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Neighbors have right answer for local family with house aflame

Tim Jacquay (back row) gathers his family, including (second row) daughter, Sierra, 15; wife Heidi; and daughters Marissa, 14; and (front row) Makinzee, 7; and Lyndsee, 12, around a wooden plaque that commemorates the family dog who died in the fire.
Photo by Lauren M. Wilson.

Originally published Aug. 6, 2012.

Fight? Or flight?

None of us knows which we will choose in a moment of tragedy - until it strikes.

Three Huntington men were faced with the question around 2 a.m. on Monday, July 23, when they saw their neighbor's home engulfed in flames.

Their answer: Fight.

That night, Mike Malies, Robin Hale and Rufus McKee, all neighbors of the Jacquay family, helped Heidi Jacquay and three of her daughters escape from their burning home on High Street in Huntington.

Huntington’s ‘little brewing experiment’ going strong with imagination and passion for quality

Mad Farmer Ales co-founders Ross Bitzel (left) and Mathew Kendig steep bags of hops in boiling water as part of the beer-brewing process.
Photo by Andre. B. Laird

Originally published Aug. 2, 2012.

For the average Midwesterner, imagining a batch of homemade booze probably isn't the most elegant vision.

Try imagining, though, a Christmas ale flavored with juniper berries and loose leaf vanilla chai. Or a grapefruit and honey India pale ale.

That's the sort of imagining that happens at Mad Farmer Ales, the one-year-old brainchild of Ross Bitzel and Mathew Kendig - a private Huntington-based hobby brewery.

Why the name Mad Farmer?

School year will begin with three new principals in place

New principals at Huntington County Community Schools this year are (from left) Chad Daugherty, Huntington North High School; Chuck Werth, Crestview Middle School; and Russ Degitz, Lancaster Elementary.
TAB file photos.

As the school year begins and students hustle through the halls, many will see new administrative faces.

Three new principals have been hired in Huntington County - Chad Daugherty at Huntington North High School, Chuck Werth at Crestview Middle School and Russ Degitz at Lancaster Elementary School.

Each principal weighs in on his hopes on the start of a new year:

Young entrepreneurs starting new crop in county

Eric Harris (left) and Emily Hart, co-owners of Two EE’s winery, work on training the newly-planted grape vines to grow according to a method known as vertical shoot positioning. Here, Harris uses a tape gun to attach the arms of the vine to a wire.
Photo by Lauren M. Wilson.

Originally published July 26, 2012.

Growing along U.S.-24, on a hillside between Roanoke and Huntington, are hundreds of grape vines.

Eric Harris and Emily Hart planted them there this spring, and now they are training them to grow according to vertical shoot positioning - a method used by vineyards in California to maximize visual appeal and efficiency of the plant, says Harris.

But why are these plants now a part of the Huntington County landscape?

They are a component of Harris' and Hart's dream of owning a winery.

HNHS band students take in sights and give something back in summer travels across Europe

A group from the Huntington North High School band department poses in front of the Matterhorn on the border between Switzerland and Italy during a trip it took to Europe earlier this summer.
Photo provided.

Originally published July 23, 2012.

When people travel overseas, they take in the sights, but rarely give anything back.

This wasn't the case for the group of Huntington North High School band students that traveled to Europe this summer.

Touring Europe with the Indiana Ambassadors of Music, Andrea Shriner, Quentin Lintz, Ali Meyer and Molly Irick were a part of a group of approximately 100 instrumentalists and 50 vocalists, all in high school, who performed at various locations across Europe.

‘Silent’ truck keeps McCune away from high gas prices

Under the hood of Joyce McCune’s 1997 Chevy S-10 isn’t the usual gas-fueled motor, but a collection of wires, switches and plugs. McCune converted the truck to run on an electric charge.
Photo by Sarah Johnson.

Originally published July 16, 2012.

With summer comes the expected rise in gas prices, with numbers jumping up sky-high around holidays such as the Fourth of July. Everyone feels the strain on their wallets.

Everyone except Joyce McCune, who keeps on rolling around town in his silent Chevy truck.

Yes, silent.
"Your hair dryer makes more noise than that car does," he jokes.

Soft-spoken Waters still making impression with PAL baseball

Ed Waters, a PAL Baseball volunteer for 28 years, hands out a trophy to a member of the  First Federal team, which won the PAL Baseball Coaches Pitch tournament on Monday, July 2.
Photo by Steve Clark.

