SOME GR8 ST. JACOB TRIVIA ABOUT OUR PEOPLE

We survived the eclipse like many St. Jacob people before
us.  Pastor Hout observed it out in front of our building just
like Pastor Walter Speilman in 1925.  What a sight!!!

We have certainly had some amazing folks attend this
congregation.  If you do not believe us, take a look at the
list below.  We are truly an amazing place in an amazing
city.  So so so many interesting things have happened to
our people!!!
 

--Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Elaine Astor but we know
   she is at peace and living the good life with her Lord and
   Savior.  In her years on earth she was truly amazing with
   her crafts and so many other things, including her dancing.
   She was also an award winning dancer with Vicky Jo.  She
   and Pat Kash and so many others danced their way to
   several regional and national championships with Vicky Jo.

--On the northeast corner of Fourth and Maple was a
   grocery store by the name of Spencer’s.  The Spencer
   family lived in the house on the southwest corner.  We
   just found out that the son, Jim Spencer, was a drum
   major for the Ohio State Band.  How about that for
   buckeye trivia from the early 50’s.

-We are thankful for another great Sunday School
  Christmas program.  There were some other bits
  of trivia about the night.  Not only did we have a baby
  Jesus (little Beckham Reed) but the mother (Megan)
  had also been baby Jesus a few years before!!!  This
  reminds us of little Jackson Thompson when he was
  baby Jesus and his dad Doug had been baby Jesus
  when he was a child.

-Have you heard about the Napoleon movie?  It has been
   out in the theaters but sadly Pastor Hout has not seen
   it.  He looks forward to checking it out since our first
   full time pastor at St. Jacob fought in Napoleon’s 
   army in the battle of Waterloo!!!

-We are still smiling about August 13th.  It was the birthday
   of a man by the name of George “Hobby” Kinderdine.
   He was a good St. Jacob member and also kicked the
   first extra point in the NFL.  Pretty amazing, don’t you
   think?  Some of his family was in worship for the big
   day and they brought some of his old jerseys.  It was
   terrific to KOFK....“kick one for Kinderdine.”  What a
   great day!!!  On October 3rd we celebrated the 123rd
   anniversary of the first NFL game.  And recently we have
   been able to see the new movie documentary about the
   Dayton Triangles and the first NFL game.  We love the
   Triangle medal from 1920 that was given to George.

-The Reds surprised everyone with their improvement
   over last year.  It is an exciting time to be a Cincinnati
   Reds fan.  At one point, they shot up the standings and
   went from last to first!!!  Amazingly, two of the pitchers
   on the squad played for the Dayton Dragons and lived
   in our neighborhood.  Their names are Daniel Duarte
   and Fernando Cruz.

--Our softball team is the 2023 regular season champs
   and tournament champs.  We have had regular
   season champs before but never tournament winners.
   We are a happy bunch but we sure wish we could
   figure out the year of our championship back in the
   late 70’s.  We think it is 1976.

--We have been talking a lot about Sidney Wagner’s
   uncle Kip.  Turns out he was a famous treasure hunter.
   In fact, some have called him the greatest treasure
   hunter ever.  He was instrumental in recovering the
   gold coins from the 1715 treasure fleet.  Look it up
   on Wikipedia.  It is quite a story.  She shared many
   details about the story at our recent Lunch Bunch
   gathering.

--Pastor Hout recently met a young man at the gym.
   His last name was Zink.  Hout shared the following
   story which the young man did not know.  It is hard to
   imagine the Miami River freezing.  Yet, there was a time
   when this was a regular occurence.  In fact, it used to
   freeze over so well that people skated on it.  Loueda
   Schultz used to love to tell the story of her father Ralph
   Zink.  He once skated from West Carrollton to Franklin
   to visit his girlfriend Betsy.  He later married here and
   that was Loueda’s mom!!!  Pastor Hout’s new friend
   thought carefully and finally said “That’s my great
   uncle Ralph.”

--When telling the skating story to others we heard another
   one about Cliff Gebhart’s dad.  He was not noted for his
   swimming ability but he was a great floater.  He once
   floated all the way from West Carrollton to Miamisburg.

--Congratulations to Megan Davis who was inducted
   into the Miamisburg athletic Hall of Fame.  She joins
   other athletic greats like St. Jacob’s Matt Muncy.
   Her school records are still intact and she still
   reigns as the greatest swimmer in Miamisburg
   history with the only District championship and the
   highest placing ever at the state meet (4th).

