Ordinary Hoosiers

22/08/2020

ICYMI: Watch the story of a successful band director who quit her job and found happiness at an animal shelter and on the trail.

Lisa Ritchel of Bloomington, IN, was developing and running a successful high school music program when she volunteered at an animal shelter and decided to change careers. Watch as she shares her s…

17/08/2020

Lisa Schwenk Ritchel of Bloomington, IN, was developing and running a successful high school music program at Brown County High School (Indiana) when she volunteered at an animal shelter and decided to change careers. Watch as she shares her story of that transition, as well as finding a new passion – walking and hiking long distance – after adopting a hound dog that needed lots of exercise to burn off excess energy.

City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control

Lisa Ritchel of Bloomington, IN, was developing and running a successful high school music program when she volunteered at an animal shelter and decided to change careers. Watch as she shares her s…

11/08/2020

ICYMI: Madeline shares her great love story. Part 3 of 3.

From their first in-person meeting, Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, had a “big ole” crush on Richelle. Madeline shares the story of how they met and fell in love. Part 3 of 3.

11/08/2020

ICYMI: What do you do when you're raised a Christian and your faith is compromised by people of the church demonizing your sexuality? Hear Madeline's story. Part 2 of 3.

Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, was raised a Christian, but struggled with anti-gay theology when she realized she was a le***an. Watch as she shares the ups and downs of her faith journe…

11/08/2020

ICYMI: Hear Madeline share about feeling different as a child and eventually realizing her true self as a le***an. Part 1 of 3.

As a child, Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, felt different. She didn’t have deep emotional connections to other people because she couldn’t be completely open and honest with …

07/08/2020

Please watch the final installment of Madeline’s story as she shares meeting her girlfriend and falling in love.

From their first in-person meeting, Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, had a “big ole” crush on Richelle. Madeline shares the story of how they met and fell in love. Part 3 of 3.

05/08/2020

Part 2 of Madeline’s story is now available!

Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, was raised a Christian, but struggled with anti-gay theology when she realized she was a le***an. Watch as she shares the ups and downs of her faith journe…

03/08/2020

What an exciting week as we release this three-part miniseries about realizing one’s true self, coming out as le***an, finding love and being a gay Christian. We are thrilled to help share Madeline’s story! Parts 2 and 3 will be released Wednesday and Friday, respectively.

As a child, Madeline Webster, 27, of Bloomington, IN, felt different. She didn’t have deep emotional connections to other people because she couldn’t be completely open and honest with …

22/07/2020

As you wait to view two massive projects we have in production right now, take a look back at this powerful episode on Rachael Brown, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but also was intent on not letting that stop her from being the change she wanted to see in the world.

ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. – Rachael Brown, a 19-year-old student at Ivy Tech Community College, heard a shocking diagnosis when she had an adverse reaction to painkiller during wisdom teeth extraction: Sh…

06/07/2020

ICYMI: Bloom Magazine’s deputy editor follows her dream

Sophie Bird knew she wanted to be a journalist at 8 years old, and at 16, she set her sights on Bloom Magazine in Bloomington, Indiana. Starting with the magazine as an intern, Sophie is now deputy…

29/06/2020

Sophie Bird knew she wanted to be a journalist at 8 years old, and at 16, she set her sights on Bloom Magazine in Bloomington, Indiana. Starting with the magazine as an intern, Sophie is now deputy editor. Hear her story and learn why she believes journalism – and Bloom Magazine – are so important to the community.

Sophie Bird knew she wanted to be a journalist at 8 years old, and at 16, she set her sights on Bloom Magazine in Bloomington, Indiana. Starting with the magazine as an intern, Sophie is now deputy…

26/06/2020

ICYMI: Watch the story of a young Black man standing up for change and equality.

Caleb Poer, 19, of Bloomington, Indiana, was just 11 years old when he sat in a room full of adults as the Trayvon Martin decision was announced. That’s when he realized that justice isn’t always s…

17/06/2020

Do you know a Hoosier with an interesting story? Of course you do, because everyone has a story! Share their information or name for us to contact. If you’d like to see some of our recent stories, go to www.ordinaryhoosiers.com.

and their extraordinary stories

15/06/2020

We’re honored to share this story about striving for change and equality. Please share with your friends.



If you like Caleb’s story, click on Ordinary Hoosiers at the top of the page and see more stories from people across the state.

Caleb Poer, 19, of Bloomington, Indiana, was just 11 years old when he sat in a room full of adults as the Trayvon Martin decision was announced. That’s when he realized that justice isn’t always s…

28/05/2020

Model Lark Farlee of Bloomington, IN, talks about how she started modeling to combat a negative body image that had resulted in self-loathing and an eating disorder. Watch her story and see behind-the-scene videos from a couple of photo shoots in the sidebar.

Twenty-six-year-old Lark Farlee, of Bloomington, IN, started modeling to combat a negative body image that had resulted in self-loathing and an eating disorder. She quickly gained confidence and a …

19/05/2020

Stories shared by Indiana’s interpretive naturalists, produced by Patrick Haulter.