Originally published July 9, 2012.

A few weeks ago at a local restaurant a waitress approached Ed Waters, of Huntington, and inquired if he knew somebody.

Waters was familiar with the individual and also with the fact that this individual had once played Police Athletic League (PAL) Baseball in Huntington, which Waters has been affiliated with for quite some time.
"And she said," Waters recalls, "‘Well, he told me that you're his idol.'"

Welcome to life as Ed Waters.

Retired minister becomes icon of sorts in his adopted hometown

Retired minister Elzie Spencer sits in his modest home off of Old U.S.-24. The 87-year-old preacher founded and pastored Gospel Community Church in Huntington, and still officiates a funeral every now and then.
Photo by Sarah Johnson.

Originally published July 5, 2012.

If you ask around, some people will tell you Elzie Spencer has performed more funerals and weddings than anyone else in Huntington County.

They may be right.

The 87-year-old retired minister has been a local figure since the 1950s and says he can't leave the house without being recognized.

"Everywhere I go, I am known," Spencer says. "I can't even go into a store without people coming up to hug me."

Pitching horseshoes goes multigenerational with Juergens family

Three generations of the Juergens family, (from left) George, Dan and Brandon Juergens, shoot horseshoes at the Memorial Park horseshoe pits on Monday, June 18.
Photos by Steve Clark.

Originally published june 28, 2012.

On Monday nights, you'll find George Juergens, of Huntington, playing horseshoes at the Memorial Park pits with the rest of the Huntington Horseshoe Club.

The club is popular with Seniors, including the 76-year-old Juergens, who have been playing the game for many years.

There are a few members of the club who stand out, though, and among those members are Juergens' son, Dan, 50, and grandson, Brandon, 25, both of Huntington. This is their first season with the club.

County’s new Extension educator readies for first fair here

Julia Miller, the new 4-H youth development Extension educator for Huntington County, files the livestock pre-entry forms at her desk on Monday morning, July 9.
Photo by Lauren M. Wilson.

It's no secret that Huntington County is a "strong 4-H county," as the county's new youth development Extension educator, Julia Miller, calls it.

Miller has been in that position since June, succeeding long-time Huntington County 4-H coordinator Linda Aldridge.

Miller has been involved with the 4-H community since she was a young girl.

She says she was a 10-year member who went on to become a 4-H leader.

Local family believes in importance of education

Tamera Bingham (left) and her husband Mark (not pictured) have stressed the importance of education to their 10 children.
Photo by Andre B. Laird

Originally publhsed June 21, 2012.

Most people grow up listening to their parents talking about the importance of education.

The Bingham family, of Huntington, doesn't just preach the mantra - it lives it.

The family had four graduates at various levels of education this past spring, with more to come this winter.

Local man to be state commander of VFW

Rodney Funk.
Photo provided.

Originally published June 14, 2012.

When Huntington resident Rodney Funk first joined Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2689 in 1990, it was simply to join the tight-knit family of fellow veterans.

On June 17, Funk will be the new state commander of the VFW, the first person elected to that position from the local post.

A veteran who served during the Cuban missile crisis, Funk says he was drawn to the VFW after learning about its military burial rites team.

Huntington resident’s simple life helps others to ‘simply live’

Steve Widelski (back row center), a lay missionary, is surrounded by a group of children from Gros Morne, Haiti, in July 2011 during a summer camp he managed while stationed with the Salesian Lay Missioners group.
Photo provided.

Originally published June 11, 2012.

"Live simply so others can simply live - that is my motto. That is how I try to live my life," Steve Widelski says.

The lifelong Huntington resident says he has modeled his life after the advice given by Mother Teresa.

Widelski is a lay missionary and has been working with the Catholic Church in Third World countries for more than 15 years.

Former Hayes workers become like a family

Former employees of the Huntington Hayes plant gather for breakfast on Saturday, June 2, continuing a monthly tradition that began when the plant closed six years ago and has lasted through the years and through various breakfast sites.
Photo by Cindy Klepper.

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.

97-year-old Huntington resident not ready to slow down

Henry McAlister, 97, plays a jazzed up version of “Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past” on his digital piano. McAlister learned to improvise on the piano from Chicago jazz musicians in the 1930s, and now plays the organ at Banquo Christian Church.
Photo by Sarah Johnson.

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.