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Smithville celebrates the Everyday Heroes who are changing lives for the better. As a community partner, we thank you for bringing light and hope to where we live and work.
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EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 3
Inside This Section... Patty Andrews.........................................................................9 Tammy Elkins.........................................................................22 Joy Emmons...........................................................................14 Sara Frommer.......................................................................20 Lynne Gilliatt......................................................................... 24 Susan, Robert & Riana Gilliland.........................................23 Elaine Hartman........................................................................7 Suzan Hazel..............................................................................4 Rebecca Hendrickson..........................................................13 Dave Huss................................................................................11 Gene Keith................................................................................5 Noma Maier...........................................................................15 Jo Ann Main............................................................................21 Barbara Marks.........................................................................7 MaryAnn Martin....................................................................19 Megan Parmenter................................................................. 17 Connie Peppler......................................................................10 Sawyer Scheid.........................................................................8 Pat Smith................................................................................16 Phyllis Solnzeff.......................................................................18 Nancy Stockwell...................................................................12
Heroes don’t have to wear a cape or have a super power. They don’t have to dominate a sport or stand on a stage or save lives. Many heroes touch others with kind gestures, supporting words and deeds, or through modeling admirable behaviors. They come in many shapes and sizes and do what they do because they care about other people more than themselves. They care about making their communities better places to live. They care about the greater good. This is the fifth year The Herald-Times has asked readers to nominate Everyday Heroes, and again this year readers responded with dozens of stories about men, women, children and organizations they believe should be considered community heroes. A panel of judges went through the entire list of nominees, heroes all, as part of the difficult process of selecting 21 to be featured with stories and photographs in this section. The 2017 Everyday Heroes represent a selfless and thoughtful group of people who have inspired others to want to introduce them to a greater audience. The people featured by-and-large shy away from the spotlight. They don’t do what they do for recognition. They deserve to be celebrated. We are proud to introduce them to you today and thank them for everything they do for others. Bob Zaltsberg Editor
4 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
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Suzan Hazel Suzan Hazel.
Sometimes, a person lands in your life at just the right time. Seven years ago, when Katie Cassidy was 23, her mother died suddenly. “It was mid-August,” she recalled. Cassidy always had lived with her mom, and the loss was hard on her. She didn’t know what to do, where to turn. “I made arrangements over her casket with my best friend to move out for the first time.” Two months later, she broke the orbital bone in her face in a car accident, and she wore an eyepatch for six months while the injury healed. She was depressed and drinking way too much to deal with her physical and emotional pain. “In that year, that I call the worst year of my life, Suzan stepped in.” That would be Suzan Hazel, everyday hero. A woman who took the time to comfort a coworker and try to ease her way through a difficult time The two crossed paths at work.
“Me and her met when we worked together,” Cassidy wrote in her letter nominating Hazel. “I was extremely scared. And almost every night, mostly Friday nights, we would stay after work to talk. Sometimes we would be out until 1:30 a.m. talking in the parking lot of where we worked.” Most people want to get home after a long shift. Hazel stayed behind, time after time. Cassidy is grateful. “She helped me through a great depression and heavy drinking. I don’t know where I’d be if my hero wasn’t there for me. I love her dearly. “And the thing is … I’m not the only one she’s helped and mentored.” Cassidy put this among the things she knows to be true: There are people who give up one of this life’s most valuable commodities — time — to help out somebody else, expecting nothing in return. They just show up.
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 5
‘Everybody’s a neighbor. That’s the way it ought to be.’ By Abby Tonsing 812-331-4245 | atonsing@heraldt.com Gene Keith mows seven, maybe eight, yards a week. And that’s down from the dozen or so he used to mow each week before his wife’s health worsened. “That’s only a couple day’s work, is all,” the 74-year-old says. “It ain’t no big deal. She probably made it sound worse than what it was,” Keith says with a laugh. He’s referring to the Everyday Hero nomination letter his stepdaughter Tamra Mullins wrote about him. She writes: “He mows lawns for people and does odd jobs to help people in the community and most jobs are done for free just to help out. Taking out the trash or picking up limbs for a neighbor means so much to them to know someone cares.” For Keith, mowing is just something he likes to do. And he’s just being a neighbor. “I’m no better than the person next door,” he says, shrugging off the title of Everyday Hero. “Just, everybody’s a neighbor. That’s the way it ought to be.” Keith has helped raise six children and scores of grandkids and great-grandkids. He’s a U.S. Army veteran who served 30 months in Vietnam and a year in Thailand. The first time he retired, it was from his job as a construction laborer. Then he ran a lawn maintenance
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Gene Keith
Gene Keith and his 1962 Wheel Horse lawn mower he inherited from his uncle.
business with his brother-in-law for a few years. Now, he uses that equipment — the pickup truck and trailer, the riding mower and two push mowers — to lend a hand to his neighbors in Shady Acres, off Cory Lane. His favorite piece of equipment? His Hustler zero-turn mower with a 52-inch deck. He’s mowed for his neighbor across the street, who had cancer and is now in remission. He mows for the guy down the way with a bad back. He helps people outside of Shady Acres, too. Older folks who just can’t handle the physical work anymore, he says. He mows lawns, picks up and hauls away fallen limbs, takes out the trash, makes repairs. Whatever he can do to lend a hand, out of the goodness of his heart. “They would, too, if they were able to do it. That’s the way they are. Friendly, you know, real nice people. To be honest with you, all these neighbors, they’re neighbors. Everybody helps everybody. It’s everybody in this whole community,” he insists. “You know, I always try to be a neighbor, which I think everybody should.” Mullins wants her stepdad to know how much his hard work and caring heart mean to the people he helps: “He does so much for other people all the time. I just want him to know how much people really do appreciate that.”
6 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
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EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 7
Marks, Hartman help keep Teachers Warehouse humming By Lauren Bavis 812-331-4376 | lbavis@heraldt.com Not all heroes wear capes. Some maintain spreadsheets. There are seven rooms in Teachers Warehouse filled with books, pens and pencils, craft supplies, classroom decorations and anything else an educator might need to supply their students with during the school day. Every notebook, ball of yarn and ream of paper must be accounted for. It isn’t a glamorous job, but it’s one of the nonprofit’s most important. “Hey, Barb?” Teachers Warehouse volunteer Erin Fleser says to the woman teaching her how to enter data into the organization’s inventory spreadsheet. “You’re my hero.” Barb Marks scoffs at Fleser’s teasing. Marks is embarrassed that she’s being called a hero just for doing her part to give back to the community. But without her and fellow Teachers Warehouse volunteer Elaine Hartman, everything from facilitating teacher shopping trips to completing mandatory government paperwork would be close to impossible. “They’re definitely not the kind of people who need or want to be recognized,” Fleser said. “But they’re amazing human beings.” In 2017 alone, teachers from Monroe, Brown, Greene, Lawrence and Owen counties have made more than 700 shopping trips to
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Barbara Marks & Elaine Hartman Elaine Hartman, left, and Barb Marks volunteer at the Teachers Warehouse.
