Friday, April 18, 2025
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Healthy Shelby County Charts Course, Hires Director
Ashley Martin has been named Executive Director of Healthy Shelby County, which is overseeing construction of a non-profit center. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Healthy Shelby County (HSC) is on the move, both literally and as an organization. With the first steps of renovation underway at its future home on S. Miller Street, the board recently named Ashley Martin as its first Executive Director.
“Having a director was always the goal,” Stephen Black, board president said. “But the vision for Healthy Shelby County extends beyond just a nonprofit center. It is really to be a convening authority for health: how do we improve health? We always wanted to bring somebody in who could become the Executive Director of all Healthy Shelby County, not just the nonprofit center.”
HSC formed in 2012 as an effort to improve local health data. A not-for-profit was organized in 2023 as plans ramped up for a non-profit center (NPC) that would allow local service organizations to co-locate and house a centralized food pantry operation. Martin’s salary is covered for two years through a Lilly Endowment grant, which the Blue River Community Foundation obtained.
It’s a big job, but Martin, a Shelbyville High School alumna who previously worked for the City of Shelbyville and Girls Inc., is experienced in community development.
“My priorities are to oversee the building project and to get to know the tenants who will be housed there,” Martin said. “I want to understand their operations, build relationships with their teams and allow them to get to know me.”
Black said the board considered their current and future needs while considering candidates. “We started measuring those needs against Ashley’s background, and it was like, ‘My goodness, we couldn’t have a more perfect fit.’”
Martin’s eventual base will be the renovated NPC at 2311 S. Miller Street. The tentative plan is to break ground in November on the project. Nine local nonprofits have signed on to be located in the new center, and there is room for a few more thanks to some reconfiguring regarding food pantry operations.
The pantry will serve mostly as a distribution center for existing pantries, providing cold food storage. Plans were recently adjusted to double the original refrigerator/freezer storage space. There is also the possibility of a self-service cold locker storage, like an Amazon locker, for after-hours pick-up.
“For our region, there is no parallel to this, especially in rural counties,” Black said.
Some communities have centers housing multiple non-profits which unapologetically do not coordinate. Not only is collaboration part of the HSC DNA, but the next phase is also already in the works: to locate an alternative learning center on the property.
“It’s not about me or any of the board members. It really is about the community,” Black said.
In the meantime, Martin will build the foundation - including developing policies and procedures - for the future while simultaneously building the coalition.
“That’s my favorite part about being in Shelbyville,” Martin said. “I love the collaboration and the dynamic energy that comes from working together for the greater good. I’m excited to connect and strengthen the resources in our community.”
IN UNISON
The Shelbyville High School Tenor-Bass Ensemble performs at Wednesday’s Spring Concert: (L to R) Nate Lane, Jack Bassett, Kolton Scheffee, Daniel (Gunner) Moore, Keagan Barton and Avery Lee. Mr. Joel Kenemore directs the ensemble; Mrs. Denise Tinsley White is the accompanist. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: FULL CANOPY REAL ESTATE
NOTEBOOK:
A 21-year-old woman who said she was in a hurry to meet her boyfriend rear-ended a vehicle in the Walmart parking lot. A witness said the woman was driving recklessly, passing several vehicles without using turn signals, and was tailgating and honking. The woman said the driver of the other vehicle had “brake checked” her several times before the collision.
A S. State Road 9 road closure originally scheduled for last month is set to be in effect next week. On or after Monday, April 21, S. State Road 9 will close for up to 18 days between C.R. 750 S. and C.R. 800 S. for a structure replacement project. The structure is located approximately five miles north of the Bartholomew/Shelby County line at Amos Ditch. State Road 9 is anticipated to reopen by mid-May. The official detour will follow S.R. 46 and I-74. Local traffic using county roads to get around this closure should not try to use 75 E between 700 S and 800 S. There is a small iron bridge on it that is restricted to a six-ton weight limit. The county will be setting barricades at each end to prevent anything but local traffic on it during the state’s closure.
The Shelbyville City Council Tax Abatement Committee yesterday issued a favorable recommendation for a 10-year tax abatement for Freudenberg-NOK to install $8.373 million in new equipment. The project will involve manufacturing special caps for batteries for EVs and other items using advanced batteries. Freudenburg-NOK currently produces the items in Germany, but this is the first time they will manufacture them in the U.S. They anticipate the project will be fully completed in the fourth quarter of 2026. The line will include the eventual hiring of up to 15 employees and an estimated $968,250 in additional salaries, company officials said.
Shelbyville Central Schools Superintendent Matt Vance, Ph.D., expressed concerns at this week’s board meeting about the recently passed state legislation that includes a reduction in property taxes and services. “I’m extremely concerned, as most school districts are, at this point, that we are going to see a significant hit the next three years, and we really need to be aware that there are going to be a lot of tough decisions made on my end, a lot of tough decisions made in this room,” he said. Dr. Vance said talks would be on-going over the next several months to determine next steps.
