MEGAPHONE
Elwood, Indiana Elwood High School(s)
Volume 5, No. 12 Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Contents
(You can use the page numbers as links!)
Page 1 . . . Your Old Home Town -- Sharon (Benedict) Hurst
Page 2 . . . A Letter To My Love -- Sharon (Wood) Schwartz
Christmas in Russia -- Louise (Mountcastle) Romine
Page 3 . . . A Dream of the Season to Share -- Diane (Usfo) Peters
Page 4 . . . The Anderson Jinx -- Episode II -- Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen
Page 5 . . . A Man Greatly Admired -- Shirley (Fite) Dellinger
Page 6 . . . Winter Memories -- Louise (Mountcastle) Romine
Page 7 . . . Those Historic Buildings -- Sharon (Benedict) Hurst
Page 8 . . . Wendell Willkie and Me -- Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen
Your Old Home Town
by Sharon (Benedict) Hurst
Elwood is looking very festive for this holiday season. Anderson Street is open and the lights are on from South P Street all the way to Fairground Road. Trees have been planted and benches are set out along the north part of the uptown area. The new street signs that co-ordinate with the Victorian look are all up along Anderson Street. The brick-look walkways are in place along the side walks uptown and in the crosswalks at each stop light crossing. The fountain is beautiful at the corner of South B and Anderson Streets and the benches, lights, drive through and foot bridge at Willkie Park on North Anderson are really a sight for homesick eyes. The new bridge over the creek at North F and Anderson Streets looks better each time I see it.
Christmas decorations are out in the uptown area and Callaway Park is truly a Winter Wonder Land. The Festival of Lights will start on November 28 at dusk and is a sight no one ever expected to see here in Elwood. This year’s festival will be even better than the previous two years. Last year, people came from many points in Indiana and the surrounding states to see what had been done.
Dan Nance and his crew had built a Tunnel of Lights that would accommodate school buses and vans and when it turned into such a success, Dan decided to build it bigger and higher to accommodate tour buses. The entire park now has access to electricity with both commercial displays as well as the smaller displays. It is very true when they say, "If you build it, they will come." Many visitors are expected to come and share in the beauty that is this small town, Elwood. Many of us from here in Elwood will be at the park to assist when Santa visits with the children and to help collect the donations which go directly into the Festival of Lights fund. I would like to see several hours of caroling being done during this time to make even more holiday cheer.
Another annual event is the Live Nativity with the Parade of Animals that is sponsored by the First United Methodist Church. The parade consists of camels, donkeys, sheep, shepherds, kings and other assorted animals and characters. The program has choral music, hand bell choirs, instrumental music and reading of the Christmas story inside the church. There is also a display of more than 50 nativity sets in the church parlor and refreshments served in the basement. This attraction has also grown quite large and draws people from throughout the area. Each song and reading will not be duplicated during the live program. Once it has ended for this year, it is over until the next Christmas.
This year the Victorian Stroll evenings that have been discussed did not materialize, but with the things that are being done and the crowds who come to see it all, I am sure it will not be long before this, too, is annually done. Maybe a Christmas Tour of Homes will soon be on the drawing board also. The Crimson Suite Show Choir will perform at the Paramount Theater in Anderson this Christmas season and the Panther Band will perform at the Indianapolis Arts Garden "Mistletoe Music Festival."
I do so wish that all of you could visit to see the wonderful things that have been done here to make Elwood, Your Old Home Town, so much more beautiful.
Your Roving Reporter,
Sharon (Benedict) Hurst '53
Elwood, Indiana
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