Monday, January 23, 2023
SNOWBOUND
Yesterday’s light snowfall is visible here at the old railroad tracks just east of Prescott, between Shelbyville and Waldron. Passenger and freight trains once regularly used these tracks. The photographer added toning color to give it a retro feel. | by JOHN WALKER
Fairland Area Scout Nears Eagle Scout Achievement
Noah Mehl stands next to the Gaga Ball pit - one of four games recently installed - on the New Life United Methodist Church grounds in the Fairland area as part of his Eagle Scout project. As an elementary student, Mehl couldn’t wait to join Boy Scouts. “I kept asking my parents, ‘Am I old enough now?’” Now a junior at Triton Central High School, he has made the most of his Scouting years, highlighted by his final project. The new game installations also include tetherball, cornhole and horseshoes. Each option was chosen for a reason. Gaga ball was a popular option at a scout camp where he served as a leader last summer. “I would say a good 75 percent of the camp was playing Gaga ball,” he said. Tetherball was another popular free-time option for the kids, although leaders had to step in to teach kids the correct way to play. As for the others, Mehl’s family has been playing cornhole for years, and he figured that along with horseshoes would reach the other end of the generational divide. “I figured a good percentage of the elderly would know and love horseshoes,” he said. The project was funded by donations, including contributions from the church and the sponsor of the micro car he races. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
PRE-SPRING APPAREL
Elegant L, at South Harrison and Broadway Streets, displays pre-spring colors in their front windows on Saturday. | photo by JACK BOYCE
NOTEBOOK:
An upcoming winter storm late Tuesday night into Wednesday is likely for central Indiana, the National Weather Service-Indianapolis reports. Shelbyville is listed with a 49 percent chance of accruing 4 or more inches of snow, while areas north of Indianapolis are in the 70- to 80-percent range.
The Northwest Shelby County Concerned Citizens Coalition’s quarterly meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m., at the Moral Township Fire Department Community Room. Brian Asher, executive director of the Shelby County Development Corporation, will speak, among other agenda items.
HOOSIER NEWS: Indy’s two-week restaurant promotion is back starting today. Devour Indy’s Winterfest session, produced by the Indiana Restaurant & Lodging Association, features deals designed to get folks into local restaurants from upscale steakhouses to pizza joints. About 100 eateries, several with multiple locations, are participating in this session, which runs from Jan. 23 to Feb 5. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: The number of passengers bumped off flights is up substantially, according to a new analysis, as airlines systematically sell more tickets than there are actually seats on planes. Frontier Airlines, the worst offender, bumped 6,057 passengers out of 23 million fliers, a bump rate of 2.63 per 10,000, vastly higher than the comparable period from 2018-19 when that rate was 0.4 per 10,000. From October 2021 to September 2022, the bump rate across all airlines was up 24 percent compared to the comparable pre-pandemic period from October 2018 to September 2019. (Wall Street Journal/Numlock)
SHELBY COUNTY PEOPLE: Perry Armstrong
Editor’s note: In the mid- to late 1940s, The Shelbyville Republican published a series of articles by Ave Lewis and Hortense Montgomery covering community people and places. Below is one of those 35 features.
by Ave Lewis
Operating a business that is without competition in these days and holding an almost perfect Sunday school attendance record are but two factors which make Perry Armstrong, Waldron harness maker, a somewhat unusual man. He'd scoff at the word “unusual” but it's the one which comes to mind after a pleasant two-hour chat with him in his quiet, clean-leather smelling place of business in a bright yellow building near the Waldron railroad tracks.
Mr. Armstrong- Perry is the name used by everyone in the Waldron community - has been in the harness making and repair business since 1885. He's widely read, and from a vast store of memories and experiences, he drops interesting bits of information and philosophies which make him an exceptionally good conversationalist. His own philosophy he developed long ago, and summed up it is this: "When you aim at a goal with determination, the Devil and other detriments take to the sidetracks."
