The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 28, 2017 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Early deadline for July 5 edition Due to the July 4 holiday, the deadline for the July 5 edition will be a day early on Monday, July 3 for all ad and news submissions. Church note deadline is at 10 a.m. News and display advertising is due at noon. Prof. Steve brings science to Oakland City Library Professor Steve brings his science show to the Oak- land City Public Library on June 29, at 5 p.m. for a spe- cial one-time-only show, as part of the ongoing summer reading program, Full STEAM Ahead. This family- friendly program shows that science can be lots of fun. The show will include audience participation and demonstrations which will illustrate that science is any- thing but boring. No library card is needed to attend. 4-H Cutest Baby contest new event at the fair Cutest Baby Contest will be a new event at the Pike County Fair this year. The event will be July 13-15 at Hornady Park, Petersburg. The contest is open to any child age 2 and under and resides in Pike County. En- try fee is $10. Applications can be picked up at the Pike County Extension office, 801 E. Main Street, Pe- tersburg. Deadline for application and photo is Friday, June 30 at 4 p.m. For more information, call Judy Gum- bel at 812-766 -0134. Little Miss Sweet Corn contestants sought Gamma Omega Chapter of Tri Kappa is seeking con- testants for the Oakland City Little Miss Sweet Corn Contest, which will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 28 in the Oakland City School Cafetorium. Contestants must be the ages of 5 to 8 (at the time of the contest). A spon- sor's fee is $40. Contestants must perform a talent or theme attire in addition to a short interview question. Number of en- trants is limited, so call soon. Practices start in June/ July. For more information, call Tammy Schroeder at 812-664-6648. Welcome Everyone 4 th of July Celebration TO THE OTWELL • Automotive Repairs • Auto Parts • Tires • Batteries • Full Service Gas Station Chamness Auto Parts 2348 N. State Road 257, Otwell Welcome TO THE Otwell Celebration 4th of July 1011 N. Hwy. 257, Otwell • 812-354-2197 www.dutchtown-homes.com Dutchtown Homes Open Saturday 9am-3pm Closed Tuesday for the Holiday 2141 IN-257, Otwell, IN 812-354-2366 COME AND WITH US! 2230 N. Spring St. Otwell, IN On the curve in Otwell 812-354-9841 OTWELL MERCANTILE YOUR HOMETOWN HARDWARE AREA HAPPENINGS Al-Anon meeting – Meetings are each Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., located at 424 W. 7th St. in Jasper. For more information, call 812-887-0349. Celebrate Recovery Program – Meets every Sun- day night from 5 to 7 p.m. at 207 Lafayette St. in Winslow. For more information, call Krystal Breeding 812-582-2562. Winslow Alcohol Anonymous – will meet every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Call 812-789 -8535 for location of the meeting. Narcotic Anonymous – Every Monday at 7 p.m. at River of Life Fellowship Church. For more informa- tion, contact 812-380 -1395. Pike County Moms Group – Pike County Moms Group meets every first and third Thursday of the month at Otwell United Methodist Church. Children are welcome. For more information, visit their Face- book page at Pike County (Indiana) Moms Group. Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission meeting – The Executive Board of the Indiana 15 Re- gional Planning Commission will meet Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. (local time) at the Commission's of- fice located at 221 E. First Street in Ferdinand, Indiana. Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Support Group – Memorial's Caring Hands Senior Services sponsors an Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Care- giver Support Group on the first Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is Wednesday July 7, 2017, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in Board Conference Room A, which is located on the lower level of Memorial Hospi- tal near the Tower Café at 800 West 9th Street in Jas- per. This support group allows caregivers to come to- gether to share knowledge and experiences in caring for loved ones who are affected by these illnesses. For more information about the Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Caregivers Support Group, visit Memori- al Hospital's website at www.mhhcc.org and click on "Classes & Events," or contact Mike Obrien, Caring Hands Activity Coordinator, at 812-996 -6008 or mo- brien@mhhcc.org. Pre-registration is not necessary. By Ed Cahill Prides Creek Golf Course – Pike County's first and on- ly golf course – will be cele- brating its 25th anniversary on Saturday, July 1. The nine-hole course, located at 1005 E. County Road 400 N., in Prides Creek Park, officially opened on Ju- ly 1, 1992, but had been in the works for more