19 of 48 DOCUMENTS
The Indianapolis Star
September 5, 2002 Thursday Online Edition
Making the trip to 'the pile'
BYLINE: By Tom Spalding tom.spalding@indystar.com
SECTION: INDYSTAR.COM;
LENGTH: 859 words
Reporter Tom Spalding, who spent six days with Indiana Task Force 1, recalls a trip to the heart of the disaster.
The first time I see 'the pile,' I'm hunched in the back of a minivan.
It's around 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13 -- some 53 hours after the sprawling World Trade Center complex is leveled by suicide hijackers who crash two planes into the twin towers' upper floors.
Rescue workers dub the heap of debris the pile.
I had plenty of notes from hours of interviews with members of Indiana Task Force 1, whom photographer Mpozi Mshale Tolbert and I are following. But access to Ground Zero eluded us for a variety of reasons -- until now.
Two search dogs and their handlers are summoned for an assignment not far from the intersection of Park Avenue and Broadway, where building No. 7 once stood. We ask to go, and they say yes.
I'm not prepared. I have on dress shoes and lack eye protection and a dust mask. But we hop into a six-seat red van with emergency red lights on top. I cram into the back, my heart racing, as we drive the three miles to Ground Zero.
It is as if this part of New York is a construction site on a hot summer day, and we are driving through a cloud of dirt particles. Everything is the same color, like somebody haphazardly spilled beige paint everywhere.
Along Hudson Street and Broadway, the cars parked at the curb are flattened, some upside down on top of other cars. Ash is piled up to their tires and it looks like an Indiana street after a heavy snowstorm.
We drive in a zig-zag fashion through checkpoint after checkpoint on the streets that aren't damaged, and none of the traffic cops can give us the exact directions, or unimpeded access, to the crash site.
One of the cops defends his lack of knowledge, telling our driver, "I'm from the Bronx."
Another rescue worker sees the IFD on our red van and yells to us, "You drove all the way from Indianapolis? We appreciate it."
In the van are three members of Indiana Task Force 1: a transportation aide, and the two dog handlers.
One of the handlers, Marti Vanada of Newburgh, Ind., sees two women holding a U.S. flag, which are selling like hot cakes around the city.
"The patriotism is amazing," she says.
I keep taking notes, but I'm in the back of the van, perched in kind of an awkward kneel so I can see outside. I remember noting how calm Vanada's dog Polly is. I remember Lebanon, Ind., native Tony Zintsmaster stroking his German shepherd Kaiser, who is not bothered by the chaos.
Past the checkpoints, the scene is so busy that the authorities have no time to do anything but suggest ways to combat a heavy layer of dust, asbestos parti-cles and other irritants that fall like windswept flurries.
We reach our destination. Vanada and Zintsmaster and the dogs walk toward what's left of building No. 7. It is lying like bent cardboard; the exterior of six or seven floors is intact, simply because it can't lean in on itself any further. I realize that the dust mask I wear, which attaches above my nose and under my mouth, would work better with two thick straps rather than a thin blue rubber-band.
I see lots of people without masks, so caught up with adrenaline they aren't protecting themselves from possible airborne dangers.
Our driver, Jason Silvey, is a stocky 30-year-old truck driver with a blonde goatee. He is considering smoking a cigarette amid all that floating ash, but thinks better of it. He's worked the Federal Emergency Management Agency in dis-asters before. But this event had made him very nervous. He is not wearing any kind of protection. He's in shorts, dressed as though he is ready to zip off to an Indianapolis Indians game.
I can only imagine what stories he is going to tell friends back home in In-diana.
"This is just blowing my mind ... I'm completely amazed," Silvey tells me. "Everything's just flat ... just to get here and breathe the air, it lets you know."
I scribble more furiously, and he tells me: "I would rather be here than at home, being upset and mad. At least I am here doing my part, trying to help."
We chat a bit a little more as the dog handlers fade from view. I had de-serted the safety of the transport van to see if I could see anything beyond building No. 7. I can't. It's too dusty, too large, and I plan on coming back again for another look. As we drive back to the base camp I am thankful for the chance to get a snippet of detail for our readers back in Indianapolis.
So many people ask me what it was like, and I sense envy in their voices be-cause they didn't get to see it. Take some comfort. I was in the shoes of most of our readers before that Sept. 13 trip to the pile.
I can remember asking Jim Riley, a New Jersey firefighter serving on that state's FEMA task force, what it was like.
Riley looked at me and described it as if it were ingredients in some recipe. Concrete. Steel beams. Body parts.
"You saw it on TV. You know what the deal was."
Call Tom Spalding at 1-317-327-7939.
_______________________________________________
Library Note: This story was published on the IndyStar.com website, but was not printed in The Indianapolis Star.
LOAD-DATE: October 6, 2002
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2002 The Indianapolis Star
All Rights Reserved
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
FAMILY PICKS UP ON CIRCUS LEGACY TODAY IN DETROIT,
FAMILY PICKS UP ON CIRCUS LEGACY TODAY IN DETROIT, THE NEW WALLENDAS WILL PERFORM THE 7-PERSON PYRAMID ACT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 21 YEARS.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Friday, March 6, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
Shortly before other performers straddled horses or paraded costumed llamas into the circus ring Thursday, Tino Wallenda-Zoppe talked about the beast his own family has to tame.
Quiet reflection and concentration may normally be how the hours prior to a public performance are spent. But the Flying Wallendas , the famous high-wire specialists from Sarasota, found themselves fielding question after question from reporters.
For the first time in 21 years, the Wallendas today will perform the seven-person pyramid, a five-minute act that left two of the troupe dead and three injured during a performance Jan. 30, 1962.
It isn't just the feat; it's the same family, resurrecting the same act at the same location - the Michigan State Fair Coliseum - 25 feet above the ground without a net. The family has performed the stunt three times since the accident, but not in Detroit since 1962.
No wonder the cameras are rolling.
``I'll be watching and kind of holding my breath to make sure they survive,'' said Joseph Ritok, 80, a Detroit man who was an usher when the fall occurred 36 years ago.
It was a disaster detailed in the next day's newspapers, front-page news complete with pictures and banner headlines.
``When that pyramid collapsed, it was like slow motion,'' remembers Ritok, who as the usher helped break one performer's fall. ``A picture like that stays with you forever.''
He's still working with the circus, as a volunteer, and will be there to witness the pyramid again.
On Thursday, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn were in the air at the 90th Moslem Shrine Circus, where the crowd will be entertained by trapeze artists, strongmen and a Russian horse-riding act.
But the showstoppers will be the Wallendas , who will perform at least twice a day for the next 17 days for about 200,000 people.
``A repeat performance the world's been waiting for,'' reads a circus poster in the arena. If all goes well, the Wallendas will continue performing the pyramid on tour.
The Wallendas feel the undercurrent of tension but say they aren't fearful. They've graciously responded to the obvious questions like ``What are you trying to prove?'' and ``Are you nervous?'' They've relished the spotlight provided this week by - among others - ``Hard Copy,'' ``Inside Edition,'' ABC's ``Good Morning America'' and a Hollywood film crew making a documentary.
``I don't think we're here to prove anything to ourselves. We know we can do it. But to the world, we're here to make a statement,'' Wallenda-Zoppe said. ``We're here to re-establish our legacy in circus history.''
A deadly fall
The Wallendas will, as tradition dictates, walk above a concrete floor without a net.
They expect nothing to go wrong.
It was much the same Jan. 30, 1962. Wearing white satin with green spangles and led by family patriarch Karl Wallenda, the Flying Wallendas had built the pyramid and were moving in formation to the platform when Dieter Schepp, Karl Wallenda's nephew, who was on the bottom tier, reportedly lost his footing and fell, toppling the pyramid.
Schepp and Richard Faughnan, Karl Wallenda's son-in-law, were killed. Mario Wallenda, Karl's son, also fell to the sawdust- and straw-covered floor. He was paralyzed.
Gunther, Karl and Herman Wallenda grabbed the wire and Karl snared Jana Schepp - Dieter's sister, who had been sitting in a chair at the top of the pyramid - as she fell. Karl Wallenda held on to Schepp until people on the ground could find a net.
The crowd of 7,000 gasped in disbelief.
Dick Mayer, a Detroit resident and frequent visitor to Longboat Key, had gone to the circus that night with two of his children.
``It was horrifying to see. You knew up there, without the net, they'd be injured or killed,'' he said. ``I'm sure everybody there realized that.''
Alex Brown, 77, of Detroit said circus organizers ``were dumbfounded. They didn't know what to say. When they found out two were dead, it was worse.''
Circus clowns quickly ran onto the coliseum floor to try to keep the crowd calm.
In the midst of such tragedy, according to news accounts, Karl told his wife: ``I feel like a dead man on the ground. I can handle the grief better from up there. The wire is my life.''
So the Wallendas regrouped and performed the trick the next night. They did it again on two subsequent occasions, in 1963 in Texas and in 1977 in Sarasota, re-created primarily by Karl's grandchildren at Robarts Arena in Sarasota for the movie ``The Great Wallendas .''
At Robarts, after the last member of the pyramid made it to the safety of the platform, with 2,000 people watching in amazement, Karl Wallenda was asked if he had been nervous. He responded by displaying his noticeably damp palm.
He also said the act would never happen again.
But the new Wallendas - 13 family members, friends and loved ones of the original performers - got together 11/2 years ago to try again. The organizers of the Moslem Shrine Circus, celebrating a 90th anniversary, urged them to come back.
``Maybe some will think it's morbid, because we are celebrating the anniversary of their fall,'' said Bill Petrocy, the circus' director. ``In fact, we are celebrating a totally new act by the grandchildren.''
The new Wallendas acted no differently Thursday than they have in the months of practice leading up to the first performances, at noon and 7 p.m. today at the arena near Interstate 75.
``You can't go up there with the mind-set, `They fell; well, are we going to fall?' '' said Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, 19, one of the Wallendas performing today. ``If I wasn't 100 percent confident, I wouldn't go up there. I have no doubt that we're going to conquer, that we're going to make it through the 17 days.''
`Great' before they were ` flying '
The Wallenda name is the stuff of circus history.
Family patriarch Karl Wallenda, born in Germany in 1905, was performing in the family circus show at 6 and doing stunts at beer halls by age 11. In 1922, he recruited his brother Herman, a teen-age girl named Helen - who later became his wife - and Josef Geiger, an aerialist, into the act.
They toured Europe for several years, featuring an amazing four-person, three-level pyramid.
In that pyramid, Karl precariously balanced on a chair on top of a bar between the shoulders of two men on bicycles on a wire 50 feet in the air while Helen stood on Karl's shoulders. The act was such a sensation that when John Ringling saw them performing in Cuba, he immediately contracted them to appear with the ``Greatest Show on Earth.''
The Great Wallendas debuted their act without a net - it had been misplaced in shipping - at Madison Square Garden in 1928.
The Great Wallendas were headliners with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus much of the 1930s and 1940s. One performance, in Akron, Ohio, the wire slipped. All four fell to the ground but were unhurt.
A reporter wrote that they seemed to be flying so the headline read: ``The Flying Wallendas .''
In 1947, Karl began a circus of his own. At the Wallendas ' Sarasota home that winter, he created the crowning achievement - the seven-person pyramid that became a staple until 1962.
It's essentially the same formula the 1998 troupe will use.
Four men stand on a taut cable tethered to vertical platforms 44 feet apart. On the cable, the two pairs are yoked together by shoulder bars. On top of the bars, on the second level, stand two more performers, again yoked together with a shoulder bar. At the top of the pyramid, sits a person in a chair who stands briefly.
The group walks once across the wire. The top of the pyramid, the lightest person of the group, is 40 feet from the ground.
Then, if all goes as planned, applause.
Flying Wallendas today
Karl Wallenda is no longer around. He fell 120 feet to his death in 1978 at the age of 73 during a promotional wire walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His descendants, the sixth and seventh generations, kept a legacy alive by learning the daunting high-wire.
The current Flying Wallendas include: Tino Wallenda-Zoppe, Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda-Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda-Zoppe, and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest in the act.
``I've given them a few tips,'' said Mario Wallenda, 57, in a wheelchair as a result of the 1962 fall. Mario called them ``crazy,'' but he understands their passion to perform.
The director of Florida State University's Flying High Circus, Richard Brinson, calls the pyramid ``an awesome trick, absolutely incredible, probably one of the most difficult of all circus tricks throughout history.''
Sarasota Sailor Circus high-wire trainer Charlie Hartery notes that with four high-wire walkers on the cable, trying to keep balance while bearing the weight of three people, ``it is fairly dangerous.''
That's why national media are here.
The Wallendas , performer Alida Wallenda said, have motivation beyond showing the world that ``our family just didn't quit after the fall.''
``We want to leave Detroit with triumph rather than tragedy.''
Caption: PHOTO 2 DRAWING 3 (C)
The Flying Wallendas polish their Grand Pyramid act with a dress rehearsal Thursday at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. Two family members died and three were injured during a performance of the stunt in the same arena in 1962. AP PHOTO The Jan. 30, 1962, tragedy was detailed in the next day's papers.
Though there are 13 members of the Flying Wallendas , seven will perform in the first show today. Tino Wallenda-Zoppe (7), Terry Troffer (4), Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer (5), Sacha Pavlatta (6), Alida Wallenda (2), Tony Hernandez (3), and either Deliah Wallenda or Lijana Wallenda (1). How It's Done Working without a safety net or safety ropes, four performers begin to walk straight on a taut cable smaller in width than their shoes; the lowest performers stand some 25 feet from a concrete floor, with the top performer (1) in a chair about 40 feet in the air It's toughest on the first row; performers not only have to keep their balance and move in sync, but also hold the weight of three people. The first performer (4) leaves the elevated post yoked with performer (5), walking out with performer (2) standing on a bar at the second level. The remaining four performers line up on the platform and walk out almost simultaneously to complete the pyramid. STAFF GRAPHIC/LIMBERT FABIAN
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Friday, March 6, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
Shortly before other performers straddled horses or paraded costumed llamas into the circus ring Thursday, Tino Wallenda-Zoppe talked about the beast his own family has to tame.