--Big congrats to the Roush trio.  They received a 1
    in their last music competition with their violins
    and cello.  They have helped us in worship so
    much over the years.  Katie is now off to the windy
    city and is studying at the Chicago Art Institute. 
    Sophie has an Air Force scholarship and is at
    Auburn.  You might have seen her on TV at a
    football game.  She was a flag bearer.  Lizzie
    is busy, also, and has our adult choir together for
    another year of anthems.  We are happy to report
    that she recently won a scholarship to Wright State
    University’s music program.

--Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our very good
   friend Dick Church.  His funeral was at St. Jacob
   and our sanctuary was packed.  He was our
   city’s mayor for seven terms and that is the most
   in Miamisburg history.  There were a number of fine
   articles in the paper and tributes to him.  He led an
   amazing life and truly loved St. Jacob.  Our prayers
   are with all his family and friends.

--Our very own Jason Bruns came away with the
   half marathon gold medal at the giant Air Force
   competition.  He got his picture in the paper and
   a nice article.  Amazingly, though, they found that
   there was a mistake at the finish and he really
   finished second.  He had to return his gold medal
   for a silver one, but they can’t take the picture
   and the newspaper article back.  He is still number
   one with us!!!

--The recent exciting news is we have discovered
   our Hobby (George) Kinderdine played against
   Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Fame football
   player Jim Thorpe.  We found a clipping from
   the local paper with a list of the starting players
   for a game in 1921 and there they are!!!  We
   also found out where he lived on north First St.
   Wonder if Hobby got a chance to tackle Mr. Thorpe?
   Now that the NFL season is here there will be
   lots of talk about who is the first to kick an extra
   point in the NFL.

--Bill Jackle has been in therapy lately at Kingston.
   During that time we found out that he not only
   played the trombone in a group that traveled the
   world, but he also has a patent.  Way to go, Bill!!!

--Have you heard of Babe Ruth’s last three hits
   in the major leagues?  They were all home runs
   and they were all at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
   It is a legendary game.  Get this!!!  We just
   found out that Tom Ross (who was baptized and
   confirmed at St. Jacob) was at that game.  He
   lived in the red house across the street.  Paul
   T. Schultz is heading to Annapolis for Tom’s
   memorial service in September.  They will most
   assuredly be talking about that famous baseball
   game in Pittsburgh, among other things.

--Narciso Crook is not a member but he visited here
   a few years ago on Easter Sunday.  He has moved up
   in the minor league system and was eventually traded
   to the Chicago Cubs.  Can you believe he made it to
   play right field for the Cubs?  Can you believe we had
   a Cub player at St. Jacob?  We are so excited for him.

--We had a big 100th birthday celebration for Dale
   Schram.  He was very very thankful and gave us
   all a treat as he sang a song for us, even better
   than George Burns on his 100th.

--Charlotte and Louie Cluxton came into church
   recently and told the story about their grand-
   daughter winning a big bicycle race in Texas that
   earned her a spot in the Tour de France!!!

--There were two people in the history of St. Jacob
   who played piano for the local theater before the
   movies and during the silent films.  Lots of stories
   are told about the keyboard work of Art Sharrits and
   Eva Schram.  Pastor Hout has been trying to keep
   the tradition alive and plays the piano before some
   movies at the Plaza Theatre.

--How about this story?  The quarterback of the Super
   Bowl Bengals is a guy by the name of Joe Burrow.
   Everyone is talking about him now, especially our
   Matt Muncy.  Joe’s dad was the defensive coach
   for Ohio University when Matt was playing there.
   Of course, he often brought his son to practice.
   So, amazingly, Matt Muncy and Joe Burrow are
   friends from way back when.  How about that!!!

--How great it is to find out that we have even more
   members with patents.  We now know that Rob
   Stirling and Bill Jackle have patents.  Andy Schultz
   also has one.  That brings the St. Jacob total to ten
   as Jim DeYoung has one, Steve Schultz has two and
   Kim Izor has plaques on the wall of his house from his
   four patents!!!!

--Pastor Starkey was our eighth pastor.  At our big 200th
   celebration at the end of August we were able to meet
   Jane Kruse (Benner).  She has a great connection with
   Pastor Starkey.  Due to illness and not being able to get
   to worship services, he baptized her in their backyard at
   the pump!!!

