WELLSVILLE - There is no place like home, or so seniors in the Wellsville High School Class of 2009 were advised in several versions at the annual "breakfast with the mayor" Wednesday morning at the First Baptist Church.

Hosted by Mayor Joe Surace, the breakfast was provided by the ladies of the church, while its pastor, the Rev. Roosevelt Thompson, offered the welcome and benediction.

Class members heard from former Garfield Elementary Principal Paul Blevins, currently a professor at Kent State University-East Liverpool campus.

Calling their graduation a "bittersweet moment," Blevins said while enrollment numbers are down, the quality of their school is not, pointing out Wellsville has been designated a State School of Promise.

"You people have the equipment. You come from a good school system, a small school system, a friendly school system, but a solid, academically inclined school system," he said, challenging the students to "get out and do the job."

He told them, too, that "the wonderful world of Wellsville will never leave you or forsake you."

Surace told the students, "If you don't dream, it can't come true," and said he has carried with him since his 1955 graduation from the same school the memories of teachers and friends.

"If you leave Wellsville, and some of you will, you can always come back and Wellsville will always be your home," he advised.

Special guests were U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael W. Thompson and Sgt. Gary L. Young, both of whom who served in Iraq, where Young was wounded and Thompson served two tours of duty.

Currently recruiters out of the Calcutta office, the soldiers both spoke proudly of their military duty, with Young saying, "I love my job," and Thompson saying that after 22 years of service, "There's no job I'd rather do; I still look in the mirror and am proud to put on this uniform."

They presented students Lindsey Koontz and Ryan Crabtree with the U.S. Army Reserve National Scholarship Award, based on excellence in academics and athletics.

Created in 1981, the award has been presented to 200,000 students across the nation, and in presenting the award, the soldiers called Koontz and Crabtree "two of the nation's finest young people."

Also offering remarks was Councilman John McMahon, who told the students they were making history and will now be part of the All-School Reunion that brings thousands of alumni back to Wellsville.

"What you put into life, you'll get out of it," McMahon told them.

The students were presented with custom-made mugs and proclamations from the mayor.

jgilbert@mojonews.com