Thursday, February 9, 2023
24 Hours in Addison Township: 7:13 p.m.
Shelbyville Middle School students cheer on the eighth grade volleyball team in this photo taken last fall. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
NOTEBOOK:
The following items are on next week’s Shelby County Plan Commission meeting agenda, set for Tuesday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m., at the courthouse annex:
Once again take up a variance request from Farnsley Family Farm, LLC, to allow four single-family lots to utilize a single private driveway at 7092 East Short Blue Road, Shelbyville. The Board continued the case in December after hearing neighbors’ concerns, and the petitioner has since reduced the requested number of lots from seven to four. The county planning staff recommends the board deny the petition “because the significant distance between the homesites and the public road could cause confusion in locating the properties in the case of an emergency,” the staff report states. The report suggested three stipulations if the board chooses to approve the variance.
Hear requests for variances to allow for ground and directional signs at all three Triton Central schools. County planning staff is recommending approval “primarily because the relatively small deviation from ordinance requirements would improve sign visibility without allowing signage harmful to property values or community appearance,” the staff report states.
The Shelbyville Fire Department yesterday wished a happy retirement to Battalion Chief Doug Lutes, who started with SFD in 1997. He will continue teaching aspiring firefighters at Blue River Career Programs.
A Wind Advisory is in effect for southern parts of Central Indiana, including Shelby County, today. The National Weather Service - Indianapolis reported gusts of 50-55 mph are likely at times with up to 60 mph possible in the Indianapolis region.
HOOSIER NEWS: A new clean-energy project near Danville is converting about 60 acres of land from growing traditional farm crops to harvesting power from the sun. The Hendricks Power Cooperative is partnering with Carmel-based Solential Energy to build a $12 million solar array that will provide 7 megawatts to the coop’s 35,000 members in Hendricks County and western central Indiana. In Indiana, one megawatt can power more than 100 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Named after the family that donated the land northeast of Danville, the C& B Graham Solar Energy Project should begin generating power this summer. It will be the largest solar array operated by a member-owned rural electric co-op in Indiana, and help Hendricks Power diversify its power sources. The co-op currently distributes electricity generated from coal, gas, solar and wind purchased through the Wabash Valley Power Association. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: The conclusion of the NFL season this coming Sunday means that it will be months until one of the most recognizable theme songs on American television is heard again, Carrie Underwood’s “Sunday Night Football” song. It’s been the theme song on what is technically the most popular show in America since its introduction in 2006, and is unique in the sense that it’s simultaneously the same song every week, but also a different song every week. Every year, Underwood records 85 permutations of lines in the song describing the competitors, the expectations regarding the contest, or other spins deliberately derived from the nature of the game. (New York Times)
SHELBY COUNTY PEOPLE & PLACES: HATTIE HENDRICKSON
Hattie (Rehme) Hendrickson, who spent her career as buyer and manager at the J.G. DePrez Store, was one of 12 children who grew up at 266 West Broadway Street. Hendrickson passed away at age 91 in 1982 and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Editor’s note: In the mid- to late 1940s, The Shelbyville Republican published a series of articles by Ave Lewis and Hortense Montgomery covering community people and places. Below is one of those features.
How many of you women can say that you never get tired of washing dishes? Mrs. Hattie Hendrickson swears she never has and never expects to. And for a long, long time she's been helping with the task, not only at home but in her capacity as buyer and manager of the china and glassware department at the J.G. DePrez Store.
But maybe it's because china, glassware and other beautiful things for a home are Mrs. Hendrickson's hobby, and to her aren't just something to use at a table, then hurry to get washed and back in the cabinet. They're something to be treated lovingly, and that's the treatment they get when she cleans and arranges them for display in her department.
The title "Mrs. Hendrickson" doesn't fit this tall, friendly woman very well. She's "Hattie" to everyone, and if there were statistics available, they probably would reveal that she knows more people in Shelby County than any other woman around. People who don't know her surname are apt to tell their friends contemplating a gift purchase, “Just look for Hattie; she'll show you.” She says that many of her Christmas cards are addressed simply "Miss Hattie, DePrez Store."
Hattie started working at the DePrez Store in December 1920, as an extra check during the Christmas rush. Her efficiency and interest in the department and her pleasant way with the public wasn't overlooked by the late J.G. DePrez, founder of the store, and before the Christmas season was over she had been asked to remain on the job. At that time the late Mrs. Ruth Bennett and August DePrez were buyers for the department. Hattie was made a buyer in January 1921, after Mrs. Bennett became ill and left the establishment. She says that many of the same salesmen have been calling for many years, and that one, Charles Price, who represents the Fostoria Glass Company, was visiting the store before she began her job.
The china department today is much larger than in the early days and has been enlarged twice to accommodate a constantly growing business. Mrs. Hendrickson notes that each year women are becoming increasingly interested in beautiful things for their homes. Time was, she says, when housewives weren't so particular whether their dishes "matched" or not. But now they want their kitchen china to be as beautiful as that used on more formal occasions and all their kitchenware to be attractive as well as useful. This in part, she thinks, is due to the Home Economics Club work, which stresses beauty and harmony as well as efficiency in household appointments.
