8/20/2019 Paulding Progress September 9, 2015

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By JIM LANGHAMFeature Writer

  PAULDING – PauldingChamber of Commerce exec-utive director Peggy Emersonsat behind her ofce desk earlierthis week reecting on the po-tential success of the upcomingannual Flat Rock Creek FallFestival.  “I’ve been in lots of com-munities over the years, but thesocial, fund-raising, helping cli-mate of this community is some-thing else,” said Emerson. “Thisyear’s Flat Rock Creek Festivallooks to be as huge as any we’ve

ever had tothis point.”  Emersoncredited the presence ofnew barnsand the“ s p r e a d -ing news”about thefestival’ssuccess ev-ery year for the potential of thisyear’s event which will be heldat the Paulding County Fair-grounds, Sept. 18-20.  “The new barns are a won-

derful thing. They are going to provide more room than everfor vendors,” said Emerson.“We have at least 120 vendorsthat will be there, and we have90 more vendors who are on a

waiting list.  “We aregoing tohave a tonmore musicthis yearthan we’veever had,”continuedEmerson.“There will be blue

grass on the main stage startingat 1 p.m. every day.”  The blue grass extravaganza,which will go from 1-4 p.m.,will feature such bands as the

Steve Scott Band, New Moun-tain Heritage, Paul Bryant andKentucky Border, Shades ofGrass, Charity Moore and BigUgly Boys and Sound Man.  Other music features willinclude The Bulldogs at theMain Stage on Friday Night,Strawberry Hill on Saturdaynight and Pete Schlegel at theExtension Building on Saturdaynight. Other bands making their presence known include Stock -dale Family Band, John Reichlyand Black Sheep, from the First

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014

COLUMBUS GROVE

INVITATIONAL 1B Cross Country results from Saturday

 

 Volume 141 No. 3, Paulding, Ohio One Dollar USPS 423630

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

E  Edition at www.progressnewspaper.org

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

CONSTRUCTION TO

BEGIN FOR NEW

BARGAIN BIN 3A

INSIDESpecial salesevents from ...Chief, Rite Aid,

Rural King 

 AroundPaulding County Pete the Cat! At the library   PAULDING – Who knewthat the fun children’s bookcharacter, Pete the Cat is basedon a real cat? Here is a chance

for your preschooler and/orkindergartner to come to a fun-lled Pete the Cat program anddelight in the many adventuresmade by this mischievous blue cat. (Well, the real Petewas black, but blue is muchmore fun!) Join your friendsin the Children’s’ Room ofthe main historic Carnegielibrary in Paulding at 6 p.m.Thursday, Sept. 17. Kids willenjoy snacks, crafts, storiesand more. Space is limited, soregister soon to ensure a spot.Call 419-399-2032 for moreinformation and to register achild.

Fish fry benefitsBargain Bin

PAULDING – PauldingKnights of Columbus willhost a sh fry Friday, Sept.11 with proceeds going to theBargain Bin building fund.Lunch will be served 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and dinner from 4-7 p.m. The public is welcome.The K of C Hall is locatedone mile south of Paulding onU.S. 127.

Ice cream socialMELROSE – Melrose

United Methodist Church

will host an ice cream socialfrom 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept.12 with sandwiches, soup,desserts and homemade icecream. Free-will donationsaccepted.

 Annual car show Sunday, Sept. 13

PAULDING – The Pauld-ing County Senior Center’sannual car show will be heldnoon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept.13 on the north and eastsides of the square in Pauld-ing. Entry is open to all carand truck classes. Judging

starts at 2 p.m. For more in-formation or to pre-register,call the senior center at 419-399-3650.

See FESTIVAL, page 2A

See FIRST JOBS, page 2A

See JORDAN, page 2A

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 Teen’s life-saving advice:

‘Wear your helmet’

Stage set for Flat Rock Creek Fall Festival

  Jordan Merriman, of Paulding, is recovering from broken bones, blood clot andlevel three concussion following a riding accident during competition just over aweek ago. She and her family believes the helmet she was wearing saved her life.

By JOE SHOUSE • Progress Staff Writer

  A week ago Saturday was just another normal day at

the Merriman house. Or at least it started out that way.

Oh, it would be a busy day with places to go and people

to see.

