OHCE COMFORT BEAR MISSION — The Coal County OHCE After Five club presents 67 comfort bears to local first responders on June 10. The stuffed animals help comfort children in emergency situations and help first responders establish trust with the children. More comfort bears are being made, said OHCE member Sue Tillery. From left (front) – Barbara Elkins, OSU Extension Service FCS/4-H Educator; Frances Brown, After Five OHCE; Sue Tillery, President, After Five OHCE/President, Coal County OHCE; Carmen Chelf and Audrey Gage, Coalgate Fire Department/ EMS; Officer Christian Minyen, Coalgate Police Department; (back) – Jahree Wilson, After Five OHCE; LaDonna Flowers, After Five OHCE; Eugina Loudermilk, After Five OHCE; Trooper John Ivey, Oklahoma Highway Patrol; Deputy Ethan Fomby, Investigator, Coal County Sheriff’s Office; Officer Destin Wilkerson, Tupelo Police Department; Chris Clymer, City of Coalgate Code Enforcement.

Shamaar Rashaun Miller, 22, Atoka, was charged June 9 with lewd or indecent proposals to a child under 16 after former conviction of a felony.

TUPELO SCHOOL AWARDS — Tupelo HS Principal John Black presents the Tupelo High School Teacher of the Year award to Mrs. Vickie Mobbs.

A heated discussion broke out at the May 24 regular meeting of Coalgate City Council between a resident and the town’s vice mayor.

Coalgate School Superintendent Jack Ward on May 17 presented retirement clocks to four teachers who retired in 2021 plus a teacher and administrative assistant who retired in 2020 but were not recognized at that time due to the COVID pandemic. Shown from left, the retirees include Ernie Fanning, 2021, 13 years; Sherry Leaird, Administration, 2020, 21 years; Debra Shockey, 2021, 40 years; Cindy Mead, 2021, 39 years; Staci Acker, 2021, 21 years; and Paula Latimer, 2020, 15 years.

If there ever was a day in the American calendar that invites reflection, it’s Memorial Day. Over the course of our country’s history, hundreds of thousands of Americans—most of them young and with decades of life still ahead of them— made the ultimate sacrifice.