--We recently read about the anniversary of John Dillinger
   being shot outside a movie theater in Chicago.  It was July
   22nd in 1934.  As we sat there at Ron’s Pizza for Lunch
   Bunch, Pastor Hout asked Paul T. Schultz if he remembered
   Dillinger getting shot (Paul would have been 8 at the time).
   “Why sure” he said.  We didn’t have TV at the time but it was
   in the papers and the newsreels at the movies.  Everyone
   was talking about it.”  He also remembers when Prohibition
   was repealed. 

--Not many teams from Miamisburg High School have ever
   been first in the state.  The 2021 championship softball
   team can clam that honor.  The starting catcher from that
   team was baptized at St. Jacob and also went to our day
   camp.  Congratulations to Kamryn Brooks for a great season
   and a great place in the history of St. Jacob.  Amazingly, she
   did it all in the 200th anniversary of this congregation.  At her
   graduation party and it was great to see all her trophies and
   all-GWOC medals.

--On Memorial Day weekend we remembered 14 people
    from St. Jacob who died in service to our country.  We
    believe there are more and we are investigating that!!!

--We recently highlighted the fourteen people in the
    congregation who have gone on to become ministers
    of word and sacrament.  It is quite a list but Pastor 
    Hout’s favorite is Herbert Hamburger.

--Ever heard of the boat “Sultana”?  It expoded on the
   Mississippi and over a thousand people died.  It is still the
   worst maritime tragedy in U.S. history.  Our very own
   Zebulon Sharits was on board and Pastor Albrecht was
   called on to perform his funeral.  Mr. Sharits is buried out
   at Hillgrove Cemetery.

--We just found out about a man by the name of Emanuel
   Schultz.  He lived from 1819-1912.  Our former mayor Dick
   Church is the one who alerted us to him.  He was a member
   of St. Jacob and actually was mayor of Miamisburg for 11
   days.  He also served as a member of the Ohio House of
   Representatives and from 1881-1883 he served as a member
   of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He lived an amazing
   life and is buried at Hill Grove Cemetery in Miamisburg.

--It looks like St. Jacob can brag about having the longest
   mayor in Miamisburg history and also the shortest mayor in
   Miamisburg history!!!

--The 1913 flood was March 25th.  We have heard a lot of great
   flood stories but we are still collecting more.  Can you believe
   we had members saved by rowboats out of the second floor
   windows?  Of course, we also had five feet of water in our
   building!!!

--Steve Stocker is a very active member.  Did you know that
   two of our significant buildings in the downtown are named
   after his great grandfather, as he was the man who had
   them constructed.  Thankfully, Mr. Stocker was a great
   Ohio State fan.  Steve is not.

--We sure have a lot of circus connections here at St. Jacob.
   Of course, there is Larry Benner who was a clown with
   the Ringling Circus and traveled the world.  Now at our
   noon service we have Kevin Sweeney who is the organizer
   for the Shrine Circus that comes to our area on an annual
   basis.  The Masons in the area are the ones who pull all
   this together and Kevin says they have exciting plans for
   the future of this traveling circus.

--It has been hard on us as we think of the death of Minta
   Newburg.  We have lots of great memories including the
   fact that she saw Elvis.  Actually, she saw him twice!!!
   Anne Hoskins also saw him twice.  Our friend Mz. Pickles
   (Carol Brassington) also reports she has seen him in
   concert.  She had some of his albums on the wall of her
   store.

--Fred Schmidt was in town recently and told the story of
   his brother Mike and how he played the saxophone in
   the high school band.  That was the day when the
   school had the instrument and people would borrow
   them for a year.  Mike was always happy to point out
   that he used the same saxophone as Phyllis McGuire,
   of the world famous McGuire sisters.

--We have talked a lot about George “Hobby” Kinderdine
   and his days of playing in the first NFL game and kicking
   the first NFL extra point.  We recently found out some 
   some other interesting information.  Hobby had two
   younger brothers and guess what?  They also played
   with the Triangles.  Maybe they did not play as much
   as Hobby (only a game or two) but still they were official
   members of the team.  Now St. Jacob can brag about
   having three Triangle players baptized in our congregation.
   With Josh Myers in the NFL draft there was an article in
   the paper about Miamisburg players in the league.  Hobby
   along with brothers Walt and Shine were listed!!!

