FEATURE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Birdseye

A cardboard cutout of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stands at a window in a home in the 500 block of Highway 145 in Birdseye, Ind.

NATURE: Blackbird(s)

A flock of birds flew across a snow-covered cornfield off of Ferdinand Road on Tuesday during the first snowfall near the intersection of Ferdinand Road and County Road S. 100W in Ferdinand.

FEATURE: Hide and go SNOWBALL!

As he walked home from the bus stop after school, Ayden Small of Ferdinand, 6, left, smiled as he brought a snowball home as his sister Maddix Small of Ferdinand, 4, hid behind a truck to throw a snowball at him after the first snowfall at their home on 9th Street in Ferdinand.

FEATURE: Puppy Love

Carolyn Rae Schmitt of Indianapolis, 12, cocked her head back laughing as she received kisses by their family's dog Charlie, who licked her face as she lifted him up into the air Saturday afternoon while celebrating Thanksgiving at her grandparent's house, Mayor Bill Schmitt and his wife Carolyn, on Saturday in Jasper. Carolyn Rae Schmitt was named after her grandmother, and her middle name was in honor of Bill Schmitt's father's name.

OUTTAKES: Dubois County 4-H Fair

FEATURE: Child's Play

Long overdue for my blog, but finally found the time to post an edit from the Dubois County 4-H Fair in Jasper, Ind. It's a huge undertaking for this newspaper, and the community is very involved in this fair. All three photographers, including myself, were on fair duty all week. Two features from the fair every day, plus the five-page Saturday Feature you see at the bottom of this post. It was in the 100-degree heat index most of the week. So, of course, I continuously found myself sweating through every shirt and shorts I wore. Totally worth it. This was in my first month at The Herald, and looking back, I am proud of how I shot this essay. Very moment-driven, a lot of cute kids, but all in all, I learned a lot about community photojournalism in this week (if not about staying hydrated).

Story Summary: The Dubois County 4-H Fair is a big deal for every kid the age of 12 and under. It's a week filled with lives dedicated to farm animals in the barn, preparing animals for show, sweating out the heat, keeping cool and just having some old-fashioned fun. The fair is the place every child finds themselves for one week in July — a bountiful playground of non-stop chaos. Between the running around barns, throwing shaving cream all over one another, carnival rides and pig wrestling, these kids don't tire easily. It's a place known for child's play.



Camren Giesler of Ferdinand, 6, pulled his aunt's calf, which fights him from moving, outside of the cattle barn to tie him up after being weighed July 16 in preparation for the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Abby Hochgesang of Birdseye, 16, squirted water out of a glove like an utter into the mouth of Ella Mattingly of Holland, 9, as Morgan Hume of Huntingburg, 9, watched smiling Thursday at the horse barn during the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Cole Oeding of Ferdinand, 11, left, laid his hands on the top of a drawing of a cow on the table while Luke Jacob of Schnellville, 12, played an Ace atop Oeding's Jack in the card game "War," winning the hand in the cattle barn July 20 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Zach Hoffman, 11, left, and Dayne Burger, 11, both of Ferdinand, positioned the stance of their goat during intermediate class junior division for showmanship July 18 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair. Hoffman, a first-time 4-H competitor, was named the junior division grand champion and the overall grand champion for pygmy goats. "I never expected to win," he said. "It feels really awesome."



Katie Stenftenagel of Jasper, 8, left, snuggled her head into the chest of Riley Merder of Jasper, 9, her cousin in the cattle barn Wednesday at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Sarah Obermeier, left, 9 dove into the mud chasing down a pig with teammates of the Mud Monsters who are her cousins Lauren Obermeier, 13, second from left, Emma Messmer, 11, back center, and Abby Fischer, 9, all of Jasper, during the annual pig wrestling contest July 22 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Ally Schipp of Fulda, 5, threw her arms out to feel like she was flying on the swing carnival ride at the midway July 19 during the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Levi Schaeffer of Huntingburg, 8, showed some love for his calf Buddy by petting his ear laying next to him in the cattle barn July 20 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



From left: Shaydon Voelkel of Dubois, 14, Lauren Roos of Ferdinand, 12, Garrett Betz of Schnellville, 10, and Sophia Bolte of Ferdinand, 15, helped each other rinse off shaving cream while Katelyn Roos of Ferdinand, 14, and Curtis Gress of Celestine, 12, tried to cool off by spraying a hose into the air and catch water in their mouths during the shaving cream fight July 21 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Kendra Steckler of Ferdinand, 11, aired out her feet by taking her boots off while doing her nails at the cattle barn in preparation for the Beef Show on July 20 at the Dubois County 4-H Fair.



Chanler Balsmeyer of Huntingburg, 9, put his weight into pulling as hard as possible along with other members of team "Udder Tuggers" July 21 during the annual Tug of War at the Dubois County 4-H Fair. "My arms are just tired now, like jello," he said letting go of the rope.



Lauren Roos of Ferdinand, 12, slept next to her goats atop a bail of hay in the sheep barn July 21 morning during the Dubois County 4-H Fair.

SPORTS: Jasper at Pike Central

Pike Central's J.J. Howald reached for the basketball over teammate Kegan Aldridge as he fouled Jasper's Nate Messier, who completed a lay-up Saturday night at Pike Central High School in Petersburg. The Wildcats beat the Chargers 67-37.

FEATURE: Silly swinging

Logan Steele of Brownsburg, 2, smiled as she was raised higher, closer to her grandfather Dennis Schepers of Jasper, who made faces every time she swung close to him while Logan swung on an old rope swing on a tree in Scheper's front lawn Friday evening at his Skyview Drive home in Jasper. Logan was visiting for Thanksgiving weekend.

