Monday, January 6, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
School Break Extended by a Day, Eight More Needed to Match Record of ‘96
Shelbyville Middle School student Ava White, her mom Amy and step-dad Harley enjoy family time in the snow yesterday, which included attaching sleds to the back of a Gator utility vehicle and riding around their property. | submitted
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
With snow accumulation predictions all over the map, students spent the weekend hoping for an extra vacation day.
“I really, really hope school gets snowed in, and we get to stay home,” Ava White, Shelbyville Middle School eighth-grader, said on Saturday, before the first flakes fell Sunday morning.
Seventh-grader Lily Slaven was banking on the same. “Considering all the activities we could do in the snow, I would say I would be very happy if I woke up to snow on the ground and no school.”
Shelbyville Central Schools removed all doubt yesterday evening by issuing an early cancellation notice for today, meaning students will attend school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a built-in make-up day. But that’s two weeks away, and students are more interested in some serendipitous fun.
Seventh-grader Jack Draping plans to read with his found time. White will go sledding with family and have snowball fights. Slaven has an elaborate plan involving soup for breakfast and making a snowman to put in the freezer.
“I like doing this because my brother (Eli) and I always used to do this when we were little, and it brings back good memories.”
After more snow activities, she hopes to make a hot meal, put on Christmas pajamas and admire the view from her window.
Day-dreaming about multiple days off is even more fun. The most consecutive additional days off for SCS students was nine, extending the winter break far into January 1996. Multiple snow storms then led to beating the previous record of seven consecutive days off, set in 1978.
The Fall semester had ended with over six inches of snow on Dec. 19, 1995. On the day students were to return, Jan. 3, six more inches fell and 25 mile-per-hour winds heaped snow into drifts three feet deep.
“I hope we’re not getting into a habit,” James Peck, then SCS Superintendent, said. “Winter is not my favorite time of the year.”
The storm left multiple vehicles stranded on Shelby County roads, and 20 people spent the night at a make-shift shelter established at Shelbyville High School and supervised by Jason Boyce. There were a handful of blankets and pillows, a couple of pots of hot coffee and some treats donated by Dunkin’ Donuts. The overnight occupants, who hailed from places as far away as Milwaukee and Tennessee, played basketball in the gymnasium and read stacks of magazines from the school library. Connie Burns and her husband, from Sleepy Hollow, were among those stuck for the night. She tried in vain to reach someone to turn the crock pot off in her house.
Boyce, 22, was on break from Indiana University and had been recruited by his father, Jack Boyce, director of Shelby County Emergency Management.
“When I heard we had an emergency situation, I asked my dad, what can I do to help?” the younger Boyce said at 6:30 a.m., after 22 hours on the job, when interviewed by The Shelbyville News. “He sent me to work the shelter, and here I am.”
Life slowed for some local residents, too. Walking mail routes were delivered, but motor routes were not. The News made efforts to deliver newspapers but could only guarantee back issues would be delivered once roads were passable. Children went sledding at the Elks Blue River Country Club and played ice hockey on Fountain Lake.
Those in the service field, though, kept going. Builders Lumber and Hardware had only one snow shovel remaining of the 40 previously in stock. Fifteen of 26 Kroger employees called off, and Mary Del Shofner worked the cash register for 13 hours, spent the night dozing at a desk, and then returned for another full shift.
Dallas B. Phillips worked 24 hours straight plowing roads and helping stranded motorists. The Vincennes University student was recruited to help the county highway department by his grandfather, Highway Superintendent Dallas O. Phillips.
One week later, six inches of new snow fell. “Clobbered Again,” The Shelbyville News headline read. Mr. Peck announced four built-in make-up days would be used, with the school year extending into June. Shelby County Commissioners President Bruce Knecht joined the county crews, operating a tractor plow for hours.
With roads in poor condition, Scott Lanning and his step-dad Rick Young rode their horses six miles from their Union Road home to the Bigfoot Food Store, E. State Road 44, for milk and other supplies. The two-hour trip allowed them to purchase two gallons of milk, bread, butter, cereal, junk food and three cartons of cigarettes.
As the days passed, snow was piled eye-level along McKay Road and stacked on vacant lots in Clearview. Girls Inc. Director Barbara Anderson opened the doors so over 60 students off school could enjoy exercise and dancing.
