Tuesday, January 7, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
Century-Old Shelby County Basketball Tournament Set for This Weekend
The annual Shelby County Tournament is this weekend, hosted at Triton Central and starting with Southwestern facing Waldron in girls action on Thursday, 6 p.m., followed by Triton Central versus Morristown at 8 p.m. The boys tournament begins Friday, 6 p.m., with Southwestern facing Morristown, also hosted at Triton Central. The home team takes on Waldron at 8 p.m. The girls and boys championship matches are Saturday, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively.
The tournament is a Shelby County staple, starting over a century ago. For years, the tournament founding date was listed as 1926, until Paul Hoffman, sports editor of The Shelbyville News in the late 1990s, dug into microfilm archives to find the inaugural tournament occurred in 1921.
A Jan. 10, 1933, Shelbyville Daily Democrat article notes that the tournament started in 1921 when Fairland invited the county teams to a tournament which Mount Auburn won. A new basketball was the prize. Waldron hosted the tournament in 1922 at the old Weintraut Hall, and won, beating Mount Auburn by one point. The Democrat asked readers to report information on the 1923 tournament, apparently to no avail. Waldron hosted at the Community Hall in 1924 and won the title again. Moral Township won the 1925 tournament, again hosted at Waldron.
School officials met in advance of the 1926 tournament and decided to hold the event at a neutral location. From that year forward, it was determined Paul Cross Gymnasium would be the site, and every county team would participate, rather than by invitation.
And no mention of the Shelby County Tournament is complete without noting that a wooden Victory Bell, handcrafted by Waldron shop teacher Maurice Trotter in 1939, is now at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. The current Victory Bell was installed in 1993, at the time of the donation to the Hall.
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelbyville Common Council last night officially rescinded the Riverfront District Liquor License to BKMR LLC, which operated Pudder’s. The council’s action frees up the owners of the building to pursue a liquor license for events.
The Common Council also elected officers and made liaison appointments. Mike Johnson was re-elected president of the council, and Linda Sanders as vice president. Kassy Wilson was elected reader. The council maintained all liaison appointments with the exception of putting Betsy Means-Davis on the Plan Commission. Denny Harrold previously served on the Plan Commission. “It's good that (the Plan Commission appointment) be rotated so the board keeps informed and that (more council members) see what goes on,” Harrold said.
Mayor Scott Furgeson and council members commended the Street Department for an outstanding job with snow removal and for picking up yesterday’s trash in spite of the weather.
Shelby County travel status will be downgraded from Red (Travel Warning) to Orange (Travel Watch) at 9 a.m. today
Indiana State University announced the appointment of Shelby County native J.D. Lux as its new General Counsel. Lux previously served as University Counsel at Auburn University.
The Joseph Boggs Society’s quarterly meeting is set for March 2, 2 p.m. Vietnam War veteran Carl Huffman and Boggstown Presbyterian Pastor Roger McDaniel will talk about their Sept. 14 Honor Flight to Washington D.C., which McDaniel attended as Huffman’s designated assistant.
A leading horse trainer, Randy Smith, is suing the Indiana Horse Racing Commission for defamation over what he says are false allegations that wrongly led to the suspension of his training license. According to Inside Indiana Business, Smith’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, says the allegations were cooked up because of the commission’s animus over his dominating success in Quarter Horse racing at the Horseshoe Indianapolis pari-mutuel betting track in Shelbyville.
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NATIONAL NEWS: Ford reported strong electric-vehicle sales for 2024, moving 97,865 pure electric vehicles, which was short of GM’s total EV sales (114,400) in the year but still saw big gains in several key models, with Mustang Mach-E sales up 27 percent to 51,745 units, the F-150 Lightning up 39 percent, and the E-Transit up 64 percent. It’s been such a good run that Ford’s extending an initiative it launched back in October to give buyers a free home electric-vehicle charger and free installation — overcoming some hesitation about leaving internal-combustion engines behind — which was only intended to run through January 2 but has now been extended through the end of March. (The Verge/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
Jan. 30, 1931, Part I
Thomas Goodrich, editor of The Shelbyville Republican, died. Goodrich was known as a booster of the city and of school journalism and activities. He would have graduated from SHS in 1879 but quit a year early to work in the newspaper field. He became the editor of The Republican in 1913, a position he held until his death. In 1922, he had backed a drive that resulted in the Shelbyville centennial celebration on July 4. Before the time of telephones, Goodrich was known to visit the courthouse and churches daily to collect news. When he purchased the Republican, he wrote all editorials, many of which were picked up by papers throughout the region.
