Groveport Messenger - June 2nd, 2024

PAGE 4 - GROVEPORT MESSENGER - June 2, 2024
Groveport Heritage Museum
The Groveport Heritage Museum contains
photographs and artifacts about
Groveport’s history. The museum is located
in Groveport Town Hall, 648 Main St.,
and is open during Groveport Town Hall’s
operating hours. Call 614-836-3333.
BIRTHDAY • ENGAGEMENT • WEDDING • ANNIVERSARY
• GRADUATION • RETIREMENT
IN MEMORIUM • ARMED FORCES
Say it with an announcement ad in
the Messenger and spread the word.
You can download the appropriate form from
our Web site or stop by our office
Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Friday, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
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Rick Palsgrove ...................................Groveport Editor
southeast@columbusmessenger.com
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Always a Cruiser, even after 100 years
The Groveport Madison High School
Alumni Association banquet on May 18
saw a gathering of graduates dating from
the 2000s back to the 1940s.
Editor’s Notebook
A highlight of the
alumni banquet was
the recognition of the
school’s oldest living
graduate, Selma
Wimer Scarlett, who
was born in 1916 and
graduated from
Groveport Madison
High School in 1936.
Selma, who now
Rick
lives in Pennsylvania
and could not attend
Palsgrove the alumni banquet,
will celebrate her
SELMA WIMER SCARLETT Selma Wimer Scarlett at her 107th birthday
party.
108th birthday in September.
Ken, passed away in 2003 and Bruce is
According to her son and daughter-inlaw
Bruce and Cindy Scarlett, Selma’s par-
currently age 65.
her.
According to Bruce and Cindy, Selma “What a great high school alumni you
ents were Clara and Earnest Wimer.
enjoyed horseback riding, gardening, crocheting,
raising show chickens, and taking one of you.”
have,” they said. “God bless each and every
“Times were really hard back then and
she was raised by friends of the family,
care of her husband and son.
Think about the changes in the world
William and Ada Howard, on Winchester
Until he passed away, Selma maintained
ties to Groveport by often talking ences she has had in her nearly 108 years.
that Selma has witnessed and the experi-
Pike,” said Bruce and Cindy.
“She will still ask us how ‘Uncle Billy’ is
with Gene Wilson, a well known farmer Then think about the changes and experiences
you have had in your own life.
doing. She called him uncle even though he
and community member in Groveport who
was not related. She has always told us she
was also a member of her class of 1936. Though they vary from individual to individual,
at the core we are who we are and
played basketball in high school.”
Bruce and Cindy said Selma’s memories
After graduating she worked at Lazarus
of the past are far better than the present down deep our shared sense of community
Department Store and later at Curtisstime.
and sense of place is within us all.
Wright Corp. as a “Rosie the Riveter” during
World War II.
“She is still quite feisty and you sure The friendly bonds of community are
can’t get much by her,” they said. “Must be there for each of us - no matter the distance,
no matter the number of years that
She married Ken Scarlett sometime in
the Ohio blood she was born with. We refer
the 1940s, a truck driver who delivered
to her as our ‘energizer bunny’ mom. She have gone by. Regardless of where life
goods where she worked.
just keeps going and going and going. Our takes us, the shared experiences of our
“It was love at first sight!” said Bruce
properties are only about five miles apart youth at school and of community remain
and Cindy.
and we have always had a close relationship.”
and hold us together.
Selma and Ken moved to New Jersey
and in 1958 and she gave birth to Bruce. In
Bruce and Cindy are appreciative of the Rick Palsgrove is editor of the Groveport
1974, the family moved to Pennsylvania
Groveport Madison Alumni Association’s Messenger.
where Selma still owns her small farm.
efforts to reach out to Selma and recognize
Messenger photo by Rick Palsgrove
Hometown banners
Mayor Lance Westcamp honored local veterans
at the Memorial Day ceremony in the Groveport
Cemetery on May 27 by recognizing each
Hometown Military Banner Honoree. The
Hometown Military Banners will be displayed at
the major Main Street intersections from
Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Veterans honored
on the Hometown Military Banners this
year are: Katie Ann Gearheart, U.S. Army; John
Hougland, U.S. Army; U.S. Army; Paul
McGonigle,U.S. Army; Thomas W. Stevenson,
U.S. Army; Dwight “Eddie” Ward, U.S. Army;
Eugene Williams Jr., U.S. Army; Joseph W
Shannon Jr., U.S. Marine Corp; Donald Arlen
Boso, U.S. Navy; David W. Eberle, U.S. Navy;
Robert Lee Graham, U.S. Navy; Thomas R.
Wilson, U.S. Navy; Tish R. Pack, U.S. Air Force.