SHERRI MOORE NAMED SENIOR ADVISOR TO MONONGAH CHRISTMAS STREET LIGHTS COMMITTEE

 

Sherri Moore has been named senior advisor to Monongah Christmas Street Lights committee president Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971.

 

Sherri is a 1985 graduate of Fayetteville High School in West Virginia. She moved there her senior year to help care for her sick aunt.

 

Sherri originally is from Fairmont. She has three children -- Kristin, Justin and Frank -- and grandchildren Sophia, Ashlyn, Fairmont West senior Nevaeh, Milly, Presley (will be born any time now) and Bailey, who passed away at birth.  

 

She owns her own cleaning company, All About Cleaning, and once owned a restaurant in Parkersburg.  

 

Sherri said, after my prompting: “My favorite memory is decorating at Christmas time with my mama who has just passed this November. She is the reason I love Christmas so much (besides it being the birth of Our Savior).”

 

Her favorite place in her travels is Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, also known as Little San Salvador Island. It’s a tiny private island accessible by cruise ships (and passengers with their money). It is overflowing with birdlife and has Stingray Cove, a lagoon enclosure, teeming with stingrays.

 

Monongah’s legendary Christmas street lights, all 64 of them, will coming down Saturday, January 14, to be stored safely away for another Christmas season.

 

Louise Linn is replacing Chrissy Shaver as secretary of what I call The Charge of the Lights Brigade because Chrissy is swamped starting up her own business. Susan is president and founder. Carolyn Tice is vice president. Linda McCullough is treasurer.

 

Susan describes Josh Scritchfield as “my right-hand man. He’s always there for me.” Josh is a Monongah fireman.

 

Susan added: “Chuck Tice also is my assistant. He works for Toothman & Sowers as a mechanic. He also in charge of putting up the lights, taking them down and fixing whatever they need.”

 

Susan’s volunteers include Teena Field Ailstock, Amber Wycoff, Beth Campbell, Amanda Hawkins and her father Robert Hawkins and Louise Linn.

 

It takes an army to deal with the 64 Monongah Christmas street lights that astronauts can see from space and an angel to lead them. Nothing this miraculous happens by accident.

 

Maybe Susan should promote Monongah as The Brightest Christmas Town in America, contact the West Virginia promotions department to spread the word. Like the baseball field in Iowa, if people know about it they will come . . . from all over America every Christmas.

 

Because of the burden of maintaining the lights ($1,570.55 for brackets for the 24 lights White Hall donated to Monongah) and paying the $3,271.94 electric bill ($4,842.49 combined for the electric and new brackets) to make them light up the town, Susan said, “We will not be ordering any more lights. One reason is the expense. The other is no help. This is a lot of work and I no longer want my board members out there doing all of the work. We have health problems and shouldn’t be out there anyway.”

 

You don’t have 64 huge Christmas street lights in a town with fewer than 1,000 people without a lot of money donations and volunteers for the labor.

 

Susan added: “This is why it’s very important for volunteers to help us. The more help we have the faster things gets done.

 

“You all love the lights (indeed!). So please step up and help us.”

 

Already-high expenses grew even more with the requirement to buy brackets for the 22 new lights that Whitehall gave Monongah.

WINNERS OF BEST MONONGAH HOMES CHRISTMAS LIGHTING

 

Chris Quinup house got first place for best Christmas house in Monongah this season. Susan Staron Sanders’ Christmas lights committee supervised the choices.

Chris grew up in Boulder, Colorado, beautiful country. She is a Skyline High graduate in 2006. Went there for WVU football game against Colorado a decade ago.

With Amber Guinup and friends with Lauren Higginbotham, Allen Christopher and Cody Ice.bbe

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Jaime Glass house won second place.

Jody and Rachael Ice won third place. 338 Main Street home.

Rachael Satterfield Ice is a Fairmont General Hospital medical lab technician, same job he had at LapCorp. Rachael studied lab tech at Fairmont State and is a Fairmont West graduate.

She is friends with Roseann Orwig and April Pierson.

Jodie is a CU nurse at WVU medicine and former charge nurse at Clarksburg Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and also a Fairmont State graduate who studied at United Technical Center School of Nursing and graduated from Clarksburg’s Lincoln High.  