Quiet reflection and concentration may normally be how the hours prior to a public performance are spent. But the Flying Wallendas , the famous high-wire specialists from Sarasota, found themselves fielding question after question from reporters.
For the first time in 21 years, the Wallendas today will perform the seven-person pyramid, a five-minute act that left two of the troupe dead and three injured during a performance Jan. 30, 1962.
It isn't just the feat; it's the same family, resurrecting the same act at the same location - the Michigan State Fair Coliseum - 25 feet above the ground without a net. The family has performed the stunt three times since the accident, but not in Detroit since 1962.
No wonder the cameras are rolling.
``I'll be watching and kind of holding my breath to make sure they survive,'' said Joseph Ritok, 80, a Detroit man who was an usher when the fall occurred 36 years ago.
It was a disaster detailed in the next day's newspapers, front-page news complete with pictures and banner headlines.
``When that pyramid collapsed, it was like slow motion,'' remembers Ritok, who as the usher helped break one performer's fall. ``A picture like that stays with you forever.''
He's still working with the circus, as a volunteer, and will be there to witness the pyramid again.
On Thursday, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn were in the air at the 90th Moslem Shrine Circus, where the crowd will be entertained by trapeze artists, strongmen and a Russian horse-riding act.
But the showstoppers will be the Wallendas , who will perform at least twice a day for the next 17 days for about 200,000 people.
``A repeat performance the world's been waiting for,'' reads a circus poster in the arena. If all goes well, the Wallendas will continue performing the pyramid on tour.
The Wallendas feel the undercurrent of tension but say they aren't fearful. They've graciously responded to the obvious questions like ``What are you trying to prove?'' and ``Are you nervous?'' They've relished the spotlight provided this week by - among others - ``Hard Copy,'' ``Inside Edition,'' ABC's ``Good Morning America'' and a Hollywood film crew making a documentary.
``I don't think we're here to prove anything to ourselves. We know we can do it. But to the world, we're here to make a statement,'' Wallenda-Zoppe said. ``We're here to re-establish our legacy in circus history.''
A deadly fall
The Wallendas will, as tradition dictates, walk above a concrete floor without a net.
They expect nothing to go wrong.
It was much the same Jan. 30, 1962. Wearing white satin with green spangles and led by family patriarch Karl Wallenda, the Flying Wallendas had built the pyramid and were moving in formation to the platform when Dieter Schepp, Karl Wallenda's nephew, who was on the bottom tier, reportedly lost his footing and fell, toppling the pyramid.
Schepp and Richard Faughnan, Karl Wallenda's son-in-law, were killed. Mario Wallenda, Karl's son, also fell to the sawdust- and straw-covered floor. He was paralyzed.
Gunther, Karl and Herman Wallenda grabbed the wire and Karl snared Jana Schepp - Dieter's sister, who had been sitting in a chair at the top of the pyramid - as she fell. Karl Wallenda held on to Schepp until people on the ground could find a net.
The crowd of 7,000 gasped in disbelief.
Dick Mayer, a Detroit resident and frequent visitor to Longboat Key, had gone to the circus that night with two of his children.
``It was horrifying to see. You knew up there, without the net, they'd be injured or killed,'' he said. ``I'm sure everybody there realized that.''
Alex Brown, 77, of Detroit said circus organizers ``were dumbfounded. They didn't know what to say. When they found out two were dead, it was worse.''
Circus clowns quickly ran onto the coliseum floor to try to keep the crowd calm.
In the midst of such tragedy, according to news accounts, Karl told his wife: ``I feel like a dead man on the ground. I can handle the grief better from up there. The wire is my life.''
So the Wallendas regrouped and performed the trick the next night. They did it again on two subsequent occasions, in 1963 in Texas and in 1977 in Sarasota, re-created primarily by Karl's grandchildren at Robarts Arena in Sarasota for the movie ``The Great Wallendas .''
At Robarts, after the last member of the pyramid made it to the safety of the platform, with 2,000 people watching in amazement, Karl Wallenda was asked if he had been nervous. He responded by displaying his noticeably damp palm.
He also said the act would never happen again.
But the new Wallendas - 13 family members, friends and loved ones of the original performers - got together 11/2 years ago to try again. The organizers of the Moslem Shrine Circus, celebrating a 90th anniversary, urged them to come back.
``Maybe some will think it's morbid, because we are celebrating the anniversary of their fall,'' said Bill Petrocy, the circus' director. ``In fact, we are celebrating a totally new act by the grandchildren.''
The new Wallendas acted no differently Thursday than they have in the months of practice leading up to the first performances, at noon and 7 p.m. today at the arena near Interstate 75.
``You can't go up there with the mind-set, `They fell; well, are we going to fall?' '' said Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, 19, one of the Wallendas performing today. ``If I wasn't 100 percent confident, I wouldn't go up there. I have no doubt that we're going to conquer, that we're going to make it through the 17 days.''
`Great' before they were ` flying '
The Wallenda name is the stuff of circus history.
Family patriarch Karl Wallenda, born in Germany in 1905, was performing in the family circus show at 6 and doing stunts at beer halls by age 11. In 1922, he recruited his brother Herman, a teen-age girl named Helen - who later became his wife - and Josef Geiger, an aerialist, into the act.
They toured Europe for several years, featuring an amazing four-person, three-level pyramid.
In that pyramid, Karl precariously balanced on a chair on top of a bar between the shoulders of two men on bicycles on a wire 50 feet in the air while Helen stood on Karl's shoulders. The act was such a sensation that when John Ringling saw them performing in Cuba, he immediately contracted them to appear with the ``Greatest Show on Earth.''
The Great Wallendas debuted their act without a net - it had been misplaced in shipping - at Madison Square Garden in 1928.
The Great Wallendas were headliners with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus much of the 1930s and 1940s. One performance, in Akron, Ohio, the wire slipped. All four fell to the ground but were unhurt.
A reporter wrote that they seemed to be flying so the headline read: ``The Flying Wallendas .''
In 1947, Karl began a circus of his own. At the Wallendas ' Sarasota home that winter, he created the crowning achievement - the seven-person pyramid that became a staple until 1962.
It's essentially the same formula the 1998 troupe will use.
Four men stand on a taut cable tethered to vertical platforms 44 feet apart. On the cable, the two pairs are yoked together by shoulder bars. On top of the bars, on the second level, stand two more performers, again yoked together with a shoulder bar. At the top of the pyramid, sits a person in a chair who stands briefly.
The group walks once across the wire. The top of the pyramid, the lightest person of the group, is 40 feet from the ground.
Then, if all goes as planned, applause.
Flying Wallendas today
Karl Wallenda is no longer around. He fell 120 feet to his death in 1978 at the age of 73 during a promotional wire walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His descendants, the sixth and seventh generations, kept a legacy alive by learning the daunting high-wire.
The current Flying Wallendas include: Tino Wallenda-Zoppe, Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda-Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda-Zoppe, and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest in the act.
``I've given them a few tips,'' said Mario Wallenda, 57, in a wheelchair as a result of the 1962 fall. Mario called them ``crazy,'' but he understands their passion to perform.
The director of Florida State University's Flying High Circus, Richard Brinson, calls the pyramid ``an awesome trick, absolutely incredible, probably one of the most difficult of all circus tricks throughout history.''
Sarasota Sailor Circus high-wire trainer Charlie Hartery notes that with four high-wire walkers on the cable, trying to keep balance while bearing the weight of three people, ``it is fairly dangerous.''
That's why national media are here.
The Wallendas , performer Alida Wallenda said, have motivation beyond showing the world that ``our family just didn't quit after the fall.''
``We want to leave Detroit with triumph rather than tragedy.''
Caption: PHOTO 2 DRAWING 3 (C)
The Flying Wallendas polish their Grand Pyramid act with a dress rehearsal Thursday at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. Two family members died and three were injured during a performance of the stunt in the same arena in 1962. AP PHOTO The Jan. 30, 1962, tragedy was detailed in the next day's papers.
Though there are 13 members of the Flying Wallendas , seven will perform in the first show today. Tino Wallenda-Zoppe (7), Terry Troffer (4), Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer (5), Sacha Pavlatta (6), Alida Wallenda (2), Tony Hernandez (3), and either Deliah Wallenda or Lijana Wallenda (1). How It's Done Working without a safety net or safety ropes, four performers begin to walk straight on a taut cable smaller in width than their shoes; the lowest performers stand some 25 feet from a concrete floor, with the top performer (1) in a chair about 40 feet in the air It's toughest on the first row; performers not only have to keep their balance and move in sync, but also hold the weight of three people. The first performer (4) leaves the elevated post yoked with performer (5), walking out with performer (2) standing on a bar at the second level. The remaining four performers line up on the platform and walk out almost simultaneously to complete the pyramid. STAFF GRAPHIC/LIMBERT FABIAN
FLYING WALLENDAS : TROUPE RISES TO THE OCCASION PERFORMERS SOAR IN DETROIT
FLYING WALLENDAS : TROUPE RISES TO THE OCCASION PERFORMERS SOAR IN DETROIT
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Saturday, March 7, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
A clown walked over to the man in the wheelchair, next to some aged bleachers with chipped green paint, and put his arm around his shoulder.
``You taught them well,'' said the clown, a man named Happy who wore a white jumpsuit, a big red nose and a face covered with makeup.
Mario Wallenda, 57, who was paralyzed when he fell from a tightrope 36 years ago, smiled.
He had reason to be proud.
His friends and relatives in the new Flying Wallendas had just completed the high-wire trick that permanently injured him - a seven-person pyramid 25 feet above the ground without a net.
``I was scared,'' said Wallenda, who took Polaroid snapshots of the performance.
At the Moslem Shrine Circus, 3,000 people watched in awe, then gave a standing ovation for the performers who had not performed that stunt publicly in Detroit since the Flying Wallendas ' pyramid collapsed here Jan. 30, 1962.
Two members of the troupe died in that accident.
The pyramid was created for a performance only three times after the crash - until Friday. The new Flying Wallendas are 13 Sarasotans who are descendants, friends or loved ones of the original performers.
Cal Purvin, 75, who witnessed the fatal accident, returned to the State Fair Coliseum to see the new Flying Wallendas perform.
``Look at 'em,'' the Michigan man said as they dazzled the crowd. ``If that's not nerves . . . .''
The Wallendas ' two performances Friday were promoted in newspaper ads, on television and on billboards throughout the Detroit area. The performance drew national media attention and a documentary film crew.
Other circus performers said they didn't feel upstaged.
``It's to be expected, particularly with the public with the Wallendas - and rightfully so,'' said Dolly Jacobs, of Sarasota, who performs in the circus with an acrobatic act that includes the rings.
She and her sister watched the Wallendas ' rehearse Thursday and she made a point to catch at least a part of Friday's performances.
``It was very impressive, all the people up there . . . we had tears in our eyes,'' she said.
Before the act began, the Wallendas - the women dressed in white outfits, the men in black tuxedos - gathered in a circle. A pastor led them in prayer. Flying Wallenda leader Tino Wallenda-Zoppe uttered, ``Everybody take courage.''
In the darkness, the 13 troupe members moved into the first performance ring and one by one climbed up to the elevated platform and waited for another act - tigers jumping through a fiery hoop - to finish.
After some more hoopla, the spotlight was turned on them. On the wire, members of the Flying Wallendas walked backward, stood on a bicycle or on their heads.
Then came the pyramid, a technically dangerous stunt - the showstopper. The Wallendas were a bit ``nervous'' and shaky during the rehearsal Thursday, but they worked out the kinks for Friday's premiere.
The seven performers - four walking the wire, two on their shoulders and one in a chair on top - moved 44 feet across the high wire.
Now, it's on to 36 more performances in Detroit through March 22, then to a show in St. Louis. Other performances are pending. The Wallendas plan to keep on performing long after the cameras go, pleasing the people they most like - the audience.
Purvin, who witnessed the '62 fall, said the first thing he thought of after Friday's performance was, ``Great job. They lived.''
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Saturday, March 7, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
A clown walked over to the man in the wheelchair, next to some aged bleachers with chipped green paint, and put his arm around his shoulder.
``You taught them well,'' said the clown, a man named Happy who wore a white jumpsuit, a big red nose and a face covered with makeup.
Mario Wallenda, 57, who was paralyzed when he fell from a tightrope 36 years ago, smiled.
He had reason to be proud.
His friends and relatives in the new Flying Wallendas had just completed the high-wire trick that permanently injured him - a seven-person pyramid 25 feet above the ground without a net.
``I was scared,'' said Wallenda, who took Polaroid snapshots of the performance.
At the Moslem Shrine Circus, 3,000 people watched in awe, then gave a standing ovation for the performers who had not performed that stunt publicly in Detroit since the Flying Wallendas ' pyramid collapsed here Jan. 30, 1962.
Two members of the troupe died in that accident.
The pyramid was created for a performance only three times after the crash - until Friday. The new Flying Wallendas are 13 Sarasotans who are descendants, friends or loved ones of the original performers.
Cal Purvin, 75, who witnessed the fatal accident, returned to the State Fair Coliseum to see the new Flying Wallendas perform.
``Look at 'em,'' the Michigan man said as they dazzled the crowd. ``If that's not nerves . . . .''
The Wallendas ' two performances Friday were promoted in newspaper ads, on television and on billboards throughout the Detroit area. The performance drew national media attention and a documentary film crew.
Other circus performers said they didn't feel upstaged.
``It's to be expected, particularly with the public with the Wallendas - and rightfully so,'' said Dolly Jacobs, of Sarasota, who performs in the circus with an acrobatic act that includes the rings.
She and her sister watched the Wallendas ' rehearse Thursday and she made a point to catch at least a part of Friday's performances.
``It was very impressive, all the people up there . . . we had tears in our eyes,'' she said.
Before the act began, the Wallendas - the women dressed in white outfits, the men in black tuxedos - gathered in a circle. A pastor led them in prayer. Flying Wallenda leader Tino Wallenda-Zoppe uttered, ``Everybody take courage.''
In the darkness, the 13 troupe members moved into the first performance ring and one by one climbed up to the elevated platform and waited for another act - tigers jumping through a fiery hoop - to finish.
