Kennard, Indiana

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“A mud-covered dog sat forlornly, still chained to his doghouse–intact amid the wreckage–and a hog wandered aimlessly nearby,” recalls Maxine Cox in the Tri-County Banner, a paper local to the Knightstown area. “Pieces of plastic and bits of clothing hung limply from the fences. From high in a tree at the north end of town a piece of corrugated roofing wrapped around a bare branch assumed the attitude of a flag. And all around–such a scene of destruction as defies description. It could have been a battlefield.” A battlefield–and yet just moments before, it was the sleepy town of Kennard, Indiana, tucked between Indianapolis and New Castle. Although the F4 tornado destroyed more than 70% of the town, only 17 people were injured. A four day old baby, born prematurely to an injured woman, sadly passed away four days later.

Despite all that was lost on that fateful April day, many look back fondly on the man who saved the lives of hundreds: former Kennard elementary school principal, Don Newcomer. Janet Sparks, then in her second year of teaching fourth grade, recalls how they had only practiced a tornado drill once, the day before. At 3pm on April 3, 1974, Mr. Newcomer began running into each classroom in his building, instructing teachers to guide their students to the “safe space” that had been designated during the previous day’s drill. He then ran outside into the pouring rain and started pulling children and drivers off of buses, demanding that they find a safe place to crouch down and cover their heads. “Without the tornado drill, the strategical placement of the classes and the calm thinking of Mr. Newcomer, the outcome for Kennard students and staff on April 3, 1974, would have been much different,” says Sparks. Mr. Newcomer is a hometown hero both to his staff and the students who were present that day.

Although the Kennard Elementary School no longer stands, it once was located near the Kennard Friends Church off of Plum Street. The Kennard Friends Church was damaged during the tornado and was later rebuilt. The church's welcome sign remained unharmed, and local residents crafted this message: "Because Christ came: we shall live. Because National Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Volunteer Corp came: Kennard shall rise again and live!"