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 By JENNIFER TANGEMAN
Staff Writer
Few people exhibit an enthusiasm about historical artifacts as Jim Bowsher does.
When crews working for G.A. Wintzer and Son Co. started working to build new office space on West Auglaize Street, they came across some interesting finds where a rental home had previously sat.
Jim Kent and others of Kent Surveying began finding pieces of artifacts. They called in local history buff, Bowsher, to try to figure out what the bits and pieces meant.
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 |
From the WDN staff
1: Wapakoneta girls basketball goes to state tournament
When Wapakoneta High School scorekeeper, and Wapakoneta Daily News sports writer Phil McLean died in January, the school’s varsity girls basketball team believed their friend would take them to the state tournament.
The man known as “Mr. Statistic” did just that.
After McLean’s passing in January, the girls team went on a tear which galvanized the city of Wapakoneta. The team blew through their early tournament games blowing out a Bath team which had dealt Wapak’s only defeat earlier in the regular season.
They defeated Bath at Lima Senior High School by a score of 64-48.
Galvanizing area support, the Redskins defeated Tiffin Columbian, 56-43, in their first game at Ontario.
After dispatching Walsh Jesuit, 50-48 in overtime, in the regional final at Ontario High School, the team found themselves in Columbus for the OHSAA state tournament.
The girls engineered a solid performance in their semifinal round, downing Riverview, 40-31, and set up a state final clash with Hathaway Brown. The game was arguably the best during the entire tournament with the teams trading the lead multiple times.
In the end it was Hathaway Brown taking the contest, 52-46.
The loss did little to hamper the reception a crowd of more than 6,000 gave the team following the game.
“We lost today, but I don’t think we have any regrets on our season and we left it all out there,” senior Devon Golden said after the game. “I think that we’re not happy at the end of the day, but we’re proud of each other and proud of our season.”
Members of the team included Golden, Heidi Schlegel, Emily Steveley, Erica Bryan, Christy Steinke, Tasha Helmstetter, Emily Lowry, Lydia Rinehart, Amy Snider, Kailey Schneider, Karmyn Schneider, Jordan Sawmiller, Emma Sawmiller, Jodi Hegemier and Morgan Quellhorst.
The team was coached by Rusty Allen and Lou Seddelmeyer.
“I think now that they’ve had some time to think about it, they realize what a great accomplishment it is for not only them, but for the community as well,” Allen said. And it was a great feeling to see everybody show up.”
2. Armstrong 40th
Anniversary
One again this year, the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum and the Wapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce teamed up to host the 40th annual Summer Moon Festival in celebration of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s successful landing, exploration of the moon and most importantly a human walking another planet other than earth when he stepped onto the moon’s surface at 10:56 p.m. on July 20, 1969 — a day that will be etched in Wapakoneta and world history for generations to come.
The festival, which was held July 16-20, featured several family and education-based activities including carnival rides, inflatable toys, a moon pie eating competition, a beauty pageant contest and entertainment by local and area bands, among other things.
Aside from its own activities, the museum also held an assortment of other events such as hot air ballon rides, remote control plane competitions, a viewing of the world’s largest moon pie made by the Chattanooga Bakery, Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn., a human-sized astronaut sculpture made out of cheese by Sarah “The Cheese Lady” Kaufmann, and a 5K run.
The landmark facility also held traveling hands-on space and aviation exhibits from the Glenn NASA Research Center and the National Aviation Heritage Association. In addition, the Mars Society also provided displays, along with presentations from guest speakers focusing on current and future expeditions in space.
New this year to the festival was the Tri-County Field of Honor, an area on the museum’s grounds that was designated for 3- by 5-foot American flags to strategically be displayed for eight days in honoring Wapakoneta’s heroes.
The flags, which received proper etiquette at all times, were on display free to the public July 13-20. In celebrating Armstrong’s 40th anniversary the museum also offered free admission into its facility to residents of Auglaize County on July 19 and 20.
3: Area residents save the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum from closure
For months, the news coming out of Columbus was dismal. Potential cuts to the state budget meant many historical sites around the state may close.
The state’s final approved budget closely mirrored the budget proposed by Gov. Strickland, with a $5.9 million, or 42 percent, cut from the state’s support for the Ohio Historical Society, which maintained the museum site.
When area residents learned the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum may be one of the sites in trouble, several people gathered together in an effort to save the 38-year-old structure. The group called themselves the Armstrong Air & Space Museum Association, and their efforts to combine forces with the Ohio Historical Society saved the museum from closure.
The non-profit group was founded and led by former museum director John Zwez.
The partnership was officially announced this month, and will take into effect on April 1 after the museum is closed for four months for renovations. The local group will maintain day to day operations of the site which was opened in 1972. OHS personnel will continue to help maintain the preservation of the site, help with capital improvements and provide educational support, as well as outreach and marketing.
4. Sidewalk dilemma in Grandview Estates
An attorney for a group of residents in Grandview Estates, an area of residences behind Grandview Plaza, filed a motion Dec. 23 to dismiss a civil suit against the city of Wapakoneta after councilors rescinded an ordinance on Dec. 21 to install sidewalks throughout the western housing subdivision.
Federal “Safe Routes to School” funds, which are administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation, garnered by the city are to be used to install sidewalks west from Wapakoneta High School and the newly constructed Wapakoneta Elementary School along Redskin Trail and through Grandview Estates and to Defiance Street through Bramblewood Estates, which is south of the schools.
Lima attorney Mike Rumer filed a civil suit in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court to halt the city from installing sidewalks against the will of the residents who argued it would not increase the value of their properties.
