A brand new yr brings pause to mirror on occasions of the previous yr.
Within the newspaper enterprise, it’s time to look again on favourite and memorable tales.
Love by the ages
Sharing the tales of 4 long-married {couples} wed for 60 to 75 years was a present for me to cowl. Laborious work, religion in God and mutual respect was the frequent thread in every vignette.
One couple, Norma (Brown) and Robert Dickison, of rural Garrett, advised me they first met on the DeKalb County Honest almost 75 years in the past when associates launched the couple.
Sitting collectively on a settee of their cozy residence final winter, the couple recalled their first date at Van Scoyac’s restaurant within the 200 block of North Important Road in Auburn. They married two years later on the Butler Middle United Methodist Church parsonage south of Garrett.
Bob was a tractor and auto mechanic at numerous places and did a little bit of farming, whereas Norma labored on the County Line Cheese Manufacturing unit south of Auburn till it closed down within the late Nineteen Nineties.
The couple teamed as much as run a tractor restore store at their farm, after a full day’s work.
“We’ve at all times been collectively and doing the whole lot,” Norma stated.
That included time for enjoyable comparable to sq. dancing on the Butler Grange Corridor, fishing for crappie, tenting in a tent and later in a camper, and touring to numerous locations within the U.S. and cruises within the Bahamas and Caribbean.
Sadly, Mr. Dickison handed away in June on the age of 97.
Leo Debes admitted he was smitten when he first met Carolyn Tuttle within the car parking zone at Kraft Meals — a set-up by his sister, Janet who labored on the manufacturing unit.
Throughout a piece break, Janet launched them outdoors the place she recommended Leo take them each to lunch on the Redwood Inn on the town.
“I simply figured I needed to have her,” Leo stated of his future bride whereas trying over photographs at their kitchen desk.
After their first assembly, the couple dated for some time. Leo having been raised Catholic brought about a little bit of opposition by her dad and mom again then. He quickly made the choice to start attending church with Carolyn at Cedar Lake Church of the Brethren the place the couple continued to worship.
“I determine the Man upstairs will make the judgement,” Leo stated of his choice. They married Aug. 16, 1959.
Alliance Industries expands, director retires
Following years of planning and setbacks, the growth of Alliance Industries in Garrett can be a actuality within the new yr, providing extra job alternatives for the workshop for the disabled.
An effort to extend the dimensions of the ability that employed 13 employees was stalled when the financial system slowed in 2008. Issues received actually busy with extra enterprise from native industries comparable to Rieke, Dekko, Tower Automotive and Eaton, amongst others.
As soon as open after the primary of the yr, the brand new house can be dedicated to meeting work with the unique house earmarked for programming. Presently, 41 individuals are employed at Alliance Industries with a dream to offer jobs for extra sooner or later.
Lili Hand, who served as govt director since 2003, retired in December. Her efforts to broaden the workshop to assist supply employment to employees with disabilities was key to its success.
“Lili was greater than an employer to the workers of Alliance Industries,” stated board member Leta Hullinger. “She inspired them to step out of their consolation degree and discover different issues outdoors of their work atmosphere, exhibiting them that being a part of neighborhood is essential.”
Jim Greer, 72, retired from Alliance Industries in June because the longest-serving worker on the workshop. He started as a pupil on the Wee Haven Exercise Middle within the Nineteen Fifties. Greer has carried out a number of jobs on the Garrett workshop for the developmentally disabled. He isn’t solely pleased with his capability to grasp a number of duties, but additionally to have the ability to help himself with the cash he earned. In his spare time, Greer enjoys fishing for bass and bluegills and bowling.
Artwork museum options historic themes
Historical past lovers savored a feast of historic displays on the Garrett Museum of Artwork in 2022.
The yr started with a monumental exhibit, “Shadow Catcher” by American photographer Edward Curtis whose work centered on the American West and the Native American folks.
On the flip of the twentieth century, Curtis gave up his portrait images enterprise to seize on movie what he believed to be the final of the Native Individuals earlier than their lifestyle disappeared.
Curtis traveled by horse and by foot to succeed in the Native American territories, engaged on the premise that he was racing towards time to have the ability to doc with movie and generally sound, the Native Individuals earlier than White growth and the federal authorities destroyed what remained of them.
John Graybill, great-grandson of Edward Curtis, was visitor speaker on the opening exhibit in January.
In Could, “Orie Shafer: 40 Yr Retrospective,” spotlighted numerous media and topics of the 1969 Garrett graduate.
The previous artwork teacher’s exhibit confirmed his mastery of combined media, which incorporates his commissioned 72-by-44 inch portray of the “B&O Engine No. 8 at Garrett Station.”
Shafer’s exhibit, “American Heroes: The Solely Simple Day was Yesterday,” featured a group of his combined media work that are a tribute to all particular warfare army personnel, particularly to “American Heroes,” the US Navy SEALS.
In October, “Norman Rockwell: American Icon” featured lithographs and collotypes by the American painter and illustrator whose works have a well-liked attraction to a large viewers as a result of they mirror the tradition of America. Well-known for his covers of The Saturday Night Publish, he introduced illustrations of on a regular basis life into properties for 5 many years.
