In my younger years (too long ago) there was always a fascination with things that glow in the dark.  The City of Fishers is teaming up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Indiana and the local firm BLASTmedia for a festival of glow-in-the-dark chalk art-work Saturday night in the downtown Nickel Plate District.

For more details, see the city news release below:

===================================

The sidewalks in the Nickel Plate District will glow this weekend thanks to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) and BLASTmedia. Fishers Parks & Recreation is excited to partner with the local organizations as they decorate the sidewalks around the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater with glow-in-the-dark chalk on Friday, September 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to raise awareness for the BBBSCI mission, just in time for one of Fishers Parks & Recreation’s most popular events, Glow in the Park. The free Glow in the Park event will bring over 2,000 children and families to the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater for a family-friendly night of fun on Saturday, September 16 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The event includes face painting, a graffiti wall, a live DJ, a neon splash zone and more (parent supervision is required). BBBSCI will also have a booth at the Glow in the Park event.

BBBSCI hopes the sidewalk chalk art will raise awareness about the organization in the Fishers community and recruit additional volunteers and mentors in the area. Of the 1,200 children that BBBSCI serves annually, only 150 are from Hamilton County, and 50 Hamilton County children are currently on the waitlist for mentors.

For more information about Glow in the Park, visit fishers.in.us/glowinthepark. To learn more about BBBSCI, please visit  bbbsci.org, and to learn more about BLASTmedia, visit blastmedia.com.

We first knew the Noblesville venue as Deer Creek Music Center, then Verizon Wireless & now Klipsch.  But according to reporting by Lindsey Erdody of the Indianapolis Business Journal, the Klipsch name will soon be gone to be replaced by yet another, yet unknown, sponsor name.

Read Lindsey’s story at this link.

Braeburn Elementary School in the Houston, Texas area was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. Students and staff at Hoosier Road Elementary School in Fishers are organizing a drive to provide school and personal supplies to the students in Texas before their classes begin September 25th in another building.

See the information below, but time is of the essence…please respond now with your donations!  Your help will be accepted through Monday, September 25th.

The HSE Mock Trial Team was named Runner-up at the National Judicial Competition (NJC) in Chicago, IL.

Twenty-seven teams competed for the NJC Mock Trial Championship. Teams were limited to eight participants. Some students had to play multiple roles. The case given to HSE concerned a parent who sued the city for damages due to a death from pindiatosis (made-up name) caused by pindia (also made-up for the competition) in the drinking water. Sides argued whether the municipality did enough to control pindia in the water. The victim also had been previously diagnosed with leukemia which compromised his immune system.

HSE Mock Trial Team: Kaleb Oliver, Madison Rossillo, Bryana Tuemler, Emma Leonard, Jill Grant, Kaitlyn Ross, Nathan Brown and Rebecca Liu.

Kaitlyn Ross also took top honors as the most outstanding witness in the competition.

(Note: The picture above and the video below from part of the Mock Trial Team’s presentation from the Wednesday night school board meeting are provided by HSE Schools)

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers High School has named Lauren Vail as its interim Girls Varsity Basketball
Coach. The move comes after former head basketball coach Michael Gaines stepped
down to take an assistant principal job at Shelbyville High School.

Vail has been a member of the Fishers Girls Basketball staff for the past eight
years. She has served as the varsity assistant for the past three seasons. Prior
to coming to Fishers, Coach Vail was a member of the Noblesville High School
coaching staff.

Coach Vail graduated from Anderson University in December of 2008 with a
degree in Physical Education and Middle School Math. While at Anderson, she was
a four-year member of the women’s basketball team. She currently teaches in
the physical education department at Fishers High School.

Hamilton County Reporter

On Wednesday, the Hamilton County Council began finalizing a budget that many of the council members feel will keep the county in the black for 2018.

“Smooth” is how Councilman Steve Schwartz described Wednesday’s budget meeting. “I’m proud of the Council for working together on this budget. I’m also very impressed with our department heads for the work they’ve done prior to today’s meeting. We have many department heads that are recognized statewide and nationally. They are the best of the best and Hamilton County would not be what it is today without them.”

