Headlines • October 1, 2013
Pumpkin Show royalty and giant pumpkin winners!
Mary Mattingly
EDITOR
mmattingly@ripleynews.com
The weather may have been the star of the 2013 Versailles Pumpkin Show, at least for four of the five days. Temperatures were a comfortable 70 degrees at the start of the four -day, evening events; and Saturday, sunny skies and 80 degrees shined on the parade. It didn’t rain until Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to keep the kids away or the participants in the 5K race.
Left, Jacob Stenger won Pumpkin Show Prince. He’s a student at Batesville Primary, and Princess was Kaysha Walker, a student at South Ripley. They lifted the trophies in celebration, without any prodding from the photographer. See pg. 7 of the Osgood Journal print edition for more photos, and we’ll have even more in Thursday’s print edition of The Versailles Republican.
The parade was big, lasting two hours with 115 floats. Versailles Lions organizers said they get a big percentage of local businesses to support the event. The giant pumpkins were at the end of the parade, and the winning one was 755 pounds! Heather Huff of Deputy, pictured below, took home the honors. This year, they had a youth class with eight entries. Two of her children won in that category, Quinton came in 2nd place with a 255 pound pumpkin and Sydney won first place with a 312 pound one. They are pictured with her below.
MARY MATTINGLY PHOTOS
Amish man killed after
buggy struck
Mary Mattingly
EDITOR
mmattingly@ripleynews.com
A young man was killed after being ejected from an Amish buggy that crashed into a pickup truck Thursday night, Sept. 26.
State police report Daniel X. Stoltzfus of Versailles was northbound on US 421 near CR 450S around 10 p.m. when the accident occurred. For unknown reasons, he crossed the center line into the path of a pickup truck and was ejected into the northbound lane.
The buggy was hit head-on by a 2001 Ford F250 driven by Wilma Asher, 53, Versailles. The impact killed the horse. Two passing vehicles then struck Stoltzfus. According to the police report, Jeffrey Clippert, 54. Madison, was driving a Chevrolet Cavalier and the second was a SUV driven by Chester Swinney, 54, of Versailles. It was a straight stretch of road, with a speed limit posted of 55 mph. Noel Houze with the state police commented the accident was near the same place where a semi truck hit a vehicle, killing two little Versailles girls a couple of years ago.
The Amish moved to the area about five years ago, and the horse and buggy are a familiar site to many; however, local residents are concerned they are a hazard on the highway and that vehicles often come up on them at a fast speed. Police were told Stoltzfus was likely heading home to CR 350S. Some family members told Cincinnati media they believed he fell asleep, and thus the horse veered from the lane. No one else was injured. The crash remains under investigation. The funeral was held over the weekend.