Our Scholarship Winners for 2022

The recipients of the 2022 Hobart High School Alumni Association are seniors Meghan Horn and Alex Pickett. Meghan will be studying Political Science at Indiana University, and Alex will be studying Sports Management at Trine University. Both wrote an essay "What It Means to Be a Brickie" as part of their scholarship applications. On Wednesday, May 11, the HHSAA board treated Meghan and Alex and their families to dinner at the Paragon Restaurant.

Scholarship winners with the HHSAA board. Left to right: Lynn Kostbade,
Debbie Vega, Alex Pickett, Meghan Horn, Tracy McCullough, Paul Addison,
Beth Barney, and Debra Opolski.

Cody Johnston Featured in NWI Times

Cody Johnston (Class of 2023), son of Jim Johnston, Jr. (1980) and grandson of Jim "JJ" Johnston (1954) is featured in an article in the Northwest Indiana Times. Here is the link to the article: https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/track-and-field/hobart-pole-vaulter-cody-johnston-is-rewriting-the-family-record-books/article_615eda6f-ebfb-5dff-8880-a40e21f7944b.html.

(Photo credit: John J. Watkins, The Times)

Popes are Winners at Carmel Marathon

Five members of the Pope family were in Indiana on Saturday, April 9, to run in (or watch) the Carmel Marathon. Ellen Pope '69 and Bud Pope ’74 both took first place in their age categories, quote a feat, considering that they ran in snow, hail, and wind. Siblings MaryAnne (Pope) Bryan ‘63, Sharon Pope ‘65, and Nancy Pope ‘72 cheered them on. Here are some photos:

Above: (L) Carmel Marathon winners Bud and Ellen Pope. (R) Nancy Gauder, Sharon and Nancy Pope cheer them on.
Below: MaryAnne (Pope) Bryan, Ellen, Sharon, Nancy, and Bud Pope.

1984 Alumnus Richard Jones
Featured in Portage Life

The Portage Life website has done a feature article on Richard Jones, who spent his career in the heating and cooling industry, and is now the Portage Building Commissioner. Read the article here in Portage Life. The picture was obtained from the Portage Life website.

Hobart Loses Two Beloved Coaches:
Paul Throne and Steve Balash

We have recently learned of the passing of two of Hobart's most beloved coaches, Paul Throne and Steve Balash.

Here is a link to Paul Throne's memorial page. It contains service information and a link to the original obituary on the Sun City Center Funeral Home website. Cards may be sent to Paul's wife, Ruth Throne, at:  2329 Nottingham Greens Drive; Sun City Center, FL 33573.

Here is a link to Steve Balash's memorial page. It also contains service infomation and a link to Steve's obituary on the Rees Funeral Home website. And here is a link to an article about Steve Balash in the Northwest Indiana Times. 

Photo credits: Paul Throne (Sun City Center Funeral Home), Steve Balash (Facebook page "Once a Brickie, Always a Brickie")

Football Coach and Legend Bob Mattix Passes

Longtime football coach Bob Mattix, Class of 1967, passed away on Saturday, January 15. There will be a memorial visitation at Rees Funeral Home on Thursday, February 10, from 3:00 to 8:00 pm at Rees Funeral Home. Click here to view our memorial page to Bob. This picture is from the obituary that appeared on the Rees Funeral Home website.

Click here to read an article about Bob Mattix that appeared in Tuesday's Northwest Indiana Times.

Our sympathies to Bob's wife Josephine and the family.

The Rain Held Off for BrickieFest 2021

It rained in the morning, and it rained in the late afternoon, but it did not rain on the BrickieFest Picnic on Saturday, October 2, from 12 noon to 3 pm. Thanks to the 35 people who attended, and thanks to the VFW for allowing us to use their place for the event.

The Hobart High School Alumni Association raised nearly $200 in memberships, merchandise sales, and donations. We had hot dogs, brats, chips, cookies, and bottled water, and sang Happy Birthday to HHSAA board member Debbie Vega and Paul Addison's brother-in-law Terry Hills.

The Brickies won their Friday night football game, too!

There are pictures in our January newsletter.

Our New, Improved Website Is Live!

The new website design is now in place. For desktop users, you'll see three small differences: 1) you can click the Sign In button to the right, or the User icon at the top right to log in (it looks a little like a person), 2) the first links are across the top, with the rest on the left, and 3) to see the Member Functions like Edit Contact Info, Change Password, and Log Out, you'll click on the User icon.

Smartphone and tablet users will notice a remarkable improvement in the look of the website. Until now, the entire page was squeezed into one screen. Now it is much easier to read. Smartphone and tablet users should click on the User icon to log in, and the Menu icon (three horizontal bars) for all functions.

Click on "Website Redesign" at the left or click here to see a description and sample screen shots of the new look.

We hope you like the new design. Try it on your smartphone or tablet. Email us at info@hobartalumni.org if you have any comments or problems.

We do our best to keep up with listing obituaries for HHS alumni. We are able to find most obituaries that have the words "Hobart High School" in them, but many do not. If you come across any online obituary notice that is not posted in the "Recent Obituaries" page on this website by the time of the funeral, please send the link to me at info@hobartalumni.org, along with the classmate's year of graduation, if you know it, and I will post it right away.

Thanks to Gorjean Quick, who just sent me several obituaries from the Class of 1963.

 Do You Have Class Reunion News to Share?

If your class is having a reunion later this year, or in 2020it's not too early to start letting people know about it. Please email us at info@hobartalumni.org, or email me (Paul Addison) personally at paulhaddison@gmail.com. Let us know the class year, the date, time and place of your reunion (however much you know at this time), and the name of the person to contact for more information. Thanks!