125 Years

January 6, 1897

William Short, a farmer about 60 years of age, living a few miles southeast of Houston, was held up Thursday night on his way home from Piqua and robbed. Accosted by four highwaymen, he sought to defend himself with a knife but was knocked senseless. The assailants took all the money he had, which was $4.50. Piqua police believe the incident was the work of amateurs.

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T.F. Wilkinson has bought the New Era Laundry on North Ohio avenue and will take charge of it at once. “Tom” is well known to the people of Sidney who wish him well in his new business. Claude DeWeese has taken a position with him at the laundry.

100 Years

January 6, 1922

The new service director, Frank Smith, succeeding Joseph A. Clem, and the new safety director, H.A. Morris, succeeding Howard Vertner, were sworn in this morning and immediately assumed the duties of their respective offices.

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Sheriff Frank Clark and Deputy Sheriff Charles Wooley drove to Sante Fe, Auglaize county, Sunday evening and placed under arrest a resident of that community, charging him with the theft of 50 chickens belonging to John Wildermuth who resides northeast of Maplewood. The chickens were stolen last Tuesday night.

75 Years

January 6, 1947

Assistant Attorney General Lee Shield, of Sidney, was today named superintendent of insurance in the state commerce department by Governor-elect Thomas J. Herbert. Shield was appointed an assistant attorney general in 1941 by Herbert, when the latter was serving as attorney general. He returned to that post following service in the European and Pacific theaters during the war.

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Attendance in the city schools was remarkably high for the month of December, and equaled exactly the November attendance figure, of 94.9 per cent, Supt. of Schools, F.B. Louys announced today. Fourth ward pupils held the attendance record with a 97.2 per cent figure; First ward had the lowest with 89.7 per cent.

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Three employees of the Dayton Power and Light Co. were recognized for their 25 years of service at a recognition dinner in the Hotel Wagner last evening. They were: Ray Clinehens, line foreman; Leo Wesbecher, appliance service department, and John Libbee, gas distribution supervisor.

50 Years

January 6, 1972

Rev. Guy H. McIver, 32, of Chillicothe, will be the new minister for Sidney’s First Presbyterian Church following a congregational meeting held Sunday after the morning worship service at which McIver delivered his candidate’s sermon.

Dr. Malcolm C. Thompson, who had been pastor here for 17 years, left in mid-May to go to St. Louis’ Oak Hill Presbyterian Church.

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Statistics released this week by Sidney School Superintendent Roger McGee show that both the number and training of teachers in the local schools has increased since the 1965-66 school year.

Noting that five years ago the Sidney schools employed 167 teachers, McGee points out that this year the teaching staff number 215, an increase of 48.

25 Years

January 6, 1997

Having raised seven children to adulthood, Meredith and Ruth Shaffer of Sidney probably thought their days as parents were over. All that changed last year with the adoption of an orphaned girl from Haiti.

Evelyne Shaffer arrived in Shelby County last summer, fulfilling her dream of leaving her native country and starting a new life in the United States. She spoke little English, but with the help of a language teacher she is learning to communicate with her parents and classmates at Christian Academy School.

A bright girl who is shy around strangers, 12-year-old Evelyne takes Bible class, math, spelling and reading in addition to the French-English class taught by Sanna Hill-Aiken.

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MIAMI (AP) – Burt Reynolds, whose bad investments cost him the riches he earned from three decades of acting, says he will “grow up” and pay off his $11 million debt.

“I do not have a van. I do not have a motorcycle. I do not have a lot of jewelry. I do not drink. I do not gamble,” added Reynolds. “I’ve reached an age when I’d better grow up.”

His investments in the Po-Folks restaurant chain cost him $28 million. A theater he ran lost money steadily for 15 years. And he couldn’t pay a $4 million loan from CBS. Adding to his troubles was a costly divorce in 1994.