Friday, March 15, 2024
Shelby County, USA Discussed at Library Program
Locals know that Shelby County is unique, just like it is in eight other states. And that’s not counting Michigan, which has a Shelbyville but no Shelby County. Even Google sometimes struggles to sort it all out, as evidenced by the occasional confused caller to the local library’s genealogy department.
One such caller recently chastised the staff for not knowing about a place called “the Berm” before realizing she was not talking to someone in Shelbyville, Texas.
“We get those all the time,” Donna Dennison, Genealogy Department Head, said. The errant calls inspired her to develop a presentation on the topic, held at the library early this week.
Dennison walked through the highlights of Shelby County in each state:
Alabama: Sits at the edge of the mountains and known for Oak Mountain State Park.
Illinois: Besides serving as occasional host to TV’s fictional Simpson family, much of the county is comprised of 11,100-acre Lake Shelbyville.
Iowa: Known for the Museum of Danish America.
Kentucky: Home of a beautiful Carnegie library. Their Walmart Supercenter is listed in Trip Advisor’s Top Things to do in Shelbyville. (No judgment: Willie Farkle’s is No. 15 on our list.)
Missouri: Shelbyville, Mo. population is 518.
Ohio: Known for hosting an Airstream factory and War of 1812 camp.
Tennessee: Home of the blues and birthplace of rock and roll.
Texas: Known for hosting a Poultry Festival and, apparently, a place called The Berm.
All of the above were named after former Kentucky governor and war hero Isaac Shelby. (The exception, Shelbyville, Mich., was named after Mr. Shelby, the town’s first railroad station agent.) Isaac Shelby, however, fought in three wars, including decisive battles in the American Revolution and The War of 1812’s Battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh was killed.
He became Kentucky’s first governor and later served again, as its fifth governor. As a gift for his military service, Shelby was given 1,000 acres of land, on which he established a farm and built a stone home dubbed “Traveler’s Rest.”
“Everybody knew if they were passing through, he and (wife) Susannah would open their doors,” Dennison said. “Their family was very loving, very open.”
He eventually accrued 14,000 acres due to his additional military service, of which all is still family-owned. Shelby had 11 children and 80 grandchildren.
He died in 1826 at age 75 and is buried in a cemetery on the property, which is considered a state historic site and is open to the public. It is still visited by many tourists.
“So I think we can understand why there are so many Shelby counties,” Dennison said.
Shelbyville Latin Students Win Big in Bloomington
Shelbyville Central Schools students competed at the state Latin Convention last week. First row (L to R): Harika Patel, Shayden Schiloski and Candace Washburn; (second row) Baileigh Butler, Sydney Brown and Ev Barnum; (third row) Olivia Bowman and Addysyn Wettrick; (back row) coaches Mrs. Whitney Campbell and Miss Kyleigh Lay and students Anna Ballast, Trinity Darling, Cora Flynn, Lilly Conners, Andrea Rosales, Leila Patrick and Sharielis Rodriguez. | submitted
Fifteen Shelbyville Middle School and Shelbyville High School Latin students last week competed successfully at the IJCL (Indiana Junior Classical League) State Latin Convention at Indiana University.
Individual achievements include the following:
Anna Ballast, 41 points, including 1st place in Modern Myth
Ev Barnum, 20 points, including 4th place in Roman History (Level IV)
Olivia Bowman, 56 points, including 1st place in Slogan ("Roman Roads, take me home!") and 2nd in Small Models
Sydney Brown, 6 points, including 4th place in Greeting Cards
Baileigh Butler (SMS), 9 points, including 5th place in Geography (Level I)
Lilly Conners, 9th place in a variety of contests including Cartoons & Mottoes, Quotes & Abbreviations (Level III)
Trinity Darling, 10 points, including 2nd place in Greeting Cards
Cora Flynn, 38 points, including 2nd place in Mosaics
Harika Patel, 23 points, including 1st place in Digital Art
Leila Patrick, 32 points, including 3rd place in both Decorative Stitching/Textiles & Hellenic History (Level V)
Sharielis Rodriguez, 8 points, including 3rd place in Large Models
Andrea Rosales, 21 points, including 3rd place in both Geography (Level IV) and Colored Pencil
Shayden Schiloski, 43 points, including 3rd place in Jewelry
Candace Washburn, 63 points, including 1st place in Greek Derivatives (Level I) and 2nd in Black Pencil
Addysyn Wettrick, 18 points, including 5th place in Latin Literature (Level V)
The team had 97 top-10 placings, earning fourth place overall in Large School Sweepstakes.