18/05/2020

In Part 2, Emily Morrow of Selma, Indiana, a 2020 senior at Monroe Central High School, shares about losing her final senior memories when milestone events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emily Morrow of Selma, Indiana, a 2020 senior at Monroe Central High School, shares about losing her final senior memories when milestone events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Part …

14/05/2020

We're finally back to sharing your stories! This is the first of a two-part episode. In Part 1, Emily shares about losing her older sister in a drunken driving accident. Part 2 explores her senior year during the pandemic and will be published on Monday, May 18.

Emily Morrow of Selma, Indiana, lost her sister, Amber, in a drunken driving accident when the car was hit by a train. Now finishing her senior year of high school, Emily shares memories of her sis…

13/03/2020

"The Long Journey Home" is finally complete. If you've watched before, this one is cleaner and shorter. If you take time to watch it, please let me know what you think.

Originally from southeastern Kentucky, but living in east-central Indiana, 95-year-old Greeley Bates wants to visit his ancestral home one more time. In what...

04/11/2019

Hey, everyone! we've been away for a while because we completely lost the Ordinary Hoosiers website when we moved it from one hosting provider to another. Yikes! After scouring through thousands of pages of coding from the database, we have rebuilt the site and would love if you'd go check it out and revisit some of our past videos. Now that the site is back up, we plan to start creating some new content for you all! If you have suggestions on people to feature, comment below or send a message through this page. Thanks!

Behind the scenes with Rodney Margison - Photographer at Lennie's. Graffiti and fashion by David Ebbinghouse; modeling by Lark Farlee and Niki Irvine; video by Linda Bates Margison.

09/11/2018

28/06/2018

In our final episode, Out of the Shadows Podcast’s Shane Waters partners with students to give the Redhead Murders serial killer a name.

Out of the Shadows podcaster Shane Waters talks about joining forces with high school students and naming the serial killer the Bible Belt Strangler.

27/06/2018

In today’s episode, Shane Waters from Out of the Shadows Podcast talks about why he decided to place red crosses at the Redhead Murders dumping sites.

Out of the Shadows podcaster Shane Waters discusses why he is putting up red crosses at the site of each Redhead Murder.

26/06/2018

Staying busy with different projects.

26/06/2018

Episode 3 is the first of three parts about Shane Waters’ current project, The Redhead Murders, for Out of the Shadows Podcast.

Out of the Shadows podcaster Shane Waters discusses the Redhead Murders.

25/06/2018

Episode 2 in our series featuring Shane Waters from Out of the Shadows Podcast. In this episode he talks about when he realized his work was making a difference.

Out of the Shadows podcaster Shane Waters talks about cold-case murder victim Beverly Jarosz and how he knew he was making a difference.

24/06/2018

We recently sat down with Shane Waters, creator of Out of the Shadows Podcast, and learned how he got started, when he realized he was making a difference and more about his current case, The Redhead Murders. Today is the first episode of a five-day series.

Out of the Shadows podcaster Shane Waters discusses how and why he started investigating cold cases.

24/06/2018

We're getting back into growing Ordinary Hoosiers! A new five-part series on a Hoosier crime podcaster starts tomorrow, so revisit this behind-the-scenes video while you wait.

Photographer Rodney Margison and model Lark Farlee are subjects of this behind-the-scenes video from a powder-dance shoot. They were joined by Mike Waddell with Anicca Photography at the I FELL Bui…

29/01/2018

14/12/2017

While we plan our next Clash of Concepts, take a look back at November’s project at www.clashofconcepts.com.

Clash of Concepts is the work of a husband-and-wife creative team that challenged each other to a month-long duel to create one project per day—an image for him and a story for her—based on a single, daily prompt, using a random word generator. The results of each daily challenge are posted at www.clashofconcepts.com.

  Clash of Concepts This project is simple: We are Rodney and Linda, a husband and wife creative team, each of whom is very competitive. We’ve challenged each other to a month-long duel to cre…

09/11/2017

NASHVILLE — On a rainy morning with wind whipping across the path of the grassy dam at Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park, 100-year-old Bob Vollmer had an audience

06/11/2017

A Hoosier husband and wife creative team has challenged each other to a month-long duel to create one project per day—an image for the photographer husband and a story for the writer wife—based on a single, daily prompt. Using a random word generator to provide that prompt, the results of each daily challenge are posted at www.clashofconcepts.com for all to see. The project goes from November 1 to November 30, 2017. (Photo Credit: Zach Margison)

23/10/2017

What an honor to spend time with Randy Lapidus and his family talking about their new restaurant, Special Dogs & More, which hires people with developmental disabilities. Thanks, Randy, Robin, Rachel, and Neil, for sharing your story!

COLUMBUS, Ind. – Randy Lapidus couldn’t have predicted that his daughter’s cardiac arrest during an argument would eventually result in a new business venture. Although doctors believed…

18/10/2017

  ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. — Rachael Brown, a 19-year-old student at Ivy Tech Community College, heard a shocking diagnosis when she had an adverse reaction to painkiller during wisdom teeth e…

18/10/2017

One of our favorite stories...

  ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. — Rachael Brown, a 19-year-old student at Ivy Tech Community College, heard a shocking diagnosis when she had an adverse reaction to painkiller during wisdom teeth e…