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Warren-area girl’s card design helps light Christmas season

Dalaney Vickrey displays the Christmas card and calendar page she designed for Riley Hospital for Children.
Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Originally published Dec. 3, 2012.

When the Christmas cards start flying from mailbox to mailbox this season, Dalaney Vickrey's name is likely to be on a good number of them.

Not as the signer, but as the designer.

The 11-year-old, who lives on a livestock farm near Warren with parents Bret and Carin and younger brother Owen, created one of the five designs being offered on this year's Riley Holiday Cards.

County native gets honor for work in satellite technology field

Larry Bell.
Photo provided.

Originally published Nov. 29, 2012.

Huntington County native Larry Bell's job is classified information. It's so top-secret that he can't even tell you what he does.

What the 1977 Huntington North grad can tell you is that he works for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as a civilian employee.

The NRO is one of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Huntington native Wright not quite Mary Poppins, but finds au pair work to her liking

Madison Wright, a Huntington native, recently spent nine weeks in Madrid, Spain, as an au pair. While visiting, she took a day trip to Salamanca, a city two hours west of Madrid.
Photo provided.

Originally published Nov. 26, 2012.

She may not be Mary Poppins, but she is on her way.

Madison Wright, a Huntington native, has just finished her first stint abroad working as an au pair in Madrid, Spain.

Au pair, a French term, means "on a par" or "equal to" and is used throughout European countries to describe a domestic assistant from a foreign country.

The concept originated after World War II and has been offering young American women the opportunity to live overseas for more than 70 years.

Differences in working locales a good thing for Ugandan priest

Rev. Sebastian Twinomugabi (left), associate pastor at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, in Huntington, chats with church secretary Kelly Jennings at the church on Friday, Nov. 9.
Photo by Steve Clark.

Originally published Nov. 22, 2012.

Rev. Sebastian Twinomugabi has been the associate pastor at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, in Huntington, only since October.

But for the Uganda native, plenty of differences between his work back home and his work here in Huntington have already begun to emerge.

And that's a positive thing.

New Salvation Army pastor brings fresh set of eyes to her assignment in small town

Capt. Barbara McCauley, pastor of The Salvation Army in Huntington, says that as a single pastor she’s “in the minority” in a denomination where churches are normally led by a husband-and-wife team of pastors.
Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Originally published Nov. 19, 2012.

Capt. Barbara McCauley comes to Huntington with a fresh set of eyes.

As a pastor with The Salvation Army - a church that places a major emphasis on serving its community - McCauley's previous service has been mainly in inner city settings of large cities.

"So coming to Huntington was kind of a shock," says McCauley, who assumed her role here in July. "But human need is the same. People want to be loved. They want to be wanted. They want to be accepted."

Lions’ sale of Christmas trees has become staple in Huntington

Huntington Lions Club member Herb Mills (left) helps Lagro residents Justin Cole and Sara Wallace pick out the perfect Christmas tree during the club’s 2010 sale in Huntington.
TAB file photo.

Originally published Nov. 15, 2012

Christmas trees are one of the staples of the holiday season, and in Huntington, the same could be said for the Huntington Lions Club's annual Christmas tree sale.

The sale, entering its 40th year, was started by Huntington Lions Club members Marland Sell and Gene Hartle.
"Well, (the Lions Club) used to sell Christmas trees a long time ago and then they quit," says Sell. "And then in '72, Gene Hartle and I started it back up."

Local native with Hollywood blockbusters on resumé says hard work got him there


Photo provided.

Originally published Oct. 18, 2012.

Ask Shannon Mills how he arrived at working at the Mecca of the movie sound industry and he will tell you simply, "hard work."

The Huntington native has a list of Hollywood blockbusters on his resume that reads like the nominee list for Oscar night.

"I was always interested in music and played in the band when I was in high school," states Mills. "I was attracted to sound in the movies."

VS Pomp & Plenty performance to appeal to audience of all ages

Members of the Varsity Singers at Huntington North High School (from left) Taylor Bailey, Rebecca Shenefield and Alaina Ellenburg practice at the school on Tuesday, Nov. 6, for the Pomp & Plenty gala, to be held at the school on Nov. 17 and 18.
Photo by Steve Clark.

As the Huntington North High School Varsity Singers gear up for their annual Pomp & Plenty performance, senior dance captains Zach Allen and Ana Wenning say the show will appeal to all ages.

Performances are on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17 and 18, at Huntington North.