After some more hoopla, the spotlight was turned on them. On the wire, members of the Flying Wallendas walked backward, stood on a bicycle or on their heads.
Then came the pyramid, a technically dangerous stunt - the showstopper. The Wallendas were a bit ``nervous'' and shaky during the rehearsal Thursday, but they worked out the kinks for Friday's premiere.
The seven performers - four walking the wire, two on their shoulders and one in a chair on top - moved 44 feet across the high wire.
Now, it's on to 36 more performances in Detroit through March 22, then to a show in St. Louis. Other performances are pending. The Wallendas plan to keep on performing long after the cameras go, pleasing the people they most like - the audience.
Purvin, who witnessed the '62 fall, said the first thing he thought of after Friday's performance was, ``Great job. They lived.''
FAMILY PICKS UP ON CIRCUS LEGACY TODAY
FAMILY PICKS UP ON CIRCUS LEGACY TODAY IN DETROIT, THE NEW WALLENDAS WILL PERFORM THE 7-PERSON PYRAMID ACT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 21 YEARS.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Friday, March 6, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
Shortly before other performers straddled horses or paraded costumed llamas into the circus ring Thursday, Tino Wallenda-Zoppe talked about the beast his own family has to tame.
Quiet reflection and concentration may normally be how the hours prior to a public performance are spent. But the Flying Wallendas , the famous high-wire specialists from Sarasota, found themselves fielding question after question from reporters.
For the first time in 21 years, the Wallendas today will perform the seven-person pyramid, a five-minute act that left two of the troupe dead and three injured during a performance Jan. 30, 1962.
It isn't just the feat; it's the same family, resurrecting the same act at the same location - the Michigan State Fair Coliseum - 25 feet above the ground without a net. The family has performed the stunt three times since the accident, but not in Detroit since 1962.
No wonder the cameras are rolling.
``I'll be watching and kind of holding my breath to make sure they survive,'' said Joseph Ritok, 80, a Detroit man who was an usher when the fall occurred 36 years ago.
It was a disaster detailed in the next day's newspapers, front-page news complete with pictures and banner headlines.
``When that pyramid collapsed, it was like slow motion,'' remembers Ritok, who as the usher helped break one performer's fall. ``A picture like that stays with you forever.''
He's still working with the circus, as a volunteer, and will be there to witness the pyramid again.
On Thursday, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn were in the air at the 90th Moslem Shrine Circus, where the crowd will be entertained by trapeze artists, strongmen and a Russian horse-riding act.
But the showstoppers will be the Wallendas , who will perform at least twice a day for the next 17 days for about 200,000 people.
``A repeat performance the world's been waiting for,'' reads a circus poster in the arena. If all goes well, the Wallendas will continue performing the pyramid on tour.
The Wallendas feel the undercurrent of tension but say they aren't fearful. They've graciously responded to the obvious questions like ``What are you trying to prove?'' and ``Are you nervous?'' They've relished the spotlight provided this week by - among others - ``Hard Copy,'' ``Inside Edition,'' ABC's ``Good Morning America'' and a Hollywood film crew making a documentary.
``I don't think we're here to prove anything to ourselves. We know we can do it. But to the world, we're here to make a statement,'' Wallenda-Zoppe said. ``We're here to re-establish our legacy in circus history.''
A deadly fall
The Wallendas will, as tradition dictates, walk above a concrete floor without a net.
They expect nothing to go wrong.
It was much the same Jan. 30, 1962. Wearing white satin with green spangles and led by family patriarch Karl Wallenda, the Flying Wallendas had built the pyramid and were moving in formation to the platform when Dieter Schepp, Karl Wallenda's nephew, who was on the bottom tier, reportedly lost his footing and fell, toppling the pyramid.
Schepp and Richard Faughnan, Karl Wallenda's son-in-law, were killed. Mario Wallenda, Karl's son, also fell to the sawdust- and straw-covered floor. He was paralyzed.
Gunther, Karl and Herman Wallenda grabbed the wire and Karl snared Jana Schepp - Dieter's sister, who had been sitting in a chair at the top of the pyramid - as she fell. Karl Wallenda held on to Schepp until people on the ground could find a net.
The crowd of 7,000 gasped in disbelief.
Dick Mayer, a Detroit resident and frequent visitor to Longboat Key, had gone to the circus that night with two of his children.
``It was horrifying to see. You knew up there, without the net, they'd be injured or killed,'' he said. ``I'm sure everybody there realized that.''
Alex Brown, 77, of Detroit said circus organizers ``were dumbfounded. They didn't know what to say. When they found out two were dead, it was worse.''
Circus clowns quickly ran onto the coliseum floor to try to keep the crowd calm.
In the midst of such tragedy, according to news accounts, Karl told his wife: ``I feel like a dead man on the ground. I can handle the grief better from up there. The wire is my life.''
So the Wallendas regrouped and performed the trick the next night. They did it again on two subsequent occasions, in 1963 in Texas and in 1977 in Sarasota, re-created primarily by Karl's grandchildren at Robarts Arena in Sarasota for the movie ``The Great Wallendas .''
At Robarts, after the last member of the pyramid made it to the safety of the platform, with 2,000 people watching in amazement, Karl Wallenda was asked if he had been nervous. He responded by displaying his noticeably damp palm.
He also said the act would never happen again.
But the new Wallendas - 13 family members, friends and loved ones of the original performers - got together 11/2 years ago to try again. The organizers of the Moslem Shrine Circus, celebrating a 90th anniversary, urged them to come back.
``Maybe some will think it's morbid, because we are celebrating the anniversary of their fall,'' said Bill Petrocy, the circus' director. ``In fact, we are celebrating a totally new act by the grandchildren.''
The new Wallendas acted no differently Thursday than they have in the months of practice leading up to the first performances, at noon and 7 p.m. today at the arena near Interstate 75.
``You can't go up there with the mind-set, `They fell; well, are we going to fall?' '' said Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, 19, one of the Wallendas performing today. ``If I wasn't 100 percent confident, I wouldn't go up there. I have no doubt that we're going to conquer, that we're going to make it through the 17 days.''
`Great' before they were ` flying '
The Wallenda name is the stuff of circus history.
Family patriarch Karl Wallenda, born in Germany in 1905, was performing in the family circus show at 6 and doing stunts at beer halls by age 11. In 1922, he recruited his brother Herman, a teen-age girl named Helen - who later became his wife - and Josef Geiger, an aerialist, into the act.
They toured Europe for several years, featuring an amazing four-person, three-level pyramid.
In that pyramid, Karl precariously balanced on a chair on top of a bar between the shoulders of two men on bicycles on a wire 50 feet in the air while Helen stood on Karl's shoulders. The act was such a sensation that when John Ringling saw them performing in Cuba, he immediately contracted them to appear with the ``Greatest Show on Earth.''
The Great Wallendas debuted their act without a net - it had been misplaced in shipping - at Madison Square Garden in 1928.
The Great Wallendas were headliners with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus much of the 1930s and 1940s. One performance, in Akron, Ohio, the wire slipped. All four fell to the ground but were unhurt.
A reporter wrote that they seemed to be flying so the headline read: ``The Flying Wallendas .''
In 1947, Karl began a circus of his own. At the Wallendas ' Sarasota home that winter, he created the crowning achievement - the seven-person pyramid that became a staple until 1962.
It's essentially the same formula the 1998 troupe will use.
Four men stand on a taut cable tethered to vertical platforms 44 feet apart. On the cable, the two pairs are yoked together by shoulder bars. On top of the bars, on the second level, stand two more performers, again yoked together with a shoulder bar. At the top of the pyramid, sits a person in a chair who stands briefly.
The group walks once across the wire. The top of the pyramid, the lightest person of the group, is 40 feet from the ground.
Then, if all goes as planned, applause.
Flying Wallendas today
Karl Wallenda is no longer around. He fell 120 feet to his death in 1978 at the age of 73 during a promotional wire walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His descendants, the sixth and seventh generations, kept a legacy alive by learning the daunting high-wire.
The current Flying Wallendas include: Tino Wallenda-Zoppe, Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda-Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda-Zoppe, and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest in the act.
``I've given them a few tips,'' said Mario Wallenda, 57, in a wheelchair as a result of the 1962 fall. Mario called them ``crazy,'' but he understands their passion to perform.
The director of Florida State University's Flying High Circus, Richard Brinson, calls the pyramid ``an awesome trick, absolutely incredible, probably one of the most difficult of all circus tricks throughout history.''
Sarasota Sailor Circus high-wire trainer Charlie Hartery notes that with four high-wire walkers on the cable, trying to keep balance while bearing the weight of three people, ``it is fairly dangerous.''
That's why national media are here.
The Wallendas , performer Alida Wallenda said, have motivation beyond showing the world that ``our family just didn't quit after the fall.''
``We want to leave Detroit with triumph rather than tragedy.''
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - Friday, March 6, 1998
Author: Tom Spalding STAFF WRITER
Shortly before other performers straddled horses or paraded costumed llamas into the circus ring Thursday, Tino Wallenda-Zoppe talked about the beast his own family has to tame.
Quiet reflection and concentration may normally be how the hours prior to a public performance are spent. But the Flying Wallendas , the famous high-wire specialists from Sarasota, found themselves fielding question after question from reporters.
For the first time in 21 years, the Wallendas today will perform the seven-person pyramid, a five-minute act that left two of the troupe dead and three injured during a performance Jan. 30, 1962.
It isn't just the feat; it's the same family, resurrecting the same act at the same location - the Michigan State Fair Coliseum - 25 feet above the ground without a net. The family has performed the stunt three times since the accident, but not in Detroit since 1962.
No wonder the cameras are rolling.
``I'll be watching and kind of holding my breath to make sure they survive,'' said Joseph Ritok, 80, a Detroit man who was an usher when the fall occurred 36 years ago.
It was a disaster detailed in the next day's newspapers, front-page news complete with pictures and banner headlines.
``When that pyramid collapsed, it was like slow motion,'' remembers Ritok, who as the usher helped break one performer's fall. ``A picture like that stays with you forever.''
He's still working with the circus, as a volunteer, and will be there to witness the pyramid again.
On Thursday, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn were in the air at the 90th Moslem Shrine Circus, where the crowd will be entertained by trapeze artists, strongmen and a Russian horse-riding act.
But the showstoppers will be the Wallendas , who will perform at least twice a day for the next 17 days for about 200,000 people.
``A repeat performance the world's been waiting for,'' reads a circus poster in the arena. If all goes well, the Wallendas will continue performing the pyramid on tour.
The Wallendas feel the undercurrent of tension but say they aren't fearful. They've graciously responded to the obvious questions like ``What are you trying to prove?'' and ``Are you nervous?'' They've relished the spotlight provided this week by - among others - ``Hard Copy,'' ``Inside Edition,'' ABC's ``Good Morning America'' and a Hollywood film crew making a documentary.
``I don't think we're here to prove anything to ourselves. We know we can do it. But to the world, we're here to make a statement,'' Wallenda-Zoppe said. ``We're here to re-establish our legacy in circus history.''
A deadly fall
The Wallendas will, as tradition dictates, walk above a concrete floor without a net.
They expect nothing to go wrong.
It was much the same Jan. 30, 1962. Wearing white satin with green spangles and led by family patriarch Karl Wallenda, the Flying Wallendas had built the pyramid and were moving in formation to the platform when Dieter Schepp, Karl Wallenda's nephew, who was on the bottom tier, reportedly lost his footing and fell, toppling the pyramid.
Schepp and Richard Faughnan, Karl Wallenda's son-in-law, were killed. Mario Wallenda, Karl's son, also fell to the sawdust- and straw-covered floor. He was paralyzed.
Gunther, Karl and Herman Wallenda grabbed the wire and Karl snared Jana Schepp - Dieter's sister, who had been sitting in a chair at the top of the pyramid - as she fell. Karl Wallenda held on to Schepp until people on the ground could find a net.
The crowd of 7,000 gasped in disbelief.
Dick Mayer, a Detroit resident and frequent visitor to Longboat Key, had gone to the circus that night with two of his children.
``It was horrifying to see. You knew up there, without the net, they'd be injured or killed,'' he said. ``I'm sure everybody there realized that.''
Alex Brown, 77, of Detroit said circus organizers ``were dumbfounded. They didn't know what to say. When they found out two were dead, it was worse.''
Circus clowns quickly ran onto the coliseum floor to try to keep the crowd calm.
In the midst of such tragedy, according to news accounts, Karl told his wife: ``I feel like a dead man on the ground. I can handle the grief better from up there. The wire is my life.''
So the Wallendas regrouped and performed the trick the next night. They did it again on two subsequent occasions, in 1963 in Texas and in 1977 in Sarasota, re-created primarily by Karl's grandchildren at Robarts Arena in Sarasota for the movie ``The Great Wallendas .''
At Robarts, after the last member of the pyramid made it to the safety of the platform, with 2,000 people watching in amazement, Karl Wallenda was asked if he had been nervous. He responded by displaying his noticeably damp palm.
He also said the act would never happen again.
But the new Wallendas - 13 family members, friends and loved ones of the original performers - got together 11/2 years ago to try again. The organizers of the Moslem Shrine Circus, celebrating a 90th anniversary, urged them to come back.
``Maybe some will think it's morbid, because we are celebrating the anniversary of their fall,'' said Bill Petrocy, the circus' director. ``In fact, we are celebrating a totally new act by the grandchildren.''
The new Wallendas acted no differently Thursday than they have in the months of practice leading up to the first performances, at noon and 7 p.m. today at the arena near Interstate 75.
``You can't go up there with the mind-set, `They fell; well, are we going to fall?' '' said Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, 19, one of the Wallendas performing today. ``If I wasn't 100 percent confident, I wouldn't go up there. I have no doubt that we're going to conquer, that we're going to make it through the 17 days.''
`Great' before they were ` flying '
The Wallenda name is the stuff of circus history.
Family patriarch Karl Wallenda, born in Germany in 1905, was performing in the family circus show at 6 and doing stunts at beer halls by age 11. In 1922, he recruited his brother Herman, a teen-age girl named Helen - who later became his wife - and Josef Geiger, an aerialist, into the act.
