Volunteerism Award

Thank you to Learning for Life for presenting me with the 2008 Outstanding Volunteerism Award. I was very honored! The award was presented at the annual recognition dinner of the Sagamore Council, BSA. Donna Malloy at Learning for Life frequently calls on me to speak to students about career opportunities. I enjoy those school visits and tackling some tough questions from the youngsters (how much do you make and what is it like to work with Mike Prangley?)

Also at the awards ceremony, several local people were honored for the Silver Beaver Award. They include Linda Day, a Tippecanoe School Board member and tireless volunteer for the Sycamore Council. Other recipients include John Fulkerson, Larry Hudak, Pam Nagel, Jeanetta Romack, and Mike Shurn.

Greatest of the Class of 2008

WLFI-TV and area businesses recognized the valedictorians from area schools at a luncheon Thursday at the University Plaza Hotel in West Lafayette.

It was an honor to be a part of the ceremony, as well as to be in such great company! I was impressed that all the students I spoke with credited their parents for helping them achieve academic success. 13 of the 37 plan on attending classes at Purdue. The others are off to other schools to study things like engineering, education, chemistry and pharmacy.

Most of the students have grown up with blockbuster movies featuring super heroes, like Spiderman, Iron Man and the Incredibles. I told them super heroes do not have to be fictional characters. There are heroes all around us who make a positive impact on people's lives.
Good luck graduates!

Southwestern News

I had a wonderful visit to Southwestern Middle School today. The kids in Miss Dolphin's class had a good time doing the news in the media center. Four children presented the news, weather and sports, while Conner and I acted as the floor director, cuing our on-air talent.

The students already had some practice doing the news. The class wrote and produced some stories of their own. I watched a video news clip they produced earlier this year. The students did a great job. I especially liked the weather forecast that played upon the story, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

Hospice Fundraiser

The William D. Supinski Golf Outing for Serenity Hospice Foundation was held Saturday at the Elks Country Club in West Lafayette. Our WLFI team consisted of sales Manager Olszewski, Sales Executive Mike Momberger, Kevin Burnan of Unity Seeds and my son, Brett. This was a fundraiser for Serenity Hospice Foundation. My family used hospice services in Illinois for both my father and mother. They provide wonderful care and support during a loved ones final days. For more information on this organization--http://www.serenity-hospice.com/index.html

Memorial Day Travel

For the first time since 1998, AAA projects the number of Americans traveling during the Memorial Day holiday will drop compared to the previous year. With gas prices at or above $4.00 many of us don't have a choice, but to stay close to home.
More people are also taking the bus. CityBus General Manager Marty Sennett said ridership is up to 7,000 a day. He said that is up almost 1,000 people. He attributes that to the price of gas. We'll have stories on these topics today.
A couple guys stopped me at a West Lafayette restaurant yesterday to complain about gas prices. They told me their truck gets less than 10 mph and an SUV they are trying to sell has significantly dropped in value. A year ago we were paying $3.27 a gallon.

Softball Season

This is a look at this year's WLFI softball team. Our team plays in a league sponsored by the West Lafayette Parks and Recreation. The adult co-ed teams play at the Arni Cohen fields and Blessed Sacrament Church through the week. Our WLFI team can brag, for at least now, to be undefeated. WLFI beat the Arbor Chase Bombers Monday night.

Signs of Spring

Just had to share a couple of pictures from our Mother's Day mushroom hunt. Brett found some big morels at my family farm in Illinois. We found a bag full and look forward to fixing them for dinner soon!

Baby geese, ducks and chicks are a sure sign of spring. Brett had an opportunity to watch some eggs being hatched at Jeff Smith's house last week. Brett was very interested in seeing how the little birds had to peck their way through the shell.

Petting newborn calves and watching chickens hatch were some of the things I enjoyed doing in the spring growing up on a farm in Illinois. This was my first Mother's Day without my mother, Barbara Scott. I miss her very much, but know she is still with me--in many of the things I do and say.