He's applied the theory to a great many things in his life. He likes getting along amicably with people, and that sometimes takes determination; he wanted to be a harness maker and that necessitated determination, and he wanted to and still wants to attend Sunday school regularly, and he's missed only five Sundays since 1885. And he remembers the reason for those five absences. Once his means of transportation, his horse, was under a veterinarian's care. One day he and his wife visited their son who was waiting at Fort Harrison to be sent overseas in World War I. Another Sunday he was confined to bed with the flu. Once there was no Sunday school because of a fire in the Waldron business district, and the fifth absence was due to his attending a Methodist meeting in Columbus, Ohio.
Although the arrival of automobiles sounded the death knell to his harness business as a flourishing industry, Perry still has "all he can do." He provided a great part of the fancy harness which is used in the horse pulling contests over the states and he does extensive repair work of various kinds. This may mean sticking rivets in a piece of farm equipment canvas or cutting down a piece of rubber sponge into a chair seat or any number of other jobs. Minor, so far as work is concerned, but vital to the one wishing the work done. In that respect Mr. Armstrong has it "made." The closest harness making or repair shop is in Indianapolis, and he finds himself with customers from communities all over the state and from out of the state.
Perry also makes unique leather belts, which delights the sports-clothes minded women and he chuckles as he recalls that his fancy harness and belts set some New York women agog back in 1944. They were editors and reporters of a women's magazine who were writing stories of 4-H Clubs and the Waldron community. They "bought him out" and his repeat orders for belts continued until World War II made the purchase of leather almost impossible.
From his birthplace near Cambridge City Mr. Armstrong came to Shelby County with his widowed mother when he was 10 years old. For a while the two stayed in Shelbyville and he worked as an errand boy for his uncle, Henry Powell, who operated a grocery on East Washington Street. After going to Waldron and completing school he badgered the late John McCain into teaching him the harness business. It was an apprenticeship sort of learning. The first year he worked for his board and the second he was paid 50 cents a day and his board. He later went into partnership with Mr. McCain, and at the latter's death in 1916 took over the business as his own.
His Sunday school record began when he was put in as superintendent of the school at the Waldron Methodist Church in 1885. He served in the capacity for 18 years. In 1888 he married Miss Tillie Huber, whose death occurred four years ago. They became the parents of two children, a daughter, Mrs. Eunice Mitchell, and her husband, Allen, reside with him in Waldron, and a son, Herman, is cashier at the Westport bank. While not superstitious, Perry believes the number "7" has played a big part in his life. Both he and Mrs. Armstrong were born on the seventh of the month; there was seven months' difference in their ages and the years in which both his children's births occurred ended in seven.
As he fingered a paper weight - a souvenir piece of stone from the Ogden cemetery explosion of 1890 - and reminisced over events of his life, he stated, "The automobile killed the driving horse harness business. Guess the harness business and I probably will close up about the same time."
This Week in Shelby County" works by George L. Stubbs Sr. are owned by the Shelby County Historical Society (Grover Center) and used with permission.
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.
20 YEARS AGO: 2003
Shelby County Manor residents were officially informed the facility would close February 14. Managers Randy and Norma Quick had been calling around trying to find homes for the residents.
30 YEARS AGO: 1993
The seventh-ranked Shelbyville Golden Bears girls basketball team (14-2) ended the regular season with a win over Franklin. Clutch free throws by Amy Balting, Leslie Lux and Misty Smith put the game away for the Bears.
40 YEARS AGO: 1983
A report commissioned by the county noted that 50 of Shelby County’s 173 bridges needed to be replaced. Howard Gaines, county bridge inspector, complained that work on some bridges had been slowed due to federal regulations. In the case of the Morristown Road bridge, which crossed the Big Blue River, progress had been delayed, in part, due to concern about an endangered species, the Indiana Bat. “(The Indiana Department of Natural Resources) strung a net across the river one night and caught a number of bats, of which some were the Indiana Bat. So, they had to do some more studies,” Gaines said. The bats, officials eventually decided, would survive a new bridge, but the project was still held up over the inability to contact nearby property owners, some of which were in Florida. “I’m not trying to hurry anyone, or anything like that,” Gaines told county commissioners. “After all, this thing has been hanging for only six years.”
