Friday, August 23, 2024
SENIOR GIFT
Dr. Steve Matney pushes a planter made and painted as a high school senior project by recent graduates Wyatt Haacker, Isabella Matney and Daniel Vazquez, who are close behind (and pictured below, L to R, Matney, Vazquez and Haacker). The flowers were donated by Roberta’s Unique Gardens, a donation coordinated by Kenny Zauss. The installation in the high school courtyards was a family and friends’ affair. | photo above by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS & photo below by JHOSELYN RAMIREZ
Audiovisual Upgrades Coming to County Government Meeting Space
John Johnson, Shelby County Director of Information Technology, shows off new audio equipment to be installed in the courthouse annex. | photo by ANNA TUNGATE
Just what people wanted in 2024: louder politicians. Audio and video upgrades to the Shelby County Courthouse Annex room where government meetings are held will allow those in the audience to better see and hear proceedings.
“That’s the problem: there’s no audio in the room for public audiences,” John Johnson, Shelby County Director of Information Technology, said. “All of our video and audio systems here are geared toward the livestream, not for those here in the room.”
Parts of the existing set-up will be combined with new equipment from Selective Systems, Inc., a company out of Indianapolis with Fairland area ownership. Upgrades will include new flat screens on the walls, new projector and microphones and ceiling speakers. The project serves multiple purposes, Johnson said.
“We need to ensure we’re being compliant with ADA regulations, so people can hear and see everything that’s being presented,” he said.
NOTEBOOK:
John Hartnett Jr. has been named grand marshal for the Shelbyville High School Homecoming parade, set for Wednesday, Sept. 11, 6 p.m. The parade route starts at Hendricks Elementary and ends at the SHS tennis courts. The annual Powder Puff football game follows the parade and will be held at McKeand Stadium, at approximately 6:30 p.m. The Homecoming varsity football game will be Friday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m., against New Castle. Hartnett was a member of the SHS class of 1976, the same year he received the Paul Cross Award and was senior class president. He graduated from Franklin College (B.A.) and Butler University (M.A.) and served as Executive Director of the J. Kenneth Self Shelbyville Boys Club for 40 years, as well as serving numerous philanthropic initiatives. He was the Shelbyville Optimist Club’s Citizen of the Year in 1990 and currently is a basketball coach at SHS.
NATIONAL NEWS: The tattoo business has been growing at a reliable clip over the past several years, with independent studios cropping up to take on the rising demand for ink from across the socioeconomic spectrum. According to IBISWorld, the tattoo industry grew by 2.5 percent each year from 2018 to 2023. Independent studios and collaborative work environments have begun to replace the more typical model of a tattoo shop, where the owner of a store has a crew of contracted artists who pay up a percentage of their earnings to the owner in exchange for training and space. (NPR/Numlock)
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580 West Taylor St.
Editor’s Note: The following is the next installment in a serialized version of “580 West Taylor Street,” by Joseph E. “Joed” Landwerlen.
by JOSEPH E. LANDWERLEN
Working Parents
My parents worked every chance they got. My Dad would come home from his ice cream route and he would load up his tools and go to someone's home or a business and clean wallpapers two or three evenings per week, and often on Saturdays. If he was hanging new wallpaper, my Mom would go with him and do the mixing of the paste, then paste the back side of the wallpaper itself, and book the wallpaper and hand it to Dad, who was on the extendable walk board, so that they could finish the ceiling and walls in a short time span.
When Dad would clean wallpaper by himself, Mom would go to one of the nearby Thomas's Grocery Markets and work as a cashier, stock person, or bagger. My parents were very well known as being the ones to call for wallpaper cleaning and hanging.
Wallpaper in the 1930s through the ‘50s was simply just thick paper, printed almost always of large flowers in bright colors. It needed to be cleaned every three to four years, which was pretty often, because almost everyone heated with coal. Coal emitted dark oily smoke, especially when you opened the door of the stove to adjust the fire or add more coal or remove the clinkers. Clinkers, if you didn't know, are lumps of coal that don't completely burn and leave a skeleton of itself and must be removed. The black, oily smoke would roll out of the open door and rise to settle on the walls and ceiling. Over the course of a few years, it would need to be removed or cleaned. By the 50s, people were switching to the cleaner heating options, propane or natural gas, which cut down the need for cleaning and hanging wallpaper.
When we boys got old enough, we began helping by getting the new cleaner from a gallon tin, usually Clean or Walvet, and kneading it to get it soft enough for Dad to use.
