Vindicator file photos

Vindicator file photos

FIFTY YEARS AGO: About 3,000 people attended the April 5, 1959, dedication of “The Old Rugged Cross” in Lake Park Cemetery, a tribute to the Youngstown-born author of the famous hymn, the Rev. George Bennard. The cross was assembled over the winter of timbers taken from Veach Methodist Church, which was built in Hubbard in 1829. Shown inspecting the cross in January are Ted Conner of WFMJ Radio, who headed the fund drive, and William H. Fiest Jr. of Stambaugh Hardwood Co., which did the mill work on the timbers. Holding the cross are Lyle Miner, Elmer Stein, Dean Tricher and Jim Hillier. At the dedication, the Rev. Paul W. Gauss, executive secretary of the Youngstown Council of Churches, said the ceremony honored “a gifted man who had a song in his heart which he sent out to touch the lives of literally millions.” Bennard, who wrote 350 hymns, died in October 1958 at the age of 85. The cross that was erected in 1959 was toppled by a windstorm 23 years later. The crosspiece was saved and attached to a new upright timber, which was erected April 7, 1982.