Tree City Fall Fest names 2026 grand marshal

(GREENSBURG, Ind.) – The Tree City Fall Festival will honor the founder of Greensburg during their festival on September 18 and 19. 

Colonial Thomas Hendricks founded Greensburg in 1821 and it was named after the same town in Pennsylvania. 

The theme is "Stars, Stripes and Small Towns - Celebrating 250 Years” and organizers decided 2026 would be an ideal year to honor the family of Hendricks. 

Brian Wenning is one of the organizers and reached out to local historian John Pratt to find out if there are any descendants. 

That’s when they discovered Krista Hill who is part of the Hendricks family and also serves as an author, professional editor and genealogist.

Hill has been named the 2026 Grand Marshal for the parade which will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 19. 

“In my interactions with Krista, I have found that she is a historian and loves our local history. She has a wealth of knowledge concerning her great-great-great-grandfather, Hendricks, and his/her family,’ Wenning said. 

Krista spent many days of her child in the home of her great grandaunt, Victoria Woolverton, who was the granddaughter of Colonel Thomas Hendricks.

Krista’s great-great grandmother and great grandmother also chartered the Lone Tree Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She also has stories of the Talbott-Woolverton home at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Ireland Streets. It once was a virtual museum of Greensburg's historical artifacts. 

"For nearly three decades, Krista listened to stories of her ancestors and even slept in beds that had belonged to the town’s founders," organizers said.

She is also in possession of a letter penned in 1849 by Benjamin Kirby, whose family married into the Hendricks line. 

“Krista is spearheading a mission to install a grave marker at South Park Cemetery on the unmarked grave of Anna Meadows Irvin, whose son Edward Giles Irvin co-founded Kappa Alpha Psi at Indiana University in 1911,” organizers said. 

Krista describes being the grand marshal of the Tree City Fall Festival parade as an honor and opportunity to pay homage to her foremothers and forefathers and to share the family heritage with many cousins in the area. 

Registration forms for the parade are available at www.treecityfallfestival.com