  The day started early with the alarmsounding at 5 a.m. Dixie needed newshoes and a quick trip to southern In-diana was necessary. Then it was off inthe other direction – heading north toHillsdale, Mich. That may sound a littlestrange, but for Jordan Merriman, whowill turn 14 next month, it was simply

one of those things you do when youcompete to be one of the best – one ofthe fastest – at barrel racing.  For Jordan, riding horses and com- peting in open shows most weekendshas been a way of life for the Pauldingeighth grader. Her mother, Jamie, saysher daughter was riding before she waswalking and she had her rst pony atage ve. Since that early age, Jordanhas always known what she wanted todo in life.  “I want to be the youngest competi-tor in barrel racing within the Women’sProfessional Rodeo Association. I wantto compete in Las Vegas and then Iwant to turn pro,” Jordan said.  Setting her goals high, working hardand staying condent, Jordan partici-

 pated in every open show in the area.She was well on her way at achievingher dream, being one of the best in herage group and possibly the best in bar -rel racing among all competitors. Butlate Saturday night, while riding herfour legged friend Dixie, everythingchanged in a matter of seconds.  Arriving at the open show at Hills-dale, along with her parents and young-er sister Ally Jo, and a few close friends,there was little time to prepare.  “We barely had time to unload Dixie

and get her saddle on when we heardJordan’s name called. There was notime to warm up, so she quickly took tothe arena stage.  “Dixie, seemed a little nervous orhigh strung, possibly feeling the effectsof the long trip and not able to properlywarm up,” Jamie said.

  Admitting that something didn’t feelright about the arena and the way it waslaid out, Jamie was concerned.

“It had an odd set up. The arena wassmaller than usual and there were nogates at some of the entrances. It wassmall and a bad set up. It was a con-fusing layout for not only Dixie, but tosome of the other horses,” Jamie com-mented.  After her rst ride and all the scoresand times were totaled, Jordan nishedfourth and Jordan, who is usually atthe top of the standings, was not hap- py. She was determined to do betterthe next race. There would be a secondopportunity to improve, but she wouldhave to wait until later that evening,near 10 p.m.

  With time on her hands, Jordan wasable to replay her rst attempt over andover in her mind. After all, fourth placewas not good enough. With a compet-itive spirit, Jordan was going to ridefaster and place higher. Admittedly,she was upset with fourth place and shewould do what it takes to do better thenext time.  The second race, a “down -and-out”event, is a race of speed. Starting at

From Progress Staff Reports  How well do you rememberyour rst job? Whether it wasmowing lawns or babysitting,waiting tables or working on afactory oor, it was probablya learning experience not soonforgotten.

The pay, the conditions andthe workloads likely werevery different than any youthwould encounter today. Someentry-level jobs of a generationor two ago don’t even exist

today.  A rst job can be the oneyou hate the most, or it can bethe introduction to a lifelongcareer path.  With Labor Day on thismonth’s calendar, the Progress asked several local residentsabout their rst employmentexperiences.Karen Davenport and Kath-ryn Spencer  These two gals are sistersand both worked their rst paid jobs as carhops at Frisch’sBig Boy in Lima. Kathryn wasthe oldest and got hired beforeKaren; however, Karen, whowas only 14, told her employ-ers she was 16 and workedthere also.  Both sisters donned black pants and white shirts and were paid a whopping 55 cents perhour. They worked 20 hours aweek and appreciated the extramoney.  Both sisters said, “We couldstill be carhops, but not for 55cents an hour and we could probably only do it for fourhours a week, not 20.”William “Sonny” Jewell  Sonny Jewell worked afarming job when he was only

11 years old. A farmer, GlenBarnes, had a heart attack andcould no longer farm, and Son-ny’s family lived across theroad. So this youngster got the job of working on the farm.  Sonny was asked, “Did youdrive a tractor at age 11?”  He replied, “I could driveanything at age 8.  “I worked from 6 a.m.until 6 p.m. six days a week.I brought home $36 a week,which I gave to my mom tohelp the family out,” he recalls.  His duties included plowing, planting and harvesting. Healso milked cows. Sonny was provided his breakfast andlunch on the farm and said thatMr. Barnes was a good, kind boss.Lorna Jewell  Lorna, wife of Sonny Jewell,recalls one of her rst paying jobs was at a factory in Hicks-ville where she made $1.25 perhour.  She enjoyed the money she brought home, but her husbandworked at the same factory andwas promoted to foreman. Shesaid that they thought it was

Judy Wells/Paulding County Progress

  Even though this crate looks rather small now, Max Kochen-sparger says back when he was lling one just like it with pota-toes he’d picked up in the elds of Michigan, it seemed huge.

