Friday, March 7, 2025
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SOUNDS OF SYNERGY
The Shelbyville High School Synergy show choir practices, accompanied by the student band, on Wednesday. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Local Ag Banquet Draws Crowd, Dignitaries
The 20th “A Taste of Shelby County Agriculture” banquet, hosted at Horseshoe Indianapolis Racing and Casino on Wednesday, featured appearances and remarks from numerous dignitaries, including Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, and Purdue University Dean Dr. Brett Marsh. Shelby County native and Southwestern High School graduate C.J. Miller, Assistant News Director for Hoosier Ag Today, served as emcee.
Don Lamb, Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, shared brief remarks, noting that he had first been announced in his current role at the local ag banquet. “Two years ago, I thought, ‘Man, this is a big county ag event. I wonder how many of these there are around the state?’And I can tell you, two years later, there is no other county ag event like this one,” Lamb said.
Lt. Gov. Beckwith hailed local companies such as POET Bioprocessing and Fischers Inc. before leading a pre-meal prayer.
Following dinner, AgriNovus Indiana CEO Mitch Frazier, spoke about the importance of agriculture to the economy, stating that agriculture as a whole contributes $69 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product and that Ag bioscience adds approximately $23 billion to the state’s GDP. “That $23 billion is about the same size as the auto manufacturing industry,” he said.
Miller then interviewed Gov. Braun about his farming and business background. The Governor encouraged farmers to “hedge the bets” by innovating. He said he recently visited a farm in the state that plans to put “15 acres under roof growing lettuce.” Braun said water shortages in California were leading to new opportunities in Indiana. He said excess water isn’t available in every county, but some counties would be eligible to sustain industries such as data centers and chip and battery factories.
He said business, education and government should all become more efficient.
“You don’t really gain in life until you become more productive, and that means you do more with less,” Braun said. “A lot of it is technology, just better ideas, better organization.”
The governor said he believed the state legislature would find a “satisfactory” balance on funding for public services while also streamlining government.
Dr. Marsh also spoke with Miller, using his time to discuss the avian flu issue affecting farming operations. The risk to the general public is extremely low, he noted.
The Ag banquet also awarded scholarships to Parker Douglas, Waldron High School, and Morgan Justus, Shelbyville High School. The Lifetime Achievement award was given posthumously to Mike Steinbarger, who passed away last spring. Previous Lifetime Achievement recipients were Harold Tennell, John Carson, George Crosby, Edwin Yarling, Bruce Batton, Darrell Linville, Gerald Gray, George Braden and Gail Spegal.
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NOTEBOOK:
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 9, at 2 a.m. On Saturday night, clocks should be set forward one hour to “spring forward.” Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour later on Sunday than the day before. There will be more light in the evening. Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 2, at 2 a.m., when clocks are set back one hour to “fall back.” (Last night’s sunset at 6:34 p.m. was captured by Jack Boyce. The first official day of spring is Thursday, March 20.)
HOOSIER NEWS: Southwest Airlines launched a daily non-stop flight to Music City out of Indianapolis International Airport yesterday. The new flight to Nashville International Airport is an hour long. Previously, a Southwest passenger wanting to fly from Indy to the country music mecca had to opt for one of dozens of connecting flights with travel times ranging from 3.5 to seven hours. The drive time from downtown Indianapolis to Nashville is about four hours. (IndyStar)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS: A new study published in Ecology used the expiration dates printed on discarded plastic wrappers that were incorporated into bird nests to develop estimates on the age of those nests. The study sought to find out the nest age of common coots (a type of bird) in Amsterdam that often add debris to their twig nests. Most of the nests were not old, rarely going back more than three years. However, one nest was a real classic: the “Rokin nest” contained 635 bits of plastic, and turned out to be a time capsule of waste. It contained not only 15 face masks from the pandemic, but in its base was a candy bar wrapper that promoted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. This leads the researchers to believe that at least three generations of coots used the nest over the course of its estimated 30-year span. (Science/Numlock)
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WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Dan and Suzanne (Duell) Collins, Shelbyville, celebrate 55 years of marriage today. They met at the Shelby County Fair in 1964 and were married March 7, 1970, in Beech Grove, Ind. They have four children, Patrick, Erin, Kevin, Christopher, and 13 grandchildren. Mr. Collins worked in the Purdue University business office for 41 years, served 30 years as a basketball official and 15 years as a soccer official, and has been involved in numerous community service organizations and boards, including service in the Army Reserve. Mrs. Collins taught school and was an instructor at Purdue University. She was also a Purdue Women’s Club member.