They toured Europe for several years, featuring an amazing four-person, three-level pyramid.
In that pyramid, Karl precariously balanced on a chair on top of a bar between the shoulders of two men on bicycles on a wire 50 feet in the air while Helen stood on Karl's shoulders. The act was such a sensation that when John Ringling saw them performing in Cuba, he immediately contracted them to appear with the ``Greatest Show on Earth.''
The Great Wallendas debuted their act without a net - it had been misplaced in shipping - at Madison Square Garden in 1928.
The Great Wallendas were headliners with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus much of the 1930s and 1940s. One performance, in Akron, Ohio, the wire slipped. All four fell to the ground but were unhurt.
A reporter wrote that they seemed to be flying so the headline read: ``The Flying Wallendas .''
In 1947, Karl began a circus of his own. At the Wallendas ' Sarasota home that winter, he created the crowning achievement - the seven-person pyramid that became a staple until 1962.
It's essentially the same formula the 1998 troupe will use.
Four men stand on a taut cable tethered to vertical platforms 44 feet apart. On the cable, the two pairs are yoked together by shoulder bars. On top of the bars, on the second level, stand two more performers, again yoked together with a shoulder bar. At the top of the pyramid, sits a person in a chair who stands briefly.
The group walks once across the wire. The top of the pyramid, the lightest person of the group, is 40 feet from the ground.
Then, if all goes as planned, applause.
Flying Wallendas today
Karl Wallenda is no longer around. He fell 120 feet to his death in 1978 at the age of 73 during a promotional wire walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His descendants, the sixth and seventh generations, kept a legacy alive by learning the daunting high-wire.
The current Flying Wallendas include: Tino Wallenda-Zoppe, Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda-Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda-Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda-Zoppe, and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest in the act.
``I've given them a few tips,'' said Mario Wallenda, 57, in a wheelchair as a result of the 1962 fall. Mario called them ``crazy,'' but he understands their passion to perform.
The director of Florida State University's Flying High Circus, Richard Brinson, calls the pyramid ``an awesome trick, absolutely incredible, probably one of the most difficult of all circus tricks throughout history.''
Sarasota Sailor Circus high-wire trainer Charlie Hartery notes that with four high-wire walkers on the cable, trying to keep balance while bearing the weight of three people, ``it is fairly dangerous.''
That's why national media are here.
The Wallendas , performer Alida Wallenda said, have motivation beyond showing the world that ``our family just didn't quit after the fall.''
``We want to leave Detroit with triumph rather than tragedy.''
Flying Wallendas
By TOM SPALDING
and TRICIA HOPKINS
NEW YORK TIMES
SARASOTA, Fla. ‑ Mario Wallenda shook his head as seven loved ones practiced the same high‑wire trick that put him in a wheelchair 36 years ago.
“I think they're all crazy,” the 57‑year‑old said Thursday as the group rehearsed in north Sarasota. Wallenda was a member of the renown Flying Wallendas, a troupe of circus performers whose unique seven person pyramid across a tightrope dazzled audiences worldwide until February 1962
That's when the pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit. Two members were killed. Mario, the adopted son of family patriarch Karl Wallenda, was paralyzed.
Next week, a new group of Flying Wallendas is returning to Detroit with the hope of exorcising a circus demon. Thirteen people, all related by blood marriage or friendship to the 1962 Wallendas, will begin a 1‑night performance starting March 6 in the Moslem Shrine Circus.
They plan to perform the seven‑person pyramid.
Since the fatal pyramid performance, the Flying Wallendas performed the act only twice but never in Detroit, and not since 1977. Now, the pyramid will be a regular highlight of the Wallenda performances.
“I could sit here and talk them out of it until I'm blue in the face,” Mario Wallenda said. “Anticipation that something might happen? Yes. I'm running out of relatives.”
Family member Tino Wallenda‑Zoppe, one of the new performers, thought up the idea a year and a half ago and recruited or welcomed relatives and friends of the family.
The new troupe also includes Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda‑Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda‑Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda‑Zoppe and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest, in the act.,
In the pyramid stunt four people line up single file at the end of one platform, standing on thin wire 25 feet above the ground. The four hold two bars across their shoulders.
Two people then stand on the bars, and a third person – in a, chair – gets on top. The group walks about 30 feet across the wire – without a net.
“We never use a net. MY great‑grandfather, Karl, believed it gave you a false sense of security,” said Lijana Wallenda, one of the family performers.
The Flying Wallendas have performed for audiences throughout most of this century. They debuted the pyramid in 1947. In 1978, Karl fell to his death from 120 feet above a Puerto Rico street. His death was the seventh Wallenda high-wire death of the century.
The Flying Wallendas perform the seven-person pyramid at a practice session in Sarasota, Fla., last week. The Wallendas plan to make the act a regular part of their performances for the first time since 1977.
and TRICIA HOPKINS
NEW YORK TIMES
SARASOTA, Fla. ‑ Mario Wallenda shook his head as seven loved ones practiced the same high‑wire trick that put him in a wheelchair 36 years ago.
“I think they're all crazy,” the 57‑year‑old said Thursday as the group rehearsed in north Sarasota. Wallenda was a member of the renown Flying Wallendas, a troupe of circus performers whose unique seven person pyramid across a tightrope dazzled audiences worldwide until February 1962
That's when the pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit. Two members were killed. Mario, the adopted son of family patriarch Karl Wallenda, was paralyzed.
Next week, a new group of Flying Wallendas is returning to Detroit with the hope of exorcising a circus demon. Thirteen people, all related by blood marriage or friendship to the 1962 Wallendas, will begin a 1‑night performance starting March 6 in the Moslem Shrine Circus.
They plan to perform the seven‑person pyramid.
Since the fatal pyramid performance, the Flying Wallendas performed the act only twice but never in Detroit, and not since 1977. Now, the pyramid will be a regular highlight of the Wallenda performances.
“I could sit here and talk them out of it until I'm blue in the face,” Mario Wallenda said. “Anticipation that something might happen? Yes. I'm running out of relatives.”
Family member Tino Wallenda‑Zoppe, one of the new performers, thought up the idea a year and a half ago and recruited or welcomed relatives and friends of the family.
The new troupe also includes Terry Troffer, Nikolas Wallenda‑Troffer, Sacha Pavlata, Alida Wallenda, Tony Hernandez, Delilah Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda, Rietta Wallenda, Aurelia Wallenda‑Zoppe, Dieter Galumbo, Andrea Wallenda‑Zoppe and Alex Wallenda-Zoppe, who at 9 is the youngest, in the act.,
In the pyramid stunt four people line up single file at the end of one platform, standing on thin wire 25 feet above the ground. The four hold two bars across their shoulders.
Two people then stand on the bars, and a third person – in a, chair – gets on top. The group walks about 30 feet across the wire – without a net.
“We never use a net. MY great‑grandfather, Karl, believed it gave you a false sense of security,” said Lijana Wallenda, one of the family performers.
The Flying Wallendas have performed for audiences throughout most of this century. They debuted the pyramid in 1947. In 1978, Karl fell to his death from 120 feet above a Puerto Rico street. His death was the seventh Wallenda high-wire death of the century.
The Flying Wallendas perform the seven-person pyramid at a practice session in Sarasota, Fla., last week. The Wallendas plan to make the act a regular part of their performances for the first time since 1977.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Through the roof! Hailstorm claims soar
Through the roof! Hailstorm claims soar
April storm one of state's costliest: $560M in damage
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
The Good Friday hailstorm will go down as one of the costliest weather events in state history: 177,000 Central Indiana residents have filed claims totaling $560 million for auto and home repairs.
"For many companies, it is the biggest storm they can recall, in terms of dollars," said Marty Wood, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Indiana.
Most auto repairs have been completed or scheduled, officials say. Focus is increasingly turning to residential repairs, as many homeowners decide whether to get roofs and gutters fixed.
Officials report isolated cases of fraud on the part of repair crews and homeowners, including one whom officials suspect climbed on his roof and used a coin to simulate storm damage on his shingles.
But as storms go, most agree it was perfect in one sense -- while it created lots of damage, the storm resulted in relatively little hardship. There were no deaths and relatively minor injuries from the storm, which struck on Good Friday.
"It is a catastrophe, but you want to save the word catastrophe for a hurricane or a storm like that," said Doug Miller, 50, of Coomer Roofing of Indianapolis. On Friday, his crew was sweating out another job nailing shingles onto the pitched roof of a home in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. "We're here in a nice neighborhood. There's no one having to camp out on their lawns."
Certainly the storm was good for Miller's company. He said that by the end of June, he had already exceeded revenues for all of 2005.
New roof or no roof
For some homeowners, the decision on whether to get a new roof is a no-brainer. A $500 or $1,000 deductible to get a new $10,000 roof is almost a windfall.
"For a lot of people, it is a gift. It is a blessing in disguise," said Scott Surette, a home inspector from Indianapolis. "It's a 10-, 12-, 15-year-old roof that is OK, but they have a golden opportunity to get a new roof, and the insurance company is footing the bill. . . . They say, 'If they are going to hand me free roof, I'll take it.' "
But some suspect there are homeowners and contractors who are taking advantage of the hailstorm.
"There are a lot of roofs being replaced that don't need to be replaced, in my opinion," said Glenn Barton of Barton Home Inspections of Indianapolis. "I think it happens because the opportunity is there to turn it (a claim) into the insurance company, and people are saying 'Me, too.' "
While it may be tempting to keep up with the Joneses and join the re-roofing frenzy, insurance experts say there is a potential downside. Homeowners who turn in too many claims run the risk of having their policy dropped.
The state's Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general's office says it has received relatively few complaints since the storm, and most of those have dealt with the timeliness of getting insurers to pay for repairs.
"The number of complaints relating to work not getting done, scams by home contractors and those kinds of complaints that we have jurisdiction over, have not been voluminous," said Staci Schneider, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter.
Jerrell Campbell, a Seattle resident who is in Indianapolis to help State Farm Insurance handle 1,400 claims per week here, said only a few instances of fraud have been found. One Indianapolis homeowner, he said, is suspected of using a coin or some other object to mimic hail damage.
In another case being probed, Campbell said one roofing contractor showed a prospective client pictures of a storm-damaged roof -- only it wasn't the client's roof. Some contractors have misrepresented themselves as State Farm employees and submitted claims purporting to work for the policyholder.
How much longer will the repair frenzy last? The state recommends policyholders move promptly in making their claims.
Bob Skinner, 35, Pike Township, said he will get the roof of his ranch home inspected next week. He waited three months to get it done. Part of his motivation is because, on his street, "everybody else is doing it."
"If it's a problem, I want it taken care of before it becomes a problem," Skinner said. "And before I miss the opportunity to take care of it."
_____________________________________________
Some quick answers
Bettye L. Foy, of the state Department of Insurance, answered some frequently asked questions.
Q: Is there a deadline for people to file claims from the April 14 storm?
A: Refer to your policy (duties after a loss). The insured should report a claim promptly.
Q: Should homeowners expect their rates to go up once they file a claim?
A: As a rule, rates will not go up after filing one claim.
Q: Can an insurance company cancel a policy related to a single hail event after a claim?
A: Generally, an "act of God" is not grounds for cancellation.
_____________________________________________
What homeowners should do
According to Angie's List, a subscriber-based Indianapolis referral company:
If you haven't already done so, inspect your roof, gutters, windows and siding and take photos. Get a damage assessment from your property insurer's adjustor and get at least three estimates from contractors.
Be wary of storm chasers and door-to-door solicitors.
When you pick a contractor, have him or her negotiate directly with your insurer if they disagree on repair costs.
Be prepared to wait until repairs can be made.
Frequently asked questions
Many homeowners are deciding whether to file claims for hail damage. Here is information from Bettye L. Foy, deputy commissioner of the consumer services division in the state Department of Insurance.
Q: How many claims does a homeowner have to file before he or she is in jeopardy of being canceled?
A: As a rule, a policy would not be canceled for one claim unless there is fraud or misrepresentation.
Q: Does money make a difference? Is it better to make a claim for $15,000 or less as opposed to $50,000 or more?
A: No.
Q: Will the state monitor the situation in case rate increases occur?
A: Indiana's property and casualty insurance rate filing laws are designated as "file and use" laws. That means insurers are required to file property and casualty insurance rates with the Department of Insurance but are not required to wait for approval before the rates can be used. The department can, after a hearing, require an insurer to withdraw rates if they are found to be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.
-- Tom Spalding
_____________________________________________
By the numbers
177,000
Claims submitted from Central Indiana in connection with the April 14 hailstorm, according to Insurance Services Offices, Ind., a for-profit company in New Jersey that tracks catastrophes.
$560 million
Damages submitted from the storm through July 7, according to Insurance Services.
$38.5 billion
Estimated cost of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Insurance Services.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
April storm one of state's costliest: $560M in damage
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
The Good Friday hailstorm will go down as one of the costliest weather events in state history: 177,000 Central Indiana residents have filed claims totaling $560 million for auto and home repairs.
"For many companies, it is the biggest storm they can recall, in terms of dollars," said Marty Wood, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Indiana.
Most auto repairs have been completed or scheduled, officials say. Focus is increasingly turning to residential repairs, as many homeowners decide whether to get roofs and gutters fixed.
Officials report isolated cases of fraud on the part of repair crews and homeowners, including one whom officials suspect climbed on his roof and used a coin to simulate storm damage on his shingles.
But as storms go, most agree it was perfect in one sense -- while it created lots of damage, the storm resulted in relatively little hardship. There were no deaths and relatively minor injuries from the storm, which struck on Good Friday.
"It is a catastrophe, but you want to save the word catastrophe for a hurricane or a storm like that," said Doug Miller, 50, of Coomer Roofing of Indianapolis. On Friday, his crew was sweating out another job nailing shingles onto the pitched roof of a home in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. "We're here in a nice neighborhood. There's no one having to camp out on their lawns."
Certainly the storm was good for Miller's company. He said that by the end of June, he had already exceeded revenues for all of 2005.
New roof or no roof
For some homeowners, the decision on whether to get a new roof is a no-brainer. A $500 or $1,000 deductible to get a new $10,000 roof is almost a windfall.
