March is Disability Awareness Month, and here is my 6th in a series of mini-podcasts with people telling their own personal stories

When roughly 90 people gathered to begin planning the Spark!Fishers summer festival, one group began working on a new logo for the event.  The planning committee released the logo Monday morning (shown above).

A city news release says the logo showcases a traditional typeface while injecting fresh colors and a modern style into design element.

“While brainstorming our vision for Spark!Fishers, it became clear that we sought to illustrate how Fishers’ history has propelled us toward the future and innovation,” according to Spark!Fishers PR Committee Co-Chair and local business owner, Jocelyn Vare.

The Spark!Fishers organization is taking applications for vendors and parade units through March 30th.  You can get more information at this link.

“Spark!Fishers is truly a community-led event, from start to finish,” says PR Committee Co-Chair and Nickel Plate District business leader, Erik Braden. “Whether through entertainment, sponsorships, the parade, or volunteerism, there are countless ways for the community to get involved and contribute to the creation of the inaugural event.”

The Spark!Fishers Festival was organized following the decision by the Fishers Freedom Festival organization not to sponsor the event in 2018 after the city decided to fund other nonprofit organizations instead of financially supporting the Freedom Festival.  The Fishers Freedom Festival has been held the weekend prior to July 4th since 1989.  The Spark!Fishers event is scheduled for Friday, June 29th and Saturday, June 30th, 2018.

March is Disability Awareness Month and I am featuring a daily mini-podcast with people talking about their connections to Disability Awareness.  This is mini-podcast episode #5

Fishers has new people moving into the city and area every day, so there are likely a number of families with students in the Hamilton Southeastern School District that may not be familiar with the name Carrie Colglazier.

The short story is that her promising life was snuffed-out in 2003 when she was tragically killed as the result of someone else driving while under the influence.  Carrie had graduated from HSE High School in 2002.

Carrie was a standout athlete in soccer and track, and was active in the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization.

A scholarship has been created in Carrie Colglazier’s name.  In order to receive one of the scholarships, the committee looks at this set of criteria:

– Must participate in Girl’s Soccer, Girl’s Track, be a Member of FFA or National Honor Society
– Must participate in the community service work day throughout High School
– School Activities
– Academic Achievement
– Community Service
– Leadership Roles

Over a four-year period, about $12,000 in scholarship money has been handed-out by this fund.

But all scholarship funds are in need of one thing in order to be successful – money!  On March 24th, you have the opportunity to hire a student to help out with getting your place ready for the spring season and benefit the scholarship fund.  You can hire a student to mow the lawn, babysit, organize & clean your house and a number of other chores.  You can hire the student(s) for up to 8 hours (8am-4pm) and you are asked to provide a minimum donation of $25 per student volunteer (but, of course, you can always give more).

To register, go to www.carriecolglazier.org

But don’t wait too long, employers are scheduled to be matched-up with students on March 18th.

Hamilton County Reporter 

The Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency hosted a Saturday training session for storm spotters. Training was provided by Dave Tucek of the National Weather Service. Tucek’s presentation included Doppler Radar interpretation, thunderstorm basics, squall lines and damaging winds, super cells and tornadoes, reporting procedures and storm safety.

Hamilton County Emergency Management offers opportunities for members of the community to become involved in the county’s emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. To learn more about Hamilton County Emergency Management and volunteer opportunities visit their website at hamiltoncounty.in.gov/229/Emergency-Management.

In addition, Hamilton County EMA encourages all county residents to download the agency’s app to access local forecasts, monitor travel advisories, identify open shelters and report storm damage. The free app can be found in Google Play or the App Store.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

Another local election campaign is nearly upon us. It is too often overlooked by voters because it does not attract the attention of major media outlets like national and state politics do; this does not mean local elections are unimportant.

Many day-to-day decisions affecting our citizens are made by local officials. Road construction and maintenance, public hospital facilities, the number and quality of sheriff’s deputies, the operation of local courts, health inspections, weights and measures inspections and operation of county parks are among the functions controlled by local elected officials.

This year there will be state legislators, local judges, a prosecutor, county commissioner, county councilmen, and township trustees elected who will have a lot to say about Hamilton County’s direction in the next few years. Candidates for these offices will be asking for your vote either through a personal approach, a newspaper ad, a yard sign or a mailing.