Teachers Warehouse to stock their classrooms with free school supplies. Before Marks and Hartman started volunteering in 2010, Teachers Warehouse haphazardly kept track of the items that came in and out of the rooms the nonprofit rents from the Monroe County Community School Corp. in a building on North Fairview Street. Marks, who worked in industry rather than education before retiring, organized the inventory spreadsheet at Teachers Warehouse into the system it is today and teaches her fellow volunteers how to label and sort supplies. “If somebody asks me where something is, I can tell them where it should be,” Marks joked. “I try to figure out how the things that come in fall in the limited nomenclature we have in the database.” Hartman manages the inventory spreadsheet and tracks donations to the nonprofit. She also coordinates teacher correspondence with Teachers Warehouse donors. While school supplies are free for teachers to bring back to their classes, Teachers Warehouse asks shoppers and their students to write thank-you notes to those who donate money and school supplies. “Our donors love to get letters from the kids,” Hartman said. “It’s nice to get it from the teacher, but it just melts your heart when it’s the kids.” A fleet of thank-you notes to the Teachers Warehouse volunteers have been folded into paper airplanes and hang from the ceiling. In a town like Bloomington, filled with volunteers, Marks and Hartman see their efforts as a community standard. “We can’t do it without other volunteers helping us,” Marks said. “Volunteers don’t do it for the recognition. That’s the last thing we want.”
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11-year-old gives back to community By Jenny Porter Tilley 812-331-4377 | jtilley@heraldt.com It’s not unusual for an 11-year-old boy’s hobbies to include tae kwon do and bugs. But Sawyer Scheid spends much of his time in less-predictable ways. On Sept. 30, he was up before 6 a.m. to volunteer during Hoosiers Outrun Cancer. Last year, during the holidays, he helped kids make snow globes and other Christmas gifts to give to their families, and he rang a bell for the Salvation Army. He’s collected garbage and sold popcorn for charity with his 4-H group. As a Boy Scout, he worked with the American Legion to place flags on veterans’ graves at Rose Hill Cemetery. He’s helped the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office put together packages for children in emergency situations, and has worked on the grounds at the department’s substation. He’s helped set up cots, blankets, pillows and food for the Interfaith Winter Shelter. The list goes on. During 2016, Sawyer completed more than 40 hours of community service — a number he hopes to beat this year. Sawyer doesn’t think it’s fair for adults to have to do all the work to make their community better. “Kids can make a difference,” he said. One of his favorite projects was putting together his own food drive, which involved writing letters to his neighbors and collecting bags of food for the Smithville Food Pantry. He ended up gathering
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Sawyer Scheid Sawyer Scheid, 11, has helped collect food for the Smithville Food Pantry.
more than 144 pounds of nonperishable items. Through his work collecting food, he met Peggy Everett, who founded the Smithville Food Pantry with her husband. Sawyer said Everett is one of the people who has inspired his community service, along with Brenda and Carey Ogborn of the Interfaith Winter Shelter; Krissy Publow, his teacher at Lakeview Elementary School; his parents, Christy and Eric Scheid; and his grandparents, Ted and Kay Leach. His mother helps find volunteer opportunities for him, which can be challenging because sometimes, organizations prefer adult volunteers. “We’re very appreciative of anyone willing to take in an elementary-aged child as a volunteer,” she said, and she’s found that most organizations are impressed with Sawyer’s enthusiasm. She and Sawyer hope his involvement in these groups will help agencies trust children more and provide additional opportunities for young volunteers. Sawyer’s schedule might seem overwhelming — he’s recently started playing the viola on top of his other activities — but he doesn’t feel that way. Helping out makes him happy. “I don’t think of myself as a hero. I’m just a kid that wants to change my community.” Sawyer hopes to become an entomologist, and he’s already gotten a good start. Much to his mother’s dismay, he owns a few Madagascar hissing cockroaches, among other insects, and he enjoys helping his parents care for the bees on their property.
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 9
Winter shelter volunteer: ‘It’s an expression of my faith’ By Rod Spaw 812-331-4338 | rspaw@heraldt.com Patty Andrews credits her parents with showing her how to serve others. Her father — whom she described as “very kind and generous” — ran a grocery store in Brazil, Indiana, which just happened to be situated next to a tavern. As he closed up the store in the evening, he sometimes would find someone outside the bar who had had too much to drink. Andrews said her father would call a cab and make sure the person got home. He also would see to it that excess produce from the home garden plot made its way to the less fortunate in the community. Her mother, a third-grade Sunday school teacher for 40 years, always was making food for other people, Andrews recalled. “There wasn’t a lot of talk about ‘you should be doing this.’ I just saw them doing it. ... I’m sure it was an expression of their faith. It’s an expression of my faith.” The recipients of Andrews’ faith are the men and women she has met at the Shalom Community Center and the Interfaith Winter Shelter. Andrews began volunteering at Shalom in 2002 after retiring as a professor in the department of communication and culture at Indiana University. She started in the kitchen, then later was asked to help Shalom’s clients develop resumes they could use to seek employment. She has served on the Shalom board, and now, once a month, she is among a group of women from First United Methodist Church who prepare a hot breakfast for Shalom clients.
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Patty Andrews Patty Andrews.
In 2009, when discussions began about organizing a shelter for the homeless population of Bloomington during winter months, Andrews served on a task force that led to the creation of the Interfaith Winter Shelter. The shelter relies on volunteers and resources of about 25 local faith communities, as well as businesses and social service organizations. One of the five rotating shelter sites is First United Methodist Church, where Andrews makes sure that everything is ready each week for the people who will sleep at the shelter, and for shelter volunteers, when they arrive. Daniel Watts, past president of the Interfaith Winter Shelter board, called Andrews a “sterling example” of what it takes to make the shelter successful. She is one of those who will take the hard jobs, the ones it is difficult to get others to do, he said, all while demonstrating “a great level of caring for and about the guests who come to the shelter.” Andrews said she has gotten more from her service than she has given. “I’ve met the most amazing people,” she said. “I would sometimes be the last one in the kitchen, and I would come out and talk to a guest or two who couldn’t get to sleep. They are as unique as you and I are.” There are a lot of moving parts to the Interfaith Winter Shelter, and Andrews said she and other longtime volunteers sometimes wonder how they manage to pull things together year after year. “How do we keep on doing this? We just know we’re going to do it, and so far, we have.”
