It Happened in September

In this column we will look back 25, 40, 70, and 100 years to capture glimpses of what was happening in Bullitt County in each of these years. Today we will focus on the month of September.

1998 - 25 Years Ago.

The newspaper reported that it was a team effort that lifted the E. T. Sharp Number 20 to the Street Stock Championship in 1998 at Louisville Motor Speedway. The entire crew lived in Mt. Washington and included Mike, Ernie, and David Jones, and the driver, Mike Alphin.

Howard Shepherd, 85, of the Nichols area was named one of Kentucky Living magazine's 50 Community Heroes. Besides donating land for the Nichols Fire Department, he helped start the Bullitt County Saddle Club. He had recently married a childhood sweetheart, Pansy Bishop Rouse, after both had lost long time spouses.

Shepherdsville Lions Club volunteers Sam and Barbara Hardy, David and Bonnie Strange, and Ray Armstrong worked at the Lions Club vision testing booth at the state fair as a part of the club's Prevent Blindness America program.

Hebron Presbyterian Church celebrated its 140th anniversary on September 13, and pastor Art Turner invited everyone to a pot luck supper at the church.

Fueled by two punt returns for touchdowns by Wayne Livers and Travis Gossum, Bullitt East easily defeated North Bullitt 40-0. Livers' return covered 60 yards for the final points of the game.

I wonder if Alex McBride (age 4) and Trevor Swearing (age 3) remember being fingerprinted by officers Minton and Hill during the Sheriff's Department's Kids ID Day where the kids got their fingers printed and their pictures taken?

Bret Walker led the Bullitt East Chargers' soccer team to an overtime victory over North Bullitt. Meanwhile the Lady Chargers rolled to their third victory in five games, defeating Pleasure Ridge Park 5-2.

When junior Anton Payne broke free to dash 52 yards to the end zone, it was the longest play of the season for the Bullitt Central Cougars. BC went on to defeat Atherton 28-7.

Debbie Lewis of Lebanon Junction Elementary and Paula Strange of Cedar Grove Elementary were each honored by Walmart with teacher of the year awards.

St. Benedict School in Lebanon Junction was holding a year of celebration in honor of its 50th anniversary. Rose Wise, a current employee and former student, said that something will be going on each month to mark the occasion.

Willis and Anna Abell celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on September 18, while the children of Mary E. O'Daniel gathered on September 20 to celebrate her 100th birthday which would actually occur on October 1.

The following 4-H'ers worked especially hard to prepare for the annual 4-H Salt River Canoe Race: Trina and Chuck Roderer, Shannon Pace, Tammy Smith, Dawn Sheveland, Beth Lamb, Mike Young, Al Decker, Fay Crumbacker, Lea Davis, Randy Pace, Abbot and Denise Maginnis, Donna Bischoff, Shirley Bullock, Valinda Reed, Jackie Sims, Karen Lund, Terry and Fawn Clark, Butch and Yvonda Rash, Tashia Rash, Benji Smith, Kyle Skidmore, and John Skidmore.

And, Matthew Becke, a Pleasant Grove fifth grader, was named to the Mt. Washington All-Star baseball team which is pretty remarkable since he hit and fielded with a single arm and hand because of a condition that has left his right arm paralyzed. Great job, Matthew!

1983 - 40 Years Ago.

Tommy Ashbaugh was extremely grateful for a CPR course the phone company required of its workers when he needed to administer it to his nine-month-old son, saving his life.

Eddie Rice of Lebanon Junction caught a three-pound catfish, and John Baxter landed a five and a half pound whopper at Clermont.

Diane Cruze Mills rode Brenda Eddington's school bus and wrote about "driving controlled chaos" as Brenda transported her charges to Brooks Elementary. I wonder if Shawn remembers turning down his radio volume, or Shannon remembers being required to pick up the papers she left behind the day before, or Tommy remembers being reminded to pick up his papers under his desk so he would not get fussed at today?

At the State Fair, Bullitt County 4-H'er Courtney Longacre exhibited the animal chosen best of polled Santa Gertrudis in the 4-H beef show.

Out Nichols way, Dorothy Jones, Patsy Larimore, Wilma Tucker, Christie Able, Woodrow Sample, and Clarence Dawson were celebrating birthdays; and June Dawson was attending the International Cake Convention at the Galt House.

North Bullitt defeated Bullitt Central 18-8 on the gridiron, but not before the Cougars staged an exciting comeback attempt with Pat Masden, John Fackler, and Craig Smith leading the way.

Down at LJ the Fall League got underway with the Miller-Lite boys taking on Woosley's boys. Dan Woosley hit a long home run, but Dave Bass of the Miller-Lite team clobbered two of them to lead his team to a 13-12 victory.

In the Pleasant Grove community, Mrs. Rilla Owen visited with the Rodger Shelburnes, Fern Lloyd called on Clara Simmons, and Dorris Stevenson and Lois Simmons went to see some beautiful quilts and then had lunch with Clara Simmons.

Shepherdsville artists Alma Lesch, Anna Faye Crockett, and Dennis Shaffner were featured at the Georgetown College of Fine Arts Gallery art show.

Contestants for the Junior Miss competition were all pictured in the paper this month. They included Teri Newton, Ramona Simms, Paula Mathews, Leslie Hawkins, Tonya Proctor, Dione Losch, Carla Harvey, Gayle Milam, Tammy Shaw, Jana Meredith, Lisa Raymer, Nickie Hennig, Renee Griffin, Dandy Hopkins, Tina Bond, Denise Davenport, Paula Fisher, and Steffanie Bowles. Lisa Raymer, a senior at North Bullitt, was the winner. First runner-up was Denise Davenport, and second runner-up was Renee Griffin.

