The Coshocton County Beacon January 8, 2020 | Page 4

|  OPINION F or the past 11 years to continue our mission for the team at The many years to come. Coshocton Coun- To all of you that have ty Beacon has had taken the time over the the distinct pleasure and years to jot us a note, pass honor of providing this along a compliment at an community with a weekly event, send an email or community newspaper MARK’S MUSINGS stopped in just to say hello that focuses on the positive - sometimes even bringing news happening here in us some cookies! - We ap- Coshocton County along with publish- preciate your gratitude and want you to ing advertisements for area businesses know that every single one of those was and organizations. And while it has appreciated. What’s more - and what been a privilege to lead our team in this you don’t know - is that I kept those. effort it was time to pass the torch to an Your notes and cards are what kept us organization that can take The Beacon going during the early years, providing to the next level. the same hope and encouragement that As you may have heard The Coshoc- we strive to provide for this community ton County Beacon is now owned by the on a weekly basis. Thank you. AloNovus Corp. based in Millersburg, You might say that we are beginning Ohio. These folks publish the Bargain to write a new book about The Coshoc- Hunter in Holmes and surrounding ton County Beacon and we get to start counties and this family owned compa- writing that book as part of the AloN- ny is just what Nancy and I were looking ovus Corp. This move is a positive one for when we started thinking about for our community and in particular for what a long term exit strategy might our customers. This opens up oppor- look like. With age being one of those tunities for area businesses to reach things in life that you cannot outrun audiences beyond Coshocton County regardless of the effort, we decided and take advantage of resources and that this was the best path forward for tools that we could not provide. Being us, our team and the community. We an independent publisher in today’s wanted to see The Beacon continue for technology driven media world presents the long term, serving the people, busi- many challenges and the support of this nesses and organizations in this great community allowed us to defy those community. challenges for many years. I need to tell all of you how very much The strength of weekly community Nancy and I sincerely appreciate your newspapers continues to climb thanks support over the past 11 years. From largely to how they cover local events our humble beginnings publishing a and the consumers increasing demand twice monthly paper The Beacon is now for local information and content. We a respected medium in our community are excited to begin this new era in publishing 40 plus page papers on many the history of The Coshocton County weeks and thousands of articles each Beacon and we look forward to serv- year and several specialty publications ing the readers and advertisers here annually. in Coshocton County for many years. Our news team covers dozens of local Nancy and I thank you for your support events, talks to hundreds of people and and confidence ever since the first issue snaps photos by the thousands all in an rolled off the press on May 1, 2008. We effort to bring you a quality publication are indebted to all of you. God Bless. about Coshocton County. We are proud to do so and we are pleased to be able |  Thank You! For Your Support & Confidence Proud to Serve the People and Businesses of Coshocton County for 11 Years! The Beacon P O S I T I V E LY C O S H O C T O N 4 THE BEACON C O U N T Y Find financial peace with upcoming series of classes By Josie Sellers [email protected] COSHOCTON – Kevin McClain at first wasn’t sure about taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University classes, but they ended up changing life for him and his wife. “Bob Brems and Tom Heading were teaching the class,” McClain said. “They were in our scout troop and mentioned it. I thought about it and then ended up checking into it. We were in credit card debt, car debt, mortgage debt and all kinds of debt.” McClain and his wife took the class in the fall of 2011 and graduated in January 2012. “I felt majorly empowered,” he said. “We made a plan and a goal. We wanted to be debt free. We worked on a budget following Dave’s plan.” It took the McClains four years, but in 2016 they made the final payment on their house and are completely debt free. “We had a budget and we stuck to it,” Kevin said. “In four years we paid off $65,000 worth of debt.” A key part of the program is teaching you that every dollar has to be accounted for in your budget. “We have our three boys and us and realized we were spending $200 a month on going out to eat,” Kevin said. “That adds up. Some people don’t realize what they are spending a month on things. We cut back and only eat out once a month. Another thing you learn about is how to pay off your smallest debt and then roll that money to your next debt. We also readjusted our budget to have an emer- gency fund.” When Brems passed away in 2015, Kev- in felt led to start teaching the class. “I lived it and had been doing it since 2012,” Kevin said. “We are still following the program and teaching our sons how to do it so they don’t go into debt like we did.” He taught his first class in 2016 and tries to offer the program twice a year. The next series will start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, in the fellowship hall at Burt Avenue Wesleyan Church, 230 Burt Ave. The group will meet once a week for about an hour and half for a nine week “I felt more in control of my money after the class. We don’t have to worry so much now if something breaks or needs repaired.” - Kevin McClain video series of lessons. Cost for the classes is $99, which gives you your workbook and access to addi- tional programs such as how to set up a will and help your children with their finances. Once you take the program you are welcome to join in on another session in the future to brush up on your knowl- edge without paying again. “The people teaching the class get nothing,” Kevin said. “The money you pay all goes toward tools and resources to teach the program. We are just sharing our knowledge about how to get debt free. They’ve had more than five million people worldwide take the class.” Call 740-622-0435 or 740-294-7176 to register or visit www.fpu.com/1109790. You do not have to buy the class online as Kevin also will have kits available. A drawing will be held for a free class after everyone has signed up. “I felt more in control of my money after the class,” Kevin said. “We don’t have to worry so much now if something breaks or needs repaired.” Share Your Opinion! The Coshocton County Beacon believes in our right of free speech. The Beacon will publish a letter to the editor or an opinion as space permits. A letter to the editor must contain your name and city or village of your postal zip code. Example: John Smith, Fresno. To maintain accuracy the preferred method of delivery is email in Microsoft Word format. Please email your letter to [email protected]. Printed or mailed letters to the editor will have to be retyped and The Beacon does not guarantee accuracy. Letters to the editor will be published as space permits and are not to have a headline. They will be published simply as “Letter to The Editor”. The Beacon reserves the right to refuse, edit, or otherwise reject any letter that is deemed inappropriate, offen- sive or slanderous. Letters need to be factual and the Beacon can request proof of fact checking. Letters to The Editor are due by noon on the Friday prior to the next publishing date. Letters expressing an opinion on a levy, issue or candidate placed on the primary, general or special election ballot that affects anyone in Coshocton County must be published two weeks or more prior to the election in consideration of early voting. www.coshoctonbeacontoday.com JANUARY 8, 2020