10 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
‘Miss Connie’ a mainstay of winter homeless shelter By Carol Kugler 812-331-4359 | ckugler@heraldt.com Don’t let Connie Peppler’s small stature and gray hair fool you: She’s tough, with a heart for helping others, especially the homeless. “Every morning when I wake up, I thank God for a safe place to sleep,” she said. A registered nurse and an ordained minister in the Episcopal church, Peppler can often be found at Trinity Episcopal Church or Shalom Community Center, helping the less fortunate. She’s site director for the Interfaith Winter Shelter on Wednesdays at Trinity Episcopal and helps with the shelter in myriad ways. “I’ve been involved in the shelter since it started,” she said recently while sitting in her church office. She was surrounded by bags full of socks, food and other supplies that will be used for this year’s winter shelter when it opens Nov. 1. Peppler recalls it was Trinity and its members who ran the Interfaith Winter Shelter the first year, in 2009, when there were about 40 men a night using the shelter. Since then, other churches have helped, supplying shelter, meals and volunteers — and the “guests,” as Peppler calls those who use the shelter, are now both men and women. “On our busiest night last winter, we had 67,” she said. Another church site recorded a high of 70. Peppler said many of the first-year “regulars” have died, moved away or found housing. In 2014, Peppler said, they started seeing
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Connie Peppler Connie Peppler at Trinity Episcopal Church.
“new, younger faces. We only have a very few of the initial group that still come.” Peppler herself took a year off, but returned to continue scheduling, helping with meals, tending to the injured and often staying through the night on Wednesdays when the guests bed down at Trinity. “I’m the one who oversees the operation here,” she said, adding that she also helps train volunteers. The shelter checks in the guests at 9 p.m. They can then get something to eat, with everyone in bed by 10:30 p.m. The guests are up at 6 a.m., when they can pack up their belongings, get coffee and a snack and be out the doors by 7 a.m. “We give them a safe place to sleep,” Peppler said. She is the enforcer at Trinity, making sure people do not quarrel or fight inside the church. She enforces the rules: No fighting, no drugs or alcohol and no weapons. “They call me Miss Connie. I take that as a label of respect and honor.” In addition to the winter shelter, Peppler helps with Trinity’s Sunday afternoon meal that is served to whoever comes through the doors of the Great Hall. It’s another way to help the less fortunate, and Peppler says Trinity is in the “ideal location” to help. Besides having a calling to become a minister, Peppler seems called to help the less fortunate. “I really care about these people, and I really enjoy talking to them,” she said. “I have learned to stand in awe of the human spirit. A lot of them have really tried, and things keep pushing them down and they keep on trying.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 11
‘If they’re not having fun, I’m not having fun’: Coach dedicated to giving kids a love of baseball By Lauren Bavis 812-331-4376 | lbavis@heraldt.com A young man tapped Dave Huss on the shoulder while he was watching a Bloomington Junior League Baseball game. The young man asked if Huss remembered him. The young man had recently graduated college and was visiting Bloomington, where he had lived for some of his childhood. The young man told Huss that after falling in love with baseball as a kid, he continued playing as a catcher, eventually making his way to the collegiate level. He was able to attend school through a baseball scholarship. Baseball had changed his life for the better, and it started with the coach who taught him the basics when he was 9 years old. For more than 33 years, the coach who has been instilling a love of baseball in Bloomington’s 9- and 10-year-olds had been Dave Huss. “I’ve always said if they’re not having fun, I’m not having fun,” Huss said. “I love baseball, and I want these kids to love baseball, too.” Huss has been coaching the 9- and 10-year-old team in Bloomington’s Junior League Baseball Association for 33 years, and has been on the BJLBA board of directors for 30 years. Growing up in La Porte, Huss watched Chicago Cubs games every day and was the assistant coach of his brother’s high school team.
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Dave Huss
Dave Huss.
“When my playing days were done, I didn’t want to quit,” Huss said. So as a 19-year-old Indiana University freshman new to Bloomington, he started coaching the junior league’s 9- to 10-year-old team. He’s been doing it ever since. “At that age, that’s when kids start pitching,” Huss said. “So there’s a lot of learning there.” Learning, improving and having fun are how Huss scores his players’ performance. They don’t even talk about wins and losses until the last few games of the season. Last year, Huss’ team won the Bloomington Junior League Baseball Championship, said parent Shelly Scott-Harmon. The year before that, she admits, the team was terrible. “Dave’s behavior was the same,” said Scott-Harmon, who nominated Huss as an Everyday Hero. “He really knows how to approach kids and give them constructive criticism without making them feel bad about themselves.” Scott-Harmon’s 10-year-old son, Cam, also was part of the league’s traveling team after the regular season finished. Huss, a full-time UPS driver, also volunteered to drive the higher-performing players to tournaments around the area. “This is a coach who was picking kids up at 6 o’clock on Saturday morning because their moms had other kids to take other places,” Scott-Harmon said. “I have just been absolutely floored by his dedication.”
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Nancy Stockwell
By Michael Reschke 812-331-4370 | mreschke@heraldt.com Nancy Stockwell retired after more than 40 years of teaching in 2011, but she couldn’t stay away. “After retiring, it’s always hard to figure out what you’re going to do with your life,” she said. “I was working, raising four sons, but my first love was teaching.” Stockwell spent two decades teaching at Marlin Elementary School and then another 21 years at Binford Elementary. But she never really left Binford. For the past six years, she’s volunteered at the school’s library, checking books in and out, making bookmarks, decorating bulletin boards and whatever else librarian Malinda Hamilton needs. “Even though I’m retired, I remember how crazy busy you are when you’re working,” she said. “If I can help out friends, it’s rewarding.” Stockwell also has been involved with the Monroe County Public Library, serving on the Friends of the Library board. It was through this association that she started teaching English. Since 1977, the public library has offered an adult literacy program called Volunteers In Tutoring Adult Learners. Hearing about this program, members of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center contacted the library about getting help for English
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Career teacher found way to continue ‘first love’ in retirement Nancy Stockwell.
language learners. Stockwell had only taught English grammar to students who already knew the language, but she volunteered anyway. It turned out to be a rewarding and inspiring experience. The seven people Stockwell and two other volunteers worked with had a basic understanding of English, but they wanted to improve in specific areas. Learning when phrases shouldn’t be taken literally was something that took time. “Idioms are one of the most difficult things for non-English people to grasp,” Stockwell said, “because when you say, ‘My mom blew her top,’ that’s not what that means.” Another unit focused on money and adding up different U.S. coins. To help with labels at the grocery store, Stockwell and the other volunteers did a food sharing exercise. They brought in different products to help the students distinguish between foods with similar names, such as ice cream, whipping cream and cream cheese. However Stockwell spends the rest of her retirement, it’s likely to involve teaching in some way. “I think you just get so much joy when you help somebody else understand or know something they didn’t know before,” she said.
