South Gibson Star-Times

Local ........ A1-12 Home Life ... A8-9 Opinion ........ A10 History .......... A11 Sports ........B1-5 Church ...... B6-9 School ........B7-9 Classifi eds ..... B10 WHAT'S INSIDE: PIKE PUBLISHING Phone: .............812-753-3553 Fax: .................812-753-4251 E-Mail editor@sgstartimes.com E-Mail ..........news@sgstartimes.com Facebook ....facebook.com/sgstartimes Twitter .........twitter.com/sgstartimes NEWS TIPS: CONNECT WITH US: TWO SECTIONS 22 PAGES NO INSERTS $1 LOCAL A-2 TUESDAY, OCTOBEr 16, 2018 VOLUME 64 nUMBEr 20 FOrT BrAnCH, InDIAnA 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES BEGIN OCT. 26 SPORTS B-1 TITANS GOING TO SEMI-STATE! See SISTER on page 2 See NEVADA on page 6 SCIENCE SENSATION See DEMO on page 2 Former Owensville Montgomery Twp. Fire Station demolished Gibson Southern grad's post high school studies take flight By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com History major Jessica Perkins, a 2016 Gibson Southern gradu- ate, said an opportunity at Purdue University has brought her close to female aviator Amelia Earhart, in a way she had not imagined be- fore joining a research project to help filter through items, letters and source material about the fly- ing ace. Perkins will meet Amy Mor- rissey Kleppner, Earhart's niece, this Monday, Oct. 22, as the wom- an arrives at Purdue to work on the young adult book project to bring her aunt's story to another generation of children. "I feel sometimes like she's talk- ing to me," said Perkins. In the archive, Purdue has the aviator's clothes, makeup, flying helmet, letters and even the transcript of a séance Earhart attended. "The most surprising thing to me was when she married Dave, before the wedding, wrote this declaration to him that he didn't have to be faithful," Perkins said. "She didn't consider herself a fem- inist but a lot of things she did would be considered feminist. It was really interesting to see her as a woman, not just a woman pi- lot." Perkins, who wants to be an ar- chivist, inventories the items, not all of which are available for the public, with another student cho- sen for the project. She said her impression has been Kleppner is writing a book with more feminist leanings to en- courage girls to pursue careers outside traditional gender roles. This isn't Perkins' first adven- ture through her time at Purdue University, she said she's also had the chance to work in an art gal- lery and travel abroad. "As a history major, I wanted to branch out and be more global," she said. To that end, she attend- ed a semester at Yonsei Universi- ty in Seoul, one of the top three Korean universities, and traveled the historical areas in the region. By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com The first Owensville Montgom- ery Township Fire Chief Cody White and former Fire Chief Clyde Scott watched the end of an era Oct. 2, as the cornerstone of the former Owensville Fire Depart- ment, laid Dec. 21, 1977, by David Davis, broke into two and was load- ed with the rest of the building in- to the construction debris. This, they agree, is a good thing and a long time coming, a sign the department is moving forward. The 1977 building cost $59,000 for a department that made approx- imately 60 runs per year. They had 12 members, compared to now, with 25 members and still recruit- ing. According to Clerk-Treasurer Kristy York, the building was a product of 1976 special meetings between the town and the town- ship in regard to the location. Fi- nanced by the new consolidated district and engineered by Fred Kuester, final blueprints were ap- proved November 1976. Pepper Construction ended up with the job and began building Oct. 10, 1977. In those days, Scott remem- bers there were no self-contained breathing apparatuses, and not ev- eryone had turnout gear. "We rode on the back of the fire trucks, just like you see in the movies. They won't let you do that anymore," said Scott. "I was a lot younger in them days." "Hang on for your life," added Sister surprised on 70th birthday by St. James School By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Sister Irma Arnold, of St. James School, entered Mad- den Hall to Oliver Sokeland playing "Happy Birthday" on violin, then a chorus of hun- dreds of students joined in the song, celebrating her 70th birthday Oct. 10. Arnold had been told the school would have a speak- er on bullying at 1 p.m., but while the whole school snuck down to Madden Hall, only the sister's class was told that the speaker was late and she should come 10 minutes later. When Arnold arrived, the school planned a party with a version of "This Is Your Life" and invited friends, who were hidden in the hall kitchen, to Hamilton returns from fighting wildfires in Nevada By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com For about three weeks every year, Patoka Wild- life Refuge Manager Heath Hamilton trades the lush marshy wet- lands of the Gibson County refuge for the dry, sooty danger of fighting wildfires across the United States. "The first time I went (in 2012), I was on a hand crew of 20 people from Indiana," he said. "We go wherever we're requested. I've been to Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Minnesota. It's based on who needs the help." This year, he started in Minne- sota, with six people on a brush truck, which is a large truck out- fitted with water and foam tools. Other parts of the country get very dry, creating a wildfire sea- son. As Hamilton already needs to maintain fire certifications to use fire in the spring and fall to manage land and habitats at the refuge, he said that training is also what is required to work on wildfire fighting, and the level of need during wildfire season is high, which leads to appeals for volunteers nationwide. Wildfire fighting is different from firefighting because, typi- cally, it's nowhere near a town, and the fire might be, as it was this year in northeastern Ne- vada, spread over 30,000 acres. "The work you do is not glam- orous at all. You sleep on the Sister Irma Arnold hugged her students after being sur- prised for her 70th birthday at St. James School Oct. 10. Wildfire fighter and refuge man- ager Heath Hamilton took a picture while on lookout during his wild- fire expedition this year. He spent about three weeks firefighting. Oct. 9-11, 357 seventh graders in Gibson County visited Science Sensa- tion at Gibson County Fairgrounds to participate in hands-on science pro- grams developed by Purdue Exten- sion 4-H. Students learned about food science, animal science, robotics, en- gineering, forestry, insects, geocach- ing, wildlife and aerospace from Mas- ter Gardeners, Oakland City Universi- ty students, Extension Homemakers, Purdue Extension Educators and lo- cal experts. Above: Derek Zeller, from Swat Pest Control, shows Aiden Hammer, Kevin Ruff and Gavin Houchins a wolf spi- der during his insect presentation. Wolf spiders are actually a good spi- der to have because they keep away the dangerous brown recluse, he said. Left: Julie Damm and Dalton Brent explore a 3D puzzle/model of a horse. From left: Elle Helfert, Lauren Rogers and Kate Lamey learn a little sign language dur- ing Sue Fowler's Habitat presentation, which included singing, dancing and storytelling. Former fire chiefs Cody White, left, and Clyde Scott watched the first Owensville-Montgom- ery Township Fire District Station come down Oct. 2.

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