Originally published Feb. 26, 2015.

As the person who runs the young adult department at the Huntington City-Township Public Library, getting teens into the library is as much Jan Perkins’ job as getting books onto shelves.

Planning the department’s programs is one of Perkins’ main duties, with those programs being one of the main ways to get young adults into the library.

Originally published Feb. 23, 2015.

There’s a new look at the Andrews-Dallas Township Public Library, and some would say it’s looking from the top down.

The children’s section boasts a new loft, allowing small fry a chance to view the world from a big kid’s point of view. Perched about four feet from the ground, the loft’s landing has a ladder for easy access, carpeting and see-through Plexiglas for safety.

“It’s been very exciting,” says Nancy Disbro, the library’s director. “As soon as the kids see it they go climbing up and check it out.”

Originally published Feb. 19, 2015.

Love may have been in the air for Valentine’s Day, but there was more than 370 years of it in the air the day before at the Huntington County Senior Center, as eight Senior-aged couples pledged their love by renewing their wedding vows.

The still-first-time-around brides and grooms renewed their “I do’s” to one another in a group ceremony officiated by Rev. John Ritchie of First Presbyterian Church, Huntington, and witnessed by about 20 onlookers.

Originally published Feb. 19, 2015.

Julie Winters wants to be an accountant.

You might think that’s an odd career choice for someone who’s grown up on a farm and leads the local FFA.

She doesn’t see it that way.

She sees it as a way to create a connection between farmers and big business.

“I feel like there’s something lost in between, sometimes,” she says.

“I want to work at a big grain operation. I like being on the business side … I want to be the person who’s in touch, helping farmers.”

Originally published Feb. 16, 2015.

The days of chalk marks and handwritten tickets are gone.

The next time your parking job is a little less than legal, you’re likely to find a computer-generated ticket tucked under your windshield wiper — and no indication of how in the world the officer knew you’d been in that two-hour spot for a good three hours (or more).

“You’d be surprised how many times people come out and try to rub the chalk mark off their vehicle,” says Greg Wajer, ordinance officer with the Huntington Police Department.

Originally published Feb. 12, 2015

For anyone within earshot of Trinity United Methodist Church, the chimes are old hat.

They ring every hour, on the hour (usually only during the daylight); they break out into hymns on Sunday mornings, on Wednesdays and at odd times in between.

But on this Saturday, Feb. 14, beginning at 6:30 p.m., those within earshot — and Emma Taylor made sure that a good chunk of the city would be within earshot — may want to listen a little more closely.

Rather than hymns, the music will be popular tunes from ’15.

Originally published Feb. 9, 2015.

If Cherie Droege misses a day without painting, she says she’s not much fun to be around.

“I paint every day. If I don’t I get cranky,” she says. “I do. If I’m not creating something, or if my painting is not going well, I can get a little snarky.”

Painting is Droege’s Zen – it’s her way to relax. Although she has worked in several media, the challenge of using watercolors is her favorite.

“When I paint I feel more fulfilled when I’m creating something, especially if other people enjoy it,” she explains.

Originally published Feb. 5, 2015.

“Love” is the topic of a series of vignettes presented in the Huntington Theatre Guild Act II’s Readers Theatre production on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Evangelical United Methodist Church.

Right in step with Valentine’s Day, the play explores the topic from several angles, from newborn babes to Seniors in the winter of their romance, says Deanna Albertson, president of the troupe.

Originally published Feb. 2, 2015.

Logan Vander Velden has spent the better part of his life gripping a basketball, first as a kid learning the game in a small Wisconsin town and later as a player in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Currently, he can be found with a basketball in the gym at Huntington Church of the Nazarene. That’s where Vander Velden, a Huntington resident, runs youth basketball clinics, passing on the knowledge he picked up over his long playing career.

A few married folks — 16 couples in all — have found a rewarding way to give back to the community during their retirement years by volunteering their time together at Parkview Huntington Hospital.

They are among 117 volunteers at the hospital, and they’re often the first faces one sees when entering the doors. Sometimes their help translates to making a real difference in people’s lives.

Originally published Jan. 26, 2015.

Cats and dogs from the Huntington County Humane Shelter and students from the Vet Tech Institute at International Business College, in Fort Wayne, are traveling companions.

Originally publsihed Jan. 22, 2015.

Anyone interested in catching a glimpse at the cities of the future may need to go no further than Fort Wayne, when the DiscoverE Indiana Future City Regional Competition gets underway on Saturday at Indiana University-Purdue University.

Four teams from Riverview Middle School will be part of that contest.

Originally published Jan. 19, 2015.

In a unique class in session during Huntington University’s “J-term,” some students are learning how playing board games translates to real life lessons they can use throughout their lives and careers.

Yes, board games. The class, called “Learning to Think Strategically,” uses the games to develop students’ strategic thinking skills in academic, business, politics and everyday life.

Originally published Jan. 15, 2015.

The Huntington City-Township Public Library has tallied up the books read most by patrons in 2014, and some surprises have popped up.

Devon Henderson, a member of the HCTPL marketing and web services department, says many of the authors on the top adult fiction list are repeats.

Nicholas Sparks, who wrote “The Longest Ride,” tops that list. Sparks is perhaps best known for “The Notebook,” which was made into a movie.

Originally published Jan. 12, 2015.

They were pretty, and they didn’t cost much.

Now, the miniature oil lamps Dee Koschensparger has collected hold a place of honor in a display case near the entrance of the Andrews-Dallas Township Public Library.

There are oil lamps in various colors, shapes and — within limits — sizes, ranging from just a couple of inches tall to six or seven inches in height.

Eleven Huntington University students continued on with their plans to do Christian ministry in Paris, France, despite the knowledge that acts of terrorism had taken the lives of 12 people approximately a mile from where they were planning to stay.

