Throwback Thursday: June 29

News from around Johnson County as reported on June 29 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 111 years.

On this day in 1992, one of the main stories on the front page of the Daily Journal was about students from Central Nine Career Center (then Central Nine Vocational-Technical School) building homes for local residents.

Brett Elder didn’t own the new, two-story brick house along the 900 block of Stones Crossing Road owned by Steve Shirley’s family. While he didn’t own it, the C-9 student still felt a lot of pride in helping build it.

The home was part of C-9’s Vocational Building Trades Program. Each year, students tackled two building projects that ranged from homes to commercial buildings.

Student pay came in the form of course grades, not cash. And the training led to jobs for students like Elder, who was employed by Melody Homes as a builder.

The benefits were equally tangible for homeowners like the Shirleys, who saved up to 50% of the cost of building.

Elder and about 39 other students worked on the foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, dry wall, insulation, interior and exterior trim work around doors and windows, and built the deck, which measures 16 feet by 16 feet.

“We did just about everything,” said the then-18-year-old, who graduated from Perry Meridian High School.

C-9 officials said at the time the project was the largest since the school began building homes in 1973.

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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day

1999

A Franklin man, Ronald L. Shanabarger, appeared in court the day prior to be charged with the suffocation murder of his 7-month-old son.

1963

A storm dumped 3.1 inches of rain in Franklin, causing some storm drains to back-up and flood streets.

1953

Discussions were planned regarding establishing a county park on the west side of Franklin, including the construction of a coliseum.