Happy 50th birthday to my wonderful wife, Cecelia

Let me start off this week’s column by wishing a happy 50th birthday to my wonderful wife, Cecelia.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

She turns 50 today (Dec. 28). Few people are as enthusiastic about their birthdays as my wife is. She would do a month long celebration of her birthday if I would let her.

Even though I give her a hard time about being so enthusiastic about her birthday, I am glad that she enjoys it so much. Here’s hoping you have a great 50th birthday Cecelia. You deserve it.

Now to touch on a few other assorted topics before I conclude this column:

• In the coming days, our newly elected officials will take office, including: Whitley County Sheriff Bill Elliotte, Jailer Jason Wilson, 82nd Rep. Nick Wilson, Corbin City Commissioners John Baker and James Gambrel, Corbin Independent Board of Education Board Member Paul Taylor and Third-District Constable Jordan Davis. First, let me say congratulations on winning your races and I wish all of you good luck as you take office. Second, let me offer one universal piece of advice to all new office holders based on conversations that I have had with countless elected officials over the years.

During your first month in office or more likely your first week or quite possibly your first day, you are going to have this feeling of “what the heck did I get myself into?” Just know that this is a completely normal and rational reaction to your situation, which will pass.

• To our outgoing office holders, let me say thank you for your many years of service. Holding elected office is many times a thankless task with complaints that some days seem non-stop, I am sure. Sometimes the complaints are completely valid, but many times they are not. We need good people to hold elected office and by and large I think we have that in Whitley County, Corbin and Williamsburg.

• Congratulations to Williamsburg Police Officers Bobby Freeman and Brandon White, who recently got promoted to assistant chief. Both have over 20 years of experience. I have known these guys since they were rookies and they will do a great job.

• Thanks to all of you, who participated in the Cram the Police Cruiser event at Save-A-Lot in Williamsburg recently. The event helped the Williamsburg Police Department collect 30 bags of non-perishable food for Emergency Christian Ministries and 30 bags of non-perishable food for Williamsburg Independent Schools.

No one should go to bed hungry, especially kids. Hopefully this will help keep that from happening. All of us who live in this region think we have some idea about how many less fortunate people are out there. If you ever start looking at the actual numbers though, I think you might find yourself surprised by the scope of the need in our area, but that is another column for another day.

• Good luck to Mallorie Cooper, who recently resigned as a member of the Whitley County Board of Education after nearly one decade of service. She moved outside her school board district. Mallorie is a sharp lady, who will be missed.

She’s someone who I could have envisioned becoming chairperson of the board one day. I’ll be curious to see who ends up filling her position. These days there typically aren’t a lot of people who want to serve on school boards. It’s one of those positions that’s a labor of love for the most part.