Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Feb 28, 2023

Jim and Margaret Maxwell, who were married Feb. 29, 1948 (Leap Year), celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary today. LuAnn Mason covered their story last year. “We like to dance,” Margaret said in that feature. “We met at a dance club (Club Rendezvous on State Road 44 in Connersville). We are both twins. My twin told me that Jim is a good dancer.” The Maxwells said they were blessed to spend time with their three adult children – Marsha Mings (husband Greg) of Shelbyville, Diana Cameron of Rush County, and Greg (wife Julie) Maxwell who lives in the Warsaw area – seven grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. The above picture was taken at a recent Valentine’s Day dinner at Just Peachy Cafe in Shelbyville, and submitted by their daughter, Marsha Mings.

NOTEBOOK:

From the Editor: Tomorrow will be our final edition. If it weren’t for my professors’ warnings about plagiarizing oneself, I just would copy and paste from a previous Addison Times “closure” letter. I’m kidding. I won’t address it at length as I did in December, but let me again say “thank you.” Your belief and investment in local news leaves an indelible memory when I think about my return home. Thank you for joining me on that journey. Here’s to one more, great edition!
REFUND INFORMATION: A question came up yesterday I had not previously considered, but here’s the answer: If you need to update your card on file in order to receive a prorated refund, do the following: Click https://addisontimes.substack.com/account. Next to “To add your billing details,” click the link and input the new card. Of course, let me know if you have any questions. - Kristiaan Rawlings
Shelby County Commissioners yesterday briefly discussed Morristown Road near E 600 N, where Big Blue River is carving closer into the bank and the road. Discussions have been in the works with area homeowners regarding potential fixes.
The following Shelbyville Middle Schools students are winners in the 2023 Indiana Letters About Literature competition: Logan Addis, Maya Burgess, Tyler Gwinnup, Madeline Huntsman, Kieran O’Connor, and Fraya Wasson. These eighth graders, who are students in Ms. Natalie Gearhart’s class, will receive prizes, and their works will be included in an Indiana State Library anthology.
“Cars, Crafts and Cruisers,” sponsored by Crafty Creators Extension Homemakers, is set for Saturday, May 6, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. Contact kileen2567@gmail.com for information.
“Matilda Jr.” is on at Shelbyville Middle School this weekend, March 3 and 4, 7 p.m.
HOOSIER NEWS: Paoli Peaks announced the end of its 2022-2023 season last week. The resort’s general manager Chris Shadid blamed the short season on an unusually warm winter. In a Facebook post on February 22, the ski resort said, “Mother Nature wasn’t on our side this year, and while we worked hard to manage through the rain and warm weather, we no longer have the snow base needed to remain open.” A look at the live view on the resort’s website showed slopes covered not in snow, but in dirt and mud. The news comes after a season fraught with difficulties, including having to delay its target opening date nearly two weeks and pausing operations sporadically due to warm conditions. Colorado-based Vail Resorts purchased Paoli Peaks in 2019. (Indiana Public Media)
NATIONAL NEWS: Amazon is being sued over allegations that it sells donkey meat for human consumption, which the Center for Contemporary Equine Studies alleges is illegal in California under the Prohibition of Horse Slaughter and Sale of Horsemeat for Human Consumption Act of 1998. There’s a lot going on there, so let’s back it up: The global donkey population is being decimated due to high demand for ejiao, also known as gelatina nigra, also known as donkey-hide gelatin, which hucksters claim has health benefits. Following the lawsuit, a Wired investigation turned up at least 15 edible items for sale on Amazon that claimed to contain donkey, four of which were available to ship directly from an Amazon warehouse. The lawsuit wants Amazon to stop selling ejiao immediately, and if the company is in violation of the law it potentially faces a fine for every sale. (Wired/Numlock)

Meltzer Settles Into State Rep. Role

With the state legislative session in the news as proposed House and Senate bills move through the process, The Addison Times sat down with freshman Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-73) earlier this month to understand life at the Statehouse.

