Stories from Monday, June 27, 2011

Presale passes for the 2011 Putnam County Fair went on sale today at several locations in Putnam County. The Putnam County Fair is scheduled July 22-30. Daily admission fee (without a pass) is $5 per car (per entrance to the fairgrounds) and $1 for walk-ins...

John Kamfonas, a young New York classical pianist who also improvises and plays in rock bands, has seen his growing career has taken him from Aspen, Colo., to Philadelphia to Beijing -- and this week to Greencastle. He performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church as the Greencastle Summer Music Festival presents its fifth concert of the summer...

United Way will be handling its kickoff celebration a bit differently this year. The annual breakfast on Aug. 26 will lead into the Day of Caring, but the day will last two days instead of one, going into the following Saturday. The Day of Caring is, in this case, a two-day event where the United Way will mobilize volunteers to work on philanthropic projects across the county. These projects can be any kind of service project, from distributing food to rebuilding roofs and sidewalks...

Parkfest moves into its third week with the Fret Set Band playing from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Robe-Ann Park Bandshell in Greencastle. The Fret Set Band has been together since 1994. It is a group of friends who like to play traditional American folk music...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has arrived in Putnam County and families with children from birth to five years old will definitely want to jump on board! Imagination Library is open to all families in Putnam County -- at no cost -- for children from birth to five years old, regardless of family income...

If there is a hole in the middle of Greencastle's commercial landscape, there is an effort under way to fill it. Possibly with jelly or cream. Dunkin Donuts is exploring the possibility of developing a Greencastle franchise over the next 12-18 months, it was confirmed by Grant Benson, vice president of franchise and marketing for the company...

Tender Hearts Childcare used water cannons to shoot streams of warm water at spectators of the Roachdale Summerfest parade on Saturday afternoon. Most of the other floats and parade members tossed assorted candy at the crowds instead. The Summerfest had live music, food, games and the annual tradition of the Roach Races. For more pictures of the event, go to the link here: http://www.bannergraphic.com/gallery/roachdalesummerfest2011.

CLOVERDALE -- Al Tucker is no stranger to the game of basketball. He served as head coach at Cloverdale for 17 seasons where he won seven sectional titles. His love of the game continued on even after retiring from the coaching ranks. Tucker was recently named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors, an organization which he's had ties with since his retirement from coaching...

TERRE HAUTE -- North Putnam's Travis Franklin, Aaron Vondersaar and Jordan Murphy capped a 35-2 victory for the North All-Stars on Saturday night in the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game. Greencastle's Jesse Vermillion, South Putnam's Jake Gould, Dean Varvel and Adam Zigler and Cloverdale's Matt Hall also made huge impacts for the South All-Stars in the seventh annual contest played at Indiana State University's Memorial Stadium...

Michael W. Clarkson passed away on Saturday, June 25 after a valiant two-year battle with cancer. He attended the International School in Brussels, Belgium and St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Boca Rotan, Fla. He was a 1982 graduate of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla...