Sunday, November 3, 2024

Nov 03, 2024

Thanksgiving may be up next, but there were plenty of signs of Christmas - literally and figuratively - at yesterday’s Gift & Hobby Show, hosted by Delta Theta Tau Sorority, Zeta Lambda Chapter, at Shelbyville Middle School. | photo by JACK BOYCE

Public Sculpture Initiative in the Works

Unpainted bears, created by Chicago Fiberglass Works, will be completed by Hoosier artists and placed around Shelby County. | submitted

A public sculpture initiative will be the next Blue River Community Foundation Pride in Place project. The theme, “Goin’ on a Bear Hunt,” pays tribute to Charles Major’s “Bears of Blue River” children’s book. Six 5-foot fiberglass bears will be customized by professional Indiana artists: Greg Potter, Abbi Kay Baumann, Gabriel Lehman, Abigail Staffelbach, Jill Coen and Zach Medler. The sculptures will be placed at the Shelby Mills river deck, Meltzer Woods - Liberty Township Schoolhouse No. 2, Blue River Memorial Park fishing pier, Flat Rock Community Park and Fairland Community Park.

Grants from Lilly Endowment Inc., MIBOR REALTOR Association, and Shelby County Tourism and Visitors Bureau supported the Pride In Place project. Shares Inc. transported the bears to the artists. When the art is complete, Blue River Career Program students will put a final automotive clear coat on the sculptures to help make them weather resistant. More information on the Foundation’s Pride in Place program can be accessed here.

NOTEBOOK:

Approximately 10,000 Shelby County voters have cast a ballot so far, including mail-in and those from assisted living facilities. (Not all issued mail ballots have been returned.) There were 11,702 Shelby County ballots cast in the 2022 election and 19,531 in the 2020 presidential election.
The City of Shelbyville Street Department will begin collecting leaves starting Monday, Nov. 4, typically on regular trash collection day. “However, as the leaves fall more quickly, there may be some delays, so we kindly ask for your patience as they work through the schedule,” a city post said. Residents are asked to pile leaves loose at the curbside in front of homes, not in the street gutter.
The Addison Times will once again publish local election results when they become official. Look for the Election Edition in your inbox Tuesday night!
NATIONAL NEWS: The canon of Christmas music is famously nostalgic, with 78 percent of the most well-known Christmas songs being composed prior to 1990. Halloween, however, is the holiday of youth, as only 35 percent of songs on the comparable flagship Spotify playlist are from prior to 1990. Yes, Bobby “Boris” Pickett of “The Monster Mash” was a man ahead of his time, with music specifically related to Halloween only recently coming into its own, not the least because any chance to write a song that gets played nonstop for one month of the year is a great way to enjoy music residuals forever. For instance, Billboard estimated that “The Monster Mash” pulls $1 million in revenue annually, which isn’t Mariah Carey numbers ($8.5 million a year for “All I Want For Christmas Is You”) but is not that far off all things considered. (Numlock)
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Press Release: Blue River Community Foundation Winter Scholarship Application Cycle

Blue River Community Foundation’s (BRCF) winter scholarship application cycle is now open at blueriverfoundation.com. Scholarships awarded during this cycle will be distributed during the summer of 2025 for the 2025-26 academic year. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2025.

High school students on track to graduate by June 30, 2025, along with current college students, graduate students, and nontraditional students pursuing post-secondary credentials, are encouraged to apply. A unique feature of BRCF’s application process is that applicants complete one application to qualify for all available scholarships in which they are eligible. Specific criteria, requirements, and application instructions, as well as a list of scholarships, can be found in the BRCF Scholarship Resource Guide for Students on the Foundation’s website under the Scholarships tab.

Current high school seniors who completed an application during BRCF’s summer application cycle do not have to reapply during this cycle to be considered for BRCF scholarships for which they are eligible. However, as directed in the application process, completion of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required. This year, due to changes in the FAFSA timeline, all applicants, regardless of the cycle in which they applied, have until February 15, 2025, to email their student aid index (SAI) score to BRCF.

Since 1994, BRCF has invested over $7.9 million in students pursuing post-secondary education. This amount represents over $2.7 million which has been awarded to Shelby County’s 43 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipients and is made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc., as well as $5.2 million awarded to students from BRCF Scholarship Funds. This past spring, 203 scholarships were awarded among 140 recipients totaling over $465,000 from over 100 active scholarship funds administered by BRCF. In addition, several new scholarship funds were established at BRCF over the past year, increasing the total award pool for the 2025 cohort to over $500,000. These scholarship funds are made possible through the generosity of our donors, who recognize the critical need of financial assistance in covering the costs of higher education.

For more information on BRCF’s scholarship application process, please contact Julie Alvis, Communications and Scholarships Director, at 317-392-7955 ext. 102, or jalvis@blueriverfoundation.com.

