South Gibson Star-Times

NEWS TIPS Phone: ������������� 812-753-3553 Email ����editor@sgstartimes�com INSIDE Local ����������A1-12 Obituaries ������ A5 Shopping ���� A6-7 Opinion �������A8-9 Home Life �������A10 History �����������A11 Sports ���������B1-12 Church ��������B4-5 School ������ B8-10 Classifieds ������B11 Two Sections No Inserts Fort Branch, IN 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) See RINGERS on page 2 See BABY BOX on page 3 $1.00  24 PAGES   TuESDay, NovEmbEr 9, 2021  VOLUME 67, NUMBER 21 South Gibson SPORTS B1 SPECIAL A9 See WALDROUP on page 2 Titans claim sectional championship Lt. Col. Cory Waldroup retires from Air Force after 20 year career By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Gibson County native Lt. Col. Co- ry Waldroup, 42, retired from the military after 20 years of service this last week, as he prepares to become a pilot for Southwest Airlines, flying a Boeing 737 out of Dallas. Waldroup joined the Air Force to pay for college, and originally stud- ied computer engineering, before agreeing to the 10 -year pilot pro- gram at the behest of a lieutenant colonel in charge of the ROTC. "Eventually, he literally threw his glasses across the desk and said 'you're going to be a pilot because I couldn't.' I'm so glad I listened to him," said Waldroup, who graduat- ed University of Louisville in 2001 before his 20 years in the military. Being a pilot is basically taking charge of a moving vehicle and ev- eryone in it. "It's like driving, but with fewer people around," he added. "Most of the time being a pilot is hopeful- ly boring. You don't really want ex- citement. We did a lot of emergency training, so when things go wrong, you know how to handle it." He said committing to the first 10 years felt momentous, but when he had the chance to re-up for another 10, he said he liked the idea of achiev- ing retirement at such a young age, when he would still be young enough to start a new career. The world is moving faster, howev- er, and changed tremendously over those 20 years, even within the mil- itary. When Waldroup started, people were barely using email, still relied on paper folders and paperwork. He remembers filling out Scantron bub- ble sheets during his training. "Technology is a bit of a dou- ble-edged sword. Because you can do more faster, more is asked of peo- ple. The workload has increased ex- ponentially," he said. "The world's moving faster." He said even though there are plenty of things he wishes he'd October saw 393 new local cases of COVID By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Gibson County Health Dept. Director Diane Hornby told county commissioners October was the fourth highest month for COVID in 2021, with 393 new cases— averag- ing 12 new cas- es a day during the month. As for highest months, August came in at the highest so far, followed by February, then September. The county is at seven COVID deaths she said. "We're glad to see numbers are going down and things are improving, and ex- pect everyone to maintain due diligence and use precautions," said County Com- missioner Warren Fleetwood. The county's testing site is seeing a high percentage of positive cases, she added, and they'd like to purchase a travel trailer for $ 35,000 that would include re- frigeration and a generator so they could take vaccine clinics across the county. Drive-through testing is what people want, Hornby added, but two cars have already hit the GCHD tent pole, although it luckily hurt the cars more than the tent. "Those tents are solid," Hornby said. She said the department could lat- er use the travel trailer for future walk- through clinics and storage. Hornby added that in the long run, the building isn't set up well for testing, vac- cination clinics and possible emergen- cies. Accessibility for the handicapped is possible, but difficult. She asked the commissioners to consider putting the health dept. in a new building or a place with better flow, as well as a place with a larger parking lot. Fleetwood encouraged her to make a request to the American Rescue Plan committee. BABY BOX OFFERS NO-BLAME INFANT DROP-OFF By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Last week, three infants were abandoned in Safe Haven Baby Boxes, according to founder Moni- ca Kelsey, at the installation of a box at Princeton's Embree Street fire sta- tion. Kelsey has installed 88 tempera- ture-controlled baby boxes at fire stations and hospitals, in what she called a no-blame, no-shame, no- name approach for mothers who car- ry a pregnancy to term, but would otherwise abandon their babies. "Last week, we had three. Three. Three babies saved last week. So if you think this box in Princeton isn't going to do it's job, you're kidding yourself," she said. Even if that par- ticular box doesn't have a baby put into it, awareness of the box could be the reason someone puts her child in another box instead of abandoning the baby. Since 2017, when the ini- tiative began, 12 newborns in Indi- ana have been placed in Baby Boxes. "We haven't found a baby dead from abandonment in our state since we launched Baby Boxes." That mission is important to Kelsey, personally, because when Ringers wanted By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Common misconceptions about peo- ple who need financial help are that it's always the same people all the time, or that it's not people who are working that need help, but Gibson and Pike Coun- ty Salvation Army Cap- tain Chris Marques said that's not the case, especial- ly since the pandemic. "We've seen peo- ple move on from our ser- vices. They come back and ring the bell," Marques said. The ma- jority of Sal- vation Army participants are not on food stamps, he said, and locally, the Salvation Army serves around 300 different households, representing 800 people. One thing that surprised him, he said, is that these are not younger families. These are families led by struggling BOOSTER SHOTS Who: All county residents What: COVID vaccinations, boosters When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, Thursdays by appointment Where: Gibson County Health Dept. COVID drive-thru testing is daily by appointment at coronavirus.in.gov. BY THE NUMBERS Since pandemic began, SA has served more than • 1,200 food boxes • 3,000 grab-and- go meals • 41,000 extra grocery items to 7,800 people given in partnership with local stores • 1,000 needed items like diapers, formula • Signed 85 children up to receive Angel Tree presents in 2021 • Signed up 150 people for Christmas food boxes for 2021 • 40 families provided rent/ utility assistance Mary Wannemuehler stands with moth- er, Kristin, looking at the inside of the tem- perature-controlled medical box that will hold abandoned babies at the Embree Street fire station in Princeton. Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, speaks about being aban- doned when she was two hours old. Lt. Col. Cory Waldroup, third from the left, poses with Air Force buddies. Lt. Col. Cory Waldroup was a pilot in the Air Force for 20 years. Salvation Army is looking for volunteers, especially church and school groups, that would like to ring the bell this holiday sea- son. For more information, go to RegisterToRing.com. IN HONOR OF OUR VETERANS

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