SIDNEY — The Sidney Bicentennial Committee reminds the public raffle tickets for the Bicentennial rifles are still available as the drawing nears.
“The deadline for purchasing raffle tickets for the Serial Number 1 Henry Golden Boy and the Serial No. 1 Henry Standard is drawing near,” Shelby County Commissioner and Sidney Bicentennial Committee Co-Chair Bob Guillozet said in a press release. “The winning tickets will be drawn at 6 p.m. Saturday evening, Dec. 5, just prior to Winter Wonderland Revere Parade of Lights.”
Raffle tickets are available at Meyer’s Garage, 6377 State Route 66, Newport; Tactical Solutions, 5899 State Route 29, Pasco; Sidney Ace Hardware, 320 N. Main Ave., Sidney; and Lochard’s Do-It Best Hardware, 803 Wapakoneta Ave., Sidney. Tickets can also be purchased from Sidney City Clerk Kari Egbert, Guillozet, or Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst. Tickets are $50 each, with only 250 tickets being sold.
“The first prize in the raffle will be the Serial No. 1 Henry Golden Boy,” Guillozet continued. “The second ticket drawn will be for the Serial No. 1 Henry Standard.”
“Both the serial No. 1 guns were donated by Rocky Mountain Firearms to the Shelby County Bicentennial Committee with the intent that they be raffled with the proceeds benefiting the Shelby County Bicentennial Committee,” Barhorst said in the release. Barhorst is serving as co-chair of the Bicentennial Committee.
The Henry Golden Boy is a .22 caliber rifle. It has a brass finished receiver and octagon barrel. It is valued at $895.
The Henry Standard is also .22 caliber rifle. It comes with a blued receiver and round barrel. It is valued at $699.
The commemorative Henry rifles were especially designed for Sidney’s Bicentennial. The right side of the butt stock includes an engraved image of Sir Philip Sidney and a map of the original 14 ½ blocks that comprised Sidney’s original plat. The left side includes Sidney’s Bicentennial logo and an image of the Monumental Building.
The right side of the pistol grip includes an image of The Big-Four Bridge, an image that since its construction in 1923, has served to symbolize Sidney’s role as the Gateway to the Miami Valley. The left side of the pistol grip includes an image of Ross Covered Bridge in Tawawa Park.
The right side of the forearm stock includes an image of the logo of the All-America City program. Often called the Nobel Prize for constructive citizenship, Sidney was named an All-America City in 1964. In addition, there is an image of The Spot restaurant, the local diner that has served generations of Sidney residents and visitors (and at least one United States President) for more than a century.
The left side forearm stock includes an image of the People’s Federal Savings & Loan building. Designed by architect Louis Sullivan, the building attracts scores of architects and architectural students to Sidney every year. In addition, there is an image of a wagon filled with barrels of beer brewed by the John Wagner Brewing Company. The local brewery produced beer from 1850 through Prohibition, and briefly after that “grand experiment” ended in 1933.
“Funds generated from the sale of the tickets will be used to help defray the costs of the bicentennial celebration,” Barhorst said. “Despite the fact that many of the activities were cancelled, there were still expenses, as many of the projects incurred expenses before the pandemic forced their cancellation.”
“In addition, some of the activities we thought we’d be holding this year have been moved to 2021 or 2022,” Barhorst continued. “One of those events is the return of the Vietnam Traveling Wall, which is scheduled to return to Sidney next Sept. 15-19, 2021. Still another is the Civil War Living History Weekend, which is scheduled for Sept. 18-19, 2022. Even though the Bicentennial year will be over, the activities will go on.”
