S U M M E R / FA L L 2 0 1 4
INDIGO
The story behind Rowland Ricketts’ blue hands
Holiday World! Your insider’s guide NEW HARMONY at
In search of Indiana’s most elusive predator
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Plan your weekend getaway now
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table of contents
ON THE COVER:
28 True blue
Artist Rowland Ricketts gives Japanese indigo dyeing a home in Bloomington. Story by Natalie Schumann and Courtney Kabbes
FEATURES
12 New Harmony: A town of two centuries
On its 200th anniversary, dive deep into this community’s utopian past and plan a weekend getaway in one of Indiana’s most intriguing small towns. Story by Matt Bloom and Carolyn Crowcroft
DEPARTMENTS GET OUT OF TOWN
7
Hoofin’ it
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
9
Archie Kintner, bassets’ best friend
TASTE OF SOUTHERN INDIANA
11 Riverfront dining change of 18 Ascenery
From New York City to Bloomington, Don Geyra brings your favorite productions to life. Story by Ashley Minyard
40 Homespun humor Abe Martin shares his cracker-barrel wisdom with a modern audience. Story by Nicole Montella
up with to the front 22 Back 45 Keeping porch the Jonases Celebrate the seasons on three inviting Southern Indiana porches. Story by Anicka Slachta and Mary Kate Irrgang
One family balances 58 goats and a growing soap-making business. Story by Elisa Gross and Chelsea Coleman
of the 34 Phantom Patoka
49 Twist and shout
The return of Indiana’s most elusive predator: the bobcat. Story by Kurt Christian and Hong-Ah Do
Everything you need to know to plan your fun-filled day at Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. Story by Jansen Yoder and Samantha Stutsman
THE 812 LIST
real-life 12 812’s haunted places Cover: Rowland Ricketts with his artwork in his studio. /Photo by Sarah Boyum. Special thanks to Malinda Aston, Allen Major, Steve Layton, Gena Asher, Roger Hartwell, Greg Menkedick, Linda Johnson and Susan Elkins for their assistance with this magazine.
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8 1 2 M A G A Z I NE STAFF NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
I
was an outsider, the high school senior whose decision to leave the East Coast for college in the Midwest raised countless eyebrows from skeptics. “Why Indiana?” they asked. My response is this Summer/Fall 2014 issue of 812, an emphatic 56-page answer to their question. So, why Southern Indiana? 812 invites natives and newcomers alike to search for the unexpected answers. We discovered ours in a basement studio bursting with deep blue fabrics, in New Harmony’s complex past and in a familyrun shop stocked with fragrant goat milk soaps. Perhaps you’ll find yours while riding to the top of a wooden roller coaster under the Santa Claus sun or dusting off an early 20th century political cartoon that still deserves a laugh. We’ve each shared our answers in the sixword sentences to the right, but six words aren’t nearly enough. This season, I encourage you to head out to the porch, take a seat, open 812 and learn something—or as I did, everything—about what makes Southern Indiana so special.
812:
THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN INDIANA
NATALIE SCHUMANN Editor Blue hands make for great conversation.
HONG-AH DO Art Director Everything and everyone deserves a home.
ELISA GROSS
Social Media Editor
Goats are cute but also cheeky.
NICOLE MONTELLA
Managing Editor
ANICKA SLACHTA Managing Editor
Abe Martin became my personal sage.
Scaredy-cats can love haunted houses.
JANSEN YODER
KURT CHRISTIAN
Bring on the twists and turns.
Home is never far from reach.
CAROLYN CROWCROFT
CHELSEA COLEMAN
Art Director
Social Media Editor
Illustrator
Online Editor
Life is about finding your utopia.
Goat milk is easier to digest.
ASHLEY MINYARD
MATT BLOOM
Without scenic art, theater lacks excitement.
Find your passion, find inner harmony.
COURTNEY KABBES
Summer/Fall 2014 Volume 4, Number 2 812 was conceived, reported, written, photographed, edited and designed by students in J360: Creating an Indiana Magazine at the Indiana University School of Journalism. Contents may not be reproduced without the written consent of the School. You can also find exclusive online stories at our website, 812magazine.com. If you’re interested in advertising in 812, or if you’d like copies to distribute at your place of business, please contact ads@idsnews.com.
4 summer/ fall 2014
FOLLOW US: @812Magazine
Online Editor
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Indigo is a state of mind.
SAMANTHA STUTSMAN
MARY KATE IRRGANG
NANCY COMISKEY
Holiday World is a childhood favorite.
Front porches make houses into homes.
Curious students find stories others overlook.
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Instructor
There’s a Benjamin Moore color for everything that matters. (What matters is that moment when you walk in and go wow.)
Bloomington Paint & Wallpaper 1150 S. Walnut Street, Bloomington, IN 47401 812-337-2468 Mon-Fri 7:30am-5:30pm, Sat 8am-4pm, Closed Sundays © 2013 Benjamin Moore & Co. Benjamin Moore and the triangle “M” symbol are registered trademark of Benjamin Moore & Co.