Sometime in the ‘50s, a company adjusted the formula of the wallpaper cleaners and started selling it as Silly Putty. We boys were taught at an early age how to mix paste, which was a fine powder that needed to be mixed in cold water with no lumps. We were taught how to paste the wallpaper and book it so Dad could hang new and Mom could go work somewhere else. When we got big enough and were physically able, Dad would clean the ceilings and then the walls down to where we could reach from the floor. We would clean the walls down to the side trim on the floor.
Doing that, we would clean two or three rooms a night. I don't know how much Dad and Mom charged, but we boys always had money to go to the Saturday Cowboy Movies at the Strand and Ritz theaters. We kind of had an advantage at the Strand, as our Aunt Dorothy was ticket-taker there and sat in that little booth out front. Once in a while, we were let in without paying, so that extra money went for popcorn, Cokes and candy.
I remember when Mom worked at Thomas's Markets for $.35 to $.40 per hour. She never took a paycheck, but she would instead take her pay in groceries. Another way Mom and Dad would make money was bidding on and winning the contract to supply the polling place's meals for upcoming elections. They would provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the workers at the polls. Mom would prepare for days; her specialty was egg noodles. Close to election day, she would make her dough and roll it out to just the right thickness and place it on wax paper to dry. We would have noodles everywhere that they would fit around the house, to the point there wasn't much space for anything else. Then it was the boys' job to cut the noodles, exactly two inches long and ¼-inch wide; each individual noodle was inspected by Mom and placed in a covered dish to await the big day. In addition to cutting noodles, we boys would peel potatoes, peel and cut apples for pie, clean carrots, and more.
I don't believe that Mom slept the night before these events. Our gas kitchen range never shut off. Dad would take the big election day off from Borden’s as a vacation day and use the Willy's Station Wagon to deliver the food to various polling places. I believe that at one time they had four polling places to provide food for, but that turned out to be too many, so they settled on three. I think the last time they did this was in 1952, after about five or six election cycles.
SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
December 3, 1958, Part I
Bill Reimann, SHS senior, received the Kiwanis Club Medal at a sports convocation held in Paul Cross Gym. Bill became the third Reimann to win the Kiwanis Football award. He was preceded by his father, William, 1929 winner, and his uncle, Charles, who received the award in 1931. Bill was also named to the All-Conference team and shared the co-captain’s star award with Mike Brogan.
Rev. G.C. Houseman of the Trinity Methodist Church brought the Thanksgiving message to the SHS student body at the annual Thanksgiving convocation sponsored by Hi-Y. Members of the Hi-Y Worship Committee who arranged the program were Danny Ivie, Wendell Drew, Phil Mings, Bill Shaner and Dennis Bonner.
Charles Barnett was named new president of the SHS Radio Club. Other officers were Roger Whitcomb and Wilson Allen. The club’s sponsors were Marvin Carmony and Melvin Davies.
Ann Staats, freshman, was crowned Queen of the Fall Windup Dance at the Elks Club. Jim Kremer was Ann’s escort.
An article commended Bill Moss and Fred Eaton, who put out the flag, washed windows, put announcements on the bulletin board and directed bicycles at noon and after school. The paper said the job took patience and required waiting “for those last few who will always be late.”
The rusted flag pole was replaced and moved from the northeast corner of the school yard to the plot directly in front of the building. Custodians Mr. Tucker, Mr. Creek and Mr. Brown set the pole.
Mrs. Copeland, of Noble Township, was student teaching in Mr. Kuhn’s class. Mrs. Copeland, the mother of a Navy sailor, James, and a 15-year-old at Waldron, was a student at I.U. Her husband was a farmer.
SHS graduates who were freshmen at IU included Jim Barger, Jim Brown, Julie Gaines, Jim Graham, Ken Karmire, Bart Kaufman, Beverly Lane, Bill Linville, Jim Linville, Maureen Mahaffey, Jean Nelson, Diana Page, Miles Richard and Steve Schott.
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 from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: A road project that had been in the plans since 2007 was moving ahead as groundwork began for the West Connector between Shelbyville and Fairland. State funds were mostly being used to extend Fairland Road south of I-74. The purpose of the road was to reduce heavy truck traffic and congestion in downtown Shelbyville. The project was set for six phases, with Phase I including a 1.6-mile road from CR 400 N to CR 300 N. Future phases would connect Walser Road to Mausoleum Road, Mausoleum Road to Boggstown Road, Boggstown Road to West Washington St. with a bridge over Big Blue River and finally an extension from West Washington St. to State Road 44.
2004: Almost a year to the day after the announcement that Indiana Wesleyan University would build a satellite campus in Shelbyville, the university announced plans to open in October. The 20,000-square-foot classroom building was located at Intelliplex Park.
1994: Center Street residents thanked city officials for ordering a home, 734 Center St., to be demolished that was in disrepair.
