News from Oct. 27, 2005 issue

Groups plan career fair here
Looking for a new job?

Hunting for a better place to work, or are you tired of the part-time routine and need a real career?
If so, the first ever Crittenden County Career Fair is where you will need to be between 8 a.m., and 1 p.m., Monday, Nov. 7. It will be held at the Marion Baptist Church Family Life Center.

"We are targeting people who are unemployed, under-employed or those working part-time who want to find a full-time job on a career path," said Lee Conrad, director of the Crittenden County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC).

The job fair is being sponsored by the CCEDC, West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, Crittenden County Ministerial Association and the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce.

More than 150 businesses and industries have been invited to participate in the event. Conrad said that several have already committed to be there.

Job hunters will be able to gather information about work opportunities from a variety of employment sectors. Conrad said one of the main reasons for having the event is to provide a convenient opportunity for job seekers to meet with multiple employers under one roof.

Employers from Marion, Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville and Henderson are expected to participate in the job fair.

"It would take a great deal of time for a person looking for a job to travel to all of those places and apply for jobs," Conrad said. "This will make available several potential employers at one convenient place."

Conrad said that some of the businesses and industries participating in the job fair will likely have employment applications available. He also anticipates some employers administering aptitude tests and conducting interviews on site. Each will have informational booths and representatives at the affair.

"The focus of this event is on full-time, career-type employment opportunities," Conrad said.

The job fair is being held on a day when local schools are not in session; therefore, a large turnout of upperclassmen is expected.

"People can come by any time between 8 a.m., and 1 p.m.," Conrad continued. "We hope many will use their lunch breaks as an opportunity to come by."

Free concessions will be available.

Several other communities in the area have held similar career fairs with great success, Conrad said.

For more information, call the CCEDC at 965-9294.

Monster white oak tree
It may not be the biggest white oak in Kentucky, but it likely has more board feet than any other tree in the Commonwealth.

The sprawling oak that stands guard behind Alex and Stacey Summers' home south of U.S. 60 West near Salem is about 300 years old, according to one forester.

Although its circumference of 16 feet is a good bit smaller than the Logan County state record of 22.5 feet, the white oak on the Summers farm may have the largest canopy. Its crown measures 114 feet across, that's 38 yards. The state record oak is on the books at 104 feet.

Alex Summers said the tree is a family favorite and he's cleared out from under it and plans to put a ground blind there so he and his two children, Reed, 4, and Riley, 3, can sit and watch for deer and turkey.
"Every time we have a big storm Stacey and I look out the back window to make sure the tree is still standing," Summers said.

Alex's father, Allen, ran across a forester in Salem a few months ago and had him come by and check out the tree. The forester told him it was very old and probably around many years before the area was settled by European pioneers. Former Ag Agent Tom Moore also told Summers that he estimated the tree had more board feet of potential lumber than any he'd ever seen.

Jutting out from the 5-foot diameter base are almost a dozen large limbs, most bigger than the average oak tree. The first limb is about eight feet off the ground.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry has a program that identifies the state's largest trees. The tree on Summers' 100-acre farm might be a state record, but it's pretty close and it's an amazing site.

Percy Cook of the Hebron community has the only Crittenden County tree recognized as the state's largest. His American elm is in a three-way tie for the top spot. Roger Simpson used to have a pine tree near Shady Grove on the list, but a storm got it several years ago.

The world record oak tree was located in Maryland until it blew down recently. It was more than 400 years old and was 32 feet in circumference, 105 feet tall and had a 158-foot crown.

County wants bids on gas exploration
Crittenden County leaders are moving ahead with plans to seek bids on leasing publicly-owned property to private companies for exploration of gas and oil.

The issue was brought up last week during the regular monthly meeting of the Crittenden Fiscal Court. Two companies made their pitches during the meeting and one offered a verbal price quote or leasing the land. The other offered a sealed bid.

The county magistrates didn't act on either of the offers presented by those companies, but discussed the matter further during a special meeting Monday morning.
Most of the magistrates are in agreement that the best way to handle the situation is to accept formal sealed bids. They voted to do that on Nov. 15 during the fiscal court's next regular meeting. Only one of six magistrates voted against advertising for bids. Magistrate Glenn Underdown opposed the measure, because he said he needed more information and didn't want to be viewed as accepting of the idea without further review.
Underdown, who has privately leased some of his property for gas and oil exploration, has not been satisfied with some of the details of his contract. He has made that clear during talks about the county leasing its property for the same purpose.

Judge-Executive Fred Brown said it's logical to assume that companies drilling for natural gas in the area would be interested in leasing county-owned property in the Ohio River and along county roads. Also, the county owns about 150 acres of additional lands, including the Dam 50 area, that might be attractive places for exploration by gas companies.

Brown said the county's 350 miles of roadways is equivalent to about 460 acres.

There was some discussion about the possibility of allowing a gas company to build a pipe line on county property, such as in its part of the Ohio River. The county owns half of the river starting at the center of the river and going to the Illinois shore.

A couple of companies have been actively seeking leases from private Crittenden County landowners for more than a year. Most of the proposed exploration is centered around the northern part of the county. A representative doing contract leasing for Vintage Petroleum says that company plans to begin drilling in the next few days near Tolu.

If natural gas is found here, landowners stand to earn about one-eighth royalty on the gas that is pumped from the ground.