TERRE HAUTE — The realization radiates from your eyes straight into your chest, settling around your heart.
It usually happens as you watch a grown child graduate from high school or recite wedding vows. After a few flashbacks of first school bus rides and getting braces, the ceremony jolts you back into the present, and the question hits you …
Where did the time go?
In less-emotional terms, I wondered the same thing as my friend and editor Max Jones explained his idea to revisit one of the most popular series ever published in the Tribune-Star — Terre Haute’s Top 40. The newspaper is adding five more people, places and things that are unique to this city, or that people elsewhere connect to Terre Haute. That original list, selected by Max and the editorial staff, was compiled and published in 2005.
As we discussed the new additions, Max pointed out that a few had been considered four years ago, yet did not make the Top 40.
“But a lot has changed in four years,” he said.
Indeed, the first of those five newcomers — Ivy Tech Community College — has grown and changed impressively. Since 2005, it’s become an official cornerstone of a new Indiana community college system, grown to 6,230 students (up from 2,923 in 1998), expanded its campus and added programs and alliances with in-state universities.
Yes, a lot has changed in a short time.
That reality makes Terre Haute’s Top 40 look even more remarkable, especially right now. Just 21/2 years after we published that list, the harshest economic downturn in 70 years began. It’s still going on. Amazingly, only one of the 40 will meet its demise amid this recession. In March, Direct Brands — a descendant of the iconic Columbia Records Club — announced it would close its Terre Haute plant later this year.
A lot had changed.
When that sad news came in March, the plant employed 147 people. In 1996, the record club had 3,300 employees. In 1999, membership totaled 16 million customers in the CD, DVD and records club, famous for deals like 12 records for a penny. A decade later, Direct Brands decided to close what was left of that Terre Haute operation, along with two other plants, and “consolidate operations” at an outlet in Pennsylvania. The local shutdown will help Direct Brands “realize operational efficiencies.”
The plant had functioned here since 1953. Millions of people worldwide knew Terre Haute as the place they sent their check and order form for a new batch of vinyl LPs. Most Hauteans know a friend or relative who worked there, or wandered through its warehouse during one of those weekend Columbia Records sales. Now, it’s gradually decreasing its workforce until it closes around the end of this year.
Where did the time go?
The bulk of Terre Haute’s Top 40 are still standing the test of time.
The lights are still on at Allen Chapel, the Carmelite Monastery, Clabber Girl and Hulman & Co., First Financial Corp., Gibault, Headstone Friends, Hulman Center, Indiana State University, the Indiana Theatre, Eva Kor’s CANDLES Holocaust Museum, Light House Mission, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, Sisters of Providence, Sony DADC, Square Donuts, Swope Art Museum, the Sycamore Building and the Vigo County Courthouse.
There’s still activity at Collett Park, the Crossroads of America at Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue, Deming Park, the Action Track and Hulman Mini-Speedway, Farrington’s Grove, Fowler Park and its Pioneer Village, the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, Hulman Links, Memorial Stadium and the Historic National Road Heritage Trail.
The quiet beauty of Mill Dam and Ohio Boulevard is undiminished.
The legacies left by Larry Bird, Eugene V. Debs, Theodore Dreiser, Paul Dresser and Tony Hulman are tied forever to Terre Haute by the outside world. Gone as it is, the Columbia Records Club still holds a special spot in the community’s history, just like Champagne Velvet beer. CV hasn’t been brewed since 2007, when the guy who revived the city’s signature drink, Mike Rowe, turned the local brewery over to the makers of Brugge, a line of Belgian beers. But CV memorabilia from the first half of the 20th century remain popular items on eBay, and the historic brewing district around Ninth and Poplar streets is now a popular dining area.
When people mention “Terre Haute” in places like Toledo, Ohio, or Fort Smith, Ark., their first thought might be Champagne Velvet, the Columbia Records Club or Larry Bird’s alma mater.
It’s comforting, especially now, to know those distinctly Terre Haute connections survive, in some fashion. We’ll add five more this month, revealing them one by one in the five Sunday editions in August. At a time when the future looks so uncertain, in a business climate where everything is on the table, it’s reassuring to be able to count on some things.
The name — Terre Haute’s Top 40 — will stick, though the list is being boosted to 45 this year. Later, Max figures, we’ll add a few more. After all, a lot can change in a few years.
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Mark Bennett Opinion
Related Photos
Discussion
Mark Bennett: Where did the time go? TH Top 40 now 4-years-old
- Mark Bennett Opinion
-
-
MARK BENNETT: Toxic victories
When the Super Bowl ends tonight in Indianapolis, most of the Giants and Patriots will shake hands, despite their competitive fire, win or lose.
-
MARK BENNETT: Indianapolis will be on display for the nation with the Super Bowl coming to town
Someone immersed in a crash diet to make a smashing impression at a class reunion may get the desired effect.
-
MARK BENNETT: Patiently waiting for Indiana's primary
While standing in a check-in line at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome a few years ago, I watched an Italian woman walk past dozens of more patient travelers to grab a spot up front.
-
MARK BENNETT: Processing postal change
You probably know one of those 10,026.
-
MARK BENNETT: Multiple choice question: Voters must choose which direction they want the future of education to go
There was a time when few Hoosiers outside of education circles could name the state superintendent of public instruction.
