Association of Indiana Counties

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4 days ago

For the second time since the USS Indiana (SSN-789) was commissioned on September 29, 2018, sailors aboard the submarine will receive a donation of 140 pork tenderloins. The USS Indiana Commissioning Committee, Huntington County Commissioners, Beam, Longest and Neff, and Nick's Kitchen worked together to organize, prepare and ship the tenderloins to the sub's homeport in Connecticut.

Rob Miller, Vice President of the Huntington County Commissioners, worked with Beam, Longest, and Neff (BLN) to make this donation happen. Miller contacted Patti Smith, Project Manager for BLN, who was more than happy to contribute. BLN covered the cost of the pork tenderloins and the shipping. Their gift is valued at $1,000.00.
BLN is a family consulting firm that has seen three generations of engineers from the Longest family in its leadership. The firm is celebrating its 75th year in business in Indiana this year.

Jean Anne Bailey of Nick's Kitchen prepared 140 of her famous pork tenderloins to ship out. Many people may not realize that pork tenderloins are an Indiana treasure. If you travel outside of the state, you probably will not find a place that serves it. For some sailors aboard the USS Indiana, this could be their first time having a pork tenderloin.

Ray Shearer, the chairman of the USS Indiana Commissioning Committee, has worked with counties throughout Indiana to gather 'comforts of home' and items that represent Hoosier pride for the submarine.

This is the second time that Shearer has reached out to the Huntington County Commissioners for a donation of pork tenderloins. The tenderloins were such a big hit the first time Shearer wanted to get another shipment together to send to the USS Indiana. The first tenderloin donation was for the USS Indiana's commissioning ceremony on September 29, 2018. Nick's Kitchen donated the tenderloins, and Blue Belly covered the cost of shipping.

The Huntington County Commissioners are thankful for the kind and generous businesses and people that come together to make donations like this possible. We are excited for the sailors to receive these delicious tenderloins and share some Huntington County history with them. Besides basketball, what's more Hoosier than a pork tenderloin?

Fun Facts about the USS Indiana (SSN-789):
Sailors aboard the USS Indiana are referred to as Hoosiers.
The official ship chant is, 'Indiana Strong! Hoosier Proud! Hooyah Hoosiers.'
The USS Indiana was commissioned on September 29, 2018, at Port Canaveral, Florida.
More than 100 Indiana companies, like Caterpillar, Rolls Royce, and Raytheon, manufactured components for the construction of the submarine.
Three nuclear physicists that worked on sub's nuclear reactor were graduates of Purdue University.
This is the 4th Naval vessel with Indiana as the namesake.
It is 377 feet long, 34 feet wide, about 7,800 tons, and has a 140-person crew. It also has a top speed of 25 knots.
According to a Navy press release 'Indiana is a flexible, multi-mission platform designed to carry out the seven core competencies of the submarine force: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, delivery of Special Operations Forces (SOF), strike warfare, irregular warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and mine warfare.'
The submarine can launch six Tomahawk cruise missiles each, between its two Virginia Payload Tubes.
Rob Miller and I recently accepted donated copies of The Hoosier Boat Commissioning: The USS Indiana (SSN-789) book for all of our county's public and school libraries.
For a look inside the submarine click here:https://www.businessinsider.com/step-aboard-uss-indiana-one-of-us-navys-most-lethal-submarines-built-2018-10

Important Links:
USS Indiana (USS-789) Commissioning Committee, ussindiana.org/index.html

Beam, Longest & Neff's website, www.b-l-n.com/

News article from the first donation of pork tenderloins,
www.huntingtoncountytab.com/feature/50876/commissioners-send-new-sub-cuisine-local-eatery ... See moreSee less