Superintendent Peck met with bus drivers to devise a plan to go back on a Thursday, after eight days off, but more snow in the forecast led him to cancel one more time. School finally returned on Friday, on a one-hour delay and after two buses, which had become stuck in the snow, arrived late.
State officials later determined SCS would only need to make up six of the nine days. Nearly 20 inches of snow had fallen over the two-week extended vacation.
NOTEBOOK:
Shelby County Fair Queen Karlie Lawson placed in the Top 10 of the Miss Indiana State Fair competition yesterday.
Shelbyville Central Education Foundation is hosting a trivia night on January 15, 6 p.m., at Shelbyville Middle School. Teams of four can compete for prizes by signing up here. The entrance fee is $100 per team. Spectators will be admitted with a freewill donation.
Thank you to every donor for your continued support of The Addison Times. Donors of $100 or more receive a quarterly print publication in the mail. Please consider a one-time or monthly donation to The Addison Times, either online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history. I appreciate each of you. - Kristiaan Rawlings, Editor
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The Addison Times is offering a sponsorship opportunity for the 2025 quarterly print editions, mailed directly to our loyal supporters. Contact Kristiaan Rawlings by replying to this email (k@addisontimes.com) for details. Thank you for your consideration!
INTERNATIONAL NEWS: A new study looked at the long-term health impacts for the British children who grew up under post-war sugar rationing, which had the unintended side effect of essentially keeping the average diet within modern guidelines for daily sugar consumption. The study found lifelong health benefits of the involuntary restriction of sugar: kids who were young under sugar rationing had a 35 percent lower risk of diabetes and a 20 percent lower risk of hypertension in their fifth and sixth decades of life compared to those children who missed the sugar rationing by a few years. (Scientific American/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
November 1995
Students prepared to present “A Christmas Carol” in Breck Auditorium. Curtis Paul would play the role of Scrooge. Other lead roles were David Brunsman, Young Scrooge; Jim Burnes, Ghost of Marley; Eric Norman, Bob Cratchit; and Rachel Ulrich, Mrs. Cratchit. The cast also included Lori Byers, Jill Peters, Melissa Thornsbury, Jenny Brunsman, Jyll Nicholson, Sarah Morin, David Brunsman, Erin Nigh, Stacy Hall, Gary Rainey, Shauna Welty, Sarah Morin, Gary Rainey, David Brunsman, Melissa Thornsbury, Amanda Collins, Glen Hopkins, Jyll Nicholson, Nicole Frizzell and Phil Hatton.
Courtney Smith offered insights on various classes. Art, Band, Choir: “It is said everybody has 15 minutes of fame. For many students, this time occurs in these classes.” Study Hall: “The class first originated in kindergarten and spread throughout high schools everywhere (A.K.A. nap time).” Foods: “The real reason for fire drills.”
Jim Burnes’ “Making the Grade” chart included the following: “F” for school grading scale. “Colleges go by the 10 pt. scale. Why do we go by this out-of-date scale? We want change!” A “D-” for The Shelbyville New school page. “Once a week, and half the page is ads. Boo!” An “A” for Circle Centre. “A revitalization of downtown Indy. Cool, but expensive. No gangs (yet). Best mall yet.” And a “D-” for a student speech at the athletic awards. “22 minutes of nothing.”
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: Rising flood waters had enfulged Sunset Park and caused the city to close River Road. The river was 14 feet above flood-stage level, and would only have to rise about four more feet to flow up over the levee. The Shelbyville Wastewater Treatment plant was forced to bypass some of the stormwater back into Big Blue River because the facility’s pumps weren’t capable of handling the amounts of water coming out.
1995: Shelby County’s low unemployment rate meant local manufacturing companies were struggling to fill openings. KCL Corp., which employed 327 people, reported difficulties finding workers with even minimal skills, and few who could pass a 10-question test, including converting one-half into a decimal, multiplying six times 69 and using a ruler or tape measure.
1985: The newly-organized Shelby County Medic 10 Reserves - 25 volunteers who had passed a 100-question test on medical emergencies - were on duty at basketball games and community gatherings, freeing up regular ambulance personnel for local medical emergencies.
1975: Morristown firemen responded to an electrical fire at Jacobs Trailer Court, and Shelbyville firemen put out a fire at 1220 S. Harrison St., the result of an overheated pan on the kitchen stove.
