Editors note: The first half of HIghlights of 2009 was printed in the Dec. 30, 2009 issue of the Cherokee County Herald.

• A good crowd of local citizens gathered at Leesburg Town Park on Saturday, July 4, for the town’s First Tea Party. The meeting was held to protest some of the policies and procedures taking place in Washington, D.C. and to take America back into the hands of the people.

• In July, the Cherokee County Health Care Authority held its groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cherokee County Senior Citizens and Nutrition Center, located on Hospital Avenue, next to Cherokee Village Assisted Living Center. The new facility will be named the H. Dean Buttram Senior Citizens Center, in honor of Buttram, a deceased board member.

• The Cherokee County Board of Education, in July, issued letters of reprimand to two veteran educators concerning testimony given in an earlier hearing regarding the transfer of Paul Hyche from assistant principal of Cherokee County Career and Technology Center to assistant principal of Gaylesville School. These educators were Mitchell Guice, principal, Cherokee County Career and Technology Center and Brett Keasler, assistant principal, instructor at Gaylesville School. Both refused to sign the letters.

• U.S. Third District Congressman Mike Rogers met with local citizens at Days Inn to discuss concerns he had about some of the events taking place in Washington, D.C. Some of these concerns included health care reform, jobs and the economy, illegal immigration and others.

• Governor Bob Riley awarded an additional $30.6 million in stimulus funds to help low-income Alabama residents reduce their energy costs. Included among these funds was $2,032,697 to the Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama which includes Blount, Cherokee, Dekalb, Jackson, Marshall and St. Clair Counties.

• The Cherokee County Commission proclaimed Aug. 10-15 as TheatreCentre Week to recognize the actors, directors, crew members, board of directors and supporters in appreciation for TheatreCentre’s contribution to the arts.

• Clifton Lambreth, author of Ford and the American Dream, spoke to the Kiwanis Club and talked about the central message of his book. “If you do the right thing at the right time with the right motivation, you get the right results,” Lambreth said. “More importantly, you then earn the right to expect others to do the same.”

• It was welcome news to the Cherokee County School System when Superintendent Brian Johnson and board members learned that Cherokee County Schools met 100 percent AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) requirements as specified by No Child Left Behind.

• In August, the Cherokee County Commission and Cherokee County employees got behind District Attorney Mike O’Dell and the Zero Meth campaign to help rid the county of methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that has scourged the community. On Fridays, employees wore their Zero Meth t-shirts as a show of support.

• It was a long-awaited day for Sand Rock School and Community when a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to welcome the new 1,200-seat gymnasium with classrooms and also a multi-purpose room. A good representation of community and education leaders attended the ceremony.

• The Ellisville Fire Department put into service its latest acquisition, a 1986 Kenworth Tanker, which they found on the Internet. Firefighters located the tanker in southern Pennsylvania and made the 16-hour drive to bring the tanker back to Ellisville. As another boon to the department, Mary Adderhold, former owner of Adderhold Grocery on Highway 9, donated the former building to the Ellisville Fire Department which will be used in the future as a second fire department location and possibly a training center.

• The town of Leesburg welcomed Sarrell Dental Clinic, located at 215 Industrial Blvd., in September. Sarrell Dental Clinic, one of eight centers across the Northeast Alabama area, is a non-profit dental center for children on Medicaid or All Kids Insurance.

• The Cedar Bluff Town Council, in September, swore in Peggy Pearson as a town council member to fill a vacancy left by her husband, Forrest Pearson. The council named Councilwoman Billie Burkhalter as Mayor Pro Tem.

• On Sept. 11, Cherokee County joined the rest of the nation to honor the brave men and women who lost their lives in the terrorist bombing and hijacking of four planes on American Soil Sept. 11, 2001. The ceremony, which was moved from the Cherokee County Courthouse to Centre First Baptist Church because of rain, focused on the emergency responders who sacrificed their lives that day, including firefighters, police officers, rescue squad personnel and others.

• A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the new Centre Middle School Building in September. The building is located at 1920 East Main Street. Principal Renew Williams noted that education personnel discussed a new building for more than 30 years and she was proud to be the administrator when this long-time dream came to fruition. The building houses five grades, five through eight.

• Students across Cherokee County gathered at their schools for the Annual See You At the Pole event in late September for a time of fellowship and prayer around the flagpole. The programs included student-led devotion and scripture reading and also speakers from the community.

• The Cherokee County Commission approved a $19.2 million budget for 2010 up more than $200,000 from the previous year’s budget.

• Community leaders gathered in the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce headquarters on the campus of Gadsden State Community College-Cherokee to discuss plans for the H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic. Plans were announced to begin vaccinations of students in either late November of early December as the vaccine became available. Health officials urged those in attendance to heed precautions such as plenty of handwashing, staying home if they are sick or have fever and to cover coughs or sneezes.

• The community remembered Little Ian Ellis who passed away in October, just two days shy of his second birthday. Ian died from complications caused by RCDP (Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata) a peroxisome biogenesis disorder, which is characterized by proximal shortening of the humerus and femur and other complications, according to information provided by Caring Bridge. Ian was born to Wae and Mary Ellis Oct. 9, 2007 and, according to reports, was an inspiration to thousands in raising awareness about RCDP and also funding for RCDP research.

• In October, the Cedar Bluff Council swore in two more council members following the contested 2008 race. Lenora McWhorter assumed her duties as councilwoman for Place Two and Leatha Harp assumed duties as councilwoman for Place Five.

• A Cherokee County jury, in October, found Michael Lynn Lyons, 51, of Sand Rock, guilty on a drug distribution charge, along with two sentence enhancements for selling drugs near a school and near a housing project. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for less than an hour before returning the verdict.

• A weeklong wrongful death trial ended in late October with jurors awarding $30 million to the estate of Martha Darlene Roberts who was brutally slain in April 2006 near the Alabama-Georgia line. Vernon Roberts, as the representative of his late wife’s estate, sued Barbara Roberts, his ex-wife, and Dr. John Robert Schiess in U.S. District Court in Rome for punitive damages concerning the murder of his wife.

• The Girls Night Out Fundraiser, sponsored by the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, was a huge success in late October with more than 400 turning out for the event held in the Gadsden State Community College-Cherokee Arena.

• Two local veterans, Tom Brock Jordan and Gramlin Snead, were part of the Huntsville Honor Flight 2009, a program which flies veterans to Washington D.C. for a day of touring the sights including The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial and others. Jordan, who is 89 and Snead, who turned 88 in November, said they woke before 4 a.m. to leave for the trip and arrive home around 11 p.m. that evening. But these two seasoned veterans endured with little or no difficulty.

• It was a new beginning for the town of Cedar Bluff in November when Ethel Sprouse was officially sworn in as mayor following the contested municipal election of 2008. Sprouse expressed her gratitude to the citizens of Cedar Bluff for allowing her to serve in this position and also hopes for a bright future for the town.

• Northeast Alabamians swelled with pride in early December when both the Cherokee County High School Warrior and Piedmont High School Football teams won the Alabama State Championship. Cherokee County finished with a 15-0 season and Piedmont finished with a 13-2 season.

• In December, Kendal Perry, a fourth grade student, was the winner of the 2009 Centre Elementary School Spelling Bee. First runner-up was Garet Tillery, a fourth grade student and third place winner was Equan Maloney, also a fourth grade student.

• Three new Cedar Bluff Town Council members were sworn in following a run-off election in early December. They included Evan Smith who will represent District One, Jack Bond who will represent District Three and Mark Hicks who will represent District Four. Leatha Harp, who represents District Two, will serve as Mayor Pro Tem.