-
MARK BENNETT: With an historic election behind Terre Haute, it’s time to look at the future’s possibilities
Everybody knows their “woulda, coulda, shoulda” moments.
-
MARK BENNETT: Economic forecast: Things looking up but don’t expect ‘much of a dent in unemployment’
Outside the Columbia Club, the atmosphere matched the picture of 2012 painted by a panel of economists for an audience of business people gathered inside that ritzy building on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
-
MARK BENNETT: Students who reach for a college education too often are buried under a pile of debt
Right now, millions of college graduates are wondering whether their education was worth the effort.
That doubt hurts the country. -
MARK BENNETT: Tangier’s festival volunteers keep past alive for future
Traditions stay alive only as long as the people who hold them dear.
Small towns have that same life expectancy. -
MARK BENNETT: Made in the USA? A political T-shirt faux pas
The most rational statement about a small furor in the U.S. Senate campaign was uttered by a tea party organizer.
-
MARK BENNETT: Daniels goes where a candidate probably won’t in new book
Some things simply won’t get said on the political campaign trail.
-
MARK BENNETT: Time waits for no Manning
Sad, disappointed and uncertain. Colts fans feel all of those.
-
MARK BENNETT: Value of every minute deeply realized on 9/11 (related VIDEO)
Editor’s Note
This summer, the Tribune-Star’s Mark Bennett visited New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., sites where the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are now memorialized. He observed the cityscapes and landscapes forever changed by the events of that day and talked with people he encountered there, many of whom witnessed the attacks and their aftermath from close range and had personal ties to its victims. -
MARK BENNETT: As school begins, carve out daily time
By now, most back-to-school checklists are tattered and creased.
-
MARK BENNETT: Movie scene shows Terre Haute accepting Debs' role in its history
You stay classy, Terre Haute.
-
MARK BENNETT: Community outpouring represents collective sympathy for fallen officer
Every Terre Haute resident has probably been asked the same question.
“Why do you live there?” -
MARK BENNETT: Declaration of cursive’s death reminiscent of ’70s metric-conversion mania
When the state of Indiana announced it would no longer require schools to teach cursive handwriting, I was LOL.
-
MARK BENNETT: On Fourth of July, remember, too, those we depend on
A spatula in one hand, a cool beverage in the other, and a stash of bottle rockets in a plastic sack in the garage.
-
MARK BENNETT: Get out and see what the Valley has to offer
Maybe you drive the same route to work every day. Shortest route. Saves time and a few dimes worth of gas.
-
MARK BENNETT: Walking the fine bipartisan line
Lugar’s occasional departures from hard-line conservatism have put his six-term Senate position in jeopardy.
-
MARK BENNETT: Terre Haute man receives kidney from younger brother
The act of giving often triggers an instant calculation of loss.
-
MARK BENNETT: Tornadoes stand as catastrophic mileposts in history
Aforce stronger than mankind rivets the attention of humans. Fear. Awe. Curiosity.
-
MARK BENNETT: A degree can open doors but in this day and age, is it enough?
This month, hundreds of brand-new graduates of the local colleges are staring at that piece of paper and wondering, “Was it all worth it?”
-
MARK BENNETT: Appeasing hard-liners in presidential race could erode Daniels’ budget-minded appeal
Some Hoosiers who voted Mitch Daniels into the Indiana governor’s seat in 2004 may not recognize Mitch Daniels, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, if he chooses to run.
-
MARK BENNETT: From Mother to Child
My mom remains a sweet, generous, energetic, faithful lady at 87 years old. Raising five children somehow didn’t break her bright spirit or my late father’s endless patience.
-
MARK BENNETT: Hoosier college grads may want to consider teaching jobs elsewhere
Commencement ceremonies at Indiana State University and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College are just six days away.
-
Mark Bennett: Consumers stuck when it comes to dealing with increasing gas prices
Most motorists pulling up to the gas pumps lately can relate to Frank Costanza.
As George Costanza’s volatile father on “Seinfeld,” Frank was told to say, “Serenity now,” whenever he felt his blood pressure rise. Instead, Frank screamed the phrase, defeating the purpose and illustrating his perpetual state of agitation. -
MARK BENNETT: Vigo County struggles with persistent child poverty
The statistics are hard to accept, especially for a community proud of its progress.
The situation those numbers expose is difficult to change. -
MARK BENNETT: Long live ... us
In never-say-die America, life expectancy is longer than ever, according to a report issued this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-
MARK BENNETT: Commission calls for academic success to be tied to NCAA Tournament participation
Follow the money.
That advice from Watergate informant “Deep Throat” led Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to the truth that uncovered corruption in the nation’s public office. The concept applies to situations beyond the Oval Office, though. - More Mark Bennett Opinion Headlines
-
MARK BENNETT: Toxic victories
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Latest Jason Wu Collection Shows Chinese Roots
ShowBiz Minute: Madonna, Beresford-Redman, Pawsc
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Stars Show Support at AMFAR Charity Gala
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
The Muppets Are Oscars Bound!
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
BCBG Kicks Off NY Fashion Week
Lusetich: AT&T Rd. 3 recap
Whitney Houston's body is removed from hotel
Raw Video: Aurora Borealis As Seen From Space
Whitney's Final Days - EXCLUSIVE
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Peek inside Barbie's closet
Absolute Lin-sanity
Madonna's Daughter Shaves Head
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
