In a little over a year, Pete Eshelman went from being a Major League Baseball draft pick to a World Series champion with the New York Yankees.

It was a whirlwind 17 months for Eshelman, to put it mildly. Ultimately, it was a stretch of time that saw his playing career cut short, but a new career, inspired by legendary Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, begin to take shape.

Today, Eshelman is the owner of Joseph Decuis, in Roanoke. But in the 1970s, he was a baseball player at Williams College, in Williamstown, MA, striving to fulfill a lifelong dream.

A group of ladies at Faith Community Church have not only learned how to share God’s love by renting – of all things – tuxedos and prom dresses, they have seen their ministry expand to provide affordable formal attire for weddings and other events as well.

It’s called “Faith Formal Attire,” a “closet” full of clothing housed in a little back room at the church, located at 3615 N. Norwood Rd. on Huntington’s west end.

The Huntington County Community Learning Center is endeavoring to help fill positions at local manufacturing companies.

Tiffaney Drummond, the Learning Center’s director, says the facility makes it a point to stay abreast of manufacturers’ needs. One of the main ways it accomplishes that, she notes, is by interacting with the Learning Center Advisory Board and Advisory Council, both of which feature representatives from the local manufacturing sector.

The highlight of the recreational room at the Huntington County Jail used to be a basketball hoop.

Inmates utilized the hoop regularly, says Huntington County Sheriff Chris Newton, playing games that often got rowdy.

“It’s barnyard basketball in the jail, every game,” he says.

It was a brand of basketball that frequently led to battered wrists and ankles.

“There were so many injuries that were happening as a result of it,” says Newton. “Of course, when they get injured, we have to take an officer, put them at the hospital.

Sometimes, it’s an effort to just get through the day.

For community members with a disability, that “sometimes” ends up being all the time.

Doorways are too narrow, bathrooms are inaccessible and the print on the menu is too small.

This is a good time of year to take a journey to a tropical climate, and two siblings from Huntington, Grace and Stephen Richert, did just that in January. But the two young adults didn’t make sightseeing and “R&R” their top priority – they had a more spiritual goal in mind.

Hundreds of little girls are dreaming of a special night with that special guy.

Those dreams will come true later this month at the Daddy-Daughter Dance, undeniably the most popular event sponsored by the Huntington Parks and Recreation Department.

“I kind of describe it as a little bit like prom for kids and their dads,” says Sharon Cuttriss, who coordinates the dance as well as other parks department activities throughout the year.

In today’s high-tech world, one can never be too wary – especially if one is a Senior Citizen.

Scam attempts seem to be on the uptick in Huntington County, and it’s not even official tax season yet. Some area residents – all of them over age 55 – say they have been inundated with calls, informing them their sensitive information has been compromised by scam artists who are actually trying to pry their personal information from them. And more and more, the crooks’ prime targets are the elderly.

Vehicles bearing black and yellow Huntington Area Transportation emblems are a common sight around Huntington County.

Huntington Area Transportation – or HAT, for short – is a free public transportation service offered by the Huntington County Council on Aging.
Retiree Mike Brennan, of Huntington County, is a driver for HAT.

And on a recent trip to Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, FL, Brennan gave HAT some exposure at the racing venue, which is among the most famous in the world.

Monday was not only a night for laughs, it was a night of pride, as the Huntington County Chamber of Commerce reviewed its accomplishments the past year and what it hopes to accomplish in the new year ahead.

At the chamber’s annual dinner on Jan. 21, Executive Director Steve Kimmel told about 150 attendees to relax and enjoy the evening, as awards were presented, followed by some fun.

A 60-day experiment that gives Huntington’s homeless a warm place to sleep at night could reveal some interesting statistics about the status of homelessness in the community.

Rev. Jimi Staton, pastor of New Life Ministries, says when the New Life Fellowship, located at 313 E. Franklin St., opened its doors at the first of the year, on the first night they had one person take advantage of the warmth inside – and the sleeping quarters housed in its basement.

When Conner West, of Huntington, was fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the casualties was his senior season on the Huntington North High School varsity football team.

Ultimately, West beat leukemia. And, fittingly, with the fight behind him, he found his way onto a football field once more.

Only this field wasn’t Kriegbaum Field, the home of West’s Huntington North Vikings. Over a thousand miles away from Huntington, the venue was Raymond James Stadium, in Tampa, FL, the home of West’s favorite football team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As Chris Newton’s tenure as sheriff of the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department begins, he describes the department as a “well-oiled machine.”

He credits that to his predecessor, Terry Stoffel, whom he served under for eight years as the department’s chief deputy. Stoffel was a mentor to him during that time, shares Newton, and his tutelage prepared him for the opportunity to succeed him.

A move by Pathfinder Services Creative Abilities has led to not only new digs, but a new market – and new friendships.

The art studio, the clients of which are artists with primarily developmental disabilities, moved from its former home on Theater Avenue after the lease ran out on its building Nov. 1, and landed at Café of Hope, a ministry of Life Church, located at 900 E. State St., Huntington. Those with Creative Abilities, Café of Hope and Life Church say it’s a partnership made in heaven.

Over the past several decades, Bob Crispen has literally put the rubber to the road in helping people – namely, children in need of specialized medical services.

Recently he reached a milestone and his personal goal, making his 365th trip chauffeuring kids and their families to a Shriners Hospital for Children.

On Dec. 3 he surpassed that goal with trip No. 367 – one for each day of a leap year plus an extra for good measure.