Terre Haute's Top 40: Special, new quintet emerges because ‘a lot has changed’

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August 3, 2009

By Mark Bennett The Tribune Star Mon Aug 03, 2009, 10:25 AM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — Talk about a catharsis.

When the Tribune-Star published its original Terre Haute’s Top 40 series four summers ago, readers responded in waves. The idea of telling the stories behind unique virtues of this community unleashed a stream of pent-up pride. In a place that once wore derisive labels such as “Sin City” and “Nowhere, USA,” the urge to boast about this town is often repressed.

So in 2005, Tribune-Star Editor Max Jones conceived the Terre Haute’s Top 40 series as a way to remind folks of the things that define the city in a positive way.

After the conclusion, one reader summarized the thoughts of dozens who wrote in, saying, “Thanks for the Terre Haute’s Top 40 series. My wife and I moved here in 1988 and love this town. We found that many who lived here seemed to focus a little more on what they didn’t like about the community, as opposed to what was great about the community.”

Some choices, by Jones and the Trib-Star staff, were no-brainers, such as Deming Park, the late Tony Hulman and the Indiana Theatre. Others were subtle or obscure, such as the Carmelite Monastery, Square Donuts and the National Heritage Trail.

Yet all are special and unique to Terre Haute, and that was the criteria. Some people, places and things on our nominations list didn’t make the final Top 40 — a number chosen then, because it was familiar (thanks to Casey Kasem) and comfortable (not too large, not too small). Those left off the list didn’t miss the cut because they weren’t valuable, treasured local assets; many were just that. But the idea was to pinpoint things found nowhere else, or aspects that link the outside world to Terre Haute in a distinct, positive way.

This summer, Jones and the Trib-Star staff are revisiting the Top 40 by adding five more entries. Stories about that special quintet will be published on each Sunday this month, beginning with today’s spotlight on Ivy Tech Community College.

“Why stop at 40?” Jones said last week, explaining the expansion.

Plus, he added, “a lot has changed in five years.”

Indeed, one Top 40 entry — Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence — became a saint of the Catholic Church in 2006. Local employer BMG Columbia House — which included a record club that linked music buyers from around the world to its Terre Haute plant — announced earlier this year that its local outlet would close.

Ivy Tech’s addition to the Top 40 exemplifies the community’s evolution. The struggling economy and the skyrocketing cost of higher education has boosted enrollment at the Terre Haute campus, thanks to its affordability and accessibility to both young students and second-career adults.

The four subsequent Top 40 newcomers may surprise a few folks, satisfy others, or irritate some. Those reactions were common when the original list ran in 2005. The majority of respondents liked the idea, if not all 40 selections. The series won a Community Service Award from the Hoosier State Press Association. Other newspapers asked “about what we did and how we did it,” Jones said.

“It felt good to know there was so much positive reaction to it,” he said. “People appreciated it and agreed — agreed with our intent. Some people took issue with some of our choices, and that’s OK.”

One point should be clarified: Even with the five new entries and a new total of 45 (none of the originals has been removed), the name of the series will remain Terre Haute’s Top 40. And, in a few years when the series adds another handful, it still will be called the Top 40.

“It’s sort of like the Big Ten,” Jones quipped about a college sports conference composed of 11 schools.

Readers wishing to review the original list can go to the Terre Haute’s Top 40 link on the newspaper’s Web site www.tribstar.com. Suggestions or comments can be sent via e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.

Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.

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