SHS Courier Archive Highlights
Nov. 18, 1977
Fall athletes were recognized at the season’s award ceremony. Jeff Linne received the 51st J.M. McKeand Award, named for the man who brought football to Shelbyville and coached the first team. Accepting sectional trophies were tennis players Doug Perkinson and Ross Sobel and volleyball players Nancy Cole, Belinda Wildmone and Jan Griffey. Tino Mills, representing the cross country team, accepted an invitational trophy. Mark Wamsley was the cross country team’s Most Valuable Runner. Norm Davis received the team’s Mental Attitude Award. Cheri Coryea was the Outstanding Girls’ Golfer.
Homeroom, which The Courier said was only good because “it shortens the first three classes by 15 minutes,” had been improved with a one-day volleyball tournament featuring the team, members of the student body and faculty.
An article said theft in the gym locker room was a continual problem. Several students had gone home in their “ever popular gold and white gym suits” because someone stole their jeans.
Students were practicing for “The Mouse that Roared,” a two-act play with Tim Huskins and Gena Everman in the leading roles.
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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: Ashley Parmer and Jennifer Horine were crowned queens of the 2005 Spring Fling for Hospice of Shelby County. Their escorts were Justin Kuhn and Justin Sawyer.
1995: After City Council approved closing Alexander Street, which was platted in 1926 but never completed, Betty Roberts asked the Board of Works to let her keep her address. “I don’t care about closing the Street, but that’s my address, and you’re talking about changing everything I own. I’ll have to call everyone and let them know about my change of address,” she said. Alexander Street was on the north side of St. Joseph St. east of Beverly Street. Roberts owned the only home on the street. The city said they would look into the matter.
Dave Evans of Greenfield rolled 12 strikes in a row to mark the first perfect game at Morristown Lanes in its 30 years in business. Owners Edwin and Sharon Yarling said several people had accomplished 10 or 11 strikes in a row, but never 12. Evans had used a brand-new AMF XS ball. Yarling had sold the ball and drilled its finger holes. Following the perfect game, he sold several more of the AMF bowling balls.
1985: A groundbreaking ceremony was set for HUD and city officials to commemorate the upcoming construction of 50 senior apartments on N. Pike and E. Franklin St.
1975: Ronald Patton, 25, and his wife, Barbara Patton, 24, were killed in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. 52 just east of Range Line Road near Morristown. Mr. Patton, in his second year teaching in Morristown, coached the junior high basketball teams. The couple, along with three 12-year-olds in the back seat, had been on the way home from a victory banquet for the Morristown seventh grade team, which had been Shelby County champions. The banquet had been at the Blue Bird Restaurant. The three students were treated and released from the hospital.
1965: Two local juveniles who had been released on parole from the Indiana Boys School were arrested for burglarizing the Watson Tire and Re-Cap business on S. Pike St.
1955: More than 300 pre-school and grade school children throughout the county received vaccinations to provide protections against diphtheria, tetanus, smallpox and whooping cough. Dr. Dalton, who had criticized some parents for failing to vaccinate their children against diphtheria prior to a recent outbreak in the county, had organized the drive.
Democrat John S. Anderson announced his intentions to run for mayor. Anderson had graduated from Shelbyville High School and attended Indiana University. He had served overseas in World War II and held the rank of major with the Indiana National Guard. Democrat City Councilman Russell Ballard had previously announced his intentions to run.
1945: Mail coming from the south was delayed due to flood dangers along the swollen Ohio River and its tributaries. The New York Central Railroad said trains through Cincinnati would be delayed.
1935: Fifteen local men paid through federal funding removed debris and cleaned the Jerome Ditch in Noble Township as part of the FERA works program.
Flickering lights in Shelbyville were attributed to a pigeon that had made contact with a power line in Terre Haute, which connected to local light service.
1925: Funding sent from the state for Red Cross efforts was given to Major Hospital, since there was no specific Shelbyville chapter.
1915: The city signed a new contract with the water company, which had promised “no more wiggle tails” would be in the water over the summer.
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OBITUARIES
None today.