Members of the New Castle Marching Band participated in band camp this week and prepared for the upcoming season. For the Trojans, show season officially begins two weeks after Labor Day weekend and will end as late as Oct. 29 at the state finals, which take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Second-year band director Jonathon Edwards said although the group has about two months until the season starts, time goes fast. "It appears to be a lot of time to practice, but it will come and go very, very quickly due to school starting up," Edwards said. There are 95 students in the marching band who commit to weekend activities, contests and practices before and after school. Many band members are returning from last year, with between 14 and 18 graduating seniors. The New Castle Marching Band belongs to the Indiana State School Music Association and is a Class B Band, meaning they don't perform at the Indiana State Fair and their season starts later than other area bands like those at Blue River and Hagerstown. "There are two different circuits for marching band: the summer circuit and the fall circuit," Edwards explained. "The fall circuits have more classes to separate the bands than the summer circuit does." ISSMA has three separate competition categories: festival, scholastic and open class, according to its website. New Castle competes in the open class. As the kids prepare for upcoming shows, they also learn new music. This year, the band will perform a show called "A New Me." "The show is about celebrating in life that you can always change for the better or do something to change your life for the better. Under the show title, we have a selection of music called The Outcast," Edwards said. The Outcast was written by a composer named Craig Fitzpatrick. The band is also playing music with melodies from The Swan and The Going Home by Dvorak. The Trojans will have a preview performance of their new show at 6:30 p.m. Friday, when band camp ends.
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MT. SUMMIT — As summer winds down, the Blue River Valley Marching Band continues to practice for its end-of-season show Aug. 6 at the Indiana State Fair. Band director Derrick Braswell is in charge of making sure the 20 students in the band are ready for the final performance and noted the marching band competes in what is known as a track circuit, which began last summer. "That means we compete during the summer and finish our final show at the state fair," he explained. The band most recently competed July 16 at Centerville, placing 11th. This year, the Vikings are combining two songs for their show, "Chandelier" by Sia and a Brian Balmages concert band piece called Rhythm and Rifts. "Everyone does their own show, and we've chosen to call ours Rhythm and Light due to our song choice," Braswell said. Senior baritone player Drew Beebe said the band has time to improve as the season progresses. "Our last show wasn't a perfect run, but it was good enough to get us where we needed to be. We still have four or five other shows to improve on before finals though," Beebe said. Although the other competitions during the regular season are important, most members have their eyes on the show at the state fair. Some band members recalled fond memories from last year's performance. "My favorite memory from state last year was moving up one place from 14th to 13th from the first and the last show," Ashton Collins, 16, recalled. Andrew Chowning, the bands' drum major of three years, said he was looking forward to returning to state again this year. "I thought state was a lot of fun last year and it was an amazing experience. The season was shorter which kind of sucked, but it gave us more free time for when school started," Chowning said. While older band members are excited to return to the state fair, for the incoming freshman, state finals is something new. Mallerie Collins, 14, has been playing the clarinet for the last year and a half and expressed her concern. "It's my first time going to the state fair and I'm just worried I'm going to forget everything," Collins said. The band will perform Saturday at Muncie Central High School, July 29 in Noblesville and July 30 in Winchester. The final performance of the year will be Aug. 6 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. On Saturday night, Mark Wenning and the Junior Leaders club hosted a dance for everyone to come out and enjoy and start the Henry county fair off on a good note. Junior Leaders is a 4-H club for seventh to twelfth graders that allows the children to get involved with community service events and receive scholarships. The club is purely for 4-H participants and this year there are around 30 kids in the club. "There are different youth clubs through out Henry county and junior leaders encompasses everyone who wants to join that's a little bit older and would like to become involved with community service. In February, we'll go out and play bingo with people in nursing homes," Wenning said. According to Wenning, the idea was to do something to really kick off the fair with everything that was going on that had gone on in the previous week. "There was a lot going on in the Smith building with the fashion review. We really wanted to host something fun for the kids to have some fun," Wenning said. Before the dance began, Wenning was really hoping for a good turn out. "The 4-H association was in responsible for arranging the schedule with the dance, along with the extension leaders. I was named extension by default because I knew someone with the equipment," Wenning said laughing. Shelia Martin from New Castle laughed as her children danced around to the songs with their friends. "The 4-H association sent out a schedule and that's how they [her children] found out about the