Members of the Hobart High School Alumni
Association attended the first HHSAA Annual Meeting on Friday, April 27, in the
Grand Hall of Hobart High School. Dr. Peggy Buffington, Superintendent of the
School City of Hobart, shared some of the “inside information” about the plans,
development and construction of the new Hobart High School building. Retiring
HHS Principal David Spitzer talked about his experience as Principal for the
last 10 years, as well as his involvement with the HHS Alumni Association.
Board members and
officers were elected for the 2012-2013 year (see page 4 for the current
listing). President Paul Addison talked about how the HHS Alumni Association
came into being.
HHS Senior Brittany
Sedoris was awarded the first scholarship by the HHSAA, for $500, made possible
by your generous contributions. Retired coach and guidance counselor Paul
Throne and David Spitzer were both presented with Lifetime Memberships from the
Association.
The HHS Jazz Band,
under the direction of Brian Grenier, entertained the group before dinner, which
was served by the Hobart High School catering staff. The meeting concluded with
the singing of the Alma Mater and the school fight song.
Alumni Spotlight
HHS Alum Brent Dickson
is the Newest Indiana
Supreme Chief Court
Justice
It was announced
on May 15 that Brent Dickson, who has been serving on the Indiana Supreme Court
since 1986, has been named Chief Justice, replacing Randall Shepard. Brent
Dickson is a Hobart High School graduate, Class of 1959.
Shortly after that announcement, Chief Justice Dickson was gracious enough to grant me an interview with him:
Congratulations on your new appointment as Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Was this ever a goal of yours?
No, it wasn’t. In fact, I didn’t even aspire to be a judge until, after seventeen years of law practice in Lafayette, Indiana, a couple of lawyer friends urged me to consider applying. Now, after twenty-six years as a justice, my disinterest in being Chief Justice was overcome by the urging of numerous Indiana judges, various judiciary employees, and several voices from the executive and legislative branches of Indiana government.
Could you describe your educational and career path from Hobart High School to your present position on the Indiana Supreme Court?
My freshman through junior years at Hobart High School was at its old location in downtown Hobart (just north of Brickie Bowl). When the “new” high school was built and opened on Eighth Street, I was starting my senior year. I had been Sports Editor of the “Ho-Hi Life” my junior year, and was Editor-in-Chief my senior year. We spent much of the summer planning an issue of the “Ho-Hi Life” to be distributed the first day of school at the new building. During my senior year as a Brickie, and the summer afterwards, I worked at Luigi’s Pizza on Center Street and at Buy-Low grocery supermarket on Route 6. During my college years, I worked summers at U.S. Steel Gary Works and was a professional pianist at various area locations.
After graduation from Hobart High School in 1959, I attended Purdue University—intending to study math and physics. While at Purdue, I discovered that I had deeper interests in American history and government, and became very active in student government and in the daily Purdue newspaper, the “Exponent” (as well as playing piano in an off-campus Dixieland band, the “Salty Dogs”). Playing with the Salty Dogs also provided income that helped with college expenses. I met my wife at Purdue. After Purdue, I went to law school at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis (no
the I.U. Robert McKinney School of Law), where I attended classes at night while working full time as an insurance adjuster during the day.
I graduated from law school in 1968 and accepted a position as a lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana. In 1970, I opened my own “solo” law practice and continued to operate as a “solo” for about seven years, after which two other Lafayette lawyers joined me and we formed a new law firm. That firm grew to become Dickson, Reiling, Teder, and Withered, where I was a general practice and trial lawyer for about eight more years.
In 1986, Indiana Governor Robert Orr appointed me to be the 100th Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. By the end of June, I will have become the third longest-serving justice in Indiana Supreme Court history. My wife and I will celebrate our 49th anniversary in June of this year. We have been blessed with three sons and nine remarkable grandchildren.
When did you decide that you wanted to become a lawyer, and what led to that decision?
My interest in becoming a lawyer was gradually developing during my junior and senior years at Purdue, and afterwards. But my first job after leaving Purdue was that of a reporter for a financial newspaper in Indianapolis. After that, I sought admission into law school, was accepted, and began work as an insurance adjuster while attending night law school.
As Justice on the Indiana Supreme Court, you have been active in promoting appropriate use of technology and digital information, especially regarding access to court records. Could you tell us about your initiatives and accomplishments in that area?
