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Henry County Historical Society & Museum

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HENRY COUNTY HISTORY FEED

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NOTICE

Because we are a Special Collections Library and Archive, our hours may differ on short notice due to staffing and volunteers. Please check our hours carefully to make sure we will be open for your visit. Sometimes we are on tours or with previously scheduled guests and cannot answer the door or phone. Appointments are highly recommended for people traveling to visit us. (You can request an appointment by emailing us at HenryCountyMuseum@gmail.com.) We recommend making your appointment at least one week in advance.

Copyright 1887-2024 Henry County Historical Society, New Castle, Indiana

Bringing History to Life & Life to History Since 1887! Hours of Operation
Please contact us to schedule a tour and/or research during these hours: Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays 1 p.m.-4 p.m. If no appointment is made, tour and/or research cannot be guaranteed if no volunteers are available. Open through early March to late December! Admission Fees: None! Call us: 765-529-4028 Email us: HenryCountyMuseum@gmail.com Mail us: 606 South 14th Street, New Castle, IN 47362

7,044

Henry County Historical Society, Inc

Open early March - December!
Open Thursdays and Fridays, 1-4 p.m. ET,
& Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. ET
Please call ahead for tours and/or research so that we may schedule volunteers. If no appointment is made, tours and/or research cannot be guaranteed.

Henry County Historical Society, Inc

3 days ago

‘Hello, is this Julie?”The Holland Elementary School fifth-grader didn’t recognize who was on the other end of the phone.“Well, this is Richard Carpenter and I’m the brother of Karen Carpenter,” the man said. “You’ve probably heard we’re coming to New Castle Fieldhouse.”“Yes, I auditioned to be in the background group,” the surprised youngster said, still not sure if a music superstar was actually talking to her or if someone was playing a joke.“Well, I’d like for you to accompany us in a song,” the man continued.That was how one of the most exciting and extraordinary experiences of Julie Bennett Brammer’s young life began. She did, indeed, join The Carpenters, one of the biggest selling recording artists of the 1970s. She was on stage with 11 or so other local elementary students when they performed in New Castle Fieldhouse Nov. 7, 1974.Today, more than 46 years later, Brammer still marvels at the opportunity she had.“It was just such a highlight of my elementary years,” she said. “Even looking back, it’s almost surreal that I got to do that. I know it was quite an honor.”Brammer and her New Castle elementary choir mates sang background vocals for The Carpenters’ rendition of “Sing.”Now a veteran teacher at Westwood Elementary School, Brammer said the words of this song, first performed on the PBS kids’ show Sesame Street, still resonate."Sing.Sing a song.Sing out loud, sing out strong.Sing of good things, not bad.Sing of happy, not sad.Sing.Sing a song.Make it simple to last your whole life long.Don’t worry that it´s not good enough for anyone else to hear.Just sing.A daughter of Harold and Helen Bennett, she didn’t need a lot of encouragement to sing, particularly where The Carpenters were concerned.“My mom was just so tickled for me,” Brammer said. “She knew how much I liked the Carpenters.”Growing up in a family that had lots of love but little money, Brammer remembers how both her mother and her older brother, Joe, made sure she was ready for the big performance.“I remember distinctly how mom took me up to Horney’s Music Store on Race Street and told me to go in and get the 45 rpm record of ‘Sing’ because I needed to practice,” Brammer said.“My brother, Joe, bought me a phonograph prior to the concert,” she continued. “So that’s where I would be every day after school, in my bedroom listening to the 45s of the Carpenters I got at Horneys.”Brammer also recalled that in spite of her family’s tight budget, her mom made sure a new outfit was purchased just for the concert.“I had six brothers and we were pretty poor,” Brammer remembered. “So to go get a new outfit that wasn’t Christmas or your birthday, that was a big deal.“So we went to Arlan’s Department Store (where Buffalo Wild Wings and Goodwill are now),” Brammer continued. “She bought me a pair of canary yellow velour bell-bottoms. They were popular back then.”And another treat fit for a concert moment – a trip to the Sagittarius Plum. It was a popular clothing store across from the golf course along Ind. 3.“She found me a cute shirt there,” Brammer said. “I was so excited because it was a very expensive store and you didn’t go there unless you were rich. I felt like I was on top of the world.”Appropriately, that was one of the songs The Carpenters performed in the fieldhouse.Before the show began, Julie and her parents got to go backstage and actually meet Richard and Karen Carpenter.“That was the highlight of my life then,” Julie said. “That was a big, big deal. I was nervous and excited. I just thought Karen Carpenter was the most amazing performer and still think her voice is like none other.”The aura of that Carpenters experience on that special night has followed Julie through the years. When she and husband Jeff were married 35 years ago, one of the songs performed by a friend was “We’ve Only Just Begun” from the Carpenters.Even now, family get-togethers still don’t end until Brammer performs.“It became a family tradition,” she said. “I had six brothers and I was the youngest, so I was surrounded by boys. At Christmas and different get-togethers, I would sing a song with a karaoke machine and they would back me up. I was like Gladys Knight and they were my Pips. Every time we get together, someone says ‘OK, we’ve got to see Gladys Knight and the Pips.”Then there’s how close friends continue to introduce her.“Maribeth Taylor, a good friend of mine, always says ‘this is my friend Julie and she sang with the Carpenters,” Brammer laughed.As the years have gone by, mention of “The Carpenters” unfortunately draws puzzled faces from today’s youth. But the relentless march of time has no power on the memory of a melody or a great experience. Nearly five decades later, the Carpenters continue to bring an occasional tear to her eye and instant goosebumps when she hears a familiar song on the radio – especially this time of year.“When I hear Christmas songs by The Carpenters, I still get cold chills, because it brings me back to that evening,” Brammer said. ... See MoreSee Less