Our county primary is most important because most, if not all, public officials will be chosen in the Republican primary. Democrats will not have candidates for many major offices and any opposition candidates usually do not win. In addition, voter participation is low in off-year primaries, so folks who do vote make a bigger impact on the outcome.

In our primary election on May 8 there are important issues such as the illegal drug epidemic, the ongoing need for more roads and bridges, the fair distribution of 911 communication costs, perhaps mass transit, a county training center for public safety personnel and a zoning philosophy in the face of continued urban sprawl.

You may have an opinion on one or more of these issues or by looking into these and other issues you may develop an opinion and then look for the candidate who shares your views.

As the candidates hit the campaign trail, we should not be satisfied to let them tell us only things like how long they have lived in the county or how many cute kids they have. They should be asked questions on the issues pertaining to the office they are seeking and qualifications they have for the position.

So, the message is: tune into the process and inform yourself because thousands of our fellow residents will not participate or even know what’s going on. As a reader of this newspaper you already know much more about our political situation than most county citizens. You can very likely make a difference.

Hamilton County Reporter

A two-vehicle crash Friday in the eastern part of Hamilton County left two people injured. Deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the intersection on State Road 32 and Cyntheanne Road at 2:45 p.m. on March 2 on reports of a crash with one vehicle on fire.

Deputies reported a white 2004 Dodge Ram truck, driven by David Crane III, 18, Fishers, was southbound on Cyntheanne Road at the intersection with SR 32. Brandon Park, 23, Fishers, was traveling eastbound on SR 32 in a brown 2001 Buick LeSabre. When the Ram entered the intersection, it struck the LeSabre causing it to run off the road where it struck an electric fence. The LeSabre caught fire and was destroyed during the incident.

Park was taken by air ambulance to St. Vincent Hospital on 86th Street with multiple injuries to his legs, chest and face. A passenger with Park, Gabriel Espinoza, 29, Indianapolis, sustained burns and cuts in the collision and was taken by ground ambulance to Riverview Health for treatment. Crane was not reported as injured in the crash report.

This incident is under review by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Crash Investigation Team. Anyone with information pertaining to the crash should contact the team at (317) 773-1282.

By 

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

In a sectional championship game that was filled with great baskets and outstanding
performances, it seemed inevitable that a big play would decide the game.

That play came for Carmel with 27 seconds left in Saturday’s Class 4A Noblesville
sectional final. The No. 10-ranked Greyhounds were trying to hold off Fishers,
which was in the process of making an 8-1 run to cut a Carmel lead to 52-49.

The Greyhounds’ Cole Jenkins fired a pass to Luke Heady under the basket. Heady
put the ball up, and it sailed high over the rim and back in front of the basket – and
right in front of Eddie Gill.

Gill jumped, took the ball with both hands and in one motion, threw it down for
a dunk. Seconds later, he was fouled and made both free throws, which put the cap on
a 56-49 victory for Carmel.

“I saw it, it came off the rim, so I went up and got it,” said Gill. “Our game plan is
just do whatever we had to do to win, so we got it done.

“He’s one of the most athletic kids I’ve ever coached,” said Greyhounds coach Ryan
Osborn. “He can get up. That play was huge for us.”

That play also sent Carmel to its fourth consecutive sectional title. The Greyhounds
are now 18-7 for the season and qualified for the Logansport regional, where they will
take on Homestead in the noon semi-final game. That will follow the 10 a.m. semifinal
between Fort Wayne North Side and No. 7 Zionsville.

“I think that’s a huge accomplishment, being a senior,” said Gill. “Being at Carmel
these past four years and winning sectional these past four years is incredible. Huge
accomplishment, but we’re not done yet.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” said junior John Michael Mulloy. “I’ve thankfully been a part
of three of them, so I’m really excited. It’s a great accomplishment for our organization
and our school, and a great team thing. We couldn’t be more excited.”

But first, the ‘Hounds had to get past Fishers, which is much better than the 12-12
record with which it finished the season.

“Their record is not indicative of how good they are,” said Osborn. “If you look at
their schedule and the teams that they’ve played – I don’t think there’s very many
games outside of five or six points that they’ve lost. They’re two or three possessions
from being like, 18-2.”

