Originally publislhed June 7, 2012.

They say you can't choose your family.

You also can't choose your co-workers.

Sometimes, your co-workers might become your family.

That's the way it seemed to happen for the old gang from Hayes, who have been getting together like clockwork ever since their place of employment shut down six years ago.

The Hayes cast aluminum wheel plant, which opened in Huntington in 1985, was shut down in the summer of 2006. The closure left about 185 employees out of work.

Originally published June 4, 2012.

He can remember names from more than 50 years ago, he keeps a paper shredder ready for his Social Security mail, he plays the piano every day and boy, can he tell a story.

Henry McAlister, born Dec. 3, 1914, near Clarksdale, MS, now lives in a little house on the south side of Huntington, a still very independent 97-year-old.

For McAlister, Huntington has been his on-and-off home since the '60s, but the road to get here has been a long, eventful one. And he isn't ready to slow down.

Reigning Miss Huntington Kara Mawhorter will compete in the Miss Indiana pageant in Zionsville June 20-23.

Mawhorter, who is from Whitley County and graduated from Columbia City High School, is a senior at Ball State University.

She is majoring in speech pathology, with a minor in psychology. She maintains a 3.89 grade point average.

Mawhorter plans to graduate in December 2012, which means she will complete her four-year degree in just three and a half years.

She says she is very studious and follows in the footsteps of the rest of her family.

Originally published May 31, 2012.

When Huntington native Opal Gamble started working at Miller's Merry Manor, the nursing home had only been open for two weeks and had eight residents.

Now a resident of that same home, Gamble says that looking back, everything is a blur.

"When I worked here, I was a cook," she states. "I worked here for about 30 years."

She adds that her employment was based on a referral from an employee.

Originally published May 28, 2012.

A new project has arrived at the Huntington County Jail that Sheriff Terry Stoffel hopes will help some of his female inmate population turn over a new leaf.

Huntington County Jail female inmates and volunteers from Life Church began planting what will be an inmate-maintained garden behind the jail on Thursday, May 24.

Stoffel says that he decided to launch the garden project after hearing requests for more work opportunities from the female inmate population.

Originally published May 24, 2012.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Sound familiar?

It does to recent college grad Martha Morales, who earned her associates degree in medical assisting from Ivy Tech this spring.

Morales' story begins in September 2008, when her fiancé, whom she had been dating for three years, passed away unexpectedly.

"It is definitely a mind-altering, life-changing situation," she says.

Originally published May 17, 2012.

Melanie Park has kept busy since being named Indiana's Teacher of the Year in October last year.

Park, a teacher at Huntington County's Riverview Middle School, recently visited Washington, D.C., for the announcement of the National Teacher of the Year and recognition for all state teachers of the year. The event lasted from April 21 to 27.

While in the capital, Park was able to meet President Obama.

"No matter how you feel about Barack Obama, it's quite an honor to meet the person holding that office," she says.

Originally publilshed May 10, 2012.

When Jennifer Woodruff Tait wrote "The Poisoned Chalice" on Victorian Methodists, Holy Communion drink choices and common-sense realism, she knew the book wouldn't be everyone's cup of grape juice.

Narrow audience or not, though, Woodruff Tait's efforts earned the 2011 Saddlebag Selection from the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church for best book on Methodist history, biography, theology or polity published in the last year.