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July 21 show

History of Special Olympics, other opportunities for special-needs Hoosiers

Amid the "Olympics summer" hoopla under way, Hoosier History Live! will explore the unfolding of opportunities - in sports competition and all aspects of life - for Hoosiers with special needs. What options were available (and not available) more than 40 years ago? How has the evolution unfolded? What have been the challenges and joys along the way?

Nelson will be joined in studio by two Hoosiers who for decades have been on the front lines of advocacy for young people with special needs. Indianapolis civic leader Georgia Buchanan not only is the author of a new memoir, 428½: My Journey Beyond the Railroad Tracks (IBJ Book Publishing), she is the mother of a special-needs son, Bryan Hadin, who will turn 49 next month.

Georgia and Nelson will be joined by Mike Furnish, who has been president/CEO of Special Olympics Indiana for 22 years. Before that, he was a manager at what today is known as Noble of Indiana, which was founded in the 1950s by parents of children with developmental disabilities. (Many of the pioneer parents were ignoring advice from doctors to institutionalize their children.)

"Doctors answered most of my questions as best they could, but there was so much that was a question mark, even to them," Georgia writes in her book, referring to Bryan's childhood in the 1960s and early '70s.

An arts advocate and journalist, Georgia, 85, is the daughter of Greek immigrants who settled in Indy during the 1920s. Her memoir's title, 428½, refers to the street address of their walk-up apartment in a near-westside neighborhood with a mix of immigrant families. (As regular listeners will recall, she was Nelson's guest three years ago for a show about Greek immigration to Indiana.)

She also is a past board president of Special Olympics Indiana. Its first Summer Games in the Hoosier state were held at Indiana State University in 1970, two years after the international games were launched by founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Georgia's son, Bryan, has competed in Special Olympics events, including the Frisbee toss, track and bowling. After receiving a diploma from North Central High School, he became a worker at the greenhouse in what was then called Noble Industries. At Noble's annual celebration on Sept. 12, Georgia will sign copies of her memoir and share remarks about being the mother of a special-needs son. She also will sign books at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at Black Dog Books in Zionsville.

Our guest Mike Furnish has served as a global trainer for Special Olympics, traveling to assist programs in such countries as Russia, Hungary and South Africa. In Indiana, Special Olympics' outreach program in 22 years has expanded from 44 counties to more than 75 of our 92 counties.

Fun fact: In August 1987, the same month that Indy hosted the Pan Am Games, the International Special Olympics Games were staged on Hoosier soil for the first time. The games at the University of Notre Dame were attended by celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Whitney Houston.
Georgia and Bryan also attended the international games and watched the parade of athletes from around the world.

"Notre Dame, with its golden dome, added an amazing backdrop," she writes in 428½.

In August 2006, Indiana sent a delegation of 82 athletes to compete in the first USA National Games in Ames, Iowa. The Hoosier team returned with more than 100 medals, according to Special Olympics Indiana.

All of that is a universe away from opportunities in the early 1900s, when, according to Georgia's book, a few schools in the Indianapolis area offered classes for students who were categorized as "mentally defective." Individualized instruction was available, she writes, "for 'slow' students and those suffering from tuberculosis."

Various advancements occurred, most significantly on a national level in 1973 when the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring public schools to provide an education for all school-age children.

Twenty years earlier, parents of special-needs students had organized to open Noble School, the predecessor of what became Noble Industries.

Today, Noble of Indiana, which has five sites (including ones in Broad Ripple, Carmel and Richmond), offers an array of services. They range from youth summer camps to employment services for adults.

History Mystery

In honor of the Greek heritage of our guest, Indianapolis civic leader Georgia Buchanan, the History Mystery focuses on an aspect of Greek culture. For nearly 50 years, Holy Trinity Greek  Orthodox Church was located at 40th and Pennsylvania streets. In 2008, the congregation moved to a new building in Carmel with an eye-catching Byzantine-style dome.

Before either of those sites, however, the Greek Orthodox community in Indy worshipped downtown. Beginning in the 1920s, the parish church was located at a site near a current landmark building. A historic marker near the well-known building of today describes the original Greek Orthodox church on the site.

Question: Name the spacious building that's on or near the original Greek church's site.

Hint: The current landmark building opened in 1999.

To win the prize, you must call in with the correct answer during the live show and be willing to be placed on the air. Please do not call if you have won a prize from any WICR show during the last two months. The call-in number is (317) 788-3314, and please do not call until you hear Nelson pose the question on the air.

This week's prize is an overnight at the new JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, and two tickets to the Eiteljorg Museum, courtesy of  the ICVA.

Roadtrip: Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond

Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA tells us to head east from Indy on either I-70 or on the Old National Road (U.S. 40) to the eclectic Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond, Ind.

