Mass Transit Forum June 30 in Fishers

The demand for IndyGo’s Commuter Express buses from Carmel and Fishers to downtown Indianapolis has indicated at least one thing – Hamilton County residents are ready for mass transit.

“Everywhere we go in the region, people tell us they want more express bus services and options to the car,” said Ehren T. Bingaman, executive director of CIRTA, the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority.

Bingaman will continue a series of community input sessions about improving and expanding mass transit on June 23 in Carmel and June 30 in Fishers.

Monday, June 23 – 6 p.m.
Carmel Monon Center
1235 Central Park Drive East

Monday, June 30 – 5:30 p.m.
Fishers Town Hall
1 Municipal Dr., Fishers

The sessions are part of a series of public meetings CIRTA is hosting throughout the region to gather input from residents. After a presentation about what CIRTA is doing, attendees will have an opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions.

Bingaman gave the presentation in Noblesville on May 7 and has traveled to Boone, Hancock, Hendricks, Morgan and Shelby counties as well.

“High gas prices have ignited public interest in mass transit,” said Bingaman. “When people are seeing the effects of fuel costs on their household budget, they’re much more motivated to talk about and plan for options.”

In addition to these meetings, CIRTA and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) are hosting public meetings June 16, 17, 18 and 24 to discuss the preliminary recommendation for a mass transit “starter system” for the Northeast Corridor.

CIRTA was created by state statute in 2004. Its mission is to develop a comprehensive system of transportation alternatives for Central Indiana residents. CIRTA is governed by a 16-member board of directors who represent all nine counties in the region (Marion, Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, Boone and Madison), as well as municipalities and the labor organization for transportation workers.

Christine Altman is the CIRTA board chairwoman and a Hamilton County Commissioner.

For more information, please visit www.cirta.us.

Geist Boy Scout Spearheads Beautification Project for Downtown Charter School

A local Boy Scout from Hamilton Southeastern High School recently spearheaded a beautification project that truly can be called a community effort.

As his Eagle Scout project, 17-year-old Drew Dickerson planned and coordinated the construction of a 10,000-square-foot butterfly garden, labyrinth and outdoor learning center for The Indianapolis Lighthouse Charter School.

But this was no one-man show. The project drew help from numerous sources, all joining forces to create a massive improvement at the Lighthouse School on May 15.

• Fishers Junior High tech education students built 55 butterfly boxes and cut out butterfly wings and primed them for the art teacher to hand paint for sculptures.
• Members of Dickerson’s scout troop built three sets of small bleachers and a table for the outside learning center and moved 600 plants to the school.
• The Lighthouse Charter School students built stepping stones to pave the labyrinth.
• Lilly employees provided volunteer labor as part of the Lilly Global Day of Service.
• Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) donated 13 trees and 400 plants to the project.
• Fishers Do-It Center donated the lumber for outside learning center construction.
• Becker Landscaping donated 36 large boulders
• Insurance Agent Doug Walker financed lumber for the butterfly boxes.

“Everybody was pretty willing to help out,” said Dickerson, a Sawgrass resident who was one of 12 Central Indiana scouts selected to work with Eli Lilly and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) in the Lilly Global Day of Service.

With help from his mother, Betsy, Dickerson drew up a master plan, originally intended to be completed over the course of several years. He tried to follow the vision of Audrey Johnson, who had submitted the grant request to KIB on behalf of The Lighthouse Charter School.

“When he met with the school and KIB, Audrey started to cry at the extent of the design,” Betsy Dickerson said. “KIB liked it so much, they told Drew to do the entire project this year, and they would provide the plants. So his project grew from a garden to a 10,000 square-foot design!”

At the end of the day, all third grade students at The Lighthouse school were able to take home a butterfly box.

“This all came together because of one woman’s dream, Audrey Johnson,” Dickerson said at the ribbon cutting after a long day of installing plants and sculptures. “She had a dream, and this is the result of one person, one small dream. That dream grew because she told others about it, and others helped to make it grow.”

HSE High School Honors Class of 2008 Top 25

Hamilton Southeastern High School recently honored the top 25 students in the Class of 2008 with a dinner at Oak Hill Mansion, and each student in turn recognized an educator who had a great influence on him or her. Rankings were based on students’ grade point averages after seven semesters of high school.

Honored Students: (Front Row) Joel Lugo, Jaclyn Beattey, Katie Hicks, Sarah Sraders, Adrienne Bruce, Courtney Brimmer, Angela Campbell, Tyler Derr, (Row 2) Pablo Davila, Emily Schroeder, Anja Skljarevski, Alexandra Robinson, Tara Fleming, Christina Cook, Christine Jessup, Zach Gates, (Row 3) Chase Nicholas, Ryan Carr, Curtis Ball, Alexander Brandt, Austin Mudd, Justin Kingsolver, Geoff Peitz, Garrett Proffitt, Tyler Oesterreich. Not pictured, Jason Holmes.