The Shelby Masonic Lodge, 519 S. Harrison St., Shelbyville, is hosting a $10 all-you-can-eat community breakfast on Saturday, April 19, 8 - 11 a.m.
HOOSIER NEWS: Eleven mostly rural counties could lose judges under a bill passed 33-16 by the Indiana Senate Tuesday. House Bill 1144 — which adds judges and magistrates in Elkhart, Hamilton, Lawrence and Vigo counties — had moved through the entire session without language abolishing courts. Then, on April 10, hours before a committee deadline, an amendment was added in the Senate Appropriations Committee eliminating one court each in Blackford, Carroll, Gibson, Greene, Jennings, Monroe, Newton, Owen, Pulaski, Rush and Scott counties, along with six juvenile magistrate positions in Marion County. This provision is estimated to save the state approximately $748,885 in Fiscal Year 2027 and up to $2.75 million in Fiscal Year 2032. Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said constituents in her district were shocked by the move. Leising tried unsuccessfully to add her judges back into the bill on Monday. She voted against the proposal. She said she knows the courts were chosen based on caseload statistics but she wished the list had been made public earlier in the process. The bill now goes back to the House, where court abolishments were not originally part of the measure. That chamber can either accept the changes or send the bill to conference committee for final negotiations. (Indiana Public Media)
NATIONAL NEWS: The opener band, which plays to crowds yet to mentally enter the concert-going experience, has a difficult task ahead: a cold room full of people still trying to get drinks and, with some exceptions, are mostly there to see the headliner. A gig’s a gig, but opening is inherently hard. There are perks, though: a new study looks at the touring and streaming data of 57 opening acts on major U.S. tours, including tours that ran in 2022 and 2023 playing to venues with capacities of 2,000 or more. The study tracked Spotify performance before, during and after the tours, and found that opening acts did typically see a 18 percent to 20 percent streaming bump during the tour — though some saw a 200 percent bump. However, that effect didn’t really stick as the streams leveled off to 6 to 10 percent below that top performance, and few becoming full, regular listeners. (The Conversation/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
Oct. 8, 1953, Part I
The new school year had brought in new faculty. Betty Ramey returned after a seven-year absence. She first taught at SHS in 1944 before going to Albuquerque, N.M., to teach. Mrs. Ramey had two children, Becky, 4, and Jon, 7, a second-grader at Colescott. Mr. Royer had 25 years’ experience in education, including nine as a principal, most recently at Morristown High School.
The faculty held a party to welcome new teachers, which included a pitch-in and viewing 3-D pictures in the little gym. The pictures were from Miss Lorena Williams’ European tour over the summer.
With Mr. Loper’s retirement and Mr. Breck named to the superintendent position, Mr. Bass was named SHS principal and Mr. Day as junior high principal.
Lois Lemmon wrote her classmates. She had been living with her family in the Dominican Republic, where her father, Gael Lemmon, worked for the South Puerto Rico Sugar Company. Lois said she planned to return in January to graduates with her class in May. “It’s almost like being in heaven down here,” she wrote. “From our front porch we can look out upon the beautiful blue Caribbean Sea. We live in the company-owned Romana Batey, which consists of a store, hospital, office buildings, 75 homes and the clubhouse. We live in the Club and eat in a central dining room.” There was no high school in town, so she was taking two correspondence courses from Indiana University.
Bill Hart, senior class president, gave a welcome talk to the freshmen in the girls’ gym. He told them they were lucky to be freshmen at SHS and what was expected of them. Cokes, cookies and snacks were served at the event.
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This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: The Shelbyville Business and Professional Women got smoked out of their Monte Carlo Night when a fuse box shorted out at the Fraternal Order of Police lodge, Bettina Puckett reported for The Shelbyville News. The event was the group’s primary means of raising money for their scholarship fund.
1995: Indiana State Trooper Jim Carney gave out T-shirts to the first 10 students at Waldron High School “caught” wearing their seat belt.
1985: Major Hospital received a three-year accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, which would help it in its licensing process for Medicare and Medicaid, Hospital Administrator Frank Learned said.
Three Shelby County men were inducted into the Amateur Softball Association’s Indiana Hall of Fame: Lewis Browning, Don Pence and Joseph Bradley. The men received the notification from Shelbyville Sting coach Rudy Thoman. Browning’s softball career began in 1932 when he helped Bob Griffey form the state association. Lew and his father, Roy Browning, had sponsored the first Shelbyville team to play in the state league, the Shelbyville Merchants, for which he played, coached and managed. Bradley’s career began in Shelbyville in 1944, when he played for Porter Steel. He also later coached the Merchants and then the Willsey Construction club team. Bradley had a softball installed as a hood ornament on his Lincoln Continental as well as on his motor home. Pence had been a top-notch fast-pitch hurler. His first year on the mound was 1945, when he played for the Shelbyville Motors club.
