Summerfest and Fireworks = Fun!



A large crowd attended the July 5 Summerfest, held “on the square” in Woodsfield. Manning the ticket table were, from left, Mary Ann Sims and Hattie Byers. Shown after purchasing tickets for the various games and the bounce house are Susie Yonak with her grandchildren, from left, Paul, Austin, Hannah and Grace.                      
Photo by Martha Ackerman

It was games, entertainment, bake sales, vendors and lots of fun “on the square” in Woodsfield July 5 during the second Summerfest of the season. 

Children enjoyed the games, cotton candy and snow cones. A large crowd attended the event and many more enjoyed the fantastic fireworks display, sponsored by the Woodsfield Volunteer Fire Department The grand finale rivaled any seen on TV.

Drawings for Assisted Living Presented to Commissioners

Architect Dimitri Smirniotepoulos, DSI Architects, right, explains pre-design sketches for a proposed assisted living addition to Monroe County Care Center. At left are County Commissioners Carl Davis, Tim Price and John Pyles. Standing at right is Ron White of Share.

Architectural drawings for an assisted living unit were revealed at the June 29 meeting of Monroe County Commissioners, who also heard a report about County Court renovations and took action on paving projects.

Dimitri Smirniotepoulos, architect, president of DSI Architects of Columbus, revealed several drawings of the proposed assisted living addition at Monroe County Care Center.

Bob Reed and Ron White of Share, which administers the care center, admitted the plans may be more than they can afford but indicated they will look for additional funding sources, or cut the project.

Current plans call for 18 units. Fourteen of those for assisted living and four for the nursing home.

On a motion by Commission President John Pyles, a contract was signed with DSI  Architects showing an estimated construction cost of $87,780.

In the matter of another renovation project, architect Dave Haught, New Martinsville, updated officials on the work being completed for the Monroe County Court offices. He said only small items remain to be  finalized. The renovation included relocating the county commissioners and Soil and Water Conservation District offices. The rooms were then remodeled for County Court 

Soil and Water was moved to the former bank building adjacent to the courthouse, and county commissioners were moved to the second floor offices of Judge James Peters. Commissioners hold their weekly meetings in the former courtroom of the County Court.

Mary Jo Westfall, OSU Extension, grants administrator, opened bids for paving streets, a parking lot and basketball court in Lewisville. Two bids were received: Shelly and Sands of Rayland, $79,450 and Parnell  Associates Inc, Cambridge, $72,630.

Bids were reviewed by Westfall and at the July 6 meeting she recommended Parnell Associates be contracted. The projects are being done with a Neighborhood Revitalization Grant.

In other matters at the June 29 meeting, officials accepted $2,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation for the Monroe County Public Transit System. The amount was added to the MCPT’s grant amount to cover the price increase for the replacement van that occurred after the contract was executed.

Karena Reusser, owner of the Olive Tree Inn, was asked by commissioners to share her opinion about a bed tax. She said she is against a tax. She noted there is “already a substantial negative outlook” concerning the rates she must ask for rooms at the motel, which offers free internet and a continental breakfast.

Commissioner Pyles said he is also against the tax. “I don’t want to hamper your business or anyone else's,” he said.

The tax would amount to about $3 per night. The revenue would, by  law, be used for tourism.

Monroe Native Writes Water on the Moon Tune

Beallsville native John Marmie, deputy project manager for NASA’s Lunar Crafter Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, displayed his multi-talents when he wrote and performed Water on the Moon, a song dedicated to the lunar mission. To see the video and learn more about the mission, visit the Nasa web site.

Family members of John Marmie, Deputy Project Manager of NASA’s LCROSS mission, stand at the edge of Kennedy Space Center’s Cape Canaveral Saturn V Center after witnessing the launch of the space program’s lunar water exploration and mapping units, LRO-LCROSS. John was in the control room at the time the picture was taken, but made a celebration call to his son Isaiah as evidenced in the photo. Shown, from left, are: Ethan and Monica Marmie (John’s wife and son), Debbie, Matthew and Savannah Burke (John’s sister and her children), Naomi Marmie (John’s mother), Melissa, Anthony, Zane and Christian Marmie (John’s brother and family)  and Isaiah Marmie.

Submitted by Debbie Burke, Sister of John Marmie

Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathais, Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole, all iconic musical talents who’ve recorded Bart Howard’s Fly Me to the Moon, may have to move over and make room for another lunar-swooning tune maker.

John Marmie, a 1982 Beallsville High School graduate, has inspirationally combined his passions for music and space exploration by writing and performing Water on the Moon, a melodious rock ‘n roll depiction of NASA’s latest moon exploration mission.