dance. I think all the kids were pretty excited about the dance because it's a good social opportunity to get them all out and having fun," Martin said. Martin's 11 year-old daughter Faith will be showing pigs, cattle and sheep at this year's fair. 14 year-old Jessie Lanzer of Losantville and her friend Nakayla Witham, 13, of New Castle said that they were so excited when they originally heard about the dance. Lanzer had been working with the fashion show all week long and said that when her and Witham found out about the dance, they asked if they could stay at the fair grounds later. "We love to have fun and we were already here so I could support her [Lanzer] in the fashion show, so we figured we would just stay. It was a really fun night," Witham said. As the night went on, there were multiple circles formed around groups of children as they had dance battles with their peers. The children laughed and danced along with the songs that they all knew, and caught up with friends and talked during the songs that they didn't. The Henry County 4-H Sewing and Consumer Clothing Fashion Revue took place Tuesday at the W. G. Smith Building in Memorial Park. The show allowed kids in third through 12th grades to sew and model clothes they created for this year's 4-H fair. This year's show had 16 participants, 15 girls and one boy, who chose from six different categories: casual, dress-up, separates, suits or coats, formal wear and free choice. Winners from the fashion review will be announced at 7 p.m. Saturday during the fair's official kick-off event. Before participants went on stage to model their creations, judges walked around to see what the outfits looked like as they were sewn and put together. Megan Mench, one of this year's Henry County 4-H Ambassadors, participated in the event. "My 10th year of 4-H shows how I've grown as an individual ... because without 4-H, I don't think I would be who I am," Mench said. "I definitely have to give it to 4-H for getting me out of my horizon and kind of giving me the communication skills with people within this industry." 4-H isn't just a project for Mench, it's a year-long process. Although she enjoys fashion, the high school senior does not plan to study it after she graduates. Mench hopes to major in agriculture education and minor in agronomy sales during college. And the fashion show isn't all Mench will be participating in during this year's fair. She is also getting ready to show foods, swine, cattle and sheep. Kelsey Meyers, a Purdue/Henry County extension educator, participated in the Henry County 4-H Fair growing up and was a 10 year 4-H member. Last year, Meyers served as the educator in Randolph County for Purdue Extension and said she's glad to be back home in the community where she grew up. "I help oversee the 4-H youth development year round, not just during county fair season. While I'm at the county fair, I help oversee all of the projects and livestock," Meyers said. Fashion revue and sewing was Meyers' favorite project growing up. Mench remembers being at the fashion revue for Meyers' 10-year project. "Another special thing about this being my 10th year is that I remember being here for her [Meyers'] 10th year. Having her back as an educator for my 10th year is kind of crazy awesome," Mench said. Along with creating an outfit, fashion revue participants must also fill out a consumer clothing binder. Part of judging includes how the book was filled out, how participants model the outfits, their walk and what they say to the judges. "For my consumer clothing binder, I took a picture of every consumer clothing project from my first year to now and showed the judges how I've grown as an individual. Looking back and seeing some of the pictures, I don't know how my mom let me wear some of the things I wore," Mench said. To see clothes from this year's fashion revue, visit the W. G. Smith Building at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Henry County 4-H Fair continues through July 22. Henry County 4-H Fair Schedule Today 5 p.m. — Crafts check-in, judging starts at 6 p.m. Friday 3:30 p.m. — Enter all remaining 4-H projects (beekeeping, child development, electric, forestry, etc.,) judging begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 16 9 a.m. — Dog show 7 p.m. — Fair kickoff 9 p.m. — Dance Sunday, July 17 11 a.m. — Outdoor cooking competition 2:30 p.m. — Ice cream crank-off 4 p.m. — Swine carcass show Monday, July 18 9 a.m. — Extension Homemakers open show 9 a.m. — Poultry and pigeon show 11 a.m. — Swine show 12 p.m. — County officials luncheon Tuesday, July 19 9 a.m. — Extension Homemakers open show 9 a.m. — Rabbit show 11 a.m. — Dairy show 3:30 p.m. — Beef show Wednesday, July 20 8:30 a.m. — Goat show 11 a.m. — Verbal communications activities 1:30 p.m. — Cats and small pets show 2 p.m. — Sheep show 7 p.m. — Farmer Olympics Thursday, July 21 9 a.m. — Horse and pony show 7 p.m. — Round Robin contest Friday, July 22 9 a.m. — Horse and pony show 4:30 p.m. — Pork chop dinner 6 p.m. — Auction 8 p.m. — Sale of champions Fashion Revue Categories Casual wear — An outfit containing one or two pieces that could be worn to school, on the weekend or for informal activities. Participants must buy one or two pieces of clothing from the store and make the rest of the outfit from his or her closet. This category is designed to teach kids how to be savvy shoppers. Dress-up wear — Must create something that is suitable for someone to wear to church or a special occasion that might not be considered formal. Garments in this category would not be worn to school or for casual and informal activities. Separates — An outfit consisting of three garments. The garments are worn together as a complete outfit, but must be versatile enough to wear with different outfits as well. Suits or coats — Consists