NOTEBOOK:
The Indiana Department of Transportation announced weekly road closures at the State Road 9 and U.S. 52 roundabout. Beginning on or after Monday, March 18, crews will close the south leg of S.R. 9 from U.S. 52 to C.R. W. 1100 N. Beginning on or after Monday, March 25, crews will close the east leg of U.S. 52 from S.R. 9 to C.R. N. 150 E. Beginning on or after Monday, April 1, crews will close the north leg of S.R. 9 from U.S. 52 to C.R. E. 500 S. Beginning on or after Tuesday, April 9, crews will close west leg of U.S. 52. These weekly closures will allow crews to place median splitter islands to enhance safety for oversized vehicles. Each leg of the roundabout will take six days complete, weather permitting.
Donald Trump Jr. and Republican Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Jim Banks will be in Shelbyville on Tuesday, March 26, noon, for an “America First Rally.” The event will be held at Fischer Food Grade, 3387 South 375 East, Shelbyville. Although space is limited, the event is free and requires an online RSVP (here).
The Shelby County Council will not meet next week, as is typically scheduled, but will meet March 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Coincidentally falling on The Ides of March, tonight’s “Friday Night Frights” feature at The Strand Theatre is the 1984 film “Starman,” starting at 7:30 p.m.
NATIONAL NEWS: The IRS has launched its Direct File service, a shot across the bow of the colossal tax prep apps that reap billions every tax season preparing tax returns for citizens with pretty vanilla income streams. The U.S. is rare in that it makes taxpayers prepare their own returns rather than the feds simply sending citizens a bill, which means many people who don’t really have all that complicated a situation still need to pay for tax prep. The new Direct File system is under experimentation this year in 12 states, and 19 million taxpayers could be eligible to just do their taxes with the IRS at no cost. The pilot program has already seen 20,000 people participate, and it’s expected that participation will increase to 100,000 filers in the next few weeks. (AP/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: Triton Central Middle School’s sixth-grade basketball team won the Shelby County tournament. Team members were Andrew Spegal, Blake Anderson, Cameron Hinkle, Garrett Tingley, Aiden Huffman, Jordan Brandman, Josh Thacker, Ashten Billman, Trent Walters, Josh Milligan, Luke Hornung, Brandon Robbins and Corey Alford. Michael Maurice was coach.
2004: A fire alarm at National City Bank, 102 S. Harrison St., brought multiple engines and two medic vehicles to the scene. They discovered a sprinkler head had discharged. “Big Response for Little Problem” was the newspaper headline.
1994: Shelbyville Police Officer James Douglas Hasecuster received a permanent appointment to the department after serving the one-year probationary period.
1984: Efforts to raise money for a city animal control facility had failed to generate the desired response. City officials noted that many complained about stray dogs in town, and those complainers were needed to help fund the building. Even though the ordinance said the city should wait six days before euthanizing a stray dog, they were putting them to sleep after 72 hours due to the backlog.
Harry McFatridge and Dave Wischmeyer were given permanent status after finishing their one-year probationary periods with the Sheriff’s Department. Also, Rick Brown and Jim Lacy were appointed as Sheriff’s Reserve Officers.
