92nd
Annual Meeting and Luncheon
Noblesville, Indiana
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Eighty members and guests of the Society of Indiana Pioneers met on
Saturday, November 3, at Conner Prairie near Noblesville for the 92nd
Annual Meeting. After hearing a report on the year’s activities
from President Jamia Jacobsen, the following slate of candidates to
serve on the Board of Governors for terms expiring in 2010 was presented
and unanimously accepted by the membership:
- Louise Terese DeMore, Indianapolis
- Ruth Ellen Lathom Dorrel (Mrs. Warren W.)*, Franklin
- Ralph D. Gray, Indianapolis
- Mary Alice Hines*, Indianapolis
- Marilyn Louise Hicks Hoffman (Mrs. John M.,) Indianapolis
- Mary Jane
Coleman Meeker (Mrs. Howard R., Jr.)*, Carmel
- Michael Haydon Miller*, Albany
*Elected to serve a second term.
2007-08 Society of Indiana Pioneers
officers (left to right):
Mary Ellen Simpers, Registrar; Tom Ewbank, President; Jamia Jacobsen, Immediate
Past President;
Ken Beasley, Vice-President/President-Elect; Joan Everitt,
Yearbook Editor;
Bob Everitt, Secretary. Not pictured: Bruce Oakley, Treasurer.
In a special presentation, Dr. Jim Fadely announced the establishment
of the Society of Indiana Pioneers Medallion to be awarded biennially
to persons who render exemplary service to the Society. From nominees
submitted by the membership, a committee of the Board of Governors selected
Evie Rhodehamel to be the first recipient of the Medallion. An etched
crystal medallion was presented to Evie who was recognized with an appreciative
standing ovation.

Evie Rhodehamel receiving the
first Society of Indiana Pioneers Medallion from
Dr. Jim Fadely.
Guests of the Society for this event were two of the three winners of
the 2007 Society of Indiana Pioneers Fellowships: Kevin
L. Gooding (Purdue
University) and Matt Salafia (University of Notre Dame). They expressed
their appreciation for the support by the Society and made brief presentations
on the progress in their doctoral research. The third winner, Keith
A. Erekson (Indiana University Bloomington), was unable to attend but
a letter of appreciation from him was read by Fellowship Chair, Dr.
Jim Fadely.
Reporting on the 2007 Pilgrimages, Nelson Price presented
slides and commentary on the Spring one-day pilgrimage
to Wabash, Indiana, and the Fall overnight pilgrimage
to the Evansville area and New Harmony.

New Society members attending
their first Annual Meeting (from left):
Jack Crisman, Sue Chrisman, Helen Dickenson,
Asa Dunnington, John Klotz, Jane Klotz,
Jack Morgan, Betty Tucker and Judy Singleton.
A buffet lunch was provided followed by a roll call of members by Evie
Rhodehamel. Persons attending the annual meeting for the first time
were recognized. A most interesting program followed: “Pioneer
Indiana through a Saint’s Eyes”. Sister
Barbara Doherty,
Mary Kathleen Fleming and Sister
Marie Kevin, all from St. Mary-of-the-Woods
College related the remarkable story of the College’s foundress,
St. Mother Theodore Guerin, who settled near Terre Haute from her native
France in 1840. A certificate designating St. Mother Theodore Guerin
as an Indiana Pioneer was presented to Sister Marie Kevin by President-elect
Tom Ewbank.

President Tom Ewbank presents a certificate
designating St. Mother Theodore Guerin as an Indiana
Pioneer
to (from left) Sister Marie Kevin, Mary Kathleen Fleming
and Sister Barbara Doherty.
Following tradition, the meeting was adjourned with the singing of “Back
Home Again in Indiana”.
- Submitted by Robert H. Everitt
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