Saturday, May 27, 2023

Awards Conclude School Year

Shia Veach, an eighth grader and the son of Eli and Britney Veach, accepts the Commitment to Education Award from Shelbyville Middle School Principal Wes Hall during this week’s awards ceremony. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS

Principal Wes Hall seemed pleased as he looked out at the packed “cafetorium.”

“How awesome is this?” he asked students and family members filling every seat and overflowing into the locker areas at Monday’s Shelbyville Middle School annual awards ceremony. “This is what happens when you haven't had in-person awards (since pre-pandemic).”

Academic awards were distributed for all three grade levels, and eighth graders Gabriel Cueto-Ramos and Shayden Schiloski were co-recipients of the Roland Stine Award, presented by Dennis Wydau of the Shelbyville Kiwanis Club.

Wednesday was the final day before summer break for Shelbyville Central Schools students. Middle school students surveyed reported the following as favorite last-week activities:

• Visiting the outdoor ecology lab, including checking on trees students recently planted

• Signing yearbooks

• Having friends spend the night before the last day of school

• Eighth grade trip to Kings Island

• Watching a movie at lunch

• Sentence diagramming with sidewalk chalk

• Exchanging (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) points for rewards

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NOTEBOOK

• The annual Shelby County Memorial Day program will be held on the courthouse lawn, Monday, May 29. The Shelby Community Band plays at 10 a.m., the Blue River Community Choir performs at 10:30 a.m. and the program begins at 11 a.m.

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This Week in Shelby County History

2018: Southwestern High School high jumper Drew Drake advanced to state action. It was the fourth year in a row the school would be represented at the state meet.

Shelbyville senior softball player Katie Lux was named Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Academic All-State.

2013: Matthew Gant, a 15-year-old Shelbyville Boy Scout, finished building the outdoor sign for Morristown Elementary School he had designed. Gant, who had the assistance of a sign maker in Greenfield, said he hoped to next earn Eagle Scout rank.

2008: Local Democrats, led by Chairwoman Noell Krughoff, appointed Ben Adams to run against Republican incumbent Tony Newton for a Board of Commissioners seat.

Adam Persinger was named valedictorian at Triton Central High School and Jacob Beaty was salutatorian. The two had been best friends since before kindergarten.

2003: Shelbyville’s 13-and-under AAU girls basketball team won first place in a Columbus tournament, qualifying for state finals action. Team members were Kate Kolls, Morgan Clapp, Traci Crouse, Amber Reid, Melanie Clark, Sarah Wheeler, Karissa King, Leslie Durbin and Brittany Gilsdorf. Coaches were Kellie Larrabee and Jeff Kolls.

Long-time Southwestern teacher Charlene Taylor retired after 42 years in the field. An open house was held in her honor at the high school.

1998: Shelbyville High School’s girls tennis team won the sectional with victories by singles players Jill Peters and Kate Vaught and the doubles teams of Kelly Wanstrath and Julie Kingen and Mandy Pouder and Katie Thopy, the latter pair improving to 18-1 on the season. Also on the team were Katie Gruesser, Jessica Wethington, Anita Nigh, Amber Nash and Michelle Warble. Dave Childres was coach.

Waldron’s Teresa Kamleiter and Amber Cox and Shelbyville’s Andreas Brown advanced to the state track and field meet.

1993: Shelbyville’s Misty Smith and Waldron’s Amy Fischer were selected to play on a team of Indiana high school girls players touring Australia for 10 days during the summer.

Shelbyville won the boys track and field sectional. Members of the team were Jason Wischmeyer, Jason Brandt, J.C. Gibson, Ryan Robison, Matt Holbrook, Travis Sosbe, Jay Steele, Chris McRoberts, David Hart, David Baker, Steve Browning, Billy Elliot, Charles Boger, John Wilkins, Derek Conners and Jade Branam. Coaches were Pat Parks and Dennis Hearne.

1988: A newspaper photo showed George Arthur, 80, refilling his seven soda machines in front of his gas station on South Harrison Street. He said he sold “pert near any kind of pop,” which he restocked every morning. “They say it’s the coldest pop in town,” Arthur said.