Composed of eight buildings on a compact site, the museum is an eclectic repository of Wayne County and Richmond history from early pioneer life through the industrial revolution into modern times.

Exhibits include two original local log cabins, a Conestoga wagon, a blacksmith shop and a 3000-year-old mummy and a recently updated gallery telling the story of life and death in ancient Egypt. The museum was also mentioned on the July 17, 2010 Hoosier History Live! show about Wayne County history with guest Carolyn Lafever.

Your Hoosier History Live! team,

Nelson Price, host and creative director
Molly Head, producer, (317) 927-9101
Chris Gahl, Roadtripper
Richard Sullivan, webmaster and tech director

Pam Fraizer, graphic designer
Garry Chilluffo, creative consultant
Michele Goodrich, Jed Duvall, grant consultants
Joan Hostetler, photo historian
Dana Waddell, volunteer-at-large

www.hoosierhistorylive.org

Please tell our sponsors that you appreciate their support: Aesop's Tables | Just Fine the Way They Are, a children's book about the National Road | Indiana Historical Society | Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library | Lucas Oil | Noble of Indiana | The Society of Indiana Pioneers | Story Inn.

Acknowledgments to Print Resources, Monomedia, Indiana Humanities, Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, WICR-FM, Fraizer Designs, Heritage Photo and Research Services, Conner Prairie, Derrick Lowhorn and many other individuals and organizations. We are an independently produced program and are self-supporting through organizational sponsorships, grants and through individual tax-deductible contributions through Indiana Humanities. Visit our website to learn how you can support us financially.

Online audio continues to grow

Tornado show gets perma-archived with a kind assist

Thank you to Phil and Pam Brooks for underwriting the podcast of "Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965," and thanks to Jed Duvall for editing the show.

If you would like special shows to be archived as audio on the website, please let us know, and we do appreciate financial support for the additional tech work involved.

Thanks also to recent individual donors Gretchen Wolfram, David Willkie, and Dana Waddell and Clay Collins.

Never-ending kudos to Richard Sullivan of Monomedia, who continues to make our enewsletter and website look so professional, and to our unflappable artist, Pam Fraizer of Fraizer Designs, who created the Hoosier History Live! "look" in 2007, including the caricature logo with our charismatic blond host, Nelson Price.

Thanks also to the staff of Indianapolis Public Library Irvington Branch, who facilitate a weekly listening group for Hoosier History Live! at the branch library by providing a place for patrons to meet, a radio, and learning materials to go along with each week's topic. All are welcome to stop by the library about 11:15 a.m. each Saturday to listen to the show in a group.

July 28 show

Dog days in Indiana with Patty Spitler

Hoosiers, this show will be your chance to bone up on insights about our best friends. To explore the good (canine assistance programs), the bad (unwanted and neglected pets) and the ugly (the surging popularity of breeds so ugly they are adorable), Nelson will be joined in studio by a popular Indianapolis-area TV personality long known for her love of - and detailed reports about - dogs.

Patty Spitler not only is the host of Pet Pals TV, a syndicated program broadcast every Saturday at 10:30 am on WNDY-TV/Channel 23, she is the owner of Louie, a Bernese mountain dog. She plans to share details about the Indiana Canine Assistant Network, an innovative statewide program in which dogs spend 18 months to two years living with host families who train them to be service dogs.

In addition, Patty and Nelson will explore the surging popularity (both nationally and in Indiana) of English bulldogs, a breed that, according to the American Kennel Club, hit the top 10 in 2008 for the first time in more than 70 years.

For the past two years, English bulldogs have ranked No. 6 among 157 breeds listed by the kennel club. In Indiana, much of the recent popularity has been attributed to the basketball triumphs of Butler University and its beloved bulldog mascot, Blue II. Patty plans to share concerns about health and maintenance issues associated with the breed, as well as other breed-specific advice.

The American Kennel Club announced earlier this year that the most popular breeds in the country are, in order, the Labrador retriever, German shepherd, beagle and golden retriever. Larger breeds have been steadily moving up the list, according to the kennel club.

Also during our show, Patty will discuss her reports involving Indianapolis Animal Care and Control, where 17,000 unwanted pets or lost animals were taken last year. On a personal level, Patty will share details about how Louie, her cherished 6-year-old dog, helped pull her out of a depression.

In addition to hosting Pet Pals TV, which also is broadcast on WIWU-TV in Marion, Ind., as well as in Dayton, Ohio, Patty worked for WISH-TV/Channel 8 in Indianapolis for 23 years as an anchor and entertainment reporter. She continues to appear regular on WISH-TV's weekend morning shows and Indy Style, its weekday mid-morning program. She has lived in Indianapolis for 30 years.

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