Events mark 50th anniversary of Xenia tornado
Remembrances planned at library, Central State, Sayler Park, downtown.
Several events around Greene County will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Xenia tornado on April 3, 1974.
Xenia memorial event
Xenia will hold an outdoor remembrance ceremony on East Main Street to mark the 50th anniversary of the tornado, beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Air Force Band of Flight from Wright-patterson Air Force Base will provide music for the event, which will be free and open to anyone in the public who wishes to attend.
East Main Street between Detroit and Whiteman streets will be shut down in the morning.
For anyone unable to attend the memorial event Wednesday, the city will host a gallery of memorabilia inside the City Administration Building, 107 E. Main St., in the second floor lobby during the month of April. Visitors are welcome to view the gallery during business hours.
‘Xenia Lives,’ Greene County Public Library
The Greene County Public Library will host “Xenia Lives,” a commemorative event on the impact of the 1974 tornado, Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Xenia Adult Recreation and Services Center.
Historic displays, including photo galleries and written histories from the Greene County Historical Society, Greene County Archives and the National Weather Service, will tell the stories of those who were there, showing the difference between what Xenia looked like in the aftermath, and where it has come today.
Greene County Room Archivists have compiled a curated collection of around 370 photos
and 64 written personal stories, some of which will be on display at this event.
Light appetizers will be served, and guest speakers include Greene County Public Library Executive Director Karl Colón and former Xenia Mayor Marsha Bayless.
Central State University remembers the 1974 tornado
Central State University’s Communication Week will include several tornado-related sessions that the public is invited to attend.
A storm-chasing panel with storm chasers Aaron Rigsby and Laci Graham will be Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in the Mass Communications Center
TV Studio.
A memorial service will be from 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Walter G. Sellers Alumni Tower/william Galloway Hall, which is one of the few structures that stood intact after the storm. Speakers will include retired Professor Robert Marcus and Nathan Bouldin, a member of the class of 1974.
In case of inclement weather, the memorial service will move to the Charles H. Wesley Arts and Science Building Auditorium.
A survivors’ panel will be from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Thursday. Panelists include graduates of the class of 1974 Obie Houston and Victor Davis; Greta Winbush, ’76, professor of psychology and gerontology; Alma
Brown, Xenia tornado survivor and administrative secretary in the College of Education whose parents worked at CSU in 1974; and Lesa Taylor Devond, Xenia tornado survivor and director of Central State University-dayton, whose father also was working at Central State as chief engineer of the power plant.
A Talk on Forecasting and Preparedness: Then and Now
will be Thursday from noon to 12:50 p.m. in the Mass Communications Center TV Studio, with guests Ethan Raby, director of Greene County Emergency Management; and Ashley Novak, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
For the entire month of April, the library exhibit: “50 Years Since
F5 Tornado Struck” will be at the Hallie Q. Brown Library. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sayler Park tornado 50th anniversary, National Weather Service
The Wilmington National Weather Service will be at the Sayler Park Community Center on Wednesday to commemorate the tornado that ripped through parts of Indiana, Ohio, and northern Kentucky — one of the few tornadoes to devastate portions of three states.