Deadline for the July/August Newsletter is Friday June, 20th.
From the Mayor
By: Gary Griffith 740.768.2632
Well spring has sprung in the Berg, and what a beautiful sight it is with the flowers blooming and the leaves coming out on the trees! Hats off to the Village Residents that have been making improve-ments to their properties – tearing down dilapidated structures, remodeling homes, painting, pouring concrete etc. to keep Bergholz looking great
I want to thank the Village Council, Clerk Jeff Kemmer, the Springfield Township Trustees, Betty Lou Tarr at Reginal Planning, the Jefferson County Commissioners, the Jefferson County Engineers Department, and all the residents on First Street and Valley View for the hard work and patience involved in finally securing the money to pave First Street/Township Road 263. The Jefferson County Engineers Depart-ment, Eric Hilty and Clay Merrin, are preparing all the necessary paperwork for the bid work. Hopefully, by the end of summer we will have a new paved road that’s been needed for many years.
Through a grant from the Jefferson County Commissioners for recreation, Diamond T Fencing will be making some needed improve-ments to the fencing at the Third Street park. These improvements will help keep the appearance of the park looking great for its visitors.
As many know, the 2006 Village Police Cruiser was totaled and has been replaced with a 2017 Ford Explorer. Give Police Chief Mark Clark a wave when you see him out patrolling the streets of Bergholz in it.
With spring comes four wheelers and dirt bikes. Something I like to bring attention to is that Bergholz is an ATV friendly Village. You can ride your ATV-DIRT BIKE around the Village. To have this privilege, you must register your ATV-DIRT BIKE with the Village. Bring a copy of your driver’s license and insurance card to the Village Clerk, Jeff Kemmer (740-768-2200), and purchase an ATV registration sticker. If you don’t have a way to make a copy, the Village will do it for you.
Chad Hazelip will be out around the Village mowing and picking up again this year. To date Chad has gathered up several bags of trash that has accumulated on Village streets during the winter months. If you see Chad give him a THANK YOU for what he does, Thank You Chad!
With that I want to thank everyone, both past and present, for what you do to make and keep the Berg the envy of the Valley!
Mayor Gary Griffith
Bergholz Community Foundation
By: Nikki Klein
Who else is ready for some sunshine and warm weather? I know I am!
As some of you may already know, Mallory Puckett, CNP is now working at Community Health Care Green Family Practice. She is working hard on keeping services here in Bergholz, but for now, if you need anything, you can contact her at 330-896-0009. The address is: 1700 Boettler Rd #100, Uniontown, OH.
I have a couple things that are not related to the foundation, but I wanted toshare the details with everyone. I know it was hard on a lot of us when the Rite Aid in Carrollton closed. It still makes me sad every time I drive by. I just recently received some great information on a couple of local pharmacies. A&B Pharmacy of Steubenville and Diamond Pharmacy of Wintersville both offer delivery service to Bergholz. A&B Pharmacy is located at 4201 Sunset Blvd, Steubenville, phone number is 740-264-5711. Diamond Pharmacy is located at 503 Cadiz Rd, Wintersville, phone number is 740-264-6500. They are both part of Good Neighbor Pharmacy. If you would like more information they have a very informative website: mygnp.com. If you are still struggling with finding a pharmacy, it might be worth looking into.
I just recently learned that IC Cab Company is serving the Bergholz area. They are out of Wheeling, and you can book a ride by phone at 304-232-1313 or go to their website at iccab.com. I don’t think I have ever seen a taxi in Bergholz, have you? What a great service to finally be offered in our area.
WEBA Food Pantry
By: Ann Wiley 740.543.3972
The number of families coming to the pantry for assistance has increased. In March, we served 165 families. In April, we are planning for 175 families. We continue to supply each family with a dozen eggs. In April, we will pay $4.99 per dozen. The board feels it necessary to supply eggs as a great source of protein.
Our generous donors make it possible for us to continue providing wholesome foods to our clients. Thank you to each one of you for your continuing support.
At the April meeting, the board accepted the resignations of two faithful members, Father Jack McCoy and Tina Marcus. Father Jack has retired from serving St. Joseph and St. John Fisher and must therefore retire from his board position. Tina has work conflicts. When it is 6pm in Ohio, it’s only 3pm in California. We thank both of you for your years of service on the WEBA Food Pantry Board. To Father Jack, we wish you years of enjoyable retirement.