1975: American Legion officials announced that “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” on April 19, 1775 would be re-enacted in every community in which a Legionnaire resided. Rifles would be fired commemorating the 200th anniversary at 9 a.m.
1965: A Carillon was installed at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The tape recording device automatically played tapes of tolls and peals for all Masses. The west twin belfry housed the old church bell and four amplifiers. The loudspeakers broadcast bells chiming at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. and for Masses on Sunday and Tuesday evening services.
1955: The Salk polio vaccine became available. The total cost to the government was at least $1 million. “The end result, however, was expected to be the saving of countless lives and the prevention of dozens of cases of a crippling paralysis among Hoosiers,” The Shelbyville News said.
1945: Will Cherry, of the Cherry & Willey Agency, sold the home in Marietta which was the first to be financed under loan provisions of the G.I. Bill of Rights. The home was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Chappelow.
1935: First Baptist Church hosted a three-hour Good Friday service. The three hours commemorated the three hours of darkness. Pastors of seven local churches spoke at the event, which also included hymns.
1925: Fire, caused by crossed electric wires, occurred in the Floyd and Griffey electrical shop on S. Harrison. The fire had been discovered at 4:45 a.m. by two young men who were loading fruit into a truck in front of the LaBarbara store. Paul Meloy later presented the members of the fire department with two boxes of cigars for their efficient work in holding the damage at a low figure.
1915: The first straw hat of the season made its appearance in Shelbyville, The Republican reported. “It was worn on the head of some ambitious youth hailing from north of town. It was a new bonnet, for in his hand he carried the sack that hid away the old one, which was to be thrown into the discard.”
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OBITUARIES
Virginia A. Marshall, 93, of Shelbyville, joined the Resurrection on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at her home, surrounded by loving family. She was born July 26, 1931, in Shelbyville, the daughter of John E. and Isabella (Delly) Haywood. On May 3, 1958, she married Ralph William “Bill” Marshall, and he preceded her in death on August 4, 1989. Virginia is survived by her daughters, Sharon P. Orem and husband, Jon, of Shelbyville and Glenda J. Munger and husband, Steven, of Greensburg; sons, John H. Marshall of Englewood, Florida, and Bruce A. Marshall of Shelbyville; grandchildren, Joshua, and partner, Kiley, Tyler and wife, Vimary, Betzaira, Isabelle, Serenity, Justin and wife, Dusty, Zachary and wife, Josi, Rylann Olivea, Natalie and husband, Nick, Ashley and husband, Cody, Stephanie and late fiancé, Gary Oldham Jr., Kyle and wife, Erika, Jared and wife, Amber, Michael and wife, Naomi, Robert and wife, Angel, Susan, and Kathleen and husband, Dakota; great-grandchildren, Melia, Madasyn, Cameron, Cooper, Lincoln, Abigale, Joyanna, Freya, Jazmyne, Allana, Maggie, Ellie, Peyton, Grace, Triton, Solomon, Tobias, Obadiah, Emberlynn, Lylliann, Thaddeus, Madilynn Virginia, Viviann, Lucas, and Katie, great-great-grandchild, Kaden; and daughter-in-law, Barb McPherson of Shelbyville. In addition to Bill, Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Teresa Marie Marshall; and sister, Carolyn Haywood.
She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Xavier, Kansas. Virginia was an active and devoted member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Saint Anne’s Altar Society and Daughters of Isabella. She especially looked forward to her conversations with Father Mike Keucher, and the family would like to thank him. She formerly worked for Indiana Farmers Mutual in Indianapolis, from 1953 to 1958; Target Department Stores from 1978 until retiring in 1989; Big Blue from 1990 to 2002; and she worked at Orscheln from 2003, until the store closed.
Virginia loved her family, she enjoyed knitting blankets for her children and grandchildren, and attending their special events. She was a great cook and also enjoyed celebrating Christmas with her loved ones. She liked to travel, often to New Hampshire or Kansas City to visit with family. Virginia also enjoyed watching birds, playing cards and going fishing with Hank and Jo Hemingway.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville, with the rosary recited at 3:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 am, Thursday, April 24, 2025, at Saint Joseph Catholic Church, 125 East Broadway Street in Shelbyville, with Father Mike Keucher and her grandson, Rev. Tyler Orem, officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Saint Joseph Catholic Church or the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana Chapter, 50 E. 91st St., Suite 100, Indianapolis, Ind., 46240. Online condolences may be shared with Virginia’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.