victoriavm

April 26, 2025March 2, 2026 victoriavm Griffith High School, Griffith History, History Notes

Ruth Hutchins Inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

🏆 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀!
🏀 Today, our very own 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟴 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿, 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘀, is being inducted into the 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗲!

From the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 23rd Women’s Induction Class Program:

𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 (𝗛𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗦) 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗥, 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟴
The late Ruth (Hutchins) Parker, a 1928 graduate of Griffith, was a prolific scorer in her era, setting a record of 120 points in an 126-4 victory over Merrilville on Feb. 4, 1928. That was after she scored 106 points on a 53-of-64 shooting in a 115-10 win over Ross on Jan. 28, 1928. As a senior, the Purple Pantherettes of coach C.L. Wilson went 17-0 and outscored opponents by an average of 30.2 points, 41.9 to 11.7. These numbers were amassed when six-player rules were used for girls’ basketball – three forwards and three guards on each side of center line, no crossing the center line, two-dribbles maximum and a player had three seconds to pass or shoot the ball. After high school, Hutchins played basketball in an independent league, once scored 159 points in a game and later worked in the railroad industry. She married Ralph Parker, and they were parents to three children. The one-time scoring star passed away at 46 on March 29, 1956.

April 21, 2025June 17, 2026 victoriavm Activities & Events, Barrel Train, Griffith Depot and Historical Park, Monarch Waystation, Sundays at the Depot, Support the History Museums, Parks, & Rail-Cam, Volunteer

Butterfly Day at the Depot!

Join us to celebrate National Start Seeing Monarchs Day!
Visit Griffith’s very own butterfly garden, aptly named the Griffith Junction Butterfly Stop.
It’s the first anniversary of the garden, conceived and planted by Griffith Tri Kappa member Jeanette Bobos, and supported by the organization.
May 4th is one day after National Start Seeing Monarchs Day, when America celebrates those beautiful, endangered orange and yellow creatures.

It will be a fun and interesting Sunday afternoon at the Griffith Historical Park, where:
The Depot & Train Museums, and the Tower will be open to tour
Our barrel train, the Hess Express, will be running
Jeanette Bobos, the retired Master Gardner who planted our garden, will be on on hand to share her knowledge. We’ll have info on Monarchs and how they’ve become endangered.
Kim Moor, from The Wild Ones, will be with us sharing information about adding native plants to your garden.
Want plants to help butterflies, especially Monarchs? Through the courtesy of Scheeringa Farms, we’ll have a small selection of milkweed plants; black-eyed Susans, Griffith Centennial’s flower in 2004; plus some Heirloom Plants, as well.
Girl Scout Troop 15620 will be selling cookies, lemonade, and butterfly clips.
The Cub Scout Pack 622 and Boy Scout Troop 623 will be on hand with hotdogs, chips and pop.

February 13, 2025June 17, 2026 victoriavm Activities & Events, Town History Museum at the Franklin Center

Visit the Town History Museum @ the Franklin Center!

Come check out our Town History Museum at the Franklin Center and find out cool facts about Griffith!

Which ones did you already know? Come find out and tell us!

We’ll be there Saturday!
11am till 3pm
🏫 Franklin Center
Enter Door G

We are open the 1st and 3rd Saturdays, September – May!

December 27, 2024June 17, 2026 victoriavm Community, Griffith Depot and Historical Park, Meetings, Support the History Museums, Parks, & Rail-Cam, Town History Museum at the Franklin Center, Volunteer

Special General Membership Meeting

Please join us for a Special General Membership Meeting.
Wednesday, January 8th at 5:30 pm
•Franklin Center – Community Room
•Enter Door A

As we plan for and move strategically into 2025, the Board of Directors is recommending changes in how we operate and represent the Griffith Historical Society Museums, not only in Griffith, but across the nation within a fraternity of hundreds of other Historical Museums.

To do this, we are proposing changes in our Bylaws regarding membership.

Please join us at this Special Membership Meeting to hear about the changes and vote on them, to secure the future of the Griffith Historical Society.