By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, June 5, 2017 9:44 AM
Photo provided.
Originally published June 1, 2017.
This past year at Roanoke Elementary School, people were seeing double a lot more than at other Huntington County schools — make that double times eight.
The school had eight sets of twins this year — three sets of girls, three sets of boys and two sets of boy/girl twins.
“We have kind of a ‘twin anomaly’ here,” says Principal Chris Tillett. “They’re just cute … They’re a lot of fun.”
Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:46 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published on May 29, 2017.
Like most things that have lasted for a century, the Huntington Rotary Club has seen its share of changes.
“It’s really evolved, because it was at one time a good old boys’ club,” says Jim Hoffman, who’s been a Rotarian since 1973.
“It used to be men who didn’t punch the clock, and they had secretaries,” says Mel Ring, whose 57 years of membership makes him the longest-standing Rotarian in Huntington.
There were no women, and there were strict limits on the number of members from any one profession.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, May 25, 2017 9:21 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published May 22, 2017.
Theresa and Atom Cannizzaro were looking for a Midwest farmhouse surrounded by a couple hundred acres of land.
They bought a massive former lodge hall near downtown Huntington, complete with two parking lots.
“We just really fell in love with this,” says Theresa, who, like her husband, Atom, was born and raised in San Diego, CA.
By Steve Clark - Monday, May 22, 2017 8:49 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published May 15, 2017.
Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA, is widely known as the home of The Masters, one of the most famous golf tournaments in the world.
EJ Carroll, of Huntington, has another name for it.
“It’s the happiest place on Earth,” he says. “It really is. Everybody wants to be there.”
By Cindy Klepper - Monday, May 15, 2017 8:42 AM
Photo provided.
Originally published May 12, 2017.
What’s it like to be the new guy in the Indiana Statehouse?
There’s “a little bit of learn by fire,” says Sen. Andy Zay, fresh off his first term as a member of the state’s legislative body.
On the other hand, he says, there was always a seasoned lawmaker, an aide or a representative of a state agency available and accessible to provide him with the information he needed.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Thursday, May 11, 2017 8:18 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin
Originally published May 8, 2017.
When Kay Schwob signed on to help out her Huntington Rotary Club with its newly-launched Reading Buddies program at Lincoln Elementary School in 2000, she thought she was helping to give back to the community she loves.
By Steve Clark - Monday, May 8, 2017 8:25 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published on May 5, 2017.
Looking at one of the clocks outside the Huntington County Courthouse isn’t just a way to look at the time — it’s also a way to look back in time.
The clocks were installed in 1907. And while many aspects of the courthouse have changed since that time, the devices in charge of keeping the time have not.
There are four exterior clocks in all at the courthouse. None of them are automated. To keep the clocks running, maintenance workers must trek up to the courthouse attic once a week and wind each one of them up.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, May 4, 2017 8:22 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published May 1, 2017.
It all started eight years ago when Roberta Rector received a cancer diagnosis.
Now, Rector is turning out aprons by the dozen in an effort to keep others from going through what she went through.
“I’m a survivor,” she says. “I’m just making aprons to try and help get rid of the disease.”
Monday, May 1, 2017 8:18 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published April 27, 2017.
Sarah Kirby’s trajectory has taken her from the future to the past.
Once part of a team that sought to explore the outer reaches of space, Kirby now heads a team whose mission is firmly planted on (or in) the ground.
Her new job as librarian in the Huntington City-Township Public Library’s genealogy collection is, she says, the answer to her question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
As a child, she says, the answer was space.
“I was a space cadet when I was 3,” Kirby says. “I named my dog ‘Star.’”
By Rebecca Sandlin - Thursday, April 27, 2017 8:18 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin
Originally published April 24, 2017.
A rural Huntington woman says achieving inner peace, tranquility and spiritual renewal may be just as far away as your own back yard.
Christy Thomson, who may be better known as the music coordinator at the Parkview Huntington YMCA, calls it “forest bathing” or “forest therapy.” The moniker is derived from the Japanese word Shinrin-yoku, which is translated as “bathing your senses in the forest.”
By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, April 24, 2017 8:16 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin
Originally published April 20, 2017
The idea of letting kids learn what they want to learn sounds like a recipe for disaster, but as the seventh-grade Blue Team at Riverview Middle School has proven, it’s sheer genius.
It’s called Genius Hour, a program that is teaching middle school students to not just think out of the box, but for themselves as well. The results have been impressive, says Assistant Principal Michael Parsons.
By Steve Clark - Thursday, April 20, 2017 8:19 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published April 17, 2017.
John Nixon found his calling in life by chance.
While training to be an engineer in London, he was approached by government representatives who were searching for engineers to work on munitions and ordinance.
“They kind of picked me out and said, ‘Come for an interview,’” Nixon recalls. “So, I had an interview and then got the job. I was kind of like a troubleshooter, going from one technology area to another.
“So, I worked on a lot of things – like missiles, explosives, small arms.”
By Cindy Klepper - Monday, April 17, 2017 8:17 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published April 13, 2017.
In another week or so, with any luck, the willow will have budded and the ground will have dried, making the newly installed living tunnel at Salamonie Lake an enticing place to play — or just chill out.
But willow weaving artist Viki Graber and her assistant, Sadie Misiuk, had to contend with a chill in the air and mud under their feet when they created the sculpture on Friday, April 7.
“This is going to be a child’s tunnel, but adults can go in there if they want to crouch down a little bit,” Graber says.
By Cindy Klepper - Thursday, April 13, 2017 8:11 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published April 10, 2017.
They haven’t quite solved the mystery of the lost city of Atlantis, but they have found a number of cemeteries throughout Huntington County.
By Rebecca Sandlin - Monday, April 10, 2017 8:15 AM
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin
Originally published April 6, 2017.
George Richardson says that “someone” twisted his arm to do this story. Truth told, it was more likely a bunch of “someones” who convinced him that he deserves all the attention he’s recently received.
“I like to be anonymous,” he said, simply.
But at Lancaster Elementary School, Richardson is anything but anonymous. His name is often heard overhead on the school’s PA system, summoning him for one task or another.