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Page 10A THE BEACON February 2019
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Sudoku
Sudoku is a logical puzzle game that may seem
difficult at first glance, but actually it is not as hard
as it looks! Fill a number in to every cell in the grid,
using the numbers 1 to 9. You can only use each
number once in each row, each column, and in each
of the 3×3 boxes. The solution can be found on our
website www.goBEACONnews.com/print_edition.
Click on the link for Sudoku and view the solution
for this month and last. Good luck and have fun!
Grandmother Kurtz’s Silver Thimble
By Mary-Alice Helms
Tiny and white-haired, she
held court from her creaking
rocking chair, the queen of
story-tellers. When we were
kids my sisters and I, along
with our five cousins, were
her willing subjects. She was
our great-grandmother, known
to us as “Grandmother Kurtz”
and to our cousins as “Granny.”
Her hands were always
busy as she talked, either with
some mending or with sewing
together colorful pieces
of cloth for a quilt top. On
the middle finger of her right
hand, she would wear a silver
thimble. That thimble was
meant to help push a stubborn
needle through closely-woven
cloth, but it had other uses.
Sometimes it would give emphases
to a story with sharp
raps on the wooden chair arm;
at other times it became a reminder
to a misbehaving child
to “straighten up.” Without
missing a word, Grandmother
Kurtz could deliver a resounding
“thunk” with that thimble
to the top of the head of a
miscreant.
We would sit spellbound
for hours, listening to exciting
stories about her parents
traveling with their families
from Switzerland to Havre,
and then coming to America
on a sailing ship. We heard
about the ship being chased
by a whale and the romantic
story of how the two young
people met aboard the ship
and married as soon as they
reached America.
Grandmother Kurtz was
very proud of having been
born in Indiana. Her mother
and father first settled in Miamisburg,
Ohio, where they
had seven children. The family
then moved to Connersville,
where Grandmother K.
was born in 1852. “I was the
only true Hoosier!” she would
declare. “The others were all
Buckeyes.”
I was the oldest of the cousins
who gathered around our
story-teller’s feet. When the
other children grew restless,
Grandmother Kurtz would
send them off to play. Then
I had her all to myself! That
was when I could ask for
my favorite stories. “Tell me
about the Civil War,” I would
beg. Sometimes her eyes
would fill with tears as she
related how her brother lied
about his age when he was
thirteen years old and went off
to join the Union army as a
drummer boy. She told about
the southern General John
Hunt Morgan and his troupe
of men known as Morgan’s
Raiders, who terrorized parts
of Ohio and Indiana. The infamous
gang had ridden through
her Uncle Henry’s prosperous
farm and stolen all of his
horses.
Once Grandmother Kurtz
slipped the silver thimble
from her finger, and slid it
onto mine, where it hung
in midair. “Now, it’s your
turn,” she said. “You tell me a
story,” and I did.
How often I have wished
that we could have recorded
Grandmother Kurtz’s tales.
She died in 1953, just a few
days before her 101st birthday.
I remember most of her
stories, word for word, but
they need to be told in her
own voice. And they need
the tapping of that silver
thimble.
OA Students excel in Maverick Challenge
The Maverick Challenge,
a business planning competition
was hosted at Oldenburg
Academy. Community judges
adjudicated twelve students
based on the business plans
and products they created for
the competition. Oldenburg
Academy participated in the
program representing Ripley
and Franklin Counties.
The Maverick Challenge
was started in 2008 by the
Columbus Indiana Chamber
of Commerce and continues
to grow. The competition is
intended to simulate the realworld
process of entrepreneurs
Mr. Jonathon Maple (Oldenburg Academy), Alex Bamonte,
Eli Sporleder, Alex Geers, Gabe Haverkos, India Burris,
Shelly Lunsford (Franklin County Community Foundation),
Cheryll Obendorff (Genesis Pathways to Success)
soliciting start-up funds from
early-stage investors, successful
entrepreneurs and community
leaders. Students had the
opportunity to work with business
and community mentors
as well as experience feedback
from professional judges.
The third place winner was
Top Smoothie, a smoothie
truck that will specialize
in healthy smoothies. Alex
Geers, Gabe Haverkos and
Eli Sporleder were the three
smoothie makers and leaders
of the company.
The Second place winner
was India Burris who created
“Benevolent Bracelets.” The
proceeds of these friendship
bracelets are earmarked to
provide funding to nonprofit
organizations and used for
flowers and trees to be planted
as part of the project.
The first-place honor went
to a unique flower pot company
whose product would
act as an urn for ashes. This
concept was presented by
Alex Bamonte.
Oldenburg Academy Assistant
Principal Jonathon Maple
is the head of the Franklin/
Ripley County competition
and leads the challenge at OA.
“The great parts about each of
these businesses were the personal
stories that they tied to
their business – they showed
passion – I am very proud,”
Mr. Maple commented.
The top two teams will
move on to the Spring Maverick
Challenge Regional Competition,
where nine counties
will compete. They then have
a chance to move on to the
state competition called Innovate
WithIN.
The perfect place for
weddings, rehearsal dinners,
showers and more!
Wedding dates for 2019 still
available!
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