Beacon Apr 2024

Page 12B THE BEACON April 2024
DILLSBORO
By
Lorene
Westmeier
Community
Correspondent
dillsboro@goBEACONnews.com
Dillsboro Elementary
School is proud to announce
its recent designation as
one of the “Best Elementary
Schools of 2024” by US
News & World Report. The
recognition is a testament to
their unwavering commitment
to academic excellence
and dedication to providing
an outstanding educational
experience for our students.
Congrats, DES! Kyle (Thayer)
Miller is the Principal.
The town of Dillsboro has
good news. Derek Walker
has been
hired as the
new Town
Manager.
Derek
was born
and raised
in Milan.
He earned
Derek Walker a Master’s
degree in
O
ur
Urban and Regional Planning
and then worked for Dearborn
County Planning and Zoning
for four years. He then
worked for Aurora and Greendale
as a City Manager.
Derek and his wife, Amber,
daughter Nora who is
nine, and their five-year-old
son Elliott, will be moving
to Dillsboro as soon as they
find a home. We are excited to
welcome them to our town.
Susan Greco, Director of
Economic Development has
been acting as interim town
manager. The town would like
to thank Susan for all of her
help and hard work keeping
things going while the Board
searched for a replacement.
A Look Back- Apr. 3, 1974
Only one tornado tore
across southern Indiana on
April 3, 1974, but it was on
the ground for one hour and
thirty-five minutes, covering
one hundred twenty miles,
killing fourteen people, and
injuring two hundred eightysix.
The tornado seemed to
start around Brandenburg,
KY and continued to scenic
Hanover and Madison. I was
at work at S.E. Indiana Rural
Telephone Co-op at that time
Communities
Congratulations to the staff and students at Dillsboro Elementary School for being ranked
the best.
and hurried home to check on
my invalid mother. As I pulled
in our barnyard at Farmers
Retreat, I saw a cloud of red
dust in the southeast. Later
we found out that St. Peters
Lutheran Church in Bear
Branch had been hit. The red
dust that I had seen was from
the red bricks of the church
going up in a cloud of dust.
Many neighbors of the church
had considerable damage.
Fortunately, the minister’s
wife and little boy were in the
basement when the parsonage
was hit. After the tornado had
passed, they went upstairs to
the kitchen, thinking that she
could clean up the mess. She
then turned around to close
the door and found the entire
front of the house was gone.
The church had a statue
of Jesus on the altar. It was
one of the only things left
and appeared to be watching
over the remaining items. But
the church was gone. Some
of the families that were hit
were Knigga, Race, Iceberg,
Kittenbrink, Sommer, Bushman,
and Walston. Judy
Race said her car was on top
of her dad’s combine in the
barn. A photo of it made the
front page of the Cincinnati
Enquirer.
Tornadoes begin in thunderclouds.
Winds high in the
cloud blow faster than winds
lower down. Sometimes high
and low winds blow in different
directions, causing the air
to start spinning. Power builds
up in the center. The bottom
of the cloud often stretches to
a point to form a funnel. And
when the cloud touches the
ground, it’s a tornado! This all
happened fifty years ago.
Editor’s note- When attending
a recent celebration in
Bear Branch, the conversation
turned to photos of John
and Judy Race’s wedding
photos being destroyed by
the tornado. One must pause
and realize that decades later,
the impact of April 3, 1974
continues to intertwine itself
in the life of this resilient
community and many others.
RISING SUN/
OHIO COUNTY
By
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Residential & Commercial
Community
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us for the most part. I always
look forward to the refreshing
weather that is upon us. We
have two special birthdays in
our family as Kelli’s twins,
Grady and Carli, celebrate
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the Big 16! Carli turned 16
on Mar. 1 but twin brother,
Grady, turned an official 4 on
Feb. 29. Yes, Grady is a Leap
Year baby and only gets a real
birthday every four years.
It’s hard to believe that they
are getting ready to get their
driver’s licenses.
Paula will be celebrating
her birthday on Mar. 21 and
Kelli on Apr. 4. and I am not
putting the ages out. You can
ask them. If you insist, then
Kelli will be 46 and Paula 72.
Congratulations to Jeff
Lane on his retirement as a
police officer in Greendale
after thirty years. He will
now be a Deputy Sheriff in
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460 Ridge Ave. Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 EOE
Abe Lincoln (Jim Fulton),
PG and Raya Ziegler at
Harrison Elementary.
Ohio County for Sheriff Tom
Baxter. Since the Rising Sun
Police Department disbanded,
the city will be served by the
Sheriff’s Department. We are
fortunate to get someone of
Jeff’s caliber to come to work
here.
If you get a chance to see
any of our remaining World
War II Veterans from Dearborn
County- George Shelby,
George Lingg, George
Klopp, Tom Cook, Clarence
Cook, and JC Lewis, be sure
to shake their hand and thank
them for being a part of America’s
Greatest Generation.
The remaining three in Ohio
County, are Leroy Guard,
Bob Browning, and Bill Elder.
God Bless all of them.
The Rising Sun High School
honored the 40th Anniversary
Basketball Team from when
they won the Boys’ Sectional
back in 1984. That brings back
a lot of memories when they
lit up the town of Rising Sun.
RSHS Junior, Brody Morris,
has been putting up some
big numbers with his scoring
for the Shiners.
Congratulations to Olivia
Graver and Max Mossburger
for being named All ORVC
Swimmers with their two victories
each in the conference
meet. Both are school record
holders.
A Rising Sun High School
graduate, Maddy Moore,
recently had an art show at
IUPUI in Indianapolis where
she is a first-year drawing
and illustration major. The
show was titled “Head in the
Clouds” and she was able to
show her wonderful talent.
Ron Spurlock and I accompanied
Abe Lincoln (Jim Fulton)
to Harrison Elementary
on his 215th birthday where
we entertained one hundred
thirty students. They enjoyed
Abe and his presentation.
I continue to pray for all of
you and to have good health.