The Patriot Community Voice
Mike’s Patriot/Posey Township and Beyond News
January 23, 2025 Column
We send prayers to the families of Doug Ray and Keith Headen. Doug Ray was a
member of the Patriot Baptist Church, and also a graduate of Patriot High School, Class
of 1954. He spent a lot of time in the Patriot community, visiting his aunt and uncle,
Floyd and Louise McDaniel Craig. The Rays lived out around Quercus Grove when they
attended Patriot school. Doug was baptized in the Ohio River by the Patriot Baptist
Church. He served in the United States Army and worked many years for the United
States Postal Service. Doug was a very skilled horseshoe pitcher, often teaming up with
his brother in law and neighbor, Leon Johnson. Doug loved to raise a garden and
excelled at it! I went over to his farm a couple years ago to get some turnips. I have
never seen such a turnip patch! Doug will be missed for sure. Keith Headen moved here
many years ago and lived on Upper Goose Creek for a while with his wife, Sarah
Baggett Headen. He was originally from Scott County, Kentucky, and operated the
Florence Store for almost twenty years, as well as drove a school bus for many years.
Marlene and I enjoyed dinner with Evan Van Winkle and Brandon Moore and also lan
Van Winkle on Tuesday evening at Whiskeys in Lawrenceburg. We had not been to
Whiskies in some time. The food is always so good there. Evan will be traveling to
Paris, France later this week with his boss and another coworker to attend a
conference. Evan works as an architect with a firm located in Madeira, Ohio.
It has been so cold the last couple days! This January is sure going to be one to
remember! The cold temperatures have been brutal! I spoke with my cousin, Shanna on
Tuesday. She lives in New Orleans, they were expecting three inches of snow there.
They ended up getting ten inches of snow!
Thanks to Lonnie Harris for giving me a copy of, “A History of Patriot Schools”, written
by his grandfather, Guy Harris, former teacher, coach and superintendent of the Patriot
Schools. I will share some excerpts from this document in my next few columns. The
pioneers who settled Patriot believed that having a church and school were essential to
the community. “The first school was taught by a Mr. Fordice in a log cabin with greased
paper windows on the south bank of Wade Run. The school accommodated eighteen
pupils. The first building erected for school was built in 1816 by James Herrick. The
number of pupils averaged between 15-25 with a tuition of $1.50 per pupil per quarter.
Thomas Ayres, a Revolutionary War veteran was one of the early teachers in
this building. In 1830,Captain John Hicks opened a school on Front Street between
Second and Third Streets. The brick for the building was burned in a nearby brickyard.
This building was used for several years as a school, and later as a carriage paint shop.
The basement of the Universalist Church, on Main Street, was fitted up in 1845, for a
school. Here, Mrs. Vienna Herrick taught for several years. Some of the good citizens of
Patriot were not satisfied with the school facilities, so with strenuous efforts, raised by
public subscription the sum of $10,000 and built, without cost to the taxpayers, a three
story brick building was erected on Columbia Street. The first two stories to be used for .
school purposes, and the third floor was used by the Masonic Lodge.”
I will include more from Mr. Harris in the next column. The three story school mentioned
above, was where I attended grades one through five. It was right next to the Old Town
Cemetery. It was a beautiful old building that served as the school building for many
generations of students
Belated birthday wishes to my neighbor, Kathryn Turner, who turned 91 on Thursday.
Kathryn and my mother were classmates in the Patriot High School Class of 1952.
The Cincinnati Reds announced that their pitchers and catchers will report to Spring
Training in Goodyear, Arizona on February 12, 2025!
Congratulations to some local athletes who recently participated in conference
tournament sports. Leonard Oatman was the conference champion in wrestling in his
weight class. Jachoby Mckay won two matches out of four in the conference wrestling
meet. Both Posey Township residents are on the Switzerland County High School
Wrestling team. Mason Jones placed third in the 100 yard backstroke event in the
conference swim meet. Mason is a member of the Rising Sun High School Swim team.
We received word yesterday that former Patriot resident and Patriot High School
graduate, Joyce Bailey passed away on Monday. Joyce and her sister Donna lived for
several years on Third Street (250) next to Ivan and Dollie Green. Their parents, Jim
and Minnie Bailey lived over by where the Patriot Fire Department is now. Joyce had
lived in a senior apartment in Aurora for the last several years. She will be missed for
sure. Sympathy to her son, Steve and his wife, Ginger of Rising Sun, and the rest of the
family. The Reverend James Jones (not the infamous Jim Jones), was a devout and effective
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preaching in Milford Ohio, later in Rising
Sun, Madison, Patriot, Lawrenceburg, and Oxford Ohio. Ministers in his time were
“circuit preachers” traveling throughout multiple communities on horseback preaching
the Gospel. Jones was born in Herefordshire, England in 1790 and came with his
parents to the United States in 1803, settling in Baltimore. They moved to Milford, Ohio
in 1807. He was assigned the Rising Sun Circuit shortly after 1820 and started the
Methodist Episcopal Church there. He also worked as a carpenter to help support his
family. During the winters he would go to New Orleans working as a carpenter and
preaching on flatboats, wharfs, levies and churches. He served in the Army during the
War of 1812, under General William Henry Harrison. In his later years he ministered in
North Madison, Patriot, Jeffersonville, Elizabethtown and Vernon. Jones died in 1856.
Rosa Jones of Meades Ridge has started her second semester at the University of
Cincinnati. She is also starting a part time job at an Asian restaurant in Clifton, near the
university.
The extremely cold weather is especially hard on farmers and their livestock. One of the
chores that must be done is cutting the ice on the ponds for the livestock to access
water.
My Great Uncle, Jesse Barnhill used to tell us about walking across the river in the
winter on the ice, and also farmers driving their horses and wagons across the river.
Back then the Ohio River did not have as big a channel as it does now. The dams that
were built by the Army Corp of Engineers greatly increased the size of the river channel.
I do remember the winter of 1977-78 when the Ohio River froze over. That was an
unbelievable sight! All you could see in the river was large chunks of ice! Hopefully we
will not see that sight again!
I am often asked about the status of our local newspaper. At this time, I have not heard
of anyone who is interested in purchasing the Reveille. Tammy Hayes is doing a great
job posting items on the Vevay Newspaper Website and Facebook Page. Many small
communities are losing their local newspaper. The Salem Leader ceased publishing a
few years ago and now has a digital paper. I was in Crothersville on Wednesday and
their paper is still going. My good friend Curt Koevener has owned and operated that
paper for many years. Many people get their news online now, old timers like me still
prefer a printed newspaper!
The Switzerland County Pacers play the Rising Sun Shiners on Friday night in Vevay. It
is also Winter Homecoming. I will be reporting on this in next week’s column.
I lost a friend in Madison this week. Steve Ferguson passed away suddenly at his
home. I saw him almost everyday that | was in Madison. He was in the Red Roaster
Coffee Shop on Main Street every morning and afternoon. We talked about politics,
sports, country music and many other topics. He will be missed for sure. I have known
his brother, Brad for many years. They all grew up around Dupont, Indiana.
That is all for this week. PLease send me news to use to 812-290-3088 or
mike 1405@earthlink.net. Until next week, in the words of the Glen Campbell song,
remember to “try a little kindness, and shine your light for everyone you meet.