This and that, after a long weekend
A story of a one-inch difference on Memorial Day. And more
Today’s sponsor is Wintek. As the Lafayette Aviators take flight for 2024, Wintek is proud to sponsor our hometown team. But they’re not the only ones with a starting lineup of heavy hitters. From the perfect-game internet we provide for Tippecanoe County residents and businesses to our longstanding support of community and youth programs, Wintek always offers you the home-field advantage. Learn more about our sponsorships at wintekbusiness.com/engagement.
A few notes at the tail end of the long weekend, starting with the reason for the long weekend …
A STORY OF A ONE-INCH DIFFERENCE ON MEMORIAL DAY: If you’ve never been to the Memorial Day ceremonies at Columbian Park’s amphitheater, know that organizers understand the mission. Things are solemn, things are concise as American Legion honor guard offers gun salutes and names are read from the 600-plus on park memorials representing those from Tippecanoe County who lost their lives in wars dating back nearly two centuries. Monday, with a crowd tipping into the hundreds on a windy afternoon, was no different.
Of note was a keynote from retired U.S. Army First Sgt. Bryan Arbic, the assistant director of the Dorothy Stratton Veteran and Military Success Center at Purdue University. On theme for the day, solemn and concise, Arbic told about being in the hospital in 2003, after he was blown from a vehicle by a landmine while serving in Iraq. Arbic said that doctors told him that an inch either way for the shrapnel that wound up in his brain could have been the difference from a glancing blow off his helmet, the injuries he sustained or death. Arbic talked about the difference in one inch and how it eventually led his family, including two children born after that deployment, to Greater Lafayette for lives and a career.
“I consider myself very, very fortunate to be here today and not to be another one that’s being remembered,” Arbic said.
“When I think about that day, on days like Memorial Day, I think about how my family might have been affected by just that one-inch difference. … And then I began to think of all the friends that I lost and the lives and opportunities they sacrificed, all of their tomorrows for our today. Would they have had children. What jobs and positions would they have taken in their community. Would they have been asked to speak at an event like this? It's very easy for me to kind of get down that rabbit hole and think of them on days like today, but I try to remember them every day. What would they have done on this Saturday? What would they have done on that Monday? And I try to keep that in the front of my mind. And as I'm living my life, I'm living as honor of their sacrifice. … Let us not remember just on this day, but every day. Let their sacrifice be a call to action and a reminder that the price of freedom is vigilance, compassion and the courage to build a better world.”
Nicely told, sir.
WEST SIDE SIXTH-GRADER’S SECOND SHOT AT THE NATIONAL BEE: Good luck to Sharanya Kar, a West Lafayette Intermediate School sixth-grader and one of six from Indiana as competition opens Tuesday in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland. Sharanya is making her second appearance at the national bee after winning the regional bee hosted by the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy, prevailing in 11 rounds and winning with words “privet” and “theorem.” In 2023, Sharanya represented the Lafayette area national bee, going out in the fourth round, tied for 74th among 231 spellers from across the country. Preliminaries in the national bee run all day Tuesday, with semi-finals Wednesday and finals Thursday.
INDIANA’S PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHER TREND: This was the lede from WFYI’s Eric Weddle late last week on a new state report tracking school vouchers after a new Indiana law that makes nearly every Indiana family became eligible to receive one for their children’s K-12 education: “Enrollment in Indiana’s private-school voucher program surged to 70,095 students in 2023-24. That’s a 31 percent increase compared to the previous year, the largest ever jump in a single year. The state paid $439 million in tuition grants to private parochial or non-religious schools — 40 percent more than in 2022-23, according to a new state report.” Here’s a way into Weddle’s full story: “Indiana private school vouchers hit record with 70,000 students, nearly half-billion dollar cost.”
INDY 500’S RATINGS: Sunday’s rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 – one that local viewers got to see live – brought in an 8% increase in television ratings, NBC reported Monday. Indianapolis Star reporter Evan Frank broke down the numbers here: “Indy 500 TV ratings up for Josef Newgarden’s thrilling 2024 win.”
Thanks, again, for help with this edition from sponsor Wintek.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
"The state paid $439 million in tuition grants to private parochial or non-religious schools — 40 percent more than in 2022-23" That's $439 MILLION of our tax dollars being taken away from the public schools that have a responsibility to educated ALL children, not just the privileged.