To the editor:
Thank you to the Daily Journal for the article on July 25 about my Sagamore of the Wabash award. Congratulations to Paul Totten, who was much more deserving than I to be a Sagamore.
A few comments: special thanks to Executive Director Tom Mellish, and Dennis Bourquein, president of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association, who nominated me for the award. A thank you to Sen. Greg Walker of Columbus, who represents part of Johnson County in the state legislature. He presented the award to me at the state convention of the retired teachers association on June 15.
I served on the association’s state board for 5.5 years and was a member of several of its committees. I represented Area 5, which included Johnson County and 12 other central Indiana counties with a total of 17 local affiliates. The Johnson County Retired Teachers’ Association was one of the locals. I served on the Johnson County association board for eight years and was president the past four years.
The award was more about my volunteering for those organizations as well as several volunteer hours at the Johnson County Museum of History and other groups than my 46 years as an educator.
However, the essence of the award belongs to Franklin community schools and the Franklin community in general. The school board appointed me to the Johnson County library board, where I served for 16 years. They also allowed me to be in the second class of Leadership Johnson County. The experiences provided by the above gave me the background and skills to be of benefit to the organizations I have volunteered for since my retirement in 2008.
Therefore, thank you Franklin and Johnson County for 52 years of being part of your environment. It has been a wonderful experience. There are too many people to thank by listing names. I must mention two. My first wife Elizabeth, who passed away with leukemia in 1969, and Goldie, my wife of 45 years, who were the foundation of support for my experiences.
P.S.: I have been a subscriber to the Journal since moving to Johnson County in 1964 and will continue to be, as we move to Wisconsin to be near our grandchildren. We want to keep informed about Franklin and the Johnson County community. Best wishes for the future to one and all organizations and individuals.
Ray Jones
Franklin
