Tuesday, May 21, 2024
A Day in the Sun
Shelbyville Middle School students in Paul Ashbrook’s class yesterday harness the power of the sun for solar wood burning, creating designs on boards via magnifying glasses. In usual form, Ashbrook has plenty of outdoor activities lined up for the final week of school. | staff photo
Blue River Career Programs Director to Retire
With Blue River Career Programs in the news lately for all the right reasons, Steve Shaw, BRCP director for 17 years, figures now is the time to retire.
Last year, Shaw was named the state’s Outstanding CTE (Career and Technical Education) Director, and BRCP was recently ranked second-best career center in the state based on 11 core indicators, such as graduation rate and number of students placed in career fields.
“We’re pretty proud of that,” Shaw said yesterday.
With state diploma options under revision, the future looks just as bright.
“I see great things happening at the career center,” Shaw said. “Career centers are more important than ever because we offer more options to meet the requirements than in the past.”
Shaw said he has enjoyed meeting the evolving challenges of career center work. Although he spent most of his early life in Kentucky and Tennessee, his wife is from Greenfield. That came into play when he decided in his mid-30s to leave the banking industry and enter his original field of college study: education.
“My wife recommended moving to Indiana,” Shaw recalled, “and I said, ‘I don’t want to live in Indiana.’ So here I am, 28 years later.”
He started teaching agriculture in Batesville, where he remained 11 years. He earned his masters in ag education, then earned his administrative license at Ball State University and accepted the position at BRCP.
“There are only two people in this organization that I haven't hired,” Shaw said. “I’m going to miss the people, the instructors and the office staff, and our board has been very good.”
And, of course, he will miss the students. “We're a small school, and I know a lot of them on a personal level.”
Although he’s stepping away from his director role, Shaw said he may eventually return to education in some capacity. In the meantime, he’ll adjust to retirement.
“I imagine it will take a while to get over my routine I’ve had here all these years. I’m sure the second Tuesday of every month at 12 o’clock, I’ll think the board should be meeting now.”
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelbyville Common Council last night gave the green light for Mayor Scott Furgeson and Clerk-Treasurer Scott Asher to investigate ways to provide $50,000 annually to the Grover Center/Shelby County Historical Society. “Their goal is to continue to be a free museum,” Furgeson said. Grover Center Executive Director Sarah Richardt said the funds would mostly be used for operating costs since grants for that purpose are difficult to obtain. Visits to the museum are up this year and continue to climb from pandemic lows. New flooring was also recently installed and the Streets of Old Shelby exhibit was cleaned and inventoried. “That's a lot of brick to clean, and to vacuum, and a lot of windows to wash,” Richardt said. The museum’s collection includes some 15,000 items, including between 3,000 and 4,000 articles of clothing. The council’s current two-year commitment of $50,000 to Shelby County Players will conclude this year, and one option is replacing that commitment with one to the Grover Center, although other sources for funding are available. The center operates on a slim budget, Richardt said. “We don’t have an expense problem. We have an income problem.”
NATIONAL NEWS: Recouping an investment on a Broadway show has always been difficult — nearly 80 percent of shows fail to do so — but that difficulty has skyrocketed because of “two formidable obstacles: costs that have nearly doubled over a decade and an audience almost 20 percent smaller than it was pre-pandemic.” Even winning a Tony doesn’t seem to help. The last two musicals to take home the Tony for Best Musical were the first two not to break even since 2002. (Vulture/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: The City of Shelbyville began the bidding process for the first phase of the Fairland Road extension. The road project, for which discussions began in 2007, had been dubbed the West Connector, and would extend from County Road 400 North (Fairland Road) to County Road 100 North (West Mausoleum Road).
2004: Members of Cub Scout Pack 202 earned a conservation award for planting trees at Morrison Park. Members were Aaron Anderson, Tyler Eisgruber, Eric Lee, Devon Anderson, Alex Bruner, Avery Simpson, Andy Anderson, Erick Ash, Josh Reece and Gabe Gollis. Mindy Roberts, Duane Anderson and Scott Ash were group leaders.
