Stricklands are proud children of Appalachia

Saturday night, two of the area's best known citizens were honored at the Governor's Mansion in Bexley.

Gov. Ted Strickland and first lady Frances Strickland were presented the 10th annual Child of Appalachia award by the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. It was a major event with some 500 peo­ple in attendance.

What made the evening even more special was another of Scioto County's favorite sons performing at the event. Steve Free, winner of the 2008 Governor's Arts Award, did something special for the program and wrote a song especially for the event, and with words especially for those of us who live in Appalachia.

As always Steve captured the essence of life here in this exquisite part of the country.

The song is titled — "Child of These Hills."

You can hear the wind whistling through the trees
Carrying the time on a soft summer breeze
As the birds in the chorus begin to sing
it drifts through the valleys with a magi­cal ring
Here all living creatures sing the same song
I am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong
I am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong
There's the sweet sound of music of a river's soft roar
Or the spiral perfection of a hawk as it soars
The sun in the morning    .
A clear moonlight at night
The smoke from the fire as it drifts out

of sight
Time to think of what's right...forget all that's wrong
I am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong
I am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong
There are paths in this life that we all must choose
So much to win...so much to lose
Some roads are winding...some roads are long
Some roads we must walk on alone
For every singer must find his own song
1 am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong
I am a Child of These Hills and it's here I belong.

Scioto County is blessed to have pro­duced people who, though they go on to bigger and better things, they never for­get their roots.

Steve Free has a number one song, and was recently featured on the front of GTE Music Magazine, but his songs reflect his roots.

Gov. Strickland put it best when he was honored over the weekend.

"Growing up in rural southern Ohio, I was taught the value of hard work, integrity and fairness for all," Strickland said. "The people of Appalachia make up among the most talented, ingenious, community-minded folks in the state. While there's no shortage of ability in the region, we need to be sure there is no shortage of opportunity."

We can only echo those sentiments as we, like the rest of Ohio and the nation face even tougher times.

The best people are produced in the hardest of times — We have proved it in the past and we will prove it yet again.