8/20/2019 Paulding Progress September 9, 2015

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2A - Paulding County Progress Wednesday, September 9, 2015

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Paulding County Progress

n  JORDANContinued from Page 1A

n FIRST JOBSContinued from Page 1A

n FESTIVALContinued from Page 1A

one end of the arena and mak -ing your way to the other end,around a barrel and then back.In simple terms, a one-lap race.

“This kind of open show al-ways ends with the down-and-out. You do one lap and thefastest competitor is the win-ner,” said Jamie.  A combination of a smallarena, a very fast horse likeDixie and a confused layout –disaster seemed imminent.  “I remember telling Jordan, just slow down and take iteasy. It’s not about winning,”Jordan’s mother recalls.  The race itself went as planned until the nal portionwhen it was time to slow down by making a wide turn in orderto come to a stop. In the pro-cess to slow down, both horseand rider came near the fenceopening, Jordan was leaning tothe right when Dixie dodgedleft.

At that point, everything powers down to slow motionas John and Jamie Merrimanwatch frantically as their in-nocent 13-year-old propels offDixie into the open arena some10 feet in the air, colliding witha 6x6-inch fence post beforeresting on a railing.  “As our instincts directedus, we ran to her as quickly as possible. When we reached herside she was knocked out cold.There was no pulse and no re-sponse for six minutes,” saidJamie.  As they gathered at her side,others – complete strangers –were there offering help. One

lady grabbed the hand of Ja-mie and her husband John andthey started praying. With Jor -dan’s eyes shut and no move-ment, Jamie thought for a mo-ment that maybe her little girlwouldn’t make it.  With Jordan’s face swell-ing and confusion all aroundthem, the arena became stonecold quiet. All that could beheard was the faint sound of anambulance siren that seemedmiles away.  The lifeight helicopter had been notied, but in an attemptto proceed to the fairgrounds,it was forced back because ofweather. As the ambulance ar-rived to transport Jordan to theHillsdale hospital, it was thenshe started responding ever soslightly.  After arriving at the smallMichigan hospital and remain-ing for a few hours it was ob-vious Jordan needed additionalcare. Transferred to a Toledohospital where she was even-tually admitted to ICU, the in- juries she received were beingevaluated.  A broken hand, a brokenthumb in two places, a large blood clot near the carotid ar-tery, bleeding in her lungs,large brain bruise associatedwith a level three concussionalong with many abrasions.  “It was devastating, Wedidn’t know if there was ade-quate blood ow to the brainand so we had no idea what toexpect. But what we do knowis that the helmet she waswearing saved her life,” said

Jamie.  After spending four daysin ICU, the ghting spirit thatJordan displays in racing wasalso with her in the hospital.Refusing to take pain medica-tion and wanting to go home,the doctors agreed after givingJohn and Jamie some lessonson what to look for when onehas a concussion.  Since being home, the fam-ily has talked about the acci-dent in length. Because of herconcussion, Jordan is not toengage her mind and thereforecan not watch television, playvideo games or read. There istime to talk about all that hastranspired since that typicalSaturday that turned out so un-typical. Time to replay the ac-cident and time to be thankfulfor an outcome that could have been so much more painful.  At only 13, Jordan is ght-ing through the physical pain but at the same time she isseeking the silver lining in thistragic time in her young life.  Jordan has asked manytimes, “What good can comefrom all this?” Strongly believ-ing that everything happens fora reason, Jordan has looked atthe helmet that protected her brain and in that protection shehas been able to t some of the pieces together on why.  “I think I am a good rider, butaccidents do happen. Wearinga helmet is so important. If one person hears about this maybethey will think twice and weara helmet. It most likely willsave your life,” Jordan said.

