NEW HOLLAND, Ohio — Fayette County EMS District, marking 50 years of service in 2026, has revived a piece of its own history: a newspaper clipping from Aug. 10, 1984 — 42 years to the day before it resurfaced — describing a farm rescue training session for local emergency responders.
The district shared the clipping on its Facebook page, saying it turned it up while combing through decades of archives during its anniversary year. The article, headlined “Farm rescue workshop scheduled,” previewed a Farm Extrication Rescue Workshop set for Aug. 18, 1984, at Marion Township Hall on U.S. 22 just west of New Holland.
The New Holland Unit of the Fayette County Life Squad sponsored the workshop, according to the archived article. It was organized by Dick Shipley, the Life Squad’s president at the time, and R. Todd Monroe, the organization’s coordinator. Instruction was led by Al Pugh, a safety leader with the Ohio State University Cooperative Extension Service, who was set to conduct six four-hour sessions combining classroom instruction with hands-on practice.
Each session was to open with three hours of films, slides and discussion starting at 9 a.m., followed by an afternoon of hands-on extrication training beginning at 1 p.m., according to the clipping. Registration cost $5 in advance or $6.50 at the door, with reservations taken through the Life Squad’s business office, Shipley or Rhonda Heckox.
The workshop was designed to teach rescuers and farmers how to free people trapped in machinery such as combines and balers, hazards the article said were responsible for numerous deaths and serious injuries nationwide each year. The Fayette County Farm Bureau’s trustees and Laurel Montgomery, chairperson of the bureau’s safety committee, urged farmers to attend given the high rate of farm accidents in the area, according to the clipping. The New Holland Lions Club provided lunch for participants.
A photo accompanying the original article showed Life Squad volunteers Marlene Coil and Jane Adams inspecting the header of a combine ahead of the training.
Fayette County EMS District said it plans to continue highlighting artifacts from its history throughout its 50th anniversary year and has asked community members to share their own memories and photos of the Life Squad.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Fayette County EMS District.
