On Saturday during the 11th-annual Bloomingburg Community Day celebration, Tom “Chatter” Harris (left) and Becky Bloomer were inducted into the Bloomingburg Hall of Fame. Robert E. Grim served as the master of ceremonies during the enshrinement.
Submitted photos
BLOOMINGBURG — Two longtime residents of Bloomingburg, Becky Bloomer and Tom “Chatter” Harris, were inducted into the Bloomingburg Hall of Fame during the 11th-annual Bloomingburg Community Day held Saturday.
Retired Miami Trace High School teacher, Robert E. Grim, served as master of ceremonies for the enshrinement.
The new inductees received a Hall of Fame certificate signed by Bloomingburg Mayor Donald L. Fleak, a Hall of Fame medallion suspended from a neck ribbon, and their name is now engraved on a Hall of Fame plaque on display in the Bloomingburg Town Hall.
Bloomer came to Bloomingburg as a teenage girl in the 1950s when her family moved from West Virginia. She was recognized for her lifelong service as a care giver and community volunteer. At age 16 she was a care giver at a nursing home for 10 years and helped at a wedding cake business for 10 years before joining the Miami Trace High School cafeteria staff. She retired in 2011 after 32 years at the school.
Bloomer has been an active member of the Bloomingburg Methodist Church for over 50 years, serving in many roles and volunteering for a variety of church activities. She has helped at several food pantries including the Washington Presbyterian Church food pantry since 2011.
She has been a volunteer helping make the Bloomingburg Community Day a great success since the festival started 11 years ago. The Bloomingburg Hall of Fame was established in 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial celebration, and Bloomer was a part of the original volunteer hall of fame commission and has helped ever since with the selection of members for the hall of fame. Her selection this year was a surprise for her.
Harris grew up in Bloomingburg and attended Bloomingburg High School through his freshman year, and then graduated from Fayette County’s newly-consolidated Miami Trace High School in 1965. He served as a manager for the basketball team when a player started calling him “Chatter” because he talked a lot. The nickname stuck.
He retired in 1996 after working 30 years at Fayette County Memorial Hospital. But he was honored for his more than 50 years of volunteer work, much of it at Miami Trace High School. In 1980, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes came to Miami Trace and for the next 34 years scores of athletes benefited from his guidance.
Harris was an extremely active member of the Miami Trace Athletic Boosters; serving over 50 years as the basketball scorebook keeper, and as a volunteer manager for the baseball, basketball, football, and track teams. In 1990, he was inducted into the Miami Trace Athletic Boosters Hall of Fame. He has helped with the Bloomingburg Community Day festival since it started 11 years ago. Like Bloomer, his selection for the Hall of Fame was kept secret.
