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THE EARLY BIRD NEWSPAPER S U N D A Y, J U L Y 2 6 , 2 0 1 5
Ramos wins Annie Oakley title at 110 feet BOB ROBINSON
ASSOCIATE EDITOR brobinson@earlybirdpaper.com
Randy and Georgianne (George) Lambright stand outside the Sportzters bar. They plan on opening The Merchant House later this fall.
The Merchant House will feature family dining RYAN BERRY
MANAGING EDITOR editor@earlybirdpaper.com
GREENVILLE – When Main Street Greenville did a resident survey the top request was for a barbecue restaurant in the historic downtown area. Right along with the request for barbecue from area businesses and residents was a call for family dining. George (Georgianne) and Randy Lambright and their family are answering the call. Area residents can expect to have a new family dining option this fall when The Merchant House opens on South Broadway in the old Sportzters building. According to Chris Campbell, George’s future step sonin-law, the restaurant will have barbecue on the menu, but that is only one of many comfort foods that will be available. They also plan to have local beers on tap. The small bar will be separate from the dining room, which they believe will encourage an outstanding family dining experience. Chris said, “First and foremost, this will be a family restaurant.” George added, “We all have kids under the age of 10.” The Merchant House will also feature live entertainment from time to time with the hope of holding a mixture of music and comedy shows. George was quick to point out the decision to open this restaurant has been nearly a year in the making. George and Randy began discussing the possibility in October, but they weren’t sure if Chris and his fiancée, Cassie (Randy’s daughter), would be willing to relocate from Detroit to Greenville. Both Chris and Cassie have nearly 35 years of combined experience in the restaurant business. Chris has been working in restaurants since he was 16 and has held every position imaginable. Cassie has 12 years of experience, also holding numerous positions. With Chris and Cassie willing to make the transition, George gathered up her courage to approach Amber Garrett, executive director of Main Street Greenville, about possible locations. She said, “I walked in her office and I was shaking. I was like ‘Hi, you don’t know me from Adam, but guess what.’” From there everything fell into place.
Two weeks before their first meeting, Garrett was looking for antiques on Craigslist and found a listing that showed Sportzters was for sale. A month later, George was holding the keys to the building. Until now the rumors have been running rampant around Greenville, including one saying an Italian restaurant was going to open in that spot. George and her family have purposely been quiet about their plans. They wanted to make sure everything was going forward before they announced their intentions. “At this point there is no turning back,” she said. Chris and Cassie plan to move to Greenville in the next few weeks. The family is excited to be part of the downtown entertainment district. Chris noted he has been part of restaurants across the country and believes Greenville will be supportive of their restaurant. George added, “If we didn’t think we could support it, we probably would not be making this investment. I believe in this town and the community.” Garrett is also excited about what George and her family have already accomplished. “I got teary eyed when I came in and looked at the renovations thus far. It’s going to be one of the best renovations we’ve had downtown since the Palace building.” George calls the décor “antique retro.” The family is trying to bring out the history of the building built in 1880, including some of its previous occupants that included hardware and general merchandise stores. They have found numerous architectural treasures hidden under other renovation projects and Chris hopes to highlight those treasures when the project is complete. Garrett admitted these types of renovations are few and far between and is amazed by the scope of the project George, Randy, Chris and Cassie have been willing to try and accomplish. Garrett said, “For a family to take on this type of renovation…it’s a reason for celebration.” Garrett concluded, “Restaurants and retail are what create a great downtown entertainment district. We’ve seen the success of First Fridays and I truly believe we can continue that success into every Friday and Saturday night.”
GREENVILLE – “I’ll try my very best to be the best Annie Oakley representative I can,” said 2015 Miss Annie Oakley, Mariana Ramos. “She seems really wonderful… I wish I could have met her.” Mariana had to shoot from 110 feet on July 23 to defeat her top challengers, First Runner-up Katie Hurd and Second Runnerup Hannah Gulley. Eleven contestants pushed the distance to 100 feet on Wednesday before the six finalists could be determined. At 105 feet four missed the mark, requiring a re-shoot for Second Runner-up. The contest was decided at 110 feet. Sixteen-year-old Mariana is a home schooled sophomore. She is sponsored by Stebbins Excavating. Mariana acknowledged she’d only practiced for the contest one time this year, however this was her third attempt to seek the title. Mariana had the additional honor of being awarded for Best Costume.
