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Calumet Township | East Chicago | Gary | Griffith | Hammond | Highland | Hobart | Lake Station | Munster | Whiting
NI | Sunday, June 28, 2015 | Section C
getting to know
Debra Herman, of East Chicago, left,
and Sue Anderson, of Homewood, look
for fossils in the rocks they carried out
from the recent Thornton Quarry tour.
Girl Up
organizer
to explore
STEAM jobs
Carrie Steinweg, The Times
Times Staff
Highland teen Mireya Felix is headed
to Africa in July after being chosen
one of 30 young women to attend the
WiSci (Women
in Science) Girls
STEAM Camp in
Rwanda.
The threeweek camp,
hosted by the
G a s h o ra G i rl s
Academy in
Rwanda, will
Felix
bring together
African and U.S.
girls interested in the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics fields.
It is a joint effort of the United
Nations and Girl Up, a program dedicated to ensuring young girls achieve
their full potential.
A junior at Highland High School,
Felix holds a 3.7 grade point average
and is a member of the National Honor
Society and the Spanish Honor Society.
Felix has started her own chapter of
Girl Up, a partner of Girls on the Run,
at Highland High School with teacher
Christine Dorsuleski. “The program
will look like a grown up Girls on the
Run with a greater focus on advocacy,
being educated on global issues and
helping others on a global scale,” Felix
said.
“We recently had our call out meeting and 35 girls showed up. We were
not expecting that many girls, but were
very thankful,” she added.
“The girls that join this club will be
vital to Girl Up’s growth in Indiana,”
she added.
Chicago Bulls’ guard and E.C.
grad Moore to read to children
EAST CHICAGO | The East Chicago
Public Library, 2401 E. Columbus
Drive, will host a special Family
Reading N ight
at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday with
Chicago Bulls’
shooting guard
E’Twaun Moore.
The 2007 East
C h i c a go C e n tral High School
g ra d u a te w i l l
Moore
read local author
Latonya S. Hicks’
latest children’s book, “The Goldenly
Wreath.” The inspirational Seuss-like
story urges readers to follow their
dreams and never give up. Moore,
who has accomplished many goals
by working hard and staying focused,
will also share some of his experiences related to following his dreams.
There will be light refreshments, basketball giveaways and a chance to win
an autographed Chicago Bulls jersey.
Call the library at (219) 397-2453, ext.
17 or 33. —
Times Staff
Quarry tours a chance
for some fossil finding
Carrie Steinweg
Times Correspondent‌
On nwi.com
For more photos go to this story at www.nwi.com.
THORNTON | Have you ever driven along
Interstate 80 and looked down into that
deep, wide hole known as the Thornton
Quarry and wondered what goes on down
there?
Twice a year, the Thornton Historical
Society offers an opportunity to board
a bus and head down into the quarry to
learn about the operations of Hanson
Material Service Corp.
About 270 people took part in the
June tour. A second tour will take place
in October. There’s such a demand that
the current wait list extends until 2020.
The tours are the main fundraiser for the
Thornton Historical Society.
The tour began with a video on quarry
production at St. Paul Church in Thornton, with participants then boarding three
buses for the trip across town. Some were
simply interested in the history and others were loaded up with tools and buckets
to bring back souvenirs.
The bus stops at a pit in the bottom of
the south lobe of the quarry, where rocks
can be carried out.
On each bus was a historical society
guide who gave an overview of the quarry
operations. Thomas Ehlers, who also
serves as a village trustee, was one of the
guides, accompanied by Mark Nowak,
production supervisor with Hanson
Material Service. Ehlers has been leading
tours for the past four years.
The first stop was a lookout area
behind Hubbard Park once open to the
public, but now locked except for the
tours. From the lookout, spectators can
see dump trucks below that appear the
size of Tonka toys.
After Hansen reached peak production of about 10 million tons in 2005, it
has decreased gradually, Nowak said. Last
year 3 million tons of material was produced and sold. Nowak remembers when
the blasts happened twice a day. Now
blasting occurs about twice a week.
Debra Herman, of East Chicago, has
been digging for fossils ever since she was
a child and pointed out spots on a large
rock with markings of Brachiopods. She
registered for her tour through the Dyer
Parks Department and was pleased to get
moved up on the list due to cancellations.
“I grew up in Angola, Ind., and we had
a gravel driveway. I would pick through
and find fossils and would collect them.
I’ve always liked digging,” she said.
For more information, visit thornton60476.com, click on “community” and
then “historical society.” Tours are $20
and open to those 18 and older.
Playing for fun and charity
Officer Brandon
Norris of the
Highland Police
Department takes
a swing during
game action at the
Police & Fire Charity
Softball Event held
in Munster.
Police and firefighters take the field
Times Staff
MUNSTER | The third annual Police
& Fire Charity Softball Event,
organized by the Choice Community Council of Munster, was held
June 14 at Community Park and
involved police and fire department teams from Munster, Highland, Dyer and Griffith.
Approximately $3,000 was
raised for the Cancer Resource
Centre of Munster and the American Red Cross reported exceeding
the goal for blood donations for
the day during a blood drive at
the park. The event also included
music, concessions, a performance
of the National Anthem, bounce
houses, door prizes, and a closing
ceremony that included the championship trophy being presented to
the Dyer Police Department for the
second straight year.
“The event went great and it
was for a good cause,” Munster
Police Officer James Ghrist said.
“We would like to thank everyone
who participated through their
attendance or sponsorship.”
Provided by the
Munster Police
Department
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