Daring to Dream

Students Showcase Entrepreneurial Spirit in Business Pitch Program

Sasha Bush

The Ashland Beacon

The Glockner Dare to Dream high school regional business pitch competition is underway! This annual event is held at Shawnee State University and provides area high school students with the opportunity to create a business idea and pitch it to a panel of judges for the chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money.

Prize money is divided equally among the winning team members and can be used on anything their hearts desire. This is a great way for local high school students to experience what being entrepreneurs is all about and encourages them to think outside the box and realize their ideas can be brought to life with hard work, dedication and discipline.

The Dare to Dream High School Pitch Competition will be celebrating its 11th year March 5 at 5 p.m. This year’s Glockner Dare to Dream Competition will be hosted by Shawnee State University inside the iconic Kricker Innovation Hub, which is a landmark facility that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.

The competition is open to the following counties in within the Tristate area: In the state of Ohio- Lawrence, Scioto, Pike, Gallia, Adams and Jackson counties. In the state of Kentucky- Lawrence, Boyd, Greenup and Carter counties. In the state of West Virginia- Wayne and Cabell counties.

Student groups consist of no less than three and no more than five members. Together, they come up with a business model to successfully pitch before a panel of judges. Each group’s presentation is limited to just five members, and rules states that every group member must participate in the presentation. The group must also include a Power Point with their presentation. At the end of the presentation, the panel of judges has five minutes to ask questions before they move on to the next team’s presentation. Once all student presentations have been made, the panel of judges will then go to deliberate and come to an agreement on who will advance to the next stage of the competition.

Last week, students in Boyd County High School’s FBLA program had the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to the esteem panel of judges during the first stage of the competition in hopes of earning the privilege to move on to the final stage of competition. Boyd County High School’s Business teacher, Logan Wallace, got started in the Dare to Dream program last year and decided to bring the opportunity to the students. Wallace shared, “It’s so much fun to see how their ideas flourish into successful businesses. I am just very proud of all the students and how much they put into their pitches. “

April Perry, CEO and Chair of Kentucky Farmers Bank, is also the Lead Judge for the Glockner Dare to Dream High School Regional Pitch Competition and has been involved with the program for 12 years. Perry shed light on the program, “I think this program is great for the students because it teaches them to solve problems. We tell them to find a problem and try and come up with a solution to solve it.”

In addition to problem sharing, Perry went on to add, “It also teaches them that they can take their ideas and turn it into something that they can go out and make money with. This hopefully encourages them that they can go out and create a new business and have it become successful. I think the Dare to Dream High School Pitch Competition is great for our community because we need small businesses. It’s the small businesses that are really the heart of our local community, and so these students learning how to take problems and develop solutions and then monetize them is just really great for our communities.”

Six teams competed from Boyd County High School in the hopes of advancing to the final round, but only two teams could move on. Parker Gibson, Chase Queen, Bryce Lemaster, and JK McKnight were the first team chosen to advance to the finals. They came up with a clever way to help college students pick the best roommate possible with their app called Roomie. Users of the Roomie app would be able to complete a short profile of questions that would help them be paired with potential roommates who share the same interests.

The second team from Boyd County to make it through to compete in the finals were called Over Again. Hallie Barnett, Taylor Bartrum, Faith Burnside, Holly Marcum, and Alex Martin came up with a unique way to turn trash into cash by recycling old pop cans and turning them into delicious smelling candles. In addition to candles, the group also found a way to make coasters from trees that had either fallen or lost large branches.

An alternate group was also chosen. The group consisted of Jacob Vanover, Jason Ellis, Audrey Biggs, Haleigh Steele and Natalee Ruggles. They came up with a really cool way to offer students at BCHS an alternative to unhealthy drinks such as soda pop. The group started a smoothie making business called The Mixer- Smoothies and had already received an overwhelmingly positive response from the students.

Boyd County High School’s winning teams will advance to the finals March 5 where they will have one last chance to perfect their presentations in the hopes of being this year’s Dare to Dream winner.

