Bernie Gilmer

Franklin Township resident Bernie L. Gilmer, a retired journalist and marketing/sales specialist who developed the initial concept for FTONEWS.com, is serving as interim general manager of the innovative Franklin Township online newspaper.

For the 12 years prior to the launching of FTONEWS.com, Gilmer operated a sales/marketing, public relations and fund-raising business based in Franklin Township . Among companies or entities he represented are SBC Industrial Purchasing Guide, Troy, Michigan; Sunshine Media, Phoenix, Arizona; the Wheat Bowl Football Classic, Ellinwood, Kansas; Garrett Book Co., Ada, Oklahoma; and Hathaway Publications, Skokie, Illinois. Also, for four years he was an independent sales representative for MISCO International Chemicals of Wheeling, Illinois, with territories in West Alabama and Northern Illinois.

Gilmer has spent four decades as a journalist, including three years as sports publicist at his alma mater, Kansas State University, in the mid-1960s. He is a former newspaper editor at the Parsons Sun, Parsons, Kansas; the Belvidere Daily Republican, Belvidere, Illinois, and the Shelbyville News, Shelbyville, Indiana. He also has worked in sports departments at the Manhattan Mercury, Manhattan, Kansas; Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, Kansas; Shelbyville News, Shelbyville, Indiana; Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Indiana; Naples Daily News, Naples, Florida, and Daily Journal, Hamilton, Ohio.

In addition to several newspaper writing and reporting awards, Gilmer was the recipient of the Outstanding Citizen/Soldier Achievement Award presented by the Greater Wichita (Kansas) Chamber of Commerce in 1970, while serving in the U.S. Army Reserves. His hobbies over the past decade have included volunteering as a youth basketball coach and the topic of left-handedness.

Gilmer's family members include wife, Maureen, and eight children - sons Kelby, Archie, Garrett, Evin and Ethan, and daughters Sara, Erin and Ellen. The three daughters all graduated from Franklin Central High School, while Ethan is presently a student at Franklin Central. Gilmer also has five grandchildren - Dustin, Kyle, Paige, Ashlee and Cole. Dustin is a student at Decatur Central High School and the others live in Florida.