(1) The Switzerland County 4-H Fair kicked off with lots of activities, including the crowning of this year’s “Little Miss” and “Little Mister”. This year’s winners were Savannah Vinson and Samuel White; while the first runners up were: Taylor Gregory and Lauren Rose; and the second runners up were Isaac Slover and Natalie Newman.
(2) The town of Patriot held its annual Fourth of July parade and celebration – again showing its Americanism by being the only town called Patriot in the entire nation. Chris See presented the town with a flag that had flown over Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq during his time of service there.
(3) This year’s Switzerland County 4-H Fair livestock auction brought in $88,779 – a total that raised the average price per animal sold over the 2005 total,
Grand champions included Somer Alford, beef; Morgan Nay, rabbits; Josh Hon, dairy; Jonathan Greene, swine; Katie Hall, sheep; Ray Satterfield, poultry; and Mark Chandler, goats.
(4) Melisa Raiser showed her expert knowledge of all species of animals when she earned the title of “Round Robin” Showman at this year’s fair. The very best in each species category – one from each – qualify to compete in the event, which gives them the chance to show their knowledge of all of the species.
(5) A leg injury kept Switzerland County’s Amanda Hon from traveling to Australia to run in a series of special competitions, but organizers promised the runner that she would have a spot on next year’s team. She is the daughter of Danny and Jennifer Hon of near Florence.
(6) Ronald Christman and son David Christman both won state championships in trap shooting. This year’s event was held in Fortville, Indiana; and David Christman was the winner of the “Hall of Fame Handicap”; and Ronald Christman won the “State Handicap Championship” – the biggest event of the week.
(7) After winning an uncontested race for the Republican nomination for County Sheriff in the May primary; Daniel Goldstone withdrew from the November general election. His withdrawal meant that current sheriff Nathan Hughes would be unopposed for reelection.
(8) Vevay Newspapers ran a series of articles on Ulysses P. Schenck – “The Hay King”. The articles traced the history of how Ulysses Schenck built his business; and how he designed his home, which still stands on Market Street.
(9) Nancy Stearns of Austin was hired and introduced as the new principal of Switzerland County Middle School at the July meeting of the Switzerland County School Board. She called the hiring “the highlight of my teaching career so far.”
(10) The Patriot Town Council approved a $5.5 million loan to pay for all of the improvements and upgrades that are needed for the Patriot Water Company.