Thursday, June 19, 2008

Southern Crittenden County News: June 19, 2008

By Michelle Henderson and Matthew T. Patton

If you haven't seen the nice marker at the entrance of Caldwell Springs cemetery, we recommend driving down to see it. Kudos to those who had it installed. It adds much to the landscape. We understand a similar marker will be introduced at Dycusburg Cemetery in the coming days.

Seven Springs had 53 in attendance at Sunday school. Vacation Bible School (VBS) starts there on July 7. Members are determining whether VBS will be three or five days in length. Once we know, we'll print it here in this column.

An interesting visitor literally rolled through Dycusburg last week. Will McCarthy of Ithaca, NY, departed on bicycle from New Orleans and was headed toward his New York home. He said biking was "the only way to see the country" and chose to ride through small towns as part of his route.

Mary LeFan reports attendance at Mexico Baptist Church is regularly in the 150 range. The pastor is Bro. Tim Burdon, originally of Henderson, Ky. The church is one of the most active in this part of the county, with several creative ministries and recreational activities. Every year, the church has a Cinco de Mayo celebration, church picnics, a fish fry, harvest festival, Easter egg hunts, Christmas parades, birthday parties and a well-attended wild game supper in February. For more information about the church and its mission and outreach, check out www.mexicobaptist.org.

It was a pleasure to meet Tim Cannon at Dycusburg on Sunday. He was cleaning up the yard at his mother's (Jean Cannon) home there. The Cannon property adjoins the Dycusburg Veteran's Memorial Park property which is the site of the old Dycusburg City Hall. Tim said Jean misses Dycusburg and her friends there very much.

On Sunday morning, June 15, the Virgil Travis home at Dycusburg on the back hill burned to the ground. Teddy Davenport was residing at the home, but was not there when it burned. Several area fightfighters were on the scene, but the home was a total loss. Several photos are posted at www.dycusburg.com.

Curtis Griffin would like to give a special thanks to Rick Holsapple and Mark Riddle for their assistance in bringing in his hay while he was not feeling well.

The final cleanup before Independence Day at Dycusburg will be held this Saturday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. No dump truck will be in town this time, but a crew will go alongside the road to collect debris. If you're interested in helping, please call Michelle Henderson at 988-2758 or Star Mahns at 988-3004.

We are keeping the Holsapple family in our thoughts and prayers as they have experienced a few illnesses recently.

Wesley Lynch, formerly of Crittenden County, now of Amboy, Ill., would like to obtain a copy of the Frances Elementary eighth grade class photo of 1957-1958 if one exists. If you have a copy, please contact matthewtpatton@yahoo.com.

The Dycusburg Community Group has been finalizing details for the July 4 "Red, White and Boom!" celebration. A band has been secured for the night. Western Kentucky-based "Gunner T" plays a variety of types of music, including old and new country and old and new rock and more. The memorial marker and park dedication will be at 6 p.m., followed by fireworks at 8:30. The band will play after the ceremony and before and after the fireworks. An expanded selection of food will be offered at the Dycusburg Grocery that day, including burgers, barbeque and a host of baked goods.

Several fathers and sons were on the riverfront sharing Father's Day together fishing.

This week's historical tidbit focuses on Dycusburg. Dycusburg was established Feb. 3, 1847, making it 161 years old. Located approximately 16 miles from the Crittenden County seat of Marion, in about 1835, a Mr. Shelby opened the first ferry here on the Cumberland River. Later Berry Dycus (after whom the town was named) opened a brick warehouse and the small town began to prosper. Dycusburg was laid out by William F. Dycus on land then owned by G.B. Dycus, its first settler.

Soon after Dycusburg was incorporated in 1848, businesses began to boom even more, and the post office was established as Dycusburgh on Nov. 7, 1848. The same year, the county court appointed C.M. Jackson, Joshua Duvall, J.C. Elder, H.W. Sanders and G.B. Dycus as the first trustees of Dycusburg. The town marshal, a synod of "patter rollers," (patrollers) was commissioned for the city and surrounding area. They included M.S. Smith, Captain P.R. Bliss, Robert Cooksey and David Moore. On June 22, 1868, the by-laws of the Town of Dycusburg were adopted.

If you have news to share (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, church reports or other news), e-mail matthewtpatton@yahoo.com or michrehend@yahoo.com.

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