Banner Graphic, Greencastle, Putnam County, 24 May 1974 — Page 1

It

- , __

■

TBE archives ^L:rLE^ T]

^6135

Alert System On Tap For County

XX^I-XvXvX-XvXvX-XwXvX-W^ ❖:

v v S

•x I I

•V

•ij: x* X •V

X .v

|

X •••

t § I g X; •X

x v V X s

:’i'X>xX:>XxXXx:Xxx:XxXv:wx-:wv:-:-XvXw:vX'XX:X*:*¥x : x?XwxX"X-XvX*xwvX-x*:-X'X:vx-x-x-x-x-x<‘Xx:WX ; >X ; :XxX: ; x:wXx:WxX ; X ; : < x^XvXv:*X‘XW<:XvXX^^

An emergency preparedness plan for Putnam County including a warning system that will meet minimum standards is being drawn up by county di-rector-coordinator for civil defense William M. (Spud) Hurst. The alert system for natural disasters such as tornadoes is to shore-up the present system which was graded as “not adequate” by Indiana Department of Civil Defense Coordinator Philip R. Cleary in a study he made of the area. Hurst said he hoped to have his proposal ready by early next month to present to the county board of commissioners and the city council for approval. He will then send it on to the state department of civil defense for okay. With the state approval. the county is eligible for federal matching funds to upgrade the warning system. Hurst remarked in a meeting last night of community leaders called to coordinate efforts for a civil defense plan here that he has never seen an area as poor in regards to preparedness as found

here.

Hurst would not disclose details on the proposal but said it will meet minimum standards. The standards include a warning system that can reach 50 percent of the population of the county. Other requirements include a 24 hour monitoring of alert bulletins which the county already has in the person of the Greencastle

city police.

The present county system involves a relay of contacts from the state police to the sheriffs department and on out to the auxiliary police and civil defense

members.

Hurst said he will consider suggestions made at the meeting last night in completing his plan. One major suggestion discussed was that of using the existing telephone system. However, Cleary, present at the meeting, said a telephoneoriented alert system is “not reliable in a crisis.” Cleary noted that the warning system is all important “since one minute can mean a life.” In the meeting the state coordinator said that the purpose of the

session was to coordinate the community activities for emergency preparedness so that “all will be acting along the same

lines.”

“All officials should be made aware of the requirements for a viable warning system for Putnam County,” he said. Cleary said that sirens and other types of alarms are used in communities such as Putnam County but said they are inadequate in reaching the rural

population.

One of the smaller counties is using aerial bombs to initiate an alert to the rural areas, he said. But, he cautioned, the people in an area must know what the

warnings mean.

He suggested that the county use an attention signal, a five to 10 minute steady tone, to alert the citizens to tune to their local radio to get weather information. Indianapolis’ W1BC is the emergency frequency station for

this area, he said.

Whenever a tornado warning goes out, you know a twister has been sighted near you, he

marked.

re-

Philip R. Cleary, coordinator for the In- mergeney preparedness warning system for diana Department of Civil Defense was in thc county. Cleary noted the warning system Greencastle last night for the meeting of com- “ most important since “one minute can

munity leaders to discuss the need for an e- mean a life.’'

(Banner-Graphic Photo)

"IT WAVES

Greencastle, Indiana, Friday, May 24, 1974

FOR ALL”

EVENING EDITION

~Banner Graphic nr

Volume Five, Number 79 Ten Cents A Copy

After 20 Classroom Years Agnes King Thorlton Retires

For Agnes King Thorlton, the rewards of teaching have been the friendship of hundreds of pupils who have passed through her classroom and the happy associations with fellow staff members and administrators.

Memories of these contacts will go with her as she retires from the Greencastle School System, where she has been employed in Junior High as a teacher of Fnghsh for the past 13 years. As an indication of this happy period, she states that she has never wanted to be transferred to another school. From the time she was a Washington Township schoolgirl. Mrs. Thorlton has leaned toward the teaching profession. Her mother had been a teacher in Richmond. Va. Her sisters, her daughter and other close relatives all became public school teachers. The King family’s interest in education was evidenced by the establishment of a school which bore their name. Here the retiring Greencastle teacher received her elementary education through the eighth grade. She did walk to school, but the distance was short. In the winter, an occasional detour was made by climbing a fence and skating on the frozen pond. Among her teachers at the Washington Township King School were Mrs. Flossie McCullough and the late Ray Evens. Part of her grade school math was studied in a most practical way at home. Her father helped her with her fractions by cutting an apple into sections. After the eighth grade

examination taken at Reelsville, Mrs. Thorlton entered Greencastle High School and graduated at the age of 16. On the home farm, she had been interested in horseback riding and other athletic activities. This interest continued during her high school days. As a member of the school’s girls’ basketball team, she earned two sweaters and participated in games throughout the county and in Martinsville and Terre Haute. Since she was too short to be a great threat on the floor, she spent her share of the time on the bench. Mrs. Thorlton received her B.A. degree from DePauw in 1928 and then launched her teaching career. “My mother held to the idea that as soon as her children completed college. they should be out doing something,” she said. At 20, she got a job teaching high school English and physical education at Canton, 111., at an annual salary of SI.400. In the next seven years, she also taught in both junior and senior high in Urbana, 111. Back in Greencastle, her teaching career was terminated for a while after she met and married Rex Thorlton, a local A. & P. store manager, who was later associated with Central National Bank for a number of years. Mr. Thorlton passed away shortly after his retirement in 1972. The Thorltons’ son. John.

known around Greencastle by his middle name “Mac”, joined Western Electric after college and has been stationed in both Chicago and Indianapolis. At the conclusion of current special training, he will return to the Chicago area as assistant to the vice-president of Western Electric. Their daughter, Carole Thorlton Piech of Wheaton, 111. has followed family tradition to become a teacher.

