But that didn’t end my writing career. I have too much ink in my blood to step away from the keyboard. For the last 10 months, I’ve written periodically for the Journal as a contributor.
That has allowed me to continue my love of writing about people. Everyone has a story to tell, and I love being the vessel that transports those stories to our readers.
Here are my 10 Most Intriguing People of 2024, listed in alphabetical order:
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Herb Davis: ‘I had no idea I would live this long’
People celebrating their 100th birthdays used to be a rare event, but with the advancements in medicine, people are living longer, healthier lives.
Case in point: Herb Davis.
He celebrated his 100th birthday right where he feels at home: at the Powerstation Gym in Middletown.
He’s considered a celebrity around Powerstation. as much for his dedication as for his age. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Davis drives his car into the Powerstation parking lot on South Dixie Highway before 8:30 a.m. and begins his regimented exercise routine.
He exercises to keep his heart and lungs functioning properly and to improve his balance. He uses a cane because he knows even the simplest fall could be deadly at his age.
His secret to living a long life really isn’t a secret. He doesn’t smoke and he takes care of his body. For that, his body pays him back.
“Other than that I have been blessed,” Davis said. “I had no idea I would live this long. I just kept right on going. I have had a good life. It has worked out well for me.”
Longtime Powerstation owner Mike Ferguson is one of Davis’ biggest supporters.
“I had hair when he started coming here,” said Ferguson, rubbing his bald head. “He’s a super, super nice guy.”
Justin Jemison: ‘It gave me chills down my spine’
Justin Jemison won’t ever forget 2024.
The highlight came on Feb. 11 when Jemison, 34, a 2007 Middletown High School graduate, shot Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas for CBS when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22.
Jemison was positioned near the 50-yard line, right below Taylor Swift’s million dollar suite. He joked that he was paid to work the Super Bowl and his seat was a few feet closer to the field than Swift’s.
He arrived at the stadium at 5:30 a.m. Feb. 11, 10 hours before kickoff. That gave him plenty on time to pass through security, eat breakfast in the CBS catering tent, socialize with the rest of the production crew and check and double check his camera.
But it wasn’t until Reba McIntire started singing the national anthem that Jemison realized the importance of the moment for a kid from Middletown.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” he remembered thinking minutes before kickoff. “It gave me chills down my spine.”
Jemison understands how lucky he was to work a Super Bowl, the biggest game on the American sports calendar.
Especially at his age.
He talked to a 20-year veteran on the CBS crew. In those two decades, the man told Jemison he had worked just eight Super Bowls. During one production meeting, a producer told the camera crew that 200 people were waiting to take their positions.
“It was an unreal experience,” he said. “Just to be on that stage was breathtaking. I always wanted to be at a Super Bowl. I didn’t think this soon.”
Avinne Kiser: ‘You don’t do this for the awards’
No matter how many times she may be rejected, Avinne Kiser refuses to quit.
For that tenacity and her philanthropic efforts that stretch throughout Butler County, Kiser recently was honored with two significant awards. She received the Middletown Community Foundation “Volunteer of the Year” Award and a West Chester Liberty Alliance “Women of Excellence” Award.
“You don’t do this for the awards,” said Kiser, founder of the annual Middletown Holiday Whopla, a downtown celebration that has attracted 200,000 visitors the first three years. “I wish I could share the awards with all the people who help me. I was just the one with a crazy dream. None of what I do is a solo project.”
While Kiser is the heart and soul of the event that runs through Jan. 20, she’s quick to acknowledge it wouldn’t have survived the first three years without the many community contributors, the city’s financial assistance and her team of volunteers and board members.
Winning two major community awards in the same month hasn’t made her feel more comfortable with the accolades. If you need a cheerleader for your project, she’s your woman.
“I like to shine the spotlight on others,” she said.
Besides her work in Middletown, Kiser has established the Random Acts of Kindness Club and a chapter of Magnified Giving at Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School that has become a permanent addition to the 7th and 8th-grade curriculum, connecting kids to nonprofit organizations.
Juniper ‘Jun’ McKnight: ‘You just want to be included’
Juniper “Jun” McKnight, a native of China, was adopted by a West Chester couple when she was 2, and despite being born with scoliosis and a right leg severely shorter than her left, she competed as a para-athlete in the 100-, 400- and 800-meter races Ohio State Track and Field Championships.
It’s been quite a journey for Jun and the McKnight family.
Greg and Shannon McKnight, already the parents of three boys, Jacob, Will and Cooper, wanted to adopt a child with a limb difference.
“Call it God whispers, signs or whatever your readers want to call it,” said Shannon, who coaches Jun. “We couldn’t ignore the things that were coming up.”
They filled out the piles of the adoption papers, prepared themselves for raising a special needs daughter and flew to China.
McKnight said Jun connected more with her father until she took up track.
“That started this adventure we didn’t know about,” she said.
They have been a track team ever since.
Jun, 15, a sohomore at Lakota West, was introduced to track and field after her sister, Mae, 13, also a girl from China with special needs the McKnights adopted, started playing basketball.
Shannon watched videos on adaptive track and pitched the idea to Jun. The mother knew the important life lessons athletes can learn through sports.
The family rented a used track chair, but since it didn’t properly fit Jun, it was difficult for her to maneuver.
When Jun entered high school, she was fitted with a different track chair thanks to a grant from the Bridge, an organization that connects people to adaptive sports and recreation.
“That allowed me to go faster,” Jun said of the properly fitting chair. “You just want to be included. The community has supported me and brought me out of my shell.”
Lilian Moore: ‘I am awesome. No need for modesty’
It’s easy to lose faith in today’s youth.
Then you meet Lilian Moore and suddenly you feel positive about the future.
