Thursday, November 12, 2009
Aurora resident receives Historic Southern Indiana's O'Bannon Award
Leslie Townsend, director of Historic Southern Indiana, and James Waldon
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Brandi Schwartz Marketing Coordinator Outreach & Engagement 812/464-1854 Nominated by Karla Fry Schmeltzer, executive director of Main Street Aurora, Waldon serves as an active member of the organization's design committee. "It's hard to know where to begin when it comes to talking about everything Jim does for heritage in our community," Schmeltzer said. "Jim is a teacher, but his teaching does not begin and end in the classroom." Getting students involved with community projects is important to Waldon. He encourages his students to participate in a variety of area projects, including the development of a downtown walking tour brochure. For this project, Waldon asked his students to research the history of buildings in the downtown area. Students presented their findings in the classroom and discussed the architecture and historical significance of each building. This project created an opportunity for students to learn about the history of their community. Waldon also encouraged a student artist to participate in the Windows of Aurora project, which involved several artists in painting turn of the century scenes on 21 boarded brick windows in the downtown area. "The student did the research for the window and selected an appropriate scene that had to be approved through the same process as all the windows painted by the adult artists," said Schmeltzer. "To get more students involved in the beautification of the downtown area, Jim invited student artists to paint panels for vacant storefront windows." Waldon also has researched and written brochures about the churches of historic Aurora and the history and architecture on the Aurora alleys. He is the recipient of the Aurora Historic Preservation Award for the restoration of his home, the Herman Leive House. He also serves as a guide for the Hillforest Historic Victorian House Museum. "Aurora is very fortunate to have someone like Jim who is dedicated to the preservation of the history of our community and to teaching this awareness to our young people," said Schmeltzer. The Frank and Judy O'Bannon Heritage Enrichment Award was presented to Waldon on October 2 in Aurora. The award includes a plaque, a $1,000 cash prize, and an article highlighting his achievements in the Historic Southern Indiana newsletter. Historic Southern Indiana, an outreach and engagement project of USI, was created in 1986 to serve the southernmost 26 counties of Indiana. Its goals are to identify, preserve, protect, enhance, and promote the historical, natural, and recreational resources of the region. It seeks to implement those goals through programs in historic preservation, history education, heritage tourism, community development, and scenic byways. Its office is a part of Extended Services. |
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