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 13
Family rock is everyone’s go-to person By Sarah Morin Clark 812-331-4363 | smorin@heraldt.com Painted on the living room wall in black cursive are words: Faith. Hope. Love. The display is more than decoration for Rebecca Hendrickson. The words serve as a bedrock for the Bloomington woman, who is the bedrock for her family and friends. “My grandmother was our family rock,” Hendrickson said. “Family foundation was instilled in me at a young age. I also have to say it’s God’s grace. I lean on God a lot.” Those around Hendrickson lean on her — a lot. Her mothering extends well beyond her two grown daughters, Ashley and Amanda. She is raising two teens, the oldest children of a cousin who struggles with addiction. The children have been with Hendrickson since they were toddlers. In fact, Hendrickson also helped raise their mother. “She got me through some of the hardest times of my life. She is everyone in the family’s go-to person for help; yet, no one really gives back to her, but she keeps on giving selflessly,” writes Nicole Crawford, who nominated Hendrickson. “I don’t know where I would have ended up in life or where my children would be without her. She keeps families together.”
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Rebecca Hendrickson Rebecca Hendrickson, center, with her “children.” Rebecca helped raise Nicole Crawford, back center, and has been helping raise Crawford’s three children, Keara Wickline, 13, left, Gavin Butcher, 14, right, and Nick Collins, 6, while Crawford gets back on her feet.
When told about the nomination, Hendrickson said it was nice to be recognized, but she is not a fan of bright lights and would rather work behind the scenes. She agreed with the assessment that she is everyone’s go-to person. “I’ve been a caregiver my entire life, I think,” she said. “I do the things put on my heart.” Hendrickson brings meals and gives rides to her neighbors. She’s an active member of Smithville Christian Church, helping in the nursery and with vacation Bible school. She prepares food baskets at Thanksgiving time. Her open heart, open house approach also applies to animals. She is fostering two cats, Jackson and Garfield, while her niece, the cats’ owner, is home with a newborn. The cats were lounging, one on a cat tower and one on a window sill, on a recent morning visit with Hendrickson. In her home, a Children’s Bible rests on the same shelf with several softback editions of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” on the TV stand. When asked who takes care of Hendrickson, who faces her own health issues, she didn’t have an answer at the ready. Her daughter Ashley did — from the other room. “It’s hard for her to ask for help,” she said. “She’s the caretaker.”
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Joy Emmons does more than pray for a troubled world By Laura Lane 812-331-4362 | llane@heraldt.com She’s that auburn-haired woman with the signature voice behind the cash register counter at Bloomington’s Cracker Barrel. She’s that woman there in the hospital nursery, soothing a fussy newborn suffering from opioid withdrawal. She’s that woman faithfully in the pew on Sundays at Ellettsville Christian Church, praying for a better tomorrow. Joy Emmons not only prays for change in a troubled world, she takes steps to bring it about. “She has so much energy, and is so hardworking, the kind of person that would help anyone, give you anything you needed — all of her money if you didn’t have any,” said Kymberly Arthur, who nominated Emmons as a hero of the everyday variety. “She’s, well, just not the kind of person you see much anymore.” Emmons worked three decades for the Monroe County Court system, retiring in 2010, but continued part time for the county three more years. She’s 67 now, and isn’t much for sitting at home — unless her bad back acts up and grounds her for a day or two. “My life is all about sharing God’s love. I go where I can do some good, anywhere I can go, if I am able. I tell people all the time, ‘Get out and do something to help somebody else.’ That’s the best way
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Joy Emmons Joy Emmons.
to face all of the bad stuff that goes on.” Emmons figures she is this way because of her father. She grew up poor in a bad part of Cincinnati, where layers of hardships made life difficult for everyone. She remembers how her dad — “he dropped dead at 54, just like that” — took in stray people and animals that had no place to go. Even when his own family was struggling to get by. “He had been an Army cook, and would make these big meals to serve however many there were,” Emmons recalled. “We were dirt poor, but you never knew who would be sleeping on our floor. He provided a place, even to kids that needed somewhere to stay. And he drug every lost critter home.” At IU Health-Bloomington Hospital, Emmons started off volunteering at the reception desk, which didn’t suit her. But cuddling babies — now there’s a job Emmons is good at. She volunteers in the nursery two days a month, and is pretty sure her time there matters. Emmons is a calming influence, stroking the babies and speaking to them in a kind whisper, smiling into their eyes. “I talk them up, I say, ‘You may be having a hard time now, but you will grow up to be big and strong, and everything will be OK.’ I had this little 2-pound baby one day, and his hands and feet were so big, I told him I could tell by that he would grow up to be a strong man.” Sometimes, she sings to them. “I am a terrible singer, so I do it quietly,” she said. “And I always pray for them.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 15
Hoosier to Hoosier sale logistics coordinator ‘keeps the train rolling’ By Jonathan Streetman 812-331-4353 | jstreetman@heraldt.com Each year, the Hoosier to Hoosier Community Sale resells nearly 60 tons of furniture, clothes and other items pulled from student dorms at the end of the school year to be reused or re-gifted instead of thrown in a landfill. While a team of about a dozen people organize the annual event, with the help of volunteers, one woman is in charge of making sure everything is where it’s supposed to be — Noma Maier, H2H’s logistics coordinator for the past three years. In her nomination letter, H2H volunteer Marjorie Hershey wrote that Maier not only organized the sale space at The Warehouse, but also made additional pickups over the summer, constructed sale racks and display tables, took stuff home in the evenings to clean and has been a “wonderfully calm, encouraging and effective leader of the sale, which benefits local nonprofits, keeps tons of usable stuff out of the landfill and gives Bloomington residents a chance to buy high quality stuff at incredibly cheap prices.” “It would be difficult to understand the incredible scope of the work that Noma does,” Hershey said. “She’s the one that figures out where everything goes and keeps the train rolling from April through the sale at the end of August.” Maier, the sustainable IT services project manager at Indiana University, said she was very surprised when she learned she’d been nominated for the Everyday Hero award.
