The Indianapolis 500 is one big Memory Lane for Gary Morris.
Gary Morris, ‘75
PHOTOGRAPHY BY INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES
“WHERE I GREW UP, THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 “The respect for history and culture and how was part of your culture, part of your life,” this company started here in Terre Haute by the said the 1975 graduate. Hulman family has remained the same,” Morris Growing up in Monrovia, Ind., he recalls said. “The Clabber Girl label is still the label that spending Memorial Day weekends at his grand- you saw back in the ’20s.” mother’s house, where they’d have a big picnic As modern conveniences and dining options and listen to the 500. have increased, however, the number of He attended his first race in 1969 when he people who cook from scratch everyday has was 16. And while at Indiana State, he and his sharply decreased. Clabber Girl has responded Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brothers started by diversifying and innovating. A large part of an annual tradition that continues to this day, their business is still manufacturing leavening — including sitting in the same seats as they did although now for large-scale food companies — in the ’70s. and they sell high-quality food service products So the 100th running has both personal to restaurants, hospitals and schools. Clabber and professional meaning for Morris, who Girl has also developed microencapsulation is president and chief operating officer of capabilities that protect food particles from Clabber Girl, the brand that helped usher in premature chemical reactions. the modern era of racing at the Indianapolis “All businesses, whether it’s the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 500 or Clabber Girl, have to remain relevant “Personally, it’s pretty cool. I never thought the to the customer, because customer bases first time I went into that race that many years change. Who is that customer, what do they later I would be working for the family that need and what are they going to be looking owns the track or this business,” Morris said. for you to provide in the next generation? We “So, it’s like a kid in a candy shop. You have to want to make sure this business is a relevant pinch yourself sometimes.” business going forward for the next 100 years,” Hulman & Company was founded in Terre Morris said. Haute in 1850 and started a wholesale Partnerships with its neighbor Indiana State grocery business eight years later. They are also a mainstay. The Scott College of began manufacturing baking powder in 1899, Business enjoys regular collaborations — or introducing the Clabber Girl brand — named “Clabberations” — for logistics, accounting and after bakers who used clabbered milk as a other class projects. quick leavener — in 1923. Numerous Sycamore internships have transTony Hulman Jr. acquired the Speedway in lated into permanent positions, and all but one 1945 as a venue to further promote the Clabber of their current bake shop employees are State Girl brand, which was being nationally distrib- students. The one holdout is a high school uted by that time. student, so there’s still a chance. — Libby Roerig
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