Stories from Saturday, December 24, 2011

Jim and Hope Birt were married Dec. 29, 1951. They have two sons, Eric (Judi) of Greencastle and Aaron (Julie) of Carmel, and five grandchildren, Michelle, Jennifer Brown, Andrew, Grayson and Samantha. A family dinner is planned.

Robert and Virginia Summerlot of Cloverdale wish to announce the recent marriage of their daughter Karen to Jared Miller, son of Lee and Kathy Miller of Gaston. The Dec. 3 wedding was held on the beach in Santa Barbara, Calif. After a honeymoon in Jamaica the couple will reside in Los Angeles...

Peace Lutheran hosts 3 Christmas weekend services Peace Lutheran Church, 1421 S. Bloomington, Greencastle invites the community to celebrate the birth of Christ with a variety of worship opportunities. On Christmas Eve, Peace will offer a 5 p.m. Family Christmas service as well as traditional candlelight worship at 7 p.m. A Christmas Day service will be offered at 10:15 a.m. as the church rejoices in the Good News of the coming of Jesus...

Through a matching grant from Rotary District 6560, the Rotary Club of Greencastle recently made a $5,000 donation to the Reading Improvement Center. Club members Nancy Michael, left, and President David English, right, made the check presentation to Ellen Ditmer of the Center. ...

PUTNAMVILLE -- The Indiana State Police Post at Putnamville have received a donation in the spirit of Christmas. To assist other children during emotionally distressing times, first-graders at South Putnam Central Elementary donated 46 new stuffed animals and bears to the local post...

REELSVILLE -- Students at Reelsville Elementary and their siblings may have a happier Christmas this year thanks to Putnamville Correctional Facility (PCF) staff members. Dozens of employees selected names of children from a Christmas tree located in the facility's administration building. ...

Vectren Corp.'s subsidiary, Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana--North, has announced that its employee-members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1393 and United Steelworkers Locals 12213 and 7441 have ratified a new three-year labor agreement...

PUTNAMVILLE -- Christmas came early at the Putnamville Correctional Facility (PCF) as children recently spent a day with dad, in observance of the upcoming holidays. Eleven incarcerated fathers and 30 children and guests spent the day in the facility's recreation area amid mouthwatering aromas of holiday cookies, the sounds of shuffle board, basketball, book reading and children's laughter...

Indianapolis meteorologists are generally more than a little conservative in making bold forecasts before big events. But there's some history behind that. Their propensity for walking on eggshells around Race Days and holidays can probably be traced to the time a now-former Channel 13 weatherman predicted "a Powerball chance" of the Indianapolis 500 being run in 1998...

When you're 16 months old, your first visit to see Santa Claus can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions. That was definitely true for little Emma Evans, daughter of Russ and Shiloh Evans, Greencastle. She got all dressed up in her pretty Christmas dress and had her picture taken by daddy but changed her mind at the last minute when it came to sitting on that big bearded guy's lap...