of two separate pieces that include either a skirt or pants with a lined jacket. Formal wear —Shows pieces that are suitable for formal occasions such as proms, weddings and other formal evening functions. Free choice — A complete outfit that does not fit any of the above classifications. An outfit like this would include tennis attire, swim wear, active or sports clothing, lounge wear, riding habits, historic, dance, theatrical or international costumes, capes and unlined coats. SULPHUR SPRINGS — According to the International Dairy Foods Association, in 1984 President Ronald Reagan declared July as national ice cream month for all of America and national ice cream day to be the third Sunday every July. This year, national ice cream day was celebrated a few weeks early in Sulphur Springs via the Lions Club's annual ice cream social. Each year in the Community Building, people from surrounding communities show up for a meal and dessert. The meal is free, but donations are always accepted. Lion Bill Chapman celebrated his 51st ice cream social with the club this summer; he joined the club back in February, 1964. "All the money made at the social is put back into the community. This building [Community Building] was built in September of 1974 from the money raised over the years and the social has been here ever since," said Chapman. According to son Tim Chapman, also a member of the Lions, there is normally a good turn out each year. This year, along with the dinner and ice cream, attendees also had the opportunity to listen to the Henry County Community Band. This was the band's first year performing at the social. The band's conductor, Rachel Eldridge, said this is one of the only times they've had a summer concert in the eight years in which they have played together. "We normally don't play during the summer and we're trying to expand our horizons," Eldridge said. The band consists of people from high school age to 80 years old. The band formed in 2008 even though some of those involved hadn't played their instrument in years. "This is what a community band is for. It's for people who want to play that might not have for many, many years," Eldridge said. The band for the annual event has changed, but the homemade ice cream never will. Kylee Eller of Yorktown said she grew up in Sulphur Springs and comes back to the event every year. Eller's grandmother used to make vanilla ice cream every year and bring it to the social, and now Eller does too to keep the tradition alive. "I don't think I've ever missed the social for as long as I can remember," Eller said. KENNARD — The town board has a new member. Holly Lee was sworn in at Wednesday's town board meeting. Board member Carolyn Roberts explained that Lee is replacing Shannon Dickerson, who recently resigned. A member of the community wrote in and asked if the town could remove a tree stump on his property. Even though the tree is technically in Stan Chamber's yard, that part of the property is owned by the town. Part of the tree was removed last year after a storm knocked it down. Not only is that tree an issue, but there is another tree on the same street that is a concern. One of its limbs broke off last month and the board does not want other limbs to fall on anyone in the future. It was determined that the tree that had a limb break off last month is too large to safely bring down. According to town board president Jason Groce, if the town were to decide it should come down bucket trucks would need to be brought in to help with the effort. "We're constantly cleaning the trees out of the road there and when [the tree] comes down, it's going to be a big mess in the middle of the road," Grose said. No action was taken regarding the trees at Wednesday's meeting. It also was announced there will be two fundraisers over the next month to benefit the Kennard Volunteer Fire Department. From 5 to 7 p.m. July 18 and Aug. 8, the Papa John's truck will be selling pizza outside Town Hall. Twenty percent of the proceeds will be given back to the fire department. On the morning of April 26, employees at New Castle's Bob Evans restaurant on Memorial Dr. showed up for work to find out that they no longer had a job because the company was shutting down the local business. Citing underperformance issues, the New Castle store along with 27 other stores in 10 states will be closing throughout the rest of this year and during fiscal year 2017. Nineteen stores were shut down around the same time the New Castle store was closed and six more are scheduled to be shut down within the 2017 fiscal year. The Indianapolis store located on Byrd Way at I-65 and the Greenwood store also are scheduled to be closed. Forty-five workers lost their jobs when the New Castle restaurant closed, according to the corporate office. With the nearest Bob Evans 20 miles away, it's challenging for the locally displaced employees to relocate to that store. In an April 26 Courier-Times article, former Bob Evans employee Katie Alcorn said that it would be difficult to commute to and from the nearest store. According to Angela Payne, who is with Bob Evans corporate office, the New Castle building is for sale and there has been interest in the property. Bob Evans Real Estate Department is in charge of selling the property. Individuals interested in more information the building or the land on which it sets can contact Victor Layne at 614-492-7489 or [email protected]. Despite the 4th of July fireworks being delayed a day, hundred of families still came out to Memorial Park Tuesday night to enjoy the annual fireworks with friends and loved ones. In some cases, attending the fireworks isn't the only tradition. There are a few families who showed up the day or night before the holiday and who have camped out the last six years straight. This year was more special than most for one of those families. The Hawkins family spent the weekend celebrating for their son who passed away July 12, 2015. "James was all about America and this was his favorite holiday. Last year, he was hit by a drunk driver on his motorcycle and killed. We're all just out here trying to celebrate something he loved for him this year," said Tammy Hawkins, James' mother. Shawn Lauder, a close friend of the family, cooked dinner for everyone Monday night and said a prayer for James. The family was happy to be together with friends, celebrate James and continue their tradition. Hawkins also said that since the family has started camping out, it seems that more people have caught on and taken to the idea. "We started camping out here when James was about 14. Since then, it seems that more and more people are catching on and camping out," Hawkins said. One of those people is Josh Fowler, who camps with friends and family. They all arrived at 6:30 p.m. Saturday to set up camp. For the last five years, they have had the spot right next to the Hawkins at the front of the park. The two families have even helped each other set their tents up over the years. "It's like one big tailgate," Fowler said. "If it's real nice out, I'll sleep in a big recliner under the canopy at night." For people who just come the day of the fireworks, there was still plenty of fun to be had. There was face painting, freshly popped kettle corn, homemade jewelry and even Americana knick-knacks. Kringe played in the W.G. Smith Building for people to listen to as they ate their strawberry shortcake and other food. There was a lot of "ooing" and "awwing" from the crowd as the fireworks went off above their heads. As the show ended and people started to file out of the park, many were already talking about plans for next year. Each Thursday of the month from 3 to 8 p.m., a group of girls come together to craft, have dinner and attend bible study. Some came together already as friends, and others formed new friendships once they were there. The place bringing these girls all together is called Tabitha House. Claudia Madison had the idea to start Tabitha House about a year ago. The New Castle First Nazarene Church, the church in which she attends, bought the house at 1640 A Avenue about two years ago when they were looking to expand their parking lot. The house sat there for about a year without being torn down, when one day Madison had her idea. "The church board decided that if we weren't going to tear it down, then we better fix it up. One Sunday night, I was on my way to church for evening service and I had never known that this was a property the church had bought, but I just felt the Lord prompting me that this [the house] doesn't need to be rented out. It needed to be used for the community," Madison said. After taking some time to pray about it, her original vision for the property was that she wanted to fix the house up to become a home to foster teenage girls. The home has four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and one bedroom and an additional bathroom on the first floor, so it would make a good home. Madison and five other board members who started on the project decided that while they waited on a foster parent to pair up with them, they should go ahead and make an after school program. The program would help girls get their homework done after school and every Thursday they would have a bible study. Sharon Bales was one of the first people that Madison approached about the idea when she first had it and Bales is one of the five executive board members helping create Tabitha House. "There have been a lot of people who have put time in to help bring the house together. The head of the church's maintenance department put months into remodeling the house even before we knew this was going to be the Tabitha House," said Bales. Most of the people who have worked on the house or are currently working there with the children are all unpaid volunteers, according to Bales. The pair also said that they have talked about applying for grants to help pay the bills, but right now all of the donations are coming from the church. The members of the church have been extremely supportive to the cause, some have even gone so far as to leave Tabitha House furniture in their estates as they have passed away. "Last week, we had a garage sale and raised $400 for the house and everything at the sale were things that people had left us from their estates that we didn't need here in the house or donated items from members of the church," Madison said. Madison hopes that members will still help donate old clothes to the house when it eventually becomes a foster home because girls are always changing. The executive board has already talked about doing an activity around the times of fall, winter and prom dances to donate old dresses to be reused. Some of the girls who have already come to the house are rather talented in cosmetics. Madison and Bales plan to ask them to come back and help the girls get ready for the dances. As of now, the girl's coming to the house every Thursday are doing fun activities like this already. This past week, the girls had a paint and canvas night, as well as tacos for dinner before their bible study. Twelve year old Kaylynne Martin said that she has already enjoyed the time she has spent at the house and that her favorite part about coming back each week was bringing different friends with her. Ava Loveless, 11, is one of those friends. "Its been a fun night, I enjoyed the craft and really liked the tacos," said Loveless. Madison said that they had hoped they could have started these activity nights and after school programs earlier in the spring semester, but there was so much to get done and prepare for that it was really a blessing that they were not ready to open until the summer. Most of the girls are from the community, but there have been girls that have come from as far as Shenandoah Middle School and Tri Jr/Sr High School that have come out for the bible study to hang out with kids in the neighborhood that attend each week. "Once school starts, it's really going to be hard to get everything done in five hours, but we're going to jam pack as much as we can into it," Madison said as she laughed about. She hopes to help the girls who come to the house develop character, show them that they can be independent and help them become better adults. Originally the plan was that high school girls would come to the meetings, but so far only a few have come. Madison is okay with this though because the girls that are coming each week can come to Tabitha House longer. As much as Madison loves the Thursday night group, the ultimate goal is to get this foster home going. The girls who attend each week are more than welcome to still come over when it does get started, she said. The home has been in touch with people from the foster care system and they are more than willing to get involved, according to Madison. The only thing they're really waiting on is having a parent show interest in coming to live in the home and mother the girls. A lot of people want to foster younger girls according to Madison, but she really wanted to help teenagers. "My heart goes out through an experience I had with a young lady, and these girls need to be helped at this age while they're still young and impressionable. They need to learn to do the right instead of the wrong thing and through my experience with the young lady it has taught me a lot, so my heart really is with this foster home," Madison said. To get in touch with Tabitha House, call 765-520-6671. People can also look out for their flyers to see what actitives they will be up to each month. When Madison Penkal's jaw began to swell, her mom thought it might be wisdom teeth coming in. But that wasn't the case. The 16 year old Tri High School junior was eventually diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, polyarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. "When it first began, it was in her jaw and we saw an oral surgeon at Riley Hospital and they diagnosed her with TMJ," said Stacy Dick, Penkal's mother. TMJ, Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, is pain in the jaw joint and can be brought on by multiple medical conditions. However, the family later learned TMJ wasn't the cause of Penkal's discomfort. It was arthritis. Penkal, a cheerleader, noticed one day that her knee was swollen. Because she was an athlete, her doctor thought she injured it at practice and recommended stretching exercises. When she returned for a physical though, a nurse practitioner said the knee was too swollen and sent her to an orthopedic surgeon. "There was a lot of fluid built up in her knee and so she had 17cc's drained out the day before school started and later that week she had to go back and get it redrained because she couldn't walk," Dick said. "That's when the doctors tested her for rheumatoid arthritis." Penkal said the arthritis affects her ankles, wrists, knees and jaw. She also has swelling in her elbows. Some days are worse than others, but she has not stopped cheering. "The arthritis in my wrist isn't too bad, my face and my knee really swell the most out of everything. The worst part is taking all the medicine, I don't really like that," Penkal said. Dick said that her daughter went from being healthy to taking lots of medications for joint pain. And she also receives a low dose of chemotherapy each week and has to go to Riley Hospital every three months to see her rheumatologist and have blood work done. Penkal was recently selected as one of six children across the state who will participate in the Art for Arthritis show Aug. 19 in Indianapolis. The event is sponsored by the Indiana Arthritis Foundation and pairs artists with children who suffer from juvenile arthritis. The event takes place from 6-9 p.m. at Gallery Forty-Two, 42 E. Washington St., Indianapolis. Proceeds from the benefit the foundation. "We started working with the foundation as soon as she was diagnosed because I didn't know anything about this new life we were living," Dick said. "I signed up for emails and newsletters and that's how we found out about the art show." Penkal, along with 6,400 other kids in Indiana, suffer from some sort of arthritis, according to the arthritis foundation. After high school, Penkal wants to attend college and study to be a rheumatologist. Liza Hyatt, the artist working with Penkal, was diagnosed with arthritis at age 3 and later went into remission as a child and is still in remission today According to Dick, remission is the best thing someone suffering from arthritis can hope for because there is no cure. Hyatt and Penkal met a few times to discuss the project and actually make the artwork for the August show. Penkal titled the piece "My Favorite Things." "The first time we met we did a couple of different things and just kind of played with different mediums," Penkal said. "We chose what I liked to do best and what I thought was the most interesting so we chose printmaking. This was my first time working with printmaking and I liked it because I got to choose what shapes went into my work." A ticket for the art show is $40 for adults, $15 for children. Penkal must raise $250 for her portion of the project. After the show, Gallery Forty-Two will auction off the art work as another way to bring in donations. For more information about arthritis or to donate to the show, visit the Indiana Arthritis Foundation's website, visit www.artforarthritisindy.org. |
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