During the last 2 weeks, we were able to spend time with family and friends in a place near and dear to our hearts…Indiana.
I grew up in Columbus, Indiana, attending elementary school, junior high, and high school. Ken and I met here while attending Junior High and began dating when we were in high school. This is the place where Ken and I got married and started our wonderful life together.
We returned to Columbus for one week to reconnect with old friends and to attend our Class of 1971 43rd High School Reunion. There aren’t many places to park an RV in Columbus, but, we decided to stay at Ceraland Park, located about 7 miles outside of town. When we lived here, Ceraland was a Cummins Engine Co. employee only recreation park, but, it is open to the public today. In the 60’s and 70’s, we were lucky to have friends whose parents were Cummins employees that allowed us to enjoy this great park. Ceraland had the best 4th of July fireworks display in town!
Our class reunion was held on Saturday night and the turnout was very small. However, both Ken and I were able to connect with our old group of friends. What fun! It was great to be back, but, it is no longer “home”.
Columbus, Ind., looks like any other small town, with its small shops and restaurants. But what sets this town apart is its architecture. Since we grew up around these buildings and enjoyed them as part of our everyday life, we did not fully appreciate the architecture. I have read many articles over the years about the modernist buildings and wanted to get some pictures for my collection. I ended up taking only a few photos of buildings that were special to me.
Nothside Junior High School This building, designed by Harry Weese, features repetitive brick arches mostly with inset windows. The hallways (lined with student lockers) are filled with natural light from glass-inset arches overhead which filters light into the halls from the classrooms. My favorite design element was a landscaped interior courtyard that was offset from the center of the building.
Columbus High School
North Christian Church, designed by Eero Saarinen, was completed in 1964. The building is six-sided and has a sloping roof that blends with the landscaped earth-mound which surrounds it. This low line accentuates the slender 192-foot spire, topped with a gold-leaf cross, which gives its distinctive design. The multi-acre landscaped site includes a parking lot with “parking rooms”.
First Christian Church
The first modern building built in Columbus, IN, Was designed by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen in 1942. The factory-like design has a tall, rectangular tower and small, rectangular windows.
In 1971, The Large Arch, created by English sculptor Henry Moore, became the centerpiece on the plaza in front of the I.M.Pei designed Bartholomew County Public Library. The sculpture measures 20 feet tall, 12 feet wide and weighs 5 and 1/2 tons. It was sand cast in bronze in 50 pieces in Germany.
Leaving Columbus, we drove to Noblesville, IN, north of Indianapolis, to visit with my brother Larry and wife JoAnn. Since we were here last year, we made reservations at the nearby White River Campground in Cicero, IN. We had a great visit and were lucky to also get to spend time with Nicole, Todd, Matt, Sandy, and Zach.
We encountered several rain storms while in the area, but a little rain didn’t stop us from enjoying our time together. Larry and JoAnn took us to their favorite BBQ restaurant and it was delicious! Ken has something called the “Hoffinator”; pulled pork topped with macaroni and cheese, french fries and I don’t know what else. He said it was good!
Unfortunately, Ken came down with a bad cold and was not feeling well, but he kept going. Even though I tried hard to not catch the “bug”, I came down with it on our last day. Hopefully, we did not leave any germs behind in Indiana!
We left Indianapolis and traveled towards Red Bay, Alabama…home of Tiffin Motorhomes, the manufacturer of our Allegro Bus.
Will we be able to get our RV repairs done Quickly??????
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