50 YEARS AGO: 1973
The post office and several local government offices were closed in observance of a national day of mourning for former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Mayor Jerry Higgins closed city hall, but trash and garbage pickup were on regular schedule.
60 YEARS AGO: 1963
Kenneth Cortelyou, a Shelby County man, was among nine Indiana farmers to have their portraits hung in the Agricultural Hall of Fame at Purdue University.
M.D. Guild of Brandywine Township was elected to fill a term as a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. Guild was a graduate and trustee of DePauw University.
70 YEARS AGO: 1953
A Shelbyville News photographer noticed a shoe standing upright on a pedestrian island at the east end of the Public Square. Thinking it appeared somewhat unusual, he took a picture of it for publication. H.A. Stewart, 110 St. Marys St., saw the picture in the paper and called The News office to inquire about it. He said he had been driving past the pedestrian island when a door of his car swung open. He merely reached over and closed the door, unaware that one of his shoes, placed against the door that had slipped open, had fallen out.
80 YEARS AGO: 1943
The first wartime “black out” practice went well, local officials said. The city had been turned into a “veritable ghost town,” The Republican said as the signal for the black-out was sounded by whistle blasts from the old fire siren at the water and light company plant. Other than a few night lights, near total compliance was reported. Those in vehicles were taken to the nearest shelter. “Many persons escaped the eerie half-hour of darkness by attending the city theaters, while others spent the time listening to radio programs,” the paper said. “Not a single fire alarm was reported. No accidents occurred, nor was there any major infraction of the rules as far as could be learned up to press time last night.” The State Guard had been stationed at the main street intersections and at each of the four entrances to the Public Square. No telephone calls were permitted.
90 YEARS AGO: 1933
Contrary to a previous Post Office Department order, mail to Needham would not be discontinued, local officials said. William Abel, the long-time carrier in Needham, had retired. Although Franklin and Shelbyville officials had discussed eliminating service to Needham, a solution had been found.
100 YEARS AGO: 1923
A flock of robins was spotted in the trees at West Broadway and West Washington Streets, near the homes of Otto Keith and George Wright, the paper said.
“The grip” (influenza) was spreading quickly through Shelby County, papers reported. Health authorities said to avoid excessive heat and dampness in rooms.
OBITUARIES
Karl Simon Krughoff, 46, of Tucson, AZ, passed away peacefully at home on January 13, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. Simon, the son of Tom Krughoff and Noell Krughoff nee Worland, was born in Greeley, CO on March 2, 1976. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Staron, and sons Sam (15) and Owen (12). Other survivors include his parents, sisters Laura Krughoff and Emily Jordan (Rusty) and brother Stephen Krughoff (Lucy Huffman).
Simon attended grades 2-10 in Morristown, IN and graduated from the Indiana Academy in Muncie. He earned a bachelor's from DePauw and a PhD from the University of Maine.
He was one of three astronomers to build and release Google Sky. As a staff scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, he was instrumental in developing plans for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). In 2017, he moved to Tucson where he continued his work with The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), an international network of scientists developing the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, an outgrowth of the LSST project. This astronomical observatory in Chile expects first light in 2024.
Simon was known by family, friends, and colleagues as kind and supportive, witty and fun-loving, smart and generous, but most importantly as a devoted husband and loving father.
Condolences, pictures, and memories can be shared at https://everloved.com/life-of/simon-krughoff/?flow=201. Contributions can be sent to the Cancer Association of Shelby County, P.O. Box 844, Shelbyville, IN 46176. Peaceful repose, dear one.