By Ray Tincher | For The Times-Post

On Jan. 15, 2009, I was sitting in front of my television when they broke in and I watched what was later called “the “miracle on the Hudson.” I couldn’t believe it when pilot Captain Chesley (“Sully”) Sullenberger III flying a US Airways Airbus 320, with 155 passengers, landed that big airplane on the Hudson River. I have flown a Cessna 172 and I can tell you, it was a miracle!

After the aircraft landed in the water, it floated and allowed all the passengers and flight crew to exit the plane. They stood on both wings of the airplane until several boats rescued them. There is a photo of them standing on the wings. And Sully has received his hero’s gratitude many times over.

As the airplane took off from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport at about 3:25 p.m., a flock of Canada geese were sucked into both engines, severely damaging the engines. Sully’s attempts to restart the engines were unsuccessful, necessitating the emergency landing.

On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th, and first African-American, President of the United States.

Two notable deaths in my books from that year include James Whitmore, an actor, and Paul Harvey, an American radio broadcaster.

Paul Harvey is famous for saying “Now you know the rest of the story.”

Back in Lapel, 16 years ago, the town had its hands full with an improper functioning sewer plant and gas lines leaking throughout the community. But in 2009 the town officials were breathing a sigh of relief at the progress. After years of demanding work, more than 60% of Lapel’s combined sewers have been separated, leading to enhanced service and flow capabilities.

In addition, the town also managed to revamp the sewer issues of Fishersburg, whose raw sewage had previously been pumped into Stony Creek. Plus, the gas line replacement project and enrollment into a prepaid gas program also lowered rates for the community.

Gerald Lowhan is a great neighbor of mine and Past Commander of the American Legion Post 212. In past years, Gerald authored several articles about things happening in Lapel/Fishersburg area.

I also learned Gerald is quite a weatherman. Monitoring weather is like a hobby with Gerald.

When Bob Gregory was a weatherman on TV, Gerald was almost a regular for for reporting weather. I would think predicting the weather in Indiana would be the hardest job possible?

I asked Gerald if he would give my readers the 2022-23 winter weather forecast for our area, and he said yes. Gerald is predicting 19 snows for this winter (we have had one, so 18 more to go). When asked what he considers a snow, he said, “If you can see a cat’s tracks in the snow, it counts as a snow.”

He has been predicting the winter weather for several years with good results. During 2020, Gerald predicted 16 snows; we had 16 with the largest on Feb. 7 of 10 inches. In 2021, he predicted the largest snow of 8 inches; on Feb. 3 we had 8 inches. Coldest wind chill, he predicted -14 degrees; on Jan. 26 we had -13 degrees.

For 2022-23 Gerald says, December will be cold. January 2023 will be above normal; February will be snowy; March cold and April cool; Last snow April 3, 2023. Weather in Florida looks awful attractive.

The Lapel High School faculty during 2008-09 were highly successful in graduating the senior class. Most of the credit goes to Michele Amos, Nate Andrews, Julie Baer, Dorinda Cassiday, Richard Cassiday, Donna Caudill, Diane Clark, Danita Dittlinger, Pam Eckstein, Katherine Ewers, Greg Granger, Lisa Hagan, Paula Haynes, Cheryl Hensley, Denise Hersberger-Gray, Jimmie Howell, Catina Jessup, Debbie Johnson, Marianne Julius, Joyce Keffer, Gayle Kepner, Jerry Kemerly, Sharon Kowalski, Sherry Krause, Christy Lade, John Maryan, Sharon McDermit, Brenda Mills, Kim Murdock, John Scholl, Greg Scott, Jane Shively, Loraine Smith and Cindy Stephenson.

The 2009 Senior Class members are in their early 30s today.

The graduates were: Lily Barker, Jessica Bays, Christopher Breech, Nathan Bunnel, Kayla Conrad, Calvin Crisp, Aubrey Berger, Chris Blake, Lea Chhiba, Lauren Clark, Brittney Daughtery, Ashley Davidson, Erin Davis, Sara Day, Samantha Estridge, Kalie Fletcher, Brandon Freeland, Schuyler Glancy, Shadow England, Jada Engle, Caleb Frank, Nick Franklin, Tom Green, Daniel Guajardo, Hillary Guion, Ben Halsell, Kevin Hughes, Bryan Hutchison, Elizabeth Jennings, Chris Jones, Chris Hesson, Hillary Huff, Keith Jackson, Jake Jarrett, Larry Jones, Caitlin Kauffman, Kelsie Knepp, Joe Kornman, Meaggin Marvel, Shelby McClintick, Shelby Meyer, Julie Miller, Abi Lloyd, Mason Lloyd, Nick McGuire, James Mercer, William Miller, Jason Mills, Sara Montgomery, Alisha Morton, Andrew Paschal, Meghan Peterson, Austin Putman, Kaleb Reed, Hannah Newby, Joshua Owen, Courtney Prater, Michael Pritchett, Kyle Reed, Kayla Reynolds, Kyle Riddle, Evan Roberts, Jake Seward, Schott Shepherd, Lakieta Simmerman, Morgan Skiles, Katie Scharnowske, Ryan Scott, Emily Shively, Devon Silvey, Courtney Slack, Tyler Springer, Nicole Stapleton, Rebekah Steele, Kelli White, Brodie Williams, Chris Thompson, Micah Walls, Lori Williams and Sarah Wilson.

The LHS football team finished 10-3. Coaches Andrews, Walters, Tayt and Boocher were successful in training the team how to play football and win. Go Bulldogs!

The annual trip to England must be what every underclassman looks forward to when they go on their senior trip. In 2009 the seniors also got to go to Ireland and Wales.

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.