The feel-good stories of 2022
Mark Hofmann | 缅北禁地
In this February photo, members of the Uniontown City Fire Department place the casket of firefighter Lloyd 鈥淏utch鈥� Jenkins on a department fire engine following his funeral service on Friday. Jenkins was the city鈥檚 first Black firefighter.
Courtesy of Kendall Sisler
In this May photo, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper sits down with a statue of the other Sec. of Defense from Uniontown, George C. Marshall, at the George C. Marshall Memorial Plaza.
Mark Hofmann | 缅北禁地
The plaque dedicated to former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Uniontown native Dr. Mark T. Esper sits at Marshall Plaza in Uniontown.
Courtesy of Fayette County Public Relations Initiative
In October, the Sheepskin Trail added a new section in Point Marion that stretches 1.4 miles and connects to Springhill Township鈥檚 Nilan community.
Submitted photo
The two-acre grounds of the new Fayette County Prison will also include a building for the newly reformed Fayette SPCA. The county animal shelter closed in 2014.
Mark Hofmann | 缅北禁地
Renee Couser, executive director of the Community Foundation of Fayette County, welcomes representatives from the 88 charities that took part in the third Fayette Gives event.
Mark Hofmann | 缅北禁地
Fayette Gives distributed $581,589 to 88 local charities as a result of its November day-of-giving event.
As 2022 comes to a close, it鈥檚 time to take a look back at the top community stories in Fayette County.
Uniontown鈥檚 first Black firefighter remembered
In the early part of 2022, officials gathered to honor the City of Uniontown鈥檚 first Black firefighter as he was laid to rest.
Lloyd Kenneth 鈥淏utch鈥� Jenkins, 76, of Uniontown, passed away on Feb. 13.
Jenkins served as a volunteer fireman in the city for three decades, starting in the mid-1980s, immersing himself in his duties, whether he was donning firefighting gear or lending a hand at a scene.
His granddaughter, Cassandra Mack, said Jenkins had a police scanner on in the background 24/7 at his home. Carrying his portable radio around was commonplace, too, she said. Jenkins was always listening for a fire, vehicle accident or any other emergency so that he could help.
鈥淗e was always up for work at 3 a.m., but the night before, as soon as he heard the call, he鈥檇 jump up so quickly,鈥� Mack said, adding that he always took time to tell the children about fire safety.
Christine Criswell, Jenkins鈥� daughter, said being a firefighter as well as an EMT made her father proud.
鈥淗e really was a role model for the community,鈥� Christine Criswell said, noting that Jenkins would sit outside the station and wave at people driving by. 鈥淓veryone spoke so highly of him 鈥揾e was kind and caring.鈥�
He kept that up even in retirement, rushing to scenes to help direct traffic or help his second family of firefighters in any way he could.
At his funeral service, his brother and sister firefighters placed his casket on one of the city fire engines for one last ride to his final resting place at Sylvan Heights Cemetery in Uniontown.
Dr. Mark Esper honored
When Dr. Mark T. Esper worked as the U.S. Secretary of the Army and then U.S. Secretary of Defense, a photo of Gen. George C. Marshall hung above his desk.
鈥淗e always helped remind me of those core principals I was taught here as a young man and young boy growing up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania,鈥� Esper said in May. 鈥淚 will be forever grateful for George C. Marshall watching over me for those many years.鈥�
And in a certain sense, Marshall, the first Uniontown native to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, will continue watching over Esper.
Officials unveiled a plaque at George C. Marshall Memorial Park in Uniontown dedicated to Esper during a small, private ceremony in the spring. Later in the day, Esper spoke at a dinner at the American Legion Post 51, and then acted as the grand marshal for Fayette County鈥檚 89th Americanism Day parade.
A 1982 graduate of Laurel Highlands High School, Esper attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he graduated with distinction and received his commission in the infantry. During 10 years on active duty, he served in the 101st Airborne Division and participated in the Gulf War with the 鈥淪creaming Eagles,鈥� and later commanded an airborne rifle company in Europe in what is now the 173d Airborne Brigade.