Approximately 30 residents filled council chambers to express their concerns with the sidewalk program, especially since it came on the heels of the economy rolling into a recession.
They later brought evidence that a plot map indicated no sidewalks were to be installed in the subdivision.
5. New field turf at Harmon Field, hosts playoff games
When it was completed in August, the $500,000 project to replace the old grass surface at Wapakoneta’s Harmon Field with synthetic turf was meant to boost the venue’s overall look and usability.
Funded completely through corporate and private donations and in-kind labor, the new playing surface, installed by Pittsburgh-based ProGrass Synthetic Turf Systems, accomplished just that and more during the fall 2009 sports season.
The new turf made Harmon one of the premier football stadiums in the area.
It hosted football games from the midget league up to the varsity high school level as well as regular season and playoff soccer matches. It was the site of the Wapakoneta Redskins varsity team’s only win of the season, a 21-20 comeback against the Celina Bulldogs.
In football’s postseason, Harmon was the site of four state playoff games, including the Division VI state semifinal between Marion Local and Delphos St. John’s. Before that, in arguably two of the best games played at Harmon Field in quite a while, the Coldwater Cavaliers, who went on to lose the Division V state championship game in Canton, played two dramatic overtime playoff contests against Anna and St. Henry in front of a packed house.
6. H1N1 Virus
In early April, a single swine flu case was confirmed in Elyria. At the time, it was the only confirmed case in Ohio, although several state and other countries were confirming small numbers of cases.
In late March and early April, cases of human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses were first reported in Southern California and near San Antonio, Texas, among those individuals who traveled to Mexico and California where outbreaks were reported to be taking place, and then traveled back to their native state, spreading the virus to others.
Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease caused by type A influenza viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs, and although people do not normally catch the flu, human infections can and do happen. The Centers for Disease Control has determined that swine flu viruses are contagious and that it is possible for the viruses to spread from person to person.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, the spread of swine flu occurs from touching surfaces or coming into contact with people contaminated with swine flu viruses. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
The symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
7. Police Chief Dave Webb retires, testing of lieutenants results in hearing
Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Webb retired effective Oct. 16, ending seven years as police chief. He succeeded former Police Chief Dave Harrison, who was mired in a criminal case, after serving six months as interim police chief.
His retirement concluded a 26-year career in law enforcement, all with the Wapakoneta Police Department.
He was succeeded by Lt. Russ Hunlock, but not before questions were contested by Hunlock and Lt. Greg Lowry. Lowry questioned some of the questions disregarded and some of the answers to other questions.
Lowry brought in an attorney and his complaints were heard by Wapakoneta Civil Service Commission members. After a hearing on the questions, commission members did not change their minds on the questions and Hunlock was maintained as police chief.
8. Economy slows, job losses mount
As the national economy slowed into a recession, the effects could be felt in Wapakoneta. A local economy fueled by small businesses saw its unemployment rate climb from slightly more than 3 percent during the decade to 6 percent and topping out at 10.2 percent.
Businesses trimmed their labor rolls to keep costs in check. (See accompanying story Page 1A)
The biggest loss may have been the sale of Wapakoneta Machine Inc. during an auction in federal court in Toledo. The company was one of the oldest in the city.
Dr. Ed Hill, who addressed a Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council annual banquet, said employment lags the economy.
He claimed it could be at least five years before employment numbers come back despite economists and experts saying the economy came out of the recession in July.
See TOP 10, Page 7A
9: Ohio Supreme Court issues ruling in David Harrison case
A criminal case involving a former Wapakoneta police chief came to a conclusion in July, ending seven years of litigation.
Ohio Supreme Court justices ruled in July that David Harrison’s conviction as result of a jury trial in March 2006 was contrary to law and therefore void.
In June 2003, Harrison pled guilty to a six-count bill of information after child pornography was found on his computer. Harrison was sentenced to one year in jail. When he was released from jail in July 2004, members of the Adult Parole Authority did not take action to impose a term of probation. Visiting Van Wert Common Pleas Judge Charles Steele sentenced him to one year probation with an option of three years.
Seven months after he completed his sentence, Auglaize County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Pierce discovered Harrison should have been sentenced to a mandatory five years probation.
During March 2005 hearing, Harrison withdraw his plea.
After the plea was withdrawn, the state of Ohio brought a 23-count indictment against him, which was based around the additional counts, similar to those in the bill of information. In March 2006, a jury found Harrison guilty during the trial, and in May 2006, the former police chief was sentenced to six years in prison.
In the high court’s majority ruling, justices noted the five years of mandatory post release control, or probation, was listed as optional in the court entry, and since the option was not exercised, Harrison should not have been re-sentenced.
10. Harrison Street Bridge project, East Benton Street reconstruction project
Two road reconstruction projects, one with accompanying bridge replacement, snarled traffic through Wapakoneta throughout the summer.
Officials from Auglaize County and the city of Wapakoneta worked together to reconstruct Harrison Street, east of Defiance Street, and to replace the Harrison Street Bridge. The cost of the project was $2.1 million.
The majority of the project was covered with funds through the Ohio Department of Transportation and Issue 1 funds used on behalf of the city of Wapakoneta.
The move forced motorists to use Auglaize Street and Silver Street to go from west to east.
Brumbaugh Construction and Ohio Bridge worked on the project.
Wapakoneta hired RD Jones Excavating, of Harrod, to reconstruct East Benton Street at a cost of approximately $544,000.
Crews replaced water lines and separated stormwater from sanitary sewer lines from Wood Street to Water Street. They also installed new curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
The move forced traffic to use East Pearl Street and other roadways to gain access to Bellefontaine Street and Veterans Memorial Park.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 January 2010 )
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