Wanda English Burnett
Editor

The Ripley County Chamber of Commerce will hold their Annual Meeting on Thursday, October 22 at the South Ripley Elementary School on Benham Road, Versailles.

The theme for the evening will be centered around high school sports with the chamber offering Christmas ornaments for salefeaturing each of the four high schools in Ripley County, Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del, Milan and South Ripley.

The featured speaker will be John Popovich who is the sports director for Channel 9 WCPO TV and hosts the long running Sports of All Sorts call-in show on Sunday nights. According to information from the chamber, he has won numerous Emmy and other broadcasting awards for his writing, producing and reporting.

Each year the chamber honors area citizens. This year they will focus on someone who represents each of the four area high schools who has contributed to the schools’ athletic endeavors but doesn’t get recognized for what they do. The awards are dubbed, “The Unsung Hero Awards.”

Bertha Hazelwood has been chosen from Batesville. She is known as a “wonderful supporter of all their athletic programs and is ready and willing to help in all aspects of the program.” Someone noted, “Bertha bleeds blue.”

Jac-Cen-Del’s unsung hero is Eric Wirth. He is described as a “good student with a good attitude and just an all around good kid.” He always helps the athletic director in any way he can.

South Ripley’s choice is Troy Mohr. He has been a teacher/coach at the school for a number of years and devotes a lot of time to helping keep the clock at all the boys and girls varsity basketball games. He also does many other “behind the scene duties.”

Milan has chosen two unsung heroes - Henry and Jerry Walker. They attend almost every sporting event at the school that boasts 19 different sports. It was noted that they are two of Milan High School’s most dedicated fans.

The evening will begin with a silent auction at 5:00 p.m. Then a dinner will be catered at 6:00 p.m. by the Rolling Pin, followed by hearing from the guest speaker and the unsung heroes being honored with awards.

Reservations can be made by calling the chamber office at 689-6654. Tickets are $15.00 for the event.

John Popovich