There was continual confusion regarding Shelbyville’s team moniker. The Rushville High School newspaper, The Rushlite, called the Shelbyville team “The Mackmen” early an article and later said they nearly defeated “the Camels.”
Norm Thurston and George Stubbs were home from Indiana University on break, and John C. DePrez was on break from Purdue.
Plans to host 11 teams for the basketball sectionals in Shelbyville were finalized. The Hi-Y and Boy Scouts would meet the teams on their arrival and escort them to private homes and local hotels.
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: Residents in the Kennedy Park area were awakened by city officials at 2 a.m. and told to leave their homes due to rising flood waters. “Ohio Street and Indiana Avenue kind of look like Venice,” Tim Lawson, Shelbyville’s engineer, said.
Shelbyville High School teacher Tammy Witte was named a winner of the Bright Idea grant, a state classroom enrichment program. She would receive $500 to further develop the study of the Spanish language and culture and purchase bilingual children’s books.
1995: More than a decade of dominance came to an end as the Morristown girls basketball team denied Triton Central its 12th straight trip to the Shelby County Tourney championship game. The Yellow Jackets sank 26 of 40 free throws to upset the two-time defending champs, 66-58, in the opening game of the tournament.
A building at 1147 East State Road 44, formerly Furgy’s Bar, was torn down. Joe’s Sports Bar & Grille had recently opened at the same address.
1985: Members of the St. Joseph Brownie Troop No. 340 prepared a time capsule to be opened in 10 years. The time capsule was filled with fads from 1984, including Michael Jackson memorabilia and Cabbage Patch miniatures. The girls would be seniors in high school when the box would be opened.
1975: For the first time in its history, Morristown had a town marshal’s car. Marshal Dennis Alyea and new town maintenance man Dennis Hicks and part-time marshal Earl King were the first to check it out upon delivery.
The Twelfth Night Christmas tree burning was held at Sunset Park. Torches were thrown onto the pile of trees by city officials and a small group of citizens who had gathered.
1965: Mayor Ralph VanNatta used a small flame thrower to ignite the large pile of Christmas trees in Sunset Park for the annual Twelfth Night observance.
The five-unit Louden food chain, including the Shelbyville Louden Food Store at 748 S. Harrison St., was purchased by Scot Lad Foods. Local manager Brent Johnson would stay on board. Doyle and Pryce Louden had opened the Shelbyville store in August 1960 at Harrison and Colescott. Residences previously owned by Urban Soller, Floyd Wertz and Beulah Marshall were razed to make way for the shopping center. Al Durbin was the first manager of the Shelbyville store. In October 1960, Hook Drug Store opened alongside Louden’s. The store was closed for two weeks in 1961 due to a disastrous fire.
1955: The Hendricks Township elementary school was closed for a few days due to water in the basement, which had affected cafeteria operations.
Cahn’s Smith Department Store, gutted by fire in early December, would reopen in two months at the same location, 9 Public Square, owner David Cahn said. In the meantime, the store would continue limited operations at 14 E. Franklin St. at the rear of the Shelby Hotel.
1945: Inez Gohn, of Shelbyville, received the Purple Heart Medal awarded to her son, Sgt. Jack Gohn, for wounds he received in action in France. Sgt. Gohn had been in an England hospital for two months and was preparing to return to his unit in the Belgium.
1935: Burglaries continued to occur throughout the county. Four electric sweepers were taken from the Bradley Hall furniture store lobby; Eden Thurston’s summer cottage, located seven miles west of Shelbyville, was burglarized; two men and two men stole from the Sigler jewelry store; and a Boggstown filling station owned by Archie Fraker was robbed of candy, tobacco, cash and six gallons of motor oil.
1925: Numerous people attended a tractor school held by O.E. Gordon at Rays Crossing. Gordon was a tractor salesman and supplier.
1915: Clarence Bruce purchased an E. Jackson St. lot from Norman Strong. An old shack on the property was known for years as the Joe Laws Saloon, and by 1915 was Wicker Bros. Bruce planned to have the shack razed and to build a large brick building. He had asked city officials to pave E. Jackson St. with brick to match his investment. A group of men were attempting to purchase the lot next to Bruce’s to build a moving picture and vaudeville theatre.