He served another 11 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve. From 1996 to 1998, Esper was chief-of-staff at The Heritage Foundation think tank and later served in senior staff positions for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Government Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee.
Esper was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy from 2002 to 2004, and National Security Adviser for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from 2004 to 2006.
He served as U.S. Secretary of the Army from 2017 to 2019 and as the 27th U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020.
鈥淚鈥檓 very humbled to be presented with an award of this stature in a plaza dedicated to George C. Marshall,鈥� Esper said. 鈥淭here is arguably no greater general of the 20th century than George C. Marshall.鈥�
Sheepskin Trail continues to expand
October marked the opening of the newest link of the Sheepskin Trail.
The 1.4-mile link in Point Marion was the latest addition to the 34-mile rail-trail. It linked the borough to Springhill Township鈥檚 Nilan community.
Funding for the $653,909 project came from a Transportation Alternatives Program grant with the DCNR, as well as from contributions from the county.
In the Point Marion area, an already-completed portion of the Sheepskin Trail stretches to West Virginia and connects to the Mon River Trail 鈥� North in the Mountaineer State. South Union Township鈥檚 section of the trail extends from Hutchinson Park to Pennsylvania Avenue, and includes a covered bridge that is built from a reclaimed interstate pedestrian bridge.
In March 2022, the county commissioners lent their support to applications for $1.2 million in funding for Sheepskin development from the Hutchinson area to Fairchance, and for construction on the trail in the city of Uniontown. The board also approved a Local Share Account grant of $410,000 for property acquisition work on the section of the trail between Dunbar and North Union Township.
Commissioner Scott Dunn, a former Dunbar councilman, said a section of the Sheepskin Trail enters borough, and he has seen first hand the economic impact the trail has had in a small community like the borough.
Fayette to reopen local SPCA
When the new Fayette County Prison opens next year, the facility鈥檚 two-acre site will also be home to an animal shelter.
The commissioners announced in early November that the land will also house a building for the reformed Fayette County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The move comes nearly nine years after the state Department of Agriculture revoked the license for the county鈥檚 SPCA, formerly located on Rankin Airshaft Road in North Union Township. The former organization was placed under quarantine, and cited for keeping animals in unsanitary and inhumane conditions by the state in 2014. Citing a lack of money to fix the problems, the facility鈥檚 board closed the shelter in August 2014.
Commissioners said that inmates at the county lockup who qualify may be used for supervised labor at the shelter as part of planned programming at the jail.
Commissioner Dave Lohr said he鈥檚 been advocating for an SPCA facility adjacent to the county jail, where inmates could be hands-on in caring for the animals, benefiting the inmates and the animals alike.
Fayette Gives raises record amount
Fayette Gives, a 12-hour day-of-giving event, continues to break records.
This year, the Community Foundation of Fayette County-sponsored event raised its highest amount, $581,589, over the three years Fayette Gives has run. The money helped 88 nonprofits through online and mailed donations, all augmented by a bonus pool funded by Fayette Gives sponsors.
Over the past three years, the event has raised $1.3 million in funds for dozens of local charities.
鈥淲hen we first started talking about having a giving day, it was in 2018,鈥� said Renee Couser, executive director of the Community Foundation of Fayette County (CFFC). 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone at the foundation realized the impact it would have over the last three years.鈥�
This year, over 1,000 individuals and businesses donated to the participating Fayette County charities during the event.
The top fundraiser year was City Mission-Living Stones with $88,101. While St. Vincent de Paul Society had the fourth highest fundraising total, receiving $21,429, they had the most individual donations at 163.
Couser recently told representatives from all of the nonprofits to mark their calendars. The 2023 date for Fayette Gives has already been set for Nov. 9.
To view the totals of this year鈥檚 Fayette Gives, visit www.fayettegives.org.