Monday, January 8, 2024
RESTAURANT REVIEW
As a follow-up to yesterday’s article on Carl and Delia Gartner, George Young generously shared the postcards/photos below of the Gartner’s restaurant on Public Square. The 12-14 S. Harrison St. location was open from 1934 to 1940. The original tin ceiling visible in the below photo remains, thanks to the restoration efforts of current occupants and Boba Cafe owners Jeremy and Ashley Jones.
Local Student Completes Eagle Scout Project
ABOVE: Shelbyville High School junior Blake Hughes recently completed his Eagle Scout project, installing two benches in Blue River Memorial Park. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
BELOW: Blake Hughes, center, is recognized for his Eagle Scout accomplishment last week in a Scout meeting at First Baptist Church. Pictured with him are his father, Scott Hughes; grandmother, Mary Lou Hughes; mother, Michelle Hughes; and brother, Lance Hughes. | photo submitted
Blake Hughes’ Eagle Scout aspirations may have begun before he even started first grade Tiger Troop through Loper Elementary.
“I was going to (Boy Scouts) meetings when I was in my mom’s belly,” he said last week, a couple of days after completing his board of review for Eagle Scout rank.
The Shelbyville High School junior and long-time member of Troop 223, which meets at First Baptist Church, recently installed two benches along the Blue River Trail to complete his Eagle Scout project.
“They have a good view of the cross country course,” Blake, a cross country runner himself, said.
He was responsible for overseeing the entire process: obtaining permission from the Shelbyville Parks Department, securing funding, getting pea gravel and concrete and installation. He had help, though.
His grandmother, Mary Lou Hughes, purchased a bench in honor of her late husband, Jim, and Shelbyville Middle School teacher Stephanie Munger purchased one in memory of her late fiancé, Gary Oldham Jr. “In memory” plaques will be installed on the benches next. Help also came from Matt Haehl with Shelby Materials, as well as from other Scouts and long-time troop leader Gary Fuller.
The Hugheses are a Scouting family. Blake’s three older brothers - Todd, Lance and Cole - were Scouts, with Lance also obtaining Eagle rank, and his parents have been active, his mom “unofficially,” Blake said, and Scott for the past 19 years.
Scott Hughes’ adult association started when he took his oldest son, Todd, to the first meeting.
“They get the kids and their parents into a room. We’re all newbies, sitting in chairs in a circle,” Mr. Hughes recalled.
Gene Hopkins, who was leading the meeting, asked for a volunteer to head the Tiger troop.
“Everybody starts looking at their shoes,” Hughes said, laughing. “You know, don’t make eye contact!”
With no hands raised, Hopkins said, “Hey, Scott, you’d make a good leader. What do you think?”
Having arrived in Shelbyville just a few years prior to teach at Shelbyville Middle School, Hughes knew virtually no one in the room.
“I said, ‘I’ll be the leader if this guy will be my assistant,’” he replied while turning to the guy next to him, who he didn’t know. It was Nathan Lee, who accepted the appointment, and the families became friends.
Hughes never stepped back.
“I learned that the more I invested into Scouting with my kids, the more I got out of it,” the former Shelbyville High School varsity baseball coach said. “Monday nights was when I carved out time to make sure I was doing something with my boys. No baseball. No side distractions. That was it.”
That commitment has inspired Blake, who pushed through merit badge challenges, such as tracking his habits for 13 weeks to earn a personal management badge, and learned to give back to the community.
“It teaches you basic life lessons, and to respect everyone,” Blake Hughes said.
He has no plans to “Eagle out,” either, a phrase that means earning the Eagle Scout honor and then moving on.
“I’m going to stay involved,” he said. “But it’s not going to be them helping me this time. It’s going to be me helping them.”
BELOW: Two benches at Blue River Memorial Park are the result of Blake Hughes’ Eagle Scout project. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
NOTEBOOK:
STATE NEWS: The Indiana Economic Development Corporation released a report showing it had nearly $29 billion in investments during 2023 – up 29 percent from 2022. This investment comes from 208 companies committed to moving to or expanding within Indiana. These investments expect to create more than 21,000 jobs with an average wage of $36.07 or $75,025 annually. The IEDC said these are the highest numbers reported since the agency was started in 2005. (Indiana Public Radio)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: Local stores were temporarily wiped out of bread and milk due to reports of an incoming winter storm. The storm did not materialize, with only light snow falling.
2004: Indiana State Police took charge while all local police officers were convened for a meeting with new Chief John West. The last time a meeting of such magnitude took place was 12 years prior, at the start of former Mayor Bob Williams’ term. Floyd Hastings led the Pledge of Allegiance and West walked through a “1-1/2 hour, no-nonsense Microsoft PowerPoint presentation,” The Shelbyville News reported. The former Board of Captains was replaced with a new advisory board, which included Lt. Dan Goforth as president, Patrolman Rob Heath as secretary, and Lt. Doug Hasecuster and patrolmen Jamie Kolls, Bob Cook and Charles Curry as members. Only three officers missed the meeting: two on sick leave and Patrolman John Renbarger, who was serving with the National Guard in Bosnia. “This is gonna be a good place to work if it kills me,” West said. “But it’s gonna take time. I’m not a miracle worker and I’m not Dr. Phil.” Mayor Scott Furgeson said West had his full support. David Phares attended the meeting as the common council liaison to police.
