Thursday, November 21, 2024

Nov 21, 2024

PAVING THE WAY

The MHP employee parking lot is readied for expansion this week, a necessary project given vehicle counts at over 12,000 this year at the facility. | photo by JACK BOYCE

Wessic Named Recipient of Prestigious Industry Award

Linda Wessic, center, receives the Indiana Hospital Association’s Award of Merit at a recent organizational meeting in Indianapolis. She is pictured here with MHP President Ryan Claxton and retiring Chief Executive Officer Jack Horner. | submitted

Linda Wessic, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer at Major Health Partners (MHP), was named the 2024 Award of Merit recipient by the Indiana Hospital Association (IHA). The award is given in recognition of an individual who has made significant contributions to healthcare in Indiana.

Wessic, who has served at MHP for over four decades, helped lead the organization through a major expansion, including construction of a new medical center in 2017.

“Linda’s dedication to our patients, staff, and community is unmatched,” Ryan Claxton, MHP President, said in a statement. “Her leadership has not only transformed MHP, but also elevated the entire healthcare system in Shelby County.”

Under Wessic’s direction, MHP has consistently ranked among the top 20 percent of hospitals nationwide in areas such as quality of care, patient safety and patient satisfaction. She also introduced inpatient and outpatient dialysis services to the community, helped develop new maternal-child programs, expanded critical care, and improved hospital safety programs.

She also is actively involved in the community, serving numerous organizations, such as Shelby Senior Services, Major Hospital Foundation, Blue River Community Foundation and the Shelby County United Fund.

“Her impact on MHP and the broader healthcare community is immeasurable,” Claxton said. “This recognition is well-deserved.”

Addison Times Update

Thank you to CoreVision; Ellen Higgins; Angela & Curtis E. Jones; McNeely Law; and Paul & Nancy Nolting for your $500+ contribution yesterday, and thank you so much to each supporter who gave various amounts toward our 2025 fundraising goal.

Of the $44,500 goal, we have raised $35,921.55. Last year, many readers donated a one-time gift for 2025. This will not automatically renew. You can, however, make another one-time donation for 2025 either online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. We will once again provide a quarterly publication with extra news and photos in 2025 as a gift for your support of $100 or more. Any amount raised above the goal will be placed in a rainy day fund for 2026 operations and beyond. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history. I appreciate each of you. - Kristiaan Rawlings, Editor

NOTEBOOK:

The Shelbyville Central Schools board yesterday approved moving the Shelbyville High School commencement ceremony to Friday May 23, 7 p.m., in Garrett Gymnasium. Commencement was originally set for two weeks later, but seniors complete coursework on May 16, and the Student Leadership Council and Student Council were in favor of the change. Also, the annual Top Ten Banquet has been moved to February, which will honor top seniors after seven semesters.
The Shelbyville Common Council and Board of Public Works this week approved rejecting merit systems for the police and fire departments. Not that either of them had one anyway. Rather, the Board of Works functions as the administrative review body for matters such as standard operating procedures, promotions and demotions and disciplinary issues. However, a new state law requires municipalities with over 20,000 people to adopt or reject a merit board, which would consist of a board of citizens. “In reviewing all of this, and because of the intricacies of, specifically, the police department and all of their rules, we felt that it was best to keep it in the hands of individuals who are familiar with it,” City Attorney Jenny Meltzer told The Addison Times. Without city government action by the end of the year, a merit system would have been established automatically.
NATIONAL NEWS: Headed into the big weekend, Wicked is currently projected to win the weekend with a $100 million to $110 million domestic box office, a $20 million increase from previous tracking. The marketing is inescapable, and there are something like 400 brand partnerships trying to get you into the theater this weekend to see Oz. Other projections get it to something like $130 million, but we’ll see. Either way, it’s all but certain to beat Into the Woods’ $31 million to be the biggest debut for a Broadway adaptation. Gladiator II is projected to make $65 million, which would be pretty good for an R-rated movie, and needs a pretty big international sandalprint to make good on its $250 million budget. (Variety/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:

November 13, 1930

John Gould, local attorney, spoke at the SHS Armistice Day program. Gould said the war illustrated that people had not learned to live together, that they had not learned to love peace - the “peace that passeth all understanding.” Roberta Mardis read “In Flanders Field,” and local attorney Walter Myers also spoke. An enlarged picture of Paul Cross, for whom the gym was named, was also dedicated.
Art students had cut linoleum blocks for the new basketball posters to be put downtown. Charles Yater did the most tedious cutting, with Kenneth Coers, Lorenzo Linville, Earl Isgrigg, Vernon DeCoursey and Bernard Coers assisting.
With Don Phipps leading the way, Shelbyville won their final football game of the season, 22-0, against Anderson. The Black & Gold won every road game and tied Connersville for first in the SCC.
Mr. Cecil Puckett, SHS teacher and former Rushville football coach, gave a pre-game speech to the student body explaining how to watch the game of football.
The Courier was running a popularity contest. Candidates were Charles Campbell, James Lee, Charles Schmoe, Virginia Hill, Virginia Terry and Eliza Walker.

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: Indiana was selected to participate in a federally funded school breakfast pilot program. The program would provide breakfast to all students at no charge and move it from the cafeteria to the classroom in an effort to improve participation.

2004: Shelby County and Morristown officials took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new connector road linking county roads 550 East and 660 East in Morristown’s industrial park. The connector road, which was an extension of had become the only road into and out of the industrial park, was vital because railroad cars sometimes blocked the road and access to the industrial park.

1994: The State Department of Transportation contributed to the Shelbyville Municipal Airport expansion project, which included the purchase of property; the design, engineering and relocation of CR 400 N; design and engineering of new taxiways; and the installation of a perimeter fence around the airport.

1984: Shelbyville Central Schools opened all buildings for public tours during the day as part of American Education Week. About 250 local people stopped by the various buildings, with Major Kindergarten seeing the most activity.

1974: Republican John Whitlock filed for a recount after losing to Democrat incumbent Kenneth Bowman in the county surveyor race by 58 votes. Whitlock said he believed a mistake in the official count led to votes not being counted correctly.

1964: G.E. workers voted 224-179 against union representation. Employment at the plant was at 575. Workers had turned down unions five times previously.

Instead of fastening several small trees to the framework around Joseph Fountain, as was the holiday custom, city officials installed a single 25 feet tall tree on the fountain.

1954: Over 1.3 million postage stamps, of which half were two-cents and half three-cents, were sent to the local post office in preparation for the Christmas season.

An addition was under construction at the Chicken and Steak Drive-In on East U.S. Highway 421.

1944: A Lions Club was formed in Morristown with 38 charter members.

1934: Evangelist J.L. Patton and his wife were in town for revival services at the Pentecostal Church, 905 S. Pike St., where J.L. Sipes was pastor.

1924: A special train out of Shelbyville to Lafayette was full of locals heading to the I.U.-Purdue football game. The same evening over 700 people from Shelbyville attended SHS’s basketball game on the road against Franklin.

1914: The Shelbyville Gun Club held an all-day shooting match in the DePrez football park, directly west of City Cemetery. A tent with a stove was set up for meals on the grounds.

OBITUARIES

Melinda A. Haemmerle, 72, of Morristown, passed away, Saturday, November 16, 2024, at Prairie Lake Health in Noblesville. Private services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Frazier Chapel, 124 E. North St. in Morristown. Online condolences may be shared with Melinda’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.

The Addison Times