Honored Educators: (Front Row) Charlotte Irish, Mary Armstrong, Rita Fugit, Mike Fassold, Susan Wong, Mary Ann Verkamp, Kelli Hanes, Mitch Steckler, (Row 2) Cathy Glick, Lisa Roach, Janet Chandler, Eric Brown, Mindy Hertzler, Danielle Mullen, (Row 3) Justin Jones (Chicago), Greg Roberts, Bob Gabbert, Natalie Stoner, Letitia McCallister, Bill Zoeller, Jill Baisinger, Andy Pedersen, Joe Golden, Kaylee Johnson.

‘Fore the Kids’ Golf Tournament June 5 to Benefit Lawrence Township School Foundation

Join the Lawrence Township School Foundation for the 22nd annual “Fore the Kids” Golf Tournament, Thursday, June 5th at Ironwood Golf Club. Registration includes box lunch, golf goodies, foursome photo and GT South’s dinner. Play starts at noon with awards and dinner immediately following the Florida scramble, around 5:00 p.m.

Spots are available for corporate foursomes, individual foursomes, individual players and parent/child teams (age 13 or over).

Proceeds benefit the Lawrence Township School Foundation, which provides funding for innovative educational programs that are not covered by tax dollars. Since its inception in 1983, the Foundation has given back over $2.2 million to Lawrence Township Schools.

Come out and enjoy a fun-filled day! For more information, go to www.msdltf.org or call the Foundation office at 423-8300.

HSE Students Win with Business Ideas, Plans

Several Hamilton Southeastern High School students competed, placed and won prize money in the Hamilton County Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Hamilton County Alliance.

A variety of Indianapolis area professionals with backgrounds in areas such as entrepreneurship, financial planning, marketing, sales, and served as judges. They received written plans to read and evaluate before watching student presentations. After one round, judges selected students to present a second time. From that group, top performers were decided and prize money awarded. According to teacher Eric Rosenbaum, HSE students received a total of $3,200 for competing and placing. They are as follows:

• Marcus Walker, junior, first place and most original idea, $800, “Sports Testing and College Placement”

• Eugene Wong, senior, & Chris Jarrett, sophomore, first place, $700 each, “Retirement Home”

• Andrea Pennington, junior, & Kelsi Hatheway, junior, second place, $500 each, “Wedding Photography”

Running Partners Make Race Fun

Beam Reach residents Mike and Susan Kisker have run a half marathon together every year they’ve been married (the last 12 years).

“We planned our children around the Mini Marathon,” said Susan, an athletic mother of two.

So when the Kiskers heard about the first Geist Half Marathon, they quickly added it to their calendar. Like many others who ran Saturday’s big race, the Geist couple were proud members of the “May Marathon Club,” meaning they participated in two half marathons during the month. (The 500 Festival Mini Marathon took place two weeks before the Geist Half).

The Kiskers always run the Mini Marathon (although Susan adds that she walked the two years her children were born). The Geist Half was her 20th half-marathon.

A neighbor and training partner, Dan Bellovary, also ran the Geist Half with the Kiskers, logging a personal best time of 1 hour, 45 minutes. Dan said he runs in Cambridge “all the time,” so the hilly course was a familiar circuit for him. He loved running right past his neighborhood during this first race around the reservoir.

All three of these seasoned marathoners said they were impressed with the organization of the race and will participate again next year.

“They did a really good job for being the first year,” Mike Kisker said.

Chicago resident John Clements and his son, Tom, agreed. They consider it a father-son bonding experience to run a mini marathon together each year, and this year they chose the Geist Half. John logged his personal best time at 2 hours, 8 minutes. (“He ran much faster!” John says of Tom).

While many runners participated with family members, there were a few who brought along more unusual race-day partners.

DeeAnn Mulvey packed her chihuahua Jaeda in a front carrier as she speed-walked the 5K. Fully dressed for the occasion in a lacy, turquoise outfit, Jaeda seemed to enjoy the change of “pace.”

“She loved it,” Mulvey reported after the race, adding that Jaeda “helped me keep going” after her 14-year-old son, Evan, had left them far behind.

Melissa Pitcher also ended up packing some extra weight for the 5K. After unexpectedly being told she couldn’t use a stroller, Melissa decided to strap her 9-month-old daughter, Maelin, into a front carrier.

“We threw on the pack and said, ‘We’re going anyway,’” Melissa said, adding after the race, “I’m a little more exhausted than I thought I’d be!” A social worker at McCordsville Elementary, Pitcher signed up for the 5K as a way to support the local schools.

Finishing the race feels great — especially when you can share it with someone you love!

