The Kids Under Construction Daycare at the First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon collected items for the Franklin Co. Food Bank, Dec. 1-14.  They collected a total of 441 items with Shelias Bogue’s class collecting the largest number.

Frankie Henderson and Thomas Deloney head out with a dolly loaded with boxes of food for families prepared by volunteers at the Community Food Bank. In the first half of December 2008, the Community Food Bank had served the number of families it served in the whole month of November. Through Dec. 15th the food bank has helped 86 heads of households, with 235 family members.

Winners in the 27th annual First National Bank Poster Contest were announced on Thursday, Dec. 11 at the bank.  See the Dec. 18 edition of the Optic-Herald for more details.

Austin Wight and Maria Kuhl were selected as the Rotary Students of the Month for December at Mount Vernon High School. See the Dec. 18 edition of the Optic-Herald for more details

Brandie Craver received her masters in educational technology-library science degree from Texas A&M University - Commerce earlier this month.  See the Dec. 18 edition of the Optic-Herald for more details