I found this piece in a Feb 5, 1920, Morrow County Independent, exactly 100 years ago:
“Located in the county of Morrow is a very prosperous little town of something over 1,400 inhabitants. This town has always prided itself on the fact that whatever it attempted to do, it did well. This is proven by the fact that its citizens, when called upon to help swing the county to fame as the largest purchasers of war savings stamps in the United States, did its part well.
“Then when Uncle Sam said Kaiser Bill had gone far enough with his war machine and needed good men to back up his assertions this little town furnished a captain and company of men who were classed with the Rainbow Division. Besides all of this, this lilttle town has stood since voting out all the saloons for all that a Christian community should stand for.”
Realizing that in order to do this the church and Sunday School was the place to begin, about a year ago a couple dozen men met in the Methodist Sunday School room and started the men’s Bible class in Cardington with an object in view of getting every man not in Sunday School — in Sunday School.
A drive for Easter, 1919, was set with a goal of 100 men. Easter came with an attendance of 146 men. Working with enthusiasm during the next year they attained a total attendance of 283 men attending Sunday School on February 1, 1920, just seven less than the votes cast in the corporation in the last state election.
“We can safely say this is a record for Morrow County and we believe, for Ohio if not for the United States, when you consider the population to draw from. Thus we see what happens when the men of a community get back of a project with all their might,” said a spokesperson.
Of course, this story is referencing Cardington.
A separate story in this edition of the Morrow County Independent offered News from Lazarus: “What’s New in Little Things for Women’s Dress?”
To counter this, the newspaper ran an ad titled “Keep YOUR Dollars in YOUR Town” and listed the following businesses to patronize: Donovan Bros, C. H. Farrington, Peoples Store, John Underwood and West Side Grocery in Cardington; C. B. Hoffmire, Olds Shoemaker, L. A. Powers and Frank Sharp, Ashley; Clayton Lloyd, Fulton and S. D. Beck, F. B. Mateer, F. D. Phillips, E. W. Pearl and Ed Randolph, Marengo.
Looking back
Feb 1940: G. H. Ruhlman, Cardington hardware merchant for 59 years, was honored by the Ohio Hardware Association at its convention in Columbus.
1950: Miss Thelma Hack of Cardington, a senior home economics major at Otterbein College, was placed on the school’s honor roll.
1970: Judy Harris was selected as queen for the upcoming Cardington FFA banquet. She was in her second year as an FHA student.
February 1960 Searchlight: Members of the Cardington-Lincoln High School varsity basketball team were Mike Swain, Gale Koehler, Don Herron, Bill Graham, Carl Harruff, Terry Smith, Ron Davis, Loren Helmuth, and Wayne Cook. Coaches were Wayne Bergdoll, head coach; and Kenneth Fisher, assistant. Managers were Randy Hack and Fred Petry.
Janet Sanderlin was to be crowned FFA queen. Attendants were Kathy Cooper, Donna Fowler, Janet Lee and Bonnie Hindman.
