"Help Me Wish Donna, Happy Birthday!"

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Happy 60th. Birthday!!!

John Stuteville feeds Donna the Hippopotamus a watermelon treat on Friday afternoon at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. Donna, who turns 60 on Aug. 7, is the oldest living Nile Hippopotamus in captivity and will be celebrating her birthday July 8 with a party & cake for her visitors with a special frozen treat for herself.

Photo taken by ERIN McCRACKEN / Courier & Press

Below outside photo of Donna when she was 58 years old!

[Photo Courtesy of Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden]

According to the Courier & Press article [July 9, 2011 in the Local Section, Page 4A "Mesker Zoo to celebrate hippo's happy birthday" by Samm Quinn] ~ Donna is the oldest Nile hippo in captivity, followed by her sister Julie (who will be 50 this year) at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee. The article mentions that the the oldest known recorded Nile hippo died at the age of 61. Donna came to Evansville's zoo in 1956. go to Mesker Zoo and wish Donna a very Happy Birthday!!!

- Compiled by JGWest

"Cemeteries Maintained by Indiana Township Trustees"

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ERIN McCRACKEN / Courier & Press 15 Nov 2009

"Perry Township Trustee David Mosby picks up branches in Lyon Cemetery near the Tekoppel Avenue underpass on Thursday morning while giving a tour of the cemeteries the township is in charge of maintaining. There are very few headstones in the cemetery, most dating back to the mid to late 1800s. Money is tight and often allocated for other things, Mosby said, so oftentimes there is not money to do much more than cut the grass and simple maintenance in all the cemeteries."
- article and accompanying photo submitted by Don Counts

[What will happen to Indiana's small cemeteries that are being maintained by Township Trustees, if Indiana eliminates Township Trustees? What do you think about this? Make your opinion known! - JGWest]