This one was all about the legacy

This one was all about the legacy.

And carrying on that legacy.

The legacy, of course, is that of Ernie B. Blankenship, the longtime emcee for the annual telethon that now bears his name.

His youngest son, Ernie Blankenship, Jr., spoke about his father at the opening of the 42nd annual Ernie Blankenship Radio-Telethon for the Highland County Society for Children and Adults Wednesday evening.

"I think all the people of Highland County know this is something Dad was very passionate about," Blankenship said. "As you all know, he had a lot of crazy antics to raise money. He worked at it 365 days a year.

"No one person can replace Dad, but if we bond together as a community, there's a good possibility we can carry on the legacy of Ernie Blankenship."

Ernie's sons, Todd, Ryan and Ernie and their families, then made a $5,000 donation to the Society to kick off this year's telethon, as their mother, Rita Kay Blankenship, worked the telethon's phones just a few feet away at US Bank in uptown Hillsboro.

"I really think Ernie is watching over us tonight," Erin Blankenship (Ryan's wife) told The Highland County Press.

It was a feeling often repeated Wednesday night.

In fact, 2014 telethon emcee Rick Williams accidentally introduced fellow Rotarian Judge Rocky Coss as "Ernie," as he passed the microphone in the early minutes of the fundraiser.

"He's here with us," Williams said. "But no one's going to replace Ernie."

Coss agreed, as he announced that the 2014 total had surpassed last year's $137,746.

"Ernie would be happy tonight," Coss said prior to the close of the telethon, after the total eclipsed $143,700. The unofficial Greenfield total was $10,179.

"He is happy. I guarantee it," Williams said.

Among this year's telethon highlights was the reunion of past poster children and adults and their families.

Rather than name a 2014 poster child, Society Director Gayle Coss said the idea this year was to invite previous poster children and adults as a way to honor Ernie Blankenship. Many were able to attend and posed for a group photo with Coss.

And speaking of those "antics" that Ernie was so famous for, he would have been proud of Hillsboro Elementary School Principals Pamela Hollon, Jacob Zink and Tim Davis for their efforts at this year's event.

All of them "took one for the team," so to speak.

In years past, Ernie Blankenship took a lot of them for the team. Ernie would do anything and everything, from allowing his head to be shaved to wearing some outlandish costumes on local TV.

"It was all for the children," Ernie used to tell us. "It's all for the kids."

This year, Hillsboro Elementary School Principals Hollon, Zink and Davis permitted three different Hillsboro pupils to toss a pie in their face after the school exceeded its fundraising goal.

Other local students from Lynchburg-Clay, Bright Local, Hillsboro FFA and St. Mary Catholic School also made donations.

St. Mary Catholic School Administrator Mary Stanforth said her 57 pupils raised almost $700 this year.

Later in the evening, two of the event's longtime supporters brought in their respective donations: One was the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 1161, which contributed $6,500; the other was the Cassner Foundation and Rotary Forms Press, Inc., which donated $15,000.

Judge Coss pointed out that the Eagles and the Cassner family have been two of the biggest contributors to the telethon since its inception.

"This year's total brings us to about $3.4 million over 42 years," Coss said. "That's a tremendous amount of money for a community our size. And all of this stays here in Highland County.

"We are a community that takes care of our own."