Judge Jack Tandy “won” the honor of kissing a large pig with a bow after raising the most money for the American Diabetes Association.
Peggy Theobald, of Shelbyville, was honored for her work with autistic students in Wayne Township.
1994: Sara Lewis, 5, the daughter of Wade Lewis and Jean West, got a surprise when she received a package from American Aggregate, a company in Xenia, Ohio. Lewis had released a balloon containing her name and address during the Shelby County Trade Fair and it had floated to a gravel pit in Ohio. The company sent her a package containing hats, pencils, paper and other company products.
1984: A Waldron area dump site was the target of the Indiana State Board of Health after trash had been burned in dumpsters daily for several months. The state said the burning of trash in county dumpsters was a violation of federal air pollution regulations and suggested the dumpsters be emptied more frequently.
1974: Waldron basketball coach and athletic director David Omer resigned to accept a position at Salem High School.
1964: Tony Antle, 3, accidentally shot himself in the forearm with a .22 caliber hollow point bullet from an automatic pistol owned by his father, Paul Antle, 1127 S. West St. Tony was taken to the hospital and was recovering.
Mrs. Lora Patterson and Mrs. Hendrickson were honored at a surprise luncheon at the Noble Township School in observance of their retirement as teachers. Mrs. Patterson had taught school 40 years and Mrs. Hendrickson 45 years.
1954: Joe’s Glass Bar, 639 S. Noble, announced Count Fisher and the Swing Masters would perform six nights a week, with Don Cuzzort also playing on weekends.
1944: Technical Sergeant Wilbun Goble, 24, was killed when lightning struck him during training maneuvers in Tennesee. Goble had been in the army for a year. He had graduated from Waldron in 1939. He and his wife, Ruby (Platt), had an eight-month-old daughter, Sandra Ellen.
1934: Unusual for May, Charles Scheffler, Paul Smith and Roscoe Fix, all living in the Fenns community, butchered their hogs. The men said the butchering was due to the high price of meat and low price of hogs.
1924: The eighth grade students of the Departmental building presented the school with a life-size statue of Abraham Lincoln. Richard Hall, president of the class, presented the statute and delivered a speech. The students had made the money used in purchasing the statue by selling Alhambra tickets. It was the first eighth grade class to purchase the school a present.
A “jolly” hay ride was given to young people, leaving the home of Miss McCarty on Van Avenue and heading to the Green school room graduation in Shelby Township, the Republican reported.
1914: Peter Hoop, Fred Stanton, Julius Cheuden and Lew Harney caught 162 small fish in two hours in Sugar Creek near the Red Mills. They became hungry on the way back and cooked and ate every single one of the fish.
OBITUARIES
William “Ed” Edward Ferguson, 83, of Shelbyville, passed away Thursday May 16, 2024, at MPH Medical Center. He was born January 11, 1941 in Knightstown, IN, to Galye Ferguson and Ruth (Martin) Ferguson.
Ed had a love for basketball. He enjoyed playing and later in life he found joy in coaching. He also enjoyed bowling. Ed was a big Elvis fan.
He is survived by his son, Michael Ferguson, his daughter, Renee Muelen; his grandchildren, Michael Ferguson, Kyle Price, Joshua Meulen, Danielle Muelen; his great-grandchildren, Brendon Tool, Austin Muelen, Adalyn Meulen, Kaden Ferguson, Jordan Ferguson and Bella Ferguson; his brother, Gael Gerguson; his sisters, Sandy Ferguson and Paula Ferguson. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Funeral Directors Greg Parks, Sheila Parks, Stuart Parks, and Darin Schutt are honored to serve Ed’s family. Online condolences may be shared at www.murphyparks.com.
Sharon L.Branson, 69, of Shelbyville, passed away May 18, 2024 at Franciscan Hospice House. Services will be announced by Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home.
Jerry Bullard, of St. Paul, passed away May 18, 2024 at his residence. Services are pending at Glenn E. George Funeral Home, St Paul.
Whatever happened to that statue of Lincoln?