"For a lot of people, it is a gift. It is a blessing in disguise," said Scott Surette, a home inspector from Indianapolis. "It's a 10-, 12-, 15-year-old roof that is OK, but they have a golden opportunity to get a new roof, and the insurance company is footing the bill. . . . They say, 'If they are going to hand me free roof, I'll take it.' "
But some suspect there are homeowners and contractors who are taking advantage of the hailstorm.
"There are a lot of roofs being replaced that don't need to be replaced, in my opinion," said Glenn Barton of Barton Home Inspections of Indianapolis. "I think it happens because the opportunity is there to turn it (a claim) into the insurance company, and people are saying 'Me, too.' "
While it may be tempting to keep up with the Joneses and join the re-roofing frenzy, insurance experts say there is a potential downside. Homeowners who turn in too many claims run the risk of having their policy dropped.
The state's Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general's office says it has received relatively few complaints since the storm, and most of those have dealt with the timeliness of getting insurers to pay for repairs.
"The number of complaints relating to work not getting done, scams by home contractors and those kinds of complaints that we have jurisdiction over, have not been voluminous," said Staci Schneider, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter.
Jerrell Campbell, a Seattle resident who is in Indianapolis to help State Farm Insurance handle 1,400 claims per week here, said only a few instances of fraud have been found. One Indianapolis homeowner, he said, is suspected of using a coin or some other object to mimic hail damage.
In another case being probed, Campbell said one roofing contractor showed a prospective client pictures of a storm-damaged roof -- only it wasn't the client's roof. Some contractors have misrepresented themselves as State Farm employees and submitted claims purporting to work for the policyholder.
How much longer will the repair frenzy last? The state recommends policyholders move promptly in making their claims.
Bob Skinner, 35, Pike Township, said he will get the roof of his ranch home inspected next week. He waited three months to get it done. Part of his motivation is because, on his street, "everybody else is doing it."
"If it's a problem, I want it taken care of before it becomes a problem," Skinner said. "And before I miss the opportunity to take care of it."
_____________________________________________
Some quick answers
Bettye L. Foy, of the state Department of Insurance, answered some frequently asked questions.
Q: Is there a deadline for people to file claims from the April 14 storm?
A: Refer to your policy (duties after a loss). The insured should report a claim promptly.
Q: Should homeowners expect their rates to go up once they file a claim?
A: As a rule, rates will not go up after filing one claim.
Q: Can an insurance company cancel a policy related to a single hail event after a claim?
A: Generally, an "act of God" is not grounds for cancellation.
_____________________________________________
What homeowners should do
According to Angie's List, a subscriber-based Indianapolis referral company:
If you haven't already done so, inspect your roof, gutters, windows and siding and take photos. Get a damage assessment from your property insurer's adjustor and get at least three estimates from contractors.
Be wary of storm chasers and door-to-door solicitors.
When you pick a contractor, have him or her negotiate directly with your insurer if they disagree on repair costs.
Be prepared to wait until repairs can be made.
Frequently asked questions
Many homeowners are deciding whether to file claims for hail damage. Here is information from Bettye L. Foy, deputy commissioner of the consumer services division in the state Department of Insurance.
Q: How many claims does a homeowner have to file before he or she is in jeopardy of being canceled?
A: As a rule, a policy would not be canceled for one claim unless there is fraud or misrepresentation.
Q: Does money make a difference? Is it better to make a claim for $15,000 or less as opposed to $50,000 or more?
A: No.
Q: Will the state monitor the situation in case rate increases occur?
A: Indiana's property and casualty insurance rate filing laws are designated as "file and use" laws. That means insurers are required to file property and casualty insurance rates with the Department of Insurance but are not required to wait for approval before the rates can be used. The department can, after a hearing, require an insurer to withdraw rates if they are found to be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.
-- Tom Spalding
_____________________________________________
By the numbers
177,000
Claims submitted from Central Indiana in connection with the April 14 hailstorm, according to Insurance Services Offices, Ind., a for-profit company in New Jersey that tracks catastrophes.
$560 million
Damages submitted from the storm through July 7, according to Insurance Services.
$38.5 billion
Estimated cost of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Insurance Services.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
Hailstorm part 1 - May 11 '06
Fixing to wait
Thousands of houses and cars still bear scars a month after a hailstorm battered Central Indiana. The lines for repair work could stretch for months.
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
Four weeks after the Good Friday hailstorm, Central Indiana residents are being told it could be months before their damaged cars and homes can be repaired.
One auto body shop is so swamped it has a team of workers from Brazil doing hail-related repairs. The work in some shops is being scheduled as far out as July and August.
Roofers and businesses repairing siding and windows also report record traffic stemming from the April 14 storm.
Property and casualty insurers have reported more than 40,000 claims statewide, according to Marty Wood of the Insurance Institute of Indiana. More than 75 percent of those claims are from Central Indiana.
Stuart Lowry, whose century-old Indianapolis home was tattooed during the hailstorm, is feeling lucky despite his daunting repair list: gutters, windows, and every shingle on his roof. His preliminary bill: $15,000.
"I feel pretty good about the fact that we have got people coming -- pretty soon," said Lowry.
But when might those repairs be complete? He doesn't know. Lowry thinks it might not happen until the fall.
"It's the worst I've ever seen," said Andy Roseboom, an Avon-based contractor. "Everybody is saying the same thing. I probably have 100 roofs to do right now. Normally I'd only have 20."
"We're scheduled all the way to the first week of July, and we're still taking quite a few (requests) a day," said Donnie Moorehouse of Moorehouse Body Shop on Troy Avenue.
Even people who have received insurance checks are finding they have to schedule repairs two or three months out. In some cases, damage appraisers are setting up appointments on Sundays to meet the workload.
State Farm Insurance still has a significant backlog of homeowner claims, said spokeswoman Missy Lundberg. State Farm insures about one in five homes and one in four cars in Indiana.
Of the 14,500 hail-related claims it received from Indiana, State Farm has cleared 5,000 for repairs.
During the storm, trained spotters and other weather observers reported hail ranging from pea-sized to as large as golf balls and chicken eggs.
Two-inch hailstones pierced automobile windshields and cracked vinyl siding on buildings near 71st Street West and Georgetown Road; 13/4-inch stones were reported near Camby and Beech Grove.
Because hail events are not measured like rain or floods by the National Weather Service, it is hard to put the storm into historical perspective.
"It's not uncommon to see hail," said Mike Shartran, data acquisition program manager at the National Weather Service. "But to see strong storms that produce golf- and baseball-size hail, that is not a common occurrence."
Hoosiers in the auto and home repair businesses say the hail damage is rivaled only by storms in 1996 and 1989.
About 375 vehicles on the Honda West lot on West 38th Street near I-65 needed minor repairs to remove small dents; 400 vehicles at Family Buick Mitsubishi near North Shadeland Avenue and I-465 also needed touch-ups.
"What was unusual in this case was it was a wider path and it hit a lot of consumers," said Scot Davis, CEO and owner of Family.
According to the Indiana attorney general's office, state law says auto dealers must disclose a vehicle's hail damage to customers if the damage exceeds 4 percent of the vehicle's price.
Policyholders have to weigh the price of repair. There are out-of-pocket expenses as well as deductibles and the possibility of rising insurance premiums.
Linda Lee is, perhaps, like countless other storm victims -- unsure of her next step.
Lee, 66, who lives in an apartment complex in the 6400 block of Hoover Road in Indianapolis, showed off her green 2000 Honda Accord, which is dotted with scores of dime-size dimples. She counted at least 44 depressions on the trunk.
"I haven't tried to see where I'll get it repaired. I might not get it repaired," she said.
The Better Business Bureau of Central Indiana is worried about storm-chasing scam artists.
"I applaud people who have been able to wait and to be patient and get a contract with a local business," said Linda Carmody, president and chief executive of the local BBB. The good news, she said, is that cars are drivable and homes are generally livable, so "it's worth waiting to deal with those good folks."
Indianapolis residents Steve and Joan Shank took their vehicles to Church Brothers Collision Repair in Greenwood, 17 miles south of their home, where damage wasn't quite so severe.
"If I had waited for the Downtown shop where I got the estimates, it would have been the last week of June," she said. "They were already booked."
_________________________________________________
HOW BAD IS IT?
Damage claims: 40,000 were made statewide after the storm, property and casualty insurers report. Most are from Central Indiana, and more are expected.
Car dinged? Just wait. Some auto repair shops are scheduling dent repairs into July and August.
Imported help: One auto repair shop has a crew from Brazil in to help with the work. A national storm reconstruction company based in Glen Ellyn, Ill., is opening an Indianapolis office to help rebuild roofs, siding and rain gutters.
Lots of cars were sitting ducks:
375 vehicles on the Honda West lot on West 38th Street and 400 vehicles at Family Buick Mitsubishi near North Shadeland Avenue and I-465 needed repairs.
Through the roof: A contractor who usually works on 20 homes this time of year says he has 100 now.
_________________________________________________
Protect yourself
Beware: Do not hire people who come to your door or call you saying they noticed damage.
Referrals: Get referrals from your insurance company or from friends to find a reputable repair shop or contractor. Contact the Better Business Bureau, the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division or services such as Angie's List to make sure the company is in good standing.
Guarantees: Ask if the work is guaranteed. If you notice a flaw, you should be able to have it fixed at no additional charge.
Neighbors: Check with your neighbors if you experienced hail but didn't see any visible damage to your roof. If a neighbor is doing roof repairs, you may have damage as well.
Contracts: Get all contract information in writing. Indiana law requires home improvement contracts exceeding $150 to be in writing.
Payments: Never pay the entire cost of repairs in advance or pay in cash. Down payments should not exceed one-third of the cost of repairs.
Sources: Indiana Consumer Protection Division, Better Business Bureau, Progressive Group of Insurance Companies
_________________________________________________
Repairing the damage
Here's a quick look at how cars damaged by hail are repaired:
Paintless: The simplest way of handling hailstone damage is known as "paintless dent repair." A technician pushes small dents back into shape from the inside of a body panel.
Dent pullers: Sometimes mechanics use small dent pullers to remove dents. However, this can mean removing interior panels and fabric and padding lining the roof to get to the dents.
Damaged panels: Where the dents are too numerous and too deep, mechanics must replace damaged body panels with new ones. This is an expensive process because the sheet metal needs primer, color paint and clear coat to bring it up to factory standards.
Star reporters Kevin O'Neal, J.K. Wall and Mark Nichols contributed to this story.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
Publication: THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Publication date: Saturday, July 22, 2006
Page number: A01
Edition: FINAL EDITION
Section: NEWS
Day: SAT
Byline: BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
Byline ID:
Copyright: Yes
RESALE: Yes
archive~44353522
Through the roof! Hailstorm claims soar
April storm one of state's costliest: $560M in damage
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
The Good Friday hailstorm will go down as one of the costliest weather events in state history: 177,000 Central Indiana residents have filed claims totaling $560 million for auto and home repairs.
"For many companies, it is the biggest storm they can recall, in terms of dollars," said Marty Wood, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Indiana.
Most auto repairs have been completed or scheduled, officials say. Focus is increasingly turning to residential repairs, as many homeowners decide whether to get roofs and gutters fixed.
Officials report isolated cases of fraud on the part of repair crews and homeowners, including one whom officials suspect climbed on his roof and used a coin to simulate storm damage on his shingles.
But as storms go, most agree it was perfect in one sense -- while it created lots of damage, the storm resulted in relatively little hardship. There were no deaths and relatively minor injuries from the storm, which struck on Good Friday.
"It is a catastrophe, but you want to save the word catastrophe for a hurricane or a storm like that," said Doug Miller, 50, of Coomer Roofing of Indianapolis. On Friday, his crew was sweating out another job nailing shingles onto the pitched roof of a home in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. "We're here in a nice neighborhood. There's no one having to camp out on their lawns."
Certainly the storm was good for Miller's company. He said that by the end of June, he had already exceeded revenues for all of 2005.
New roof or no roof
For some homeowners, the decision on whether to get a new roof is a no-brainer. A $500 or $1,000 deductible to get a new $10,000 roof is almost a windfall.
"For a lot of people, it is a gift. It is a blessing in disguise," said Scott Surette, a home inspector from Indianapolis. "It's a 10-, 12-, 15-year-old roof that is OK, but they have a golden opportunity to get a new roof, and the insurance company is footing the bill. . . . They say, 'If they are going to hand me free roof, I'll take it.' "
But some suspect there are homeowners and contractors who are taking advantage of the hailstorm.
"There are a lot of roofs being replaced that don't need to be replaced, in my opinion," said Glenn Barton of Barton Home Inspections of Indianapolis. "I think it happens because the opportunity is there to turn it (a claim) into the insurance company, and people are saying 'Me, too.' "
While it may be tempting to keep up with the Joneses and join the re-roofing frenzy, insurance experts say there is a potential downside. Homeowners who turn in too many claims run the risk of having their policy dropped.
The state's Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general's office says it has received relatively few complaints since the storm, and most of those have dealt with the timeliness of getting insurers to pay for repairs.
"The number of complaints relating to work not getting done, scams by home contractors and those kinds of complaints that we have jurisdiction over, have not been voluminous," said Staci Schneider, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter.
Jerrell Campbell, a Seattle resident who is in Indianapolis to help State Farm Insurance handle 1,400 claims per week here, said only a few instances of fraud have been found. One Indianapolis homeowner, he said, is suspected of using a coin or some other object to mimic hail damage.
In another case being probed, Campbell said one roofing contractor showed a prospective client pictures of a storm-damaged roof -- only it wasn't the client's roof. Some contractors have misrepresented themselves as State Farm employees and submitted claims purporting to work for the policyholder.
How much longer will the repair frenzy last? The state recommends policyholders move promptly in making their claims.
Bob Skinner, 35, Pike Township, said he will get the roof of his ranch home inspected next week. He waited three months to get it done. Part of his motivation is because, on his street, "everybody else is doing it."
"If it's a problem, I want it taken care of before it becomes a problem," Skinner said. "And before I miss the opportunity to take care of it."
_____________________________________________
Some quick answers
Bettye L. Foy, of the state Department of Insurance, answered some frequently asked questions.
