Liberty Theater Clean-up Party

The Liberty Theater Renovation group will be holding a second clean up party this coming Saturday, June 11 from 10 AM to 1 PM. According to the note from Renovation Chairwoman Erin Orr they will be concentrating on the outside this Saturday and possibly the stage area. Anyone that can spare a few hours Saturday to help with this community project is welcome to attend. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Remember to wear old work clothes and sturdy shoes are recommended. Please, no flip flops or open toe footwear.

Also, there are still tickets available for the WHS Alumni Activities Committee chicken dinner being held at the Alumni Center for the benefit of the Liberty Theater renovation. The dinner will be Wednesday, June 22 from 4 to 7 PM. Tickets are available at

AirWaves, Center Pharmacy, Roberts Funereal Home or by calling Erin at 330-692-2037. Tickets are only $10 apiece and the dinner will baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes & gravy, salad, green beans, dessert and coffee, tea or punch. No tickets will be sold at the door. There will also be a 50/50 and Chinese Auction.

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Wellville Village Property Committee Meets

Monday – June 6: Wellsville's Village Council's Property Committee held a meeting Monday evening at Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Committee Chairwoman Sue Haugh and Committee Members Rosie Goss & Randy Allmon. Also attending was Councilman John McMahon and Village Administrator Jim Saracco.

The first part of the meeting was devoted to a sales pitch by Leasing Manager Les Dundics of Everflow Eastern, Inc. Everflow Eastern is located in Canfield and they are a broker for land owners with drilling companies such as Chesapeake. Dundics advised that Wellsville is right in the heart of the richest Utica shale region and that have drillers very much interested . Fees for Everflow Eastern is 10% of the amount of the land lease negotiated with the drilling company with no claims on whatever royalties are agreed upon between the land owner and the driller.

Currently Village officials are investigating their best options for possible drilling on the old City dump and old reservoir properties. Nothing inside the Village limits, the Springhill Cemetery or Hammonds Park is being offered for consideration. Another broker outfit that is being considered is called ALOV or the Association of Landowners of the Ohio Valley. They are a nonprofit organization of local landowners that have joined together to educate and protect the landowners oil & gas rights. ALOV has members in Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Mahoning, Stark, Tuscarawas and Harrison Counties. It was decided to get more information on ALOV before proposing anything for Council's consideraton. Chairwoman Haugh said she wants what is best for the Village.

Also proposed at last night's meeting was to have Council consider selling some of the vacant property they currently own. Haugh noted that two different parties have expressed interest on a Village owned piece of land along Main St. She proposed that Council vote to get it appraised and put it up for bids. Noting that there are a half dozen or more parcels of land that the Village owns and have no plans for, Haugh suggested Council consider putting them up for sale too. It would eliminate the expense of maintaining or paying taxes on them.

While on the subject of maintaining properties Haugh gave a reminder that a lot of time was spent on revising and preparing ordinances that require landowners to keep their properties free of overgrown weeds and grass. They will be enforced. She recommended the Village Administration be given a list of any unkempt properties to follow up on and refer to Magistrate Court if necessary. Saracco noted he presently has six properties he has been working on to get the owners to clean up.

Haugh also noted that in two years as Chairwoman of the Property Committee she received more complaints this year than ever on the condition of Springhill Cemetery. On behalf of Council, Haugh offered an apology for the lack of equipment, man power and funds that resulted in the condition of Springhill doing the Memorial Day holiday. Saracco noted that this year was the first time in eight years that he wasn't authorized to hire two part time employees in May to help maintain the cemetery grounds.

Before closing the meeting Haugh issued a reminder that anybody that plans to open any type of business within the Village must first have their plans approved by the Zoning Commission. That includes non-profit organizations too. Contact Zoning Administrator Rick Williams for additional information.

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Wellsville High School Class Day 2011

The Wellsville High School Class Day was held Thursday, May 26, in the Tiger's Den. It was the first time the Class of 2011 appeared in cap & gown. There is 71 members of the WHS Class of 2011. There would have been 72 had Mathugh Johnston been able to be with them. Unfortunately it wasn't to be but rest assured that Mathugh was smiling down on his classmates. Although unseen you just knew he was there in spirit.

There were honors recognized, many rewards presented, thousands of dollars in scholarships and book grants awarded to many recipients. They are far too many to list each and every one of them. So, we'll let pictures do the talking. You can left click on any one collage to enlarge for a better look.

By this time the Class of 2011 are now officially alumni of WHS. They graduated this past Sunday. Congratulations to all...