And, Bullitt Central's William Henry Powell was selected at Bullitt County Teacher of the Year for the third time!

1953 - 70 Years Ago.

Members of the Mt. Washington F.F.A. chapter showed seven dairy heifers at the Shelbyville District Dairy Show. Hill Bleemel had the junior and grand champion Brown Swiss. Harry Roggenkamp topped the junior yearling Holstein class. Joining them were Billy Roy Gentry, Donald Nutt and Leon Coulter. The boys were grateful to Mr. Robert Cornell for providing his truck to get them to the show.

Mr. and Mrs. Claud Barrall celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family on September 7th.

Charles Davis Shaw, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Shaw of Lebanon Junction, was released in Korea following 34 months as a prisoner of war.

The honor reception for James W. Hardaway for fifty years' service at The Peoples Bank of Shepherdsville was well attended including Mr. Hardaway's cousin, Howard Hardaway (a reporter for The Courier-Journal) who took several pictures of the gathering. Others attending included Clarence Dawson, Leo Dawson, Hattie Monroe, Lillian Swearingen, Marguerite Ashby, Betty Howell, Mary Murray, Faye Haley, and Shirley Hourigan; all employees of the bank. William Simmons, Robert L. Simmons, Dr. S. H. Ridgway preceded Mr. Hardaway as bank president.

Out Bullitt Lick way, squirrel hunters were plentiful in this part of the woods then.

The Mt. Washington F.F.A. meat-judging team placed sixth at the State Fair. Team members included Tom McAfee, Lloyd Dooley, and Glenn Armstrong, with Billy Roy Gentry acting as an alternate.

Kay Hardy returned from three months in Europe. She was the wife of Harold Hardy, a local merchant.

Methodist pastors appointed to Bullitt County churches for the coming year were Amos Miller at Lebanon Jct., M. C. Yates at Mt. Washington, T. J. Wade in Shepherdsville, Addison Schiefelbein at Brooks, and Norman Parsons at Cedar Grove.

Over at Mt. Washington, Doris Bleemel, Retta Williams, Edward Frank, and Mrs. Lillian Spivey helped Betty Spivey celebrate her 18th birthday; while Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Stripling, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Duckett went to Lebanon Junction to visit Mr. Duckett's brother.

The paper reported that Bullitt County residents who had been observing Daylight Saving Time since early May would be returning to Central Standard Time at the end of September. It also reported that Shepherdsville streets were getting a fresh coat of oil and rock.

The St. Clair Theatre in Lebanon Junction was featuring a double feature including “The Redhead from Wyoming” starring Maureen O'Hara. They made a point of saying their showtimes were on "slow time."

And, Dr. J. J. Owens, Old Testament professor at the Baptist Seminary, held revival services at the Baptist Church in Shepherdsville. The paper noted his basketball prowess, and remarked that he once made 137 consecutive free throws. I wonder if he preached as well as he shot?

1923 - 100 Years Ago.

Mrs. Mattie Glenn, one of the county’s most popular ladies, accepted a teaching position at the school at Bardstown Junction.

The Victory School honor roll for the second month included Fonda Ratliff, Willie Maud Harris, Otis Ray Ratliff, Walter Lee Harris, Lillian Roby, Rouse D. Jones, Ella B. Bolton, Mary E. Jones, Nathan Bryan Harris, Eva Mae Jones, and Ralph Greenwell. Martha Hornbeck was their teacher.

Charles Lee Bradbury, Stanley Muir, and Crumbacker Jenkins left for Georgetown where they entered college. Others heading off to schools of higher learning included Mary Delle Barnes and Laura May Tyler for Logan College in Russellville; Sue Dent Rouse, Mary Dent, and Helen Harris to Nazareth; Katherine Crume to Springfield; Susie Long Swearingen, Josie Clark, Anna May and Mildred McClure, Marvin Deacon, Charlie Clark, Hubert and Louis McGee, and Clyde and Vreeland McClure to Cumberland College.

The Mountain Top Peach Farm, formerly owned by J. C. Holsclaw, was up for sale. It was the best fruit and tobacco farm in Bullitt County.

The editor wrote, "Mr. Nathan Morrow visited his brother, Judge W. T. Morrow. Mr. Morrow had a very fine memory and could recall with great exactness occurrences of fifty odd years earlier. He remembered well the visit of cholera in this town in 1854 and knew the names of all who died and those who recovered. It was certainly a great pleasure to talk with him and hear him tell of life here more than half a century ago. Very few are here now who were here then and of the houses which stood here at that time, but about eight or nine remain."

Will Smith struck oil at 160 feet on Ernest Miller's land near Bardstown Junction. Mr. Miller had been looking for oil for three years.

And I just had to share this tongue-in-check piece just as it appeared in the September 21st edition. "Mr. John D. James, of Leaches, who lives just above the fellow who lives just below him, and just this side the man who lives just beyond, was here Thursday and attended the sale. He bought a medium size hat of the vintage of 1922. It was a fine piece of head gear for the price and John wore it home in a paper sack. We are not sure about the color of the hat, but rather think it was a dark cream color with band to match. Bill Herps said the hat would have been cheap at half the money, but this was disputed by Jim Collings and others. The hat is used in Arkansas where it is known as 'The Chestnut Pickers Skypiece.' It is guaranteed to wear out in due time unless lost or destroyed in the meantime."

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Copyright 2023 by Charles Hartley, Shepherdsville KY. All rights are reserved. No part of the content of this page may be included in any format in any place without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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