Super Bowl 2012

Chris Gahl, Volunteer Co-Chair and Director of Communications for the Indianapolis Visitors Bureau, spoke to Kiwanis about the 2012 Super Bowl. The epic game is only 530 (from 8-24) days away. He told about all that went in to winning the bid for the Bowl game and what that win would do for the city and surrounding donut areas.

In order to be in the running for the game, the city had to have 70,000 seats available and be connected to a Convention Center for the NFL for use for the NFL Experience, a required number of hotel rooms in the area, restaurants and a required number of “beer taps”. Also, two practice areas within a 50 mile radius had to be provided. Indy has one at the Colts complex but the second had to be added and it will be built at the University of Indianapolis. After the bowl, one million dollars worth of turf will be donated to Tech High School for “Project Legacy”. The hope of all is to leave a “positive footprint” on the city that will lead to recovery of areas of Indianapolis that have needed help. Happening right now is the planting of 2,012 trees. By Bowl time, Indianapolis will have the trees growing and that will help beautify the area and be a lasting contribution.

What will this do for the city and area? The Super Bowl has become an unofficial holiday and expects to add 125 to 400 million which provides a huge economic impact to our community. This represents a huge return on the 25 million dollar investment. The Bowl is the most watched primetime network telecast. The Super Bowl promises at least 120,000 visitors as compared to the 80,000 that attend the NCAA tourney. Fans from 230 countries are expected. NBC will be telecasting the game in 2012 and the TODAY show as well as NBC nightly news will be in Indianapolis the week before the game.

Elanco in Greenfield

Joan Todd from Elanco in Greenfield spoke to Kiwanis. Todd and her family moved to Greenfield from Hamilton County. She highly recommends living here. They live north of Maxwell with her many horses, dogs and cats.


She told us that Elanco is in the animal business. Their purpose is to produce healthy food to produce healthy animals. They support the Heifer animal program which provides an animal to an impoverished foreign family. Their theory being that “to give a man a fish, he eats for one day but teach him how to fish and he has food for life.” They also partner with the local Food Pantry.

Elanco topped one billion dollars in sales last year and while that is only 5% of Lilly’s global business, it was a number to be noticed. They also do a smaller amount with pet care.

The new three building complex was built especially for Elanco. The Greenfield location was chosen because of easy proximity to restaurants and hotels as they host many foreign visitors each year.

The new Gas America being built on Elanco property but not owed by Elanco, will include a restaurant new to our area. It is “Miami Sub/Pizza”.

Joan was a knowledgeable and vivacious speaker about her company and said that tours of the facility could be arranged by reservation to interested groups.

Tatiana Day, HRH Foundation

Tatiana Day, Executive Director of the Hancock Regional Hospital Foundation, spoke to Kiwanias. She started the program with a game called “didja know” to present some facts and figures about the hospital. Didja know that 478 babies were born in 2009 at the hospital. “ Didja know” the hospital has over 400 volunteers contributing over 55,000 hours per year which adds up to one million dollars of service. “Didja know” that the ER recorded 27,700 visits in 2009. Charity Care amounts to $4.5 million in service given back to the community which means 4.7% of earned revenue goes back to the community. A 4.6 million dollar surplus is used for new equipment. The Foundation is “the helping hand that assists the hospitals programs and services to even more work in addressing the community health needs.” No Tax dollars are used to keep the hospital running.


The new Anderson Women’s Center opened in December and was funded by community support. Tatiana’s job consists of helping raise funds as well as working to provide Knowledge about the hospital, provide inspiration to people to get involved and serve as an advocate to recruit time, talent and treasure. It takes a lot to carry on the hospital mission which is “To be a caring community partner dedicated to enhancing the health of the patients and communities we serve.”

Tatiana is a graduate of New Palestine High School, Butler University, and University of Southern California. She has worked in philanthropy in Arizona and in community health services in Los Angeles, California before coming back home to continue her career.

Indiana State Museum Program

Linda McCabe from the Indiana State Museum spoke to Kiwanis recently about the museum. She said that the Indiana State Museum is a place to come to celebrate, investigate, remember, learn and take pride in Indiana’s story.


We learned that the state museum started collecting in 1869 and was originally located in a basement and was moved in 1968 to Indianapolis City Hall and in 2002 was moved to the new White River State Park location. The building was funded with state funds and donations. Inside the museum are representations of all the stone materials found in our state. Presently the museum contains 540,000 artifacts related to Indiana present and past. 60,000 school students visited the museum last year.

An exciting event coming to the Museum starting September 23 through July 16, 2011, will be the Titanic Exhibition. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 and the display will include over 240 items recovered from two and one half miles below the surface of the North Atlantic. “Visitors will become passengers as they receive a boarding pass and experience the excitement of the fateful night. They will move through the Ship’s construction and marvel at the recreated first and third class cabins, view the cargo and press palms against an iceberg”. There will be an additional $10 charge for the display.

The museum is looking for volunteers to help run the Santa’s train ride in December. Anyone interested in volunteering at the museum can contact the museum at 317-232-1637 or check their web site at indianamuseum.org.