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Noma Maier Noma Maier.
“Anything that calls attention to the good of Hoosier to Hoosier, I’m really pleased to be a part of,” she said, adding that any one of the 12 or so major organizers could have been nominated for the award. “This should be a group award. I truly believe that.” Maier said organizing the sale is a year-round effort. During the three months leading up to the sale, there’s work to be done every night. “I always say that what I do for the sale is about one quarter part of my actual job responsibilities with the university, and about three quarters volunteer commitment,” Maier said. “I feel kind of guilty accepting an award for something I do for my job.” Hershey, however, said Maier goes above and beyond every step of the way and is more than deserving of the recognition she’s receiving. “I think that anybody who is capable of organizing a program like that successfully really deserves the community’s thanks,” Hershey said. “The sale itself is a remarkable contribution to the Bloomington community. It takes steady, committed leadership to make it happen, and I think that makes Noma a real role model for others looking to make a difference, too.” For her part, Maier said the work continues to make next year’s sale run a bit smoother. And she’s looking forward to making that happen with a strong team around her. “Nothing gives me more satisfaction than working with good people for a great cause,” Maier said. “The part I do isn’t possible if there aren’t people to carry it out.”
16 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
Meadowood resident make sure no one’s birthday is forgotten By Ernest Rollins 812-331-4357 | erollins@heraldt.com No one’s birthday should be forgotten. At least, that’s what Bloomington resident Pat Smith thinks. Some birthdays could go by uncelebrated or unnoticed for residents of Meadowood Retirement Community. Once Smith moved to Meadowood two years ago, she has used her calligraphy skills to make sure that didn’t happen. She brings a sliver of birthday bliss to the retirement community by designing, lettering and delivering personalized cards. Smith receives a list of those celebrating birthdays every month from Meadowood staff. There can be between 12 and 20 birthdays a month. It can be a challenge to come up with a unique design and message for each card, she said. Smith typically leaves the cards she makes in the recipients’ mailboxes. Every once in a while, an appreciative word gets back to her. There was one resident who thanked her that Smith said she will always remember. “He said, ‘Thank you for the birthday card. It was the only one I got.’”
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Pat Smith
Pat Smith.
Smith said she grew up watching her father’s spontaneous and kind gestures toward others; she felt inspired to do the same. As a little girl growing up just north of Boston, she recalled that her family was always big on birthdays. Smith has continued this tradition after starting her own family and moving to Bloomington with her husband, Fred. As a business teacher in Massachusetts, she was required to take a course in Old English lettering and embossing because those teachers designed the high school diplomas. She later expanded her lettering skills by becoming proficient in five more calligraphy styles. In her career, Smith brought her calligraphy and business knowledge to local students as a teacher in the Monroe County Community School Corp. Smith spent two years at Bloomington High School North and 14 years at Bloomington High School South as a business teacher. Part of her curriculum featured calligraphy. That past training and experience, Smith said, has served her well when it comes to designing cards for Meadowood residents. And now, she’s becoming more proficient in using a computer for background graphics. “I do it because I want them to be happy,” Smith said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 17
Grandmother, granddaughter each other’s ‘most special person’ By Jonathan Streetman 812-331-4353 | jstreetman@heraldt.com Jo Jarrett was reading the newspaper one recent morning from her room in Stonecroft Health Campus when she saw an ad calling for nominations of Everyday Heroes. “I saw that and I said ‘That’s Megan,’” Jarrett recalled, smiling to herself. ‘Megan’ is Megan Parmenter, a language arts interventionist in her third year at Bloomington High School South and Jarrett’s granddaughter. “When I broke my hip and had to move into assisted living, Megan researched and visited all of the various facilities and helped pick out the right one,” Jarrett wrote in her nomination letter. That’s just the beginning of what she does regularly for her grandmother, Jarrett says, and why she’s worthy of being named an Everyday Hero. Jarrett said Parmenter visits her at least four times a week, and often brings by Jarrett’s dog, Wendy, a large collie that Parmenter adopted when no one else could give her a home. She also bakes banana muffins and cookies that she shares with all the residents at Stonecroft and organizes a weekly game of bingo in which National Honor Society students visit with residents and play with them. Even the little things, like resupplying Jarrett with her favorite lipstick, Parmenter makes sure to take care of.
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Megan Parmenter
Megan Parmenter with her grandmother Jo Jarret, and her dog, Wendy.
“All the residents think she’s the best baker in the world,” Jarrett said. “She’s always helping people, helping me. She’s so kind. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Parmenter said she had no idea the nomination was coming, and was overjoyed when she learned who it came from. Her mother and Jarrett’s daughter, Nancy Parmenter, helped fill out the nomination. “Not very many people are as fortunate to have grandparents like mine, and have the relationship that we do,” Parmenter said. “My grandmother is the most special person in my life. So to have the nomination come from her means more than it would had it come from anyone else.” Parmenter said helping out her grandmother, while finding time for her myriad of commitments, has never once felt like a burden. “I want to do all that for her and go see her. I get as much from it as she does,” Parmenter said. “I think you just make time for the things that you see as a priority. My work and my family and the things that I commit to — I try not to commit to things that I can’t give 110 percent to.” Out of all the things that Parmenter regularly does for her grandmother, Jarrett said, it’s easy to pick the most meaningful. “I just love when she visits, and we can sit and talk for an hour,” Jarrett said. “That means a lot to me.”
18 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
A volunteer with music in her veins By Kurt Christian 812-331-4350 | kchristian@heraldt.com Phyllis Solnzeff finds a way. She found a way to give back by playing her tenor saxophone in the Bloomington Community Band. She found a way to keep giving to the Red Cross when the iron levels in her blood “went wacky.” And she’ll continue to find a way to improve herself as she helps others. Though she’s given the same number of hours each day as anyone else, Solnzeff makes them work harder by spending her “me” time helping others. “I saw a picture of the band members in the paper 38 years ago, and that was the first I heard of it, so I made arrangements to go and play, and I’ve been there ever since,” Solnzeff said. In love with music since the fourth grade, Solnzeff joined the Bloomington Community Band to eventually become the group’s secretary and treasurer for two decades. She has continued that devotion by prepping the group’s performance areas before each show and actively recruiting new band members at events such as the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts and the city’s Fourth of July parade. Solnzeff was given the band’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009 for her volunteerism, donations and good wishes. “Two of the most important places we play are Bell Trace and
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Phyllis Solnzeff
Red Cross volunteer Phyllis Solnzeff assists blood donors.