Carmel never trailed in the game and enjoyed a double-digit lead on a few occasions,
but could never shake off the Tigers.

The ‘Hounds led 15-5 late in the first quarter, with Mulloy scoring Carmel’s first seven
points and Andrew Owens throwing in a pair of 3-pointers.

But Fishers’ Craig Yoho ended the quarter with a buzzer beating ‘3,’ then the
Tigers continued that run into the second period. Terry Hicks drained a 3, Josiah
Matthews scored off a steal and Jack Maller hit a free throw – suddenly the score was
15-14.

Carmel answered with a 7-0 run. Mulloy, who is 6-foot-10 and already a Butler
commit, added four more points, then Jenkins turned a steal into a basket. The rest
of the period was mostly basket-trading (including another 3 by Yoho) and ended
with the ‘Hounds up 25-20.

The third quarter was all about “Jeremy and JMM.” That might sound like the title
of a medium-market sports call-in show, but there was nothing mediocre of the play of
Fishers’ Jeremy Szilagyi and Mulloy in that period.

Mulloy did yeoman’s work in the third quarter, scoring 11 of Carmel’s 13 points and
making all five of his shot attempts. Jenkins’ buzzer-beating layin was the only nonMulloy
score for the ‘Hounds in the third.

“When we got away from getting him the ball, they made a run,” said Osborn of
Mulloy’s efforts. “But when we got it to him, he was very efficient. He was very good
today, played with patience. I thought he made good decisions when he had the ball.”

“I needed to make plays when I needed to make plays, and my teammates did the
same thing,” said Mulloy.

Szilagyi, meanwhile, played like a senior leader the whole game, but had some big
baskets to keep Fishers within striking distance. He drained a 3-pointer, then was
fouled while attempting another ‘3’ and made all three free throws. Szilagyi then made a
layin to cut Carmel’s lead to 34-28, then Hicks cut that advantage to 34-30 with a
dunk.

But every time the Tigers got close, the Greyhounds would make another run.
Carmel scored eight consecutive points, bridging the third and fourth periods and
eventually going up 42-30 midway through the fourth. Jalen Whack had a solid quarter,
as he scored seven points, including backto-back baskets that put the ‘Hounds up
47-37.

“He’s an experienced guy that started in the tournament last year,” said Osborn. “He’s
got a lot of experience playing in this big of a game. We’re going to need him as we go
through this.”

Two free throws from Jenkins put Carmel up 49-38 with two minutes to go.
Fishers made one last push, starting with another 3-pointer from Hicks. Mulloy
answered that with a dunk, but the Tigers started rolling on their 8-1 run, with Szilagyi
making a three-point play, Hicks making another 3 (a 6-foot-5 swing that can shoot
the 3 – are you listening, college coaches?) and Alex Szilagyi hitting a layin. That
brought the score to 52-49, but that would soon be changed by Gill’s heroics.

“At that point, even though it’s three, it feels probably like 10 because you’ve been
down for so long,” said Fishers coach Matt Moore. “I thought we did a really good job
of staying aggressive and trying to get the right matchups, get Terry shots.

“But Carmel does such a great job of pressuring you outside our attack areas,
which kind of pushes you off of where you can run your sets and where you can screen
and where you enter the ball. So we just didn’t have a lot of consistency in our flow today because of their defensive pressure.”

Mulloy finished the game with 26 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Gill
also had six rebounds, with Jenkins dishing out four assists.

Szilagyi scored 14 points for the Tigers, with Hicks scoring 13, including three
3-pointers. Hicks also collected seven rebounds as Fishers finished its first season
with Moore as head coach.

“I don’t really have a lot of expectation measuring beforehand, but our goal is to be competitive in every game,” said Moore. “And I think all but three, we were competitive in every game.”

In addition to being its 28th overall sectional championship, this marks the third
time Carmel has won four sectionals in a row. The Greyhounds’ other streaks include
five in a row from 1976 to 1980, and nine in a row from 1966 to 1974.

Here is Episode 4 in our March series of discussions about Disability Awareness Month

It’s Oscar time, and Hamilton County Goes To The Movies will look at the major categories in the 2018 Oscar contest.  Local film critics Joe Shearer and Richard Propes join Adam & Larry.  Also, Adam, Richard & Larry review the new Natalie Portman film, Annihilation.