Smile

What makes Craig Thurston smile? “My family,” said the 49-year-old Noblesville resident. His wife’s name is Ashley and he has two stepkids, Dylan, 15, and Gwen, 9, and two sons, George, 5, and Colter, 4. He was born in Kokomo and moved to Noblesville after second grade in the summer to start third grade at Hinkle Creek Elementary School. He graduated in 1991 from Noblesville High School. He started playing guitar “late,” at age 19, while attending Indiana University Kokomo. From there, he went to Indiana University Bloomington and studied music with Atanas Tzvetkov as his guitar instructor. Today’s feature is a look back at one of The Times’ previous Faces of Hamilton County. Craig plays ukulele, mandolin, bass, keys and harmonica. He performs regularly, on the first and third Thursday, at Grindstone Public House in downtown Noblesville. His next performance is tonight. He didn’t start a family or get married until he was in his 40s. He said, “My greatest achievement is my family. I never thought I would be a part of a family like this, with kids. I feel so blessed to have them.”