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Henry County Historical Society, Inc

3 days ago

On this day in Henry County history, Nov. 7, 1974, "The Carpenters," a dynamic brother-sister singing duo, performed in New Castle Fieldhouse. The duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts. They had three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 15 number-one hits on the Adult Contemporary chart.Pictured here is a photo of the Carpenters.Do you remember when the Carpenters performed at New Castle Fieldhouse?Here is a newspaper column written by Henry County Historian Darrel Radford reliving that special night in New Castle Fieldhouse. They were the biggest-selling group of the ’70s. No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers and by 2005, combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units.On Nov. 7, 1974, this duo who had taken the Billboard charts by storm were in New Castle. “The Carpenters” performed in the Fieldhouse that night. A recent Courier-Times Facebook survey proved memories as big as the moment linger with many.Karla Edson kept her ticket stub. The cost to see this world-renown group was $5.50, with part of the money going to help buy new Trojan Marching Band uniforms.“It was my very first concert,” she said. “I remember it well. They came as a fundraiser to raise money for new band uniforms for the marching band. Premier-Southern Tickets (I believe out of Cincinnati) was the promoter.”For the brother-sister team who blazed a musical trail with such hits as “Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun,” performing in the world’s largest and finest fieldhouse presented a challenge. A document Edson shared said Richard Carpenter compared the fieldhouse design to tea cup, with bleachers on the inside walls and the group at the bottom of the cup.The challenge was especially daunting for stagehands.“There is no way to back a truck up to the stage and unload the equipment,” Edson’s document read. “Instead it must be brought from the top, down an aisle to the bottom.”It reportedly took 40 stagehands to get the huge truckload of Carpenter equipment down the aisle to the stage. The biggest problem was the huge soundboard and the nine-foot concert grand. Edson said it was, of course an even bigger problem getting all of the equipment back up to the top.But those who were there, like Marilyn (Jones) Horan, Loveda (Scrogham) Jones and Greg Gard, will never forget it.“It was my first real concert,” said Horan, a 1975 graduate of Blue River Valley High School. “I loved Karen. She was so amazing. The funny thing is that my husband Mike, whom I didn’t know at the time, had seen them perform at Ball State the evening before. Because he was in the music program, he was able to be backstage. I am still jealous over that!”“My beloved grandma took me to this concert!” said Loveda Scrogham Jones, another BRV alum. “It was my first real concert. I loved the Carpenters and wanted to be able to sing like Karen!”“I was there in awe,” Mooreland’s Greg Gard said. “Then bought their album THE SINGLES as my very first record purchase. I was 13 and listened to it every day for months. Who didn’t have a crush on Karen Carpenter???”Linda Madison, who for many years owned and operated Weiland’s Flowers in New Castle, not only remembers the concert well – she also helped decorate Richard and Karen’s hotel room.“I remember doing a flower arrangement for them using one of their 45s for their stay at the Holiday Inn as it was known then,” Madison said. “A group of friends from one of my wholesalers had me get tickets for them. It was very well attended, a big deal for them to come to New Castle.”Retired New Castle teacher Jeri Anice Gooding recalls how she and Phyllis Klipsch also helped.“As home ec teachers, we provided the snacks, our office couch and coordinated the things they asked for back stage,” Gooding said. “I remember distinctly that they wanted grapes. So we found the biggest and best available. The concert was awesome!”Meanwhile, Julie Brammer remembered how she and other New Castle music students actually performed with The Carpenters at one point during the show.“It was awesome as a young student getting to be up on that stage and singing with them,” she said. “Never forget it!!!!”Retired Courier-Times photographer John Guglielmi didn’t see the duo here but said he photographed them for a Binghamton, N.Y. newspaper. He remembered how pleasant they were, particularly Richard Carpenter.“Karen’s brother was very hospitable to us,” Guglielmi said. “Karen answered a few questions but mostly hung with the band. Excellent show.”Others who posted on Facebook they were at the New Castle Fieldhouse show included Randy Sorrell, Brenda (Margison) Bockover, Linda Ratcliff, Dennis York, Wendy Wilson, Debbie (Dorn) Durst, Dorothy Shopp and Vicky McWhorter Pryor, then a senior at New Castle who sat in the front row.Also there was this writer, who was a senior at Blue River Valley High School at the time, alongside his sisters, Cheryl and Donna, who proved to be the coolest of big sisters by taking her younger siblings to the concert.According to Ray Coleman’s book “The Carpenters: The Untold Story,” the New Castle event was one of a staggering 203 concerts The Carpenters performed in 1974.The year The Carpenters came to New Castle would be the peak of their productivity as far as live performances were concerned. The very next year, their show numbers dropped nearly in half, to only 118 concert dates, with another 46 shows getting cancelled.Health problems started to shadow both Karen and Richard. She died on Feb. 3, 1983, less than a decade after performing here. Richard, regarded as the creative force behind the group’s success, battled with an addiction to Quaaludes but recovered and has gone on to produce other successful recordings.It’s been more than 50 years, but chances are, anyone who was at the world’s largest and finest high school gymnasium that night would say they’ve never seen anyone perform finer music than Richard and Karen Carpenter.They melted our hearts and, for a few brief moments, made us feel like one of their hit songs.On “Top of the World.”DESTINATION HENRY COUNTYThis Day In Henry County History is brought to you by Destination Henry County Indiana. Discover slam dunk experiences at www.HoopsInHenry.com. Visit the Facebook page at https;//www.Facebook.com/VisitHenryCounty.comHELP US PRESERVE COMMUNITY HISTORYPlease join the Henry County Historical Society with a $25 annual membership. Visit our website at www.henrycountymuseum.orgCOME SEE US!Come visit the Henry County Historical Society Museum at 606 S. 14th St., New Castle and see a 1911 Maxwell. We're open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ANYTIME by appointment. Call 529-4028 and leave a message. ... See MoreSee Less

