Sixty Years Ago This Week – 1954
Correction: The item about Dr. Richard Hartzell in last week’s column should have noted that he was an optometrist.
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Sacred Heart High School senior Charles R. Speth won a $2,000, four-year scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, where he planned to study chemical engineering.
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The St. Francis Hospital Guild was finalizing plans for its annual hoe-down at Lake Shore Country Club, 4301 Carson Ave.
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Grocery specials of the week: eggs, 39 cents a dozen, a 14-ounce bottle of catsup, 10 cents; 2 pounds of ground beef, 55 cents; a pound of chuck roast, 39 cents; and a half-gallon of ice cream, 59 cents.

Fifty Years Ago This Week – 1964
Mrs. Al Laker won a trip for two to the New York World’s Fair. Her name was drawn in the sweepstakes held at Miller’s Regal Market, corner of Madison and Terrace avenues.
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The Perry Township School Board purchased 14.6 acres of land just west of Meridian Street and south of Banta Road for a future elementary school (guess those plans never came to fruition).
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Seniors from Manual High School staged “Ask Any Girl” as their class play. The cast included Bonnie Birt, Becky Pearce, Jerry Dunn, Donna Bery, Linda Sohrewide, Vickie Weaver, Jayne Sprague, Peggy Pearce, Mary Stienecker, Patty Ebbler, Nancy Howell, Charles Overton, Ralph Tacoma, Steve Davis, Cheryl Nackenhorst, Sandy Stone and Doug Booth.

Forty Years Ago This Week – 1974
Tickets to Doc Severinsen’s concert at the Indiana State Fairgrounds went on sale for $4, $5 and $6. A talented trumpeter, he was best known for leading the NBC Orchestra and delighting millions of viewers with his antics on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”  
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Steven M. Scott, a 1966 graduate of Southport, was just a week away from receiving his medical degree from Indiana University. He had been invited to attend Duke University Medical School to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology.
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With more than $250,000 in sales during April, Larry Tuttle was named Salesman of the Month for Schmadeke Realtors’ Southside office. He and his wife, Pat, had three children and lived on East David Lane.
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C.E. McLannahan was looking to share his home with a lonesome lady – one who preferably had a car.

Thirty Years Ago This Week – 1984
Clyde Hays, Dorothy Muncy and Paul Saunders were retiring from Indianapolis Public School 65, and Kenneth Hughes was calling it quits as principal at School 18.
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Roncalli graduate Linda Allen was named to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes All-District 21 Indiana softball team. A senior physical education major at Manchester College, she was the daughter of Mary Allen and Robert Allen.
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Matt Wright, a sixth-grader at Southport Middle School and the son of Larry and Leslie Wright, was going to represent the United States at the international Lego bricks building competition in Denmark. He won the trip for designing a flotation object that supported the most weight in water.
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Tom Sneva won the pole for the 68th running of the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap speed of 210.029. He was more than 2 mph faster than the other front-row qualifiers: Howdy Holmes (second) and Rick Mears. Michael and Mario Andretti qualified for the inside and outside of Row 2, respectively. Mario had been turning near-record speeds during practice but lost some of that quickness when qualifying.

Twenty Years Ago This Week – 1994
Center Grove Middle School seventh-grader Anne Elisabeth won the JC Penny/500 Festival “Catch a Dream” essay contest. She was the daughter of Laura and Bill Stevenson and the grandchild of Marion and Richard Shake.
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Tammy and Vic Wilson’s triplets – Nicholas, Nicola and Vic – celebrated their first birthdays. They shared their birth with a fourth sibling who survived only one day. The children were within ounces of one another at 18 pounds and were all about 28 inches in length.
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The PTA of Burkhart Elementary sponsored a dads night, which attracted more than 300 pupils and their fathers. Among those attending were Mike Schneider and his sons, Luke and Matt, and Bill Baron with his son, Ross.
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Perry Meridian seniors Chris Brunson and Aaron Logan took top honors in the school’s math league contests. Junior Kelly Keeney, sophomore Nanthan Ante and freshman Eric McAfee were the highest-scoring students in their respective grades.
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Southport’s prom court featured Seong Park, Donna Seats, Andrea Taylor, Nancy Clauss, Amy Westrick, Tavonne Harris, Jessika Henry, Dale Jaarvis, Isaac Holloway, Jim Schopper, Dewayne Hudson, Jeremy Johnson, Mikal Porter and Drew Watson.