SHS Courier Archive Highlights:

January 30, 1970, Part I

There were 41 trophies in the athletics display case in the gym lobby. In the southeast corner of the arena, there were 22 basketball trophies, seven track, six baseball, three golf, one cross country and two tennis awards. Special attention was given to the 1967-68 SCC trophy, which was given each year to the conference school with the best season in all sports combined. SHS had won only one of those.
SHS graduate Carl E. Brown (1968) had been assigned to the Military Police in Vietnam.
Members of the SHS Dance Band under the direction of Gary L. Myers and individuals from the band went to the Indiana Central College Solo and Ensemble contest. Participants were Pat O’Neal, Connie Reeves, Kathy Wilson, Marnie Sheaffer, Elizabeth Tower, Dave Borst, Pat Landwerlen, Greg Adams, Jim Hall, John Matchett, Tom Plymate, Sherry Davis, Tony Carpenter, Brenda McNeely, Dennis Metz and Cindy Schnaiter.
Three SHS students, Ray Wetnight, Phil Wilson and Keith Ramsey, toured Caldwell-VanRiper Inc. The tour was part of the program of the Shelby County Graphic Arts Explorer Post. John C. DePrez Jr. accompanied the students on the trip.
Mr. Callis was a new teacher at SHS, teaching wood-working and power mechanics.
The Courier encouraged students to attend wrestling meets, which were typically only attended by about 20 students.
Student artists Teresa Havens and Kristene Kendall displayed their work in a library showcase.
Twenty-four U.S. History students formed an Honors History class. They were Ron Browning, Gary Cooke, Randy Dalton, Mike Elkins, Bonnie Gibson, Susan Gushwa, Lewis Hoff, Millie King, Cheryl Kuhn, Jim McWhorter, Beth Miller, Aileen Mohr, Connie Monroe, Ginger Neal, Todd Plymate, Marsha Rash, Ellen Scheff, Kathy Shaw, Royce Skinner, Rhonda Steffey, Tony Swinehart, Karl Wickizer, Connie Williams and Bob Zerr. Mr. Klene (below) was the teacher.

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.

2014: Editor’s note: Due to a microfilm processing error, the 2014 section for the next couple of weeks will serve to memorialize a local individual who passed away that year.) Richard “Dick” Kitchen, 74, passed away Oct. 20. Kitchen had served in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1961. He had been a real estate broker since 1969, working at Carpenter Realty for several years. He had also owned and operated Kitchin Realty. He was an ambassador of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and served on numerous boards.

2004: Three Sisters Books & Gifts, 7 Public Square, hosted a pajama party, during which “The Polar Express” was read.

1994: George L. Stubbs, 82, passed away. He had been the senior partner in the Stubbs & Meltzer law firm, 220 S. Harrison St., and was the second-oldest practicing attorney in Shelby County as well as one of the oldest in the state. Fred Cramer, the oldest active attorney in the county at 87, said Stubbs’ death was “a great loss to the legal profession here. He had a reputation for his outstanding ability and was known for his integrity and honesty.” Cramer said Stubbs often asked when he would retire so that Stubbs could be the oldest attorney in the county. Charles O’Connor had been a partner in the firm before becoming judge of Circuit Court. “I probably learned more about the practice of law and particularly probate law in those four years than I knew before. But above all of that, I learned about people and how to deal with them. George had a unique style for working with people,” O’Connor said. “I have never heard anyone say anything bad about him.” Stubbs had been a recipient of the Rotary Club’s Arts and Humanities Award and was a cartoonist for The Shelbyville News for some 40 years before retiring in 1993. Norman Thurston had said of Stubbs, “There isn’t a finer man in Shelbyville.”

1984: Some local kids had been surprised while trick-or-treating along West Broadway on Halloween. At one house, the door was opened by Gov. Robert Orr, who was in the city at a fund-raising event. The governor said hello to parents and children. (He passed out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.)

1974: Mike Evans of Flat Rock, 9, was the youngest recipient of an award when the Indiana Amateur Athletic Union honored 16 athletes of national or international standing at the Indianapolis Athletic Club. Evans received recognition for his expertise on the trampoline.

1964: A newspaper photo showed teens packing The Rec on West Franklin St. There were 700 members in the organization. Activities included dancing, pool and ping-pong.

1954: Paul Grecian, Shelby County native and World War II veteran who had become a top piano performers, opened a nightly engagement at Shelbyville’s Uptown Tavern, 108 S. Harrison St., owned and operated by Carl Bogemann. Grecian was a graduate of Flat Rock High School and Indiana University.

Local Democrats chalked up a major victory, claiming 15 of the 16 county posts on the ballot. Robert Sheaffer, elected as prosecutor, was the only Republican to win. Among the Democrat winners was Carson King, Herrin Brown, Robert Meltzer, Fred Courtney, Joseph Long, Thomas Wheeler, Raymond Yarling and John Cunningham. Democrats won 11 of 14 trustee offices.

1944: Local farmers were likely to lose $60,000 in aggregate due to a tin can shortage. The farmers had turned over their bumper crop to local canning establishments, but were 67,000 cans short of the amount needed.

Shelby County students collected enough milkweed pods to provide material for 600 military life jackets.

1934: Members of First Christian Church held four special services in one day to mark the church’s 100th anniversary.

1924: Police were busy rounding up several young men who had been responsible for acts of vandalism, including throwing oil and paint on houses, damaging the city park entrance, tearing and turning over a bridge in the park and splashing paint on the steps of the high school and indoor stairs.

A local man was arrested for stealing an automobile clock.

1914: The Shelbyville Republican reported that Election Day “was a quiet one.” The returns, however, were “exceedingly slow in coming in.” The paper said those “who found it detrimental to their nervous systems to await the outcome of the election” had taken up drinking.

OBITUARIES

None today.

The Addison Times