As Chair of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on Access to Court Records, I worked with a diverse group of others to consider the problems of assuring open public access to court records while also protecting person privacy and minimizing exploitation and identity theft possibilities. These competing goals proved to be challenging. After almost a year of weekly all-day meetings, the Task Force was able to complete a set of special rules governing how courts and court clerks (and attorneys) prepare, file, store, and make available court records. These rules continue to be in effect in Indiana. I have also served technology roles for the court as Chair of the Judicial Data Processing Oversight Commission and Chair of the Supreme Court Records Management Committee.
You were an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Law School for over ten years, teaching constitutional law. Did you enjoy that, and is there any chance that you might return to that after you retire from the Indiana Supreme Court?
Teaching Indiana Constitutional Law for ten years was an enjoyable and beneficial experience. The law students were bright and kept me on my toes. And I liked being able to introduce them to a subject—the Indiana Constitution—about which most of them knew very little. I taught about three years at the I.U. Law School in Indianapolis (now McKinney), and overlapping that, I taught about ten years at the I.U. Law School in Bloomington (now the I.U. Mauer School of Law). Both of these were night courses.
I haven’t decided what I might do when I finally retire.
Do you have any advice for high school students who might be interested in a career in law?
Admission into law school is becoming harder and harder. Much depends on a student’s undergraduate grades in college. And after law school, getting a position as an attorney—especially getting a well-paying one—depends largely upon a student’s academic performance in law school. So, I would encourage students to learn and practice self-discipline. Read voraciously. Do well in whatever discipline you initially pursue, whether it is history, literature, math, science, accounting and business, or whatever. It is probably less important what a student studies in college but more important for the student to excel in it. But I personally urge the study of history as the best preparation for becoming a good lawyer, a wise counselor, and an effective public servant. Add to all this a balance of involvement in the activities of one’s community and religious faith, and you have a prescription for fulfillment and success.
(article by Paul Addison)
Shortly after that announcement, Chief Justice Dickson was gracious enough to grant me an interview with him:
Congratulations on your new appointment as Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Was this ever a goal of yours?
No, it wasn’t. In fact, I didn’t even aspire to be a judge until, after seventeen years of law practice in Lafayette, Indiana, a couple of lawyer friends urged me to consider applying. Now, after twenty-six years as a justice, my disinterest in being Chief Justice was overcome by the urging of numerous Indiana judges, various judiciary employees, and several voices from the executive and legislative branches of Indiana government.
Could you describe your educational and career path from Hobart High School to your present position on the Indiana Supreme Court?
My freshman through junior years at Hobart High School was at its old location in downtown Hobart (just north of Brickie Bowl). When the “new” high school was built and opened on Eighth Street, I was starting my senior year. I had been Sports Editor of the “Ho-Hi Life” my junior year, and was Editor-in-Chief my senior year. We spent much of the summer planning an issue of the “Ho-Hi Life” to be distributed the first day of school at the new building. During my senior year as a Brickie, and the summer afterwards, I worked at Luigi’s Pizza on Center Street and at Buy-Low grocery supermarket on Route 6. During my college years, I worked summers at U.S. Steel Gary Works and was a professional pianist at various area locations.
After graduation from Hobart High School in 1959, I attended Purdue University—intending to study math and physics. While at Purdue, I discovered that I had deeper interests in American history and government, and became very active in student government and in the daily Purdue newspaper, the “Exponent” (as well as playing piano in an off-campus Dixieland band, the “Salty Dogs”). Playing with the Salty Dogs also provided income that helped with college expenses. I met my wife at Purdue. After Purdue, I went to law school at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis (no
the I.U. Robert McKinney School of Law), where I attended classes at night while working full time as an insurance adjuster during the day.
I graduated from law school in 1968 and accepted a position as a lawyer in Lafayette, Indiana. In 1970, I opened my own “solo” law practice and continued to operate as a “solo” for about seven years, after which two other Lafayette lawyers joined me and we formed a new law firm. That firm grew to become Dickson, Reiling, Teder, and Withered, where I was a general practice and trial lawyer for about eight more years.
In 1986, Indiana Governor Robert Orr appointed me to be the 100th Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. By the end of June, I will have become the third longest-serving justice in Indiana Supreme Court history. My wife and I will celebrate our 49th anniversary in June of this year. We have been blessed with three sons and nine remarkable grandchildren.
When did you decide that you wanted to become a lawyer, and what led to that decision?
My interest in becoming a lawyer was gradually developing during my junior and senior years at Purdue, and afterwards. But my first job after leaving Purdue was that of a reporter for a financial newspaper in Indianapolis. After that, I sought admission into law school, was accepted, and began work as an insurance adjuster while attending night law school.