Q: Is there a deadline for people to file claims from the April 14 storm?
A: Refer to your policy (duties after a loss). The insured should report a claim promptly.
Q: Should homeowners expect their rates to go up once they file a claim?
A: As a rule, rates will not go up after filing one claim.
Q: Can an insurance company cancel a policy related to a single hail event after a claim?
A: Generally, an "act of God" is not grounds for cancellation.
_____________________________________________
What homeowners should do
According to Angie's List, a subscriber-based Indianapolis referral company:
If you haven't already done so, inspect your roof, gutters, windows and siding and take photos. Get a damage assessment from your property insurer's adjustor and get at least three estimates from contractors.
Be wary of storm chasers and door-to-door solicitors.
When you pick a contractor, have him or her negotiate directly with your insurer if they disagree on repair costs.
Be prepared to wait until repairs can be made.
Frequently asked questions
Many homeowners are deciding whether to file claims for hail damage. Here is information from Bettye L. Foy, deputy commissioner of the consumer services division in the state Department of Insurance.
Q: How many claims does a homeowner have to file before he or she is in jeopardy of being canceled?
A: As a rule, a policy would not be canceled for one claim unless there is fraud or misrepresentation.
Q: Does money make a difference? Is it better to make a claim for $15,000 or less as opposed to $50,000 or more?
A: No.
Q: Will the state monitor the situation in case rate increases occur?
A: Indiana's property and casualty insurance rate filing laws are designated as "file and use" laws. That means insurers are required to file property and casualty insurance rates with the Department of Insurance but are not required to wait for approval before the rates can be used. The department can, after a hearing, require an insurer to withdraw rates if they are found to be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.
-- Tom Spalding
_____________________________________________
By the numbers
177,000
Claims submitted from Central Indiana in connection with the April 14 hailstorm, according to Insurance Services Offices, Ind., a for-profit company in New Jersey that tracks catastrophes.
$560 million
Damages submitted from the storm through July 7, according to Insurance Services.
$38.5 billion
Estimated cost of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Insurance Services.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
Thousands of houses and cars still bear scars a month after a hailstorm battered Central Indiana. The lines for repair work could stretch for months.
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
Four weeks after the Good Friday hailstorm, Central Indiana residents are being told it could be months before their damaged cars and homes can be repaired.
One auto body shop is so swamped it has a team of workers from Brazil doing hail-related repairs. The work in some shops is being scheduled as far out as July and August.
Roofers and businesses repairing siding and windows also report record traffic stemming from the April 14 storm.
Property and casualty insurers have reported more than 40,000 claims statewide, according to Marty Wood of the Insurance Institute of Indiana. More than 75 percent of those claims are from Central Indiana.
Stuart Lowry, whose century-old Indianapolis home was tattooed during the hailstorm, is feeling lucky despite his daunting repair list: gutters, windows, and every shingle on his roof. His preliminary bill: $15,000.
"I feel pretty good about the fact that we have got people coming -- pretty soon," said Lowry.
But when might those repairs be complete? He doesn't know. Lowry thinks it might not happen until the fall.
"It's the worst I've ever seen," said Andy Roseboom, an Avon-based contractor. "Everybody is saying the same thing. I probably have 100 roofs to do right now. Normally I'd only have 20."
"We're scheduled all the way to the first week of July, and we're still taking quite a few (requests) a day," said Donnie Moorehouse of Moorehouse Body Shop on Troy Avenue.
Even people who have received insurance checks are finding they have to schedule repairs two or three months out. In some cases, damage appraisers are setting up appointments on Sundays to meet the workload.
State Farm Insurance still has a significant backlog of homeowner claims, said spokeswoman Missy Lundberg. State Farm insures about one in five homes and one in four cars in Indiana.
Of the 14,500 hail-related claims it received from Indiana, State Farm has cleared 5,000 for repairs.
During the storm, trained spotters and other weather observers reported hail ranging from pea-sized to as large as golf balls and chicken eggs.
Two-inch hailstones pierced automobile windshields and cracked vinyl siding on buildings near 71st Street West and Georgetown Road; 13/4-inch stones were reported near Camby and Beech Grove.
Because hail events are not measured like rain or floods by the National Weather Service, it is hard to put the storm into historical perspective.
"It's not uncommon to see hail," said Mike Shartran, data acquisition program manager at the National Weather Service. "But to see strong storms that produce golf- and baseball-size hail, that is not a common occurrence."
Hoosiers in the auto and home repair businesses say the hail damage is rivaled only by storms in 1996 and 1989.
About 375 vehicles on the Honda West lot on West 38th Street near I-65 needed minor repairs to remove small dents; 400 vehicles at Family Buick Mitsubishi near North Shadeland Avenue and I-465 also needed touch-ups.
"What was unusual in this case was it was a wider path and it hit a lot of consumers," said Scot Davis, CEO and owner of Family.
According to the Indiana attorney general's office, state law says auto dealers must disclose a vehicle's hail damage to customers if the damage exceeds 4 percent of the vehicle's price.
Policyholders have to weigh the price of repair. There are out-of-pocket expenses as well as deductibles and the possibility of rising insurance premiums.
Linda Lee is, perhaps, like countless other storm victims -- unsure of her next step.
Lee, 66, who lives in an apartment complex in the 6400 block of Hoover Road in Indianapolis, showed off her green 2000 Honda Accord, which is dotted with scores of dime-size dimples. She counted at least 44 depressions on the trunk.
"I haven't tried to see where I'll get it repaired. I might not get it repaired," she said.
The Better Business Bureau of Central Indiana is worried about storm-chasing scam artists.
"I applaud people who have been able to wait and to be patient and get a contract with a local business," said Linda Carmody, president and chief executive of the local BBB. The good news, she said, is that cars are drivable and homes are generally livable, so "it's worth waiting to deal with those good folks."
Indianapolis residents Steve and Joan Shank took their vehicles to Church Brothers Collision Repair in Greenwood, 17 miles south of their home, where damage wasn't quite so severe.
"If I had waited for the Downtown shop where I got the estimates, it would have been the last week of June," she said. "They were already booked."
_________________________________________________
HOW BAD IS IT?
Damage claims: 40,000 were made statewide after the storm, property and casualty insurers report. Most are from Central Indiana, and more are expected.
Car dinged? Just wait. Some auto repair shops are scheduling dent repairs into July and August.
Imported help: One auto repair shop has a crew from Brazil in to help with the work. A national storm reconstruction company based in Glen Ellyn, Ill., is opening an Indianapolis office to help rebuild roofs, siding and rain gutters.
Lots of cars were sitting ducks:
375 vehicles on the Honda West lot on West 38th Street and 400 vehicles at Family Buick Mitsubishi near North Shadeland Avenue and I-465 needed repairs.
Through the roof: A contractor who usually works on 20 homes this time of year says he has 100 now.
_________________________________________________
Protect yourself
Beware: Do not hire people who come to your door or call you saying they noticed damage.
Referrals: Get referrals from your insurance company or from friends to find a reputable repair shop or contractor. Contact the Better Business Bureau, the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division or services such as Angie's List to make sure the company is in good standing.
Guarantees: Ask if the work is guaranteed. If you notice a flaw, you should be able to have it fixed at no additional charge.
Neighbors: Check with your neighbors if you experienced hail but didn't see any visible damage to your roof. If a neighbor is doing roof repairs, you may have damage as well.
Contracts: Get all contract information in writing. Indiana law requires home improvement contracts exceeding $150 to be in writing.
Payments: Never pay the entire cost of repairs in advance or pay in cash. Down payments should not exceed one-third of the cost of repairs.
Sources: Indiana Consumer Protection Division, Better Business Bureau, Progressive Group of Insurance Companies
_________________________________________________
Repairing the damage
Here's a quick look at how cars damaged by hail are repaired:
Paintless: The simplest way of handling hailstone damage is known as "paintless dent repair." A technician pushes small dents back into shape from the inside of a body panel.
Dent pullers: Sometimes mechanics use small dent pullers to remove dents. However, this can mean removing interior panels and fabric and padding lining the roof to get to the dents.
Damaged panels: Where the dents are too numerous and too deep, mechanics must replace damaged body panels with new ones. This is an expensive process because the sheet metal needs primer, color paint and clear coat to bring it up to factory standards.
Star reporters Kevin O'Neal, J.K. Wall and Mark Nichols contributed to this story.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
Publication: THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Publication date: Saturday, July 22, 2006
Page number: A01
Edition: FINAL EDITION
Section: NEWS
Day: SAT
Byline: BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
Byline ID:
Copyright: Yes
RESALE: Yes
archive~44353522
Through the roof! Hailstorm claims soar
April storm one of state's costliest: $560M in damage
BY TOM SPALDING TOM.SPALDING@INDYSTAR.COM
The Good Friday hailstorm will go down as one of the costliest weather events in state history: 177,000 Central Indiana residents have filed claims totaling $560 million for auto and home repairs.
"For many companies, it is the biggest storm they can recall, in terms of dollars," said Marty Wood, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Indiana.
Most auto repairs have been completed or scheduled, officials say. Focus is increasingly turning to residential repairs, as many homeowners decide whether to get roofs and gutters fixed.
Officials report isolated cases of fraud on the part of repair crews and homeowners, including one whom officials suspect climbed on his roof and used a coin to simulate storm damage on his shingles.
But as storms go, most agree it was perfect in one sense -- while it created lots of damage, the storm resulted in relatively little hardship. There were no deaths and relatively minor injuries from the storm, which struck on Good Friday.
"It is a catastrophe, but you want to save the word catastrophe for a hurricane or a storm like that," said Doug Miller, 50, of Coomer Roofing of Indianapolis. On Friday, his crew was sweating out another job nailing shingles onto the pitched roof of a home in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. "We're here in a nice neighborhood. There's no one having to camp out on their lawns."
Certainly the storm was good for Miller's company. He said that by the end of June, he had already exceeded revenues for all of 2005.
New roof or no roof
For some homeowners, the decision on whether to get a new roof is a no-brainer. A $500 or $1,000 deductible to get a new $10,000 roof is almost a windfall.
"For a lot of people, it is a gift. It is a blessing in disguise," said Scott Surette, a home inspector from Indianapolis. "It's a 10-, 12-, 15-year-old roof that is OK, but they have a golden opportunity to get a new roof, and the insurance company is footing the bill. . . . They say, 'If they are going to hand me free roof, I'll take it.' "
But some suspect there are homeowners and contractors who are taking advantage of the hailstorm.
"There are a lot of roofs being replaced that don't need to be replaced, in my opinion," said Glenn Barton of Barton Home Inspections of Indianapolis. "I think it happens because the opportunity is there to turn it (a claim) into the insurance company, and people are saying 'Me, too.' "
While it may be tempting to keep up with the Joneses and join the re-roofing frenzy, insurance experts say there is a potential downside. Homeowners who turn in too many claims run the risk of having their policy dropped.
The state's Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general's office says it has received relatively few complaints since the storm, and most of those have dealt with the timeliness of getting insurers to pay for repairs.
"The number of complaints relating to work not getting done, scams by home contractors and those kinds of complaints that we have jurisdiction over, have not been voluminous," said Staci Schneider, spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter.
Jerrell Campbell, a Seattle resident who is in Indianapolis to help State Farm Insurance handle 1,400 claims per week here, said only a few instances of fraud have been found. One Indianapolis homeowner, he said, is suspected of using a coin or some other object to mimic hail damage.
In another case being probed, Campbell said one roofing contractor showed a prospective client pictures of a storm-damaged roof -- only it wasn't the client's roof. Some contractors have misrepresented themselves as State Farm employees and submitted claims purporting to work for the policyholder.
How much longer will the repair frenzy last? The state recommends policyholders move promptly in making their claims.
Bob Skinner, 35, Pike Township, said he will get the roof of his ranch home inspected next week. He waited three months to get it done. Part of his motivation is because, on his street, "everybody else is doing it."
"If it's a problem, I want it taken care of before it becomes a problem," Skinner said. "And before I miss the opportunity to take care of it."
_____________________________________________
Some quick answers
Bettye L. Foy, of the state Department of Insurance, answered some frequently asked questions.
Q: Is there a deadline for people to file claims from the April 14 storm?
A: Refer to your policy (duties after a loss). The insured should report a claim promptly.
Q: Should homeowners expect their rates to go up once they file a claim?
A: As a rule, rates will not go up after filing one claim.
Q: Can an insurance company cancel a policy related to a single hail event after a claim?
A: Generally, an "act of God" is not grounds for cancellation.
_____________________________________________
What homeowners should do
According to Angie's List, a subscriber-based Indianapolis referral company:
If you haven't already done so, inspect your roof, gutters, windows and siding and take photos. Get a damage assessment from your property insurer's adjustor and get at least three estimates from contractors.
Be wary of storm chasers and door-to-door solicitors.
When you pick a contractor, have him or her negotiate directly with your insurer if they disagree on repair costs.
Be prepared to wait until repairs can be made.
Frequently asked questions
Many homeowners are deciding whether to file claims for hail damage. Here is information from Bettye L. Foy, deputy commissioner of the consumer services division in the state Department of Insurance.
Q: How many claims does a homeowner have to file before he or she is in jeopardy of being canceled?
A: As a rule, a policy would not be canceled for one claim unless there is fraud or misrepresentation.
Q: Does money make a difference? Is it better to make a claim for $15,000 or less as opposed to $50,000 or more?
A: No.
Q: Will the state monitor the situation in case rate increases occur?
A: Indiana's property and casualty insurance rate filing laws are designated as "file and use" laws. That means insurers are required to file property and casualty insurance rates with the Department of Insurance but are not required to wait for approval before the rates can be used. The department can, after a hearing, require an insurer to withdraw rates if they are found to be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.
-- Tom Spalding
_____________________________________________
By the numbers
177,000
Claims submitted from Central Indiana in connection with the April 14 hailstorm, according to Insurance Services Offices, Ind., a for-profit company in New Jersey that tracks catastrophes.
$560 million
Damages submitted from the storm through July 7, according to Insurance Services.
