WeBo grad to sing at Pacers game Wednesday
Dec. 4—Western Boone graduate Tori Wilkinson will sing the National Anthem when the Pacers play the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Wilkinson, 20, has sung at her church, at Western Boone, and at other local events since she was in fourth grade, but was first invited to sing at a Pacers game earlier this year. Since then, she's sung the National Anthem ahead of The Fever and Indianapolis Indians games.
And she's been in demand at sporting events for Indiana University Kokomo, where she is in her second year of study in nursing. The college volleyball player didn't ask to sing at Kokomo.
Wilkinson's first-grade teacher saw a story The Lebanon Reporter did on her when she first sang for the Pacers. The teacher passed it on to her daughter, who works at I.U. Kokomo, and Wilkinson was asked to sing before a Kokomo Jackrabbits baseball game. Now she sings before her volleyball games and for other school sporting events.
Wilkinson got her start at church and now often sings at churches and even has a wedding under her belt.
She is not paid for singing at games. But the Pacers and other pro teams treat her to free parking and tickets for her family to stay and enjoy the game.
"So it's a fun evening for our family," her mother, Terrill Wilkinson said.
Max Wilkinson is Tori's dad, and she has an older brother, Keller Wilkinson, who works in the family landscaping and farming business in western Boone County.