From Susan Staron Sanders of the Monongah Christmas lights committee:

“Winners of Best Decorated houses, who entered contest the Christmas Light Committee thanks you all Congratulations!

“1st Place - Chris Quinup they won a $100 00 worth of different Restaurant Gift Certificates.

“2nd Place - Jaime Glass the home that sits in the sharp curve above me.. they won a $75 00 car detailing gift certificate from

J&J Autoscaping.

“3rd Place - Jody & Racheal Ice - They live on 336 Main Ave. They won the $30 gas card and certificate to Carolina Market.

“Congratulations to all we want to thank Rick & Lydia White for driving around and picking the winners.

That had to be a very hard choice.”

WBOY-TV STORY PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON MONONGAH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AGAIN

 

RECORD MORNING FOR MONONGAH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS DONATIONS!!!

 Record haul for Christmas lights toll!!!

The Monongah Christmas Lights road toll hit $575, then Heidi Sypult kicked in $25 more dollars to raise it to $600.

 

Christmas Lights Committee president Susan Sanders told me: 

“It’s the most we’ve made with only a few of us working all morning with no afternoon. I’m so happy.” 

Susan told Heidi:

"Thank you my beautiful friend. Wonderful news thanks to my dear friend Heidi."

Heidi is a patient care technician at WVU Medine's Fairmont Medical Center (the former Fairmont General Hospital). She's a North Marion graduate who lives in Monongah.

Susan told everyone: 

“OMG how amazing you all are for helping us again. As I’ve always said we could never do this without each and every one of you.” 

The donations help pay for the $4,000 in electricity it takes to light up what will be 60 Christmas street lights this Christmas season. 

TIME TO DONATE TO THE MONONGAH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS FUND

 

Lights to the right of them

 

Lights to the left of them

 

Lights in front of them

 

Honor the charges they made

 

Honor the Monongah Lights Brigade

 

-  - With apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, an administrative assistant at Personnel and The Angel of Thomas Street, began lighting up Monongah with Christmas street lights in 19??. There are so many now that astronauts in space can see Monongah lit up every Christmastime.

But the cost of the electricity to make that happen and installing and taking down the lights is more than $4,000 every holiday season. And, with covid and other problems in America and Monongah this year’s Monongah Christmas Lights donations have fallen off considerably.

If you can afford to contribute, mail your check made out to

Monongah Christmas Lights Fund

to:

 

Susan Sanders
Monongah Christmas Lights Fund
Post Office Box 9051

Monongah, WV 26554.

I mailed mine to Susan. I don’t ask people to do something that I won’t do.

How about it? You want Monongah to continue to be famous for lighting up streets all over town every Christmas?

I call it The Charge of the Lights Brigade, a takeoff from the Tennyson rewrite at the top of this article.

White Hall gave the first lights free to Monongah in 2015 when White Hall replaced some of their Christmas street lights.

Or, as Susan told me:

“Whitehall donated 7 lights to me in 2015 to get me started. We now have 38 lights and Whitehall just gave me 2 more this year so it will make us 40. They need some work done on them but one of my guys is going to weld the hooks on them so we can put them up this year with the others.

“Wow 40 lights! I can't believe it and they all said it will never happen”

After the White Hall donation the current and previous Monongah residents began buying lights to honor their loved ones. I paid for the pearl in a seashell light on Church Street next to my childhood home at the Thomas Street intersection years ago. The pearl represents Christ and the seashell the tomb so it’s a round-about way of referring to the Resurrection of Christ during Christmas, which, of course, celebrates the birth of Christ.

Tina Ailstock, Mereca Savonarola, Valerie Aldridge and Connie Warash were on Susan’s first Christmas Lights Committee shortly after White Hall donated its lights to the town.

The Charge of the Light Brigade in 2022:

President - Susan Sanders

Vice President - Carolyn Tice

Secretary - Chelsea McCann

Treasurer - Linda McCullough

 

Alternates Chuck Tice - Josh Scritchfield

 

Volunteers Teena Field Ailstock - Rae Ann Carter - Amanda Hawkins - Robert Hawkins - Judy Cain Turner - Marsha Fluhardy - Sheila Runyan – Beth Campbell -- Bill McCullough (who helps wife Linda with the cooking at fundraising events).