Hattie keeps records of gifts for brides and brides-to-be so there will be no duplications at showers, etc., and it's the brides of today who make her realize that she's been working for more than two decades. "I sold to the mothers and now I'm selling to the daughters," she says. Too, since the DePrez store each week is a "meeting place" for many people, she misses familiar faces as they drop from the scene. When death takes its toll in a family it's like losing a good friend to her, even though her only contact with the group is through visiting in the store.
She beams with pride when some line in her department is praised and she's happy now that, for the first time since the war years, her stock is more nearly complete. Although many articles still are more or less rationed and hard to get. Mrs. Hendrickson is one of a family of 12 children, and they all were born in the large brick house at 266 West Broadway where her father, the late Frank Rehme, took her mother as a bride. It was one of the first houses on West Broadway and she remembers that she and her brothers and sisters could see the levee from their house as they played. The Rehme homestead was sold after the death of Mrs. Rehme seven years ago, and Hattie and her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Maynard Zinser, reside at 315 West Jackson street-immediately back of their old home.
Hattie is a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church and formerly was active in its organizations and in the American Legion auxiliary. But her outside interests now center on her family. She has two daughters, Mrs. Lawrence Bornhorst, who lives here, and Mrs. Richard Malloy, whose home is in Columbus. Each of the two daughters has two children, so it's easy to guess that the likes and dislikes of the little folks is one of her favorite subjects.
But she sums up her “story” by saying, “My hobby is beautiful things, and my ambition is to continue serving the public for the rest of my life.”
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: 2003
Lifelong Shelbyville resident Mark McNeely announced he was running for the 2nd Ward seat on the Shelbyville Common Council in the Democratic primary. McNeely had practiced law for 29 years, serving as the city attorney from 1992 to 1996 and as the Shelby County Welfare attorney from 1976 to 1984. McNeely graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1965, and from Franklin College and Indiana University Law School. He and his wife Nancy had four children: Amy Lyon, Patrick McNeely, Mary McNeely and John Bybee.
30 YEARS AGO: 1993
“To the delight of schoolchildren and the disgust of drivers, Shelby County greeted 5 inches of snow today,” The Shelbyville news reported. All four local school systems were closed.
40 YEARS AGO: 1983
The Shelbyville Police Department received four new Mossberg shotguns donated by the four Shelby County banks. The police planned to keep the guns in their cars, Police Chief Bob Nolley said. John Haymond, State Bank of Waldron; Don Sexton, Shelby National; Betsy Stephen, Farmers National; and Bob Barger, Central Indiana, presented the guns to Sgt. Rick Phillips and Nolley.
50 YEARS AGO: 1973
With an investment of less than $1,000, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department constructed an 11-by-18-foot deputies’ workroom and a slightly smaller property storage room in part of the garage area of the jail annex. Construction and wiring of the rooms was done by John Benson and Sons of the Waldron area, the deputies pitched in to buy carpet, and slightly blemished storage desks and a counter top were donated by the local Welsh Kitchens firm. Norman Collins, Larry Vanosdol, Rick Isgrigg, Sheriff Norman Murnan, Thomas Debaun and Michael Shaw often worked in the room.
60 YEARS AGO: 1963
The following Southwestern High School athletes received award jackets at a special school program: Jerry Petro, Kenneth Gorrell, Dave Stanton, Bob Goble, Brian Garrett, Larry Williams, John Branson and Morris Emerick.
70 YEARS AGO: 1953
Junior and senior class members of Boggstown High School visited the Indiana state legislature, accompanied by Principal Harry Richey. A similar group from Flat Rock High School, accompanied by Principal Charles Wetzel, also visited. Three local youth served as pages: Oren Olinger, Barry Smith and John Brant.
Sheriff Robert Meltzer and his deputies organized a posse to track down and kill two reported wolves in the vicinity of Smithland. The group would meet at Hill’s Grocery to organize.
80 YEARS AGO: 1943
Atterbury officials came to Shelbyville to interview candidates for civilian jobs. Most of the positions were for girls ages 18 to 40 in the personnel department.
90 YEARS AGO: 1933
With the lower floor of Major Hospital closed off due to budget restraints, the remaining rooms were overflowing with patients. The hospital re-opened a few rooms temporarily in order to relieve the congestion. Despite rumors the hospital would close for good, both the mayor and members of the council said funds would continue to be provided, though “the hospital would have to economize to the fullest extent,” The Republican reported.
County employees were given a partial paycheck while officials looked to secure a loan to cover February and March payrolls.
100 YEARS AGO: 1923
George M. Ray, former Shelbyville newspaper publisher, was barred from the Indiana House of Representatives by a unanimous vote. The house resolution charged Ray with being “a self-appointed censor” of the body.
INCIDENTS
A vehicle hit a deer on W 300 N, Shelbyville. The driver said there were several deer in the vicinity.
Theft was reported in the 100 block of Walker St., Shelbyville.
JAIL BOOK-INS: Eric S. Alexander, 49, dealing meth, possession meth, DWS-prior, possession paraphernalia; John W. Coomer, 34, possession of meth, marijuana, syringe, violation of special driving privileges; Angel D. Cowen, 42, house arrest violation; Farron N. Doolin, 34, possession of meth; Gilberto V. Garcia, 51, possession of child porn, probation hold; Codey A. Martin, 28, failure to appear.
OBITUARIES
None today