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
OBITUARIES
Jackie Lynn Pittman, 68, of Shelbyville passed away January 2, 2025, at Ashford Place Health Campus. Jackie was born on March 22, 1956, in Rushville, to Rufus Meador and Mable (Barkley) Meador. She married Terry Pittman on June 11, 1982, and he survives. Other survivors include daughters Janell Pittman of St. Paul and Daniell Thomas of New Palestine, Ind.; one sister, Janet Crosby of Alabama; and nine grandchildren, Carleen Medsker, Cameron Medsker, Hazley Watson, Hennley Watson, Huntley Watson, Abel Thomas, Kenzie Thomas, Emerald Thomas and Zeke Thomas. She was preceded in death by her parents & two siblings, Juanita Coots and Jimmy Meador.
Mrs. Pittman was a lifetime resident of Shelby County and graduated from Shelbyville High School. She had worked in retail sales for Kroger for several years.
Funeral services will be Friday January 10, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the Glenn E. George Funeral Home, 106 E. Franklin Street, St. Paul, with visitation from noon until the time of service. Pastor Paul Hartig will officiate. Burial will follow at the Rossburg Cemetery in New Point, Indiana. Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Jude’s Children's Hospital, in care of the funeral home, one of her favorite charities that she donated to often. Online condolences can be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.
Connie L. White, age 73, arrived in Heaven on December 27, 2024, at 8 a.m., while residing in her Florida home. Connie was surrounded by loved ones by her side. Her journey to Heaven began on November 10, 2024, when advanced brain cancer was diagnosed. This discovery allowed Connie six weeks of blessings and quality of life where she enjoyed her home filled with love, a Thanksgiving feast, Christmas festivities with another feast and family.
Connie Lynn White (Harrison) was born on January 27, 1951, in Vicksburg, Mich., to parents John S. and Barbara L. (Merrill) Harrison. She graduated from Comstock High School and attended KVCC, earning certification as an LPN. She was employed at Upjohn Health Care, Borgess Hospital, and The Sisters of St. Joseph motherhouse in Kalamazoo (her favorite). Connie was also a licensed cosmetologist, becoming a well- known hairstylist in Richland, Mich. Connie owned two adult family care homes and cared for many elderly residents, including our Grandma Merrill in Michigan, as well as Judy White (lifelong resident of St. Paul) in Florida.
Connie has three surviving children: Angela L. Gosma, married to Robert with three children, Mitchell, Makayla and Mason; Ben Johnson who has two children, Yasmine and Izak, and is married to April, who has four children, Andy, Amaya, Ariana and Daniel; Carrie Lynn, who arrived in Heaven, February 12, 1981, at age two; and Amy L. Rohr, married to Jake with four children, Colbi, Reno, Riley and Carter.
Connie was married to Jeffrey S. White, long-time resident of St. Paul, on July 25, 2017. Their marriage of seven and one-half years and 14-year friendship was a blessing to both of them. Jeffrey’s son, Jeff, and three children, Peyton, Nathan and Kelsey, were a part of Connie’s extended family.
Connie has surviving sisters: Joan DeGraaf, married to Jim; Barbara K. Harrison-Klerk; and Cindy Norris, married to Olin. Connie is preceded in death by Carrie Lynn, Irene Merrill, John and Barbara Harrison, Cathy Jo, Judy Irene, John Steven and other loved relatives.
Connie was active in her churches. At East Coast Believers Church, she attended many classes and events, and volunteered in the children’s programs and mentored through her testimony. The nursery was her favorite place to serve. Her fun times included a jet ski or boat ride, quilting blankets by hand, time at the pool, reading and all things family. And let us not forget her culinary greatness.
Connie will be deeply missed and always remembered by those who knew and loved her. She left a lasting legacy of patience, kindness, caring and love. Her generosity and gentleness will be cherished forever as a loving wife, mother (mom), grandma (nana) to all of the family and friends.
Funeral services will be 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at Glenn E. George Funeral Home, 106 E. Franklin St., St. Paul, with Pastor Guinn Shingleton officiating. Burial will be in Van Pelt Cemetery. Friends may call on Saturday morning from 11 a.m. until the time of the service, at the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.