As Justice on the Indiana Supreme Court, you have been active in promoting appropriate use of technology and digital information, especially regarding access to court records. Could you tell us about your initiatives and accomplishments in that area?
As Chair of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on Access to Court Records, I worked with a diverse group of others to consider the problems of assuring open public access to court records while also protecting person privacy and minimizing exploitation and identity theft possibilities. These competing goals proved to be challenging. After almost a year of weekly all-day meetings, the Task Force was able to complete a set of special rules governing how courts and court clerks (and attorneys) prepare, file, store, and make available court records. These rules continue to be in effect in Indiana. I have also served technology roles for the court as Chair of the Judicial Data Processing Oversight Commission and Chair of the Supreme Court Records Management Committee.
You were an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Law School for over ten years, teaching constitutional law. Did you enjoy that, and is there any chance that you might return to that after you retire from the Indiana Supreme Court?
Teaching Indiana Constitutional Law for ten years was an enjoyable and beneficial experience. The law students were bright and kept me on my toes. And I liked being able to introduce them to a subject—the Indiana Constitution—about which most of them knew very little. I taught about three years at the I.U. Law School in Indianapolis (now McKinney), and overlapping that, I taught about ten years at the I.U. Law School in Bloomington (now the I.U. Mauer School of Law). Both of these were night courses.
I haven’t decided what I might do when I finally retire.
Do you have any advice for high school students who might be interested in a career in law?
Admission into law school is becoming harder and harder. Much depends on a student’s undergraduate grades in college. And after law school, getting a position as an attorney—especially getting a well-paying one—depends largely upon a student’s academic performance in law school. So, I would encourage students to learn and practice self-discipline. Read voraciously. Do well in whatever discipline you initially pursue, whether it is history, literature, math, science, accounting and business, or whatever. It is probably less important what a student studies in college but more important for the student to excel in it. But I personally urge the study of history as the best preparation for becoming a good lawyer, a wise counselor, and an effective public servant. Add to all this a balance of involvement in the activities of one’s community and religious faith, and you have a prescription for fulfillment and success.
(article by Paul Addison)
_________________________________
HHSAA Website Update
Our website has some new and updated features. Go to www.hobartalumni.org and check us out!
Our website has some new and updated features. Go to www.hobartalumni.org and check us out!
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page: Help for everything from creating your profile to sharing an email account for your username.
- Recent Obituaries: We receive notices from all locations of Hobart alumni from all classes, and we create an In Memory page and post obituaries for each one.
- Hobart Yearbooks: What was it like to be a Brickie 100 years ago? We have the HHS yearbooks from 1912 and 1911.
- Class Reunions: The latest information on upcoming and regular get-togethers. Is your class having one?
- What Was Playing? YouTube videos with hit songs from every year going back to 1900!
- Also, for easier bookmarking, the website address now appears as hobartalumni.org instead of classcreator.com.
_________________________________
Meet the 2012-2013 HHS Alumni Assoc. Board
The Hobart
High School Alumni Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was
officially incorporated on July 17, 2010. Dues are $10 a year. The members of
the Board of Directors for the 2012-2013 year are:
OFFICERS
Paul Addison, Class of 1970................................................................................ President
Sharon Wozniak Palmeri, Class of 1966..................................................... Vice-President
Lynn Hasza-Heintz, Class of 1967........................................................................ Secretary
Barbara Phillips Rowley, Class of 1965................................... ...Corresponding Secretary
Debra
Broker Opolski, Class of 1970.................................................................. Treasurer
AT-LARGE MEMBERS
David
Spitzer, Principal, Hobart High School
Kathy
Fattore Allen, Class of 1986
Andi
Beluchak Fressle, Class of 1966
Holli
Smith Kostbade, Class of 1998
Lynn
Sheets Kostbade, Class of 1966
Dawn
Briney Krull, Class of 1968
Tracy
Estabrook McCullough, Class of 1978
Sherry Oswald
Peterson, Class of 1965
STUDENT MEMBERS
*Mike
Halloran, Class of 2012
*Jenna
Ferris, Class of 2012
*Savannah
Ehrlich, Class of 2013
*Jenna
Funes, Class of 2013
*In
the fall, two new junior student members will be selected. Each year, there are
two juniors and two seniors on the board.
The Brick & Mortar Board is a
publication of the Hobart High School Alumni Association, Inc., a non-profit,
501(c)(3) corporation. It is an electronic publication, delivered by email to
members of the HHS Alumni Association. Our website is: www.hobartalumni.org. The editor
of The Brick & Mortar Board is Paul Addison.
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