ANOTHER FUNDRAISER FOR MONONGAH CHRISTMAS STREET LIGHTS NOVEMBER 13

 

Chalk up another good deed by one of Susan’s Angels

 

Chelsea McCann, who moved to Monongah with husband Benjamin McCann in 2018, is secretary of the Monongah Christmas Lights Committee that put dozens of street lights in the town for holiday cheer and are fundraising to add more lights Saturday, November 13 in the Monongah Town Hall from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Chelsea and Ben live in the Bridge Street home they own next door to Ann DeMary Eates, Class of 1945, widow of Joe Eates, also Class of 1945, and the godparents of my son, John Larry Olesky. Chelsae and Ben met via an online dating service when Chelsea was living in Cumberland, Maryland and Ben was residing in Fairmont. They were married in August 2016 and Ben lured Chelsea to Almost Heaven.

Chelsea and Ben have a son, Quinn.

Chelsea grew up in Matthews, Virginia, “a very small coastal town” as she describes it accurately since it has a population of 569 even though the 3-centuries-old town is the county seat of Matthews County, Virginia and its residents frolic on Bethel Beach. She graduated from Matthews High School and got a medical health associates degree from privately owned West Virginia Junior College, which has campuses in Morgantown and Charleston and was founded in 1892.

She has worked in animal shelter medicine and management, nursing home Certified Nursing Attendant, retail management, grant writing and overall management. Monongah Mayor Johnboy Palmer and Town Councilwoman Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, the Angel of Thomas Street and a Four States coal miner’s daughter who calls her Lights Committee members her Angels, are effusive with their praise of her work in Monongah.

Chelsea on her latest venture:

Attention craft vendors

We will be having our Thanksgiving/Holiday Craft Show on Saturday, November 13th at Monongah Town Hall. The times will be 9AM-3PM with set up at 5PM the night before. Table prices are $20/vendor. Only one table per vendor. We can also accommodate outside vendors for $15/table if the weather is nice. Please message me for any more details or to sign up!

Thank you everyone! I cannot wait to see you there!

Chelsea comes from the English word for “chalk landing place,” aka a chalf wharf.

Well chalk up another venture for our Chelsea.

Mark the date on your calendar.

MEET THE NEWS CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SECRETARY AT THE JULY 31 FUNDRAISER

 

Chelsea McCann, who moved to Monongah with husband Benjamin McCann in 2018, is the new angel and secretary of the Monongah Christmas Lights Committee that put 61 street lights in the town for holiday cheer and are fundraising to add more lights.

Chelsea and Ben live in the Bridge Street home they own next door to Ann DeMary Eates, Class of 1945, widow of Joe Eates, also Class of 1945, and the godparents of my son, John Larry Olesky. They met via an online dating service (see, sometimes they work!) when Chelsea was living in Cumberland, Maryland and Ben was residing in Fairmont. They were married in August 2016 and Ben lured Chelsea to Almost Heaven.

Chelsea and Ben have a son, Quinn, who is 2 years old.

Chelsea grew up in Matthews, Virginia, “a very small coastal town” as she describes it accurately since is has a population of 569 even though the 3-centuries-old is the county seat of Matthews County, Virginia and its residents frolic on Bethel Beach. She graduated from Matthews High School and got a medical health associates degree from private owned West Virginia Junior College, which has campuses in Morgantown and Charleston and was founded in 1892.

She has worked in animal shelter medicine and management, nursing home Certified Nursing Attendant, retail management, grant writing and overall management. Monongah Mayor Johnboy Palmer and Town Councilwoman Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, the Angel of Thomas Street and a Four States coal miner’s daughter who calls her Lights Committee members her Angels, are effusive with their praise of her work in Monongah.

Chelsea also designed the amazing poster for the Christmas in July Craft Show at 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, July 31 in the Monongah Town Hall not far from Chelsea’s Bridge Street home. The event will include raffles, food, craft vendors galore, baked good and door prizes.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Maybe you should show up and dig in!

New VP, secretary for Monongah Christmas lights committee

Susan Sanders (left), Kim Kormaraus

Carolyn Tice has replaced Michelle “Shelly” Yankie as vice president of the Friends of Monongah Christmas Lights Committee or, as I like to call them, The Charge of the Lights Brigade (Tennyson fans know the analogy).

2002 North Marion grad Shelly had been swamped taking care of her mother, Mary Myers Yankie, who passed away in February, and her grandchildren and asked to be relieved of that heartwarming task.

