Winning Lambs

Now’s the time to start preparing if you plan to enter
a lamb show this year, says Scott VanSickle, volunteer leader of the Logan County
Lamb Club. He says you need to be visiting farms to choose a lamb in February
and March. To enter 4-H competitions you need to have possession and ownership
of the lamb by June 1. The first shows begin in late May and the grand goal is
the state fair in August.

Don’t Miss the Touchstone Energy All "A" Classic

by Kevin Osbourn

One of the premiere events sponsored
annually by Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives takes place in January
with the All "A" Classic, which showcases student competitions in the
arts, academics, cheerleading, and basketball for high schools of Kentucky.

More than 250 teams compete in the
basketball competition, with 32 teams going to the finals-16 boys’ teams and 16
girls’ teams.

WKYT-27 in Lexington will again
televise the boys’ championship basketball game live from Richmond on Sunday,
February 3. All the state final games will be held in Eastern Kentucky
University’s Alumni Coliseum the week of January 30.

"It’s a great opportunity for
the small schools in Kentucky to compete on a statewide level," says Stan
Steidel, executive director of the tournament. "With thousands of dollars
in college scholarship money available, we also feel good about helping these
kids financially."

For the winners of last year’s
Touchstone Energy All "A" academic competitions, Kentucky’s Touchstone
Energy Cooperatives helped provide the bulk of $35,000 in scholarship funding.
This year, the opportunities for scholarships could be even better.

"We hope to have 50 scholarships
this year," Steidel says. "Each winner receives $1,000 for them to
attend a Kentucky university or technical school of their choice."

Some changes in this year’s Classic
is that the cheerleading tournament will be held in Richmond during the same
week of the basketball games, instead of several weeks prior. A new event will
be the ROTC drill team competition.

Last year the basketball tournament
alone for the 2001 Classic drew nearly 48,000 hoops fans to EKU, pushing total
attendance past 500,000 in the 12-year history of the event. Several schools
that were semi-finalists in the tournament came from locations where Kentucky’s
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives are based.

If you’d like to attend the
basketball games, tickets are $8 at the door for individual sessions, or advance
tickets are sold by complete sets. Nine sessions, a total of 30 games, are $63
for one person. Tickets can be obtained by writing: Touchstone Energy All
"A" Classic, 16 North Fort Thomas Avenue, Fort Thomas, KY 41075. For
more information go online at www.allaclassic.org
or contact Jim Rice, (859) 622-2122.

At the Web site, you’ll find a master
calendar of all the events, along with applications for scholarships and other
Touchstone Energy All "A" competitions. Or contact your local high
school to see if it is participating in any of this year’s competitions.

"I’m really excited about this
year, especially the addition of the ROTC drill teams," Steidel says.
"We are hoping sometime down the road to add competitions in music. It
seems like every year the Classic keeps getting bigger and better."

Steidel says he appreciates the work
and participation of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives.

"Together," he says,
"we’re able to improve the lives of many young people in this state."