125 Years
May 31, 1898
The 26th annual commencement of the Sidney High School was held in the M.E. Church last evening. The usual large crowd in attendance at commencements was not present last night, the church not being near full. Every member of the class performed and all did credit to themselves. Members of the class presenting orations were: Alma Shaw, Thomas Orbison, Ralph Wilson, Ethel Way, Bertha Albers, John Blakley, Carolyn Wilson, Mary Edgar.
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At the special election held in the assembly room of the courthouse yesterday afternoon the question of issuing bonds for the erection of a new school building carried, there being a majority of 115 in favor of it. A very light vote was polled, there being but 279 votes cast.
100 Years
May 31, 1923
Exercises in connection with the 52nd annual commencement at Sidney High School were begun in the school auditorium last evening with the baccalaureate address delivered by Dr. Milton Vance, dean of the college of Wooster. The class play, “Putting It Over,” will be given tomorrow evening, with the musical comedy, “The Glass Slipper” on Thursday evening, followed by the alumni reception on Friday night.
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Rev. Lawrence Montanus, ordained to the priesthood at St. Marys cathedral in Cincinnati on Saturday, celebrated his first Mass at Holy Angels yesterday morning.
75 Years
May 31, 1948
First Lieutenant Wilbur Piper, Jr., has assumed command of Sidney’s national guard unit – Company I. 148th infantry. He succeeds Capt. Rodney Oldham who became head of the outfit when it was reactivated a little over a year ago. Oldham is
now checking possibilities of returned to active duty in the engineers corps. Piper served in the field artillery during World War II.
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Ralph Cromes of Cromes Funeral Service, South Main avenue, was elected president of the Funeral Directors Association of District 3, when the group held its May meeting in Sidney last evening. District Three includes Auglaize, Mercer, Darke, Allen, Champaign, Van Wert, Miami and Shelby counties.
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That youthful softball aspirants of the community will be offered a chance to show their wares in regular league competition this summer, was assured today after Iutis club officials disclosed plan to continue operation of the program first introduced here last summer.
50 Years
May 31, 1973
Michael Smith passed his Ohio Bar exam May 5, and joined the Blake Blake & Faulkner law firm as an attorney.
Smith received his bachelor arts degree in history from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1968. Then he was graduated from the Ohio Northern University Law School in November, 1972.
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Two Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies saw a tornado moving through the sky about three miles southeast of Sidney last night at 7:45.
The tornado apparently did not touch ground and no severe damage was reported in the area.
Upon seeing it, Sgt. James Thompson reported the tornado to the weather bureau in Dayton, which, in turn, contacted various television and radio stations to warn persons in the area.
25 Years
May 31, 1998
Worried parents pulled their children out of Bridgeview Middle School after WHIO-TV Channel 7 in Dayton aired promos for a story on the 5 p.m. newscast about a threat that had been made by a boy at Bridgeview.
Today 184 of the 600 Bridgeview students are absent, or just over 30 percent of the student body. By comparison, normal absenteeism is around 6 percent, said Iddy Andrews, communications coordinator for the Sidney City Schools.
Don Mills, managing editor at Channel 7, said the promos and story were based on a letter faxed to the station by Superintendent Dr. David Dolph. The letter indicated that a boy had threatened to bring a gun and listed steps that were being taken to promote safe schools.
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CELINA, Ohio (AP) – Closing the Huffy bicycle plant and laying off 1,000 workers will be painful but the community will survive, says the mayor of this western Ohio city.
“For some families, it’s going to be long-term impacts. Our hearts go out to them,” said Mayor Craig Klopfleisch. “But the local economy is strong. I believe that long term we’re going to weather this thing and recover fully.
Huffy Corp announced that it plans to close the 40-year-old Huffy Bicycle Co. plant by the end of the year.
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.