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Wellsville Board of Education Special Meeting

Thursday – May 26: The Wellsville Board of Education met in special session a week ago today to take care of three items on the meeting agenda. Present at the meeting was BOE President Tom Brophey, Board Members Ed Bauer, Mike Cook, Karen Dash and Bill Miller. Also attending was District Superintendent Rich Bereschik. The meeting was held in the High School Conference Room.

The first item on the agenda was awarding a contract to E & D Speciality Stands Inc., of Columbus, for the new grand stand at Nicholson Stadium. The contract to build and install the new aluminum stands is for $230,300 and will include a press box similar to the one across the field.

Bereschik noted there were five bids received to replace the recently demolished eastern side grand stands. The E & D bid was approximately $19,000 less than the next highest bid received. The new stands will be prefabricated at the factory to be assembled at the stadium. It is expected to take approximately two weeks to assemble once the company starts. The new stands will be ready for the 2011 football home opener in August.

The other two items on the agenda was to accept the resignations of two long time Garfield Elementary teachers. Retiring is Mrs. Cindy Zelasko with 40 years of service and Mrs. Linda Dye with 21 years service. Bereschik noted Mrs. Dye has a total of 31 years teaching experience having worked elsewhere prior to coming to Wellsville. Both resignations were accepted with regrets and best wishes.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 PM. The next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Monday, June 20 at 6:30 PM, in the Superintendent's Office at 929 Center St.

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Wellsville Mayor Honors WHS Class of 2011

With a tradition he started eight years ago Wellsville Mayor Joe Surace honored the WHS Class of 2011 with his final “Breakfast with the Mayor”. In the final year of his second term as mayor, Surace noted this year's breakfast was special with having three of his grandchildren in the Class of 2011. Seniors Danny Dye and Chad & Chelsea Elliott are members of the graduating the class.

Wellsville Area Ministerial Association Liaison, Pastor Darlene Zanders served as Master of Ceremonies. The breakfast was hosted by Wellsville's First Baptist Church and Pastor Roosevelt Thompson welcomed all the guests.

Army Recruiter Sgt. Gary Young challenged the graduating seniors to find a job you love doing. When you do that you'll never have to work a day in your life. The Iraqi War veteran presented this year's US Army National Scholar/Athlete Awards to Leah Kelly and Tyler Reed.

Eastern Gateway Community College Co-coordinator Ms. Johnna Provenzano told the students to never lose their ambition and desire for personal achievement. Ms. Provenzano related how she grew up in Mingo Junction, a town similar in size to Wellsville, graduated from Mingo Central Catholic and was the first in her family to go to college.

Wellsville Police Chief Joe Scarabino told the group that they will face many challenges in life while he had them close their eyes. He emphasized that each and every one of them have to be responsible for themselves. To drive home his point he startled the class members slamming a metal folding chair on the floor saying you don't want to wake up some morning being sorry for something you did. That opened their eyes!

Wrapping up the breakfast each student was presented with a personal Mayoral Proclamation congratulating them. The Mayor told them you may leave Wellsville but Wellsville will never leave you.

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D's Feet Named Business of the Month

D's Feet was named the May Business of the Month at the Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce's monthly luncheon held May 24. The business is owned and operated by Ms. Denise Groves. She is a Licensed Pedorthist and specializes in diabetic footcare such as therapeutic footware designed to custom fit the customer. In the picture above, from the left, is Chamber Board of Director member James Saracco, Groves and Chamber President Randy Allmon. Groves can be contacted at phone 330-383-1383.

In other business Allmon announced the Chamber sponsored rabies clinic was a huge success. The clinic was held May 21 along with Wellsville's St. Francis Animal Welfare Center. There were 74 pets that received the reduced cost inoculations.

The next Chamber luncheon will be held Tuesday, June 28, at the Riverside Roadhouse beginning at noon. Guest speaker will be East Liverpool City Hospital CEO Kenneth Cochran.


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Alley Cat Aid Brigade To Have Yard Sale

The members of Wellville's Alley Cat Aid Brigade will be holding a yard sale this coming week-end. It's a fund raiser to help with their trap-neuter-release program for feral cats in the village.

Started a few years ago the Alley Cat Aid Brigade uses a humane method that will eventually control the feral cat population. Cats are lured into traps, taken to a veternarian to be spade and released back where they were captured. It's not an animal shelter that finds homes for stray cats. It's a long term, humane solution to control the growing population of wild cats. Although the group consists of all volunteer members there is still expenses incurred. Your help and donations are greatly appreciated.

Stop by the yard sale Saturday or Sunday. There will probably be something you would love to have. The sale will be open for business from 9 AM to 4 PM both days.

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