Two new persons were appointed to fill these vacancies. Dan Beadnell of Amsterdam, and George Samber of Bergholz. Both Dan and George have been faithful volunteers to the pantry. Welcome aboard gentlemen. Remember to bring your card for produce and pantry days!
East Springfield Community Recreation & Service Center
By: Sue Call 740.543.3700
Join us for our monthly dinner. It is the second Thursday of each month. The time is 4-6:00 pm. On Thursday, May 8th, we will have Creamed Chicken and Biscuits, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, bread, drink, and dessert. The cost will be $12.00. Come join us for a filling dinner and visit with your neighbors. We sure could use extra help during these meals. Let me know if you are available to help or just show up! June 12th will be our next dinner. Carry Out is available. Phone ahead to 740.543.3700.
We will host a Community Yard Sale on June 5th, 6th, & 7th. The time is 9am – 4pm. If you would like to participate in the sale, table space is available at $5.00 per table.
Check social media or flyers posted in the community for details of all Center activities. The Center is available to rent. Please contact me about prices and availability.
East Springfield Memorial Day Parade
By: Sue Call 740.543.3700
The Annual Memorial Day Parade will be on Monday, May 26th. Registration and line-up will be at the Old School Apartments on State Route 43 beginning at 9am.
The parade is scheduled to start at 10am. It will travel State Route 43 from the Old School to The East Springfield Community Center. A program with music and guest speakers will be held at the end of the parade. This year’s Grand Marshall is Ron Stone.
Cash prizes and plaques will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners in four different categories including floats, horses, motorized vehicles and novelty.
All who desire are invited to attend and participate. Please contact Sue Call for registration or more information.
East Springfield Christ UMC
By: Nicki Tennant
Pastor Deborah Kellar
740.543.3002
Lent was a time of Celebration at Christ UMC. During her sermons, Pastor Deborah uniquely became different bible characters to help tell Christ’s story. Holy Week began with a Parade of Palms. We met on Maundy Thursday for an Agape meal and hand washing, and we met again for our Good Friday Service. Easter Sunday Services began with Sunrise Service, followed by breakfast. and a special Easter Worship Service.
We celebrated Christ throughout the months of March and April with our Lenten offering. Instead of “Giving Up” something for Lent, we focused on our many blessings. Blessings of light, food, clothing, entertainment, health, shelter, and most of all Jesus and the opportunity to worship Him.
We are now in this season of Easter and excitedly awaiting the arrival of Pentecost on Sunday, June 8th. Pentecost occurs fifty days after Easter Sunday and celebrates the arrival of the Holy Spirit descending like fire on the apostles (Acts 2). Some call it the birthday of the church.
Sunday, July 20th will be our annual Church Picnic and Worship Service at Elkhorn Christian Service Camp in Bergholz.
At our March Congregational meeting, we voted to support a United Methodist Missionary. Areas of focus are women, education, and water. Pastor Deborah and Lay Leader Elaine Berard are researching which UM Missionary might be the best choice for our support. The Congregation is in continuous prayer about this decision.
If you are looking for a home church, or just want to stop in for a visit, we have Sunday School at 9:45am and Morning Worship at 11am. You can also watch our worship service on our Facebook page. Bible Study is each Wednesday at 6:30pm – 7:30pm, followed by a prayer service. We would love for you to come and join us.
Dad Quips
*Dad: Spider-killing superhero.
*No one wants to see Dad dance, but he does it anyway.
*Nothing you can do can scare me. I raised three daughters/sons.
*Dad jokes are how I keep from crying.
*I worked hard to get this dad bod.
*My boss calls me dad.
*Don’t touch my car, my beer, or my daughter.
Faith Community Church
By: Chad Thompson 740.768.2835 / 740.512.3238
Hello to All of our beautiful Community. Wow! I can’t believe it is already time for Summer. I hope you all are excited to enjoy every moment of it; soak it all up, because time certainly flies by!
Speaking of time flying by; All of us at Bergholz Faith Community Church would like to offer all of our area Graduates of 2025, a heartfelt Congratulations! Congratulations to all of you. We are praying for you as you enter into a new and exciting phase of life. As you embrace new opportunities and challenges, please know that God loves you, and He has plans for you to prosper and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future; Seek Him out with all of your heart, put your faith & trust in Him, and follow where He leads you.
