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20 October 1968 · the town's brush with national fame, told as an event
The event, two sources agreeing: the consolidated John Glenn High School opened in 1968, and it "was dedicated on October 20, 1968, with NASA astronaut John Glenn, for whom it is named, present" — the school's own record, citing page 60 of Sheneman's Southern St. Joseph County — and Hal Muncie's obituary, from the other side of the podium, records the same fact: "Fall 1968: Astronaut John Glenn attended the dedication of the new John Glenn High School," Muncie its principal. Glenn is not Walkerton's man and is printed in the negatives roll below at that strength; but the day is the town's: the most famous living American of the space age stood in a town of two thousand to give his name to its schoolhouse, and the school — 201 John Glenn Drive — has carried the name since. The record reached gives the school one more distinction of its own kind: eighteen state spell bowl championships, carried at the school's own record strength — the Falcons' quiet dynasty in the one Indiana arena where spelling is a varsity sport.
Sources:
- John Glenn High School (Walkerton, Indiana), the school's record — the dedication date and Glenn's presence; citing Franklin N. Sheneman, Southern St. Joseph County (Arcadia, 2004), p. 60.
- Obituary of Harold Rubert Muncie — the fall 1968 dedication corroborated.