HCS taps 8 for its 2012 Distinguished Alumni class

Hardin County Schools will recognize its newest class of Distinguished Alumni at an Aug. 30 luncheon at the Historic State Theater in Elizabethtown.

The group includes several members of the military, two journalists and health care workers.

Candidates are chosen through an online nomination process, and a three-member committee sifts through forms to choose honorees, HCS spokesman John Wright said.

Wright said HCS considers what nominees have accomplished in their professional lives. The committee also tries to select alumni in a variety of positions and from different schools.

This year’s honorees are journalist Darrell Bird, Lt. Col. Glenn “Rob” Bollinger, Dr. Allison Cardin, software developer Tim Ellis, editor Venita Fritz, Sgt. Jason Mike, Spc. John Pike and business owner Paul Stuecker.

• Bird, a former member of The News-Enterprise staff, is general manager of “The Cats’ Pause” and CatsPause.com as well as a sports commentator on “The Cats’ Pause Hotline” and “Red & Blue Review.” He graduated in 1977 from East Hardin High School.
• Bollinger is commander of the Special Troops Battalion in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Knox. He is a 1987 graduate of North Hardin High School.
• Cardin, a urologist at Hardin Memorial Health, is part of a team that is working to make urological surgery less invasive. She graduated in 1996 from Central Hardin High School.
• Ellis is senior systems architect at Emergint Technologies. He directed development of the company’s software product, HealthSIS, which allows public health departments to monitor diseases and treatment conditions. He is a 1984 graduate of North Hardin.
• Fritz is general manager and editor of The Marshall County Tribune-Courier in Benton. She is a 1979 graduate of North Hardin.
• Mike is a Silver Star recipient and a police officer in Paris. He graduated from Central Hardin in 2001.
• Pike earned a Purple Heart after sustaining injuries from an improvised explosive device during his deployment to Afghanistan. He is a 2003 graduate of John Hardin High School.
• Stuecker is owner of Stuecker Electric Inc. He is a 1974 graduate of West Hardin High School.

Kelly Cantrall can be reached at (270) 505-1747 or kcantrall@thenewsenterprise.com.