Around Pickerington

The Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross, 121 W. Mulberry St., in Lancaster, will hold the following blood drives (for information call (740) 687-5585):

•March 22 – Bloodmobile at Lithopolis United Methodist Church, 80 N. Market St., Lithopolis, from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 22.  Phone 614-860-3436 for an appointment; walk-ins welcome.

Blood needed

Recent winter weather has caused the community blood supply to reach critically low levels. So far in March, 510 blood donations were lost in Central Ohio due to canceled drives, and more than 2,800 donations have been lost across Ohio since the beginning of February. Supplies of key blood types have reached critical levels.  Volunteers are needed now to replenish the supply. To donate blood, contact 740-687-5585 to locate a blood drive near you.

At the Pickerington Library

Activities at the Pickerington Public Library, 201 Opportunity Way (see www.pickeringtonlibrary.org for information):

•March 30 – Musical Interludes with Avalon Nine the acoustic duo of Linda Blaine and Dave Clutter will perform "A Garden of Love Songs."

Pickerington Garden Club

Fairfield County Historical Parks Commission Director David John Fey will present "Our Fairfield County Parks" at the Pickerington Garden Club meeting on March 19 at 1 p.m. in the Pickerington Public Library, 201 Opportunity Way. For information call Barbara Kochick at (614) 837-3951 or Anna Weber at (614) 833-2358.

VTWL style show

The Violet Township Women’s League (VTWL) will host its ninth annual style show and luncheon on April 19 at Tall Timbers Banquet and Conference Center in Reynoldsburg. The event benefits the VTWL Community Scholarship Fund. This year the VTWL will award two $2,500 scholarships. For information call (614) 837-5172 or (614) 837-6995 or visit http://vtwl.tripod.com

"The Music Man"

Meet the cast, crew, orchestra, and directors from Pickerington Central High School’s spring production of "The Music Man" at Barnes & Noble, 1739 Hill Road in Pickerington on March 18 from 6-9 p.m.  Get a sneak preview of the performance and help the students earn money to offset production costs.

Pickerington Central DECA students do well

Nine Pickerington Central High School  marketing students recently placed at the DECA district 15 competition and seven of these students will continue on to compete at the state level. Three of these students are also participating in the Ohio Career Development Conference.

The students and their award designations for the DECA district competition include: Monica Dodson, fourth place marketing test; Julia Fiffick and Lita Sopraseuth, sixth place buying and merchandising team; Lindsay Hopkins, third place in sales test; Morgan Phillips, first place marketing test; Jessica Shepherd, first place business ownership test; Bethany Stewart, third place Quick Serve Restaurant Series event; Stephanie Sholl, second place math and communications test; and, Elaina Ward, fourth place math and communications test.

Students placing fifth or higher at the district competition will continue on at the State DECA Competition.  

Williams honored

Dorothy Williams, an eighth grade language arts teacher at Pickerington Lakeview Junior High School was recently honored as Ohio’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Teacher of the Year.

She is also the VFW National Junior High School Teacher of the Year.

VFW annually recognizes the nation’s top classroom elementary, junior high and high school teachers who spend at least half of the school day in a classroom environment and teach about America’s history, traditions and institutions effectively.  One of Williams’ recent classroom lessons that support the VFW’s goal of citizenship education is a poetry project that sends messages to troops overseas.Williams’ students are sending messages and poetry to a Pickerington alum and the sibling of a Lakeview student who are both currently serving in Iraq.

Williams has been a Pickerington educator for more than 20 years and was selected as the 2006-07 Lakeview and Pickerington Local Schools Teacher of the Year.  

Tussing fights hunger

Tussing Elementary School students are learning about helping others by raising funds and awareness to fight hunger in the local community.

The students creating more than 780 decorative ceramic bowls that represents the millions of families across the world that deal with hunger on a daily basis. The students will then sell their bowl for $5 at an ice cream social on March 19 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. to help raise funds and other donations for the Pickerington Food Pantry.  The project is part of the "Empty Bowls" national initiative.

Pickerington Lions honored

The Pickerington Lions Club received many awards at the Lions District Convention, held in Zanesville on March 7-9, including the coveted 100% Club Service Award, which is presented to clubs that donate to a variety of charitable, civic and medical organizations which are supported by the Ohio Lions.

The Pickerington Lions made donations over the past six months totaling $5,000 to many individuals and organizations, including:  local citizens for eyeglasses and exams, both Pickerington High School Marching Bands, Central Ohio Lions Eye Bank, Ohio Lions Pilot Dogs, Diabetes Association, Ohio Lions Foundation, Eye Research Foundation, Camp Echoing Hills, the GOOD Program for the Pickerington Schools, local needy families at Thanksgiving & Christmas and others.