1965: A seven-man Shelbyville Central Schools board of trustees held its initial meeting. Morris Tobian was selected president of the board, and the board named J.W.O. Breck as the district superintendent until July 1. Breck had previously announced his retirement effective in July. The corporation was a consolidation of the city school system and those of Addison Township, Marion Township and Shelby Township west of State Road 9. The meeting lasted two hours and 45 minutes. Other board members were Raymond “Sam” Olinger, Clayton Meiks, Frank Scheffler, Lawrence Lewis, Gerald Nelson and Norman Miller. George Stubbs was appointed district attorney. Tobian pointed out that 60 percent of taxpayer money went for the schools. The board also authorized the hiring of Helen Cochran as the Charles Major School secretary.
1955: Clarence Crisp, president of Blue River Builders, announced plans for a new housing development, to be located on the west side of State Road 9, one mile north of the Shelbyville city limit and about a mile and a half north of the Public Square. The land was purchased from Edgehill Burnside. The tree-studded tract of approximately 40 acres had been named Rolling Ridge. Construction on two homes fronting State Road 9 had already started.
1945: Frazee’s Restaurant, 52 East Washington, owned by Everett Frazee, began offering beer and wine over the bar or carry-out. The restaurant continued its usual offerings of short orders, soups and sandwiches.
Flat Rock and Moral were victorious in the opening games of the annual Shelby County rural high school hardwood tournament.
1935: A small oil heater caused a fire that swept through the basement and first floor of the Farm Bureau elevator, causing a loss that exceeded $10,000. Sporadic flames kept the firefighters on the scene all day. Grain, hay and other merchandise stored on the first floor were completely destroyed. The flames were so intense that three trains, two passengers and a freight, were unable to pass in the vicinity of the building.
1925: The Shelbyville Better Business Club voted to sponsor the broadcasting by radio of an upcoming play-by-play basketball game between Shelbyville and Franklin. The members of the club agreed that “the advertising which the city would receive in the broadcasting of the game, with the frequent repetition of ‘Shelbyville’, would more than repay the expense which would be incurred,” The Republican reported. Curtis Fix arranged for the play-by-play to be telephoned to the Merchants Heat and Light broadcasting station in Indianapolis, where it would be sent out from WFBM. The expense was covering the cost of the long distance telephone line between Shelbyville and the station in Indianapolis.
1915: Frank Meal, living four miles northwest of Waldron, had captured a white squirrel in the woods near his home. It was the first white squirrel ever captured in this section of the country, The Republican reported.
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
OBITUARIES
Danny Ray Tyra, 66, of Indianapolis, passed away on Saturday, January 4, 2025, at Hancock Regional Hospital. He was born August 25, 1958, in Beech Grove, the son of Luther F. Tyra and Ruby F. (Wilhoite) Moore. On October 23, 1980, he married his wife of 44 years, Catherine “Cathy” (Moore) Tyra, and she survives. In addition to Cathy, Danny is survived by his daughters, Lena Plank and husband, Jimmy, of Fairland, and Amie Tyra and significant other, Marcus Toon, of Connersville; son, Logan Tyra of Indianapolis; sister, Debbie Kelemen and husband, Ryan, of Franktown, Colorado; brother, Ricky Tyra and wife, Tonya, of Wichita Falls, Texas; grandchildren, Austin Hunt, Dallas Tyra, Ryver Plank, Alexis Phillips, Mikey Plank, Ashton Plank, Matthew Plank, Brantley Plank, Xavier Toon, Isaiah Anderson, Laya Palmer and Heavenly Palmer; great-grandchildren, Monkey and Squirrel. Danny also leaves behind his dogs, Phoenix and Rocket. He was preceded in death by his parents; and step-father, Bruce Moore.
Danny graduated from Howe High School. He formerly worked as a cable technician for Time Warner, for over 30 years. Danny enjoyed going camping and fishing. He also enjoyed league bowling at the Expo Bowling Alley. He bowled on the “Droppin’ A Few” team.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Frazier Chapel, 124 E. North St. in Morristown.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, January 9, 2025, at the funeral home, with Mike Smith officiating. Interment will be at Asbury Cemetery, Memorial contributions may be made to USBC Youth Members, 621 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, Texas, 76011. Online condolences may be shared with Danny’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.