GREENFIELD — Residents who represent the best of Hancock County have been picked to carry the state’s bicentennial torch.
Statewide, more than 2,000 Hoosiers will help carry the torch as it passes through all 92 counties this fall.
The Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay starts Sept. 9 in Corydon, Indiana’s first state capital, and will wind through all 92 Indiana counties before ending with a celebration at the statehouse Oct. 14 — the same day it comes through Hancock County.
Here’s a look at Hancock County’s torchbearers:
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery{&subleft}Ernest Alder
Hancock County resident Ernest Alder worked for the Indiana State Police for 20 years and helped found an Indiana State Police youth summer camp program for high schoolers that provided youth with the opportunity to connect with state troopers in a positive way.
{&subleft}Jerry Bell
Jerry Bell is the director of Nameless Creek Youth Camp, a nonprofit organization that provides outdoor opportunities to campers of all ages. Bell was also a longtime educator and serves as director of the Brandywine Wind.
{&subleft}Nancy Davis
Davis is the director of the Hancock Regional Hospital Foundation and has helped raise millions of dollars for the Sue Ann Wortman Cancer Center at the hospital, which makes it possible for Hancock County residents battling cancer to receive comprehensive treatment in their hometown.
{&subleft}Andrew Ebbert
Ebbert is heavily involved in Shirley organizations, including the Shirley Visionaries. He’s been a volunteer firefighter for more than 20 years and was instrumental in finding funding for ambulance services in the Shirley/Wilkinson area.
{&subleft}Jill Ebbert
For about 10 years, Ebbert has served as the only manager of the Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen, Hancock County’s only soup kitchen, and is responsible for finding volunteers, planning fundraising events and completing everyday responsibilities that accompany a soup kitchen.
{&subleft}Clayton Fahrnow
Fahrnow graduated this year from New Palestine High School, where he participated in the cross-country and track teams.
{&subleft}Chuck Fewell
Fewell has served as mayor of Greenfield since 2013. Before then, he served as an Indiana State trooper and a police officer for Shelbyville. He also served in the United States Marine Corps.
{&subleft}Gary Hunt
Gary Hunt is an Army veteran and avid volunteer who has lived in Hancock County since 1940. Since then, he has performed with a number of local music groups, including the Greenfield Community Choir and Brandywine Wind, concert and jazz bands.
{&subleft}Harold Jarrett
Jarrett, a longtime Hancock County resident, is a decorated veteran of World War II who served in the United States Navy for a number of years.
{&subleft}Brigette Cook Jones
Jones is one of Hancock County’s historians and a longtime hostess at the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home and Museum, where she now serves as coordinator. She also serves as president of the Hancock County historical society and is an expert in local history.
{&subleft}Sarah Kesterson
Kesterson, a longtime Hancock County resident, led the Riley Festival Committee for four decades. She received a Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the state’s most distinguished honors, in 2004 for her dedication to the community. Kesterson is also involved in the Hancock County Homemakers Association.
{&subleft}Nolan ‘Skip’ Kuker
As Hancock County’s economic development council director, Kuker works hard to bring new businesses and development to the area. In the last three years, Kuker has taken on the challenges of the job with and courage and spirit as he battles cancer.
{&subleft}Retta Livengood
Livengood, a lifelong Hancock County resident, serves as the executive director of the Greenfield Area Chamber of Commerce and is president of the Greenfield-Central School Board. She has also served as a Sunday school leader and local Boy Scout leader.
{&subleft}Mary McConnell
McConnell, a Hancock County resident, serves as state director for the Indiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy, which has helped to establish and protect nature preserves. She also serves on a number of gubernatorial and state boards and commissions.
{&subleft}Max Meise
Meise served five terms on the McCordsville Town Council and was a key player in making McCordsville a growing community. He’s served in a number of positions and on various boards for the town during the past 20 years.
{&subleft}Nicholson Miller
Nicholson, 11, is a member of the seventh generation of the Roesener family, whose ancestors emigrated from Germany to Hancock County in 1837 and founded Roesener Farm, a Hoosier Homestead farm that will celebrate its 180th anniversary next year.
{&subleft}Paul Okerson
Okerson, a longtime Fortville resident, keeps the arts alive in Fortville, where he is the driving force behind Ten West Center for the Arts, a nonprofit performing arts center for youth. About eight years ago, Okerson purchased a church building and converted it into an arts center, a place where Hancock County students are able to express themselves.
{&subleft}Jaycie Phelps
Phelps, a Hancock County native, was a member of the Magnificent Seven, the country’s 1996 Olympic gymnastics team that brought home a gold medal. After her big win, Phelps founded the Jaycie Phelps Athletic Center near McCordsville for other aspiring gymnasts.
{&subleft}John ‘Rob’ Richardson
Richardson, a Mt. Vernon High School graduate, served more than 20 years in the United States Army with deployments in Iraq, Albania and Kostovo. He now works for the Untied States Department of Veteran Affairs and resides in Greenfield.
{&subleft}Bailey Young
Young is an eighth-grader at Doe Creek Middle School who created a volunteer group that meets monthly to plan community service projects. Earlier this year, the group collected coats, hats, scarfs and gloves and placed them on tree branches in Veterans Memorial Plaza in Indianapolis for people in need.