“Every day is a little different,” said Meltzer, who works full-time as the city attorney for Shelbyville. (She and her husband, Circuit Court Judge Trent Meltzer, have three young daughters.)

Meltzer was sworn in Nov. 22 last year and started her first session Jan. 9. Given it is a budget year, the session will continue through April. During that time, sessions are held on the chamber floor Monday and Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. Other times on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are devoted to committee hearings. Committees take on bills that have received a first reading and are moved forward by the committee chairman.

“If your bill gets a hearing, that’s where the real work gets done,” Meltzer said. “Your stakeholders, the industry, chamber, attorneys, whoever is involved in that bill, whoever it is going to affect, is going to come and testify in support of it or against it.” Amendments generally happen in the committee phase, she notes.

Meltzer serves on the Local Government, Judiciary, and Criminal Code committees, all of which were her preferred selections.

If a bill makes it to second reading, the entire House can make amendments. After a third reading, the bill goes to the Senate, and the process starts all over. If the bill emerges from the Senate in different form from its House original, a conference committee sorts out the differences to create a bill for everyone to vote on.

Meltzer authored two bills this year, and both have been referred to the Senate. One bill would require screening for xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is being used in street drugs and has been known to contribute to drug overdoses. The bill would mandate that coroners test for xylazine in the victim’s system, giving the state a better picture of the problem. Meltzer also sponsored a bill that would allow courts to place a convicted person directly in a community corrections program. The bill is what Meltzer calls a “clean up” bill in response to a Court of Appeals case showing a discrepancy between the actions of courts and the law. “It also cleans up other parts of the code with regard to escape and juvenile offenses,” she said.

While those bills move along, Meltzer continues her work in the House. She looks forward to taking a “deep breath” in May and then planning for next year’s session starting in June.

She said her law degree and experience have been beneficial in reading proposed bills and understanding their contexts. And despite the hectic pace of the session, Meltzer is so far managing to balance her many responsibilities.

“I’m really enjoying it,” she said.

SHELBY COUNTY PEOPLE & PLACES: FLOYD WAGONER

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.

There have been a lot of changes in the feed and grain business in the past two decades, according to Floyd Wagoner. And he should know. For almost 19 years he's been a manager of the Nading Grain & Supply Company elevator at Waldron, and he has had two vacations during that time - and has never been off work a day because of illness.

“Wag” got an early start in becoming acquainted with work around an elevator since his father, Otto Wagoner, who died three years ago, owned one in Waldron for many years and he started as sort of an errand boy around 1910. He began in his present capacity with the Nading Company when the elder Mr. Wagoner sold his establishment to the firm in 1928. The job of manager, he says, includes coal hauling, com shoveling, weighing and such tasks, as well as hiring of personnel and purchasing. There are seven Nading elevators now. The main office is at Greensburg and other plants with the one at Waldron are at St. Paul, Adams, Fenns Station, Lewis Creek and Prescott.

That the elevators were a landmark as early as 1900 is evidenced in a hand bill which Wagoner found at the Waldron plant and now has under glass for preservation. It announced the opening of a “New Produce House” in March 1900 at a place located “near the water mill and Nading elevator at 94 North Harrison Street, Shelbyville.” In the intervening years of running errands for his Dad and his present job, Wag worked at three different times for the Stephen Brothers Shoe store and also was a co-operator of the first cafeteria style restaurant in Shelbyville. This was located where the present Cover Café is on South Harrison Street, and was known as the B&W Restaurant, named for Wagoner and Carl Brown, the co-owner.

