Throughout Elder’s century there’s been many notable names locally and nationally known, most notably Eric Wood, Kyle Rudolph, and Bill Hemmer. Although these alums have had very strong and well-made careers, I want to focus on one that you may not have heard of but played a great part in Elder’s community boosting the recognition of our News and Sports productions.

Adam Duwel, class of 2020, is one of the largest names among recent students and graduates within the past few years. Adam spent all four years here at Elder in the Elder News Network and live sport broadcasting team but outside of the classroom, Adam was working on his biggest project yet.

Friends of Lauren Hill Memorial Park located in Greendale, IN recently completed and opened on April 22, 2022, and has become a local staple in Lawrenceburg. The namesake of the park comes from MSJ student basketball athlete Lauren Hill, who battled cancer and unfortunately passed on April 10, 2015, at age 19. Hill wanted to push her story to bring awareness to DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) a type of brain cancer found in the pons, and the number 22 was plastered everywhere in the Lawrenceburg and Cincinnati areas.

In 2016, Adam proposed an idea of building mountain bike trails on the property which the park sits on, but Tom Biedenharn, class of ’61, proposed the idea of the park to support Lauren and the Hill  family. Tom and Adam then joined forces once the board decided to go with the park and they started the project together. After a long six years, FOLH Memorial Park opened in April to honor Lauren’s  memory.

Tom did not get to see the completion of the park due to unforeseen circumstances and he passed away in 2018. There’s a rock that belonged to Tom located at the park as a monument. Adam said in a local12 article that it’s been along time since the proposed idea, and it’s been exciting gearing up for the opening. The park allows your pups to run around freely along with other activities such as bike trails and other recreational activities to come. You can visit the park’s Facebook page at LaurenHillMemorialPark.

I encourage you to spend part of your day at the park with friends, family or your pups and explore the surrounding area of Lawrenceburg. You can show your support by donating to the park fund at https://www.friendsoflaurenhill.com/

Elder Students are also encouraged to volunteer at the park to complete their service hour requirements, help out a local community and show support for our alum and the Hill family.