As you are probably aware, the worlds tallest woman, Sandy Allen died last week. She'd been having several health problems the last few years and was living in the assisted care portion of a Shelbyville, Indiana nursing home.
I grew up in Shelby County, just 9 miles from Shelbyville. My Granddad Brown volunteered in that nursing home for 15 years. My Mom currently volunteers there. My parent's knew Sandy because my Dad worked with her father years ago. I met Sandy when I was 10 and then a few more times over the years. She was a wonderfully sweet woman who loved life, talking with children and her time working for former Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut. Her spirit will be missed.
The other day, Ruth Holliday blogged about a scholarship fund being established in Sandy's name. Here's the post in it's entirety.
A scholarship fund in the name of world's tallest woman Sandy Allen, has been established by Rita Rose and Art and Nancy Baxter of Hawthorne Publishing.
Allen died Aug. 13. Rose, Allen's longtime friend and a former arts/entertainment reporter for the Indianapolis Star, has written a novel about Allen's life: "World's Tallest Woman: The Giantess of Shelbyville High,"
The Baxters are publishing Rose's book. They also published "Star in the Hoosier Sky" by Lawrence "Bo" Connor, and "Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman" by Nelson Price. Connor and Price are former newspapermen.
Donations to the scholarship fund, which benefits students at Shelbyville High School, Allen's alma mater, can be made by going to http://blueriverfoundation.com/index.asp
Click on "online giving" then "honorary gifts," then fill in Sandy Allen Scholarship Fund in the appropriate box. Or, you can mail a tax-deductible donation to: Blue River?Foundation, 54 W. Broadway
St., Suite 1, Shelbyville, IN 46176.Rose's book will be out in November. Book signings will be Nov. 1 at 3 Sisters Books in Shelbyville and Nov. 8 at Borders Merchants Pointe in Carmel.
Thank you so much for posting about the scholarship fund that the Baxters and I started in Sandy's name. Sandy was really excited about it because she knew it would leave a legacy for her that was about more than being tall. We will soon be meeting to get a Board of Directors and discuss who at Shelbyville High will benefit from the money, which already is coming in. We're really excited about this.
ReplyDeleteSeeker, you said that your dad worked with Sandy's dad. I don't think that's possible since she never knew who her father was and he certainly didn't live in Indiana. Maybe there was some other connection?
Rita Rose