Speech contest winner headed for finals; plus lots going on

The annual Lion's Club speech contest was held Feb 13, with the students' topic being "Global Warming - Fact or Fiction?" The contestants were Brittney Rupp and Jay Seghers from Coleville High School, Kelsey Northington and Erik Porter from Eastern Sierra Academy, with Erik declared the winner. He will face a speaker from Mammoth Lakes in the near future, in the finals for our zone.

-- The Mono County health nurse, Carolyn Balliet, will be at Walker Senior Center tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. for the blood pressure clinic. She will also do immunizations if you call her today at (760) 924-1830 and let her know which ones you need.

-- Basketball season ended for Coleville High School at the Northern 1-A regionals last week. The boys' team lost their opening game to Wells; the girls won their first game against McDermitt, but lost in the semifinals to Owyhee. It was a lot of fun seeing games and rooting for the teams this year, and we congratulate them all.

-- The Antelope Valley Volunteer Fire Department has asked me to remind the community that they are always interested in having new volunteers. You can contact the department at (530) 495-2900 or drop by the Walker Fire Station on Tuesday evenings for their training sessions.

-- The fundraising raffle for Mike and Diane Elliott was very successful, with a lot of community support. The winner of the very nice prizes was Sheree Hummel.

-- The Walker Thrift Store is having their $2-a-bag sale on all clothing this week, through Saturday. It's a great deal, so go down there and check it out.

-- The Antelope Valley Senior Citizen Workshop/Thrift Store sent out over 50 Christmas cards to area seniors, which included two tickets for free lunch at the Walker Senior Center. They want me to remind those who haven't used their tickets that they will expire Feb. 28. Since we all know their lunches are very good, don't waste the opportunity of those free meals.

-- After last week's column with the picture of the Walker River Colorguard, I heard a few additional details about it that I hadn't been aware of. The group has grown in number and now includes kids from Smith Valley and some that are home-schooled in the area. This very talented group is a non-profit organization, sponsored by the Walker Country Store, Northern Mono Chamber of Commerce, and the Antelope Valley Lions Club. Karla Smith is assisted by Marine Sergeant Ron Forristal and his wife, Shellie, in instructing the members. They will be appearing at events around the area, and I'll let you know dates and times so you can see them in action.

-- Lynne Katusich can be reached at lynnekat@schat.net or (530) 495-2552.