The Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay, one of the biggest events of the 2016 Bicentennial celebration, will be going through both Boone and Hamilton counties with participants making their way through Zionsville and Carmel.
Tailored to look like the Olympic Torch Relay, Indiana’s version will run through all 92 of the state’s counties and cover more than 2,300 miles over a six-week period. The relay started on Sept. 9, is set to end Oct. 15 and will travel six days per week for five weeks.
More than a dozen Boone County residents were selected to participate, and a total of 36 Hamilton County individuals were chosen to participate.
Kate Burkhardt, communications coordinator for Visit Hamilton County, said everyone participating and watching should be proud.
“This is a once in a 200-year opportunity,” she said. “We have people from different walks of life participating in such an incredible event.”
Fred Daniels, Carmel, plans to follow the torchbearers all throughout both Boone and Hamilton counties.
“I’ve been looking forward to watching this for a long time,” he said. “I think this is really exciting and something to feel good about.”
In Boone County, the torchbearers who accepted their nominations were: John Baker, Robert Boyer, Brandon Daugherty, John Davis, Kerri Faulkner, Kurt Gilliam, Perry Hammock, Thomas Herlt, Audrey Mast, John Merson, Diana Northcott, Glenn Northcott, Ralph Stark (a posthumous selection; another participant will represent him), Reece Thompson, Jennifer Trapuzzano and Kathy Wood.
The torch relay will begin at the southern tip of the state in Corydon, the state’s first capital, and make its way to Boone County on Oct. 13. The relay will enter Boone County at 12:30 p.m. through the west border via U.S. 32, according to The Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay committee.
The runners will take the torch through downtown Lebanon before making their way to Zionsville. The relay will then head southeast and exit the county via 106th Street at 2:30 p.m. The route through Boone County is about 40 miles long.
(Click here to view a list of Boone County torchbearers)
In Hamilton County, the torch relay route will be at 1 Center Green, Carmel, between 3:50-4:15 p.m. The torch will be present from 4:05-4:15 p.m.
The 36 individuals chosen by a community selections committee will carry the torch throughout Hamilton County as it makes its way to the county seat over a four-hour period. The torch is also going through Westfield, Fishers and Noblesville.
Burkhardt noted that the selected torchbearers in Hamilton County include firefighters, entrepreneurs, teachers, coaches, athletes and volunteers who have dedicated their lives to making Indiana a better place to live, work and play.
In Hamilton County, the torchbearers include: Arnie Cooper who was inducted into the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame; J. Stanton Renner, a retired government and history teacher who taught at Hamilton Heights Schools for more than 40 years; Allen Patterson, director of Hamilton County Parks and Recreation; and General James Bauerle who served as Brigadier General in the U.S. Army Reserves. He has earned more than a dozen military awards and serves as legislative chairman of The Indiana Veterans Affairs Commission.
Other Hamilton County torchbearers include: Albert Chen who founded the Telamon Corporation in Carmel, now one of Indiana’s largest private companies with more than 1,400 employees and $800 million in revenue; and Jennifer Shuck, a teacher in Irvington Schools and founder of Dresses and Dreams.
Others include: Toby Stark, executive director of Chaucie’s Place, a child advocacy organization in Hamilton County that focuses on the prevention of child sexual abuse and youth suicide; Swati Singh, a dentist who educates, treats and protects children across central Indiana from tooth decay; and Joseph Kalil of Fishers who served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a veteran of the Korean War with two meritorious promotions.
“It really is an outstanding list of people who represent the best of Hamilton County,” Burkhardt said.