$38.5 billion
Estimated cost of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Insurance Services.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2803.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Signs of the Super Bowl
By Tom Spalding
One of the more confusing exits leading to Downtown Indianapolis is getting a makeover starting tonight, and you can thank 2012 Super Bowl for helping straighten things out.
Weather permitting, the Indiana Department of Transportation and Indianapolis Department of Public Works crews will begin installing new signs along Interstate 70 so that Exit 79B points towards Meridian Street, instead of McCarty Street.
McCarty is an east-west street, while Meridian runs north-south and would take visitors to nightclubs, places to eat and, of course, Lucas Oil Stadium and related attractions.
Locals may have grown accustomed to bunched-up cluster of ramps and spin-off roads, but for an outsider, it can be maddening.
More coverage: Click here for a roundup of Indianapolis-area business news and state updates.
"The road names (in that section) are not continuous," said INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield, whose agency is replacing eight signs altogether that involve McCarty. "It's to reduce confusion and put the best face on Indianapolis as possible for people visiting out city."
Access to the roads won't change -- just the directional signs.
“These new interstate signs will make traveling to Downtown easier,” added Tamara Zahn, Indianapolis Downtown Inc. president. “Drivers exiting onto Meridian Street will have convenient access to Downtown's businesses and attractions.”
From our archives: It's ours! Indianapolis scores 2012 Super Bowl
Officials planning for the 2012 Super Bowl identified the Meridian Street thoroughfare -- the city's north-south street that is lined with shops, restaurants and hotels -- as the preferred gateway to downtown Indianapolis.
In the future, additional signage is planned along I-65, I-70 and I-465 to help direct motorists to Indianapolis International Airport.
“With INDOT review and planning for the Super Bowl in 2012, signage became a concern as we will have a larger number of out-of-town visitors,” said INDOT Chief of Staff Robert L. Zier in a statement today. “Although we hope that the Colts are in the game that day, we anticipate travelers coming to Indianapolis who may not be familiar with the city and its layout.”
Nearby businesses are asked to join this effort by updating directions that may be included on their Web sites or printed materials. The sign changes have also been reported to global positioning systems and Web-mapping providers NAVTEQ, TeleAtlas and Google Maps.
One of the more confusing exits leading to Downtown Indianapolis is getting a makeover starting tonight, and you can thank 2012 Super Bowl for helping straighten things out.
Weather permitting, the Indiana Department of Transportation and Indianapolis Department of Public Works crews will begin installing new signs along Interstate 70 so that Exit 79B points towards Meridian Street, instead of McCarty Street.
McCarty is an east-west street, while Meridian runs north-south and would take visitors to nightclubs, places to eat and, of course, Lucas Oil Stadium and related attractions.
Locals may have grown accustomed to bunched-up cluster of ramps and spin-off roads, but for an outsider, it can be maddening.
More coverage: Click here for a roundup of Indianapolis-area business news and state updates.
"The road names (in that section) are not continuous," said INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield, whose agency is replacing eight signs altogether that involve McCarty. "It's to reduce confusion and put the best face on Indianapolis as possible for people visiting out city."
Access to the roads won't change -- just the directional signs.
“These new interstate signs will make traveling to Downtown easier,” added Tamara Zahn, Indianapolis Downtown Inc. president. “Drivers exiting onto Meridian Street will have convenient access to Downtown's businesses and attractions.”
From our archives: It's ours! Indianapolis scores 2012 Super Bowl
Officials planning for the 2012 Super Bowl identified the Meridian Street thoroughfare -- the city's north-south street that is lined with shops, restaurants and hotels -- as the preferred gateway to downtown Indianapolis.
In the future, additional signage is planned along I-65, I-70 and I-465 to help direct motorists to Indianapolis International Airport.
“With INDOT review and planning for the Super Bowl in 2012, signage became a concern as we will have a larger number of out-of-town visitors,” said INDOT Chief of Staff Robert L. Zier in a statement today. “Although we hope that the Colts are in the game that day, we anticipate travelers coming to Indianapolis who may not be familiar with the city and its layout.”
Nearby businesses are asked to join this effort by updating directions that may be included on their Web sites or printed materials. The sign changes have also been reported to global positioning systems and Web-mapping providers NAVTEQ, TeleAtlas and Google Maps.
Oct. 16, 2006 Myers trial
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. -- For the first time since his arrest, prosecutors
today laid out what appears to be the prime reason why John R. Myers
II is linked to the 2000 slaying of IU student Jill Behrman: Myers'
guilty conscience.
Records unsealed by the Morgan County Superior Court during the first
day of Myers' murder trial show he implicated himself to his
grandmother and a former jail cellmate.
Myers, according to the records, told his grandmother Betty Swafford
in late 2004: "If the authorities knew what I have done, I would go to
prison for the rest of my life."
And in May 2005 after an unrelated arrest, the records show, Myers
told an inmate at Monroe County Jail: "I wouldn't have done it if the
(expletive deleted) would have done what I told her."
Behrman, 19, vanished May 31, 2000 after a morning bicycle ride in the
Bloomington area. Her remains were found in March 2003 in a remote,
rural area of Morgan County. Despite national attention and several
people identified as "persons of interest" the case grew cold.
Myers was arrested in April after a grand jury was convened in Morgan
County to examine the evidence.
No evidence linking Myers to the murder had been publicly released.
Myers, who turns 31 Tuesday, has plead not guilty.
Attorneys on both sides today are arguing a variety of motions and it
remains undetermined whether the court records that describe Myers'
comments to others will be admitted by Judge Christopher Burnham.
The records go on to say that Myers had the time and the ability to
have been involved in Behrman's disappearance.
The records show that investigators in June 2000 had privately
identified Myers as a suspect because of strange behavior on and after
Behrman's disappearance, but that investigators turned their focus to
other potential suspects.
But Myers eventually turned into the state police investigators' No. 1 target.
"His state of mind at the time (is) relevant to establish the
defendant's identity and motive to commit the crime of murder as well
as to negate the defendant's explanation for his actions and behavior
the day Jill Behrman came up missing," the records show.
Myers' attorney, Patrick V. Baker, is seeking to block the records
from being admitted. He told Burnham there is no proof that Myers
killed Behrman and the statements are "speculation and innuendo."
But Robert Cline, chief deputy prosecutor for Morgan County, told the
judge today: "The statements from the defendant clearly imply guilt."
The opening statements from attorneys are scheduled to begin later
today. The 12-person jury is expected to listen to weeks of
testimony.
today laid out what appears to be the prime reason why John R. Myers
II is linked to the 2000 slaying of IU student Jill Behrman: Myers'
guilty conscience.
Records unsealed by the Morgan County Superior Court during the first
day of Myers' murder trial show he implicated himself to his
grandmother and a former jail cellmate.
Myers, according to the records, told his grandmother Betty Swafford
in late 2004: "If the authorities knew what I have done, I would go to
prison for the rest of my life."
And in May 2005 after an unrelated arrest, the records show, Myers
told an inmate at Monroe County Jail: "I wouldn't have done it if the
(expletive deleted) would have done what I told her."
Behrman, 19, vanished May 31, 2000 after a morning bicycle ride in the
Bloomington area. Her remains were found in March 2003 in a remote,
rural area of Morgan County. Despite national attention and several
people identified as "persons of interest" the case grew cold.
Myers was arrested in April after a grand jury was convened in Morgan
County to examine the evidence.
No evidence linking Myers to the murder had been publicly released.
Myers, who turns 31 Tuesday, has plead not guilty.
Attorneys on both sides today are arguing a variety of motions and it
remains undetermined whether the court records that describe Myers'
comments to others will be admitted by Judge Christopher Burnham.
The records go on to say that Myers had the time and the ability to
have been involved in Behrman's disappearance.
The records show that investigators in June 2000 had privately
identified Myers as a suspect because of strange behavior on and after
Behrman's disappearance, but that investigators turned their focus to
other potential suspects.
But Myers eventually turned into the state police investigators' No. 1 target.
"His state of mind at the time (is) relevant to establish the
defendant's identity and motive to commit the crime of murder as well
as to negate the defendant's explanation for his actions and behavior
the day Jill Behrman came up missing," the records show.
Myers' attorney, Patrick V. Baker, is seeking to block the records
from being admitted. He told Burnham there is no proof that Myers
killed Behrman and the statements are "speculation and innuendo."
But Robert Cline, chief deputy prosecutor for Morgan County, told the
judge today: "The statements from the defendant clearly imply guilt."
The opening statements from attorneys are scheduled to begin later
today. The 12-person jury is expected to listen to weeks of
testimony.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Hoosiers go look for Gold archive
http://iphone.indystar.com/posts/32740
Hoosiers go looking for gold
By Tom Spalding on July 29, 2010
Gold in Indiana? Yes, but don't bank on it
With gold prices peaking this summer at more than $1,200 an ounce, some people are seeking their fortunes in Indiana's streams.
They're panning for gold. Hoosier gold.
Tiny nuggets of the precious metal can be sifted from the bottoms of Indiana creeks and rivers, especially south of Indianapolis in Brown, Monroe and Morgan counties, where the streams contain leftover Ice Age glacial gravel. And people are going after it.
"They call it gold fever," said Alan Oden, 62, a woodworker who, along with his wife, Lois, recently hosted about 30 prospectors in an ankle-deep stretch of Pike Creek on their 32-acre woods near Morgantown.
Although it would be overstating the case to call it an Indiana gold rush, the Odens are far from alone.
At least two Indiana businesses provide gold panning for family fun -- it's free, but you'll need to buy or rent a pan and a trowel.
And the ranks of the Central Indiana Gold Prospectors Association of America -- whose members sometimes use elaborate and more expensive equipment -- have grown from 25 in 2008 to 280 in June, said its president, Wayne Mercer, 37, Nineveh.
Self-proclaimed prospectors wryly remark that the miniscule amounts of gold to be found in a day of panning or dredging might net an average of $25 -- enough to pay for the basic equipment. But as you look into those prospectors' pans, they'll admit the occasional nugget can bring in a tidy $70.
"You'd be amazed at the amount of people who had no idea they could even go gold prospecting in Indiana," said Mercer, who coordinates monthly outings.
He said he's seen some newcomer treasure-hunters quit after just a few hours because the dream of instant wealth didn't quite pan out.
Nelson R. Shaffer, a leader in the Indiana Geological Society, said gold prospecting never has proved lucrative enough to support commercial businesses. Anyone who tries prospecting needs to remember that, yes, patience is golden.
"You'll get very tired, and part of your backside and legs will hurt. And you'll very likely get some gold, (but) there's so much involved in the economics that I can't say whether anybody will make money at it," Shaffer said.
Yet business is booming for Robin Stevens, who runs the Gatesville Country Store in rural Nashville, about an hour's drive south of Downtown Indianapolis. She owns land adjacent to the store on the north fork of Salt Creek, a known source of gold flakes.
She welcomes rookies, as well as veteran, wetsuit-clad gold hunters with sophisticated dredgers. She makes her money by selling equipment and feeding hungry gold diggers.
"Interest has built immensely in the past year and a half," Stevens said. "I've gone from selling one or two pans a year . . . to now I have to call and get supplies (delivered by mail) twice a month."
Another gold-prospecting venture, this one about an hour east of Indianapolis, re-creates a 19th century gold-panning camp. Jellystone Park, a campground in Knightstown, gives free panning lessons and rents equipment for paying campers to use on a creek.
Proficient gold collecting requires expertise, good contacts who know where gold can be found and knowledge of Indiana prospecting regulations. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources adopted new rules in December after "confusion over what was legal and what was not legal," said Linnea Petercheff, with the DNR's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The new rules aim to protect the environment and prevent trespassing. They stem from an incident in 2007, when seven prospectors were cited by a DNR official for extracting minerals without a permit in the Wabash River in Cass County.
Prospectors favor the rules, which set guidelines on where and how gold can be extracted.
Gold finds have been reported in 20 counties, including Marion.
How much money you can actually make remains a bit of a mystery.
Mark Bender, 57, Oaklandon, says he has prospected for 20 years. He says he's not in it for the money. More lucrative, Bender said, might be to market Indiana's gold hot spots for tourism.
"There are some opportunities there," he said, "that an entrepreneur might take advantage of to make a little bit of money."
Yes. But how much does he make?
Bender estimates it costs about $10 to retrieve a dollar's worth of gold.
Maybe so. But there's always hope.
Alan Oden, who hosted the prospectors on his land, said he has known since 1984 that the creek holds bits of gold and occasionally has waded into the water to see what he can find.
"My wife thinks I'm a nut," he said, "but as the pieces I bring back grow bigger, her eyes get bigger."
Hoosiers go looking for gold
By Tom Spalding on July 29, 2010
Gold in Indiana? Yes, but don't bank on it
With gold prices peaking this summer at more than $1,200 an ounce, some people are seeking their fortunes in Indiana's streams.
They're panning for gold. Hoosier gold.
Tiny nuggets of the precious metal can be sifted from the bottoms of Indiana creeks and rivers, especially south of Indianapolis in Brown, Monroe and Morgan counties, where the streams contain leftover Ice Age glacial gravel. And people are going after it.
"They call it gold fever," said Alan Oden, 62, a woodworker who, along with his wife, Lois, recently hosted about 30 prospectors in an ankle-deep stretch of Pike Creek on their 32-acre woods near Morgantown.
Although it would be overstating the case to call it an Indiana gold rush, the Odens are far from alone.
At least two Indiana businesses provide gold panning for family fun -- it's free, but you'll need to buy or rent a pan and a trowel.
And the ranks of the Central Indiana Gold Prospectors Association of America -- whose members sometimes use elaborate and more expensive equipment -- have grown from 25 in 2008 to 280 in June, said its president, Wayne Mercer, 37, Nineveh.
Self-proclaimed prospectors wryly remark that the miniscule amounts of gold to be found in a day of panning or dredging might net an average of $25 -- enough to pay for the basic equipment. But as you look into those prospectors' pans, they'll admit the occasional nugget can bring in a tidy $70.
"You'd be amazed at the amount of people who had no idea they could even go gold prospecting in Indiana," said Mercer, who coordinates monthly outings.
He said he's seen some newcomer treasure-hunters quit after just a few hours because the dream of instant wealth didn't quite pan out.
