Ribbon-Cutting Held to Mark Morrison Park Updates

photo by JACK BOYCE

Laura Morrison saw a need and filled a need for the greater good. Over a century later, her lasting contribution, a public park near the current Boys and Girls Club and Girls Inc., has been refurbished and rededicated in honor of its importance to the community.

“To me, this park symbolizes the best of Shelbyville. If you know much about our community's history, you know that we have a legacy of giving,” Sarah Newkirk said. She assisted project leader Noah Henderson on the recent refreshing of the original city park, which was created in 1916 thanks to Morrison’s efforts.

Former Mayor Bob Williams yesterday read the 1928 city proclamation renaming the park in Morrison’s honor.

In 1934, parks department employee Herbert C. Davis saw the interurban tracks being dismantled and persuaded city staff to collect the rails for use in the parks.

“Mr. Davis worked for months with his friends to build three sets of horseshoe pits, benches, a shelter house and a picnic table, which is the long one you see over there,” Newkirk said of the recently painted bench still in use.

Recent efforts, part of a Shelby County Bicentennial Legacy Project, also included new mulch added to the playground and under the benches, painting the shelter house and maintenance building, a Zen garden built by Girl Scout Troops 1325, 4135 and 4136, installing signage to explain various aspects of the park and cleaning and repairing the World War I memorial.

In homage to Laura Morrison’s interest in honoring the 42 local veterans who gave their lives in the first World War, VFW Commander Edie Seiler (pictured below) read “Flanders Field” and explained the significance of the poppy flower. “Buddy poppies” were passed out by VFW members yesterday at the downtown Farmers Market and at Walmart.

Although the ribbon cutting was held yesterday (pictured above), there is still more to come for Morrison Park: The newly painted maintenance building will soon feature a reproduction of the artwork once displayed on the old Morrison Park bandshell, re-designed by the original artist.

photo by JACK BOYCE

Father Knows Best

Dear readers,

We dedicate today to dear old dad. Let’s start with a few words from dad.

Tuck in your shirt.
Eat your vegetables.
Don’t forget to take out the trash.
What time did you get in last night?
Did you wash your hands?
Act like this isn’t the first time you’ve been out in public.
Comb your hair.
Is your homework done?
Go ask your mother.

Number ten at the Meltzer house for my son, Trent, would have been, “Did you smash the cans?” Trent wasn’t very fond of doing chores when he was a teenager.

Trent’s adolescent attitude, coupled with the fact that I was a “softie” or “pushover,” according to his mother, resulted in his only chore being smashing any aluminum cans we had accumulated during the week.

“Has Trent smashed the cans yet this week?” my wife Sandy would ask me. Then she would add, “Don’t you dare sneak out on the porch and smash them for him!” If Sandy hadn’t added that admonition, that is exactly what I would have done. Smashing the cans myself would have been much easier than getting Trent to do it.

I reached deep into my bag of dad tricks and lectures trying to get Trent to smash the cans. I reminded him of how easy his life was compared to mine when I was his age. I told him all about detasseling corn and passing newspapers. I told him about having to walk to and from school uphill and through the snow every day.

Trent reminded me that it was grandpa who had to walk to school in the snow, not me. He had me on that one.

I don’t know why Trent resisted smashing the cans. When the trash bag was full of smashed cans, we would take them to Greg Mings and exchange them for a two-dollar bill. I let him keep the two-dollar bill. It seemed to me like the best chore that a boy could have.

Finally, I gave up. I violated the dad code and let my teenager win the battle. I gave him my best “Ward Cleaver” dad lecture about responsibility and family being a team effort. I explained how not smashing the cans might seem insignificant, but it was a tremendous character-building experience, and he would come to regret it later in life.

As the years passed by, the topic of smashing cans would come up from time to time. It became somewhat of a family joke. I finally ended it a few years ago by doing what a dad should never do. I admitted that I was wrong.

It was soon after Governor Holcomb appointed Trent the Judge of the Shelby Circuit Court. I stopped by the court for a visit and in a private moment said to Trent, “Remember that lecture I gave you, when you were a teenager, about how you would come to regret not smashing the aluminum cans. Well, I was wrong.”

