Thursday, January 9, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
Reflections on “Swifty” Bennett
“Swifty” Bennett plays football at the old Boys Club on W. Broadway St. | photo from the files of David Craig
Editor’s note: The mention of “Swifty” Bennett in yesterday’s edition prompted a reader to ask about an article I wrote for print shortly after his passing in November 2017. The article is republished below. - Kristiaan Rawlings
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
In addition to being optimistic and a hard worker, he was mononymous.
“If you said, ‘John,’ people would ask, ‘John, who?’ but if you said ‘Swifty,’ everyone in town knew who you were talking about,” John A. Hartnett, Jr. said in an interview with Saturday Shelby/Addison Times the day after Richard “Swifty” Bennett passed away.
Sure enough, a David Craig online post in 2014 was simply captioned: “Swifty playing football with a group of boys at the old club on W. Broadway St.” No further explanation necessary.
Bennett, 77, died Sunday (Nov. 5, 2017), over 15 years after heart problems and a stroke forced him into retirement from the Shelbyville Boys and Girls Club. He was born October 3, 1940, in Shelbyville, the son of Francis E. and Henrietta (Small) Bennett. As a teenager, he formed a close relationship with new Club executive director Ken Self and volunteered his free time and worked part-time over the next 15 years. He became full-time program director in 1969.
“Sometimes people forget that he did a number of things outside of the Boys Club,” Hartnett said, citing Swifty’s years coaching the Frisch’s baseball team in the 1960s, working in the Knothole league, and Scout leadership. But most Shelby County citizens knew Swifty from the Club.
“He was totally invested in the Boys Club,” Hartnett said. “I think he benefited a great deal from his relationship with Kenny Self.” In turn, Swifty served as a mentor to countless local kids in the decades that followed.
“I met Swifty the way most kids did...” Harnett recalled, “I was in second grade when Dad brought me to the Boys Club in 1966.”
Many remember him umpiring baseball games or supervising the Club’s gym or game room. Or maybe him in his famous shirt that read: “Rule #1: Swifty is always right / Rule #2: Refer to Rule #1.”
Swifty also was recipient of the Club’s Golden Boy Award in 1967 and won a lifetime achievement award in 2009. After Self passed away in 1983, Hartnett accepted the executive director position and built a close relationship with Swifty over the ensuing years.
“He’s a thread that goes back to the Club’s beginning,” Hartnett said. “People would stop by to ask how he’s doing.”
Swifty remained close to Hartnett even after retirement and Harnett transported him to medical appointments, as well as to the annual SCUFFY end-of-year drive and the Boys and Girls Club banquet.
In an interview with Saturday Shelby (Addison Times) in 2016, Swifty, then 76, said, “I just miss the kids, seeing kids I’d known bring in their own kids, too. I still have friends there and enjoy going to annual Christmas parties and fundraisers.”
Although he hated retiring early, Swifty, in true form, found the bright side.
“I go to Walmart to visit two to three times a week,” Swifty said in the interview. “There’s always bound to be someone that knows my face.”
Indeed, most locals recognized Swifty. “I once got on a cruise and heard someone call out, ‘Hi, Swifty!’” he said. Swifty also enjoyed visiting the Club in retirement.
“I was never married,” he said last year. “The Boys Club is what gave me my out.”
But over the seven months before his death, he lost mobility and couldn’t walk without assistance. Even when his doctor warned of existing complications, Swifty remained optimistic.
“That was his most endearing quality,” Hartnett said. “He always thought tomorrow would be better.”
While in an Indianapolis hospital shortly before passing, Swifty asked Hartnett over the phone to bring some items to his Ashford Place home in preparation for his soon return.
“He never made it back,” Hartnett said.
The man known simply as Swifty will be remembered for decades to come.
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelbyville High School girls basketball team (9-7) defeated Southport (8-7) on the road last night in overtime, 51-49. Hannah Baker scored 15, Sophia Asher added 11 points and Savannah Collins with 10.
