From Staff Reports

The Post-Searchlight

In 2011, Decatur County closed three of the counties older voting precincts. In order to preserve the old buildings of Bell, Parker and Pine Hill, as historical buildings, the Decatur County commissioners agreed to place the buildings on the Swine Time grounds to be restored as educational exhibits for school children to visit. Bell was to represent an old courthouse, Pine Hill was to become a replica of a one-room school, and Parker was to continue to represent an old voting precinct.

Today the buildings are almost complete; however, committee chair Barbara Sapp, a representative from the Climax Community Club, states that they are a work in progress. Barbara also said she could not have finished what she did without the help of her husband Carl, her daughter Tabitha Ingle, grandson Adron Ingle, and good friend and neighbor Johnny Moore.

As part of this year’s swine time festival, the buildings were open and the community was encouraged to visit. Parker which was the precinct closest to the City of Climax, has the older metal voting booths, but Parker also features a special portion of the building dedicated to the history of Climax and the surrounding community as researched, and written by the Climax news correspondent for the post searchlight, Jean Ann Ouzts.

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, representing the committee and Climax Community Club, Barbara Sapp recognized and presented Ouzts with a plaque to be placed in the building, in appreciation for her 20 years of dedicated service to the Climax community in reporting the history of the area, as well as current events. The Climax correspondent was also featured with a full page in the Swine Time book.

Correspondent Ouzts said she was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the display and humbled by the presentation of the plaque. She thanked the Climax community club, and the precinct committee for caring about the Climax news column and the history of Climax and making the work of a small town journalist part of the precinct museum.