The Darke County Historical Society’s Heritage Award recognizes outstanding citizens or organizations for their distinguished contributions or actions of unusual excellence that help connect people to Darke County’s past. It began in 1983 and was revitalized in 2004. The 2021 recipient is Allen Hauberg.
Allen is a volunteer docent educating the public and the many fourth-grade students who tour (pre-Covid) the Crossroads of Destiny exhibit. Whether leading a student or adult tour, he generates excitement about the Treaty of Greenville and General Anthony Wayne’s armies’ history. Allen created the informational flyer that is available for patrons in the Crossroads of Destiny exhibit and one about Zachary Lansdowne. He has a wealth of researched knowledge and trivia to share with the public, and his retirement from other endeavors enabled him to become involved with Garst Museum.
As a new Garst board member in 2005, he established the first Garst budget under then Board Chairman John Marchal. He continued to serve as Treasurer for many years, and the museum is grateful for this contribution. According to John Marchal, “Allen’s financial reports, which he created especially for the Museum, were wonderful tools for the board and the director to use in planning and executing the various programs that the Museum was involved with. It was truly a great, great help to all of us in being able to see where we were going and where we were able to go, and we could not have done that without Allen’s help.” Dr. Clay Johnson, CEO of Garst Museum, noted, “Allen’s leadership, financial knowledge, and mentorship led to an unbeatable package of assistance in steering the museum and historical society in the right direction over the years. I have come to rely on Allen’s straightforward assessments and advice and always enjoy our conversations. Allen’s contributions to our organization, and the overall community as a whole, are unmeasurable. I am thankful that Allen agreed to continue serving on the Historical Society’s Board of Directors upon retiring as our Treasurer.”
Prior to his involvement with Garst Museum, Allen was elected to Greenville’s City Council in 1971 and can tell you by how many votes (60) he lost to an opponent in 1981. Subsequently, he ran for City Council President and served in that position for 22 years until 2005. Allen said, “I was in public service for 32 years, and at retirement, I had served half of my lifetime to city government.” He retired from the City Council work at age 68.
The present Greenville City Council President John Burkett, a fellow Garst board member, noted, “He set a lot of good precedent for the operation of Council in developing policies, procedures, and Rules for Council, the document they draft and adhere to every two years to keep council in order.” John added, “Allen knows parliamentary procedure very well and was kind of a mentor for me to learn to keep things running smoothly, efficiently, and properly. With parliamentary law, he abided by the rules of order.” John and Karen Burkett, who are fellow Heritage Award recipients in 2013, noted, “Allen is very dependable, trustworthy, and always there when needed for Garst Museum.”
Allen Hauberg has not only connected people to Darke County’s past, but he also helped accomplish significant projects for the City of Greenville. During his tenure on the City Council, he helped start the Greenville Rescue Service. While serving as its director for 20 years, he established the budget, which was a valuable transition to his work with Garst’s finances. Some of his other outstanding achievements while serving on City Council were to oversee, along with other council members and staff, the establishment of the city income tax and cable TV authorizations. Collectively, they oversaw the rebuilding of downtown Broadway and the City Circle, and remodeling the City Building, saving the historical North Broadway Bridge and renaming it the Martha Benkert Memorial Bridge, rebuilding the water plant, extending Russ Road, building a new swimming pool, aligning Imo Boulevard and Park Drive, rebuilding the Police Department, and relocating the city garage. During his time on Council, the city celebrated the 200-year milestone of the Treaty of Greenville and established a sister city partnership with Grunstadt, Germany. “I signed the Sister City of Greenville for the City,” Allen said. “I’ve been there several times. They are five times older than us.”
Besides his volunteer work at Garst and his service to the City of Greenville, Allen has been very involved with the Greenville and Ohio Jaycees, Elks and Moose Lodges, served numerous bowling and golf leagues as a player and secretary, and the Greenville Class of 1955 (his High School graduating class) as the unofficial keeper of the classmates roster and five-year reunions.
Allen’s family came to Greenville from Detroit in 1941. He was one of four children. For 31 years, he worked for PECO (Process Equipment) in Tipp City in management positions, starting as a machine designer and ending as Director of Human Resources when he retired in 1998. Allen has three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He currently lives in Chestnut Village at the Brethren Retirement Community.
Image Caption:
Allen Hauberg (R) receives the 2021 Heritage Award from Dr. Clay Johnson (L) at Garst Museum