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NATIONAL NEWS: The three-point revolution in the NBA kicked back into gear, as thus far this season is outpacing all previous years when it comes to shots from behind the paint. Bolstered by advocates who argue that there’s simply better ROI for lots of players by going for three, the trend is once again accelerating: So far 42.4 percent of shot attempts come from beyond the three-point line, already trending above the peak of 40 percent in 2022. (Sportico/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
Dec. 16, 1969, Part I
Greg Baker was crowned “Mr. Irresistible” at a bonfire and pep rally preceding Shelbyville’s triumph over Columbus. Greg’s 33 “hush cards” were followed by Mac Thurston and Jimmy Smith. Following the crowning, cheers were led by Mr. Doyle, Mr. Airhart and Mr. Farley.
Seventy members of the 8th grade football team and five cheerleaders accompanied by coaches Roger McGriff, Al Youmans and Roger Lawrie attended the Indiana-Iowa football game.
Art students supervised by Mrs. Roadrock and Mr. Clapp went to Heron Art Institute in Indianapolis to see the latest exhibits. Touring students were Paul Hook, Teresa Havens, Mike Simpson, Kathy Simmon, Janet Ederhart, Virginia Gibson, Gail Sipes, Dave Gosney, Ken Hileken, Dennis Danner and George Stephens.
A special convocation was held for SHS students. Gary Van Gendern presented “The Atomic World”, in which he demonstrated the basic principles of atomic energy and explained the importance of an atom in agriculture, industry and medicine. In one demonstration, he threw three plastic balls out to the audience. Three boys who caught them were asked to come to the stage. He explained that one of the three balls was radioactive, and by using a radiation tracer, he was able to locate the ball. He said the boy would not become radioactive just by touching the ball. Another boy was called from the audience to drink a solution of iodine and water. Mr. Van Gendern traced the solution through the body and found traces of iodine in the stomach and neck.
Mrs. Truman’s French classes had been studying the French national anthem. Students were taped singing in duets, trios and quartets. Sondra Finkel and Becky Bell harmonized and played the guitar, while Dan Hayes, Amy Thurston and Jan Metz create “quite a different version of the Marseillaise.”
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.
2005: Jim Mosher, Scott Larson and Trev Wade were all part of Shelbyville Golf LCC, new owners and managers of Blue River Golf Club. All services and facilities would be open to the public. Previously, the club was private and open only to Elks members. The new owners also planned to renovate the clubhouse and do away with the old pool facilities, which hadn’t been used in years.
1995: Southwestern girls won the Shelby County Tournament. Team members were Rena Drake, Kassie Messina, Melissa Hawley, Tifany Spurling, Mindy Mitchell, Emily Kuhn, Myranda Tungate, April Hupp, Amy Butcher, Alison Wright, Kim Hamilton and Keli Wendal. Bob White and Beth Spurling were the coaches and Laura Pearson was manager.
Waldron won the boys county tournament. Team members were Greg Benson, Chris Stephens, Matt Kuhn, Dustin Hartman, Brady Rife, Andrew Chandler, Ben Jones, Mauri Sasher, Steve Frye, Travis Huntsman and Jon Ross. The managers were Ralph Lux and Mike Dotson. Steve Cox was the coach, and assistant coaches were Bob Mullen, Scott Comer, Nick Lux and Rick Oliver.
1985: Triton Central won the boys Shelby County Tournament. Team members were Joe Crist, Scott New, Tim Lacy, Joe Brown, Brian Ballard, Ashley Allen, Doug Skinner, Steve Elliott, Rick Crafton, Ryan Ross, Scott Green and Brad Mullens. John Huffman was manager, Hank West was the head coach, and assistant coaches were John Bowers, Jerry Lantz and Bill Bastin.
Triton Central also won the girls tournament. Team members were Lisa Poynter, Wendy Bond, Kelly Lusk, Mickey Knoop, Darla Cecil, Cindy Martin, Vanessa Meadows, Kim Brandman, Jodie Inman and Malinda Jones. Larry Pringle was the head coach and Denise Jacobs was the assistant coach.