Ten Years Ago This Week – 2004
Correction: The item in last week’s column about Eric, Matthew and Brent Brockelman having perfect attendance should have stated that they attended Southport High School. The erroneous information was taken from the original story, which had them graduating from Roncalli. Funny, because 10 years ago The Spotlight made the same correction.
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“Yikes”! was the headline over a picture that showed that gas had jumped to $2.05 a gallon. Petroleum experts said the worst was yet to come. 
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Vitus and Marie (Huser) Kern and Jerry and Shirley (Weathers) Mack celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries. The Kerns were the parents of Loretta Wright, Susan Jansen, Karl Kern, Donna Ball, Bernadette Stamper and Rose Marie Kern and had 16 grandchildren. The Weatherses had three children, Larry, Gary and Tim, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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“Gardening on My Mind” columnist Georgia Hottell reported that cicadas did not harm vegetables and flowers and were not the menace that many people made them out to be.
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Toni Hook, an award-winning student at Herron School of Art and the daughter of Tony and Judy Ardizzone, earned the privilege to further her studies in Beijing.
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Ardizzone & Nalley Gym at Stop 11 Road and Madison Avenue celebrated its 25th anniversary. The gym was opened by Tony Ardizzone and Dick Nalley, who died of cancer in 2002. The gym’s employees included Mike, Tony, Joe and Judy Ardizzone, Richie, Megan and Marcus Nalley, Toni Hook and Roxann Pattison.

Sixty Years Ago This Week – 1954
Joyce Gladson, Barbara Collins, Judy Christopher, Helen Baker, Barbara Henn, Richard Carter, Beverly Siersberk, Pat Dain, Kathryn Weiland, Mary Ruth Huser, Bill Kirkman and Joy Seller were among Manual Training High School students who were honored for their achievements in English.
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A brand-new six-cylinder Ford coupe with turn signals cost $1,697. Other 1954 models with eight-cylinder engines were priced from $1,984 to $2,220.
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The city’s 2,270 public school teachers were given raises of $150. Their salaries ranged from $3,500 to $5,700.

Fifty Years Ago This Week – 1964
Dr. Richard Hartzell, a dentist, reopened the office of the late Dr. Frank Otte, which was located at 1024 Virginia Ave. Hartzell had practiced in Greensburg before moving to Indianapolis in 1962. He and his wife, Sharon, had three young boys.
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A leader in its field since 1840, the Stewart-Carey Glass Co. was building a store at 3505 Madison Ave. 
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Villa Baptist Church, 2650 Villa Ave., announced its plans to erect a three-story, $90,000 educational building. 
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Janie Woods from WTTV’s “Popeye Show” and Bob Morrison from WXLW radio were making special appearances at Southtown Photo Center’s birthday celebration. The shop, 3333 Madison Ave., boasted gifts for everyone and was giving away a movie camera and a projector as the grand prize in its drawing.
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Burger Chef, which claimed its hamburgers were the greatest in the world, lowered the price on its sandwiches from 15 cents to 10 cents for two days.

Forty Years Ago This Week – 1974
Southport Mayor Ralph E. Carnine issued a proclamation that May was being recognized as Elder Citizen Month.
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Southern Plaza’s huge boat and travel show featured some of the finest boats, motor homes and campers on the market.
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Mr. and Mrs. Harold Thompson announced the engagement of their daughter Lynne to Sgt. John J. Weisenbach, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Weisenbach. The couple would be wed May 25 at St. Jude Catholic Church.
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Dana Green, Roger May, Debbie Smith and Timothy Cline, all pupils at Indianapolis Public School 35, were winners in the 500 Festival of Arts contest.

