Today is the 9th anniversary of the terrible attack on the United States of America. As with other major events in our Nations history, the citizens of the USA know where they where when the terrible tragedy occurred. This morning, Fairborn held a 9/11 ceremony. The ceremony was sponsored by the Fairborn Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Fairborn, and American Legion Post 526. Many people were in attendance, including U.S. Congressman Steve Austria, Jarrod Martin, Chris Weidner, Base Commander Col. Amanda Gladney, and a representative from the Pentagon (whose name I did not get, sorry). City Council attended, actually all but one member was there ( I won't say who was missing). It was standing room only, I have attended most if not all of these events, and I think this was the best attended so far. It could be because it is Saturday.

The Fairborn Civic Band was on hand to do what they do best! Perform. Way to go Gary Johnson and your great band.

Col Gladney spoke about where she was when this horrible ordeal began. She spoke of a young pilot who lost his life on this day. The pilot was doing what he wanted to be doing. If you have not had the time to stop for a moment and reflect on what happened on this day 9 years ago, please do.

By the way, I hope you were able to attend the 4th of July parade here in Fairborn. If not, you missed a good one. It was a long parade, but it was a good one. Actually the pace was kept up and the parade went rather quickly.
The Fairborn Government Channel will be airing this parade soon, it will also be available for viewing on the city's website at http://www.ci.fairborn.oh.us/
I believe the Maple Avenue Church of God distributed around 2,000 , yep, I said 2,000 bottles of water to those viewing the parade.
This parade is just another example of our hometown, and how it makes people feel welcome.

New Band Director in town

As I have mentioned before, Ed Nagle, Fairborn Band Director has left our district to teach in Florida, though he will be missed, there will be some new blood in town. Well kind of new blood. John Goretta will be here as the new Band Director of Fairborn City Schools, many of you know his wife, Karen Goretta, who is the Choir Director in our schools. Karen told me this is not the first time they have worked together, and she is excited about working with him again. Well, kind of, while she is at the FHS in the morning, he is at Baker in the morning, and she is at Baker in the afternoon, and he is at FHS in the afternoon.
There will be a meet and greet for our new band director this Thursday at 7pm in the Band Room. Now, I am not sure if this is for Baker students also, the e-mail was not that specific. I wanted to make sure I mention this to you. You can also call FHS at 879-3611 for more information.
The new Assistant Band Director, James Sparling, will probably not be there, but he will be here closer to the beginning of school.
We need to make sure we give these two a great Fairborn welcome!!

Sad news

I am so sorry to mention that former Fairborn Police Captain, Mark Berry, has lost his battle with cancer. Mark worked for the Fairborn Police Department for many years and was well liked within our community. After retiring from Fairborn PD he went to Greene County to work with Gene Fischer in our Greene County Sheriff's Department. I understand his viewing is Wednesday from 5-8 and funeral is 10am on Thursday at Byron Cemetary. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Block Party and Parade

Don't forget. The Fairborn Block Party will be held on Saturday, July 3rd starting at 4pm. Bands will be performing on many stages. Main Street at Central will be blocked off. Parking is difficult so get there early. Vendors, churches, downtown businesses will all be there. Oh yea, I forgot the food! Lots of food. There will be a few rides for the kids, the Cub Scouts normally have a dunking booth, which is great during a hot evening. If you are new to Fairborn, this is a must attend. A great family event. I hope to see you there.

Sunday at 2pm the Annual July 4th parade will be held. There will be over 100 floats to see. This is one of the longest running parades in the area. Now, normally the parade is held at 10am. This year it is later in the afternoon due to people attending church. The Fairborn Government Channel always video tapes it and airs it many times during the summer, then again in the heart of the winter, for those who like to complain about the cold and snow! LOL!!

I have to say the best seats are across from the reviewing stand and in that general area. Foy's is open, or at least it has been in the past, during the parade and for a while after. Not sure what other businesses are open. A good time is always had by all. I hope to see you there.

Buckeye Boys State and Ohio State Patrol Jr. Cadet Week

Two new Seniors from Fairborn High School were selected to attend Buckeye Boys State that was held at Bowling Green University. I will be honest, Morgan Neuman was one who attended and I do not know the other student's name.

They arrived at BBS on Saturday June, 12th and worked hard that led to an ending ceremony on Sunday, June 20th (Father's Day). During that week they ran for an office, everything from City Council and Mayor to Governor. Each dorm was divided into a couple of counties, then cities. These boys decided on the type of community they were going to have. They learned a great deal about Leadership and Government. During parents day you could tell they all had a great time and learned a great deal. There was even a college fair held during the week.

To attend the Ohio State Patrol Jr. Cadet week, you had to attend Buckeye Boy's State or Buckeye Girls State, apply and be accepted, or be an incoming high school Senior who is the relative of an Ohio State Patrol Trooper. I understand there were no girls from BGS who attended. There were forty teens there who were there without (you are going to love this one) ANY electronics, no cell phones, not laptops, no mp3 players. The only time I received a call from Morgan was when he called on Wednesday to ask how many were coming to graduation. Morgan was the only one from Fairborn attending this academy that was held at the Ohio State Patrol Academy in Columbus. These kids learned a great deal about what the Troopers do. They did physical training (PT) every morning either at 6:30am or 9am, I do not remember.

During the graduation ceremony they all marched in, in sinc, and well tuned.

This was a great opportunity for all who attended. Not everyone is accepted to either of these events. All of the parents of these kids should be proud of their student, I know I am!!

First of all, I need to apologize

Okay, I need to apologize to you all. My original thought was to write this weekly if not more often. When Morgan went off to Boys State, then Jr. Cadet Week at the Ohio State Patrol Academy. I ran out of time to do anything. I guess I depend on him more than I thought. So, I will try to be better starting now. My next thought is to figure out how to add pictures to this.