Saturday, December 28, 2024
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
HOLIDAY LIGHTS
Seasonal lights are still visible throughout town, including this tasteful display on Swinford Street in Clearview. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
‘Doc’ Parker Reflects on Service as Commissioner
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
To a retiring farmer with years of school board experience, running for Shelby County Commissioner made sense.
“I really didn’t have an agenda. I didn’t see anything wrong with county government, but it’s something I wanted to be involved in,” Don Parker, who is wrapping up the final days of his third and final term as commissioner in the south district, said.
Parker’s interest in county affairs and politics is deep-seeded. Farming goes back multiple generations on his dad’s side. His mother was a township trustee.
“She was a red-hot Republican,” Parker recalled. “Every Sunday before she went to church, she would listen to a radio program talking about what was going on in government.”
After serving on the Southwestern school board for 12 years while his kids were in school, Parker came to county government after his three boys reached adulthood.
“I thought, I need to get away from here and let those guys run this place,” he said. “They still let me drive a tractor, but I’m not responsible for anything.”
Over the past 12 years, “Doc” Parker has helped shepherd multiple improvements to county facilities, including the construction of the Annex II building, which houses Probation, the Health Department and Purdue extension office, and connects to Community Corrections. A new county complex on North Michigan Road includes the Highway Department and Recycling District facilities, which opened up the old highway building for emergency services.
“I think that’s one of the brighter accomplishments of my career,” Parker said of the project.
Other highlights include facility and technology upgrades, moving historic Bridge 13 to Blue River Memorial Park, economic development projects in the northwest part of the county and using state Community Crossing grant funds to repave numerous county roads.
“I’ve talked to bicycle riders from adjoining counties who want to come to Shelby County because we have the smoothest roads of anyone around,” he said.
Parker was sure to credit county employees, including law enforcement and emergency responders, for creating a strong local image.
“There are a lot of, and there will continue to be a lot of, positive things about Shelby County,” he said.
NOTEBOOK:
Shelbyville native Kid Quill (Mitch Q. Brown) released a song this week in support of a field of interest fund he established with the Blue River Community Foundation, which supports capital projects, arts education programming or live poetry or musical perforamnces in designated local parks. Brown spent three summers working as a camp counselor for the Shelbyville Parks Department. The song, “Kids in the Summer (Rewind)” is a stripped down version of the original Kids in the Summer that has over 10 million streams on Spotify Song:
Editor’s note: Supporters - We are still awaiting delivery of the winter print edition, which was mailed from Greenfield on Friday, Dec. 6. Since a bulk permit is used, the post office has apparently prioritized other mail during the holidays. We are hopeful these will arrive at your homes within a few days. I apologize for the delay, and will plan to move up next year’s winter edition (or consider other, faster options, such as the Pony Express). - Kristiaan Rawlings
Thank you to Jeff Beaty for your generous $500+ gift, and thank you to every donor for your continued support as The Addison Times forges ahead to fund 2025 and beyond. We will once again provide a quarterly publication with extra news and photos in 2025 as a gift for your support of $100 or more. This past year, we’ve covered city and county meetings, our students, local business, primary and general elections, commercial and residential development, and, of course, daily local history. 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
NATIONAL NEWS: In April of this year, there were over 400 tornadoes reported in the United States, the single highest count in 10 years. Through the month of November there were more than 1,762 tornadoes nationwide, the highest ever, more than the 1,517 tornadoes in 2019 and vastly higher than the 886 tornadoes logged 10 years ago. (The New York Times/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
Jan. 15, 1931, Part I
The new Courier head (above) appeared for the first time. The Senior High School was drawn by Floyd Lancaster, class of 1930 and former art editor for The Squib.
Students in chemistry and physics classes watched a film showing how cement was made in Gary, Ind. The film showed how limestone was blasted and then sent from Michigan to the factory by railroad, and how the ensuing process produced cement.
Sylvia Strupe set a new school typing record. She had written for 15 consecutive minutes at 72 words per minute without an error.
The Morristown Yellow Jackets had won the Shelby County basketball tourney for the first time, beating the Fairland Cardinals, 13-12.
Elective courses to be offered in the spring semester were Public Speaking, Grammar, Bible, Dress Designing, Interior Decorating and Journalism.
“Maybe electricity if fast, but how could it be faster than Goldie Means grabbing for the Columbus paper?”
Quotes from the classroom: Mr. Thompson: “How much of that problem have you?” David Wolf: “All but the answer.”
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.
2004: President Bush had called Seaman Michael Joseph, the grandson of Betty Joseph, of Shelbyville. The Coast Guard fireman was one of 10 to receive a Christmas Eve call from the commander in chief. Joseph, who was stationed on the farthest island in Alaska’s Aleutians, woke up at 2:45 a.m. to prepare for the call from Camp David, Md.
1994: Heavy fog stranded thousands at the Indianapolis airport, including locals. “The only happy people here are the concessions people,” the airport director of operations said.
1984: Construction began on an office and garage for Indiana Gas Co. on CR 150 N.
The Morristown Grain Co. set a company record by shipping out an all-time high of 228,000 bushels of corn by railroad.
1974: The Thomas Blue River Inn announced a New Year’s Eve party, to be held 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Freeway, with D.A. Dave and The Donuts, would provide entertainment.
1964: Rev. Kenneth Seitz resigned as vicar of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to take a position in western New York. Rev. Seitz had been in Shelbyville since 1960. He had been president of the Shelbyville Toastmasters Club and a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Shelby County Mental Health Board.
1954: Governor Craig granted parole to Shelbyville’s James Wallace, who was serving a life sentence in Michigan City for killing his estranged wife with a butcher knife in a 1939 Christmas Eve quarrel. (Wallace, 52 years old at the time of his release, died in 1974, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.)
Robert Sheaffer, the county’s new prosecuting attorney, was sworn in for the first four-year prosecutor term in Shelby County history.
1944: A Christmas Day snowfall lingered, with temperatures sliding to 3 degrees. Freezing rain was predicted for the evening.
1934: A Moral Township man was jailed after threatening to kill his wife and six children at their home. The wife instituted “surety of peace” proceedings after she and all the children had walked 10 miles to Shelbyville to stay in the American Hotel for the night.
Incoming elected officials met for discussion in City Hall. Members of the common council were surprised to hear that so many powers previously ascribed to them had been given to the mayor’s office. Previously, council members made up the board of works. Under the new law, the mayor, the city attorney and the city engineer would make up the board of works.
1924: Mrs. Reed, of North West Street, was injured when struck by an automobile at the intersection of Harrison and Franklin streets.
1914: A homeless man who insulted those who refused to give him money was charged with vagrancy, jailed, and then placed on the 3 p.m. traction car for Indianapolis.
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OBITUARIES
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