Cheers: To Charlie Benner, Judi Karr, Mifflinburg Bank and Trust and Keystone Mobile Shredding,the honorees as the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. Benner is locally famous as the brainchild behind Selinsgrove’s world-record setting banana split in the 1980s. Since then, he has been active in the farming community, the Farm Bureau and on the chamber’s agriculture committee. He was honored last week with the chamber’s Dan Foss Heritage Award. Karr, director of public relations and marketing at Nottingham Village in Northumberland, received the volunteer of the year award, Miffflinburg Bank and Trust was named Business of the Year and Keystone Mobile Shredding, Williamsport, was named the chamber’s small business of the year.
Cheers: to Steve and Connie Lenig, who founded Elijah’s Bowl, providing a free meal once a week for almost 20 years. The first week, the meal had 11 diners. Now, it serves almost 500 meals a month — down from 600 a month a year ago. For their efforts, the Lenigs will be honored by the Sunbury Rotary Club as Citizens of the Year later this month. It is a well-earned honor.
Cheers: To Danville school director Dawn Gill for drawing a spotlight on the issue of coach compensation. Gill spoke out against a Danville plan to reward coaches with a financial bonus if their teams make it into post-season play. Head coaches will get an extra $200 and assistants will get an extra $100. Why not just stick with passing a hat at the booster club dinner to cover the cost of a nice framed picture of the team?
Jeers: To Michael Rubin, the former head of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, who was charged last week with obstruction of justice in connection with the probe into corruption associated with former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, who was convicted of fraud a year ago. And the state’s plan to raise transportation dollars is to give the turnpike commission more power by giving it oversight over a tolled Interstate 80?
Cheers: To the Milton Harvest Festival committee members who have responded to the adversity created when one of their trusted officers stole $10,000 from the organization. The group has already made $3,000 from a peanut sale, said Sue Rearick, festival chairwoman. “I have to say that the Milton community is unbelievable in how they came out to support us,” Rearick said.