Presbyterian Church.  In addition, there will be agospel stage that will facilitategospel groups from the area.  Other traditional events willinclude the “hit and miss en-

gines,” horse pulls and truckshow, quilt show, antique tractor pulls and demonstrations suchas broom making, pottery, ci-der press, blacksmith, threshing,woodcarving and many more.  “Of course, there will be lotsof home-cooked food, all fromlocal vendors,” noted Emerson.  “One major emphasis weare having this year is encour-aging local businesses to getinvolved,” said Emerson. “Wehave several companies that aregoing to help staff the gates. Thisis a great way for companies toget involved, and many chambermembers are volunteering theirservices.  “I am excited about the wide-spread interest in this, not onlyfrom this area but from othersurrounding counties in Ohioand Indiana,” continued Emer-son. “We don’t want people to just drive in and leave. We want

 people to enjoy the festival andtake a look at our communitywhile they are here. We havereached out to other communi-ties to do advertising.”  Emerson said she is amazed atall of the talent that is availablein Paulding County and region-ally from the likes of Van Wertand Putnam counties in Ohioand eastern Indiana countieswho bring their talent to the fes-tival.  “The apple cider lady will be back this year,” Emerson said.“There’s no end to the familyenjoyment that will be avail-able.”  Cost for entry is $5 per per -son at the gate, $10 per personfor all three days free for those12-years old and under. Parkingis also free.  A full schedule of events will be published in the Sept. 16 edi-tion of the Progress.

Judy Wells/Paulding County Progress

  Jane Stouffer looks over some of the memorabilia from the Ben Franklin Store in Paulding. Herrst job was at Mentzer’s Five & Dime, which later became the Ben Franklin Store.

 best she quit because it wouldhave been awkward with Son-ny being her boss.Dave Prior  Dave Prior, who is the pastorof Mt. Zion United MethodistChurch, said that his rst pay-ing job was a carry-out boy andstocker. He was employed byPangles, a grocery store. Hemade $1.25 per hour.

  “Most of the guys wanted tostock shelves as it was easierthan carry-out. As a carry-out boy, especially in the winter,you had to bundle up to carryout a person’s groceries, thencome back in and you wouldget warm with all those clotheson,” he said.  “When we stocked shelves,we had to stamp all the cannedgoods and products by handwith a stamper.”  Did he put an expiration dateon the products?  Dave replied, “Are you kid-ding? No one paid any attentionto that back then.”Bill Strahley

  Back in 1954, when BillStrahley was riding his bicyclearound Paulding with nothingto do, he’d often stop in at thenewsstand owned by P. and Nell Hoover just to hang out.  “One day, they asked me ifI’d deliver the Toledo Blade forthem,” Bill, now 77, recalls. “Isaid I would, so they gave methe whole west end of town.I had 62 customers and made$2.52 a week. It was a prettygood job and I kept it for ve orsix years, but I hated the win-ters! Do you know how hardit is to ride a bike through thesnow with a basketful of news- papers?”Jane Stouffer  When her older sister turned16, got her work permit andstarted working part-time,Paulding resident Jane Stouffer,now 74, was jealous. “I guredanything she could do, I coulddo, too,” Jane says with a grin.“So when I turned 16 a fewyears later, I got my work per -mit, too.”  Jane’s rst paying job wasas a clerk at Mentzer’s Five &Dime in Paulding, which wasowned by Homer and BessMentzer. The retail businesslater became the Ben FranklinStore.  “I worked after school and onSaturdays,” she recalls. “Momor Dad would bring me intotown and drop me off, thencome back and get me whenmy shift was over. The storesold a little bit of everything,and I enjoyed the variety ofthings we carried. I sometimesworked at the candy counter orin one of the other departments.We sold craft supplies, wom-en’s underwear and blouses, afew household goods, and evensome hardware.  “The best part of the wholething was knowing that I wasearning my own money tospend on school clothes, my

horse, or whatever I wanted,”she said.Max Kochensparger  Everybody loves potatoes.But as a third-grader walkingthe elds behind a digger andtrying to ll a one-bushel crate,Max Kochensparger often hadother thoughts about the crop.  “I was in the third gradetwice,” Max admits. “And both

years I helped my two older brothers and older sister pickup potatoes from the elds ofvarious farmers near wherewe lived. We grew up about60 miles north and east ofGrand Rapids, Michigan, andthe ground up there was quitesandy. It was ideal for growing potatoes.”  Max remembers that he andhis siblings and 40 or 50 otherkids would start harvesting theroot crop around the rst orsecond week of September.  “We would work on Satur -days and take a sack lunch andstay all day,” he says. “Thatwas in about 1947 or ’48. Our

