Saturday, March 30, 2024
CENTER STAGE
Shelbyville High School students Aubree Hercamp and Mars Conrad perform a crowd-rousing and humorous rap at yesterday’s SHS talent show, a SCUFFY benefit that raised over $1,200. Additional photos from the event are posted here.
Preschool Students Create Art, Host Gallery Opening
Golden Bear Preschool students Brayden Robinson and Wren Keppel show off their artwork at the Shelby Art Guild Association last night.
Art and science united last night at a Shelby Art Guild Association (SAGA) gallery opening featuring solar eclipse works. The artists, many with a cookie in one hand and the hand of a parent or grandparent in the other, meandered throughout the small gallery at 5 Public Square looking for opportunities to talk to classmates and “Miss Dayla.”
That would be Dayla Thurston, the Golden Bear Preschool teacher who first went to the gallery looking for artists to work with her class. With that mission accomplished, Thurston asked SAGA members another question: “What do I have to do to get wall space here?”
Her 20 three-to-five-year-old students were soon learning about and creating works featuring the upcoming solar eclipse for display.
“They were first excited about selling them, but as they created the artwork, they realized they had an emotional attachment, so we decided just to show them,” Thurston said.
Art is a regular teaching tool in Miss Dayla’s classroom. In December, her students painted holiday sugar cookies baked by Hungry Hippo Delight. The activity was a hit, and students were thrilled last night to see and taste another iteration of the cookies, shaped like stars, astronauts and rockets.
Although the school year is winding down, more art projects await. A SAGA artist will soon help students create “pebble art,” the result of Thurston’s original visit to the gallery.
NOTEBOOK:
Indiana American Water crews will begin routine flushing of the water distribution system starting next week and lasting through June. Flushing will occur between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Flushing allows the company to test and maintain fire hydrants. When crews are working in your area, you may notice reduced pressure or discolored water, the company said in a statement. If water is discolored, run the cold water taps only at the lowest level of the house for about 3 to 5 minutes until the water runs clear. If discolored water occurs, please also refrain from doing laundry during that time. Indiana American Water asked residents to not approach crews for safety reasons.
The Shelbyville Central Schools’ Kindergarten Open House and Community Connections event is set for April 4, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Additional details here.
NATIONAL NEWS: The Office of Management and Budget has decided to proceed with a plan to expand the data collection about race and ethnicity in the 2030 census, which has long been sought after by researchers hoping to get a more nuanced view of the composition of the country. The decision will offer seven categories, along with instructions that say to select all that apply, which will help capture respondents of multiple races, and will for the first time break out Middle Eastern or North African as a new racial or ethnic category, one which previously was just under the government definition of “White.” (Numlock/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: Indiana Grand Racing & Casino announced plans to construct another dormitory for jockeys. The new dorm would have 45 rooms, each 12 feet by 12 feet, providing housing for 90 horsemen.
2004: The Waldron Mohawks boys basketball team won the Class A state championship, going undefeated throughout the season. Justin Barnard led Waldron with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Twin brother Jordan Boarnard had 21 points and tied the Class A state finals record with 14 rebounds. Jordan Barnard also set the state finals record with six blocked shots.
1994: A moving crew pulled a house owned by Kevin Branson from land purchased for a runway expansion at the Shelbyville Municipal Airport to its new location on County Road 425 N.
1984: Remodeling was underway at the local Kmart store. The four-week project would conclude with a grand reopening.
Dale Hirschy, a former manager of the International Packing Corp. plant in Shelbyville, was named new president of IPC. The company had 260 employees at its two plants in Shelbyville, 256 workers in Morristown and seven at a plant in Rushville.
1974: L. Thomas Walker was named pastor of the newly organized Fens Pleasant Grove Comunity Church, located on Columbus Road and 400 S.
1964: Following a major earthquake in Alaska, Shelbyville resident Mrs. James Tippin said she was trying to reach her brother, Don Reiter, who worked there. His wife, Loretta, and son both worked in the J.C. Penney store in Anchorage. The five-story structure’s front wall had collapsed during the quake.
A newspaper photo showed Jeff Cord holding a large (live) bunny he and his sister, Bambi, had received from their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Worland, for Easter. “The children were much more elated than their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cord,” The Shelbyville News reported.
1954: Robert “Bob” Mullen became the 41st recipient of the Paul Cross Medal. Rev. S.J. Cross presented the award in honor of his son Paul, who was killed in World War I.
LaRocket, built from the ground up by Robert Metz, 41 E. Locust St., was entered into the annual custom auto show in Indianapolis. Metz started with a 1938 LaSalle chassis and 1951 Oldsmobile Rocket engine, and used several other car parts in the creation.
1944: The Indianapolis region was ranked No. 2 for labor shortage during the war, the War Manpower Commission reported.
Joe J. Smith, who operated a liquor store on East Jackson St., encouraged locals to buy whiskey, beer, wine and gin before a new tax applied on April 1. Customers had to bring their own bottles due to wartime shortages.
1934: Jane Clark, 99, who lived west of Mt. Auburn, was the oldest of Shelby County’s 15,000 registered voters. Clark had been a widow 40 years and would celebrate her 100th birthday in October.
Baptisms at First Methodist Church on Easter would be performed with water brought from “the Jordan River of Palestine,” The Republican said. The water had been bottled by the church pastor on a recent visit to the Holy Land.
1924: Local police instructed news dealers to remove from their racks and discontinue the sale of 23 publications deemed obscene and lascivious. “Some of the magazines and booklets which are placed under the ban in this city and county as a result of the action are reported to have had large sales here,” The Republican said. The Shelby County Prosecutor’s office had obtained and reviewed copies of the outlets before the ban. Some of the magazine titles were “Whiz Bang,” “I Confess,” “Hot Dog,” “Flapper,” “Saucy Stories,” “Tattle,” and “Pajamas.”
1914: Mary Judd, the oldest Shelby County resident, celebrated her 98th birthday with an early party. Judd lived three miles southwest of Fairland and was “very proud” of the cow she owned, which had produced 1,000 pounds of butter over four years, The Republican said. Judd lived in a log cabin built with walnut logs in 1830.
OBITUARIES
Donald Forrest Orr Jr., 63, of Fairland, passed away Friday, March 29, 2024, at his daughter’s home. He was born February 17, 1961, at the Johnson County Memorial Hospital in Franklin, to Donald Forrest Orr and Rebecca (Butrum) Barker. Donald is survived by his step-father, Thurman L. Barker of Fairland; daughters, Mary Elizabeth Beard, Jessica Renee Blankenship, LeAnna Marie Orr and Pennie Rochelle Rawley and husband, Chris; sister, Penny Renee Buckalew and husband, Michael, of Pennsylvania; grandchildren, Jayden Anthony, Kayla Rochelle, Jaidan Maria, Jaxon Donald, Jordan Surie, Alesia Rose, Jace Olivia, Rebekah Elizabeth and Georgia Ann.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Donald attended Triton Central High School. He was formerly a mechanic at Jackson Automotive in Indianapolis.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to Noon, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Carmony-Ewing Chapel, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Funeral services will follow at Noon on Wednesday, at the funeral home.
Interment will be at Fairland Cemetery in Fairland. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cancer Association of Shelby County, PO Box 844, Shelbyville, Indiana 46176. Online condolences may be shared with Donald’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.