125 Years
May 24, 1898
A meeting of the directors of the Shelby County Agricultural Institute was held this morning in the office of the secretary. The rules governing the fair last year were adopted for this year’s fair and a few changes made in the premium list. A committee of S.H. Wright, W.C. Valentine and W.T. Johnston was named to confer with the county commissioners about the assessment of a tax to aid agricultural fairs under a recent act of the legislature.
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The City Board of Equalization met this morning and organized by electing H.S. Ailes, chairman, and John Given, secretary.
100 Years
May 24, 1923
Sidney Night in radio as broadcast by the Erner Hopkins company from Columbus last evening from 6 to 7 o’clock went over big. The Columbus papers this morning in commenting on the program state it was the best yet given by the Hopkins broadcasting station. Sidney radios were put to work by local fans, the concert being plainly heard here. A large crowd gathered about the south side of the square to hear the program as received and transmitted from the third floor of the Van Cleve Furniture store.
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Edwin Essington, better known as “Tubby,” the famous drum major at Ohio State University, was in Sidney today conferring with Prof. B.O. Worrell and M.B. McKee in reference to going to Atlanta with the Sidney Municipal Band as drum major. Arrangements were made and he will return to Sidney Saturday morning to leave with the band that afternoon.
75 Years
May 24, 1948
Fire of an unknown origin completely destroyed a large banked barn on the Sharp and Anderson farm, just northwest of Sidney on the Studevant pike, this morning. Sidney firemen answer a call, turned in by an unidentified person, at 4:18 a.m., but the building was a mass of flames when they arrived. Their efforts were directed toward preventing the flames from spreading to surrounding structures.
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Mayor Waldo A. Patton today issued a statement relative to his position in the event of a strike at the plants of the Copeland Refrigeration Corporation by members of the UE-CIO Local 776, and offered his services to prevent such a strike.
50 years
May 24, 1973
A building permit for a coin-operated laundromat has been filed, according to Sidney Building Inspector John Hannigan.
The business will be located on the present site of Kocher’s Lumber Co. lot, 319 E. Court St., which went out of business earlier this year.
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Shelby County Chapter of the American Heart Association held its final meeting for the year at an awards dinner at the Golden Pumpkin Restaurant Thursday. Fourteen members were present to see Mrs. J.A. Shine installed as president.
Mrs. Shine will be assisted by Dr. William Mentges, vice president; Mrs. William Uncapher, secretary; Mrs. Norbert Strosnider, treasurer, and Mrs. Robert Schweitzer, publicity chairman.
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VERSAILLES – Jerry Klene, who has taught in the Versailles Schools since 1971, has resigned his position as counselor and as freshman and assistant basketball varsity coach to accept the position of head basketball coach and cross country coach at Botkins High School for the 1973-74 year.
25 Years
May 25, 1998
Douglas Benson has been in classrooms since 1951, either as a student or teacher. But all that will change at the end of this school year when he retires as eighth-grade language arts teacher at Bridgeview Middle School.
His entire 31-year teaching career has been with the Sidney City Schools and all but two years have been in the Bridgeview building. Having spent so many years on “either side of the desk,” one of the things Benson is looking forward to in retirement is seeing what the world is like in the fall.
The retiring teacher is likely to visit Hawaii or Maine, when the leaves begin to turn, as those are the only two states he has not visited.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Frank Sinatra, the brash young idol who became the premier romantic balladeer of American popular music and the “Chairman of The Board” to millions of fans, died Thursday of a heart attack. He was 82.
These news items from past issues of the Sidney Daily News are compiled by the Shelby County Historical Society (937-498-1653) as a public service to the community. Local history on the Internet! www.shelbycountyhistory.org. Visit the Sidney Daily News website, www.sidneydailynews.com to read the rest of the week’s columns.