Nelson R. Shaffer, a leader in the Indiana Geological Society, said gold prospecting never has proved lucrative enough to support commercial businesses. Anyone who tries prospecting needs to remember that, yes, patience is golden.
"You'll get very tired, and part of your backside and legs will hurt. And you'll very likely get some gold, (but) there's so much involved in the economics that I can't say whether anybody will make money at it," Shaffer said.
Yet business is booming for Robin Stevens, who runs the Gatesville Country Store in rural Nashville, about an hour's drive south of Downtown Indianapolis. She owns land adjacent to the store on the north fork of Salt Creek, a known source of gold flakes.
She welcomes rookies, as well as veteran, wetsuit-clad gold hunters with sophisticated dredgers. She makes her money by selling equipment and feeding hungry gold diggers.
"Interest has built immensely in the past year and a half," Stevens said. "I've gone from selling one or two pans a year . . . to now I have to call and get supplies (delivered by mail) twice a month."
Another gold-prospecting venture, this one about an hour east of Indianapolis, re-creates a 19th century gold-panning camp. Jellystone Park, a campground in Knightstown, gives free panning lessons and rents equipment for paying campers to use on a creek.
Proficient gold collecting requires expertise, good contacts who know where gold can be found and knowledge of Indiana prospecting regulations. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources adopted new rules in December after "confusion over what was legal and what was not legal," said Linnea Petercheff, with the DNR's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The new rules aim to protect the environment and prevent trespassing. They stem from an incident in 2007, when seven prospectors were cited by a DNR official for extracting minerals without a permit in the Wabash River in Cass County.
Prospectors favor the rules, which set guidelines on where and how gold can be extracted.
Gold finds have been reported in 20 counties, including Marion.
How much money you can actually make remains a bit of a mystery.
Mark Bender, 57, Oaklandon, says he has prospected for 20 years. He says he's not in it for the money. More lucrative, Bender said, might be to market Indiana's gold hot spots for tourism.
"There are some opportunities there," he said, "that an entrepreneur might take advantage of to make a little bit of money."
Yes. But how much does he make?
Bender estimates it costs about $10 to retrieve a dollar's worth of gold.
Maybe so. But there's always hope.
Alan Oden, who hosted the prospectors on his land, said he has known since 1984 that the creek holds bits of gold and occasionally has waded into the water to see what he can find.
"My wife thinks I'm a nut," he said, "but as the pieces I bring back grow bigger, her eyes get bigger."
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Gen Con vignettes
Gen Con: Java joint won't be caught napping
Gen Con provided the first of jolt of the day not inside the Indiana Convention Center, but at a coffeehouse on Monument Circle.
Au Bon Pain actually ran out of coffee early this morning, and gamers also formed long lines at nearby Dunkin' Donuts and at the java station inside Borders in Downtown.
"They kind of caught us off guard," joked Howard Readus, manager of the Au Bon Pain store, by phone. Some 300 customers -- sleep-starved gamers in town for the convention, mainly -- scarfed up two things: coffee and bagels.
Readus said the store will be ready on Friday for sleepy-eyed patrons.
"Definitely, we've got extra cases coming in as we speak," he said. "We definitely will have pots laying across the cafe."
"We're always happy to see them come," he said.
Celebrity sightings: In the age of Twitter and cell phones, there's no hiding from your fans.
Author, actor and gamer Wil Wheaton (aka Twitter user @wilw) -- better known as Star Trek's Wesley Crusher -- is one of the featured guests of Gen Con. Attendee and Twitter user @AmandaCook627 sent out this evening missive after spotting Wheaton: "Best con moment ever just happened. @wilw was standing right next to us, and I was able to give him a die. Got a pic, too. Awesome #GenCon!"
And celebs aren't just being passive. Tweeted television satirist Mo Rocca, aka @MoRocca, this afternoon: "At #GenCon in Indianapolis. Far more authentically nerdy than ComicCon. That's a compliment."
Turnout 'fantastic': You'd be hard-pressed to find any evidence of an economic recession inside the Convention Center, where customers like Terry Patnode, 63, Kansas City, Kan., lined up to pay for merchandise. Patnode was buying a $35 card railroad card game, and others around him were loading up on $12 action figures and figurines.
Jerry Sunkin, CEO of Orlando-based CoolStuffInc.com, a games and collectibles supply company, brought an estimated $50,000 worth of gear to sell. "Day One is one of our biggest days for buying and selling ... they come to purchase (and) they get to really geek out."
Turnout of 30,000 is "fantastic" given the economy, although he believes if times were better, some 40,000 attendees would be on hand, Sunkin said.
Caped crusaders: If you cruise Downtown, you'll see all types of costumes being worn by attendees. Star Trek uniforms. Long robes. Elegant masks. Gencon attendee William Caldwell, 20, got plenty of attention dressed up as Nova, a character from the series Bleach. Only his eyes were visible in an all-cotton garb he described as "very hot." Here's a picture of Caldwell with his cousin Gillian Bundles, 13. Some people stopped to pose with him, but Caldwell joked that his costume only cost him $109. "I'm at the bottom of the barrel compared to everyone else," he said.
No sweat:Just because there's sit-down board-gaming going on doesn't mean there isn't action. Ever heard of Amtgard? It's a live-action fantasy roleplaying and combat game. The weapons are made of those kiddie pool noodles with a thin lightweight rod made of graphite.
Pay $2 and you'll get to battle people like Patrick Brinegar, 27, Indianapolis, or Sarah Winkle, 26, or John McMahan, 26, both of Springfield, Ohio.
Here's a picture of Sarah Winkle in action.
"People tell us they wouldn't come to Gen Con" without the Amtgard activity, because not many cities allow the games, Brinegar said. "They want to swing foam."
Reach Star reporter Tom Spalding at www.twitter.com/SpaldoBusiness or contact him at (317) 444-6202.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Cards, castles, costumes: 28K in for Indy Gen Con
August 04, 2010 by Tom Spalding | Star staff
Want to know what’s on the minds of an estimated 28,000-plus gaming enthusiasts who are descending upon Indianapolis this week for another week of cards, costumes and castles?
Just look at Twitter.
Both guests and exhibitors are using the keyword #GenCon as a unified way to communicate via the social media website.
Here’s a Tweet you’ll find today from @gazerrant : “Today’s itinerary: pack for #GenCon, make characters, chem class, fly to Indianapolis, drink at Scotty’s, and game game game game game!”
And Shoshanna Bauer of Champaign, Ill., aka @GamerChick2010 : “Now to pack and get ready for #Gencon. I’m so excited!!!”
Gen Con Indy, officially running Thursday through Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center, is billed as the original, longest-running gaming convention in the world.
Even the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is getting involved: The ISO will present “Video Games Live” at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday. Music from video games, including “Mario,” “Zelda,” “Halo,” “Final Fantasy,” “Tomb Raider” and others, will be featured.
Gen Con, based in Seattle, drew a headcount of 27,900 from Aug. 13-16 2009, despite the recession, affirming its status as one of Indianapolis’ largest conventions.
Gen Con, in its 42nd year, has been held in the city since 2003 and will continue to be here through 2015.
Attendees include hobby gamers and science fiction fans from across the Midwest.
Many of them are known for donning wild, elaborate costumes and staying up all night to play card and table games with friends and strangers.
But there’s no fantasy about its economic impact: about $26.9 million in direct visitor spending.
Representatives from Florida-based On The Lamb Games are Tweeting about the arrival to Indianapolis: “In the exhibitor hall, setting up. This is our first time to gencon, and I’m already amazed at all the awesome stuff.”
On the Lamb promises that for people who stop by the booth, “You’ll not only get to try out Brushfire, but you’ll also be able to see previews of September’s Devon Brigadiers, Gopher Engineers, Otter Ashigaru, and October’s Hamster Berserkers.”
Freelance digital animator Mary Varn of Brooklyn, N.Y. (she is the brains behind NPC , the comic about gamer cats and geeky girls) is coming, but as a guest, not a guest of honor.
“I’m just attending, not exhibiting, so no merch/strips on hand, sorry!” she Tweeted on her handle, @maryvarn.
On the website io9 , Terry Hope Romero writes that Gen Con is the springboard for the RPG industry to debut hot new games for the year and increasingly it’s become a magnet for sci-fi and anime fandom and aspiring fantasy/horror/sci-fi authors. “Gen Con gets its share of celebrity faces , but what I like best is that it’s still a fan-driven con with the main event (the gaming) provided by the gamers themselves. If you’re off to Indy this week you may already have a schedule bursting with pickings from 6,000 events (sleep will happen next week).”
Minneapolis game-design gurus Steve Charbonneau and Steven Ellis posed for pictures near the #gencon Beholder icon monster, located in the Indiana Convention Center.
“I wish I had a toothbrush,” Charbonneau said as he felt the white dagger-like teeth of the Beholder, a fictional character central to the role-playing game Dungeons&Dragons.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Frozen hydrants hamper fight against restaurant fire
Arson not cause of restaurant fire
By Tom Spalding
tom.spalding@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Fire Department investigators today have ruled out arson as a cause of a a blaze that consumed Texas Roadhouse on Monday.
While investigators returned to Eastside restaurant today to try and determine the origin and cause, Unit Commander Cliff Johnson said that they do not believe it was arson.
Compiled by Star reporter Tom Spalding
When Indianapolis firefighters responded to an Eastside restaurant blaze, they were confronted with not one, not two, but three frozen fire hydrants.
As firefighters searched for a working hydrant -- and precious time ticked away -- the Texas Roadhouse building burned to the ground early Monday.
All of which raises troubling questions: With temperatures hovering in the teens through the end of the week, just how many of the city's hydrants are filled with frozen water?
And what is being done -- or even can be done -- to keep what one water official called a serious threat to the public from happening again?
The answers Monday seemed equally troubling. The city doesn't know for sure how many of its hydrants are operable at any given time, and when frozen water is the issue, most often firefighters have no clue until they arrive on the scene.
Veolia Water spokesman Paul Whitmore said it takes the company's 20 inspectors eight to nine months to check all hydrants -- 36,000 in Indianapolis and some surrounding communities -- and it's not practical to rush out and inspect each one.
Veolia manages and is responsible for maintaining and inspecting the hydrants on the Indianapolis Water system.
Veolia will inspect the three hydrants near the steakhouse, in the area around 14th Street and Shadeland Avenue on the Eastside. Whitmore said there was evidence that one of the hydrants had been opened and then not shut properly.
The city tries to keep track of inoperable hydrants. Currently, 100 are out of service for various reasons: broken seals or couplings and damage from vehicles.
But none of the three frozen hydrants was on the list. Officials acknowledge they don't know how many hydrants are frozen and likely wouldn't find out until firefighters try to turn them on.
"The first arriving companies on the scene were just heartbroken," said Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Rita Reith. "They were truly sorry it (the blaze) got going ahead of them. To have three frozen hydrants in a row, it was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' "
With temperatures hovering around 15 degrees, the firefighters searched futilely for a working hydrant while draining six 500-gallon tanks in their rescue vehicles.
Typically, such tanks would be enough to deal with a house fire, Reith said, but not a large commercial structure fire.
She said firefighters think the restaurant building might have been saved if a working hydrant was closer.
Fire officials, who less than an hour before had no problems using two other hydrants at a nearby small motel fire, weren't certain of the cause of the Texas Roadhouse blaze.
Travis Doster, spokesman for the Louisville, Ky.-based restaurant chain, said he didn't have enough specifics to comment on the hydrant issue but said he wishes that fire officials "have the tools they need to fight something like this."
The company plans to rebuild, and Doster said the 135 full- and part-time employees who worked at the steakhouse, 1405 N. Shadeland Ave., will be temporarily reassigned and continue to receive paychecks.
The building was declared a total loss with $1.5 million in damage, restaurant executive Steve Sargent told firefighters. Texas Roadhouse has been on the site since replacing another restaurant there in 1998 and is important to the commercial corridor, said City-County Councilman Ben Hunter.
"It's vitally important that business recover and build," he said. "The Eastside can't continue to lose business."
The restaurant had closed at 10 p.m. Sunday, with the last employee leaving at 11 p.m. Authorities first got wind of trouble when a burglar alarm sounded at 12:37 a.m. Upon investigation, police reported smoke coming from the roof; firefighters were dispatched at 12:42 a.m. and arrived four minutes later. By that time, heavy smoke and fire were billowing out of the rear of the building.
Matt Jewell of KMP Hydrants, which has a contract to inspect and maintain city of Lawrence-owned fire hydrants, said even in cold weather, hydrants should work.
"If they have their hydrants taken care of, they shouldn't worry about it," Jewell said. "Hydrants are man-made . . . If you don't get them grease and exercise the parts, they'll let you down."
Reith said it appeared that one of the three frozen hydrants had not been shut off all the way by the last person who used it.
"This could have been someone," Reith said, "such as a contractor, a pool business, landscaper" who can legally obtain water from it.
"When the hydrant was inspected this morning after the fire, there was ice protruding from the openings."
Although some people are authorized to use water in hydrants, Whitmore urged residents to call the water company if they see one in use by anyone other than the Fire Department.
"We need people to help us be eyes and ears if they see something going on with hydrants," Whitmore said.
The fire sparked reminders of a similar incident in Shelbyville in February 2007, when a frozen hydrant delayed efforts to put out the Knauf Insulation blaze.
Indiana has no state law to mandate testing of hydrants. The American Water Works Association, a trade group, suggests tests at least once a year. Most hydrants in Indiana are tested once a year either by fire department personnel, water companies or private contractors.
Additional Facts Hydrant facts» How many? Indianapolis Water Co. keeps a database of 36,000 aqua-colored hydrants in the city and in some communities in adjacent counties. The utility is responsible for their condition and repair.
» Have a problem? Contact Indianapolis Water at www. indianapoliswater.com or at (317) 631-1431. The Veolia Water 24-hour hotline is (317) 263-6332.
» What happens after one is used? Every time a hydrant is used, it is reported to the water company so that it can be checked, drained and then fully turned off.
» Where are they? Typically hydrants are spaced 500 feet apart (residential or commercial); however, in the Downtown Indianapolis area, they are closer and there are more of them.
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