Probably the biggest advancement in the business during the years is in the method of feeding stock, chickens, etc., Mr. Wagoner says. When he first began working at the elevator, they sold only four types of feed: Bran, shorts (which most farmers call middlings today), tankage and a little prepared baby chick feed. The last item was in its infancy then, however, and very little was known about mixing feeds. The mixing and grinding experiments were such a new thing that officials of the company debated if it would “pay” to purchase a hammer mill with which to grind the grains. Today that machine is one of the necessities of the game. Twenty-eight varieties of feed are carried at the elevator today as well as a complete line of vitamins and high protein concentrates. The latter two products are stressed above all others these days and as an example of their value in feeding. Wag points out that in former years a farmer expected to produce a 250-pound hog in a year and now an animal can reach that weight in five and one-half months.

The coal department of the business has undergone some radical changes too. In days before the present conveyors, it took a full day to unload a carload of coal and now the job easily can be done in two hours. Way back when, too, Mr. Wagoner says, 90 per cent of the purchasers brought their own vehicles to get their coal, but now it all is delivered from the elevator. He recalls that the Waldron elevator supplied all the coal for the locomotive, which tore up the old traction line. Each evening at 6 o'clock the engine chugged in for a refill. He says too that back in those days the coal men looked for business in supplying fuel for threshing machine engines. And today his 14-year-old son, Karl, probably wouldn't know a threshing machine if he saw one!

The change in working hours came in for comment too. Eighteen years ago, Wag and the one other man employed at the elevator (there are five with the manager today) went to work at 6 a.m. and worked until 6 p.m., six days a week. Today the place opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. with Saturday afternoons off.

So far this would seem to be mostly a history of the elevator business instead of a “personality.” So now, for the man that makes the Waldron plant tick. Wag has an attractive wife (the former Mildred Mitchell) and three children of whom he's pretty proud. Five years ago their Waldron home was destroyed by fire, and while a portion of their furniture was saved, all their little personal mementoes were destroyed and they escaped with only the clothing “on their backs.” After that they moved into another Waldron residence, which boasts a full hedged-in lot as a side yard where steak fries and other such gatherings are frequent affairs.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner take an active part in the Waldron Methodist Church. She also is an active Easter Star member, and he is a past president of the Waldron Community Club. Their children are 17-year-old Patricia, Karl and two-year-old Michael. Pat, who in 1944 got herself written up in an article in The Woman's Home Companion for being a typical “Hoosier girl” and for her extensive 4-H Club work, now is attending the state Home Economics school at Indianapolis. Karl isn't sure if he'll follow in Dad's footsteps in the elevator or not.

CANDIDATE BIO: Patrick Addis, Third Ward Common Council

submitted

Patrick Addis is seeking election to the Shelbyville 3rd Ward Common Council on the Democrat ticket.

Patrick is a graduate of Shelbyville Senior High School. He became actively involved in community service and advancement in his freshman year and onward. During his senior year at SHS, Patrick became involved in a program called “My Community, My Vision,” which was a partnership between the City of Shelbyville, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), Ball State University, and a group of SHS students. Following the selection of Shelbyville to participate in the program, Patrick, alongside his teammates, developed the “Shelbyville Youth Action Plan” that aimed to attract and retain young trade workers and professionals and their families to the city by forming achievable goals and initiatives in partnership with the local government and community stakeholders. The merits of this plan effectively addressed what was dubbed as “Brain Drain” — the loss of young adults and families to larger metropolitan communities. The plan Patrick and his team developed would eventually win “Most Outstanding Community Plan” when compared with other communities involved in the program. And the plan was soon adopted by Shelbyville’s Common Council into the City’s Master Development Plan.

Patrick attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to earn his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and two minors, one in Environmental Engineering and one in Sustainability.

During his time at Rose-Hulman, he was involved in multiple school organizations and professional societies, a few of which included the Student Government Association (SGA) serving as either a senator or class president during all years of attendance, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), serving as the National Communications Coordinator (NCC) for Rose-Hulman’s Residence Hall Association (RHA), and becoming a English Second Language (ESL) and Learning Center tutor and supervisor, tutoring fellow Rose-Hulman students in technical coursework and helping international students improve their English skills to ensure success while attending school abroad.