Betty McNeil, 57, St. Paul, was reunited with her four sisters - who were separated by adoption as children - on an episode of the NBC talk show, “Leeza.”
1984: With Shelbyville schools returning to class on Friday, Cliff Brown, an Indianapolis contractor, was brought in to service all of the sewing machines at the junior high school.
1974: Funds from the upcoming Marietta Volunteer Fire Department’s 20th annual fish fry would go toward purchasing a 3,500-gallon water tank to be mounted on a new truck chassis and buy several air tanks and smoke masks. Approximately 1,200 had attended the fish fry in 1973. Charles Adams was board president.
1964: Digging was completed for footings and foundation work for the incoming Belaire Shopping Center.
1954: Porter Pool reported record summer attendance - 38,617 - over 67 days of operation in its 25th year of service.
1944: An “old-fashioned fox drive” date was set, with Boy Scouts leading the charge. Foxes had been preying on local chickens and young pigs north of Shelbyville. The fox drive would depart from Burnside gravel pit at 8 p.m.
Boy Scouts had just returned from camping on the farm of Victor Gallagher in the St. Vincent church community. The boys had built a 21-foot tower without nails or other equipment, instead using rope to attached logs and rails.
1934: Automobile radios belonging to Richard Showers, 200 W. Broadway, and attorney Herbert C. Jones, 303 W. Broadway, were stolen from their garages. The radios were worth over $50 each (approximately $1,200 in today’s money).
1924: Leonard Harrison, owner of a concession stand at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, was charged with assault after he and Joseph Jessop, another concession man, fought over ground space at the fairgrounds.
1914: G.H. Schanbacher, decorator, completed work on decorating the interior of the City Opera House.
OBITUARIES
Violet “Pauline” Neddo, 98, of Fairland, passed away Wednesday, August 21, 2024, at Greenwood Meadows in Greenwood. She was born May 17, 1926, in Fort Wayne, the daughter of Peter and Della (Kuehm) Miller. On October 9, 1948, she married Harold James Neddo, and he preceded her in death on June 28, 1982.
Pauline is survived by her daughters, Pat Kern and husband, Mark, of Fairland, Maureen Lowes and husband, Bob, of New Palestine, Carol Robinson and husband, Mike, of Fairland, and Dianne Neddo and Brent Drake of Brownsburg; grandchildren, Ryan Kern and wife, Abby, Brittany Crabill and husband, Todd, Eric Robinson, Ariel Siler and husband, Zech, Bobbi Williamson and husband, Dave, and Brett Lowes; great-grandchildren, Graham, Rhett and Drew Kern, Amelia, William and Tessa Crabill, and Sadie and Beckham Siler; sister-in-law, Pat Miller of Fort Wayne; and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to Harold, Pauline was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Luella Esterline, Margaret Pequinot, Almeda Tomkinson, Irene Huey, Hilda Roller and Florence Miller; and a brother, Walter Miller.
Pauline was a very active member of Pleasant View Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday school and Bible school and participated in the Ladies Ministry group. She was formerly employed at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for 19 years, and Sears for six years. Pauline enjoyed embroidering, reading, gardening, cooking and watching birds. She also enjoyed spending time with her family and her church family.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, August 29, 2024 and from 10 to 11 a.m., Friday, August 30, 2024, at Pleasant View Baptist Church, 12442 Southeastern Avenue, Indianapolis. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m., Friday, at the church with her sons-in-law, Mark Kern and Mike Robinson officiating. Interment will be at Washington Park East Cemetery in Indianapolis. Services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Carmony-Ewing Chapel, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville, Indiana 46176. Memorial contributions may be made to the Pleasant View Baptist Church, 12442 Southeastern Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46259. Online condolences may be shared with Pauline’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.
Vicki L. Sleeth, 74, of Tucson, Arizona, passed away Saturday, August 3, 2024, at Catalina Rehab Facility in Tucson. Born May 10, 1950, in Shelbyville, she was the daughter of Clarence Smith and Dorothy (Weakley) Smith. Survivors include two daughters, Tonya Smith (Daniel) of Greenwood and Misty Bealer of Shelbyville, and 10 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, and a sister, Paula Hilderbrand.
Ms. Sleeth had lived in the Tucson area for 24 years, after moving from Texas. She had been a factory worker at Overhead Door Corp. for several years, and was a member of Vine Street Methodist Church. She graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1969. Vicki enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. She was a fun, sweet and loving person that made friends wherever she went. She was a true jokester and had an infectious smile and laugh and will be missed by many.
A memorial service will be 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road. Friends may call on Thursday evening from 4 p.m. until the time of the service, at the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.