For over 2 weeks, ASE was unsuccessful in finding the beloved statue by drone, and that's when the dive team trio stepped in.
RUSSELLS POINT, OH (WLIO) - On Friday night, checks were presented to three Ohio residents who found the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine following the March 14th tornado.
The two organizations are hosting a statewide competition for Ohio residents to come up with an original and creative design for a new shrine.
Jimmy Dawson of Russells Point, Richard Martin of Marysville, and Josh George of Delaware received the monetary gift from the American Society of Ephesus, ASE, for diving into Indian Lake and extensively searching the water for the 20-foot fiberglass statue of the Virgin Mary. For over 2 weeks, ASE was unsuccessful in finding the beloved statue by drone, and that's when the dive team trio stepped in, and to this day, they remember the moment when they found her.
"It was 100 feet, so we were kind of reaching down, and at the exact same time, we were holding a string basically between the three of us so that we were taking measurements as we went out, but we were kind of in a line. Richard Martin and I, at the same time, reached down and said, 'I touched something,' and I actually reached down and it was her nose. That was the first thing I touched, and I was like, 'that doesn't feel like a random piece of debris; that feels like something important,'" says Josh George, a diver from Delaware, OH.
"Richard Martin and I, at the same time, reached down and said, 'I touched something,' and I actually reached down and it was her nose."
ASE is partnering with ArtSpace/Lima to bring the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine back to her glory at her Indian Lake. The two organizations are hosting a statewide competition for Ohio residents to come up with an original and creative design for a new shrine. There will also be substantial cash prizes for the winners in six age categories. They have already received a few designs, but you still have until August 15th to submit your sketch. For a link to the competition, go to the ASE website.
