In 2021, Village of Yellow Springs foreman Tanner Bussey dropped off bags of flour and sugar to Susan Gartner as part of the Village’s annual distribution of the baking staples to local widows and widowers. The holiday gift was originally stipulated in the will of 19th-century local philanthropist Wheeling Gaunt when he donated the land that is now Gaunt Park to the Village. (2021 News archive photo by Reilly Dixon)
Annual flour, sugar delivery announced
- Published: November 10, 2023
The Village of Yellow Springs Public Works Department crew will begin its annual delivery of flour and sugar to local widows and widowers on Monday, Nov. 20, and should complete deliveries by Wednesday, Nov. 22.
The annual distribution honors the bequest of Wheeling Gaunt, a once enslaved man who purchased his freedom and settled in Yellow Springs, where he became a land owner and philanthropist. Upon his death in 1894, Gaunt donated farmland to the Village with the stipulation its rental income be used to buy flour each Christmas for the widows of Yellow Springs.
Though the land is now Gaunt Park, the Village has continued the tradition of distributing flour, eventually adding sugar, to village widows, and later widowers. If you are a widow or widower in the community and you do not wish to receive the delivery, or you know of someone who should be added to the list, call Erica Thomas at the Village offices, 937-767-3402.
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