1975: “The Art of Marriage”, an adult educational film by the Nevada Institute for Family Studies, was on at the Cinema, 11:15 p.m. Adults, 18-and-over, only.
1965: A Shelco Motors garage and auto agency was under construction near Progress Road and East State Road 44. The agency previously operated on E. Broadway.
1955: The newly opened Indiana Bell Telephone Co. at Broadway and Tompkins St. began operating. James Brake was the manager. Employees included Mildred Webster, Rosamond Cotton, June Moberly and Ina Haehl.
1945: Sheldon Keith, 25, Corporal Technician, had been missing in action in Belgium since Dec. 17, according to a War Department telegram sent to his mother, Bessie Keith, 704 Morris Ave. Keith had served as manager of Forest Hill Cemetery after the death of his father, Jesse Keith, until he entered the armed services. His brother, Pvt. Paul Keith, was serving in Germany.
There had been 431 births and 294 deaths in Shelby County in 1944, Dr. Fred Inlow reported.
1935: The Shelby County Conservation Club, formerly the Shelby County Fishing and Hunting Club, circulated a petition for construction of a 20-foot dam on the Flat Rock River at the old Monroe Mill Dam site west of the cave. The affected section of the river would be from the covered bridge on State Road 9 east to the iron bridge near Geneva. The Conservation Club also announced an upcoming “crow massacre” throughout the county, starting in Marietta and moving east. For every 200 crows’ feet turned in, a quail or pheasant would be given as a reward.
County Commissioners discussed “dustproofing” the Shoestring pike in Moral Township by blacktopping it. In other business, commissioners agreed to weatherproof the courthouse windows and purchase two more cots for the jail.
1925: A near-total solar eclipse for Shelby County would occur on Saturday, January 24, The Republican reported. The almanac, however, was predicting heavy fog. “Scientists have figured that the next time it will occur in the same section will be 2024,” the paper said.
1915: Shelbyville High School’s basketball team defeated Edinburg, 46-5. “Only for a few moments at the start of the contest did the Edinburg boys play in anything near the form that was displayed by the locals. After this spurt, however, they were never in the game,” The Republican reported.
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
OBITUARIES
Charles Dale Havens, 74, of Whiteland, passed away Tuesday January 7, 2025, at his residence. He was born May 26, 1950 in Indianapolis, Ind., to Clifford Dale Havens and Delphia (Golden) Havens. Charles married Lisa Mae (Jones) Havens on May 27, 1988, and she preceded him in death on May 17, 2007.
Charles graduated from Shelbyville High School with the class of 1968. He proudly served his country with the Indiana Army National Guard. He worked at Chrysler and retired from there with 30 years of service. He went to work at Jupiter Coil Coating for seven years before completely retiring. Charles enjoyed playing golf, shooting pool and traveling all over. He also enjoyed reading and listening to music. He had a passion for auto body work and riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. His greatest joy was spending time with his family and making memories with his children and grandchildren
He is survived by his sons, Cody Havens and Ryan Havens; his daughters, Heather (husband, Joshua) Wenger, Kayla Havens and Abigale Havens; and his grandchildren, Joseph Smith, Katelyn Havens, Ellie Wenger, Sawyer Wenger, Kellen Wenger, Ryder Havens, Emersyn Havens and Elias Butte. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife.
Visitation will be Sunday, January 12, 2025 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Murphy-Parks Funeral Service, 703 S. Harrison Street, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Funeral Services will be Monday, January 13, 2025 at 10 a.m. at Murphy-Parks Funeral Service with Father Mike Keucher officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. Funeral Directors Greg Parks, Sheila Parks and Stuart Parks are honored to serve Charles’s family. Memorial contributions may be given to Cancer Association of Shelby County, 31 Public Square, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176, in honor of Charles. Online condolences may be shared at www.murphyparks.com.