"This year's theme is ‘A Blast from the Past,'" Wenning says. "It will include a medley of songs from the '70s, '80s and '90s."

She adds that the group has chosen popular hit songs from each decade that will be familiar to almost every audience member.

Lincoln teacher and her class setting out to improve conditions for barn owls in county

Lincoln Elementary School students (from left) Courtney Hale, Matthew Kline, Megan Landon and Antonio Villa Lopez unwrap and assemble cameras they plan to use to watch for activity in the barn owl nests the class is placing around the county.
Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Originally published Nov. 5, 2012.

Many state wildlife agencies consider barn owls to be an endangered species.

Julie Purdy, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, is setting out to improve conditions in Huntington for these nocturnal creatures.

Election volunteers say they have fun while serving country

Election worker Carmen Oswalt has been volunteering since 1971, after being asked by a friend on an election board.
Photo by Andre B. Laird.

Being a part of the voting process and the ability to exercise their right to vote is the common bond among Eleanor Smith, Margaret Schnepp and Carmen Oswalt.

The three women have been volunteering at the polls on Election Day for quite a while and, for each, it's a special event.

Oswalt says she was bit by the election bug a long time ago.

"I was approached by a friend who worked on an election board and that's how I got started," she says. "I've been volunteering since 1971."

Oswalt adds that being a part of the process is why she keep coming back.

Pair of teachers thinks iPad use is the way to go -- despite ‘glitches’

Lynn Brown (left), social studies teacher at Huntington North High School, helps senior Tyler Korthal (left) publish a journal entry online using his iPad.
Photo by Lauren W. Wilson.

Originally published Nov. 1, 2012.

Even with the "glitches," Huntington North High School social studies teacher Lynn Brown says using the iPads in school makes things "infinitely better than it was without them."

Brown piloted an iPad during the 2011-12 school year and says she has been on a four-year journey to implement a one-to-one learning environment using computers in the classroom.

She teaches Viking New Tech students and advanced placement U.S. history students in a traditional classroom setting.

Local woman turns to Hulu, not photo album, for memories of her late father

A young Joanna Stebing poses with puppets on the stage that her father, Thomas Stebing, built in the basement of their Fort Wayne home during her childhood.
Photo provided.

When most people want to remember a deceased family member, they crack open a photo album.

When Joanna Stebing, of Huntington, wants to remember her father, she can get on the Internet website Hulu and watch old episodes of "Adam-12," a police drama on NBC from 1968 to 1975.

Time in saddle gives county woman rare feat to go along with ‘legs of steel’

Janet Kirkpatrick and her horse Booker recently surpassed the 5,000-mile mark in miles ridden in endurance competitions. It’s the second time Kirkpatrick has logged 5,000 miles on one horse, setting the first mark in 1999 with another Arabian.
Photo provided.

Originally published Oct. 15, 2012.

When Janet Kirkpatrick tells you she has "legs of steel," believe her.

The 74-year-old sticks out a well-toned gam -the result, she says, of the time she spends in the saddle.

"You're standing up the whole time," Kirkpatrick says. "And I think it helps the back, too."

Warren man’s pursuit of Horse Thief Detective Association has him still on trail after 10 years

Paul Craig displays some of the Horse Thief Detective Association badges and other memorabilia he’s collected over the past decade.
Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Originally published Oct. 11, 2012.

Paul Craig is looking for the guys who were chasing the guys who were stealing the horses.

It's a chase that Craig, who's been immersing himself in history for about as long as he's been grown up, has been involved in since stumbling across the National Horse Thief Detective Association about a decade ago.

A friend was refurbishing an old school house in southern Wells County, and that school house just happened to be the only building in all of Indiana that was ever owned by any chapter of the said association.

Sisters fill former friary with a youthful spirit of learning

Wearing black veils, symbols of their status as professed sisters,  Sister Amata Veritas (upper row, far left) and Sister Isaac Marie (upper row, second from left) lead noon prayer  on Friday, Sept. 28, at St. Felix Oratory.
Photo by Lauren M. Wilson.

Originally published Oct. 8, 2012.

A once-neglected building on the edge of Huntington is now teeming with young life.

Once the home of a long-established religious order for men, the St. Felix Oratory has welcomed members of a 15-year-old religious community of women, all intent on glorifying God.

"Living for Christ is a joyful life," says Sister Kelly.

She is one of 29 members of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist who moved to Huntington on Sept. 13.