ORCHID: To the 11 Trumbull County men and women who were honored last week as members of the Class of 2025 Community Stars. The awards program, sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle and Trumbull 100, took place at the St. Demetrios Banquet Center in Warren. The recipients, who join about 230 others who have received star status over the past 23 years, have singled themselves out for their strong penchant for community service and volunteerism with a variety of causes, from nonprofits such as United Way to youth athletics. Ted Snyder, general manager of the newspaper, hailed the honorees: “One thing that is common is these are people trying to help others and we are all better because of them. You are truly deserving of these honors.” Congratulations to each of the 2025 Community Stars: Tim Boyer of Cortland, Sue Datish of Howland, Tom Elder of Warren, Susan Franko of Girard, Nick Frankos of Warren, John Guarnieri of Howland, Beverly Jones and Farrah Jones (mother and daughter) of Warren, Jena Swesey of Vienna, Richard Thompson of Kinsman and P.C. Torres III of Southington.

ORCHID: To Covelli Enterprises of Warren, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread, for partnering with Potential Development School for Students with Autism, in a major fundraiser for the Youngstown school last week. Through its Blooms of Hope campaign, Panera locations throughout the Mahoning Valley donated $1 from each of its shortbread cookies sold last week. But if you missed that campaign, do not fear. Panera’s Operation Dough-Nation continues throughout April , Autism Awareness Month, during which customers can donate to Potential Development at boxes at the registers of Covelli’s Panera Bread locations.

ORCHID: To teachers, staff and students at Seaborn Elementary School in Weathersfield for winning the coveted 2025 Hall of Fame School award from the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators. The Seaborn crew is in highly elite company as only 11 of some 2,500 elementary schools in Ohio earned that prized distinction. The OAESA Hall of Fame School award recognizes schools that engage faculty, students and the community to provide a quality school experience through effective programming and instruction. This latest honor adds to a growing list of accolades for Seaborn Elementary. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, has earned top-of-the-scale 5-star ratings consistently on its state report card and has been singled out as a Best Elementary School by U.S. News and World Report in 2022, 2024 and 2025.

ORCHID: To Champion Township trustees for taking the initiative to reach out recently to SCOPE senior citizens agency to show interest in establishing programming for mature adults at the township’s new administration building. SCOPE has a long and proud history of serving senior citizens throughout the county with innovative and enriching programming. A facility to provide such services within the township will benefit many in Champion who might have difficulty traveling to other SCOPE centers in the county. We’re confident SCOPE officials will work cooperatively with the township in coming weeks to ensure robust activities are in place at the new administration building lickety-split

ORCHID: To the Youngstown State University women’s bowling team for making striking history last weekend by winning the NCAA national bowling championship in Las Vegas. The Penguins knocked off No. 1 seed and defending national champion Jacksonville State 4-3 in a best-of-seven Baker match last Saturday at Suncoast Bowling Center to secure the program’s first national championship, and the university’s first national title in any women’s sport. The championship brings honor to each and every member of the team and strengthens the university’s reputation as an athletic powerhouse in the state and nation.

ORCHID: To John John Ostapowicz, editor of Youngstown State University’s Jambar newspaper and his talented staff, for its first-place performance in overall excellence in the Ohio News Media Association’s Collegiate Newspaper and Website Competition earlier this month. The Jambar staff also earned recognition in seven of the competition’s 10 categories, including sweeping all places in the headline writing category, and placing first for its sports coverage. The honors are all the more sweet considering the Penguin communications students were competing against many much larger programs in the state including those at The Ohio State University and Ohio University. The awards not only bring honor to the individual recipients but they also add prestige to the growing communications and journalism program at the four-year public university.