The news came to them on Jan. 7 during a 24-hour flight delay due to weather.

Originally published Jan. 8, 2014.

Of all the places Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Wilburn has served during his career in the U.S. Navy, he’s currently in the one place he never hoped to be: the limelight.

A Huntington native, Wilburn was recently named Senior Sailor of the Year aboard the USS Devastator (MCM-6). First class petty officers are eligible for the award, which is based on performance of duties, expertise, professionalism and contributions to the ship’s mission.

Originally published Jan. 5, 2015.

In a room full of hospital beds, sterile-looking drawers on rollers filled with medical supplies and a nearby box of stethoscopes, high school students are taking turns taking each other’s blood pressure.

Originally published Jan. 1, 2015.

Signs along the road featuring advertisements are a common sight, which is what makes a sign outside of Roanoke bearing quotes from the Bible and from Jimi Hendrix stand out.

The sign, facing the southbound lanes of U.S.-24 north of Roanoke, is owned by Tom Overton. While there’s nothing notable about the weathered sign and its interchangeable letters, Overton is hoping it has a notable impact on those who see it.

This season is Ty Platt’s first coaching his son, Kyle, as a member of the Huntington University men’s basketball team.

The newness of that, however, is tempered by the fact that Ty has been coaching Kyle for years.

“I coached his team since he’s been in third grade,” says Ty. “We started out that way. We had a little travel team.”

Barb Trosper wasn’t born in Warren, but once she made the decision to live there, her commitment was complete.

“I love Warren,” she says. “It’s a great community … I can’t see myself ever moving from Warren.”

Trosper just completed four years of service on the Warren Town Council. She decided not to run for a second term, she says, “to see what else is out there.”

She’s not ready yet to say what’s in her sights, but she imagines she’ll be coming before the council at some point to seek some town backing.

Originally published Dec. 22, 2014.

Nikki Biehl started knitting in high school.

“We made our boyfriends stockings,” she says. “I had friends who liked to knit, and we all did it.”

And, yes, the boys wore the socks, she says.

Now retired after a career in education, Biehl is still working in yarn. And once a month, she settles into a chair at the Andrews-Dallas Township Public Library to enjoy the companionship of other devotees of the craft.

They’re a long, long way from home for the holidays, but some teenagers are experiencing what “Christmas at home” is like, American style.

The young women and men are all foreign students attending Huntington North High School, many of them away from their families for the first time.

As part of their learning experience abroad, they will spend Christmas and New Year’s Day with their host families, learning how Americans celebrate the holidays in the states. While some of our traditions are similar to theirs, others are new — and in their eyes, a bit unusual.

Originally published Dec. 18, 2014.

Christmas cactuses are wonderfully festive and easily cared for household plants, says longtime Christmas cactus hobbyist Alice Stickler.

“I don’t remember when I haven’t had them around,” Stickler says. “I remember that as a young girl my grandma had an old Christmas cactus in the front room of the farm house where my father was born.”

Now in her 80s, Stickler has several Christmas cactuses in her own home and freely gives away plant starts at rummage sales and to family and friends.

Originally published Dec. 15, 2014.

You can hardly turn a corner at the Huntington City-Township Public Library without running into a nutcracker.

Nutcrackers lined up in a display case; a nutcracker peering down from on high; and nutcrackers perched atop shelves, tables and desks.
And by the end of this week, some 748 children will know all about not only the nutcracker, but also “The Nutcracker” — the Russian ballet based on a German story and spun into a dream.

Originally published Dec. 11, 2014.

Sharon Laupp never outgrew her love of dollhouses.

Even after she was grown and married, the desire of her heart was to have a dollhouse she could decorate in her own personal taste.

So, when Sharon took an out-of-town trip with some friends to attend a dollhouse show, her husband, Tom, decided to surprise her by making one himself.

“Happy wife – happy life,” Tom says, with a grin. “Our old church had an organ stored, and when they decided to build the organ again, I grabbed a bunch of lumber from the old boxes.”

Originally published Dec. 8, 2014.

The Creative Abilities Art Studio is still taking tentative steps, but the artists themselves are soaring.

The southside Huntington storefront is filling up with matted watercolors, handcrafted purses and sculpted jewelry, and more items are still being produced by artists wielding needles and brushes.

Eventually, some day, the items will be available for sale, with profits going to the artists.

“We’re just kind of venturing our way into the whole sales thing,” says Rose Mills, program director for the art studio.

Originally published Dec. 4, 2014.

It all started in high school.

“I guess you could blame it on the dog,” says Dave Tyler, flashing his ever-ready grin.

The dog, he says, put him on the road to what’s now a 50-year career in the funeral business.

And, yes, he admits the fact that he grew up around funeral directors may have played a role in his choice of profession.

But still, he blames it on the dog.

“It was probably my junior year high school science project that threw me over the line,” he says. “My dad and I embalmed a dog.”

Originally published Dec. 1, 2014.

It would seem unlikely that a young, pretty, vivacious and talented girl like country singer-songwriter Rylie Bowman would be the object of bullying, but she says not so.

The 17-year-old Huntington North High School student says she has been a victim of bullying, like so many youths in practically every school in the nation.

And she is doing something about it.

Originally published Nov. 27, 2014.

Turkey hunting is a unique sport, says Huntington County resident Steve Nevius.

Unlike the hunts for other creatures, hunting turkeys involves a high level of hunter-game interaction while requiring the hunter to remain quite still, he says.

“They have excellent eyesight,” says Nevius. “If turkeys could smell like a deer, we’d never be able to hunt them because we wouldn’t be able to get near them. As it is, the older the bird, the more difficult they are.”