We are currently wrapping up what we have been calling “Transformation Season.” We have been focusing on God’s power, offer, and call for us to be transformed; to become more and MORE of the person God has created us to be. We got to focus on and Celebrate the AWESOME Love and Power of God’s Word, Jesus’s ministry, miracles, His payment for our sins on the cross, and His Glorious Resurrection. During which we had a blessed Palm Sunday Service with fellowship and food afterwards and a blessed Easter Sunday Service, Also during our “Transformation Season” we had the blessing and privilege of having our annual Christ Walk.
Christ Walk was such an AWESOME Blessing! Each year it is a powerful blessing and privilege to join together with so many churches and Christians from all over the Ohio Valley and beyond as the United Body of Believers. It is a powerful witness to the community pointing to Jesus and His Sacrifice, Love, Grace and Mercy.
Thank you for all who helped make it such a huge success. Thank you to all who served in various ways; those who helped prepare, helped get the word out, thank you to those who hosted us, and to those who opened up their doors and blessed us, thank you to those who lead us in worship, those prayed for us. Thank you to all who were able to join us, thank you to those who provided vans and drove alongside us, thank you to all those who supported us along the way, and those who participated with us in such an amazing opportunity of worshipping Jesus. Please join us next year!
All of us here at Bergholz Faith Community Church are praying for you, and would love to fellowship with you, and worship Jesus with you by our side. We have special events often and you can keep up with our most up to date information on our Facebook page. Please come join us as we take the church body outside the walls to be the hands and feet of Christ this Summer.
Our worship service at 10:45 am Sunday’s. Feel free to stop in a bit early and have some coffee, cocoa or just hang out. We have a nursery for little one’s infants to 4yrs, and a children’s church for 5yrs-12yrs old. We also are a host site for AA Thursdays at 6:30. Fearless Faith preteens are 10-13 and it will be Wednesday at 6pm and we ask you please watch our Facebook page for the next session of Blaze Youth which will be 9th-12th grade. As always thank you for taking the time to learn about what is going on here at FCC and if you have a need, prayer request, or question, feel free to reach out to Pastor Chad at 740-768-2835.
Something to Think About
By: Dave Miller
In the last week or so I have talked to family and friends about the animal wildlife I have seen and experienced over the years. Thus, my column this issue shares some of those experiences. I should state that I do not hunt, however in earlier years I very much enjoyed walking through the woods and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.
My first wildlife experience was with a doe named Tammy. In 1961 eight churches were given 28 acres of land in the Northern Catskill Mountains of New York to develop a Church Camp for children. I was a minister to one of those churches thus very much involved in the project. Our camp neighbors had taken Tammy in when she was orphaned very early in life. She was tame, and loved Ritz crackers. Somewhere in the Miller Family archives is a photo of me holding our daughter Mindy, age three or four, feeding Ritz to Tammy. During hunting season, she wore a red vest to protect her from hunters in the area.
At the camp area there were many deer. One year in the field in front of our house, a small spike buck was often seen. One day my wife, Shelva, decided to see how close she could get to him. I don’t remember how many days it took her, but she would go to the edge of the field and quietly call out to the buck. She named him “Bucky.” Eventually he started coming to her, close enough she could touch him. However, when she tried to feed him apples, he would not take them from her hand. When she dropped them on the ground, then he would grab and eat them.
The first year we lived at the camp, Catskill Christians Assembly, I saw my first coyote. It was a snow day for the girls, and they were playing outside. They started screaming, and I went out to see what was happening. A shepherd size animal ran across the campgrounds. I soon found out it was a coyote. Interestingly, though I spent 34 years involved at the camp, that was the only coyote I ever saw. Though there were stories of animals, especially calves, being attacked by them. Out at the farm on Hump Run at least twice we had coyotes come right up to the house. One afternoon, our granddaughter who was then with us called out, “What is that up by the barn?” I went to the door expecting to see a coyote but instead saw a beautiful mature sized red fox.
In the Catskills we also had a black bear. I saw a couple, but my favorite story involves the day I was taking a load of trash to the landfill which was almost a mile up the side of a mountain. In the road was sitting a small black thing – took me a minute to realize it was a bear cub. When it realized that the red thing coming toward it was bigger than it, it decided to climb a tree and I’ve never seen anything go up a tree faster. The teen boys with me saw the sow running off through the weeds away from the road.
