Land donor names new city sewage pump after grandson

Monday, September 24, 2007
Greencastle real estate agent Stephen Jones (third from left) officially dedicates the "Little Beau" sewage pumping station Monday night as Mayor Nancy Michael holds Jones' grandson, after whom the facility is named. Also at the dedication are (from left) City Attorney Laurie Hardwick, Greencastle Wastewater Superintendent George Russell, Beau's father Cory Query, Beau's mother Olivia Jones Query and Board of Public Works and Safety member Sue Murray.

Sometime down the road, probably about 10 years from now, the kids at school will learn about the gift Beau Query's grandfather gave to him Monday evening and he might never live it down.

In January, when real estate agent Stephen Jones along with his brother and sister Margaret Taylor and S. Thad Jones donated about four-twenty-fifths of an acre on County Road 300 South near Hospital Drive to the city for a new sewage pumping station, the Green­castle resident received naming rights to the new facility.

So, wearing a grin and chuckle and flanked by city officials including Mayor Nancy Michael Monday evening, he formally named the pump that is capable of shooting some 500 gallons of raw sewage per minute into Greencastle's waste water system, in honor of his eight-and-a-half-month-old grandson.

"Little Beau," which pumps wastewater generated by The Waters of Greencastle nursing home and several of the medical facilities around the Putnam County Hospital, will join other lift stations with names like, "Swampy," "Cornstalk" and "Sherwood."

Construction of the $77,500 pumping station, which is outside city limits, was funded by the businesses that use the system, like The Waters. The city contributed $15,000 to upgrade the piping and provided the engineering.

The pump went online at the beginning of August after two months of construction, and received its final approval at last week's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

Little Beau (the baby) didn't rightly seem to know what to make of all the fuss about the pumping station. He just liked the attention he got.

When asked how he liked having a wastewater lift station named after him, the eighth-generation Greencastle resident leaned forward in his mother Oliva's arms, smiled and drooled.

And what of the potentially devastating social consequences of sharing the title of a sewage pumping station?

Stephen Jones smiled widely and laughed.

"It's just part of being a Jones in Putnam County," he said.

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  • I guess I am glad to not have a sewer pump named after me....

    -- Posted by clearwat on Tue, Sep 25, 2007, at 9:18 AM
  • Nice for little Beau to have gained 15 minutes of fame before he even reached his first birthday, but sorry this pumping station didn't come on line earlier so we could have considered naming it after Steve Jones, my brother-in-law and good friend who is so worthy of such a naming opportunity too!

    -- Posted by LPTaylor on Tue, Sep 25, 2007, at 11:56 AM
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