Opinion

This past weekend, Cardington-Lincoln High School held its 128th commencement ceremony. Graduating is not only a major milestone in life, but a rite of passage as you move into the next phase of it. Many will go on to attend university along with those opting to serve in the military, head into the workforce, or go to a trade school instead. What I will choose to reflect on this week is the Saturday that precedes graduation: Senior Night. Each year tens of thousands of dollars are awarded to graduating seniors as they head off to college. While it is important to recognize the businesses and organizations that assist in this feat by offering scholarships to Pirate seniors, you have to take notice that the vast variety of them are named in memory or honor of someone from the past.

Earlier this week we observed National Police Week – a week to honor the law enforcement officers who sacrifice each day to keep our communities safe.

At U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development we are committed to ensuring people, no matter where they live, have access to health care by expanding high speed internet and partnering with local medical providers to bring telehealth services to rural communities across the nation. And we know that access to mental and behavioral health care can exponentially increase quality of life for people everywhere.

With Teacher Appreciation Week being celebrated all across the United States this week, I think it is best to use this time to recollect on those educators who graced the halls of Cardington-Lincoln Local Schools to cultivate young minds.

There is no better time than now to quit smoking cigarettes and/or vaping nicotine. Over the last decade, smoking cigarettes, especially in public, has become less socially acceptable. There have been laws that have been put in place restricting where people can smoke in publicly shared spaces. All of this because we recognize as a society the dangers of smoking cigarettes and being exposed to secondhand smoke. Unfortunately, it seems that most believe that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, however, this is still not a safe or healthy choice.

This April 8, Ohio will be one of the few states to experience a total solar eclipse. With a 124-mile-wide path of totality, Ohio is expecting an influx of tourism as people travel from all over the country to come witness this rare phenomenon.

“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

There has never been a better time in history to be an Ohioan. We have an abundance of resources and variables working in our favor, including a low cost of living and a high quality of life. Our gross domestic product is the seventh largest in the United States, and if Ohio were a separate country, it would be the 21st largest economy. We are now entering a manufacturing renaissance unlike anything witnessed by any other state, and with the kind of economic wins we’ve seen just in the last two years, the best is yet to come.

As I sifted through the box of Searchlights from Evelyn Long’s house, I happened upon one from November 1953. Coincidentally, this would be the senior year of the class of 1954, which will be celebrating its 70-year reunion this upcoming May. In this edition, the class of 1954 had just taken their individual senior pictures by Cubberly Studios of Delaware, Ohio.