The Coshocton County Beacon April 17, 2019 - Page 15

Kaiser delivers message at last Lenten Lunch of the season
By Josie Sellers
[e-mail]
COSHOCTON – Th e 50th anniversary of
the Coshocton County Lenten Lunches
wrapped up on April 10 with a special
message delivered by Pastor Dairel
Kaiser from Keene United Methodist
Church.
Kaiser’s message was entitled “Sorrow-
ful Water” and related to the scripture
John 20:11-18, which was read by Pastor
Dale Sutton from Roscoe United Method-
ist Church.
John 20:11-18 talks about Mary Magda-
lene standing outside the tomb of Jesus
crying because she realizes it is empty.
Two angels ask her why she is crying and
then Jesus appears and addresses her.
Kaiser related this passage to the sor-
rows of losing a loved one.
“Anytime death enters into our lives,
whether expected or unexpected, our
world turns dark and blank all of a
sudden,” he said. “We need to allow our
emotions to work with us and let the sor-
rowful tears or waters fl ow freely.”
Feeling these emotions remind you
that you were blessed to have known
someone.
“Th e only real easy fi x to the pain and
Josie Sellers | Beacon
Pastor Dairel Kaiser from Keene United Methodist Church was the fi nal presenter of
the 50th anniversary of the Coshocton County Lenten Lunches.
sorrow would be to have had no relation-
ship with the person who died,” Kaiser
said. “I tell people to think about how
empty their life would have been without
them. As the tears come to us they are a
way of cleansing us as we try to deal and
cope with life.”
Th e tears also remind us that Jesus is
here with us.
“Jesus was there outside the tomb and
is there for us today even in the midst
of all these things that cause sorrowful
tears,” Kaiser said. “Embrace the sorrow-
ful tears and use them to help you face
the challenges coming up. Th e sorrowful
waters are not the end of the story. Jesus’
love is. Reach out and embrace it and the
joyful waters that follow for a promise of
new life.”
Th e annual Lenten Lunches were held
at Th e Presbyterian Church. Church
Women United served the meals and
diff erent churches provided soups each
week. A $5 donation was asked for the
meals with proceeds going to the Church
Women United to help them provide
school clothing for children in need in
Coshocton County.
Dick Hoover, who was part of the plan-
ning committee, thanked Joan McNeely,
Donna Westfall, Roma Vance, Mickie
Galajda, Charles Snyder, and Cather-
ine Miller for their help in organizing
the lunches. Cindy Stockdale and Janet
Hardesty assisted at the April 10 lunch by
sharing their musical talents. Th e lunch-
es also would not have been possible
without those who attended during the
Lenten season.
“We hope you were refreshed these last
six weeks of our gathering and experi-
enced the Savior’s love,” Hoover said.
APEG sett ing strategy to help Coshocton and region
By Mark Fortune
[e-mail]
COSHOCTON - Th e Beacon recently sat down with Mike
Jacoby, CEO & President of the Appalachian Partnership
for Economic Growth (APEG) an organization tasked
with helping foster growth, retention and expansion in
the southern and eastern Appalachian region of Ohio.
As the JobsOhio Network partner for Southern & Eastern
Ohio, the APEG team stands ready to assist companies
looking to locate here and facilitates the growth of busi-
nesses that already call the region home.
Following a strategic planning session held here in
Coshocton County on March 26, Th e Beacon had the
opportunity to ask several questions of Jacoby so that
people in our community will know more about APEG
and what they are doing to help spur economic growth.
APEG can be contacted at 740-753-5359 or by email at
[e-mail]. Th eir website is www.apeg.com.
Th is will be a series of articles in a question and
answer format that will be published over the next few
weeks. Th e questions, while somewhat built upon each
other, can be followed each week on their own.
Second in a series.
Q. How can APEG specifi cally help the people of
Coshocton County?
A. “So if there is an existing company that has a poten-
tial expansion opportunity where they - ITM Marketing
for example - we made a fi nancial off er of incentives
to - you know they’re renovating a building - we have
grants, tax incentives, training programs, fi nancing
programs, for those companies that are creating new
APRIL 17, 2019
jobs in the targeted sectors. We get involved in the site
readiness, site selection business - so we’ve worked with
Tiff any (Tiff any Swigert - Coshocton Port Authority Ex-
ecutive Director) on diff erent things. We had a company
come over in the fall and look at some sites - they have
not made a decision yet. It’s a very long process. Th ere is
a lot of evaluation involved.”
Q. Why should we - here in Coshocton County - care
about APEG?
A. “Th e process we’re going through - we’re going to
keep doing what we’re already doing. We’re still going
to help businesses create and grow jobs. But the process
we’re going through is that our region - it’s a million
people - across 25 counties - we are not holding our
own compared to the rest of the state and the rest of
the nation. Th e biggest city in our region is Zanesville.
For example, we’re competing with Columbus - and
they dominate. Th ey have predicted that they will gain
600,000 people by 2050. But at the same time period
Ohio is only expected to gain 110,000 people. Th e birth
rate is a non-issue.
So that means that 500,000 people will move from
other parts of Ohio to central Ohio. Why is that hap-
pening? Th ere is a lot of momentum in Columbus; Th e
Ohio State University, Chase Bank and others. But a big
part of what is driving growth anymore is the millenni-
als - these young, educated, whether that is a degree or
some other marketable skill a lot of that is driving the
growth. And small town Appalachia is trying to com-
pete to keep our young people and bring them back at
some point and even recruit somebody new to the area.
And when you talk to these employers they’re trying to
www.coshoctonbeacontoday.com
hire people. But to fi nd an engineer, an accountant, an
IT person, when they interview these younger, college
educated folks and they come to a community like - I
live in a community outside of Zanesville - these folks
want to see some amenities that can be really hard for a
small town to generate and so we - at the end of this plan
- we’re trying to have a strategy so that our communities
can compete and maintain and improve our quality of
life. So that’s going to mean doing things that we’re not
doing right now. Who knows what this is going to look
like exactly.
We’re talking now about place making - which means
as a traditional economic development guy - which is
what I’ve been - we didn’t mess with downtown devel-
opment, didn’t’ really think about it, wasn’t our niche.
Th e millennials want to be typically, in an urban envi-
ronment, they may be living in a loft apartment - they
may be going to a brew pub in the evening, they may be
going to a fancy coff ee shop in the morning. Th ey may
want more recreational opportunities, they may want
cool housing, they want hip environments, they want
broadband, they want Wi-Fi. Th ere are things that we
probably need to be doing so that we can off er the type
of environment where we can have tech startup com-
panies, and can have the traditional manufacturer who
wants to hire an engineer who is looking at where they
want to live. Do I want to live in a small town where I
may not have the same amenities that Columbus has.
But if there is enough? Well.”
Th e third article in this series will appear in the April 24
issue of Th e Coshocton County Beacon.
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