Randy Baker, our high school boys’ baseball coach for many years will be inducted into the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

This is extremely well-deserved. The event will take place at the Crown Plaza, 33 E. Fifth Street, Dayton, on March 1 – doors open at 5:30, dinner at 6:30. Tickets are available from MVBCA.

The MVBCA was founded in 1973 to serve all of the Miami Valley area high school baseball coaches with several objectives in mind. First, and foremost, to promote high school baseball programs throughout the Miami Valley. The organization selects and recognizes baseball players, coaches, and teams, in many different ways each year. The selection of All-Area baseball teams, computer polls, and Hall of Fame are just to name a few that the MVBCA promotes.

They also set an official line of communication with many of the state baseball associations such as the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association, The Southwest District Athletic Board, and of course, The Ohio High School Athletic Association. The organization and the website are in hopes of establishing a high standard of ethics and integrity towards the game of baseball, and promote good fellowship and a proper spirit of sportsmanship among our members.

The Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society has updated their website. Check it out. They have the following upcoming events monthly – First Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon is their monthly Open House. The First Friday of every month from 1-3 p.m. they have their Euchre Party and they are always looking for more players.

Have you ever thought about researching the history of your home? The AWTHS often gets calls about that from new families that move into our area. Often they ask about the age of their home, who lived there in the past, what events might have occurred there, etcetera.

The AWTHS recommends that first you do a search on the property deed or title; this can be accomplished at the Darke County Courthouse in the recorders department.

Secondly, you might want to talk to your neighbors and they might know more about your home than you realize. They might even have some old photos! Third, once you have a list of past property owners, look for the names in the census records. They have some of these books at AWTHS Reference Library. Other sources or places to look include: Arcanum or Greenville Public Library, the Darke Genealogical Society at Garst Museum in Greenville and looking on-line thru Family Search or Ancestry.

Fourth, look in old newspapers for the names or addresses of the property. AWTHS has limited info from the Arcanum Newspapers. Other libraries may have papers on microfilm, you might want to check out the Arcanum Times newspapers available at AWTHS.

Lastly, if you have family names who were past owners of your home, google the names on the internet and see what search engines can find. Those who have researched their family’s history and worked on family trees may have already found this information.

The Arcanum Preservation Society Inc. is a nonprofit organization being organized by local residents to preserve the historic Arcanum Town Hall and Opera House. This organization was just formed last summer and in is the groundwork stage of preserving the building most of us know as the old City Hall Building. This beautiful old building has a wonderful history and we need to preserve it with as much accuracy as possible.

The goal of the group is to restore the building using the knowledge and talents of our community residents. Anyone interested in the preservation, history and our community are invited to join in the collective group. They would love to involve residents who have skills in construction and building as well as village history. APS appreciates the support they have from our mayor, village council and Twin Township leaders. Arcanum Alumnus,

Roger Snell (rogersnell.com) has pledged a percentage of the profits from the sale of his beautiful painting “A New Day in Arcanum” to the group. The painting is on display at Sutton’s Grocery Store. Please feel free to leave them a note at the display in the store. For more information, please check out their Facebook page (arcanumpreservationsociety) or contact them via email at [email protected].

The Arcanum Alumni Association will again meet for their monthly meeting on February 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Faith UMC. They are always looking for new members to help them plan the annual Trojan Homecoming Event and to administer the yearly scholarships. Additionally, they are in need of someone who is computer savvy and would be interested in becoming their Membership Secretary; the present secretary is looking to retire after this year. Please contact Sally Sharritts with questions at 692-5245.

“There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues.” ~ Hal Borland

“The twelve months…Snowy, Flowy, Blowy, Showery, Flowery, Bowery, Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy, Breeze, Sneezy, Freezy.” ~ George Ellis

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ~ Edith Sitwell