Steve Clark - Monday, January 28, 2013 8:33 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Previously published Jan. 24, 2013.
As the head coach of the Huntington North High School varsity football team, Trent Fine is no stranger to giving officials grief over calls.
But once football season changes to basketball season, Fine changes from being a coach to an official, and suddenly it's him getting grief from coaches over calls.
LAUREN M. WILSON - Wednesday, January 23, 2013 5:17 PM
Photo by Lauren M. Wilson.
Huntington County had a special visitor on Thursday, Jan. 17 .
Minnesota's 2012 Teacher of the Year, Katy Smith, toured the community with Indiana's 2012 Teacher of the Year, Melanie Park, before giving a presentation at Crestview Middle School titled "Parenting in the 21st Century."
Smith says her presentation was one that "any community member would find valuable."
Steve Clark - Monday, January 21, 2013 8:07 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Pathfinder Kids Kampus, a child care center based in Huntington, has operated an Early Head Start (EHS) program since April 2010.
Nearly three years later, they're still getting the word out about it.
"We continue to run into people who have never heard of us," says Natalie Brautigam, family resource coordinator at Kids Kampus.
Brautigam and her colleagues are eager for families in Huntington County to learn about the EHS program for a variety of reasons, but one stands out above the rest: If a family qualifies financially, it's free.
Lauren M. Wilson - Thursday, January 17, 2013 7:55 AM
Photo by Lauren W. Wilson.
Originally published Jan. 14, 2013.
Mick Jarrett's machine trade vocational students aren't just busy learning the ins and outs of precision machining; they are also busy manufacturing various mechanical parts - parts that are purchased by a local industry and by Bad Dad Custom Motorcycle Finishes of Fort Wayne.
Between the two companies, 10 different parts are purchased, says Jarrett.
"Companies want to help us train students to make parts that are shipped all over the world," he says.
"It helps them understand they have to get it right."
Steve Clark - Monday, January 14, 2013 8:01 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published Jan. 10, 2013.
The Parkview Huntington Family YMCA celebrates its 100th anniversary today, Thursday, Jan. 10.
When asked what the highlights of the Y's century in operation have been, Marketing Director Tim Allen and Senior Program Director Don Cozad talk less about the highlights and more about the people associated with those highlights - which, in itself, might reveal the secret to the Y's success.
Andre B. Laird. - Thursday, January 10, 2013 8:05 AM
Photo provided.
Originally published Jan. 7, 2013.
Eating fruit that smelled like old gym socks. Learning that catfish caught from the Pahang River is a delicacy. Challenging 12 hour-long workdays.
That's the shortened version of Huntington resident Stan Bippus and his 10-day trip to Malaysia this past November.
Cindy Klepper - Monday, January 7, 2013 7:51 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally publislhed Jan. 3, 2013.
Cody Chesterman has always been the kind of kid who was going to make it no matter what.
"If he gets something set in his mind, he'll get it done," says his mom, Donna Chesterman.
If he finds the conventional route unworkable, he'll find an unconventional route. A set of legs that don't work the way they're supposed to, making mobility a challenge, don't slow him down.
"I've figured out a way to get through it," the 19-year-old Andrews resident says.
Lauren M. Wilson - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 4:24 PM
Photo provided.
Originally published Dec. 31, 2012.
Margaret Hartman doesn't stay in one place for long.
The Huntington native has lived or worked in 12 different places across the globe in the past four years.
"I just couldn't take the idea of the same place forever," she says.
Her journeys began when a friend mentioned knowing someone who had recently returned from a seasonal job in Alaska.
Hartman was immediately intrigued by the idea.
She says she had just graduated from Ivy Tech with an Associate in Applied Science in medical assisting.
Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:40 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
The Christmas season is traditionally a season of giving - and for most people, that giving extends to local charities.
Thanks to what local Salvation Army Capt. Barbara McCauley calls an "overwhelming" outpouring of support, her organization was able to provide Christmas toys and food to about 130 Huntington families.
Love INC made Christmas brighter for some 340 more families, thanks to the efforts of local churches and community members, says Kyle Miller, Love's ministry coordinator.
"We've been incredibly blessed," Miller says.
Cindy Klepper - Thursday, December 27, 2012 8:06 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Dec. 24, 2012.
Born in Chicago and making her way through five states before settling in the small Huntington County community of Warren some 40 years ago, Lilly Nutter has fallen in love with her adopted hometown, and the people in it.
"It's a beautiful place," Nutter says from her small - and tightly packed - apartment in the retirement community of Heritage Pointe.
Andre B. Laird. - Sunday, December 23, 2012 12:12 PM
Photo by Andre B. Laird.
Originally published Dec. 20, 2012.
If you build it, they will come. And they did.
Huntington resident and Flint Springs parent Keely Oswald combined her sons' love for LEGOS and her desired to be more involved in school activities and started a LEGO Club at the school.
"There aren't many clubs for younger kids so I decided to start the club for second and third-graders," Oswald states. "I talked it over with the principal, Cindy Kiefer, and she gave me the go-ahead."
Oswald says the club started meeting in October and meets twice each month.
Lauren M. Wilson - Thursday, December 20, 2012 8:45 AM
Photo provided.
Originally published Dec. 17, 2012.
Huntington County Community School teacher Cari Whicker says if she is going to take the bus, she'd rather drive than ride - a philosophy that has landed her a position serving on the state board for the Indiana Department of Education.
Whicker has been teaching in Huntington County for 16 years. Fifteen of those years have been spent working in Huntington, with the past 14 years spent at Riverview Middle School, where she has been teaching language arts to sixth-graders.
Whicker says she loves teaching sixth grade.
Steve Clark - Monday, December 17, 2012 8:42 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published Dec. 13, 2012.
Dan Drake's approach to model making has changed considerably since his youth.
"When you were a kid, you would glue the parts together as fast as you could and sit it on the shelf and then, eventually, it would die by firecracker," he says.
Today, it's not uncommon for Drake, a Roanoke resident, to spend four to six months working on a model, striving to make sure it looks as authentic as possible and communicates a message.
Cindy Klepper - Thursday, December 13, 2012 7:55 AM
Photo by Cindy Klepper.
Originally published Dec. 10, 2012.
The children sit in the middle of a rug in a darkened room, wiggling and squirming for a better view as each letter on the rug's border gets its time in the spotlight.
"Does anyone know what letter this is?" asks Jan Perkins, a one-woman tech crew wielding a flashlight.
Some of the children do; some don't. They slide over to the spotlight and study the letter intently, sometimes using their fingers to trace the letter's outline.
Steve Clark - Monday, December 10, 2012 8:51 AM
Photo by Steve Clark.
Originally published Dec. 6, 2012.
Jim and Rita Dinius don't wait for Santa Claus to come to them.
They go to him.
The Huntington couple has been collecting Santa Claus memorabilia since the 1990s. Since then, they say, they've accumulated some 400 different pieces.
"Rita started collecting Precious Moments dolls, so I had to collect something," says Jim Dinius. "So, we started collecting Santa Clauses, wherever we went."
The places where the couple has found Santa Clauses are as varied as the types of Santa Clauses in its collection.