Greene County Daily World: Iconic bus to headline parade. by Nathan Pace June 22, 2023
HICKORY HERITAGE: Iconic ‘Hoosiers’ vehicles entice owners to call Greenfield home by Shelley Swift
Oct 7, 2021 Featured on the Greenfield Repoorter
GREENFIELD — On Saturday, two iconic vehicles from the movie “Hoosiers” will cruise down Main Street as part of the Riley Festival parade in downtown Greenfield. The two men behind the wheel are super fans of the movie, to say the least. Darryll Baker owns the Hickory Huskers team bus from the film. Bob Brown owns the 1951 Chevy coupe driven by Coach Dale, portrayed by Gene Hackman.
Each of the men recently bought homes in Greenfield to be closer to the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, where the Huskers’ home games were filmed. Baker lived on the East Coast. Brown lived on the West Coast. The two didn’t know one another when they each made the decision to convince their wives to follow them to central Indiana this year so they could share their own piece of cinematic history with fellow fans...
"Catching the bus has never been so much fun. Saturday afternoon, people gathered in Knightstown from near and far to greet a vintage red bus with gold lettering proclaiming it as the official transportation vehicle of “the Hickory Huskers” – the team featured in the 1985 movie “Hoosiers,” part of which was filmed here. Bob Garner, the ever-enthusiastic events coordinator at Hoosier Gym, couldn’t hide his feelings as the bus arrived. “I got goosebumps and believe me, they’re real big,” Garner told the crowd. The bus arrival – and the vehicle’s survival – were both headline-making events. For Garner and Neil Shaneyfelt, president of the Hoosier Gym Committee, the bright red bus was almost like a sunrise after a major storm. Garner said 80 high school games had to be canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The bus arrival is just a part of what he hopes will be a big year for the place where revered actor Gene Hackman once said, “this is your team.” “This is the 100th anniversary of the gym, 35th anniversary of the movie and 145th anniversary of the academy building next door,” Garner said. “We had a whole lot of celebrations planned and they got stopped. This is the first. April 10th we’re going to have our all-star game. May 22nd we will have a 100th anniversary parade.” “This is kind of a kickoff for our 100th birthday celebration,” Shaneyfelt said. “We hope to have later in the summer a block party on this campus with music and entertainment. Hopefully the virus will cooperate with us...”
Vintage school bus continues to roll by Kassie Ritman
Mar 6, 2020 Featured on the Lebanon Reporter
"How many of us indulge in the guilty pleasure of watching the movie “Hoosiers,” not for the story line, but rather for “extras” spotting? We stop-frame the film to point out familiar faces and cheer at the sight of Lebanon’s Memory Hall, as the floor gleams on the screen and we recognize the beloved gymnasium at the old Lebanon High School. There is another large local star in the movie as well, one that most have never heard the story of, until now. In 1939, a brand new Chevy 1.5 ton, chassis and cab, rolled off the assembly line and headed to the Wayne Company where it was fitted with a “school bus” back end. It was destined for use by the public schools of Indianapolis..."
Nov 1, 2015 Featured in the Paper of Montgomery County Online
"Most Montgomery County natives know a large portion of the movie “Hoosiers” was shot in New Richmond, and that many of the county residents were extras in the film. However, what you may not know is the school bus that took the fictitious Hickory Huskers from gym to gym also came from Montgomery County on the other side of the county in New Ross. The Indiana Pacers will use this same bus as a display on Friday, Nov. 6 when they wear their Hickory Pacers uniforms to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie. There’s a long strange story about how that school bus ended up on the set of Hoosiers..."