 parents would drop us off orwe’d walk, depending on howfar the eld was from home.We’d mark the crates with ourinitials as we lled them, thenthey’d go up a conveyor and getdumped. And we were paid 10to 12 cents a bushel, dependingon how much each farmer paid.  “My sister bought a brandnew bike for $39.95 with themoney she earned, but she wasolder than me and could pick upfaster,” he remembers. “I hadto wait until I’d earned somemoney from mowing yards,too, to buy my bike.”Phyllis Bidlack   In 1944-45, as World WarII was coming to a close, therewas a shortage of workers formanufacturing, assembly andother manual labor jobs in theUnited States. Factories all overthe country were desperate forqualied workers, and wouldhire just about anyone who waswilling and able to work.  “We lived near Laura, Ohio,in Miami County,” says Phyllis(Wagner) Bidlack, who nowlives in Oakwood. “There weretwo large tomato-canning fac-tories near us, and they werealways advertising for help to peel tomatoes. One day, when Iwas 12, I asked Mom if I couldapply and she said yes. So Irode my bike down to the clos-est factory and applied. I washired on the spot.”  Phyllis, who’s now 82, spenta year working at that factory,then, when she was 13, wentto another a little farther fromhome and owned by the Netz-ley family.  “At my rst job, I was paid10 cents a bucket for the to-matoes I’d peeled,” she says.“But I think Mrs. Netzley saw potential in me and took meunder her wing. She moved meup to the Grade A line, where Iwas paid 10 cents a tray. Whenshe did that, I was getting paid

more than some of the womenwho’d been there longer thanme. The trays were smaller thanthe buckets, so it was like get-ting a raise. Can you imaginehow those other women feltabout me? I learned then whatdiscrimination felt like!”  Each day during tomato sea-son, Phyllis would ride her biketo the factory after school. “I’d

change clothes there and workmy shift,” she says. “Then Mrs. Netzley would take me homewhen I was nished if Momor Dad couldn’t come and getme.”  All the tomatoes processedat the plant were canned, andthen later some were made intoketchup, sauce or other tomato products.  “When we had a bucket or atray full, we’d let the supervisorknow,” Phyllis says. “She’dcome over and punch our ticket,then the tray would go up onthe line and the tomatoes would be poured into a big can. Aftera salt nugget was added to each

one, the tomatoes would be processed. Then the cans wouldgo to the labeler. But all I everdid was peel.”  And what was the most im- portant lesson Phyllis learnedfrom her experience at the to-mato factory?  “That was my rst experi-ence standing on concrete,” shesays. “I noticed that some of thewomen stood on rubber matswhile they worked and somedidn’t. I learned right away thatI should get there early everyday so I could pick out a goodmat to stand on!”Sue Weible  Growing up in Deance, Sue(Warner) Weible’s rst job wasat Brinkman’s Drive-In on Hol-gate Avenue. And even thoughthe eatery is no longer there,Sue remembers the details ofher rst paying job well.  “I started when I was 15,”she says. “I just went down andapplied and got hired. My jobwas to go out to the cars andtake their orders. Then when thefood would come out on a tray,I’d carry it to the car and collectthe money for it. I really likedwaiting on people but I onlyworked there about a year, part-time. I made 50 cents an hour.”  And why did Sue leave herrst job? “Schiff’s Shoe Storecame to town,” she remembers.“All the other stores in towncarried brand-name shoes, butSchiff’s were lower priced andsales were good. I was offered75 cents an hour to work there,so I went!”Laura Glancy  Laura Glancy of PauldingCounty has fond memoriesof her rst real paying job.She was a teacher at AntwerpSchool and said, “I taught physed, biology and math, plus weall had to help with after-schoolactivities. My pay was $1,850 per year.”  She noted that she always

wore a dress and heels to work.She taught at Antwerp Schoolfor ve years, but then taught

math, her favorite subject, invarious schools for 31 years.Bob Glancy  Bob Glancy, who later mar-ried Laura, said his rst line ofwork was teaching. In fact, hehad just started his teaching ca-reer at Atwood High School inIndiana, and got to teach for sixweeks, when the military calledand he had to report for duty.  Following his tour of duty,he returned to teaching fthand sixth graders. His pay wasa little more than wife Laura’s because he made approximately$1,900 a year. Bob was also a basketball coach for many yearsalong with his teaching career.  Both Bob and Laura are re-tired and reside in the rural Gro-ver Hill area. They both theyloved every minute of beingteachers.Ruth Snodgrass  Ruth Snodgrass of Pauld-ing worked her rst job at St.Joseph’s Hospital in Augusta,Ga., at the age of 12. She gotthe job through her sister, whoalso worked in the hospital.Ruth’s tasks included ling,cleaning the chapel and work -ing in the cafeteria. Too youngto get a paycheck, she was paidin penny candy, which shetook home to share with familymembers.  She remembers “it was fun,”and she got to meet some of thelocal stars, such as Brandy Leeand Sheriff John, who came into pay bills.William Snodgrass  Bill Snodgrass, 85, workedin a chicken hatchery at theage of 12. When he moved toPaulding, he began haulingchickens, eggs and bottled popfor the business. He made $5 to$6 a week. At 15, he was driv-ing loads to Chicago. Bill hasremained a truck driver to thisday.Anonymous  A 84-year-old citizen ofPaulding, who asked not to benamed, remembers working