than a dozen years prior to that, ac- cording to Petersburg May- or R.C. Klipsch. Prides Creek Golf Course, Klipsch said, had its begin- nings in the late 1970s, when he was serving as vice-pres- ident of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce. "At the meetings, we would talk about what Pike County needed, and we de- cided that three things were needed," Klipsch said. "One, we had no medical facilities in Petersburg; two, we had no golf course – and we were all, a bunch of us, at that time, young guys interested in a golf course; and Chester Martin, who was the presi- dent of the county council at the time, needed a landing strip for his airplane." Klipsch subsequently vol- unteered to chair a commit- tee to pursue a golf course, and began recruiting other like-minded individuals to join it. "The first thing you're going to do is get people that are interested in a golf course," Klipsch said. "So I put a committee together of people we thought could maybe get this done." Among the original mem- bers of the committee were Howard Briscoe, Jim Pell, Wyatt Rauch, Mike Voyles and Rob Waddle. Later, a corporation – Prides Creek Golf Course, Inc. – would be formed, with Briscoe as president, Klipsch as vice-president, lo- cal attorney Russ Mahoney as secretary, and Waddle as treasurer. Members of the board of directors – from the time the corporation was formed through the opening of Prides Creek Golf Course – included Martha Carroll, Denver P. Gladish, Donald Keller, D. Jay Lee, Betty McCormick, James A. Pell, Robert F. Shoultz, Royce K. Taylor, Michael J. Voyles and Rodger A. Whann. "We decided, as a group, we've got to put guys togeth- er that can do this, not just sit around and talk about it," Klipsch said. "So every- body was put on that group to bring something to the ta- ble." Klipsch said that there re- ally was never any doubt that the golf course – if and when it was built – would be locat- ed on public land at Prides Creek Park, adjacent to the park's 90 -acre lake. "We just knew it needed to be there," Klipsch said. "It needed to be at the park. As it turns out, look at how beautiful an addition to the park it has been." However, Klipsch noted, there were some local golf- ers who thought that a golf course was little more than a pipe dream. "My grandfather and a lot of the guys around here that had been in business and played golf for years had played at either Washington or Oakland City," Klipsch said. "We were one of the on- ly counties in the state that didn't have a golf course. But those old timers were telling us, 'You can't get that done. We've tried for years.' That was just enough to make us young guys think, 'Oh, ye- ah? We can.'" "But," Klipsch added, "it was a struggle." It would take several years, Klipsch noted, be- fore the project would final- ly start to get off the ground. "There were points in his- tory where we were kind of out-of-sight, out-of-mind," Klipsch said. "We were up and we were down." Things began to take a turn for the better when the Prides Creek Golf Course, Inc., board learned that a $100,000 grant through the Indiana Department of Nat- ural Resources was avail- able for projects such as a golf course. "I give Jim Pell all the credit in the world for that grant, because Jim didn't give up," Klipsch said. "He kept researching all this, and found that there was a grant available, through the Department of Natural Re- sources." However, the grant re- quired a dollar-for-dollar lo- cal match, meaning that the Prides Creek Golf Course, Inc., board needed to come up with $100,000 in cash and/or in-kind contribu- tions to qualify for the whole amount. "Now we know we can get $100,000 from the Depart- ment of Natural Resourc- es – but where are we going to get the other $100,000? " Klipsch said. "We didn't have it." However, it wouldn't be until after Petersburg was struck by a tornado in 1990 Prides Creek Golf Course turns 25 See GOLF on 5 Above, Prides Creek Golf Course, Inc., president Howard Briscoe cuts the ribbon on Hole No. 1 during a ceremony held at the golf course on Sunday, June 28, 1992, three days before it was officially opened to the public on Ju- ly 1, 1992. Photo courtesy of Peggy Voyles Pictured above is Prides Creek Golf Course's Hole No. 8 during construction in 1992. The golf course will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on Saturday, July 1. Photo courtesy of Peggy Voyles ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Prides Creek Golf Course will mark its 25th anni- versary on Saturday, July 1, by offering free food and beverages to golfers all day long, according to course manager Beth McMillen. "We'll also be giving away some prizes – such as free rounds of golf and gift certificates – throughout the month, just to kind of celebrate the whole month, and give a little bit back to the golfers," McMillen said.