Teacher Warehouse items needed; info sought on Elmer Oliphant

After a few days away from the office to caddy for Rachael at the State Amateur at the Anderson Country Club, I need to pass along some items that have come my way.

Teachers Warehouse

The Bloomfield and Linton Rotary Clubs are teaming up again to help area teachers and students by gathering items for the Teachers Warehouse store in Bloomington.

For the past three years, the clubs have served the educational and creative needs of children in Greene County by providing a unique means to transfer donated school supplies from businesses and individuals free to Greene County teachers for the use in their classrooms and schools, according to Sandra Mead, Teachers Warehouse Board member and a member of the Bloomfield Rotary Club.

Mead said some students in our county cannot afford basic school supplies. Books and other supplies can be scarce or nonexistent. Teachers must use personal funds to obtain necessary supplies that parents and strained school budgets cannot provide.

"Through the Rotary Clubs of Bloomfield and Linton and their community partner sponsorships, teachers in all of Greene County's K through eighth grade can now go to the Teachers Warehouse and shop for free," Mead wrote in an e-mail earlier this week.

Teachers Warehouse is located at 524 North Fairview St. in Bloomington, and is open Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Doors open to teachers Aug. 2.

"Teachers Warehouse continually needs supplies to stock this free store, so we are asking Greene County residents and businesses for your help," Mead said.

She provided a "wish list" of items that are needed. If you wish to donate items on the wish list, you can drop them off at any of the Bloomfield State Bank locations in Greene County: Bloomfield, Eastern Greene Branch, Linton, Lyons, and Jasonville.

Items needed:

Spiral notebooks, highlighters (any color), 1 inch and 2 inch three-ring notebooks, 3X5 index cards, felt fabric and other fabric, buttons, sequins, glitter, paint, pipe cleaners, Kleenex, bottles of sanitizer, larger scissors with points, three hole punches, crayons, markers and colored pencils, blunt end scissors, pink pearl erasers, glue sticks, bottles of white glue, dry eraser markers (especially black), composition books, back packs/book packs, crayons and cute two pocket folders, and compass and protractors

For more information, call Mead at 384-4431 or 381-3442, or e-mail her at smead@bloombank.com .

Information needed on Oliphant

Former Bloomington Herald-Times Sports Editor Bob Hammel called the other day looking for some help.

He's trying to gather some information on former Linton High School standout athlete Elmer Oliphant.

He has plenty of information on his college days at Purdue and Army, but needs items from his days at Linton.

Hammel, now retired from the newspaper business, stated that Oliphant is considered by many as "one of the top two or three athletes ever to come out of Indiana."

Hammel is hoping someone in Greene County or elsewhere can provide him with some information about his basketball playing days at Linton. He needs as many statistics as possible.

"I have more than enough data from his Purdue and Army years. His records there are phenomenal. But, what I need is his Linton information, and I'm hoping one of your readers can help me," Hammel wrote in an e-mail after our telephone conversation. "Oddly, I do have documentation on his sophomore season at Washington, before transferring to Linton for his junior (1908-09) and senior (1909-10) seasons.

"I have little hope to find scrapbooks or clippings or anything like that. But, I do think there is some likelihood that some member of that 1910 graduating class at Linton will have left to relatives the yearbook from that year. The 1909 yearbook would help, too, but my primary search object is the 1910 yearbook."

If you have something you believe Hammel would be interested in learning about Oliphant, please e-mail him at Bob.Hammel@cookgroup.com or write him at 2021 Brookfield Court, Bloomington, Ind., 47404. You may also reach him by telephone at (812) 355-2525, ext. 2059, or (812) 339-7511.

Chris is the general manager/editor of the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487 or by e-mail at cpruett79@gmail.com.