Check out more photos of runners with their training partners and race-day support teams!

Community Rallies around Olympic Hopeful Samantha Peszek

Summer vacation means loafing around and having fun to most students, but not Samantha Peszek. As the 16-year-old Highland Springs resident wraps up her sophomore year at Cathedral High School, she’ll also be gearing up for two national gymnastic competitions that will determine the U.S. Olympic Team!

For Sam, June brings the Visa Championships in Boston, followed by the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Philadelphia June 19-22. Currently ranked as the No. 3 gymnast in the nation, Geist’s own Sam Peszek has a great shot of making it to Beijing! The final selection camp will be in Houston July 16-20.

The community has rallied around its favorite gymnast and shown support in a variety of ways. Geist Realtor Kim Carpenter — also a mom of a gymnast at DeVeau’s School of Gymnastics — had the idea of creating a huge support banner. atGeist.com Publisher Tom Britt offered to sponsor the banner that is now full of signatures and well-wishes from the DeVeau’s gymnastics community.

When I asked Sam’s mom, Luan, how many signatures were on the banner, she laughed, saying to fit any more, they’d have to flip it over!

“Everyone has been so supportive of Sam and her attempt to make this Olympic team, and we’re so grateful,” Luan said, adding that community members may purchase red-white-and-blue bracelets from DeVeau’s for $5 to help support Olympic athletes and the Peszek family as they save up for a trip to Beijing.

The family also has set up a website for supporters to send encouraging thoughts to Sam at www.goodlucksamantha.com.

“Sam is a really hard worker, real motivated, and she’s doing everything she can right now to achieve her dream,” Luan said.

We are proud to have Samantha Peszek as our Geist neighbor. Good Luck, Sam!

Sand Creek Intermediate Students Get Moving for Good Causes

Students at Sand Creek Intermediate School have been busy walking and moving for two successful fundraisers benefiting children in Africa, as well as children getting treatment right here in Indy.

Over 200 SCI students participated in Sand Creek Intermediate’s recent Movement for Change Marathon/Fundraiser.  Students kept pace with on-stage guest leaders such as several staff members, Fishers Police Officers, a tae kwon do instructor and former SCI students. Teacher Annette Probst said they “creatively AND enthusiastically kept us moving for 90 minutes!”

Over $1,200 resulted and will be sent to the Kids Can Free the Children Organization to help poverty-stricken areas in Africa.   Probst said, “As O Ambassadors, SCI is learning about the conditions of the world and realizing that only when we join together can we have the biggest impact in improving the future of our world.”

Probst recently learned that the school was selected to participate in the O Ambassadors program, a joint project of Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network and Free the Children. It inspires young people to become active and compassionate global citizens by connecting youth in North America with disadvantaged children in the developing world. As part of O Ambassadors, SCI will work to find solutions to global challenges through active learning, idea-sharing and action, said Probst.

In a separate event, Sand Creek Intermediate’s Student Council hosted its fifth annual Riley Walk-a-Thon on Saturday, May 10. This year’s walk included a DJ, snacks and over 200 participants.  The Riley Walk raised $1,546 for Riley Children’s Hospital.
Sand Creek Intermediate student Lexi Treeger was among the participants, with her father Scott, younger sister Cori and dog Peanut.

Sand Creek Intermediate’s Student Council raised over $12,500 total from its events conducted this school year. Way to go Sand Creek!

Jasmine Brown keeps moving with SCI teacher Brian Arthur, while Drew Broughton, Joshua Ayen and Brady Quackenbush inspired action among students with some football agility drills.
Above: Kitti Gal smiles at the camera as she keeps line-dances along with Isabelle Thielking and Maddie Clapp.

Geist Resident Holds Largest Collection of Autographed Baseballs, Basketballs in U.S.

Did you know Geist is home to the largest certified collection of autographed baseballs and basketballs in the U.S.? Not many people do — unless you are a member of Gary Dickhaus’ “fraternity,” which meets in his basement at least twice a month.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.jumpcut.com/media/flash/jump.swf?id=5BCB80D420E811DDA0EE000423CF4092&asset_type=movie&asset_id=5BCB80D420E811DDA0EE000423CF4092&eb=1" width="408" height="324" wmode="transparent" /]There you will find about 1,800 balls signed by some of the most famous players and teams in baseball and basketball history. Naturally, I assumed Gary must be one of the biggest sports fans around.

“I never was into sports,” was Gary’s surprising confession. And he maintains that he still isn’t!

Then why collect so many balls that his basement is nearly overflowing? It’s not about the balls. It’s the stories behind the signatures.

As any movie enthusiast knows, sports stories are among the most inspiring and run the gamut of human emotion. These balls represent the best and worst of humanity — the epic Milan basketball team that inspired the movie “Hoosiers,” the acclaimed Negro League players which were said to be the “Globetrotters” of baseball, and even a Rhode Island collegiate basketball team ensnared in the 1951 gambling scandal.

