Fabulous 4th Grade Poster Contest Winners Below

National Alcohol Awareness Month is April! Enjoy these wonderful billboards created by our own Ohio County Students!

In October Ohio County School couselors implemented the prevention education program Keep a Clear Mind with all 4th graders! Along with supplying the program, the coalition sponsored a poster contest in which the students took what they learned and applied it to a drawing. The children were asked to show in their drawing what they choose to do instead of drinking or using drugs.

The poster entries were judged by coalition volunteers. Coalition members commented on how difficult it was to choose the winners since all the entries were so good. A winner was chosen from each school and from these 9 winners the top three were chosen. The top three winning posters will appear on billboards in Ohio County for the month of April commemorating National Alcohol Awareness Month. The top winners are Abigalye Hudrlik, Middle Creek, Jorden Eikey, Woodsdale, and Kyle Wensel, Steenrod.

All nine winners will have their posters placed on banners provided by Wheeling Police Department’s EUDL grant coordinated by Sgt. Duwane Taylor. The banners will be presented to schools by the DARE officers or PRO officers and will hang in the elementary schools of each winner during the month of April. The banner winners are Hannah Warren, Warwood; Brendon Morris, Ritchie; Rachel Meister, Madison; Gwendolyn Mirzoyan, Elm Grove; Coltin Seidler, West Liberty and a student from Bethlehem. These students are congratulated by OCSAPC as role models to other students and workers for change in their community. We are very proud of their efforts and talent.

Ohio County Alcohol Retailers 98.4% Compliant in January

The Ohio County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (OCSAPC) in partnership with Wheeling Police Department would like to announce compliance check rates of 31 off-premise alcohol sales locations in Ohio County. Wheeling PD has been implementing one monthly compliance check since February of 2008; at this time the compliance rate was only 60.32%. The collaborative effort has allowed for two monthly compliance checks over the past several months; the monthly compliance rate for January is 98.4% in Ohio County.

We are pleased to acknowledge the area businesses that were in compliance for the month of January by not selling alcohol to those under 21. These businesses should be congratulated and held as examples to the business community. Their business practices show they actively care about the safety and well being of their community. They are:

Convenient Food Mart (Bethany Pike, S. Huron St.,Washington Ave.,Main St., 16th St.)
Exxon (National Rd., Island)
Gumby’s (National Rd., S. Wabash St.)
Rite Aid (Elm Grove)
Elm Grove Carry Out
BFS Foods
Riesbecks
Schmidt Bros. Sunoco
Duggers
7-11 Store
Island Exxon
CVS Pharmacy (National Rd.)
Sheetz (National Rd.)
Exxon (National Rd.)
Warwood Exxon
Rite-Aid Pharmacy (Warwood)
Kroger Store #102 (Warwood)
Smoker Friendly (Warwood)
Corner Connection (Warwood)
BFS Foods (River Rd.)
A & J Corner Market
Smoker Friendly (S. Huron)
Neeley’s Grocery
Kroger Store #562 (Mt. DeChantal Rd.)
Gumby’s Cigarette World (National Rd.)

Kristen Kroflich with OCSAPC believes “the positive January compliance rate shows many clerks are aware of their responsibility to check I.D.’s and not sell to those under 21, which is also beneficial to them as merchants since citations and fines associated with non-compliance are issued directly to the person checking out the alcohol product.” “It’s a great area compliance rate and it exemplifies positive business practice.”

Compliance checks are funded through a collaborative effort between Wheeling Police Department, under the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Grant (EUDL), and the Ohio County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (OCSAPC), funded by a Federal SPF SIG Grant and made possible through Purdue Pharma Asset Forfeiture Funds attained by the coalition.