Five years ago, with a one-day trip to Disney World circled on her calendar, Lilian Moore held a popsicle sale with a goal of raising enough money to purchase some souvenirs.
She made $200, more than enough for her shopping spree in the amusement park gift shop.
Then one day, as young girls sometimes will do, Lilian had a serious conversation with her mother. She asked her mother, Tiffani, who was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer 10 years ago, some “hard questions,” her mother said.
The 11-year-old asked: Will her mother’s cancer return? Is there a cure?
Her mother was brutally honest, and when Lilian heard the answers, she decided to shift the fundraising focus from herself to others like her mother battling breast cancer.
The mother-daughter conversation “changed the narrative and sparked something inside her,” said Moore, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when Lilian was 18 months old.
Lilian’s Popsicle Stand raised $800 three years ago, followed by $1,000 and $3,000. This year, after soliciting family and friends and accepting on-line donations through a QR code, Lilian generated more than $6,000 during the three-day Trenton community garage sale.
All proceeds were donated to METAvivor, an organization that uses 100% of its funds for research and treatments for metastatic breast cancer, or Stage IV breast cancer.
Lilian, entering sixth grade at Monroe Elementary School where her father teaches, said she wants to help her mom and other people with this disease to have more treatment options and live longer.
Todd Moore said his daughter is “an awesome child.”
Lilian never missed a beat. “I am awesome,” she said. “No need for modesty.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Shawn, Heather O’Grady: ‘He’s the love of my life. We have each other’
Eileen O’Grady still remembers the day her son discussed proposing to his girlfriend of four years.
Shawn O’Grady told his mother he loved Heather, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
But she knew this was no ordinary love story, if there is such a thing.
Shawn and Heather have Down syndrome.
“It was a big leap of faith,” Shawn’s mother said. “I mean, we knew there would be challenges, but it was worth it.”
Right on cue, Shawn, 52, and Heather, 45, sitting together in their Fairfield condominium, flashed those innocent smiles. Heather giggled.
“If everyone was more like them, this would be a wonderful world,” the mother said. “They couldn’t be happier.”
They act like honeymooners instead of a couple that recently celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary. Love is love, regardless of your perceived limitations.
“I love him” Heather said. “He’s the love of my life. We have each other.”
Credit: Ron Alvey
Credit: Ron Alvey
John Rossi: ‘I hope they’re proud how I represented our family’
When John M. Rossi was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame, he stressed the importance of family and the supportive roles his parents played in his success.
Rossi, the oldest of 10 children born to John “Butch” and Mary Ann Rossi, coached girls basketball at Fenwick, where he graduated, Middletown, Madison and Franklin.
His father, who died in 2005, was a legendary administrator and Fenwick High School boys basketball coach who led the Falcons to more than 400 wins and a 1982 state championship.
His mother, who died in 2024, served as the Rossi household disciplinarian. She raised as many children as her husband coached each season on the basketball court. The children were separated by 14 years.
Rossi said his parents produced “a lot of good blood (lines.)”
When Rossi was inducted during the 42nd anniversary of the hall of fame banquet at Courtyard by Marriott Hamilton, his family and friends filed three tables.
As Rossi talked about his mother, who didn’t drive most of her life, and his father, who chauffeured all 10 kids to their extra-curricular activities, his voice quivered.
“I hope they’re proud how I represented our family,” he said after the banquet.
Terry Scott: ‘This has been the best two months’
Terry Scott’s story is all about redemption.
He went from being charged with littering, a third-degree misdemeanor, at Berachah Church’s West Campus, to being baptized later at Berachah.
Scott, who was homeless, dumped thousands of pounds of tile leftover from a home improvement project. His illegal activity was caught on camera.
Scott, 32, was staying with Serving the Homeless with Alternate Lodging Of Middletown (SHALOM), a church-based shelter that operates during the winter months. During one week, volunteers from Berachah were serving the homeless at Tytus Avenue Church of God, and as Scott went through the food line he met Jim Tinch Sr.
The same Jim Tinch Sr., pastor at the church where Scott committed the crime.
They struck up a conversation as pastors are known to do. Scott apologized for his actions.
He invited Scott to attend a church service at Berachah. One Sunday morning, when a Berachah van picked up those staying at SHALOM, Scott grabbed ride to the church location on Johns Road.
It changed his life.
“This has been the best two months,” Scott said.
He was then baptized at Berachah by Pastor Jake Ferguson.
Ray Snedegar: ‘What could I have done to save more people’
Nearly 50 years after his plane crashed and 135 of the 310 babies and adults aboard were killed, Ray Snedegar suffers from “survivor’s guilt‚” he told those who attended Fenwick High School’s annual Veteran’s Day Breakfast.
“I still have that today,” he said quietly. “What could I have done to save more people.”
What Snedegar, 84, and those surviving babies, now in their 50s, are doing today is keeping the events of that horrific April 4, 1975 day alive by retelling history to students, those who need to hear the words the most, and searching for their parents.
He was the keynote speaker at the breakfast and Snedegar, of Centerville, rarely turns down an opportunity to talk about his 31-year Air Force career.
Throughout Snedegar’s talk as he recounted what happened that day in Saigon, those in the audience, especially the Fenwick students, listened intently as their history books came to life.
Snedegar said that in April of 1975, then President Gerald Ford ordered for troops to evacuate American Asian babies from Saigon, a mission called Operation Babylift. It was thought at the time, that when North Vietnam took over, the babies born to Vietnamese women and U.S. soldiers would be killed.
Every passenger in the cargo area was killed, except for one medical crew member and a 15-year-old girl. There were 135 children and adults killed and Snedegar was one of the 175 who survived.
By the time Operation Babylift was complete, more than 3,000 babies and children of Asian American descent were evacuated to the United States, he said.
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