Ashland Beacon Brings Home First Place at the Annual KPA Awards

Sasha Bush

The Ashland Beacon

   If you want to be the best… then you have to beat the best! That’s exactly what the staff of The Greater Ashland Beacon accomplished recently when they brought home that coveted first place editorial award for being named the best newspaper in the “Weekly 1” category at the Kentucky Press Association annual awards ceremony.

   Coming in first place is no small feat in this category because the competition was fierce. Second place went to The Falmouth Outlook, which was founded in 1907. Third place went to The Bourbon County Citizen, which is one of the oldest newspapers in the state of Kentucky and dates back more than 200 years.

   With a dedicated team of reporters, photographers, editors, ad designers, layout artists, and salespeople, The Greater Ashland Beacon brought home a total of 18 awards in the “General Excellence” category. Here is a breakdown of the awards that our talented staff brought home….

   It was a clean sweep for the category of “Best Enterprise/Analytical Story as our Editor Deidra Bowling-Meade, snagged first and second place for her articles on Blazer High School’s Criminal Justice Class and her article on the Harpers and how they embrace each day with change. Coming in for the third-place spot is one of our newest reporters, Gwen Akers for her article on the school transportation in Boyd County. Deidra Bowling-Meade also brough home second place in the category of Best Business/Agribusiness story.

   James Collier, our dedicated sportswriter snagged a first award in Best Sports Story for his compelling article about one local teen’s comeback from injury.

   The Greater Ashland Beacon also had a clean sweep in the category of Best Sports Picture. Kim Cole-Young, one of our newest photographers, brough home first place for a spectacular baseball photo. Sarah Christian, a long-time Beacon photographer, snagged the second-place spot and Larry Boggs, who has been one of the Beacon’s photographers since its founding, brought home third place in this category.

   The category of Best Sports Picture Essay has always been one that our staff has done well in, and this year was no different. Coming in first place was Philip and Lora Stewart for their great coverage of the girls’ basketball state tournament run. Lora Stewart also took the second-place category in this category for her adorable collection of young t-ball players just enjoying a day on the field.

   Sasha Bush, our Associate Editor brought home quite a few awards, including first and second place in the Best Use of Social Media/Multimedia category. Second place in the Best Video category went to both Bush for her creative video and Tim Lacey for his amazing photos of local cheer national champions. Bringing home third place in the Best Video category was Lora Stewart and Sasha Bush with their collaboration of coverage for the local little leagues 2023 season. Sasha also brought home a third-place finish in the Best Feature Picture category for her heartwarming photos of a solider embracing his children for the first time in months.

   Melissa Hamilton, our very talented Graphic Designer, and staff came in second place in the category of Best Special Section/Sports Special Section for our annual Christmas magazine.

   First place for Best Sports Page/Section went to our amazing sports staff for the impressive layout, catchy lede and high-quality photos. Another first place award was seized by the talented Kimberly Smith, our Chief Layout Artist and Lora Stewart for the eye-catching layout and design of our annual Pink Paper that we do each year in honor of breast cancer awareness.

   But we aren’t done yet… those awards were just the ones that the Greater Ashland Beacon was awarded for the category of editorial excellence. In addition to taking the first-place excellence award for best weekly one paper in the state we also took second place for advertising… bringing home a total of nine awards!

   Melissa Hamilton was the queen of this category as she brought home a total of five awards which includes the following… first place in the categories of Best Real Estate Ad, second place in the category of Best Department/Discount Jewelry Ad as well as second place for Best Food/Alcohol Ad. Melissa Hamilton alongside Philip Stewart and staff also took the first place award for Best Special Section/Magazines for the annual 2022 Christmas magazine. Coming in second in the same category was Sasha Bush, Lora Stewart, and Philip Stewart for the tedious work they did bringing the spring sports magazine to life.