Every Father’s Day since, Trent always stops by the house, fishes a couple of cans out of the trash and smashes them for me.

BELOW: Columnist Kris Meltzer, son Trent, and Trent’s daughters (left to right) June, Pearl and Rose. The family spent a portion of this Father's day weekend at Morrison Park yesterday.

NOTEBOOK:

The Shelby County Board of Zoning Appeals last week approved a request to allow a 1,260 square foot garage/shop at 4635 W 1120 N, New Palestine, in Lakeview Estates, with a stipulation on the height. The City of Shelbyville Board of Zoning Appeals approved a request to extend the driveway at 45 W. Washington St. to meet the width of the entrance to the property from Jackson Street. The City BZA also approved a petition to allow a 22’ by 24’ extension onto an existing three-sided, open air storage building at 415 E. Hendricks St. The structure will add mini-storage units to the property.
Editor’s note: This year marks the 150th anniversary of Shelbyville High School. As part of our next special print edition, we would like to feature (brief) favorite SHS memories from our readers. This could be an unforgettable moment or maybe just a general recollection of daily life. I invite you to please share your memory for publication by replying to this email or sending a letter to The Addison Times, 310 W. South St., Shelbyville, IN, 46176, by June 30. Pictures are welcome, though not required. (Please identify anyone in the photo.) Also, please include your name and year of graduation. I look forward to reading your submissions in our upcoming edition. - Kristiaan Rawlings
HOOSIER NEWS: A man from Shelbyville who was accused of bringing a revolver loaded with hollow-point bullets onto U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has pleaded guilty to federal crimes. Mark Mazza, 57, will be sentenced for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, and carrying a pistol without a license, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He faces up to 20 years imprisonment for the first charge, and up to five years imprisonment for the second charge. Mazza was originally indicted by a grand jury on thirteen charges. “This case is the only case that I'm aware of where someone had a loaded firearm on Capitol grounds the day of Jan. 6,” Judge Zia Faruqui said. Court documents say Mazza brought a revolver loaded with two hollow-point rounds and three shotgun shells onto U.S. Capitol grounds, but he “lost possession” of the firearm at some point in the afternoon during the riots, the news release said. Later, Mazza stole a police baton from an officer and started swinging at other officers, hitting one in the arm, according to prosecutors. Two days after the insurrection, Mazza filed a false police report in Indiana claiming he'd lost his firearm at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati, court documents say. Mazza’s sentencing hearing will take place in September. (IndyStar)

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This Week in Shelby County" works by George L. Stubbs Sr. are owned by the Shelby County Historical Society (Grover Center) and used with permission.

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 from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.

20 YEARS AGO: 2002
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale could be felt in Shelby County. Many local residents reported picture frames rattling on their walls. “I was just here in the house, and I felt this shaking,” Jean Boyce told The Shelbyville News. “You can’t believe you’re standing still and the earth is moving.”

All 12 horse barns at the Shelby County Fairgrounds received a new coat of bright white metal siding and roofing and some lumber in spots. Longtime fair activist Carroll Thurston said some repairs had also been made to the grandstand and a fence installed at the track. Thurston said the grandstand had originally been modeled after the one at Churchill Downs, and that Confederate soldiers had built the track. “This may be the only wooden-covered grandstand left in this part of the country,” he said.

30 YEARS AGO: 1992
Triton Central schools received bids regarding adding a gymnasium and expanding the administration area at the elementary school and building an auditorium at the high school.

40 YEARS AGO: 1982
Unions were attempting to negotiate new contracts with three of Shelbyville’s largest factories: General Electric wire mill, Wellman Thermal Systems and Knauf Fiber Glass. The committee created a special toll “900” number to allow GE workers to receive updates on the New York-based negotiations while General Electric reportedly had imposed a news “blackout” on its end. Employees were seeking a “substantial” pay hike and increased benefits such as dependent health insurance, more vacation and guaranteed holiday pay.