During the breaks from Rose-Hulman, Patrick would return home to work as an intern at PK USA, Inc. in their engineering departments, and in 2020 would also work as an engineering intern at City Hall under then City Engineer of Shelbyville, Matt House, and the current City Engineer of Shelbyville, John Kuntz. This gave Patrick a unique insight to the inner workings of local government. Patrick also worked for the Shelbyville Parks and Recreation Department from 2014 to 2016.

In 2020, on evenings and weekends, he started working for the U.S. Census Bureau, collecting survey data for the decennial census. The data collected could lead to better representation for Shelbyville in state and federal governmental agencies with more funding coming to the city from state and federal sources. The funding, if allocated, would better enhance the community.

Patrick currently works as a Civil Design Engineer at Thompson Thrift, a full-service real estate company.

Patrick is grateful to the community members who inspired him to begin giving back to the community that helped him and for all the opportunities and experiences available to the youth in Shelbyville and Shelby County. Hopefully, using his voice to represent his constituents, Patrick will be a key asset in enacting the continued growth and change people of Shelbyville want and need. Election to the Council will be the most effective way to repay all those who inspired him.

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
Morristown Junior-Senior High School officials announced the choir would go to New York City despite many schools deferring or canceling travel plans because of security concerns. Choir Director Lynn Smith said her students had been saving since summer to amass the $25,000 needed to send 46 students, parents and grandparents to the Big Apple.

30 YEARS AGO: 1993
The Indiana Horse Commission approved Anderson to build a horse track but denied a planned development for Shelbyville. City officials had set the stage to extend a city sewer line to the property off I-74 if the track had been approved. Rev. Mark Dicken, pastor of the Fairland United Methodist and Liberty United Methodist churches and leader of a group opposing the track, said he was “elated” at the decision and that Shelby County would “continue to be a good place to raise a family.”

40 YEARS AGO: 1983
The Shelbyville Central Schools board discussed closing Marion school rather than Hendricks or Pearson. Coulston had undergone extensive renovations and Loper had been enlarged and remodeled two years prior. The school board had already decided to close the old Major Elementary, a kindergarten, and move its students to Coulston. Hendricks was built about the same time as Marion, but it cost less to heat, and most of its students walked to school. Only one bus dropped students at Hendricks. Pearson, built in 1939, was the most energy efficient and in the best physical condition in the district, Assistant Supt. Don Strobel said.

50 YEARS AGO: 1973
Over 600 Shelby County property owners who donated money to the Shelby County Citizens Taxpayers Association some five years prior received full refunds for their contributions. The association had been formed for the purpose of opposing a proposed 25 percent increase in assessed property valuation on farmland here. The taxpayers’ group had filed an injunction suit in Shelby Circuit Court. Association President Ray E. Taylor had invested the donations in savings certificates and then repaid everyone who originally contributed.

60 YEARS AGO: 1963
William R. Carithers, 55, was elected chairman of the Shelby County Republican Central Committee. Carithers had served as county chairman before. Lawrence Schneider was elected treasurer to replace Carithers, who had been employed at the Todd-Bennett store for many years.

70 YEARS AGO: 1953
Robins Radio & Television offered 1953 Crosley 21-inch TVs ranging from $260 to $320 (approximately $2,800 to $4,000 in today’s money), depending on the cabinet size.

80 YEARS AGO: 1943
Sponges were added to the list of items civilians would have to do without during the war, The Shelbyville Republican reported. The War Production Board said sponges were in demand for everything from wiping the windshields of Jeeps to cleaning essential defense plant machinery.

90 YEARS AGO: 1933
The Parent-Teacher Association had organized a National Negro History week celebration for Booker T. Washington school and at Second Baptist Church. Various subjects were presented by locals, including: real estate, Anna Motley; finance, William Smith; art, Franklin Ashby; education and its results, Lavenia Overby; fraternals, Ben Motley; and missions, Jeannette Hines. Issac Murray was chairman of the events.