Redbud Hills (retirement communities),” Solnzeff said. “There are some people that can’t get out to attend our other functions, and this brings the music to them.” She counts herself lucky that, at 66 years old, she’s able to remain active in her own retirement. Since she left her job at the GE Appliances plant in 2005, Solnzeff has gone from getting cookies and orange juice to dishing out the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center’s refreshments. In addition to providing blood donors with nourishment, she registers new donors and volunteers at local blood drives. Sometimes people need more than a snack, so Solnzeff and a group of parishioners from Crossroads United Methodist Church join together to make pillows in the shape of animals for hospitalized children and heart-shaped pillows for chemotherapy patients. A part of the Bloomington community since she moved here in 1967 from the small farming community of Carlisle, Solnzeff said she likes to give back because she feels she’s always been fortunate; any time she’s needed a job, she’s had one, from high school through retirement. “I always wondered how I had time to work,” Solnzeff said. “Now, I understand. I still have time for myself. I enjoy reading, and I go to watch my great-niece and nephew play softball and soccer. There’s always time.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 19
‘Tireless’ supporter of breast-feeding has helped numerous families By Rod Spaw 812-331-4338 | rspaw@heraldt.com MaryAnn Martin was working in the Indiana University biology department after receiving her doctorate from Ohio State when the birth of her first child propelled her into another field of endeavor for the next dozen years. The new mother began attending local meetings of La Leche League, a breast-feeding support organization. Within two years, she was asked if she wanted to teach classes on the topic through Bloomington Area Birth Services, a nonprofit agency that closed in 2015. Eventually, Martin would become a La Leche League leader and an international board certified lactation consultant, as well as cofounding Flourish Inc., which sponsors free, drop-in breast-feeding clinics each month under the name Milk Matters. The letter nominating her as an Everyday Hero cited her “tireless support” of families in the community, crediting Martin with helping to “shape the landscape of breast-feeding support in Bloomington.” In 12 years as a La Leche League leader, Martin has counseled more than 1,500 families, taken nearly 800 phone calls, led more than 200 meetings and volunteered more than 1,200 hours. When asked about those numbers, Martin laughed. “It’s kind of my passion,” she said. “I really enjoy meeting new
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
MaryAnn Martin
MaryAnn Martin photographed at the Banneker Center.
families. With my experience, I know a lot about what mothers and families go through.” Martin has been involved long enough to chart some of the changes in support for breast-feeding mothers. She said the medical community has come a long way. Doctors and hospitals are more knowledgeable and supportive now, and she said the Affordable Care Act has made a difference to families in need of services. But she said mothers still are not getting all the help they need. She would like to see more support for breast-feeding from employers, and implementation of more paid parental leave as a national policy. Martin credited her training as a cell biologist with sparking her interest in breast-feeding, but her inspiration was her three children, a boy and two girls, who now are age 17, 14 and 10. It was her children who also drove her other pastime, coaching youth sports. Martin has coached recreational youth soccer, hockey and baseball as her children have grown up in Bloomington. “I enjoy seeing kids who are new to sports gain confidence and feel they can play by the end of the season,” she said. Martin returned to her roots as a scientist three years ago, when she went back to IU as a research associate in the biology department. “I’m back working with fruit flies and the bacteria that infest them,” she said.
20 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
Volunteer found perfect job that allowed her to serve By Mary Shown 812-331-4352 | mshown@heraldt.com Sara Frommer has been volunteering since she “was old enough to do anything useful,” she said. So when the Interfaith Winter Shelter was looking for help, Frommer figured her physical limitations would keep her from volunteering there. “I would’ve gotten involved from the beginning, but I can’t walk without holding onto something,” the 79-year-old said while gripping her walker. “Most of the jobs at the shelter, you have to walk around, and I didn’t see that there was any job for me.” One day, First United Church minister Jack Skiles came to Frommer with a list of reasons he was going to use to persuade her to step in as a volunteer coordinator for the shelter. “He said, ‘You know, we need a new volunteer coordinator, and you’re organized and you know people,’” Frommer recalled. “And I said, ‘Yes, I would like to,’ and he had three arguments going, and I already said I would do it,” she said. “I was delighted that there was a job that I could do. I help out most with sitting at my computer at home.” Now in her sixth year, Frommer works with a computer program that fills the roster with volunteers for Monday nights. She also
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Sara Frommer
Sara Frommer.
composes weekly emails asking volunteers if any changes in the schedule need to be made. It’s a thankless job, as Frommer sits at home and answers the phone to fill spaces, sometimes at 3 in the morning. She said “the real volunteer heroes” work the late night shifts at the shelter. “The title of ‘volunteer coordinator’ has the ring of arranging papers neatly or some other relatively passive task,” said Dan Watts, immediate past president of the Interfaith Winter Shelter. “In reality, it requires keeping track of open time slots, knowing who has volunteered already, who may be available, knowing how and when to contact people, developing skills in polite persuasion and perseverance, and convincing people that they really do want to volunteer. Sara has done all of that with a level of commitment and passion.” Even now, Frommer is searching for volunteers to begin training for the Nov. 1 shelter start date. She assists with training, making clear to volunteers that those who visit the shelter are guests and should be treated as such. “The guests are there for safe, secure shelter,” she said. “You treat them with respect like we are treated with respect.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 21
Volunteering a way of repaying, enriching life By Abby Tonsing 812-331-4245 | atonsing@heraldt.com When she started to pack away her husband’s belongings after his death, Jo Ann Main stopped when she came across his Everyday Hero award. “I have told a couple of people that when my husband got it, this was the one that really exemplified him the most,” Main said of her late husband, Steve, a volunteer handyman with heart. Now, Main has been named an Everyday Hero in her own right. The Mains — Steve in 2013 and Jo Ann in 2017 — were both nominated for the award by L. Lou Moir, a friend from First Presbyterian Church of Bloomington. “Jo Ann is an unassuming woman who shares her considerable talents widely and without expectation for recognition,” wrote Moir. “Jo Ann is an effective leader who quietly leads and inspires others to follow.” Main spent her career as a third-grade teacher in Paragon before she retired seven years ago. For the past six years, she has devoted her time and talent to Unionville Elementary School, where she has designed enrichment programs that challenge writing skills and expand logical, deductive and critical thinking. Main has worked with them all, from kindergarteners to sixth-graders, the groups of high-achieving students and the individual kids who need remediation.
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Jo Ann Main
Jo Ann Main at Unionville Elementary School library in Bloomignton, IN.