Caroline Tice

Carolyn moved to Monongah a few years ago with husband Chuck Tice. They bought the McCombs house on Maní Avenue. They picked the best decorated house for Monongah at Christmas time.

Secretary Jane Bailey was replaced on the Lights committee by Kim Kormaraus, who has a masters degree in communication and used her teaching degree to sub in Monongah schools.

“She has some wonderful money-making ideas,” said Lights founder, inspiration and angel of Thomas Street Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971.

Kim is a graduate of East Fairmont High School, Fairmont State and Marshall. She is in a 14-year relationship with a significant other.

 

Her children are grown, Amy Herron from Monongah and Josh Korcsmaros from Beckley. She has three grandchildren, including one who is a student at Monongah Elementary. 

 

Kim is a retired college professor and former division chair at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

She took students to Montreal for annual speech and debate tournament trips. She was the debate coach at Fairmont State, director of forensics at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia and at WVU-Parkersburg.

Her loves quilting and woodworking. She is gearing up for spring craft show season.

 

Kim, like me, was friends with John Veasey, the late Fairmont Times editor and columnist. John was my primary contact when I wanted information about Monongah High alumni or Monongah to appear in the Fairmont Times. I tried unsuccessfully to hire John when I was #2 in command of the sports department at the Dayton Daily News in Ohio but he decided to stay in Fairmont, which he loved.

 

Kim met Susan Sanders when she participated in the Monongahfest craft show which lead to the Monongah Christmas lights association craft show. 

 

Susan’s leadership has brought 34 Christmas street lights to Monongah, which is an incredible achievement. It just lights up your heart to see them as it did when I visited my Church Street pearl-in-a-seashell light and toured the town’s other lights in December.

Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, on the Monongah Town Council and the driving force behind the Monongah Christmas street lights, posted:

“Well here we are. Am I excited omg yes. Here are the 5 new lights that will be added to our wonderful little town this year. I'm over the moon with happiness. Thank you all.”

The 5 new lights will bring the total to 31 in The Charge of the Lights Brigade town.

Susan’s campaign began in 2015 after White Hall donated 7 Christmas street lights that it was replacing to Monongah.

By now residents of other planets will think Monongah’s Christmas street lights are the sun in a galaxy far, far away.

Electrifying sight costs $$$

Those 26 Monongah Christmas street lights don’t get turned on unless somebody pays the electric bill.

That would be Susan Staron Sanders’ Charge of the Lights Brigade in action.

Electric bills to the left of them, electric bills to the right of them, ever marching onward.

Let Susan, Class of 1971, the angel of Thomas Street whose committee pays for the electric to turn on the Christmas street lights that the committee bought over the years, explain it:

“The Christmas Lights Committee has received more than $1,000 in bills from the Electric Company & V & W Electric for extra things needed for the five new lights that are being added (bringing the total to 26).

“If anyone could help us with a donation we would greatly appreciate your help no matter what the amount.

"We will be paying the $700 bill on Monday. So please help if you can to make our beautiful town shine.”

Susan and her angels and elves have fundraisers throughout the year to keep up with the cost of lighting up the town.

The first Christmas street lights were added in 2015 to the 7 that White Hall donated to Monongah when White Hall upgraded its lighting.

Mail your check, made out to Christmas Street Lights Committee, to

Susan Sanders
713 Thomas Street

Monongah, WV 26554

If you live in Monongah, just knock on her door and hand her the check or cash.

You’ll make Susan’s face light up like a Monongah Christmas street light. I purchased the one on Church Street next to my former childhood home, the one with a pearl in a seashell. It seemed an appropriate choice for me since I’ve been winterizing in Florida for 30 years, for as long as 4 months at a time.

But not till WVU football is over because I’m in Section 105 of Mountaineer Field for every game unless I’m dead. And have been for about 25 years . . . so far.

I’ll be heading to my daughter’s house in Brunswick, Ohio, about 20 miles from my Tallmadge home, for a Saturday, November 3 86^th birthday party (2 days before my actual birthday). Family times are always good times.

Just like the Monongah Christmas street lights. It’s an electrifying sight . . . as long as Susan’s committee can keep paying the electric bill.

Make the Grinch miserable. Light up Monongah for Christmas. He hates that.