Ruth Shook, who lived on South Tomkins Street, reported a neighborhood rooster “evinced strong objections” to her when she walked down the street and had sometimes attacked her. “Such was the case one day last week when, at best, Miss Shook emerged only second best,” The Republican said. “Name of the rooster not known.”

100 YEARS AGO: 1923
The city school board voted to purchase up to four pianos to be installed in local schools.

INCIDENTS

Burglary was reported in the 300 block of Creekside Park, Fairland.
Thefts were reported in the 11300 block of S. Washington St., Flat Rock; 7900 block of W. Old State Road 252, Edinburgh; and the 100 block of W. McKay Road, 1700 block of Tolworth Road, 700 block of N. Harrison St. and first blocks of East and West Rampart Streets, Shelbyville.
JAIL BOOK-INS: Scott A. Turner, failure to appear (2 counts); Karlos D. Wright, theft; Nicholaus E. Snider, public intoxication, disorderly conduct; Dahmauria J. Beasley, operating without ever receiving, leaving the scene, hold for another jurisdiction; Andrew S. Luther, public nudity; Robert O. Sizemore, possession of marijuana; Tyler A. Vandiver, probation violation (2 counts), invasion of privacy - prior, intimidation, domestic battery; Kristopher L.J. Sheppard, OVWI-endangerment, parole hold; Edgar B. Aguilar, reckless driving; Tyrone D. McCoy, battery, hold for another jurisdiction.

OBITUARIES

Thomas E. Hargrove, 72, of Fairland, passed away Friday, February 24, 2023, at AMG Specialty Hospital in Greenfield. Born November 3, 1950 in Shelbyville, he was the son of Carl “Bud” Hargrove and Mary (McDonald ) Hargrove. He married Paula (Lockwood) Hargrove on May 8, 1976, and she survives. Other survivors include his father and stepmother Carl and Betty Hargrove of Vevay; three children, Thomas Hargrove (wife Jama) of Greenfield, Nicole Hargrove-Bergen (husband Virgil) of Camby, Cari Ann Hargrove of Fairland; two brothers, George Hargrove (wife Mitzi) of Melbourne, Florida, and Ron Hargrove of Madison, Indiana; one granddaughter Madison; six step-grandchildren, and four step-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Cole, and a sister, Cindy Branson.

Mr. Hargrove was a lifelong resident of this area and graduated from Triton Central High School in 1970. He was employed at Farm Fans of Indianapolis for 31 years, and after their closing started working for Carrier Corp. for two years, until his health started to fail.

Thomas enjoyed playing sports, cooking, attending flea markets, playing cards, travelling to Las Vegas, and spending time with his family.

Per Thomas' wishes, no funeral services will be observed. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.

Elizabeth "Betty" Jo Zobel, 95, Greensburg, passed away on Friday, February 24, 2023, at Aspen Place in Greensburg, IN. Born, July 30, 1927, in Shelbyville, Indiana, she was the daughter of Roscoe C. and Frances P. (Roell) Zobel.

Betty graduated from Waldron High School and worked for the IRS in St. Louis and Cincinnati as a budget analyst for 37 years. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. She loved gardening, cooking, watching horse racing, and her family. She is survived by 10 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and siblings: Mary Lou (Jack) Payne, Paul (Mabel) Zobel, Kathleen (Braden) Oltman, Phyllis (Jack) Ward, Bob Zobel, Frank (Edna) Zobel; and 3 nieces.

Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greensburg. A public rosary will be prayed at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, also at the church. Funeral Services will be held at 12:30 p.m., on Wednesday, at the church with Rev. John Meyer officiating. Interment will be held in the St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Cemetery in Shelby County. Memorials may be made to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana or St. Mary's Catholic Church. To leave online condolences please visit, www.popfuneralhome.com.

The Addison Times