--Have you heard of the grave dodger?  The Star City
   knows about him.  So does Pastor Hout, who stopped
   by their game room recently.  They have a
   large display on the wall about “the grave dodger.”
   Some have even called him the “coffin dodger.”  Back
   in the mid 60’s when they were putting in a water
   line for the fountain in Library Park, they came
   across a coffin left from the days when that area
   was a cemetery.  The reburial was led by our very
   own Pastor Rajala and it is amazing to see him in the
   pictures along with the intricate coffin.  There is even
   a window in the coffin!!!  The unknown man was the
   first burial in Highland Cemetery in 1965.

--Pastor Hout always took special joy in shaking the hands of
   Cliff and Wanda Gebhart.  Their hands were special
   because when they graduated from Otterbein University in
   1947 they shook the hand of the guest speaker that day - a
   man by the name of Orville Wright.

--Doug Schmidt is a new name for Pastor Hout but he was
   a very active member of St. Jacob in the 50’s.  He also
   happened to be a star quarterback at Miamisburg HS
   and went on to do very well at Ohio Wesleyan.  He did
   so well that he is now in the hall of fame at OWU.

--Speaking of the Schmidt family, we love the story of
   Fred’s when he was out at a national Lutheran youth
   gathering on the campus of the University of Kansas.
   He and his friends ran across a guy who was very
   very tall.  It stunned them.  Then they realized they
   just met Wilt Chamberlain, the future NBA star.  He
   was in his freshman year at Kansas.

--At a recent funeral, Pastor Hout talked with the grandson
   and granddaughter of Larry Fogle.  He was the poet
   laureate of Miamisburg and wrote a number of poems
   about St. Jacob.  We have several booklets with his
   work.  Betty Daily was also a great poet and wrote a
   number of poems about St. Jacob.  They were both
   very active member of the writers society of Miamisburg
   and were very prolific.

--Tom Archdeacon has had several great articles in the paper
   about the Dayton Triangles.  He reports about how they
   are working on a movie that will be made about them.  Of
   course, in the article was the fact that the first extra point in
   NFL history was kicked by our very own Hobby Kinderdine.
   He sat in the last pew on the pulpit side with the rest of the
   Kinderdine family.  Hobby played in the first NFL game as
   a center (on offense and defense) and also as the kicker
   for the Dayton Triangles.  When his team scored a
   touchdown to go ahead 6-0, he kicked the extra point to
   make it 7-0.  Little did anyone there know that this would be
   remembered as the first extra point in NFL history!!!

--We found a great video of Dartmouth football from
   1960.  Guess who is featured throughout?  It is our very
   own Jack Kinderdine!!!  He was the son of Virginia
   Kinderdine and was an acolyte many times at St.
   Jacob.  He is highlighted on the video as the starting
   quarterback running and throwing for touchdowns.  He
   also is shown hitting some 60 plus yard punts.  At the
   end of the video he is at the library and they point out
   how he set some school records in passing and also
   an Ivy League record for passing!!!  They forgot to
   mention that he was also an excellent acolyte at SJ.

--Christopher Boyd was ordained a few years ago at St.
   Jacob.  He now serves Resurrection Lutheran in Port
   Clinton (on Catawba Island) as their pastor.  He is only
   the third pastor in the history of their congregation.
   One pastor served 10 years and another served 40 years!

--We love all the Nick Thompson stories.  Did you know
   he once held the the Miamisburg school record in the 200
   and 400?  He also had a number of school records in football.
   He still holds the record for receptions in a year and return
   kickoff yards in a career.  He was a state qualifier in the 400
   meter dash and was also the most valuable athlete at
   the Jesse Owens Invitational.  He was once hit so hard
   he had a concussion and went to the opponent’s bench
   (by accident) to sit down.  Since Pastor Hout’s sons
   were in the marching band at Fairmont, amazingly, he
   was at that game!!!

--Matt Muncy was confirmed at St. Jacob and attended here
   when he set all those high school rushing records.  He is now
   married to Chelsea and they have a new son, Quentin.  It
   turns out that the little guy has a video out there where he is
   climbing the stairs and has a great play by play call by the
   same man who is the announcer for the Bengals.  Look up
   “Quentin Muncy and stairs” in Google.  We are also excited
   to report that Quentin was baptized at St. Jacob!!!

--We know you have heard some good fish stories but have
   you heard a good horse story?  Here is one.  St. Jacob has
   a connection to one of the greatest horse movies of all time.
   It is the movie “Seabiscuit.”  If you look closely in the stands
   you will find Lacey Bastin, Shelly Macy’s oldest daughter!!!
   She was asked to be an extra.  How about that?