Left to right: First Runner-up Katie Hurd, Miss Annie Oakley 2015 Mariana Ramos and Second Runner-up Hannah Gulley. (Bob Robinson photo)
Annie Oakley Committee member and former Miss Annie Oakley 2006 Hannah Linebaugh couldn’t remember if or when this had happened in the past. Katie, 15, is a sophomore at Greenville High School.
Miss Annie Oakley demonstrates the shot she took at 110 feet to take her title. (Bob Robinson)
She is sponsored by PEPCON C F Poeppelman. Katie said she practiced every day it hadn’t rained for the last month and a half. This was her second attempt at the title. Hannah, 16, is a junior at Greenville High School. She is sponsored by Chicken Kitchen II. Hannah said she practiced for this event at least once a week. It was her third try. The long distance shooting was likely the result of mild weather with only a slight breeze, according to event sponsors and family members. Last year Haley Maher was the last shooter standing at 80 feet, earning the title of Miss Annie Oakley 2014. Courtney Osborne became Miss Annie Oakley 2013 by defeating her opponents at 95 feet.
Courtney was one of only three anyone could remember to shoot for a second title following her reign in 2013. None has achieved this, however Courtney isn’t done yet. “I’ll be back next year,” she said. Haley’s message to the new Miss Annie Oakley was “The year is going to be what you make of it. I wanted to have fun… that’s what I got.” Later she acknowledged she was a little sad it was over. Will she try again? “I haven’t decided,” she said. The three other finalists were Morgan Hissong, Courtney and Daisy Brim. Also vying for the title were Tara Goubeaux, Rebecca Thornhill, Hannah Bingham, Shawna Osborne and Alyssa Baumgardner.
Superheroes walk to make a difference RYAN BERRY
MANAGING EDITOR editor@earlybirdpaper.com
VERSAILLES – A soggy Heritage Park and the threat of rain couldn’t keep nearly 200 walkers away from the annual Darke County Relay for Life in Versailles. Twenty teams came together on July 17 and 18 to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Rose Schlater, event lead for this year’s event, welcomed everyone to the 11th annual Darke County Relay for Life and encouraged them all to follow the theme for this year’s event, “Be a Superhero…Save the World One Cure at a Time.” She said, “If the money we raise here over the next 15 hours helps to find a cure or prevent even one person from getting cancer, then I think we can all call ourselves superheroes.” Teams have been raising money throughout the year and
have until the end of August to complete their fundraising events. Schlater is hoping to meet their goal of $57,000. Susan Mills was this year’s guest speaker and revealed why she and many others take part in Relay for Life. She was part of last year’s event, but had something else on her mind at that time. She was going to go out with her “best friend for life.” She was being teased by friends at Relay for Life, telling her she needed to go get some sleep so she could be ready for her date. She recalled the good times she had with her best friend after that, “We did everything together.” Two months later, his health started going bad. Her friend learned he had a tumor in his bladder. The tumor was benign and surgery to remove the bladder was completed in December. “We kept think-
Nearly 200 walkers circled the track at Heritage Park in Versailles to raise money to find a cure for cancer. (Ryan Berry photo)
ing positive that everything would be alright and that he would get better,” she said. She would go see him and find him lying in bed. No matter how much encouraging she would give for him to get up and get better, he continued to get worse. The week of Valentine’s Day doctors discovered he had colon cancer. On Feb. 21 he passed away. Mills
said, “He was my best friend, my best bud. We will always miss him.” Darke County Relay for Life is held so caregivers like Mills won’t have to lose their best friends. As walkers remained on the track from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. they were given a constant reminder of why they were walking with two words mounted on the hillside… HOPE and CURE.
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