in a Van Wert factory making

overalls as her rst job. Shesaid she went with a friend tospeak to the owner, who offered

them a job, telling them thatif they didn’t work, he’d kicktheir rears. She later worked at acigar factory in Van Wert, pre- paring cigars and sending themto Delphos. She made 80 centsan hour at both jobs.Linda Reinhart  Linda Reinhart of Pauldingrecalled, “After I graduatedfrom college at beauty schoolin Fort Wayne, I worked for Nancy Foltz as a beautician. Ienjoyed meeting new people. Ireally liked what I was doing.”Bill Baxter  Bill Baxter’s rst job wasworking for Jackson’s PoultryHouse, building wooden eggcrates for 15 cents a crate. “Iwas about 14 or 15 years oldat the time and they (Jacksons)were right next door to us,” hesaid.  “That was a lot of moneythen because candy cost 5 centsa bar and there was a lot of can-dy that could be purchased fora penny apiece. Fifteen centswould certainly buy a lot morethen than it does now. Onething is certain, I learned how towork hard.”Joanne Phipps  Joanne Phipps rst workedat Balyeat’s Restaurant in VanWert as a waitress. “One thingthat stands out the most to me isthe way we helped this elderlycouple. They didn’t have much;they came in at closing time andwere able to work a deal withthe restaurant to get food to helpthem. I really enjoyed workingwith people.”  She was eventually employed by Wayne Trace Schools for 31years as a food supervisor.Jack Phipps  Payne resident Jack Phippsrecalled, “When I was asophomore in high school, Istarted working for a guy outon Highway 49 spreadingstraw and planting grass seed.I got 90 cents an hour, whichwas a lot of money in 1948. Iearned enough money to buy a

Whizzer motor bike.”

Peggy Emerson  “When I was 17 years old, before my senior year in high

school, I worked at Wendy’s,”said Peggy Emerson. “I workedthe drive through window; itgave me an appreciation forworking hard and working fast.It gave me good food experi-ence.  “I especially remember onetime when a guy paid me with a$100 dollar bill and then droveoff and never got his food. Henever did come back.”Joe Shouse  “My rst paid job was that ofa paperboy at age 13 or so,” re-called Joe Shouse of Haviland.I delivered the IndianapolisStar  every morning, even Sun-day. For the Sunday paper, mydad would take me in the car because the paper was so big.I don’t remember how many Idelivered but it seemed like itwas close to 100 on Sunday.More people got the Sunday paper than the daily.  “I got paid maybe $10 perweek,” he continued. “Besidesdelivering the paper, I wouldhave to collect the money frommy customers. Just like today,some paid better than others.”  What does he remembermost about that job?  “Delivering the paper onthose cold winter mornings.One of my customers lived in asmall apartment in the back ofa large old house. You had togo inside the entry way whereit was dark, but you could seeinto the kitchen where the lightswere on and breakfast was inthe works.  “The small entryway had anold wooden stove that alwayshad a re going in it and when Igot inside I would stand there afew minutes to warm up beforeleaving to face the winter windthat seemed to always be blow-ing in my face.  “The lesson I learned wasthat I hated delivering the paper, but I love writing for one.”  – Reporting by Nancy Whita-ker, Judy Wells, Samantha Habern, Jim Langham, Joe

Shouse and Melinda Krick.Oakwood 

Homecoming Jim Bowers/Paulding County Progress

  Oakwood hosted its an-nual four-day Homecomingcelebration, which endedon Labor Day. This year’stheme was “OakwoodCountry Fair.” Events in-cluded a kickoff dinner,parade, cemetery walk,games, music and severalpageants. Jocelynn Parrett(left) was Little Miss Oak-wood.