--Pastor Rajala’s son (Arne) was in town recently and he
   brought in a Bible from his dad’s library.  It is an 1822
   Bible!!!  Can you believe St. Jacob was only one year old
   when this Bible was printed.

--Shannon Quinn Thompson is well known for many things.
   We recently heard a story about her that will make her
   even more famous.  She was six months pregnant and
   she rode her unicycle at her school for the kids!!!  Yes,
   she is pretty amazing as she also led the nation in “digs
   per set” her senior year on the Capital University volleyball
   team.  She and Doug have three handsome boys - Jackson,
   Noah and Owen.  We wonder if they will be unicycle riders?

--Jason Bruns finished on the podium at the “First 
   Four” race at the University of Dayton.  This was no
   ordinary race as he won tickets to the NCAA
   tournament games and also $75!!!  Go Jason!
   In college he was the top runner on the Wright State
   Cross Country team and has run the Boston
   marathon.....even against the wind the whole time.
   His wife Elizabeth was a champion tennis player for
   Miamisburg and Wright State.  She even pole vaulted
   for Pastor Hout when she was in High School.  They
   now have two little ones by the name of Hazel and
   Wilbur.  They look so cute in their WSU gear.

--Pastor Hout visited the Top Museum in Burlington,
   Wisconsin and got to spend time with proprietor
   Judith Schultz.  She has been on a number of TV
   shows and even in an MGM movie.  The two
   shared stories and top ideas and promise to work
   together more in the future.  She is also a lover of
   history.  She likes the look and stories of St. Jacob
   and was especially interested in our 200th celebrations.

--Mable Braunschweiger was famous around here for her
   friendship and hospitality.  She is also famous for
   being named in the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope film
   “Road to Utopia”.  In that movie Bing is talking about
   a girl he went sleigh riding with by the name of Mable
   Braunschweiger, the lady blacksmith!!!

--In 2018 the Miamisburg Cross-Country team made it
   to the state meet and placed 10th to become the
   greatest team in Miamisburg history.  On our bulletin
   board you can see their picture by our outdoor sign.
   Our very own Jonathan Steingass was on the team
   that was previously the greatest at Burg HS.  He ran
   some great races including one of the top XC times in
   Miamisburg history.

--Darleen Payne is now living at Stoney Ridge.  We are
   happy to report that she is doing well and still has over
   300 humorous t-shirts!!!

--We just found out that Alexis Izor (Kim Izor’s daughter
   in Seattle) is on the national traveling sports team
   “Rat City Roller Derby”.  She has also made the
   all-star squad.

--The Plaza Theatre recently had a sold out crowd for
   the movie musical “The Showman”.  Our very own
   Lawrence Benner was a clown for the Ringling
   Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus and traveled the
   equivalent of circling the globe seven times with the
   circus.  The shaker bells in our sanctuary come from
   his estate.

--Jim Bustillo was inducted into the Miamisburg Hall of
   Fame for gymnastics.  He joins fellow state champion
   Tom Schultz.  Pastor Hout still gripes about not being
   in his high school Hall of fame but he did make the
   Capital University Hall of Fame in track and field.

--Four people from our parish worked on the "Manhattan
   project" (for the first nuclear bomb). Mary Alice Greb,
   Art Vollmer, Bob Greb and Bob Shiffer. Some have
   said Bob worked on the "switch" but others more
   accurately have called it "a proximity fuse".

--Matt Muncy holds the Miamisburg High School record
   for rushing yards in one game and for a career. He
   played four years as a linebacker at Ohio University
   where he was named on the All American team at the
   linebacker postion.  He also played in the pros for the
   Bengals and the Titans.

--After nearly five decades, Steve Schultz still holds the
   Miamisburg school record for interceptions in one
   game.

--Betty Daily once won the poetry prize in a local
   magazine for 14 months in a row.

--Dale Schram was in the Miamisburg High School band
   10 years.

--Sidney Wagner once played the pipe organ in worship
   for 25 years without missing a Sunday.

--Mary Ellen Wagner and Sidney Wagner had perfect
   attendance in Sunday School for over 40 years.

--Stephen Steingass used to hold the school record at
   Miamisburg for the 2,000 meter steeplechase.

--Randy Hardin won his town yo-yo competition in
   Iowa. He then went to three other towns and won
   those battles before barely losing a fifth competition.