The Fairlawn Alumni Advisory Committee will be hosting the 2024 Alumni Banquet at Fairlawn Local Schools next Saturday, Aug. 24.

The highlight of the evening will be recognition of the class of 1974 and other classes represented and the induction of our Hall of Honor recipients. This year’s inductees are all Fairlawn graduates and have made major contributions to their communities. The inductees are Matt Barhorst, class of 1972, Mark Henman, class of 1980, and Joe Stickler, class of 1960.

Registration begins at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 5:30. Dinner begins at 5:45. Dinner will be catered by Fairlawn graduate Leslie Hulskamp. It will include chicken cacciatore and Italian braised beef with pasta and vegetables, along with assorted breads and desserts.

There is a time set to recognize veterans, and donations will be accepted to Shelby County Veterans Services.

Registration for the evening is still being accepted. The cost for the meal is $20 before Aug. 20th and $25 after that. Registration payment can be sent to Jenny Eustache Cardo. Contact by email at [email protected].

Barhorst

Matthew Barhorst graduated in the class of 1972. He was not that active in school sports, but he participated in FFA and 4-H. His junior year, 1970, he purchased his first 80 acres of ground to farm in the Fairlawn school district. He continued with this desire by purchasing another farm in 1975. He later purchased a ditching machine, trenching for several neighbors over the years.

Barhorst and his wife Hazel also raised and showed beef cattle, making many acquaintances over the years. He served as Township Trustee for 22 years and was instrumental in several accomplishments while serving. He is still serving on the Perry Port Salem Rescue Board and proud to have the organization back up and running smoothly thanks to the people from the community who care.

He is very proud to have always been a part of the Fairlawn community and excited that he has extended family in the community that are attending Fairlawn school and involved in 4-H. He has family coaching in the Fairlawn school system and in the community as Shelby County Fair Board members.

Mark Henman grew up on the family farm in Perry Township and is a 1980 graduate of Fairlawn High School. He is the oldest of the four sons of Don and Nancy (Freisthler) Henman.

During his years at Fairlawn, Henman played on the baseball and basketball teams. He participated in school musicals and was also a member of the FFA. During his time in the Fairlawn FFA, his parents were inducted as Honorary Chapter Farmers (1978). Later, Henman was also honored by the class of 2019 as an Honorary Chapter Member.

Henman

Henman married his first wife Lynn in 1985. During their 25-year marriage they were blessed with two sons.

His family have deep roots in the Fairlawn Community. His grandfather, Elzo Henman, attended school in Plattsville. His father was a graduate from 1957. His three brothers, Mike (1982), Matt (1989) and Mitch (1992) all graduated from Fairlawn. Both of his sons, Craig (2006) and Brad (2009), are Fairlawn graduates. Lastly, his nephew Jordan (2020) and three nieces Alex (2021), Claire (2022) and Ellie (2024) all graduated from Fairlawn.

After graduation, Henman worked at Stolle’s Corp. Then he graduated from Edison State with a criminal justice degree. He completed the Ohio Peace Officer Basic Training Program at the Miami County Sheriff Training Center and became a Reserve Deputy for Shelby County. In 1984, he was hired as a full-time Shelby County Deputy Sheriff. He started his 37-year career working in the Shelby County Jail. From there he went to road patrol. Next, he became a detective. During his years in the detective section, he worked in the undercover narcotics unit. He was also one of the founding members of the Shelby County Special Response Team.

When he was part of the SRT, he was the lead sniper and Commander of the SWAT team. Mark took every opportunity to further his education and career that was offered to him. He was an OPOTA certified Firearms Instructor, a Re-Qualifications Firearms Instructor, an Ohio Peace Officer Basic Training Instructor and Carry Conceal Instructor. His last title before retirement in 2009 was Lieutenant in charge of the jail.

However, his lifelong dedication to public service was not complete yet. A few years later, he came out of retirement when he was asked to be a School Resource Officer for Sidney City Schools. His final years of service brought him back full circle to Fairlawn as their SRO. He said that working with the kids was his favorite job he ever had as a deputy.

In 2005, Henman opened Tactical Solutions Firearms & Acc., LLC in downtown Sidney. In 2009, he moved it to a smaller part time operation at his home. Then, in 2013, he and his second wife moved the business to its current location in Pasco. Besides selling firearms and sporting goods, Henman, with the help of two of his fellow deputies Doug Schlagetter and Larry Brandyberry, ran a well-respected, successful firearms training operation. He was a gifted teacher, to which he accredited his mother for making him take public speaking in FFA in high school. Over 3,000 people attended his Carry Conceal Classes throughout the years.

Stickler

Dr. Joseph Stickler graduated from Fairlawn High School in 1960. He currently lives in Valley City, North Dakota. Before coming to Fairlawn, his family lived in the Piqua area, and he attended Spring Street Elementary School. He then came to Fairlawn.

During these years, his love of the outdoors was fostered at his summer home, YMCA Camp Wakonda. In 1964, he earned a B.A. in Chemistry with honors from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio and was named a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national scholastic honor society. He earned a Master of Sciences in Organic Chemistry (1967) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (1971) from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

His teaching career included Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois; the University of Colorado at Denver; the College of Ganado, the Navajo Nation, Arizona, where he served as Dean of the College; and Valley City State University. He conducted research at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana; and Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.

At Valley City State University, Stickler served as Chair of the Division of Math, Science, and Health & Physical Education, and Director of the Planetarium. Dr. Stickler was named “Teacher of the Year” at Valley City State University in 1991, 2004, 2008, and 2013. He was the author of the popular Times-Record column “Sky-Watcher’s Corner.” In 2013, he retired from teaching and was appointed Curator of Medicine Wheel Park.

Medicine Wheel Park was his favorite project, which he considered his gift to the university and city where he enjoyed living for so many years. The Park began in 1992 as a project of the astronomy classes at the university and soon expanded beyond the walls of the classroom to involve the community. The Park, located on the hilltop immediately south of the main campus, features a horizon solar calendar called the Medicine Wheel with six long spokes extending well beyond the 213-foot main circle. They are aligned to the positions of sunrises and sunsets on the first days of the four seasons.

The Park also includes a meridian solar calendar and a Solar System model that stretches from the Sun in the center of the Medicine Wheel to Pluto, over a third of a mile away on the eastern edge of the Regional Technology Center parking lot. Boulders representing the planets are spaced in exact proportion to their distances from the Sun on a scale of one foot equals approximately three million miles.

Dr. Stickler has had what we would call an illustrious career in academics. Even though he has been all over the United States teaching and doing research, he believes that his small school experience at Fairlawn was the best.

“I have been associated with several educational institutions and the fundamental truth I have learned is the smaller the school the better the education,” Stickler said. “I am honored to have my name on a wall in one of the best – Fairlawn High School.”