Completing the immediate family are five grandchildren, and Agnes Thorlton will now have time to exercise a grandmother’s prerogative to properly spoil them. Included in Mrs. Thorlton’s retirement plans will be travel with an aim to see America first. She also hopes to have more time for her hobbies, such as reading, visiting art museums and going to plays and auction sales.

Lugar To

Greet County GOP Delegates

t

Thirteen Republican delegates from Putnam County will be among those greeted by Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar to the GOP State Convention at a delegate reception at 7:30 p.m. May 30 at the Ramada Inn in Terre Haute. From now and up to the State Convention, June 21, Lugar will be attending numerous delegate receptions throughout the state, as which all 2,083 delegates to the Republican convention

will have an opportunity to meet with the mayor personally. Lugar and other state candidates will greet the delegates and make brief remarks during the reception. Prior to the reception, the mayor will hold a press conference, also at the Ramada Inn. Other delegates attending the reception on May 30 will be from Vigo. Clay, Parke, Sullivan and Vermillion counties.

Retiring after 20 happy years in the classroom is Agnes King Thorlton. She says her reward is the friendships made through the years with her students. She has been a Junior High English teacher here for 13 years. (Banner-Graphic Photo)

Jake Hint Leaves Transportation Post

Adverse Weather, Steel Supplies, Strike Help To Hamper Construction

Today’s Weather

Fair and cooler tonight. Lows around 50. Mostly sunny and mild Saturday. Highs in the mid 70s.

DePauw’s new Performing Arts center will be one of the grandest buildings the university has or will have in the near future, Robert Gaston, physical plant director, said Wednesday when he spoke to the Greencastle Rotary Club. The S7.6 million structure, which is expected to be ready for occupancy in late 1975, will cover a gross area of 137,000 square feet. It will house the school’s music, speech and drama departments. Adverse weather, the difficulty of getting structural steel and a current strike of sheet metal workers have worked against the original construction timetable, according to Gaston. Included in the new building will be 44 soundproof practice rooms for the music students. “And these will be absolutely soundproof,” Gaston said. The convocation hall will seat 1,500 people. Little Theater will have a seating capacity of 450 and Recital hall 200. “The proposed new athletic center will be a fine addition to the campus,” Gaston said. “There is talk of a field house but as yet no target date has been set and no site has been selected.” Included among the physical improvements in the

tuture will be the installation of two electric boilers at the heating plant. Cost considerations in comparisons with other fuels and regulations imposed by the Environ-

mental Protection Agency went into the decision to install the electric units. The future of East College is under study but trustees have not yet come to a de-

cision. Gaston has given them cost information on various types of renovation. Working under Gaston Please turn to page 2, col. 5

Jake Hint III, Supervisor of Transportation for the Greencastle School System for the past four years, has resigned to enter private business, Loyd Hurst, G.H.S. Assistant Superintendent, has announced. Hirt was first employed by the school as a bus driver in 1948. He advanced to supervisor following the retirement of Staten Owens in 1970. Hirt’s resignation will be-

Putnam County Playhouse To Hold Tryouts For Fiddler’ May 28, 29

Auditions for “Fiddler on the Roof' will be held May 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. in Speech Hall on the DePauw University campus. As a stage musical, “Fiddler on the Roof’ has been seen by 30,000,000 people throughout the world and now the people of Putnam County can see it and participate in it as the second Putnam County Playhouse “Stage One" presentation. It is the story of a small Jewish village in the Russian Ukraine in the time of the Tzars, where ordinary people live, making the best of a not very encouraging set of circumstances. Vicki Helmer, director, stated she will need adults and teenagers for leads and chorus parts. Some of the characters portrayed will be Yente, the busy matchmaker; Motel, the honest tailor;

Lazar Wolf the butcher and the richest man around; Perchik, the revoluntionary student; and Tevye, the milkman with a wife and five daugh-

ters. Many other parts are available and anyone interested in being in this hit musical should attend one of the two tryout nights. Those try-

ing out for leads are asked to bring a solo musical selection. A full pit orchestra will proPlease turn to page 2, col. 3

‘D’ Blanket Recognition Goes To Roachdale’s Paul Myers

Paul E. Myers, Roachdale.

is shown with the “D” blanket he received at DePauw Uni-

versity on the 50th

anni-

versary of his graduation

Paul Myers

from the University. Myers won varsity track honors in 1922, 1923 and 1924. He later won distinction as a teacher and track coach at Indianapolis Technical High School and has been honored by state high school coaches for outstanding achievements in track and field. He is now president of the Putnam County chapter of A.A.R.P. Recognition “D" blankets were presented to 50-year

lettermen during the class of 1924’s reunion activities here last weekend.

come effective July 1 at w hich time his successor will be named by the School Board. Police Report A rural Greencastle man was arrested by Deputy Sheriff Mel Mangus and lodged in the Putnam County jail at l:15this morning. Mike Cromwell, 27. Route 5, was booked for driving while under the influence of intoxicants and for unreasonable speed. Rev. Johnson Guest Here Rev. Robert Johnson formerly of the Rockville United Pentecostal Church and more recently the pastor of the Bloomington Gospel Tabernacle and State Director of the Foreign Missions Divisions of the United Pentecostal Church Inc. and presently outgoing missionary to South America will be featured guest of the local United Pentecostal Church 1227 S. Bloomington St. Friday night Missionary service. Services will start at 7:30 p.m. and the public is invited.

Post Office Closes

The Post Office will be closed for Memoiial Day, Monday. The collection of mail and dispatch will be on the holiday schedule. There will not be any rural or city delivery.