“Overall a very positive day,” stated Councilman Rick McKinney following the budget meeting. “I feel we are going to wind up in a strong fiscal position for next year and we will be adding new positions to several departments to keep up with growth.” McKinney also complimented department heads. “We have some very experienced department heads that came to the budget meeting prepared.”

A public hearing on the budget will be conducted at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4 with a budget adoption meeting scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

I was sorry to hear this week of the passing of Jack Marks, Noblesville resident and former State Police Trooper. Jack was what I consider the ideal state trooper during his 25-year career working mostly in Hamilton County. He was from what I’d consider the ‘old school’ of law enforcement, conducting good police work along with one-on-one public relations.

It was a time when state troopers would stop by the Ledger newspaper office to share information on accident reports, criminal activity and the like. As a new reporter at the Ledger I met Jack and the other troopers who worked the area.

One of the best stories I recall about Jack involved him bringing Beatle Ringo Starr to Noblesville. That was in 1964 while the Beatles were making one of their first American appearances, playing the Indiana State Fair. Jack was on the security detail for the wildly popular British band.

Early one morning Ringo asked Jack if he could take a ride around the area to see the Speedway, the downtown sights, etc. Jack asked if Ringo, a city boy from Liverpool, would also like to visit the Marks’ farm. Ringo, having probably never seen a working farm, agreed he’d like that.

Jack surprised his family when he came home with the famous Beatle. Apparently Jack’s 11-year old daughter was much more impressed than his wife who was busy trying to get horses ready for the State Fair. But, Ringo got to ride a horse briefly, according to those who were present.

Later, Jack and Ringo stopped at Ben’s Island restaurant in Carmel for breakfast. Patrons were surprised to say the least, but the young entertainer signed several autographs for adoring fans. So, I think the encounter between Jack and Ringo is not only historically interesting, but shows a lot about Jack’s kind and friendly nature, going above and beyond to show hospitality to a visitor.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development Inc. was recognized Sept. 10 at Indiana Landmarks’ annual meeting, where HAND won a Servaas Memorial Award for achievement in historic preservation.

Given annually to a not-for-profit organization, the award recognizes HAND’s work restoring three abandoned buildings and revitalizing a block of downtown Noblesville. Now known as Roper Lofts and Roper Capstone, the buildings at 347, 304 and 388 S. 8th Street were transformed into a total of 14 affordable apartments as well as office space for HAND and the Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County.

Indiana Landmarks’ awards panel applauded HAND’s restoration standards and its commitment to combining low-income housing, preservation and community revitalization.

Also honored at the meeting were Fountain County Landmarks, which received the Servaas Award for youth-serving organizations and Sallie Rowland, the retired founder of Indianapolis architecture and interior design firm Rowland Design. Rowland won the Williamson Prize for outstanding individual leadership in historic preservation for her 40 years of devotion to restoration and revitalization.

Find the full Indiana Landmarks news release here: www.indianalandmarks.org/2017/09/honoring-heritage-defenders

Founded in 2003, HAND works to ensure that Hamilton County remains livable, with homes that are affordable for all residents. In addition to developing six communities leasing a total of 96 apartments, HAND helps low-income homeowners make critical repairs to their homes. The organization has invested nearly $17 million in Hamilton County housing. Learn more at www.handincorporated.org

New Britton Elementary School’s renovation project took a step forward Wednesday night when the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board unanimously approved the Fanning-Howey architectural firm to do the design work, moving forward with the construction plans.  The interior building upgrade is part of the school district’s 10-year plan to maintain the structures within the school corporation.  The New Britton project is set to take bids in spring 2018, with completion scheduled August 2019.

In other school board actions:

–Final approval was given for the sale of property adjacent to Fishers Junior High School near 131st Street and Cumberland Road.

–A policy on background and criminal history investigations was approved to comply with changes in state law.

–First reading approval was made to a revised Suicide Awareness and Prevention Policy.  Final approval will come at a future board session.