   Philip Stewart snagged a first-place award of his own in the category of Best Entertainment/Dining Ad for his eye-catching design of the Creative Cow Ice Cream shop ad. Adding to the collection of first place awards… Sasha Bush also took first place for the category of Best Online Digital Ad. Sasha Bush, Philip Stewart, and Lora Stewart also placed second in the category of Best Cover for their spring sports magazine. Melissa Hamilton and Charlie Billips took the third-place award for the same category.

   Shewww…. what a year it has been and none of this would have been made possible without you… our dedicated readers and advertisers! The Greater Ashland Beacon continues to be a shining light for sharing all that is positive in our little community. Thank you for always supporting us and providing us with top notch content to write about and capture. We look forward to what this next year brings and can’t wait to see what we can do at the next Kentucky Press Associations Annual Awards show.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with No Ordinary Love

Grace Phillips

Ashland Beacon

Love is in the air.  What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word February?   Of course, it is Valentine’s Day. Roses, chocolates, dinner, jewelry…what do you do? Angella Lee, who is with the outreach group 2Gather, has taken the guess work out of your special day. 

On Feb. 14, 2Gather is hosting an evening at the Boyd County Convention Center located at 15605 KY-180 Catlettsburg, complete with dinner and entertainment. The evening is designed for couples, singles or just a group of friends. 

The event is called No Ordinary Love. According to Lee, “It is a great opportunity to share God’s love for us and to share that with our neighbors. We have a great evening planned for those attending.”  The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with charcuterie boards and meet and mingle time. Music will be provided by Lucy Becker and Elijah Miller. Dinner is being catered by The Mill with the choice of prime rib, chicken, or rigatoni. Powell Photography will also be doing photos and will provide a free digital photo file to everyone after the event.

The evening will close with the Christian comedian David Dean. Dean has been making audiences laugh on a full-time basis for over 25 years.  His brand of comedy is clean, family-friendly, and fast paced.  He has learned through the years that comedy has simply given him a platform for talking about Jesus.  

Lee commented, “This is a great opportunity for us to share God’s extraordinary love for us and to share that with our neighbors. Our premise and hope is, ‘if you can, get a ticket for a couple who can’t and give them a special evening out.’”  

General admission tickets for the No Ordinary Love are $99/couple or $55 for a single ticket.  A limited number of private tables for two will be available for $129. All tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite.com. Ticket sales will close on Feb. 12 at 11 p.m.  VIP tables for eight are also available. Please call for pricing information for those. 

Lee continued, “We want everyone to enjoy themselves and be around others who are there to enjoy an evening together in a nice atmosphere.” 

2Gather is an outreach ministry of Old Orchard Christian Church located in South Ashland.  It has hosted a few events already at the park, as well as a date night comedy show in the fall. They hope to have additional events in the future.  Lee said the name 2Gather is actually a play on words.  It is from the scripture that says “where two or more gather in my name” and “together.”  Lee shared, “We are just in the beginning stages of that outreach group, and we are trying to get some more events out to the public that are just good clean fun that people can come to and enjoy.”   

For additional information or questions please contact the church at 606.325.2778.  Please leave a message if no one answers and they will return the call shortly. 

Every Second Counts

The Gift of Blood Equals Life

 Deidra Bowling-Meade

 The Ashland Beacon

1, 2…

“Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.”  Right now, the American Red Cross is experiencing an emergency blood shortage as the nation faces the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years. Imagine if you or a loved one cannot get blood. 

This January we celebrate National Donor Month, which President Richard Nixon declared more than 50 years ago. Two Ashland locals, Beverly Carr and Eulas Hayes,  shared their dedication and the importance of giving blood.

Carr started donating blood 43 years ago because she felt that it was good to do; however, she became more dedicated to the cause and scheduled regular appointments after her mother passed away. Carr shared, “Before my mom passed, in 2004, she was in the hospital, over and over, for years. She constantly had to get blood to keep her blood count up; even with that, it was barely possible for her to maintain a good level. When she did receive the blood, and her numbers improved, you could see new life in her eyes and in her strength. It was then I decided to become a blood donor; others donated their blood for my mom, even though they didn’t know her. I felt a bit of an obligation to pay back what had been done for her.”

