No, that wasn’t an aerobic workout at Senior Monongalians the other day.
It was Lisa Martin, reacting to an envelope from Gov. Jim Justice.
“Yeah, it was on my chair,” said Martin, who is executive director of the county senior center housed in Mountaineer Mall.
“Lots of jumping up and down after I opened it,” she said, smiling. “Lots of cheering, too.”
You’ll get that – when there’s lots of money attached.
There were lots of cheers for Babydog, too, on Wednesday afternoon at the senior center in Morgantown. The faithful English bulldog made the trip with her master to help present $100,000 to the center.
“There’s our girl!” one person sang out as the pup grunted and wiggled her way onto a stage set up for the occasion.
The money was bestowed because Mon’s center has among the highest rates of seniors rolling up their sleeves for those all-important COVID booster shots.
“We’re gonna make this go a long way,” Martin said. “Every dollar of it will be for the benefit of our seniors.”
“Do it for Babydog: Senior Center Edition” was the name of the contest launched last December.
Senior centers in Lincoln and Monroe counties have also received the big check, and Justice and Babydog were on their way to do more of the same in the northern panhandle after the Morgantown event Wednesday. He preferred not give that center’s name, he said.
The idea, Justice said, is to keep West Virginia most vulnerable clinically safe, in the ebb-and-flow landscape of COVID-19.
Contest or no, he said, it’s important to get that booster. The governor, who is 71, includes himself in those ranks.
“At the end of the day, this thing has a bull’s eye on you, me, a lot of us,” he said.
Another 327 positive cases and five additional deaths were reported between Tuesday and Wednesday, the state Department of Health and Human Resources said.
Meanwhile, 43 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, including Mon, were showing green on the alert map maintained by DHHR. The rest were yellow.
The governor was also performing double-duty, during his north-central road trip.
He continued voicing his opposition of Amendment 2, proposed legislation on the ballot next month that would eliminate a business and inventory tax, along with a vehicle tax.
Getting rid of the personal property layout for cars and trucks is enticing on the surface, Justice told the audience at the senior center.
However, he said, such assessments also help fund municipalities, county government and state businesses. Earlier this week, he proposed a rebate on the car tax instead, to keep the revenue stream going.
Get educated – before going to the polls, he said.
“That way, you know what you’re voting on.”
TWEET@DominionPostWV
