The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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Stodghill celebrates 50 years By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Stodghill Funeral Home in Fort Branch celebrated 50 years of busi- ness Saturday, fulfilling the dream of founder Robert "Bob" Stodghill to start a business that could be passed down in the family. "His lifetime ambition was to be like Gardner Funeral Home in Vin- cennes, passed down from genera- tion to generation. So I'm the second. My daughter's the third, and I have a granddaughter that says she may be the fourth," said son Robert "Scott" Stodghill on Saturday at the celebra- tion. The Stodghill Funeral Home in Fort Branch was first established more than 70 years ago first as Laib Funeral Home, and Bob, a funeral director from Vincennes purchased the business from Joseph Laib on Sept. 1, 1972. Bob had worked for the Gardner Funeral Home in Vincennes for 26 years. He'd graduated from Vin- cennes Lincoln High School in 1946 and was a graduate of the Indiana School of Mortuar y Science in India- napolis in 1948. He then married Bil- lie J. Nance, also of Vincennes, and began working for the John Duester- burg Funeral Home in Vincennes. In 1952 he was drafted into the U.S. Army and ser ved in Korea, su- per vising the morgue in Seoul until his discharge in 1955. After his re- turn to Vincennes, he was hired by Dexter Gardner and Son Funeral Home, which is the oldest funeral establishment west of the Allegheny Mountains, having been established in 1816. On Sept. 1, 1972 when Bob pur- chased the Laib Funeral Home, it was located at 304 W. Locust St., Fort Branch. He and his wife, Billie, operated the business together until Jan. 20, 1984, when their son, Robert "Scott" S. Stodghill, came into the business with them, along with his wife Julie (Deer) Stodghill. Scott, as most residents in Fort Branch know him, graduated from Gibson South- ern High School in 1976 and graduat- NEWS TIPS Phone: ������������� 812-753-3553 Email ����editor@sgstartimes�com INSIDE Local ��������� A4-10 Church ��������A8-9 Sports ���������� B1-3 School ����������� B4 History ������������ B6 Opinion ������� B7-9 Classifieds ����� B10 Two Sections • One Insert Fort Branch, IN 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) $1.00 16 PAGES TWO SECTIONS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 VOLUME 68, NUMBER 10 South Gibson Chamber announces Business of Year nominees By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Dressed like she was awarding an Oscar, Chamber of Commerce repre- sentative Sam Sisson with Chamber of Commerce Director Patty Vanoven an- nounced the finalists for Business of the Year, Hometown Business of the Year and Non-profit of the Year Friday. Nominated and voted on by Cham- ber of Commerce Members, Hometown Business of the Year nominees included Polka Dots Play Café, RPM Tool, and Tu- lip Tree Family Health Care. Races for fall election finalized By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com The county's November election is shaping up with several contested races. For county clerk, Repub- lican Sherri Smith of Princ- eton, and Democrat Joyce Hartley of Princeton have registered. The Sheriff's election will see Democrat David Knowles of Owensville face Republican Bruce Vanoven of Princeton. For the County Commis- sioner, Nick Burns, a Repub- lican, faces Democrat Tim Hughes, both of Princeton. County Council Dist. 2 will see Democratic incumbent Dan Beard face Republican Hannah Whitehead, both of Princeton. For Center Township Trustee, Democrat Allan Tooley will face Republican Chris McDonald, both of Francisco. In the White River Town- ship Trustee race, Republi- can Chad Ellis of Hazleton and Democrat Donald "Don" Heurings sell local newspapers to Heartland Media Group On September 1, John and Andy Heuring have sold the ownership of the South Gibson Star-Times and The Press-Dispatch to Don L. Hurd of Heartland Media Group. Hurd is president and owner of 20 other newspapers in Indiana. Accord- ing to Hurd, he is ver y protective of his newspapers and he considers them as his babies. Hurd operates newspapers in Ben- ton, White, Lake, Wabash, Hunting- ton, Miami, Grant, LaGrange and Pulaski counties. Each publication is dedicated to providing solid local news to its readers each and ever y week. Hurd's publications reach more than 250,000 readers each week. "We are ver y happy and excited to have purchased the Star-Times and The Press-Dispatch," said Hurd, founder and CEO of Heartland Me- dia Group. "The Heuring family has done an outstanding job of providing local news to Pike and Gibson Coun- ties. Heartland Media Group will continue to provide hyper-local news to our subscribers." "My only job since graduation college has been to cover news and sports in Pike and Gibson Coun- ties. Over the last 40 years I think I have taken a picture or covered a news stor y on nearly ever y road and neighborhood in Pike County," said Andy Heuring, co-publisher and ed- itor. He added, "During my time of cov- ering people and happenings in Pike since 1984 and Gibson County since 1991, I have been privileged to work with and meet many great people and several elite athletes along the way and made lots of lasting relation- ships." "Andy and I are the fourth gen- eration of Heurings to operate The Press-Dispatch, which was started by our great-grandfather, A. J. Heuring in 1898 in Winslow," said John Heu- ring, co-publisher and advertising manager. "I began full-time at the publica- tion in May 1978, and have been in- volved ever since. The newspapers are a part of who we are and they have been our life's work. We believe Don and his family of newspapers will be a great fit here and he will continue to be an asset to our com- munities." "We have some big shoes to fill. The Heurings did a wonderful job covering Pike and Gibson Counties, said Hurd. It's our mission to provide our readers with information they can use in their daily lives and help make them be better citizens." "We plan to be ver y engaged in the com- munity. To me it's important that a local newspaper be a big part of the community," stated Hurd. Hurd proudly boasts, "All of our newspapers are hyper-local. We will be featuring stories about the people We look forward to working with residents of Pike and Gibson Counties to provide an all-local community newspaper. We want our readers to be proud of their hometown newspaper." - Don L. Hurd Don Hurd, president of Heartland Communications, stands with Star-Times co-publishers Andy (l) and John (r) Heuring of Pike County Publishing Corp. The brothers, who have been involved with publshing for more than 40 years, recently sold the South Gibson Star-Times and The Press-Dispatch in Petersburg, to Heartland on Aug. 31. See LOCAL on page 2 See FALL on page 2 See CHAMBER on page 2 Stodghill Funeral home family Michael, Scott, Julie and Andrea Stodghill celebrated 50 years in business Saturday. The family has passed down the business through three generations. Maple Hill Cemeter y volunteers are one of three non-profits nominated for Non-Profit of the Year through Gibson County Chamber of Commerce. The volunteers keep the grounds clean for ceremonies like the Memorial Day event above. See STODGHILL on page 2 SPORTS B1 Titans overwhelm Hatchets for 57-20 win