Happy 60th Wedding Anniversary to Dave and Beth Flora of Arcanum. They were married on August 1, 1957 at Faith United Methodist Church by her brother, Rev. Tom Julien and the Rev. Paul Chastain. Dave and Beth have four children: Jody Fair of North Carolina, Jill (Blair) Miller of Michigan, Carrie (Mike) Feitshans of Arcanum, and Brad (Sherry) Flora of Greenville. They are also grandparents to 10 grandchildren. They celebrated with family. Congratulations Dave and Beth!
Recently, the Arcanum Field House (old high school gymnasium) received some much needed attention. The gym floor was sanded, repainted, and refinished over the summer and it looks great! Think about all the memories that building holds? I recently read online some memories that I wanted to share—band concerts, prom, pep band at basketball games, graduation, and many others. Remember when the gym would be sold out for basketball games? There used to be a waiting list to get reserved seats at that gym, those were the days! Here’s a few more memories “I could be wrong but I believe the first game in the “new gym” was in 1962 against Graham High School.” Remember when you had to take off your shoes to walk on the court? Only proper “tennis shoes” were allowed in the “new gym”. Another memory that was shared online was “A gym that has a huge tradition in basketball that most will never come to know. A community that has always been huge supporters of athletics. I don’t of any other kid that got to spend as much time as I did learning to play the game in this gym. I was one of the coaches’ son and also the team manger, watching every season before I was able to walk, to many hours of open gym, many more hours watching the game, and getting chills watching my daughter in this gym for the last season. After being at other schools, I look back and remind myself of how truly blessed I was at being a part of the continuing tradition and Trojan Pride!” Another viewer wrote this memory – “I remember watching a lot of basketball as an elementary student thru high school and graduating in that gym! Many memories from Gunkle almost breaking the scoring record for a single game to watching my classmates play. The best memory was the final game of the 1992 season against Ansonia. The winner of the game would win the conference; it was expected to be a sellout so I stayed after school just to get a seat. It was packed for the freshman game because of that. Ansonia ended up winning but it was still one of the best games I remember from high school.”
From the old to the new — Construction recently began on the Good Samaritan North Fields Concession building as Aikman Excavating dug and poured the footer. The concession project will include restrooms and a covered shelter area. The projected is being funded in a joint effort by the Arcanum Athletic Boosters and the district use of Good Sam North contract funds.
Congrats to another Arcanum Graduate, Class of 2000 — Desteni (McCoy) Mason was once again been named one of the nation’s elite women in mortgage by Mortgage Professional Magazine! In an industry where the leadership roles are still dominated by men, the honorees in MPA’s 2017 Elite Women issue are working to change the status quo. After receiving numerous nominations from readers around the nation, MPA culled this list to 75 women who have overcome obstacles and broken barriers to become some of the industry’s top professionals. The 75 women on this year’s list are record-breakers and innovators, founders and owners, top executives and trendsetters. And they’re using their influence to change the face of the mortgage industry. Congrats Desteni! Desteni works at Performance Mortgage in Greenville, Ohio. To read the article check out the following website: http://bit.ly/2u8hC0w
Don’t forget the August Coffee and Conversation at Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society (AWTHS) about growing up in Pitsburg will be held on Saturday, August 12 at 10 a.m. at 123 W. George Street in Arcanum. Guests will be Dr. Jess Heise, Ester Hoover, and Gregg and Patty Spencer to share about Pitsburg. All are welcome to come and also share about your memories. If you have photos to share of Pitsburg please bring as well as a copy for our AWTHS library. All time frame photos are encouraged.
On Sunday, September 10 from 2 to 4 p.m. the AWTHS will host “Center School” at the old school house located at 6891 Grubbs-Rex Road on the farm of Tom and Barb Jackson. In a very unique celebration the schoolhouse will be OPEN for class at 2 p.m. that day with a history lesson on the area school. If you want to make a day of it, you can get the instructions from AWTHS to then drive the self-guided driving tour of other old school houses in Twin and Van Buren Township. Brochures can be downloaded from: http://bit.ly/2v3FtRT. More info on school and event listed at: http://www.ohio.org/events/old-school-house-tour. What a neat excursion idea! Thank you AWTHS!
