Banner Graphic, Volume 17, Number 53, Greencastle, Putnam County, 1 November 1986 — Page 1

Banner Graphic Greencastle, Putnam County, Saturday, November 1,1986 Vol. 17 No. 53 25 Cents

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TOM GRAFFIS

Who's news

Compiled by ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Managing Editor Dr. and Mrs. TOM GRAFFIS, Greencastle, are celebrating 25 yeas of dental service in the Greencastle-Putnam County area. The highlight of their celebration will be a dinner at Walden Inn Saturday night to which they have invited persons who started receiving dental care in 1961. The 14 invited patients still coming for regular dental care are to be the guests of Dr. and Mrs. Graffis. “These people are really like family, and we are expressing our thanks in this manner,” Dr. Graffis said. “There are many others who have been loyal and faithful over the years, and we plan to have them participate in the celebration in other ways over the next several months. “We are grateful to be a part of this community,” he added, “and to have had the opportunity to help so many with their dental needs.” The Graffises’ two daughters, Debbie and Lynette, grew up in Greencastle, which will always be home to the family, he said. Putnam County Home Extension agent BETTY SENDMEYER, 626 E. Anderson St., Greencastle, has received the Superior Award for outstanding service to the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Program and the citizens of Putnam Coun- ■ ty. The award was presented at the Cooperative Extension Service’s Annual Extension Staff Banquet Oct. 20 at Purdue. Nearly 400 Extension workers from campus and throughout the state attended. GREGORY CRAM, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Cram, and PATRICK STIENE, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tudor and the late Stephen Stiene, will be given the Order of Chevalier, the highest honor given to a DeMolay member. Cram is a junior at DePauw University, while Stiene is a freshman at Purdue University. Both are Past Master Councilors in the Roachdale Chapter of DeMolay. The program will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Masonic Lodge in Roachdale. The public is invited.

Say hello to November Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of light rain developing. Low near 45 overnight. A 40 percent chance of light rain Sunday morning. Decreasing cloudiness late in the day Sunday with high in the mid to upper 50s. Winds becoming northerly at 10-15 mph. Indiana Extended Forecast Monday through Wednesday: Partly cloudy and cool Monday and Tuesday with highs in the 50s and lows from the middle 30s to around 40. A little warmer Wednesday with highs from the upper 50s to lower 60s. Lows around 40. Abby A 8 Classifieds AB.A9 Comics A 4 Crossword A 8 Horoscope A 9 Obituaries AlO People A 4 Sports A5.A6.A7 Theaters AlO

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BRUCE ALBRIGHT

BRUCE ALBRIGHT, Veteran Service Officer of Putnam County, recently attended the State Veterans Service Officers’ Fall Meeting at the Indiana Veterans’ Home, West Lafayette. The Indiana Veterans’ Home is an 800bed nursing care facility and also offers residential nursing and boarding home care. It accepts all veterans who have served at least 90 days during a period of war time as well as their spouses and surviving spouses. SHERI ROACH, director of the After School Childcare Program, attended the 12th annual conference on Learning Disabilities sponsored by the Indiana Association For Children and Adults With Learning Disabilities Oct. 25 at the Hilton Inn at the Airport, Indianapolis. Mrs. Roach attended workshops on how teachers can help learning disabled students on assessing learning disabilities, and on parenting the learning disabled. She also attended the keynote address, “My Needs Are Many; How Can You Help Me?” given by Dr. Barbara K. Cordoni. Army Private GORDON W. MCCALISTER, son of Charles J. and Bonnie M. McCalister IV, 107 S. Locust St., Greencastle, has completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. During the training, students received instruction in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, first aid, and Army history and traditions. Army National Guard Private Ist Class GERALDINE F. GAD-DIS-WINSTON, a 1983 graduate of Cloverdale High School, has completed basic training at Fort Dix, N.J. During the training, students received instruction in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics,, military courtesy, military justice, first aid and Army history and traditions. Army Private PAULA K. CULBERTSON, daughter of Joe K. Webb of Route 1, Rockville, and sister of Cathy L. Lister, Route 1, Fillmore, has arrived for duty with the 13th Signal Battalion, Fort Hood, Tex. Culbertson is a combat signaler.

