Greenfield-Central’s Sydnie Wherry hits her approach shot at Hawk’s Tail Golf Course during the Hancock County Championship on Tuesday, August 30, 2022. It was the first of Wherry’s Trifecta, winning county, conference and sectional titles.
July 24
In 1916, James Whitcomb Riley’s body lay in state at the Indiana Statehouse; during those 10 hours, more than 35,000 filed past.
July 25
In 1966, Green Meadows Shopping Plaza won zoning approval from the Greenfield Board of Zoning Appeals.
July 26
In 1963, former missionary Helen Hammer showed movies from Haiti to the Missionary Society of Brown’s Chapel Church. Hammer, of Greenfield, had returned home after many years of missionary work in Haiti.
July 27
In 1899, Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan spoke in Greenfield. He later lost to William McKinley. Twenty years later, his visit was remembered as one of the largest gatherings in Greenfield up to that time.
July 28
In 1927, readers learned that Greenfield native Edwin Pope Thayer was listed in the 1926-27 edition of “Who’s Who in the Nation’s Capital.” Thayer had been chosen secretary of the U.S. Senate in December 1925.
July 29
In 1927, directors of Greenfield Country Club completed the deal to buy 77 acres east of the city from Mrs. Porter Wiggins for $15,000. Today the course is known as Hawk’s Tail.
In 1997, Regreening Greenfield dedicated a red maple tree and stone marker at Harris Elementary in honor of former Harris student Jaycie Phelps, a member of the women’s gymnastics team that won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
July 30
In 1855, First Presbyterian Church was organized in Greenfield. The church started the annual Strawberry Festival in downtown Greenfield; proceeds from that and its winter Chili Days went to local charities. The church had its last service July 12, 2020, but not before it had passed the Strawberry Festival baton to Bradley United Methodist Church.