Marmie, Deputy Project Manager for LCROSS, is part of a team of engineers and scientists who are helping spearhead America’s return to the moon.

NASA’s LRO-LCROSS mission, launched June 18, 2009, from the Kennedy Space Center’s Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is designed to further NASA’s investigations concerning the moon’s surface and underlying components. The search could prove or disprove the presence of water, ice or any hydrated minerals able to sustain long range viability for human existence. NASA has a projected goal of establishing an outpost on the moon by the year 2020.

LRO-LCROSS’s launch date was about one month shy of the space program’s 40th anniversary of its first moon landing. 

During one of Marmie’s trips to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the idea for writing a song for LCROSS crossed his mind after seeing a quote from Walt Disney stating that curiosity is the inspiration that moves people forward, in essence capturing what he thought was the motivation behind NASA and the LCROSS mission. Marmie saw an opportunity to combine his talents.

His green light flashed after asking someone at NASA headquarters if a theme song had ever been written for a space mission. Marmie said the answer was, “I’m not sure. But if you did write one, I know someone who knows Jon Bon Jovi.”

According to family members, John’s musical gift became very evident even before he was two years old. While most toddlers are still learning to speak in full sentences, John would clearly and boisterously burst out in song when he joined the family circle singing hymns around the piano. Most evenings were chances for the family to hone its musical talents. Countless nights were spent with family and friends on the front porch playing guitars and singing. Little did John know then what a bright future awaited him.

Marmie’s undergraduate career began at Ohio University Eastern Campus. After a year at OUE, he transferred to Athens, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He then pursued his master’s in electrical engineering with a computational electromagnetics concentration working as a research assistant at the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center. Upon graduating with honors from OU, NASA noticed him right away.

“In addition to NASA, I had submitted my resumes to about 50 aerospace companies whose locations ended in Beach. When NASA called, I just couldn’t turn them down. To this day I still ask myself, ‘How did you end up at NASA?’ It must have been divine guidance,” said Marmie.

“My first position was as a technical monitor for the X-Wing project with the Military Technology Branch at NASA Ames. I worked on Cray Supercomputers, performing electromagnetic analysis on aircraft technologies that eventually led to the stealthy tailless fighter, the X-36. Mom would call and ask me what I was working on and I’d have to respond in my classified information mode. ‘I can tell you what I’m doing, but you know what I’d have to do to you afterwards...’ I didn’t get many more inquisitions after that until I moved out of a classified position.”

Continuing to strengthen his software development skills and developing a desire to be more ‘hands on’ and to design circuitry, Marmie made a career decision that moved him to the Electronics and Sensors Branch where he learned circuit design and embedded systems development. He learned the importance of scheduling, planning and effectively managing projects. He helped develop and field test scientific instrumentation that measured atmospheric gases in Brazil, Ireland and New Mexico.

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with microcontrollers, embedded systems and robotic systems. I was given project management opportunities and also began to mentor students,” continued Marmie.

One of Marmie’s highlights was working on the Personal Satellite Assistant Project, which was a small volleyball-sized robotic astronaut assistant/monitor intended for use on the International Space Station and was featured on the Discovery Channel. Its appearance was similar to the R2 units in the Star Wars film, but much smaller.

Upon NASA’s changing direction, Marmie assisted in writing proposals for new work including a companion mission to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). After a rigorous selection process, the NASA Ames Research Team proposal was awarded the LCROSS mission. Marmie gratefully accepted the position as Deputy Project Manager and joined his former PSA director Dan Andrews. His position demanded that he would ensure daily project tasks were being completed, successfully coordinated and implemented by the team.

“At the time I was growing up in the Appalachian foothills of the Ohio Valley, namely, a little community called Ozark, I developed a sense of work ethic and a few basic engineering skills. Farm life is hard work. It taught me common sense and gave me a full range of experiences – operating machinery, small engine mechanics, repairing old cars, carpentry, helping Dad with masonry projects and working summers on the neighbor’s dairy farm. It was during one of these ‘character building’ assignments that my own stimulus package was birthed. Higher education would be the key to doors unknown. I would be the first in my family to pursue a college education,” said Marmie.

John is the son of Naomi Marmie of Ozark and David Marmie of Traverse City, Michigan. He lives in Morgan Hill, California, with his wife Monica and two sons Isaiah and Ethan.

More can be learned about the LRO-LCROSS mission by visiting the NASA or LCROSS websites. Click here to download a video that includes Marmie’s song Water on the Moon.