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Annie Oakley Festival
Jaysville
Mayor: “Annual shooting contest a family affair”
By Bob Robinson
Jaysville Mayor Dennis Soward said he has conducted the annual Miss
Annie Oakley shooting contest nine out of the last ten years.
“Yeah,” he said. “Someone else wanted to do it once… did it… wasn’t
interested the next time.”
Jaysville… is that in Darke County?
“Oh come on. You kidding me? It’s just down the road on 49.”
Blank expression.
“You know. Jaysville? Jaysville-St. Johns Road?” When Soward saw
understanding “light up,” he continued… “yeah, and I appointed myself
Mayor,” he said. “Nobody else seemed to know what they were doing.”
He grinned. “I’m trying to get a stop light there, but I don’t think it
will happen. Too expensive.”
Soward then noted the kid who had grudgingly given pennies to the girls
to determine their shooting order.
“Yeah, that’s my son, Shaun.”
The younger Soward had previously complained that he gives the money to
the girls every year… and never gets it back.
“Good thing I don’t use dimes,” he said, grinning. “I’d go broke.” He
marks the numbers on the pennies with markers.
“I don’t do anything more permanent because I don’t get them back
anyway.”
Shaun said he was an MVCTC grad currently going to Sinclair for
Criminal Justice.
“Cop? Detective…”
“Uh uh. FBI.”
At a pause during the shooting, I queried Dad Soward about the young
man who pumped the gun for the contestants…
“Oh, that’s my other son, Daniel.” He grinned. “I know, it’s a family
affair.”
I was curious about the announcer. He’d done it every year since I’d
been covering the event, but I never knew his name… has a fantastic
“radio” voice.
“Oh, that’s Rick,” Soward said.
“Rick Soward?”
He laughed. “No. Brewer. Rick Brewer.” Pause. “He’s a cousin.”
Loretta Jones, Annie Oakley impersonator, was smiling as always.
Friendly… I often wonder if the real Annie was that friendly with pests
like photographers and reporters.
“So why are you retiring?”
“I’m tired,” she said. Loretta has been impersonating Annie at Darke
County’s annual festival for 17 years, among with a myriad of other
Annie Oakley duties and events.
“I ain’t retiring!!”
Richard Best, Buffalo Bill impersonator, was standing behind “Annie.”
He was emphatic. He was going to continue.
“So who’s going to replace you, Loretta?”
The question hadn’t occurred to her… “Oh. Well, I don’t know. The
Committee, I guess.”
Someone else said “how about Richard’s wife?” She was standing behind
him… didn’t look too happy at the possibility.
“Even retirees keep their fingers in the pie sometimes,” I said. “I was
retired… but I’m still cooking (referring to County News Online). You
might want to consider just coming to Darke County once a year…
“You have fun, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. No commitment, however.
Judie Hathaway was another festival “icon” to announce her
“semi-retirement” from the Annie Oakley Festival Committee.
“I’m stepping down as President,” she said, “but I’ll continue to work
a number of events as long as I can.”
Shaun Soward, the future FBI agent, was sitting at the judge’s table
Thursday.
“You don’t have a good photo,” he said. So I took one… a posed one.
Anything for a future FBI agent. He grinned.
“So when are you running the story?” he said, referring to the one in
which I promised on Tuesday to quote him and his pennies comments.
“Sometime over the weekend.”
He grinned again. I saw him Saturday at the Festival. He was escorting
Miss Annie Oakley 2012, Elisabeth Harless.
“Looking forward to seeing the story,” he said, not quite casually.
Since he was going to be an FBI agent, I figured I’d better get my act
in gear… so here it is, Shaun.
Hope you liked it.
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