Putnam Patter

Halloween with Roxie, Ruth and Gertie

By DAVID BARR Banner-Graphic Civic Affairs Editor Whatever happened to Halloween? Roxie Miles has the answer: “They’ve taken all the fun out of it.” These words of wisdom reflect 97 years of living during which time she has observed the downhill journey of customs which were once enjoyed to the fullest by the younger generation. ‘‘WHEN I WAS young,” the Sunset Manor Nursing Home resident remembers, “We all dressed up on Halloween and since no one then locked their doors, we would go in without knocking.” Joining Roxie in these escapades were her sister, Ruth, and a friend of the same age named Gertie Davis. Roxie now admits that barging in without an invitation was a daring thing to do, and some folks may have been a little bit shook up to see strange visitors. “We were all decked out in old clothes, funny faces and masks and we usually didn’t wear out our

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BETTY SENDMEYER

Murder trial set for Jan. 12

ROCKVILLE-A 28-year-old Brazil city sanitation worker, charged in the slaying of Cindy Floyd Starr, will go on trail Jan. 12 in Parke Circuit Court at Rockville. RANDY P. LIGHT, who appeared in court Friday morning as Judge Earl Dowd set the trail date, is accused of murdering the 20-year-old Brazil woman, whose nude, badly decomposed body was found Sept. 6 near Fallen Rock in southeastern Parke County, just west of the Put-nam-Parke county line. Mrs. Starr, whose estranged husband (Marion Starr Jr.) resides in Greencastle, had been reported missing on Aug. 27. She was last seen making a telephone call from a Brazil service station on U.S. 40. Light, who is being held at the Parke County Jail without bond, was arrested Sept. 19 in Brazil. Authorities at that time said he confessed to the killing of Mrs. Starr, who had been struck in the head with a heavy object. However, on Sept. 29, the suspect entered a plea of not guilty.

County hopefuls in debate

Library, jail facilities draw comments

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Managing Editor (Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series concerning the League of Women Voters-sponsored Candidates Forum Wednesday night. Today’s segment features comments made by Democrats Gerry Hoffa, incumbent sheriff, and Dorothy Edwards, Third District County Council hopeful, and Republican incumbent Greencastle Township Trustee Thelma Bumgardner. Their opponents were not at the debate.). One candidate went on record in the Putnam County Library situation, another said a new jail is needed but not foreseen anid another vowed to maintain measures that have kept the township trustee budget out of the red in 1986. Those and other comments were

Orr would intercede if PSI deal bad

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) fer to take over Public Service Indiana were bad for the state, Gov. Robert D. Orr says, he wouldn’t hesitate to get involved. Orr responded Friday to the report of a second proposal to acquire PSI. The report said First City Financial Corp, of Canada, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, promised PSI executives “continuity in management and fair treatment of shareholders and ratepayers.” Earlier, an investment group

welcome by staying too long,” Roxie remembers. MAKING THEIR start early on Halloween from the south end of Greencastle near their homes, the trio ranged over a considerable part of town, leaving most visited families wondering who they were and where they came from. But their luck ran out when they walked into the home of Aunt Kate James on Hill Street, who named them one by one. “To this day,” Roxie says, “I can’t figure out how she did it. We never opened our mouths to give ourselves away.” “No one was doing trick or treating in those days,” Roxie said, as she commented on the custom of today. “All we wanted to do was to have a full evening of fun-and we did.” IF THERE HAD been trick or treating back in Roxie’s day, she is sure things would have been different then than now. Parents wouldn’t have been worried about

POLICE BELIEVE SHE was actually killed within 50 feet of where her body was discovered by a Brazil ginseng hunter. Employed by the City of Brazil as a garbage truck driver, Light is represented by pauper counsel James Bruner of Rockville. Parke County Prosecutor James Hanner has not indicated he will seek the death penalty against Light, who otherwise faces 60 years imprisonment for the slaying. Meanwhile, in a separate but somewhat related case, a Route 13, Brazil man faces charges for possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana, a Class D felony. TERRY D. CRAIG, who appeared in Parke Circuit Court Thursday at Rockville, had his arraignment continued. Bond was set at $15,000 for the Clay County Schools bus driver, who resides 10 miles north of Brazil in southern Parke County. Authorities said an informant came forward with information about an alleged marijuana Col. 6, back page this section

made this week during the Candidates Forum at Meharry Hall on the DePauw University campus. THIS WEEK’S EDITION featured candidates for Putnam County offices, with only 10 of 18 political hopefuls on hand to field questions from the League of Women Voters, DePauw University radio station WGRE and the Banner-Graphic. Dorothy Edwards, the Democrat who is vying with George Sanders Jr. for the Third District County Council seat being vacated by Richard Hassler, tackled perhaps the most-controversial local issue of the evening and the year. Asked about her position on the Putnam County Library’s proposed expanison of its physical facilities, Mrs. Edwards said she is not opposed to a new library. However, she is not in favor of the Library Board’s desire to renovate the Prevo

headed by Chicago-based Palmer Bellevue Corp, was reported to have offered to buy all outstanding PSI stock for just under sl7 a share, or about $1 billion. PSI officials have repeatedly declined comment regarding any aspect of possible acquisitions, mergers or takeovers. Asked about PSI, the state’s largest electric utility, Orr said: “As I have said, my interest is in seeing a healthy utility and making sure that ratepayers don’t get the short end of the stick.