Lee Ann Leaves

Today was Lee Ann Okuly's last day on air at WLFI. Our weekend weather gal is graduating from Purdue University this weekend. Then, Lee Ann is moving to Wisconsin to take a job doing the morning weather at a TV station in Wausau.

Lee Ann was a great asset to our weather department. Some of you may, or may not know, Lee Ann was a huge race fan. She was especially fond of Jimmy Johnson. In fact, if you look closely you will see, Lee Ann is wearing #48 slippers! Many weather people wear comfortable shoes, that don't exactly match. Why not--viewers don't see our feet!

Good luck Lee Ann. We know you will do well. Stay tuned to see who our next weekend weather person will be. Purdue has given us many talented weather people: Angela Buchman, Stacey May, Ross Ellett, and Kevin Harned.

Primary Election

What an exciting month or two it has been for Indiana. The democratic presidential race generated political excitement like this state hasn't seen in decades. Almost 40,000 people voted in the primary. Tippecanoe County election workers say that's one for the record books.
I talked with some voters in Battle Ground Tuesday afternoon. The election supervisor there told me there was a line of 30 voters when she opened the doors to the fire station at 6:00a.m. I have covered some primary elections where the turnout was so low I did stories about how the election workers were knitting, playing games and reading just to pass the time. That certainly was not the case this year.
Clearly the turnout at the polls was due to the excitement in the democratic presidential race. 73% of the voters took a democratic ballot, instead of a republican ballot. People who don't normally vote in a primary did on Tuesday. They wanted to be a part of history. One man told me he was tired of high gas prices and wanted change.
Republicans say turnout for them was actually low. But, incumbents did well.

Local Guard Members Return from Iraq

About 30 members of the Indiana National Guard, based in Frankfort, arrived home Wednesday at the Indianapolis airport. There were about 150 soldiers in all. The local soldiers were put in with a unit based in South Bend. Families called me early Wednesday. The were excited that talk of their loved ones return was becoming reality.

The 151st was based at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. The unit's mission was route clearance and convoy security.

I'm told a group in Frankfort is trying to organize some sort of homecoming festivities. Someone called the newsroom and told us there would a a party for the guardsmen on Thursday, May 8th 10:30 a.m. at the American Legion in Frankfort. We'll keep you posted.

I included this story written by a guard member.

Foxtrot
Story by Spc. William E. Henry, Indiana Army National Guard

INDIANAPOLIS—Hundreds of loved ones welcomed home about 160 National Guard Soldiers with open arms at the 38th Infantry Division Armory in Indianapolis, April 30.
After a year of mobilization, Soldiers and families of Company F, 151st Infantry, were once again united.
Phillip Clouser, father of Spc. Brian Clouser, was on hand to see his son return to the States, and spoke of how proud he was of his son.
“The best thing is that he’s coming home safe. Every one of them is a hero in my eyes,” Clouser added.
While families and friends patiently waited for their Soldiers, a special guest, Vitor Meira, Indy Car driver of the National Guard car, stopped by to extend his gratitude to the families of the troops and signed autographs while they waited for the arrival.
When three knocks hit the overhead door of the drill floor it was time to see the Soldiers. They marched in with roaring cheers from the seats and banners waving.
The cheering wasn’t just done on the drill floor; the Soldiers did some cheering of their own.
“When the pilot announced we were in American airspace, the whole plane erupted into cheers,” said Sgt. Daniel Costello, Armored Security Vehicle truck commander.
While deployed, the company had the mission of convoy security, escorting transports of food and goods around their area of operation, Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Costello continued.
To keep those vehicles running for the missions it takes mechanics like Pvt. Adam Artist, who said he took pride in his work while in Iraq.
“There’s nothing better than being home, but I’m glad I did do what I could to help the guys out on their missions,” said Artist. The Soldiers will go through demobilization training at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center