1994: While electing officers at the Shelby County Commissioners’ meeting, commissioners debated who should serve as president for 1994. Commissioner Robert Wade, a Republican, said he would be president if he had Hillary Rodham Clinton to help him. At that prospect, the other commissioners, Republican Bruce Knecht and Democrat David Mohr, balked. Knecht was re-elected president. In other news, commissioners said they would sell the old county jail - cheap - to anyone willing to move it.
1984: The Parks Department started offering indoor tennis court time for the first time at the Civic Center.
Bill Becom’s store offered a clearance sale on RCA VideoDisc players. They could be purchased for $199 or could be free with an agreement to rent two movies a week. Just released features were Lords of Discipline, Superman III, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Porky’s II.
1974: Pizza Hut, 541 E. Hendricks St., offered its “Family Nite!” 15” pizza on sale for $3.39 (approximately $22 in today’s money).
Inflation for 1973 had been the highest since 1946. Fuel had increased 19.5% and food was up 26%, the highest since the Labor Department started keeping record in 1947.
1964: Albert Callahan, 30, was named Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year by the Shelby County Junior Chamber of Commerce. Second place was Paul Hawn and third place was Kent Kaster. Dwain Alexander and Mike Yarling were Jaycee co-chairmen of the award committee.
1954: The local chapter of the Indiana Heart Foundation, chaired by Clara Orebaugh, purchased a dissectible model heart for Arthur Barnett and Doloris McDonald to use in their Shelbyville High School health classes.
Local school children in first, fifth and eighth grades received tuberculin patch tests, financed by the annual Christmas seal sale. The skin test was a simple way to determine if the child had been exposed to tuberculosis germs. It was a chemically treated pad applied to the arm for 48 hours. If the child had a positive reaction, the student would be given a chest X-ray.
1944: Mayor Jim Pierce issued a plea for local women to take manufacturing jobs during the war effort.
Although the state fair had been canceled “for the duration” of the war, 4-H competitions would still occur, Shelby County 4-H officials announced.
1934: A Shelbyville graduate who had suffered a “nervous breakdown” at Hanover College was returned via the Morris Sleeth ambulance to his parents’ South Harrison St. home.
Floretta McCutcheon, billed “the world’s greatest woman bowler,” appeared at the Sexton Bowling alley, where she taught a free class. Sexton had discovered bowling a few years prior “as a means of reducing weight,” the newspaper said.
1924: Alburtus, whose nightly “miracle” shows at The Strand were a hit, performed at four local stores to generate interest: Todd’s, the DePrez Hardware store, the James McCloskey jewelery store and Wolf Quality store. His night show at The Strand was another sell-out. “There are some who are shouting ‘fraud’ but the way to know if this fellow is a fraud is to stand up and ask him a direct question,” the Republican said. “He knocked some people clear out of their chairs last night.”
1914: The Republican reported that two known individuals had stolen Ott Willey’s coat and a couple of loaves of bread, which he had left on a courthouse coat rack. “In case the coat is returned here to the Republican office by Friday night, no questions will be asked,” the paper said. “They can keep the bread. Otherwise, trouble will be caused over the robbery.”
Harry Zemer, of West Taylor Street who was employed at the Doran & Fleming Drug Store, was injured after falling asleep while driving his horse-drawn buggy. Zemer had been in the southern part of the county “to see his best girl,” The Republican reported, and fell asleep while returning home late. The horse continued toward Shelbyville, but made a sharp turn, which caught the buggy on a fence post, overturning it and throwing Zemer out onto the snow and ice. Other than scratches and bruises, he was fine, the paper said.
OBITUARIES
Deborah Kay Moore, 61, of Carbondale, died Tuesday, January 2, at Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest Hospital, Allentown. She is survived by her husband of 42 years, Russell A. Moore.
Born on September 5, 1962 in Indianapolis, IN, daughter of the late Paul and Wilma Robinson, she was a graduate of Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville, IN. She was an employee at Sam’s Club, Scranton for 17 years. She loved to cook for her family, especially birthday dinners. She enjoyed going on camping trips, was an avid watcher of scary movies and adored her children and grandchildren.
Also surviving are a son, Christopher A. Moore, Fort Worth, TX; two daughters, Candice E. Kopa and husband Ryan, Taylor, and Cassandra R. Moore, Mayfield; three sisters, Denise Miner, Muskego, WI; Kristy Chesher, Spiceland, IN; and Amy Ferguson, White, GA; four grandchildren, Christopher and Renee Moore, Raegan Kopa and Erin Smith; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by a niece, Lauren Miner, and son-in-law, John D. Smith.
The funeral will be Thursday January 11, with services at 6 p.m. by Pastor Donald Perry, in the Brennan & Brennan Funeral Home, Inc., 55 Lincoln Avenue, Carbondale. Friends may call from 2 p.m. until service time.