaching legend Bill Bradley. Bradley served the Ashland Kittens as head coach for 21 seasons and had over 42 years coaching experience under his belt.
The month of April brought with it the grand opening of several new businesses. Both Grandview Marketplace and Local Mercantile opened their doors for business and have been thriving ever since. Sal’s Italian Eatery and Speak Easy was also announced and brought with it a unique dining experience that seems to take to you back in time to the prohibition era. If you haven’t checked out these businesses yet, I highly recommend that you do.
The month of May brought a bit of sadness with the passing of country music legend Naomi Judd. The Primitive Quartet celebrated its 50-year anniversary in the world of Gospel Music. The Greater Ashland Beacon celebrated area graduates in the month of June with inspiring stories of local graduating seniors’ journey to the tassel. Rush off Road held its annual Rush and Rowdy weekend and the YMCA celebrated the life of Dave Williams with a fun factory dedication to honor Williams’s legacy of always putting the youth of the Ashland Area YMCA first. The community also bid farewell to beloved leader of the Patriot Guard, Charles “Frenchy” French.
The month of July was all about celebrations. The Ashland Area YMCA celebrated its 125th year celebration. The Ashland Area YMCA has served the community for 125 years… now that is something to celebrate. The Boyd County Senior Center also celebrated its 25th year anniversary while Hager Elementary celebrated the unveiling of its secret garden. The celebrations didn’t stop there. Ray McCann, a valued staple in our community, celebrated his 100th birthday. Local softball prodigy Lacyn Black also had great reason to celebrate during the month of July. Black took home the 2022 T-Mobile Little League Home Derby East Regionals championship title.
During the month of Aug. , Lacyn Black was the talk of the town once again. Black competed in the T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby 2022 Championship and won the entire thing! What an accomplishment from such an immensely talented young lady. The long-awaited grand opening of the Mill Café and Broadway Books was also celebrated during the month of Aug. Everyone looks always looks forward to Sept. because that means it’s time for some good family fun filled events. Poage Landing Days and Greenup’s Old Fashion Days are both events that the entire community looks forward too. The Greater Ashland Beacon showcased highlights from both highly anticipated events during the month of Sept. .
Hyland Heights Missionary Baptist Church celebrated its 100th anniversary during the month of Oct. . The Greater Ashland Beacon also celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness during the month of Oct. with its Annual Pink paper, as well as inspiring stories of triumph from local breast cancer survivors. Boyd County High School also had its own reason to celebrate with the announcement of its new rodeo team which is a fist of its kind in this area. During the month of Nov. , The Greater Ashland Beacon honored veterans with its annual Veterans Day paper which was filled with compelling stories from local area veterans that have served our country. The Paramount Arts Center’s historic marquee got a facelift. The old marquee was the hallmark of downtown Ashland and received a much-needed restoration and now continues to shine bright. Armco Park also held an unveiling of the new Armco Park sign. But perhaps the most uplifting story for the month of Nov. was that of young Corissa Conley’s battle with cancer and how she got her true Christmas miracle when she found out that she had indeed kicked cancers butt.
Christmas was truly in the air during the month of Dec. . The Greater Ashland Beacon showcased all the amazing experiences to be had during the month of Dec. These experiences included Ashland’s favorite Winter Wonderland of Lights, the Bethlehem Experience, various annual vendor fairs, and many more Christmas themed activities. The Camp Landing Entertainment District celebrated the official grand opening of four new businesses. With Christmas brings wonderful Christmas memories and one local family got to celebrate the homecoming of beloved father Sergeant First Class Brian Church. Church got to spend Christmas with is family for the first time in four years.
WOW! What a year it has been and that was just our featured stories! The Greater Ashland Beacon is proud to be serving the community and being able to take part in all the positive things this area has to offer. The Greater Ashland Beacon takes great pride in bringing you the very best news that this area has to offer. It is because of YOU that the Greater Ashland Beacon is where it is today. Thanks to your amazing stories of positivity, encouragement, inspiration, and triumph, the Greater Ashland Beacon took home second place in the 2021 Kentucky Press Association awards as the Best Weekly 1 Paper in the State of Kentucky. On behalf of The Greater Ashland Beacon… Thank you for another great year and we look forward to what 2023 has in store for everyone. Happy New Years!
