By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, November 20, 2017 8:12 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Nov. 16, 2017.
The curtain will rise on 10 local ballet hopefuls this holiday season, young ladies who might not otherwise have had an opportunity to learn the intricacies, nuances and plain ol’ fun of classical dance.
Nine girls in third through sixth grades are members of “Miss Joy’s” ballet class, a new program at the Parkview Boys & Girls Club of Huntington County.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, November 16, 2017 8:08 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Nov. 13, 2017.
It all started with an art show held during last summer’s Salamonie Summer Festival in Warren.
It’s blossomed into an effort that could wrap art around an area far beyond Warren.
“When you put a bunch of artists together — we’re dreamers,” says Josh Heim, who works in ceramics at his studio just outside of Warren.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, November 13, 2017 8:34 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Nov. 6, 2017.
A year after Kathy Carnes was cleared as cancer-free, she asked her three adult children to write down their thoughts about how they felt when they were told she had breast cancer.
She was surprised by their responses.
“I was shocked that they thought I was going to die,” she says. “I didn’t realize how seriously they took my diagnosis.”
Her middle daughter, Natalie Burgess, said her mother’s diagnosis caused her to think about her own mortality.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, November 9, 2017 8:23 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Donald O. Patmore spent 26 years of his life in the United States Army, serving in three wars.
He has no regrets.
“It was a good job, a good occupation,” he says. “I liked it.”
In the beginning, it was the job that chose him — not the other way around.
Patmore, then living in the state of Washington, was drafted on Nov. 10, 1945. He went to Fort Lewis, WA, to train for a job running construction equipment at the end of World War II in 1945.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Thursday, November 2, 2017 8:22 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Oct. 30, 2017.
Some Huntington North High School students are spearheading a drive to raise funds for a hospital dedicated to curing diseases in children, some of whom are fellow classmates.
By Cindy Klepper - Monday, October 30, 2017 8:13 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Oct. 26, 2017.
The big little barn has in excess of 900 miniature shingles, each lovingly cut by hand; more than 160 lilliputian boards making up the cladding.
It measures about 42 inches by 74 inches and stands some 43 inches high, big enough for builder Greg Witkamp’s wife, Eva Witkamp, to fit inside.
And it’s sure to light up the eyes of a certain 5-year-old boy living in Maryland.
“He has about 20 toy tractors, mostly John Deere,” Greg says. “He keeps telling his mom and dad he needs a barn to keep them in.”
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, October 26, 2017 8:48 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Oct. 23, 2017.
Sue Williams and Paula Blackstone have struggled through some dark years.
Alone.
The two Huntington women, both mothers of recovering addicts, want to lessen the loneliness of others making the same journey.
They have established Stronger Together, a support group for adults with loved ones who are suffering from addiction or are in recovery. It’s meant to be a safe place, with no judgments, where family members and friends can talk to others who understand — or just sit and listen.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, October 23, 2017 7:52 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Oct. 19, 2017.
When four youngsters head back to school on Monday after getting a week off for fall break, they will have learned a new skill that will hopefully serve them the rest of their lives.
Rosemary Burnard, Phoebe Landrum, Brock Fippen and Brianna Elston spent their vacation taking a “Staycation” at the Huntington County Fairgrounds, learning how to sew a pillowcase. For nearly all of the kids, it was the first time they had put their hands on a sewing machine.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, October 19, 2017 7:54 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Oct. 16, 2017.
Huntington County Sheriff Terry Stoffel pulls a handful of shiny medallions from his desk drawer and starts spreading them out on his desk.
Each of the medallions — he calls them “challenge coins” — has a story.
Some came from other law enforcement agencies, including local, state and federal agencies; a couple came from political parties.
And police K-9s, including the HCSPD dog, Zeek, have also gotten in on the act.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, October 16, 2017 8:11 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Oct. 12, 2017.
It was 50 years ago that Thomas Aquinas Parker, a United States Navy corpsman, lost his life in Vietnam.
He never came home, but for two of his daughters, Parker’s story is vividly alive, even if memory of him has faded since the women gave him up to war while they were but young children.
By Steve Clark - Thursday, October 12, 2017 8:20 AM
Photos by Steve Clark.
Anastasiia Evstifeeva awakens at her home in St. Petersburg, Russia. She’s got a long journey ahead of her.
The first leg of her trip is a car ride to neighboring Finland; that lasts seven hours. She arrives at an airport and boards a plane bound for Germany. Upon landing, she hops on another flight, this one destined for Canada. By the time that plane is ready to land, she’s been in the air for 15 hours.
By Cindy Klepper - Monday, October 9, 2017 8:29 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Oct. 5, 2017.
Why do people visit the Huntington County Courthouse?
Some have business there; some just want to take a look at the ornate architecture.
But the biggest draw, by far, is paying taxes and voting.
“October, November, April and May are the busiest months of the year because of taxes and, normally, elections,” says Officer Rod Jackson, who heads up security at the courthouse.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, October 5, 2017 7:56 AM
Originally published Oct. 2, 2017.
John Chapman would have been 243 years old on Sept. 26.
That was occasion enough for the first-graders at Lancaster Elementary School to have a party, celebrating the legacy of the man better known as Johnny Appleseed.
Chapman planted apple trees around the Midwest in the early 1800s, and Lancaster’s students did all kinds of things with apples — including tasting them and painting with them.
Eventually, they went outside to see what George Richison could do with apples.
Monday, October 2, 2017 8:41 AM
TAB file photos.
Originally published Sept. 28, 2017.
From an Olympic silver medalist to a legendary codebreaker, the 2017 class of Huntington County Honors includes outstanding people whose achievements have made an impact on the local, state, national or international stage.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Thursday, September 28, 2017 8:41 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.
Originally published Sept. 25, 2017.
Inside Room 115 after school hours at Huntington North High School, one girl, working on a poster that advocates love, has bright blue hair. Nearby is a boy who, he announces, is openly gay. Others have noticeable — or not necessarily noticeable — differences about them. But they all say the same thing about the club they belong to: it’s a safe place to be.
KJ Prickett, a junior, says Diversity Club is an oasis in the middle of some of the unkind behavior that is unleashed on students who are “different.”