We had a pair of eagles in the camp area. Never saw them together but at the time we were leaving NY and returning to Ohio, the local Conservation Office was making an attempt to locate their nest. We also had a pair of ospreys that we would see flying along to creek looking for fish. Then, Spring and Fall great blue herons would stop a day or two along the creek.
Where the road to the CCA cuts off County Road 2, the Schoharie Creek is quite shallow. In normal times, it is only about two feet deep. During Spring and Fall migration times there are usually several varieties of ducks that stop for a few days. It is fun to watch them swim upstream and just float back down. A little playtime on their migration journey.
We also had fishers in the mountains. These are a long 36-48 inch animal of the weasel family. They are black. The first one I saw, I didn’t know what it was. They were placed in the Catskills to control the porcupine population as they are the only known predator of the porcupine of which our day was a healthy population. One year during hunting season there was a slight snowfall. Some of the fellows staying at the CCA came in and said they had seen animal tracks on the mountain and did not know what they were. We looked in the animal track book and discovered they were fishers. There was a recent photo on Facebook that said in 1990 Pennsylvania had brought 190 fishers from New Hampshire and placed the throughout the state. There was a photo of one in the Pittsburgh area.
We also had bobcats in the Catskills. Next to the driveway into the camp from the town road was a very large rock. One winter a bobcat lived under the rock. Friends from NY now live in South Carolina and recently purchased property in a rural area. Last week they saw a bobcat on their new property. Several years ago, a bobcat came across the farm on Hump Run and stopped in the driveway to rest for a bit. I close mentioning that for three years out at the farm we had a whippoorwill singing up the creek nightly during the summer. Beautiful sound to hear.
Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County
By: Jennifer Cesta
740.282.9782
BOOKMOBILE SCHEDULE
Thursdays
May 6th & 27th
Grammy’s Diner Amsterdam
10am-11am
Bergholz Fire Hall
11am-12:00pm
Red Dog Road
Home Delivery
12:15pm
Contact the Library to learn about our Book Club dates and current titles
May Holidays
1st – National Day of Prayer
11th – Mother’s Day
17th – Armed Forces Day
26th – Memorial Day
June Holidays
8th – Pentecost
14th – Flag Day
14th-15th – Enduro Race Weekend
15th – Father’s Day
21st – Summer Begins
What’s the Difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day?
Memorial Day is a day to honor those who died while serving in the military, while Veterans Day celebrates all military veterans who have served in the armed forces.
Overview of Each Holiday
Memorial Day:
Date: Observed on the last Monday in May.
Purpose: A solemn day of remembrance for those military personnel who lost their lives in service to the nation, particularly during battle. The day originated following the Civil War as “Decoration Day” to honor fallen soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers
Celebration: Commonly involves visiting cemeteries and memorials, attending parades, and observing a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time. Many people also participate in community events and family gatherings to celebrate the start of summer while remembering the fallen
Veterans Day:
Date: Observed annually on November 11.
Purpose: Initially established to honor those who served in World War I, it now recognizes all veterans—both living and deceased—across all branches of the armed forces. The holiday emphasizes gratitude towards those who have actively served in the military
Celebration: Typically includes parades, ceremonies, and events acknowledging the service of veterans. Schools may invite veterans to share their experiences, and many businesses offer discounts to veterans on this day
Historical Context
Memorial Day has roots in the post-Civil War era, with its earliest observances focusing on the decoration of graves of soldiers who died in that conflict. It was officially recognized as Memorial Day after transitioning from “Decoration Day” towards the end of the 19th century, with federal recognition enacted in 1971
Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I. It became a day to honor all veterans in 1954, not just those who died, reflecting a broader appreciation of military service
Key Differences
Focus:
Memorial Day: Honors those who died in military service.
Veterans Day: Honors all veterans who have served, regardless of whether they served in combat or peacetime.
Observance:
Memorial Day: Often observed with solemnity, emphasizing remembrance and reflection on sacrifices
Veterans Day: Generally, more celebratory, focusing on gratitude and recognition of living veterans for their contributions
Understanding these distinctions allows for respectful observance of both holidays and acknowledges the sacrifices and service of military personnel in different contexts.
The Soldier
By Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever America. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom America bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of America’s, breathing American air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by America given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an American heaven.