FEATURE: Tugging at Santa's beard

Five-month-old Ashlyn Street of Jasper tugged at Santa Claus' beard as her eyes lit up upon meeting him for the first time in her life Wednesday at Sixth Street fire station in Jasper.

FEATURE: Rock-a-bye Baby

Tamara Shasteen of Chicago rocked her three-year-old daughter Lauren Shasteen back and forth as she fell asleep in her lap waiting up to see Santa Claus on Wednesday night at the Sixth Street fire station in Jasper. The two are in town visiting Tamara's brother and sister-in-law for Thanksgiving.

STORY: Grave Work

Huntingburg Vault Company gravedigger Earl Underhill of Gentryville sweeps dirt back into the grave as he cleaned up excess around the edges while opening a grave site on Sept. 22 in St. Anthony. Graves are usually dug about 58 inches deep.



Huntingburg Vault Company co-owner Mike Tretter, bottom right, waited for concrete to pour down a luge as he and co-owner Dennis Boeglin pour, fill and smooth six 2,500-pound concrete burial vaults for caskets for about 90 minutes on Oct. 11 in Huntingburg. Tretter, a former mechanic, and Boeglin, a former coal miner, took over the business from its former owners about 17 years ago.



Huntingburg Vault Company gravedigger Darrel Harris, left, sat in each chair to test it for durability and comfort as Orville Lemond, center, and Earl Underhill continued to prep the chairs and gravesite for the post-funeral procession in Enlow Cemetery on Oct. 12 in Jasper.



Orville Lemond of Huntingburg handed a flower that had dropped from the casket to Nikolas Stuckey of Jasper, 10, to place back atop as he paid his respects to his grandmother Deborah L. Stuckey of Huntingburg, who was buried Oct. 12 in Enlow Cemetery in Jasper.



Flowers, as well as any other personal belonging left by family members atop the casket, are buried undisturbed by the gravediggers. "Death can be a beautiful thing, if you let it be," said Huntingburg Vault Company gravedigger Orville Lemond.



Gravedigger Earl Underhill of Gentryville slowly lowered the casket of Deborah L. Stuckey of Huntingburg into the vault in the ground after her funeral procession Oct. 12 at Enlow Cemetery in Jasper. Flowers, as well as any other personal belonging left by family members atop the casket, are buried undisturbed by the gravediggers.



Gravedigger Darrel Harris of Celestine, left, pulled down a truckload of dirt with a Kubota tractor back onto the gravesite of Bryan Reckelhoff while Earl Underhill of Gentryville directed both Harris and Orville Lemond of Huntingburg, not pictured, who maneuvered the truck back between headstones on Sept. 22 at St. Anthony Catholic Church cemetery.



Gravedigger Darrel Harris of Celestine took a moment to respect the man, Bryan Reckelhoff, he and two others buried after a funeral on Sept. 22 at St. Anthony Catholic Church cemetery. "Death is naturally a part of life, and we are the ones to ensure a peaceful burial," Harris said.

FEATURE: Nervous choir boy

Nathan Jarboe of Ferdinand, 8, bit his lip as he tried to remember some of the lyrics to a holiday tune he was singing along with about a dozen others in the St. Ferdinand's Children's Choir on a stage set up in the center of a shopping hub at Forest Park High School on Saturday at Christkindlmarkt in Ferdinand.

SPOT NEWS: House Fire in Dubois

About 32 firefighters from Dubois and Haysville's fire departments worked to contain a house fire, which resulted in a total loss, early Friday morning on a hillside drive among a bed of trees at 8267 N. 575 E. in Dubois. Homeowner Craig Merkel was transported to Memorial Hospital in Jasper for smoke inhalation, and no other injuries were sustained. The cause of the fire, which started at about 12:30 a.m., was Merkel's wood stove.

SPORTS: Reaching Rebound

Forest Park's Katelyn Welp stretched as she leapt to grab the ball at her fingertips while boxing out Perry Central's Kristi Brumfield and Lynsay Goffinet for a rebound Thursday night at Forest Park High School in Ferdinand. The Lady Rangers won 44-34.

GEN. NEWS: Roman Missal changes

Deacon Patrick Hirtz of St. Meinrad, left, stood beside Father Bill Wargel of Birdseye as Wargel led the congregation in prayer Sunday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper. Significant changes have been made to the Mass in Roman Catholic churches around the world to the Roman Missal, the book of texts and prayers used in the Mass. The changes are intended to be closer to the liturgical Latin that was used for centuries than the current version. American Catholics will first hear the new missal on Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent, and start of the liturgical year and the season leading up to Christmas.

SPORTS: Evansville Mater Dei at Southridge

Southridge's Kendyl Dearing, right, ran forward for a layup past Evansville Mater Dei's Casey Jochem on Tuesday night at Memorial Gym in Huntingburg. Evansville Mater Dei beat Southridge 50-48.



Evansville Mater Dei's Beth Fischer and Southridge's Cassie Wertman fought for possession of the ball Tuesday night at Memorial Gym in Huntingburg. Evansville Mater Dei beat Southridge 50-48.



Southridge's Kendyl Dearing, left, grasped her jersey as she teared up walking off court with teammate Megan Dippel after losing 50-48 to Evansville Mater Dei on Tuesday night at Memorial Gym in Huntingburg.

SPORTS: Let girls basketball season begin!

Jasper's Mallory Wehr reached for the ball as she scrapped with Southridge's Kendyl Dearing, who forced the ball to a teammate after capitalizing on a loose ball to a steal Saturday at Memorial Gym in Huntingburg. Southridge beat Jasper 49-47.