Main’s volunteer teaching started at four hours a week. This school year, she’s there nearly all day on Mondays and Wednesdays. Her service to the community isn’t contained to the classroom or to school hours. Main said she tries to put in some volunteer work every day. She has been a Sunday school teacher, re-organized the church library, spearheaded renovation projects and mural paintings. She has been known to lend a hand, and expert motherly advice, to parents of newborns. And, one Saturday a month, Main whisked up large batches of French toast as a member of an early-morning kitchen crew that cooked and served breakfast at First Presbyterian Church. That gig ended recently, once the Shalom Community Center established its weekend hours. Main said she’s researching other volunteer activities to help fill that slot. “When that door closes, you just don’t hide behind that door. You get out and find another way to help somebody,” she said. “I’m very fortunate that I‘m healthy enough to be active, and I know that’s a privilege in a lot of ways. I have a very good life. I have been blessed in a lot of ways,” Main said. “I hope it repays people who have been so nice to me. It enriches my life, too. I truly learn from everybody I come in contact with. My husband and I had both done that, and we supported each other. It enriched our lives as individuals and as a couple.”
22 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
Tammy Elkins: ‘My guardian angel’ By Brittani Howell 812-331-4243 | bhowell@heraldt.com The way Tammy Elkins sees it, buying a home for her former son-in-law and her grandchildren is just part of caring for her family. But to Michael Hendricks, who nominated Elkins as an Everyday Hero, her actions mean so much more. “This woman has been a shoulder to cry on. She’s been there financially. She’s my guardian angel, to be perfectly honest,” he said. Hendricks was married to Elkins’ daughter, Trista, for several years, though the two were separated for much of that time. Despite the friction between himself and Elkins’ daughter, Michael said Tammy has been always open, always welcoming, and always involved with him and the couple’s children. That support and love have only continued since Trista’s untimely death this past April. Four or five years ago, Elkins allowed Hendricks and the kids to move into her grandmother’s house. Last year, she tore that house down and moved them, including Hendricks’ new wife and child, into a brand-new modular home. When Hendricks’ wife lost her car in an accident earlier this year, Tammy got them a new one. She and her husband, Denny, own Maxx E-Cigs in several cities, including Bloomington. The couple has used their income to shoulder the financial burden of the entire family’s favorite pastime: martial arts. Hendricks and the children study at Bloomington ATA Family Martial Arts and have competed in meets and tournaments around the country. Hendricks himself, now a second-degree black-
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Tammy Elkins
Tammy Elkins.
belt, is a seven-time state champion. He said the activity has been a childhood dream come true, and that the discipline of the sport keeps him focused on what’s important in his life. Elkins sees similar benefits for her grandchildren. “It gives them structure. It gives them something to do together,” Elkins said. Caring for others has always been something Tammy and Denny have taken in stride. They have donated presents to needy families during the Christmas holidays, as well as donating to Community Kitchen and the Salvation Army. “We just like to give back because we can,” she said. Doing any of that extra donating or volunteering has been difficult to impossible for Tammy lately: She was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, just one month after losing her daughter. The grueling ordeal makes it hard for her to keep her spirits up. A natural helper, Tammy said she finds it difficult to be on the receiving end of other people’s care. Luckily, she said, she has a great support system of friends and family who love her — including her husband and her mother, who has been her “rock” through the past few months. Michael helps out, too, coming by periodically to take care of the couple’s yard. Elkins said she is “humbled” that Hendricks considers her his hero. Hendricks said the accolade is well-deserved. “All I can say is thank you, and I can’t ever tell her that enough,” he said.
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 23
Family creates foundation to honor daughter’s memory, help others By Mary Shown 812-331-4352 | mshown@heraldt.com The sorrel colt kicks his feet up and attempts to buck once he is freed from his stall. He hops from one stall door to the next, wringing his neck side-to-side and rounding his butt underneath him to take off a little quicker. But he doesn’t get very far. “Chalee’s Dream Jet,” called “Jet,” was born with misshapen hind legs and has mobility issues. After living at a Purdue University animal hospital for the first three months of his life, he was able to come home in August. This colt means so much to the Gilliland family. Its mother, Josie, was Chalee Gilliland’s favorite barrel horse. Chalee, Robert and Susan Gilliland’s daughter, died Sept. 22, 2012, from complications with cystic fibrosis. “She passed away and, as with many people with cystic fibrosis, Chalee was so healthy, and most people didn’t know she had it. It was a shock,” said Susan, founder of the Chalee Gilliland Foundation. “It was a shock to us and a shock to the horse racing community because they didn’t know.” Chalee was 11 at the time of her death and an avid barrel racer and horse lover. Family members say she spent all of her free time at the barn on her family’s property in Bloomington or traveling to the next barrel show. In her memory, her parents and sister, Riana, created the foundation, which provides financial assistance to those
Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times
Gillilands
Susan Gilliland, left, and her daughter Riana Gilliland with “Chalee’s Dream Jet.”
affected by cystic fibrosis. The foundation has several fundraising events throughout the year, the largest being a three-day barrel racing show called Barrels & Bling. “It’s a good way to honor her memory,” Susan said. “She was spunky, and if your horse wasn’t the best in the world, she was right there with you, encouraging you along the way.” The foundation has sponsored five people who lived with the disease, donating at least $10,000 to each. Of the five, just one is still living. “The whole family works tirelessly to help anyone in need with cystic fibrosis,” family member Tami Mitchner said, “to make these events the best possible in honor of Chalee, and to be able to to help those in need.” The family keeps busy: working full time, planning fundraising events, going to barrel shows with their five-horse trailer that has a picture of Chalee on the side, and taking care of Jet. “We just had our fifth-year anniversary, and it hasn’t been any easier. I think helping other people helps,” Susan said. “There’s a quote thing that says: ‘To do the right thing is best; to do the wrong thing is acceptable; to do nothing is deplorable.’ And that’s basically the way we live. You have to do something. She had so much life and energy, and you can’t let that go.” “(Jet) is just like her. With how he bickers and picks at you and stuff,” Riana said. “That was just like her.”