Thirty Years Ago This Week – 1984
Lorie Ritterskamp, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Ritterskamp, and Brent Schieb, son of Mrs. Nathan Schieb, were named Perry Meridian’s co-valedictorians after having earned identical 4.0 grade point averages. 
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Beth Springer was named Southport’s valedictorian after maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout her high school career, which included two years at Bloomington South. Active in basketball and track and field, she was the daughter of Bill Springer, who coached basketball and taught math at Southport. 
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The following quip was published at the end of Editor Jerry Cosby’s “Coz’ Corner”: 
Son: “Pa, how much does it cost to get married.”
Father: “It depends on how much you’ve got and how long you live.”
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Fifth-graders at Southport Elementary were learning basic computer skills.
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The d’Indy Quartet, which featured Corinne Imboden on first violin, Jennifer Peck, second violin; Elizabeth Cymerman, viola; and Ronald Nobles, cello; was preparing for its concert at Southport Christian Church.

Twenty Years Ago This Week – 1994
Emmaus Lutheran kindergartners Megan Caldwell, Stephanie Roberts and Jill Schwartz were busy painting backdrops for their class’s production of “Strega Nona,” a play that was based on the book of the same name.
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Holly L. Shaw, a senior at Southport and the daughter of Jim and Linda Shaw, was awarded a $3,500 Presidential Scholarship to North Central College in Naperville, Ill. An aspiring actress, she had a lead role in “Love Hurts,” an after-school special that CBS aired.
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Roncalli’s junior-senior prom court featured Jaime Schroeder, Katie Sherman, Mandy Ford, Daisey Durret, Becky O’Connor, Kara Quillico, Stacey Seger, Jeremy Stahley, Jim Blackwell, Nick Stewart, Nick Scott, Brian Lauck, Trever Wilson and Tom Daeger.
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Specials at Dinner Bell Markets, 2824 Shelby St., included a case of Bicycle Beer for $3.99 (must have been some nasty stuff) and cases of Black Label, Drewry’s and Drummond Bros. for $5.99.
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Craig Potter was named head football coach at Perry Meridian High School, where he had served as an assistant from 1974-87 before leading Greenfield Central’s program for six years.

Ten Years Ago This Week – 2004
Roncalli baseball coach John Wirtz picked up his 600th win against Beech Grove. A member of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, Wirtz was in his 28th year as the Rebels’ coach, having led the team to a runner-up finish in the 1982 state tournament. 
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Eric Bockelman, a senior at Roncalli, duplicated the feats of his brothers, Matthew and Brent, by not missing a day of school for 13 years. Jean Bockelman attributed her sons’ good health to a balanced diet, plenty of exercise and sleep and vitamins.
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Dr. Katherine W. Stickney, associate professor of chemistry, was named the University of Indianapolis’ 2003-04 Teacher of the Year. She was recognized for her lab experiments with real-world applications and for making it a point to have sparking classroom discussions.
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Perry Meridian’s eighth-grade Indy Falcons AAU basketball team won all four of its games in the Columbus Regional to qualify for the state tournament at Perry Meridian High School. The squad consisted of Stephanie Atkins, Grace Johnson, Alison Smith, Heather Henderson, Erika Moreland, Sara Garmon, Emily Nolan, Natalie Boyer, Emily Herron, Brandi Bunner and coach Steve Brunner.
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Herman Bueno, an outstanding long-distance runner who led the 1976 Southport Cardinals to the state cross-country title, was named to the school’s Wall of Fame. A teacher and track coach at Southport Middle School, he also enjoyed a successful running career at Indiana Central University.