By Ray Tincher | For The Times-Post

I bet you didn’t know 2008 was the “Year of the Potato.”

Yes, the international people — whoever they are — declared it.

That’s OK with me because I love potatoes, any way you fix them. They must be plentiful, because when you get French fries, they pile them on.

In January 2008, NASA was still probing space. It flew an unmanned spacecraft the closest ever to the planet Mercury. In May, NASA flew an unmanned Phoenix spacecraft, which became the first to land on the northern polar region of Mars.

Back on Earth, if you had money in the stock market, you probably didn’t sleep very well; the markets around the world plunged amid growing fears of a U.S. Great Recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis. And in September, stocks fell sharply.

The Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise made the news. An online activist group Anonymous initiated Project Chanology, after a leaked interview of Tom Cruise was published on YouTube. Anonymous sympathizers took to the streets to protest outside the church, while the church’s websites were also being attacked.

Bet you don’t remember this: Another unusual event occurred in April 2008. An energy release of a Gamma-ray burst called the “GRB 080319B” is the brightest event ever recorded in the universe.

On Nov. 4, Democratic U.S. Sen. Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States.

We lost a few people in 2008: Bobby Fischer, a great American chess grandmaster and former World Chess Champion; Margaret Truman, daughter of former President Harry Truman (some of you may remember her playing the piano; she was also a singer and writer); Roy Scheider, an actor perhaps most remembered for starring in the movies “Jaws” and “Jaws II;” William Buckley Jr., American author and conservative commentator.

Back in Lapel, the first town council meeting of 2008 included discussion of the storm sewer disconnection project, repairs on Ford Street, construction of the wastewater plant and expansion of the police department.

In May, the council voted to rebuild the 50-year-old water treatment plant in lieu of purchasing water from South Madison Utilities. Town council members had different opinions regarding the project. It appears that purchasing water from the utilities would just extend the problem. The town council finally approved rebuilding the water treatment plant. That project, then and now, is a great asset.

Lapel High School faculty and staff were comprised of people who worked hard to develop students into a model citizens for the future. The faculty for the Class of 2008 were Nate Andrews, David Barker, Mark Boudrot, Dorinda Cassiday, Richard Cassiday, Donna Caudill, Diane Clark, Danita Dittlinger, Katherine Ewers, Greg Granger, Lisa Hagan, Cheryl Hensley, Denise Hersberger-Gray, Jimmie Howell, Debbie Johnson, Marianne Julius, Jerry Kemerly, Sherry Krause, Krista Loller, John Maryan, Sharon McDermit, Brenda Mills, Kim Murdock, John Scholl, Greg Scott, Jane Shively, Loraine Smith, Cindy Stephenson, Julie Storm, Jeannine Terhune and Zoe Terhune.

The Class of 2008 is as follows: Haleigh Abraham, Haylie Armstrong, Katelynn Ash, Elizabeth Bartel, Alan Bauer, Seth Bays, Brittany Bellew, Carl Brige-Bisping, Corrie Blackford, Regina Birkowski, Kinsey Brazel, William Busch, Spencer Cain, Chase Campbell, Colt Carpenter, Jessica Caudill, Travis Coleman, Jessica Cook, Brook Counceller, Kyle Cowgill, Brandon Cox, Trent Crandall, Kayla Creamer, Katie Day, James Flett IV, Jordan Follmar, Christian Forrer, Westley Garrett, Steven Grigsby, Elizabeth Guion, Bailey Hankins, Curtis Harmon, Brittni Henry, Lauren Humphrey, Audriana Huntzinger, Benjamin Johnson, Danielle Jones, Vincent Killion, Keesha Kramer, Chrystal Lane, Jennifer Larch, Gregory Lash, Cory Mason, Colin Metzger, Logan Metzger, Aaron Milburn, Kaylee O’Dell, Clorissa Owen, Penny Pan, Molly Penwell, Grant Riffey, Trenton Roudebush, Stephen Rushton, Corey Sells, Chantel Sidara, Kayla Skaggs, Kurt Skaggs, Krista Swinford, Samantha Tarlton, Raelyn Thompson, Lacey Turner, Andrew Turpen, Caitlain Vicars, Rebecca White, Zachary Wilkins, Austin Willhoit and Kristine Woodward.

For some unknown reason, the students assigned to putting the yearbooks together for the past few years chose to stop listing LHS sports scores. For 2008, they chose not to list who won or lost in any high school sports. Lapel had some great moments in sports. As an example: In basketball, Lapel boys beat Sheridan by 51 points and later won the WRAC title. The boys and girls track teams had a good track team. Cory Mason threw the shot-put and won third place in WRAC. Trent Crandall was All-White River Athletic Conference selection six times, three in track, two in football and one in basketball.

Ray Tincher attended Ball State University and retired from Indiana Department of Correction in 1997. He worked at IDOC for 30 years, serving in a variety of roles, from correctional officer to warden. At retirement, he received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award from Gov. Frank O’Bannon. He wrote several training manuals as part of his employment and is a published author: “Inmate #13225 John Herbert Dillinger (2007).” He and his wife, Marilyn, live in Lapel.