24 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
Lynne Gilliatt: ‘Making community’ By Brittani Howell 812-331-4243 | bhowell@heraldt.com Lynne Gilliatt puts the “art” in “heart,” as her sister Pam likes to say. It’s not just because Lynne has donated dozens of her own pieces to auctions for nonprofits around the community, from the Unitarian Universalist Church and Cardinal Stage Company to LGBTQ Spencer Pride and Community Kitchen. As a prolific artist who finishes work quickly and often, she has no problem sharing her personal pieces with everyone in the community. Gilliatt shares more than her artwork with the community: She shares her home. For the past six years or so, she has opened her basement art studio to a small group of artists who have built their own collaborative community under her guidance. “This woman is the sweetest, kindest, most generous person you could ever hope to meet. Not to mention talented,” said Gilliatt’s friend Mitch Aurich, who has been coming to “art group” for several years. When Gilliatt started inviting a few friends and fellow artists to her home to work on their projects in a social setting, she didn’t expect it to take off. But word got around. Now she has a rotating cast of around 10 fellow artists who all use different media: color
Chris Howell | Herald-Times
Lynne Gilliatt
Lynne Gilliatt, a pastel artist at her home studio.
pencils, paint, pastels, sculpture, storytelling and more, including combinations of different methods. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, the group gets together to work alongside fellow creators, supporting and praising each other rather than working alone in their own studios. “Making community and a modern world is what I like to call it,” said Gilliatt, who believes that the more community people have, the better off the world is as a whole. She refers to the twice-a-week gatherings as “art group,” or, more recently, “The Side Door Studio.” The people in the studio will be the first to say Lynne is more than just a host. She mentors and compliments her fellow artists’ efforts, offers tips and points them toward resources. If she sees someone creating art reminiscent of a more famous artists’ work, she’ll pull books from her extensive personal library to show them for inspiration. “Lynne was the person who recognized and encouraged my talent,” said Lynn Flinders, who has been coming to the studio for two years. “She’s helped me believe in myself.” For Gilliatt, it’s a pleasure to help foster connections in the artistic community, to share her artwork and offer encouragement to others. “I think everyone is an artist,” she said. “I truly believe that. With the right surroundings and the right encouragement, miracles happen.”
EVERYDAY HEROES | THE HERALD-TIMES | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | 25
We at the H-T were overjoyed to get so many nominations for Everyday Heroes. We wish we could have done a story on every one of them. To make sure that all are honored, here is a brief summary of the remaining nominees and who nominated them. They are listed in the order in which they arrived.
Elizabeth Sweeney,
teacher in the Monroe County Community School Corp. who helps prepare students for their lives. Nominated by Dulce.
Paul Ford,
a firefighter and EMT who helps others. Nominated by Shelly Scott-Harmon.
Mark Wiedenmayer,
a gifted pianist who shares his music with many. Nominated by multiple people.
Kate Cruikshank,
a volunteer in the electoral process. Nominated by Judy Schroeder.
Doug Western,
who works with people experiencing homelessness. Nominated by “people who love him.”
Kim Simic,
who “shapes leaders of tomorrow” through her career in education. Nominated by Kraig Bushey.
Cindy Chavez,
Girl Scouts and leader of Pantry 279 in Ellettsville. Nominated by Rod Spaw.
Rob Babbs,
owner of Babbs Supermarket in Spencer and “selfless in every possible way.” Nominated by Jessica Wilson.
Priscilla Barnes,
fitness instructor who “lives her life in service to others.” Nominated by Lily Albright.
Sgt. Tristan Wampler,
husband, father and serviceman who has completed two tours in Afghanistan and has re-enlisted and will be sent to Korea. Nominated by Ashley Wampler.
Rev. Myron and Millicent Young,
a pastor and his wife who visit people in hospitals and nursing homes. Nominated by Sadie Little.
Carol Hostettler,
“true humanitarian” in the social work profession. Nominated by Serretta Gordon.
Emily Bedwell,
a volunteer who goes above and beyond for her community. Nominated by Sarah Carpenter.
Stacy Bruce,
“gem and wonderful asset” who volunteers in the community. Nominated by Terri Miller.
Jeff Carmichael,
“teacher of special people” at R-BB who makes a difference in their lives. Nominated by Dorothy Korb.
Anton Neff,
a member of the Owen County Council whose service extends beyond politics. Nominated by Cindy Curvin.
Summer Schrader,
who works with children at Bloomington Developmental Learning Center. Nominated by Christina Parker.
Gilpin Hammack III,
a retired serviceman “who continues to help everyone.” Nominated by Shannyn Kent.
Nikki Reising,
program manager at A Friend’s Place. Nominated by Jess Troxel.
Jacque Deckard,
registered nurse at Golden Living. Nominated by Elizabeth Ruh.
Pamela Sojka and Katelyn Lipa,
Crisis Intervention Services Coordinators at Middle Way House. Nominated by Sam Harrell.
Maria “Ria” Collee,
“ambassador” in the Bryan Park Neighborhood Association. Nominated by Desirae Draluc.
Jason Schroeder,
an EMT for IU Health. Nominated by Kristin Schroeder.
Mindy Parrish,
“one dedicated lady” who is a supervisor at Cook Medical. Nominated by Tammy Lindsey.
26 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 | THE HERALD-TIMES | EVERYDAY HEROES
nomination summaries continued...
Bob and Frances Crowley,
who serve others less fortunate than themselves. Nominated by Daniel.
Kirstin Milks,
science educator at Bloomington High School South. Nominated by Summer Adamson.
Dr. Lisa Robinson,
family practice physician. Nominated by Perry.
Vickie Edwards,
founder of Nicole’s Haven in Spencer. Nominated by Leisa McClure.
Lucas Tate,
Bloomington Police Department sergeant. Nominated by Travis Tate.
Jennifer Smallwood,
director of YMCA Center for Children & Families. Nominated by Heather Honeycutt.
Michael Riggleman,
educator who is a role model to R-BB students. Nominated by Ashley Lentz.
Dale Conard,
a longtime farmer and volunteer who’s always willing to help. Nominated by Jake Conard.
Michael May,
created a thriving chess program at the Crestmont Boys and Girls Club. Nominated by Maryellan May.
Marcia Popp,
for selfishly giving her life to help others. Nominated by Jenna Popp.
W.C. Chafin,
served people with great love as a pastor of rural churches. Nominated by Vernal Chafin.
John Fox,
for delivering donated food from Meadowood residents to the Community Kitchen.
Dave Tanner,
has impacted countless lives as swim coach at Bloomington High School North for the past 20 years. Nominated by multiple people.
Of Bloomington 812-331-2200 communityfordlincoln.com
812-331-2250 communitykia.net
Salute the Great Achievements of Our Local Everyday Heroes!
Of Bloomington 812-331-3200 communitycdjr.com HT-336619-1
812-331-3200 communitynissan.net
Congratulations to Our Everyday Heroes! On behalf of IU Health Bloomington Hospital and Southern Indiana Physicians, we want to say thank you to those who help make our community a better and healthier place to live.
Š 2015 IUHealth 10/15 HT-330022-1