XENIA — State lawmakers have teamed up with Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales to dedicate a stretch of U.S. 35 to former Sheriff Gene Fischer.
“I’ve been working with Senator Bob Hackett as well as Ohio Representatives Bill Dean and Brian Lampton to get a section of U.S. Route 35 dedicated to Gene,” said Perales, who has been working with outdoor writer Larry Moore on determining which part of the highway is deemed most suitable for the dedication and memorial.
“We’ll need a resolution from Xenia, Xenia Township, and Greene County to support this request,” said Perales. The stretch would be from U.S. 42 to U.S. 68.
“I am also asking some folks to work with Rep. Dean’s office to have concurrent/identical bills going through both chambers at the same time. This should speed up the process,” said Perales. “I cannot predict a time frame but I’m confident our legislators will get it done by the end of this General Assembly, hopefully sooner.”
Moore had the idea and pitched it to Perales.
“I knew Gene well,” Moore said. “We worked on a number of things. My kids have been involved in safety training at Greene County Fish and Game and Greene County Fair activities. He put a lot of his heart and soul into that.”
According to Moore, it’s more than remembering the man and the legacy that he has left.
“Hopefully, we’ll be inspired to make that corner of Greene County a better place. It could take a while, but I’ll be doing whatever I can on it,” said Moore. “It’s a matter of a citizen coming forward with a proposal. You have to have some community support to justify this. Local community support is pretty easy when it comes to things for Gene Fischer.”
Fischer’s supporters reach across the state and beyond.
“I totally support it and it will get done when all the locals sign off on it,” said Sen. Bob Hackett, who serves as chair of the Ohio Senate’s Insurance Committee. “Hopefully, we’ll get it resolved in one bill. My goal is to get it through both houses before we leave for the summer. The bill has not been named yet.”
A name being tossed around for the stretch it the Sheriff Gene Fischer Memorial Highway.