1983: Workers used a crane to lift the reconstructed twin towers at St. Joseph Catholic Church, replacing the previous wooden towers with aluminum ones.

1978: Jeff Martin, a 1977 Shelbyville graduate, won junior college All-American designation in track and field after breaking his own Illinois Valley Community College shot put record. Shelbyville’s Lonnie Denton had also been named an All-American for football at the Oglesby, Ill. school.

1973: A newspaper photo showed children enjoying an end-of year pool party at the high school pool, which had been rented by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Yeager for the Loper Elementary sixth grade graduating class. After the party, class members were dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Yeager and their daughter, Tracy.

Shelby County physician Dr. Robert Gehres, 75, died. He had opened a local practice here in 1926. He had served in both World War I and II.

1968: Shelbyville won the conference tournament behind the strong right arm of junior pitcher Mike Wagner. The team, coached by Carl Hughes, had just two seniors. It was the school’s first outright baseball conference championship. The 1948 and ‘49 Bears had shared top honors.

1963: Shelbyville High School’s Dan Barnett was recognized as valedictorian. The Vestavia Club Award, given to the top girl student in the senior class, was given to Lana Jo Livingston. New valedictorian plaques were also presented to the school by the Hi-Y Club, recognizing winners since the new school had been built. Previous recipients’ names on the plaques were Kay Crafton, North Thurston and Janet Kaster.

1958: Robert “Bob” Zimny, 36, was named head football coach at Shelbyville High School. Zimny, who was married and had two children, had been assistant football coach for the previous three years at Montana State University.

Airman Marvin Toll of Shelbyville was selected to attend military technical training classes. He had been in basic training in Texas.

1953: Shelbyville High School commencement ceremonies were held at Paul Cross Gym for 110 graduates. The band, under direction of Fritz Chesser, and the Singing Stars, directed by Martin Schulz, performed. Class President Jim Plymate and class members Jerry Higgins, Bill Barnard and Barbara Brunner delivered speeches.

1948: Rita Weintraut was crowned queen of the Shelbyville High School junior prom. The gymnasium had been decorated with flowers and greenery and at one end stood a fountain arranged in a rock garden setting with colored lighting. Crowning duties were handled by Bill Richeson, president of the junior class. Other candidates were Julie Standish, escorted by Ray Ewick, and Dottie St. John, escorted by Tom Payne. Junior class sponsors were J.M. McKeand, Esther Kinsley and Eva Swanson.

More than 700 flags were placed near graves of veterans in county cemeteries, including 355 at Forest Hill, and 110 crosses were installed for the first time on the courthouse lawn in recognition of Memorial Day. Francis Forsyth was chairman of the new cross memorial project.

1943: Edwin Morner was re-elected president of the Forest Hill Cemetery Association. Morner also served as superintendent of the cemetery in the absence of Pfc. Sheldon Keith, who was in the U.S. Army. Other members of the board were George Walker, Mary Siefert, Walter Hungerford, Albert Henry, Harry Lawson and Charles Ewing.

Eight Shelbyville High School seniors had joined the armed services during the second semester, and their diplomas would be presented to their parents. Four other boys - William Ford, Morris Smith, Dennis Barlow and Sherman Jenkins - had withdrawn during the first semester to join the armed forces and thus were not eligible for a diploma.

1938: Five hundred residents and former residents of Morristown gathered for the 103rd annual program of the Diapason, held at the Morristown Christian Church. Sam Phares served as leader for the program. J.B. Carney, of Shelbyville, was president of the Diapason Singing Class.

All 2,000 Shelbyville students were dismissed at 11:47 a.m. for the summer. They were to return two days later at 1 p.m. to retrieve report cards.

1933: A program was held at Paul Cross Gym to showcase local elementary students’ musical talents. The goal was to show the value of music instruction in grade schools.

1928: A local farm laborer was arraigned on a charge of carrying concealed weapons following an argument with a co-worker.

1923: “Morristown residents had plenty of real beer in their midst at an early hour this morning as the result of a big Reo truck going over an embankment about one mile north of Morristown,” The Republican reported. The 18 barrels of beer confiscated from the illegal operation were moved to the basement of the Shelby County jail.