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Henry County Historical Society, Inc

3 days ago

It's drawing near that time of year again...mark your calendars for historic holiday fun! 🗝 ... See MoreSee Less

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Henry County Historical Society, Inc

4 days ago

On this day in Henry County history, Nov. 6, 1984, a landslide victory for incumbent U.S. President Ronald Reagan was good news for the Henry County Republican ticket, as State Sen. Mike Rogers (left), State Rep. Tom Coleman (right), County Court Judge Fred Hall and incumbent Commissioners John McGrady and Bob Bitler all cruised to victory. The local GOP also swept county council seats, as Ruth Hayworth, Thornton Baker and Frank Schuler were all winners. How many of these office holders do you remember?DESTINATION HENRY COUNTYThis Day In Henry County History is brought to you by Destination Henry County Indiana. Discover slam dunk experiences at www.HoopsInHenry.com. Visit the Facebook page at https;//www.Facebook.com/VisitHenryCounty.comHELP US PRESERVE COMMUNITY HISTORYPlease join the Henry County Historical Society with a $25 annual membership. Visit our website at www.henrycountymuseum.orgCOME SEE US!Come visit the Henry County Historical Society Museum at 606 S. 14th St., New Castle and see a 1911 Maxwell. We're open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ANYTIME by appointment. Call 529-4028 and leave a message. ... See MoreSee Less

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Henry County Historical Society, Inc

4 days ago

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NOTICE

Because we are a Special Collections Library and Archive, our hours may differ on short notice due to staffing and volunteers. Please check our hours carefully to make sure we will be open for your visit. Sometimes we are on tours or with previously scheduled guests and cannot answer the door or phone. Appointments are highly recommended for people traveling to visit us. (You can request an appointment by emailing us at HenryCountyMuseum@gmail.com.) We recommend making your appointment at least one week in advance.

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