Dec. 15
In 1942, former Daily Reporter staffer Jack Clark penned a letter home to Hancock County from French North Africa, where the newspaperman turned technical sergeant was stationed. Near the close of his letter, he expressed hope that censorship would later relax and allow him to write letters more descriptive of the country and its people. “I certainly hope so because this place has many interesting angles, which I would like to pass on to you back home.”
In 1967, Gov. Roger Branigan ordered the opening of the stretch of Interstate 70 between State Road 3 and Greenfield opened. Two Greenfield police offers spent four hours downtown in “biting cold” helping direct traffic as motorists exited the interstate and drove south toward Main Street (U.S. 40).
In 2007, Cynthia Erwin, owner of Cynthia’s Hallmark in Greenfield, the nation’s largest Hallmark store, died.
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Dec. 16
In 1991, Hancock and Shelby county commissioners dedicated a $1.3 million bridge at county roads 500 West and 600 South.
Dec. 17
In 1942, Mrs. Robert Birch returned home to Greenfield with her new son, William Gilbert Birch, from Major Hospital in Shelbyville, where she delivered the 10-pound baby.
Dec. 18
In 1956, Greenfield Mayor James Allen and other city employees moved into the new Greenfield City Hall, vacating space they had rented in the Hancock County Courthouse. County commissioners had already determined who the next tenants would be: The Cancer Society and the Center Township Trustee.
Dec. 19
In 1977, the former Greenfield police station was demolished.
Dec. 20
In 1943, the Board of Works and Sanitation in Indianapolis issued a resolution declaring Indianapolis Municipal Airport would be renamed Weir Cook Airport to honor Col. Harvey Weir Cook. The Wilkinson native shot down seven German pilots in World War I and died March 25, 1943, in the South Pacific during World War II. The airport bore Cook’s name until 1976, when the airport became Indianapolis International Airport. Advocates, including some of Cook’s descendants, lobbied to have his name restored, but to no avail; however, when the airport’s new terminal opened Nov. 11, 2008, it was named the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal.
In 1967, Greenfield City Council adopted a resolution opposing state highway plans to remove parking spaces along State Street between South and Grant streets. State Representative Ray Richardson presented the council with a plan that would require removal of about 15 parking spaces instead of the 50 or more the state was targeting; the Greenfield District highway engineer was skeptical of the plan.
In 1972, the Greenfield annexed the Bowman Acres subdivision.
Dec. 21
In 1953, the president of the Hancock County Bankers Association announced that starting the second week of 1954, all county banks would be on a five-day work schedule. William Goss said the move was in line with the 40-hour work weeks being adopted by other types of businesses.
