Gary King pounds nails on June 12, 2003, at a Habitat for Humanity build in Franklin.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on June 13 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2003, the main story on the front page of the Daily Journal was about volunteers building a home for Habitat for Humanity in Franklin.
Greenwood resident Gary Waters and fellow volunteer Mike Gorman lead a group of volunteers through the construction of the 1,150-square-foot home in just one day. They began sweeping rainwater off the foundation at 7 a.m., and by 3 p.m., the home was completely enclosed by walls and a roof.
That morning, Waters — who was taking part in his first Habitat build — was trying to figure out in what order the pre-made wall sections needed to be put up. As he shouted the numbers like he was playing a game of Battleship, the others scurried to find the right boards.
Gorman watched to correct any potential problems.
“That wall flips over,” he said. “E7 flips over.”
Gorman helped at the first Johnson County Habitat build a year earlier, just one door down from the current project. He was also the driving force behind this home’s planning.
Lori Black and her son, Chris, would work with volunteers on what would soon be their new home. They’d already attended classes in household finance and more as part of the requirements to receive the home. Next, they needed to complete 115 hours of labor on the home or at the organization’s Indianapolis warehouse.
Black would also pay an interest-free mortgage.
At the warehouse, all of the walls for Black’s home were put together in small sections. The exterior walls were up at the home in no time, and work began on the interior walls early in the morning.
While it rained on and off all morning, afternoon proved to be drier and allowed the workers to finish.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2014
The Franklin community was rallying around the families of two students who died, one who was injured and one who survived without injury, during an incident at the Blue River Dam in Edinburgh.
2005
A new location was proposed for the Johnson County Animal Shelter.
1994
A 72-year-old Indianapolis man died in a plane crash near Franklin Flying Field.
