Welcome to the unofficial first weekend of summer!

With graduations, festival activities, and vacation being planned, this is a perfect weekend to celebrate the end of a long winter but also remember what this weekend truly stands for.

Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day. And even though we sometimes celebrate with picnics and festive decorations it really is a day of remembrance and honor for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in active military service for our freedom and country. Many events to honor those brave men and women will take place all around our county, including services at local cemeteries. Not just on Monday, but every day, it's important to remember those lives lost and those they left behind. Thank you for your service.

Fantastic news started spreading the state Thursday afternoon as word came from the U.S. Department of the Interior that today Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks will be invited as the next nomination for World Heritage List consideration. This news has been waited on for a decade with many people from across central and southern Ohio working to see it happen. The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks nomination includes 2,000-year-old American Indian earthworks sites in Ross, Licking and Warren counties. This now means work in Chillicothe and Ross County can continue as we can expect more visitors coming to our area to not only view these sites, but the other attractions our community has to offer.

Word was given this week from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation for the approval of another one-time rebate for private employers and public taxing districts. An estimated $1.5 billion will be distributed among the eligible in the form of rebate checks in early July. This is the same program that many of our local businesses received last summer.

Congratulations to those involved in the vision of a new condo community on the westside of town. Ground was broken Thursday for The Courtyards at Deer Run. The new complex will have 35 condominiums in phase one with an additional 28 units to be built at another time.

And Finally, congratulations are order to Briana Hood, the Chamber's hard-working Program Director. This week, she celebrated her 5-year anniversary with the chamber serving our members investors. Thanks, Bri for your dedication to our community and for the hard work you continue to do.

Have a wonderful, and safe, holiday weekend.