1974: The annual SCUFFY progress signs were posted at the north and south entrances to Public Square. Jack Ivie repainted the signs each year and Cord Bros. employees put them up, took them down and changed the progressive total figures.
Lee Fisher, president and general manager of Trans-Med ambulance service, announced the addition of air ambulance service for transportation to distant locations.
1964: Mike Wells received the Triton Central team free throw shooting award from Coach Marvin Tudor. Wells also led the team in scoring.
The Shelbyville Board of Public Works approved placing bicycle racks on the sidewalk near the street in front of the G.C. Murphy Co., Woolworth’s, J.G. DePrez Co., and Sears and Roebuck & Co. on the Square, and on W. Broadway beside Kracht’s Variety Store.
1954: More than 700 memberships were sold for the Shelby County Community Concerts Association. Mickey Wagner was president of the Association. Concerts were held at The Strand Theatre. The first concert would be by Morley and Gearhart who had toured Europe and North America, taking with them in a specially built van their own concert pianos.
1944: Pfc. Robert Conn, Shelbyville, was injured in an explosion on a hospital ship overseas. He was being brought back to the U.S. to a Massachusetts hospital.
Federal officials asked for housewives to salvage more animal fat. “Women should be able to save much more than the table-spoonful a day which the government asks from each home,” Eden Thurston, Shelby County Fat Salvage chairman, said.
1934: Mrs. Lois Addison, music teacher at the No. 3 School, put a note in the newspaper asking if anyone in Shelbyville possessed a Scottish bagpipe. “The boys and girls of School No. 3 will represent the Scots, and Scots must have their bagpipe,” The Republican said.
C.R. Hurst, of near London in Moral Township, retracted his offer to serve as Moral Township Trustee without pay. Hurst said he had been notified the “free service” offer violated the law.
1924: Rochester High School upset Shelbyville in the state basketball tournament. Local fans thought Shelbyville had a chance for a state championship run. “Some of the women and girls in the big crowd broke down completely, when it was seen that Shelbyville was on the losing end, for the first time in many weeks,” The Republican said.
1914: A woman who lived on South Noble Street filed for divorce from her husband. She said he had shot at her several times over the previous three years. “In that time, he has failed to hit her, but she believes that his marksmanship is getting better and does not desire to take any unnecessary chances,” the paper said. She said he had worked one week since October.
OBITUARIES
Rose Mary Martin, 81, of Shelbyville, passed away Wednesday, March 13, 2023, at MHP Medical Center. Born December 23, 1942, in Shelby County, she was the daughter of Edward Charles "Buck" Weaver and Evelyn M. (Burnes) Weaver. She married Harold B. "Bud" Rowland on December 3, 1961, and he preceded her on April 8, 2002. She then married John T. Martin on October 23, 2004.
Survivors include three children, Virginia Swango of Shelbyville, Mike Rowland (Sherry) of Arlington, and Thomas Rowland (Tammy) of Shelbyville; brother Earl Weaver (Judy) of Waldron; eight grandchildren, Shonda, Aaron, Ashley, Zach, Elizabeth, Larry, Lydia, Mary; and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, spouse, daughter Evelyn M. Miller, brother Paul Weaver, sister Della Morris, and son-in-law Larry Swango.
Rose Mary had lived in this area most of her lifetime and graduated from Shelbyville High School. She was office manager for Fifth Third Bank retiring in 2003 after 16 years of service. She was a member of St. Luke's Lutheran Church and a member of Shelbyville Moose Lodge and Women of the Moose. Rose Mary loved to travel with her husband, gardening, sewing, golfing, and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and family, especially during the holiday season.
Funeral services will be 7 p.m., Monday, March 18, 2024 at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road, with Rev. Steve Giovangelo and Denise Rodenhuis officiating. Friends may call on Monday from 5 p.m. until the time of the service, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Haw Creek Cemetery. Memorial donations can be made to Alzheimer's Association or OUR Hospice of South Central Indiana. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeanson.com.