50 YEARS AGO: 1972
International Packings of Indiana announced Morristown had been selected as the site of a new subsidiary of a Shelbyville firm. The Morristown plant would employ between 50 and 75 in a new 20,000 square-foot building. Land for the building was purchased from Charles Conover along U.S. 52. Richard Hidy, Shelbyville plant superintendent, and Sam Thiele, who would serve as Morristown plant manager, updated the Morristown Chamber of Commerce on the matter. IPI had started its Shelbyville operation in 1966 with 30 employees, and had grown to nearly 300 employees in just six years. A newspaper photo showed Thiele, Sam Jacobs, James Bateman Jr., Hidy and Richard Carlton reviewing the plans.

All women in the community were invited to a Sesquicentennial tea, held in the KCL Carriage House, 12 E. Polk St. Jean McCabe was in charge of the event. Don Barlow and John Merritt, organizers of the Brothers of the Brush, also announced the Brothers had challenged the Pony Express chapter to a tug-of-war at the fairgrounds. Beforehand, the Brothers would march to the fairgrounds from Public Square bearing a coffin symbolizing the burying of the razor for the summer season.

60 YEARS AGO: 1962
Tim Jonas was named “Baby of the Month” by the Chafee Studio. He received merchandise from Jester’s Dept. Store, Sanders Jewelry, Ewing’s Men’s Store, Worland Pharmacy and Plymate Cleaners as prizes.

Mark Davis, 13, caught a 5-pound, 25-inch catfish to win a trophy and transistor radio at the annual fish rodeo held at Kennedy Park. He caught the fish only moments before the 4 p.m. deadline and it was only four ounces larger than the second-biggest fish, hooked by both Ricky Paul and Larry Helms. Judy Turner, 17 months, received a trophy and a giant-sized stuffed dog for being the youngest girl to catch a fish. Judy was asleep in her mother’s arms during the presentation.

70 YEARS AGO: 1952
Barbara Reed was named queen of the St. Paul centennial celebration. She would be crowned by Gov. Henry Schricker the following week. Other top contestants had been Loraine Blanford, Patricia Craig, Nancy Myers, Betty Gray and Versie Wood. Men were participating in a beard contest. Prizes would be given by judges who were all old enough to remember beards from 75 years before. The judges were Charley Kline, 91, Don Lorrigan, 83, and Elijah Crosby, 80.

The bond was approved to construct an addition to the Van Buren township school in Fountaintown. It was the only school remaining in Shelby County which did not have facilities to serve hot lunches.

80 YEARS AGO: 1942
Howard Woodmansee, 9 W. Taylor St., narrowly escaped death when his Miller-Yarling dairy truck stalled on the State Road 29 railroad crossing just north of Shelbyville and was struck by an east-bound freight train. Woodmansee had jumped from the stalled vehicle before the impact.

County Agricultural Agent H.W.D. Brinson urged farmers to reduce travel by pooling their necessary trips to town in order to conserve rubber for the war effort. Rubber imports had been cut off with Japan previously controlling 98 percent of the rubber sources from which the U.S. had previously obtained its supply. Farmers in Shelby County owned 2,355 automobiles and 453 trucks, census data showed. The average age of the vehicles was six years old.

90 YEARS AGO: 1932
A religious tent meeting was held at the corner of Pike and Hendricks Streets, with evangelist Mehiel Lewchanin the guest speaker. Rev. Lewchanin had served in the Austrian forces in the world war.

Mrs. G.W. VanPelt, of N. Tompkins St., was the winner of the “Unique Store” contest conducted by Cleon McCabe’s Food Shop. The “unique feature” of the store was that no tobacco of any kind was sold there. VanPelt received $5 in merchandise as a prize.

100 YEARS AGO: 1922
Work on construction of the Joseph Memorial Fountain was underway as workers took up the brick pavement in the center of Public Square. Hiram Peters had the contract for the cement base. The Interstate Company was running cables to the center of the Square so the fountain could be lit. The start of construction had been held up for several weeks due to a strike of quarrymen in the Vermont granite quarries, preventing the shipment of the block of granite to be used on the fountain. Julius Joseph, who had been a local furniture manufacturer, had bequeathed the city $5,000 for the fountain, with instructions that it be placed in the center of Public Square.

OBITUARIES

None today

The Addison Times

Sunday, June 19, 2022