More on the former orphans home ... and a few other things

In a recent post featuring things that I had photographed along Pleasant Run Parkway on the Southside of Indianapolis, I presented a photo of the former General Germans Protestant Orphans Home at 1404 S. State Ave. from the Pleasant Run Parkway perspective. The photo resembled the image you see at right.

I mentioned in that post how, if you positioned yourself further up State Avenue, you could get a look at the long driveway leading into the grounds ... but I did not show such a perspective in a photo. Afterward, I felt remiss about that, so while I was out on my walk yesterday, I made up for it and grabbed the shot you see leading off the post (as well as a couple others of the grounds below).

Also while on yesterday's walk, I came upon a spectacle that I don't see very often -- and perhaps others don't see often, either. There was a funeral at one of the three churches I included in yesterday's post. It was heavily attended. That isn't the unusual part. The parking lot was filled with a lot of police cruisers, so I had to believe the funeral was for a law enforcement officer. I know police turn out en mass for funerals of one of their own. I just didn't know who the deceased was until I got home and went hunting around online.

It turns out it was for Larry R. Darland, 69, who had been a police officer from 1973 until retiring in 2007, after which he served as a reserve office in the Indianapolis Police Department. He was a 1969 graduate of nearby Emmerich Manual High School. The obituary for Darland described him as a having a tender heart, someone who liked to tells jokes and pull pranks, and someone who was devoted to his family.

All of the photos you see in this post were taken with my iPhone 6s Plus and processed later in PS Elements 15.

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, just click on the image.

Fencing at Resource, which also served as a temporary home of the Pleasant Run Children's Home, is missing chunks of fence section (above). The view of the grounds below incorporates the facility's signage. 

Above: Remnants of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary linger as evidenced by the sign on the fence next to a house along Pleasant Run Parkway.

Above and next two below: A concrete slab in a modest neighborhood park along the parkway is adorned with this colorful display. 

Above: For years, an open field west of Garfield Park Arts Center -- and adjacent to the park's aquatics center (background) -- has been a popular site for soccer players, both young and old. But family, friends and spectators have not had any place to formally gather or seek shelter from the sun or bad weather. To rectify that situation, the park has poured concrete walks and a foundation pad, as shown in the photo, in preparation for moving a shelter now situated next to the Garfield Park Branch Library (on the far east side of the park) to this spot on the west side of the park. 

Above and next two below: Scenes outside Garfield Park Community Church (formerly Garfield Park United Church of Christ), 743 E. Pleasant Run Parkway, South Drive, moments before the service began for Retired IMPD officer Larry Darland.

Above and next two below: I had never noticed this illustration in the parking lot across the street from the GPCC church, and I can't say I know exactly what it is.