The grand opening ceremony for the new Larry Bird Museum was held on May 30 and the entrance can be seen here from the inside of the Terre Haute Covention Center where it is free admission Staff photo by Joseph C. Garza
With David Patterson having retired as executive director of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau in April after 30 years on the job, the transition to his replacement — Karen Dyer — seems to be going smoothly.
One of Dyer’s biggest tests was helping pull off the grand opening of the downtown Larry Bird Museum on May 30. That day, Bird gave a public speech and later answered questions for the media during a news conference.
“He’s not from Terre Haute,” Dyer said of Bird. “But we like to say he’s of Terre Haute.”
Recently, Dyer estimated almost 2,000 people had visited the museum, coming from locations as far away as Canada, Texas, Alabama and Florida.
Admission is free, per Bird’s wishes, but only about 50 visitors can be allowed inside at one time. So Dyer recommends booking reservations online at larrybirdmuseum.com to get top priority. If the museum isn’t at capacity, she added, then visitors can walk in without a reservation.
• One of the leading sources of sports tourism that Patterson always credited over the years was the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, which Dyer did not forget to mention either.
“Our first event of the year [the Valley Cross Kickoff on Aug. 17] had 25 teams and over 1,700 runners in it,” Dyer told the Tribune-Star. “Based on the attendance of that first meet, we’re expecting to have a really good season out there.”
Some of the biggest meets still on the 2024 Gibson course schedule are the John McNichols Invitational, which took place on Sept. 21, the Nike XC Town Twilight/NCAA Division III Pre-Nationals on Oct. 4, the Indiana middle school state championships on the morning of Oct. 5, the Nike XC Town Twilight on the evening of Oct. 5, the IHSAA sectional Oct. 19, the IHSAA state finals (for the 21st consecutive year) on Nov. 2, the Nike Cross Regional Midwest Championships on Nov. 17, the NCAA Division III national championships (hosted by Rose-Hulman) on Nov. 23 and a new event for the course — Canicross National Championships (where humans run with their dogs) on Dec. 13-15.
“Normally, dogs aren’t allowed on the course,” Dyer pointed out. “We’re expecting about 300 runners with their dogs to enter this year.”
There also will be shorter fun runs connected with this event for those dog owners who don’t want to compete.
In reference to the busy course schedule for Oct. 4-5, Dyer noted that weekend also will be Rose-Hulman and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College homecoming weekends. That means all Terre Haute hotels are already sold out for that weekend.
Dyer suggests that overflow visitors stay in hotels located in nearby counties.
On a hopeful note, Dyer and Indiana State University have put in a bid to host future NCAA Division I national championships, which haven’t been here since 2019.
“I think we’re supposed to know this year whether we’re getting it in 2026 or 2027,” she said.
• The Griffin Bike Park in southern Vigo County continues to be a steady draw for bicycling enthusiasts in 2024.
“It also is a very unique venue [similar to the Gibson course] and the only one like it in the state of Indiana,” Dyer emphasized.
Several quality events have taken place there since April. Still on the slate are the Triple Scoop Race on Sept. 14, the Thompson Thrift Short Track Finals on Sept. 18, the thyssenkrupp presta North America Pump Track Series Finals on Sept. 21, the J’s Bikes Dual Slalom Series Finals on Sept. 22, the Steel Dynamics Find and Seek Gravel ride Oct. 26, the Wabashiki Black Friday Ride on Nov. 29 and the Christmas Lights Ride on Dec. 21.
• The Special Olympics Indiana’s 55th annual Summer Games took place this past summer in Terre Haute, mostly on the ISU campus with swimming at Rose-Hulman.
“We consider Terre Haute to be the home to Special Olympics Indiana,” Dyer said.
They’ll be back in 2025 too — June 6-8.
• Various auto races brought spectators to the Terre Haute Action Track and Wabash Valley Dragway, as usual, this year.
• Some 4,000 entrants took part in the 2024 USA Gymnastics Region 4 Championships for trampoline and tumbling May 3-5 inside the Rose-Hulman Sports and Recreation Center, Dyer said.
• More than 250 quarter-midget cars competed in the 2024 NASCAR Youth National Dirt races Aug. 23-25 at Hulman Mini-Speedway.
• The Indiana American Legion baseball state tournament, hosted by Wayne Newton Post 346, filled plenty of seats at Terre Haute North High School’s Don Jennings Field and ISU’s Bob Warn Field in late July.
• The Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships, hosted by ISU and won by ISU on the men’s and women’s sides, were conducted May 10-12 at the Gibson Track & Field Complex.
• The Strive 365 indoor sports complex has an ambitious schedule coming up, including the American Cornhole Organization regional tournament Oct. 9, Monster Ball fastpitch softball tournament Oct. 26-27, the Bring it Indoors fastpitch tournament Nov. 8-10, the Turkey Bash fastpitch tournament Nov. 15-17, the Dazzling December fastpitch tournament Dec. 6-8, the Winter Bash fastpitch tournament Dec. 13-15, the End of the year battle fastpitch tournament Dec. 27-29, the Bringing in the New Year fastpitch tournament Jan. 3-5, 2025, the Regional Wabash Valley Tumbling & Gymnastics competition Jan. 10-12, 2025, the Blizzard Bash fastpitch tournament Jan. 17-19, 2025 and the Winter 14u state fastpitch tournament Jan. 24-26, 2025.
• The Vigo County Aquatic Center has been and will continue to be the pool used for IHSAA and Terre Haute Torpedoes youth meets.
• The Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association’s 20th annual all-star game was played June 22 at Rose-Hulman’s Cook Stadium, bringing to Terre Haute sizable numbers of parents and fans from Indiana and Illinois communities large and small throughout the Wabash Valley.
• RAIN [Ride Across INdiana] is a one-day bicycle ride across Indiana that enjoyed its 36th year July 20. The 160-mile course runs mostly east from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College to Earlham College in Richmond, following the Historic National Road (U.S. 40) for much of the way. The ride is sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle Club.
“Terre Haute has such a wide variety of venues because three of our four colleges have venues for athletic events,” Dyer summarized, referring to ISU, Rose-Hulman and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. “It’s nice to have these kind of assets in our community. These really make Terre Haute a sports destination.”
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