the safety of their children. And if these youngsters had brought home a full bag of loot, there would have been no reason to run their fruit and candy through a hospital X-ray examination just to make sure someone with a very sick mind had not hidden pins or other sharp metal objects in them. The always-open doors of Roxie’s time are now securely locked from the inside, and few families would be willing to open them until a porch, light identified the caller. IT’S A KNOWN FACT that Halloween did bring out the mischief in some young people, as they turned over outhouses, took off wagon wheels, tic-tacked windows and sometimes tied cows to the town pump. Most of these young hoodlums got the meaness out of their systems in a single night, and their shenanigans, for the most part, caused temporary inconvenience rather than actual damage.

It's only Nov. 1, but already Santa's helpers are hard at work getting ready for the holiday season. Katie Brubaker, 5, and 4 brother Tommy, 3, make sure the Christmas ribbon is straight on the large gift-box decorations that will soon be placed on the ■ corners of the Greencastle square. The I youngsters, children of Mr. and Mrs. Bob | Om Brubaker, 215 Hillsdale Ave., Greencastle, g .* put the finishing touches on boxes 111 decorated by Vicky Lanzone and Dorothy isl Crawley. (Banner-Graphic photo by Eric 2* I Bernsee). g

Building that formerly housed the Montgomery Ward store on Indiana Street. “I FEEL LIKE WE do need a new library,” Mrs. Edwards said. “But I know that building, and I don’t feel like it could support a library. “I’m not at all against a new library,” she clarified, “just where it’s going to be (proposed) located.” Mrs. Edwards, who pointed to her farm and business community background as helping her make county wide decisions, said she forsees no problems in cooperation between city and county government. “It’s peoples’ personalities that get them in trouble,” she said. SHERIFF HOFFA, seeking his second four-year term against GOP candidate Gerald Ensor, left no doubt he believes the Putnam County Jail is in need of eventual replacement.

“I have no comment at this time” on the Canadian angle, Orr said. “However, I have a three-year history of involvement in this case and won’t hesitate to get involved again if it’s in the state’s best interest.” No investor group has publicly announced an offer to buy PSI, nor has any statement been filed recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing ownership of 5 percent or more of PSl’s stock. Acquisition of 5 percent of a publicly Col. 2, back page, this section

Today, police can expect calls from those who left their cars on the streets overnight and person or persons unknown had caused costly damages during Halloween night. ROXIE HAS SEEN a lot of changes in Greencastle during her long lifetime. For many, many active years, she had been a cook at a DePauw University sorority house. There wasn’t much need for the ominous warning: It’s 10 o’clock - do you know where your children are? Parents of Roxie, Ruth and Gertie didn’t have to wait up for their Halloween offspring to come home. There were street lights and there were dark streets. But what was there to be afraid of? Awful things did happen but in the big cities - not in a peaceful place like Greencastle. ROXIE HAS AN infectious broad smile and a hearty laugh as she tells about Halloween of bygone days. She looked forward to the holiday as a time to have fun - and not at the expense of others.

“The present jail is not very functional as a jail or a living quarters,” Hoffa said, noting that despite coastant repairs, “very poor conditions” still exist. “But I don’t see any new jail in the very near future,” Hoffa conceded, adding that “by no means is the existing building going to fall down.” IT IS IMPORTANT to note, the Democrat incumbent said, that of the average 850 prisoners incarcerated annually at the local facility, 80 percent are Putnam County residents. A fifth deputy will be an important addition to the Sheriff’s Department Jan. 1, Hoffa said, noting that the main problem in the department has been a lack of manpower. “We’ve had to maintain the same level of service with four fewer employees than when we took over. Col. 2, back page, this section

Mansfield girl, 4, is wounded MANSFIELD-A four-year-old Mansfield girl remained in serious condition Saturday morning following surgery for injuries sustained in an accidential shooting. BETH CROWDER, daughter of Daniel and Karen Crowder, Route 3, Rockville, was struck in the abdomen by a bullet while she and her six-year-old brother and three-year-old sister were playing with their father’s pistol Thursday afternoon. According to Parke County Sheriff’s Department officials, the incident occurred at 12:45 p.m. Thursday. The three youngsters obtained a key to a lock box housing the loaded pistol from a drawer in their father’s dresser. While the children were playing with the weapon, it discharged, striking the four-year-old in the abdomen and exiting her body. Authorities said the bullet was recovered from a closet floor. HER MOTHER flagged down a passing Vermillion County deputy sheriff in front of the family’s home on State Road 59 in southeastern Parke County. The wounded youngster was taken to Clay County Hospital by Parke County Ambulance. She was later transported via Life Line helicopter to Methodist Hospital at Indianapolis.