Carr reached a milestone achievement this month and received her first pin from the American Red Cross for donating one gallon of blood. Carr commented, “When I received my milestone pin, I was glad to have helped those who received my blood and hope that I made a difference in someone’s life. You know, when you donate blood, you don’t personally know who will receive it.  But, while you’re lying on the table for the collection, I think about whoever it is who will get my blood. I don’t know them, but God knows, and I pray for that person, and for whatever reason it is that they’re needing blood.”

Ninety year old Eulas Hayes has been donating blood for 63 years. He saw the need for blood after being in the service. When Hayes started working at ARMCO Steel, he became more involved with donating blood and working the blood drives sponsored by ARMCO Members Choice. Hayes stated, “I got to be good friends with Gene Gross who was the plant manager. He started the program about two years after World War II was over. Our program is 73 years old in November.” Hayes worked at ARMCO as a locomotive crane operator with 41 years of service.  Even after retirement, Hayes still serves as the blood chairman for the ARMCO Members Choice Bloodmobile of Boyd County, which sponsors a blood drive held the first Friday of every month at Ashland’s Central Fire Station.

 Hayes declared, “I’ve been obsessed with blood donation. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people through this program. The good Lord has been good to me.I stay in the background and surround myself with people who will donate. We all work together.” 

Angie Fischer, who is Collection Manager for the American Red Cross, remarked on the success of their monthly blood drive, “It averages around 45 donors a month. I don’t ever remember Eulas missing a drive. He is always there, ready to go. All the ladies who work with him, they’re all as dedicated as Eulas. They know every donor and feed them. They take pride in their blood drive.” 

In addition to working one of the area’s most successful blood drives, Hayes holds the record for top blood donor. With already 40 gallons given, Hayes is on track to donate his 41st gallon in March. Fischer commented, “It’s amazing how many lives he has saved with his blood donations. I’ve never given out a blood donation pin as high as with Eulas.  I have to order his pin in advance and have it ready for him.” 

According to the American Red Cross, you save three people’s lives when you give a unit of blood. Each unit equals one pint, and there are eight pints per gallon. That means Carr has saved at least 24 people’s lives!  Carr makes a difference not only by giving blood but through her dedication to the cause. Hayes has saved over 960 lives with his blood donations and has no plans of stopping!  Hayes jokingly credits his blood donating as the secret to looking so good at 90 years old. 

The requirements for being a blood donor are minimal. You must be at least 17 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds, and feel well without the use of antibiotics. Blood can be donated every 56 days and up to six times a year. There are times when your body might prevent your ability to give at the appointment. It’s important to never give up and keep trying. 

Carr shared there are times she isn’t able to give due to her blood count being too low; however, she always keeps her donation appointment to see if she qualifies. Carr commented,  “I take vitamins with iron and try to eat those foods that are thought to boost that blood count.  It’s always a mystery whether or not I’ll qualify.  When you make the effort to get out and get there, then maybe miss the target by just a tenth of a point, it’s very disappointing. I fight the thoughts in my head that tell me I should just stop trying. But, when you make it a priority, you just fight those thoughts, picture all those pints of blood that were donated for my mom, shake off the negative and continue the healthy lifestyle habits to get the numbers up for the next donation.”

Fischer encourages everyone to become blood donors. Fischer stated, “Blood donation is an easy way to save lives. It doesn’t take much time, maybe only an hour out of your day.  It doesn’t cost anything. Blood needs to be on the shelf and ready when someone needs it.  Unfortunately, we stay low on it because our donor base has been down. You gotta have a dedicated Eulas Hayes.”   

The dedication to blood donation shown by Carr and Hayes is a remarkable example for others to follow. For more information on participating in local blood drives and the blood donation process, visit the American Red Cross online: redcrossblood.org.  Appointments may be booked in advance by going to the website.  Also, make plans to attend the monthly blood drive located at the Ashland Central Fire Station, 1021 Carter Ave. Make donating blood a priority. Every second counts.