WTIU profiles Greencastle in Our Town documentary

Greencastle resident Harry Normington (left) talks about the new PBS documentary "Our Town: Greencastle" with Bill Roberts of the Walden Inn, video narrator Jinsie Bingham and executive producer John Winninger (right) following a local screening of the program at the Walden Inn and Conference Center on Tuesday evening.

The people, places and some familiar faces that most Greencastle residents know and enjoy will be shared with the rest of southern Indiana next week when the PBS documentary "Our Town: Greencastle" airs on WTIU.

A sneak preview of the program, videotaped during the summer months around Greencastle and Putnam County, met with resounding applause Tuesday evening as executive producer John Winninger shared the success of the homegrown series that puts the spotlight on worthy Indiana communities.

"It's been fun," Winninger said as he introduced the program at the Walden Inn and Conference Center. "Fun to get out and get in the community, and getting to know you people."

Jinsie Bingham (left) and others watch the preview of "Our Town: Greencastle" on Tuesday evening.

Narrating the program is Greencastle historian Jinsie Bingham. She is joined in presenting the stories, sites and people of Greencastle by other well-known locals such as Frank Durham, John Baughman, Don Weaver, Ken Eitel, Mayor Nancy Michael and Alice Greenburg.

Durham shares the history of the Buzz Bomb on the courthouse square, a monument he was instrumental in bringing to the city.

Wes Wilson of the DePauw Library talks about the connection between the university, community and IBM Corp., which left the city in the late 1980s, taking 985 jobs with it.

DePauw President Robert Bottoms shares the city's rebound fom the IBM departure, and the connection of the town with the gown, especially through the DePauw Nature Park.

Tales of the Monon Bell rivalry between DePauw and Wabash College are revived by long-time coach Nick Mourouzis and Dean Robert Farber.

The biggest countywide event each year -- the Putnam County Fair -- has plenty of video coverage with local faces lining the streets and interviews with parade organizer Dorothy Edwards, fair queen Tara Thornburg, and National Guard Sgt. Ben Fox.

Taking a walk on the People Pathways are Joy Marley and Rod Weinschenk. And sharing the McKim Observatory is professor Mary Kertzman.

Current industry is also highlighted with a look inside Dixie Chopper and Buzzie Unicem, formerly Lone Star Industries.

More than 24 hours of video was taped in the making of the program, and about 100 hours were put into the production, Winninger said.

The DVD will include a longer version than what will air, as well as extended interviews and features on the Heritage Wall, Veterans Memorial Highway, Ivy Tech Community College and more on the Monon Bell.

The documentary will air on WTIU, the PBS affiliate in Bloomington, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, and again at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6. Major sponsors of the program are the Walden Inn and Old National Bank.

"I hope the phones are going to ring off the hook with people wanting to see the show and get the DVD," Wininger said of what is, in true PBS fashion, a membership drive aimed at south-central Indiana viewers.

For a $75 membership contribution, a copy of the DVD will be shipped. And for $100, two copies of the DVD will arrive. Contributors will also have their names read on air as supporters of public television.

Greencastle is the fourth community featured in the "Our Town" series. Other communities were Spencer, Bedford and Seymour.

And Greencastle is no different from those three in that local residents express their pride in their community and its history.