YMCA"S "Light of the Valley" Award Given to the Highlands Develo - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

The YMCA Board of Directors held their 6th Annual "Light of the Valley" award luncheon Wednesday afternoon.

The White Palace ballroom at Wheeling Park was filled to honor the four men who have been instrumental in the planning and continued development of the Highlands.

The Highlands development team including Greg Stewart, Tim McCormick, Randy Wharton, and David Sims accepted the "Light of the Valley" Award from the YMCA Board of Directors. Tim McCormick spoke on behalf of the group.

"This is an unbelievable award," he says. "We're very honored to receive this. The past recipients were outstanding individuals and founders of this community. They helped to bring this community to where it is today. Its been a constant improvement and that's what we're trying to do with our development process; establish a better quality of live for individuals and help make this a better place to live. Better than it is now."

Coach Jim Crutchfield of West Liberty Basketball was the guest speaker. He says the YMCA is an integral part of raising the youth in our community. He also spoke about his favorite subject; basketball.

"I don't know if there's any motivational message here today," he says. "I just told them a little bit about the way we do things at West Liberty. I talked about the kind of discipline we have and the kinds of kids we have here in the program, which are good kids. Aside from that, its just a good day to do some socializing and see some good friends."

In his acceptance speech, McCormick gave some statistics showing how much the highlands has helped the local economy. It added 3,200 jobs with an estimated payroll at $62,000,000 per year. He also says development at the highlands continues to move forward. 7news asked if any specific plans are in the works.

"Yes but we can't say anything at this point," he says. "We do have a couple of tenants that are very interested. We're hoping they sign on the dotted line and we think they will. Negotiations are taking place and we're going to continue to move forward."

The YMCA holds his event every year as their main fundraiser. They were presented with at $57,000 check.