Gary bought his first vintage basketball in 1994 — one autographed by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird — and hasn’t stopped since.“I thought it was unique and thought it would be a fun thing to set on the television in the hobby room,” Gary explains. “It just started, and after a while, there were too many basketballs and baseballs, so I figured I must be into this.”

Gary’s massive collection includes basketballs autographed by legends like Michael Jordan and Bobby Plump, as well as one signed by the entire 1949 New York Knickerbockers team — which is the first authenticated, professionally signed basketball on record.

One of his favorite baseballs is signed by Roger Maris, who played in seven World Series and is remembered for breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.

Another rare baseball — one of only six known to be signed by Hall of Fame great Ty Cobb — was lost when Gary experienced a tragic traffic accident in 1996, which nearly killed him. The baseball shot out from the wreckage and was never recovered.

“There’s a kid out there somewhere playing with a Ty Cobb ball!” Gary says.

The April 26, 1996, accident changed Gary’s life in many ways. He spent the next 18 months in the hospital, undergoing more than 130 surgeries, and is now 52 percent disabled. Although Gary experiences daily pain as a result, he says his life has been “nothing but blessings” since his crash.

It might not have seemed that way at first when his medical bills mounted so high that he was forced to file bankruptcy and then his wife left him. But in 2000, Gary reconnected with his college sweetheart, Leslie, and began a new life with her and her two grown children. Gary enjoys helping people as a small business analyst, saying, “The pain of the small business owner is so great these days that they need someone to help them lighten the load.”

That is exactly what Gary feels his calling is. God saved his life, and he is determined to give back by helping others to smile and enjoy the journey of life.

And that’s where his collection comes back into the story. “It’s actually to share,” says Gary. “Whether a person is into baseball or basketball or not, what some of the pieces represent — there isn’t anyone who’s been down (to the basement) that doesn’t find it interesting.”

Gary and Leslie host frequent gatherings for the Sigma Chi Omega fraternity Gary founded, which includes 48 friends, relatives and neighbors, ranging in age from three months to 60 years old. Aside from Gary’s massive ball collection, the Dickhaus basement also features prominent displays commemorating special events and accomplishments of the fraternity members.

“My goal is just to give back to my family and the people that I meet,” Gary said. “Leslie and I want to share as much as we have, including ourselves.”

To see more of Gary’s bountiful baseball and basketball collection, visit www.atGeist.com.

The Ghosts of Germantown

By John Fogarty

At the bottom of Geist Reservoir, lies the village of Germantown. For 70 years it has lain there, undisturbed. Untroubled. By the living, that is . . .

But the spirits of Germantown don’t rest so easy. The ghosts of that proud old town still flit here and there throughout Hamilton County. The Reservoir is fairly teeming with them—as are 24 cemeteries that dot the high ground around it—some of which have headstones dating back to 1811.

In honor of Memorial Day, and the long-lost village of Germantown, its descendants and its hardy survivors from the olden days, we would like to pause and take a nostalgic, even wistful, look back at a long lost era of simpler, perhaps even happier, times. Bygone times. And the ghosts who linger on . . . .

Local entrepreneur Clarence Geist, former owner of the Indianapolis Water Company, believed the burgeoning state capital would soon run out of water. Geist preempted such a shortage by buying up all the property he could in and around Germantown, during the 1920s and ’30s, envisioning his water supply solution. That solution would require the death of a quaint, long-established hamlet called Germantown.

Settled in 1834 by pioneers from Oaklandon, following the slaying of an Indian in that community, Germantown thrived for nearly a century afterward as a tranquil, farming community—until 1943, that is. That’s when developers finally dammed Fall Creek, flooding Germantown and the surrounding Fall Creek Valley. Clarence Geist got his wish, all right . . . five years after his death.

Despite the demise of Germantown, Geist Reservoir brought undeniable progress to the region, including recreational and resort living along the waterfront. Today, homes fetch up to $5-6 million apiece. Geist Reservoir now covers over 1,890 acres—with some 6.1 billion gallons of water. More impressive still are the memories that linger.

True, it’s only been 65 years—less than one human lifetime. But there are others, with memories far longer than any human lifetime, who still hover about of a soft late-April night. We took our cameras to three fairly representative, old-time family cemeteries one can still find to this day, dotting the suburbs and roadways of Geist—all throwbacks to those olden, golden, Daguerreotype days.

We present three nearby cemeteries lucky enough to sit on high ground: the Arnett, the Brooks and the McKay, all located on or near Olio Road in Geist. All are well-maintained (though some are in better shape than others), and at least one is probably haunted. Watch the following video clip and judge for yourself.

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