Arcanum News for the week of July 4, 2022
By Vickie Rhodehamel
Welcome our new band director, Mr. Bryce Hopwood to Arcanum School District! Mr. Hopwood is a Waynesville graduate and earned his music teaching degree at Wright State University. He is an incredibly talented percussionist who has spent several years marching with the drum corps, Cincinnati Tradition, as well as performing with the indoor competitive drum line, Connexus. Mr. Hopwood most recently has been a music teacher in the Lima school district and assisted with their marching band program. He is eager to join the Arcanum program and continue our tradition of music and performance excellence. Welcome to the family, Mr. Hopwood!
“If These Stones Could Talk” will be presented on July 9 at 9 a.m. by the Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society in a cemetery walk at Ithaca Cemetery on State Route 503. Come hear first-hand accounts of our early settlers and residents of Ithaca, Arcanum and Twin Township. You never know who might pop up during the stroll but the planned guests are a Justice of the Peace, Ithaca’s Founder, a wood worker, Revolutionary War soldier and his wife, a local shop keeper, and the local doctor. Bring a lawn chair as they will be moving stone to stone to hear first-hand accounts. July 16 will serve as a rain date if needed.
It will be Christmas in July at Immanuel Baptist Church on Saturday, July 23. The ladies of IBC will be hosting their first ever Christmas Tea. You don’t want to miss this event! There will be special music, delicious foods to taste and enjoy, a photobooth plus a devotional message! The committee so looks forward to being able to finally present this event after having to cancel due to COVID in prior years! If you have any questions, please feel free to message or call Vickie Rhodehamel at 937-423-3763. IBC is located at 500 West South Street, Arcanum.
Discover God’s Great Light on Adventure Island as Gordon/Grace and St. Matthew present Vacation Bible School this year at their Gordon campus. VBS will be held July 25 to 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 311 East Street, Gordon. Discovery on Adventure Island invites children to arise and shine because the light of God’s love has come and is shining on them. The children will be empowered by exploring ways God shines great light in the world and by learning how they can also shine God’s light by reflecting what they’ve learned. Through stories in the Old and New Testaments, this program will show students how connection with God brings the invitation to shine God’s light in a world that needs it now more than ever. From a whimsical lighthouse on the tropical, enchanted Adventure Island, children (Explorers) begin their quest in search of five mysterious infinity lanterns that help light their way on the island. These lanterns are the light of Love, the light of Trust, the light of Faith, the light of Joy, and the light of Hope. In each session, children (Explorers) with the guidance of the lighthouse keeper and Adventure Island expert (Beacon the Puffin), will discover map coordinates and clues from their Reference Book (the Bible) that help them find each lantern. They will also learn the ways God’s great light shines in the lives of familiar Bible characters and explore how the same light can be shining in their lives!
Thank you, Gregg Brown and Abbottsville Monuments, for working with me to design and place my late husband, Kevin’s gravestone at Ithaca Cemetery. Inspired by Kevin’s love of Frank Lloyd Wright, I knew that somehow that had to show through in his headstone. Gregg came up with the idea of making cantilevers a part of the design plus the special plate with one of Kevin’s favorite stained-glass designs of FLW (Coonley House in Riverside). I am very happy with the extra care and work that Gregg took to work with me on this project. If you are looking for a monument or headstone, give him a call. He is the best! #abbottsvillemonuments #ithacacemetery I have to plant flowers in the flower box yet and sew some grass seed. There was a delay in getting the stone completed due to COVID, the logistics crisis and the normal long-shipping time to get granite from India that was doubled during the past two and one-half years! Today would have been our 42nd wedding anniversary, the date July 5 will never be the same for me.
Looking to volunteer? The Arcanum Alumni Association is also looking for new members, especially those alumni who will be celebrating the 50th or 25th anniversary of their graduation, 1973 and 1998. If you are a member of this class and would like to get involved in putting next year’s event together and finding out how scholarships are awarded, please feel free to contact Vickie Rhodehamel, Chairperson or Denise Swabb, Treasurer. Have some questions or would like to talk about being a volunteer? Call Vickie at 937-423-3763 or Denise at 937-459-9081.
On Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. the Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society will host another topic of the 1959 Fire of the Weisenbarger Building. This building housed the Arcanum Public Library, Post Office, Arcanum Lockers, and Clark Hardware. This building stood on the ground where the parking lot is now between Fourman’s Variety Store and Belle Foile Tanning. Did you know that 8,000 books went up in flames that night? Did you know that this fire is why our current Post Office building was built? Did you know that many residents stored meat in the lockers and lost everything? Join them to learn more about the day and share your memories. The conversation with start when the first fire siren sounded. Please bring photos, newspapers articles and any memorabilia for viewing that will help tell the store of the fire and what followed. The AWTHS is preserving the history of Arcanum and surrounding area through the memories you share.
“That’s All Right Mama” was first recorded by Elvis Presley on July 5, 1954. The King of Rock and Roll was quoted as stating “I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.”
Vickie Rhodehamel is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her Arcanum community column. She can be reached by calling 937-423-3763, by email at [email protected]. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.