5 summer/ fall 2014
BLOOMINGTON
NEW
CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S CLOTHING &
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get out of town
Hoofin’ it
Take a horseback ride through the Hoosier National Forest.
Christie Froehlich’s husband and fellow trail guide, Bobby, takes a break next to the Rock. / Photo courtesy of Froehlich’s Outfitter and Guide Horse Rides
By Hong-Ah Do
H
iking is a big pastime in Southern Indiana, but literally “hoofing it” could be the next best thing. Just an hour east of Evansville in Cannelton, Froehlich’s Outfitter and Guide Horse Rides offers a different kind of scenic route. Owner and guide Christie Froehlich always loved horses, and in 1994 when she saw a “For Sale” sign tacked on a small farm, she knew it was meant to be. Fastforward 18 years, and Froehlich’s is now a 40-acre farm hugging the Hoosier National Forest where Christie’s 13 horses run free. When they’re not saddled up for duty, that is. Open year-round, Froehlich’s offers a variety of riding experiences depending on
the rider’s skill. Rides and trails vary from a short-and-sweet hour and a half to a more strenuous five-hour trek. Whichever trail you choose, the scenery is guaranteed to be a treat. The three-hour option, the most popular for experienced riders, winds through the forest and stops at a creek with various rock formations. “There are creeks and caves and great stuff you see out there, and I always make sure to stop and point it all out.” Christie’s favorite formation is a huge, 30-foot spectacle called, simply, the Rock. “We always stop at the Rock,” she says. While the fall is the most beautiful time of year to see the forest, Christie says each season has its own perks. As long as you call ahead to make an appointment, you
can take a ride just about anytime you want. Froehlich’s horses are tame and handpicked by Christie to make sure they’re gentle trail companions and a good fit for riders. Both Christie and her husband accompany riders through the trails to ensure safety. If you don’t have previous riding experience, don’t worry. Froehlich’s offers riding lessons for beginners before heading out, and Christie can often determine what trail ride is the best fit after a brief phone interview. Try to call at least a few weeks in advance so Froehlich’s can determine how many horses to have ready, make an appointment for you and see if lessons will be necessary.
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Landscape Rock • Bark Mulch • Shrubs • Tropical Annuals • Herbs • Vegetables • Perennials • Trees Carnivorous Plants • Bonsai • Pottery • Roses • Yard Décor Vegetables • Water Gardens • Fairy Gardens
8 summer/ fall 2014
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What I’ve Learned
Archie Kintner, bassets’ best friend Corydon’s veteran hound breeder shares what he’s learned in the show ring. By Natalie Schumann
S
outhern Indiana Kennel Club president Archie Kintner and his wife, Carole, have been breeding and showing basset hounds at their farm in Corydon since 1988. Their dog Gatsby was the No. 1 basset in the nation in 1998 and remains the top-winning basset in the history of the breed. Twenty-six years and 40 show dogs later, Kintner’s canines have taught him a thing or two about loving bassets and loving life.
DOGS AND HUMANS ARE SURPRISINGLY SIMILAR When we started showing dogs, neither Carole nor I were very outgoing, tending more to the shy side. The confidence we gained in our abilities in the show ring and as successful breeders has carried over into the rest of our lives. This is much like the dogs gain confidence in themselves as they continue to compete.
BASSETS AREN’T LAZY The stereotypical basset is perceived as lying around on the porch in the shade. Actually, the breed is very active, especially when they’re young. They’ll follow deer trails and rabbit trails and even trail you through the woods as you hunt mushrooms. They’ll come dragging in at the end of the day with their tongues hanging out, exhausted.
WATCH OUT FOR THE NOSEY ONES The only dog that has a better sense of smell than a basset is a bloodhound — bassets have highly developed noses. When we go out to see the dogs, especially in the winter, they know we’re coming. If you have dog biscuits in your pockets, they’ll stick their heads in to fish one out. They’ll pick your pockets if you let them.
DON’T GO IT ALONE Dog showing is one of those things where you get started and you just have to get into it. You meet other people, go to shows and get together. Competing with the dogs introduced us to a whole new world of friends, and now we give back to the sport and help other competitors through high involvement in our area clubs. You need a mentor, somebody to hold your hand and teach you the ropes, somebody to help you get to know the people and get to know the dogs.
LEARN TO LOSE BEFORE YOU WIN You have to do more losing than winning when you’re starting out, and it makes you really value those wins. If you have too much early success and then suddenly start to lose, there’s a chance you’ll lose interest. Of course we enjoyed Gatsby’s success when he was out doing so well — it really gets you hooked when you do something like that — but you get the personal satisfaction out of raising good dogs any time your peers see your dogs and think, “Well, those are some nice dogs.” Kintner shows off one of his current bassets, Uncie. / Photo courtesy of Archie Kintner
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Acoustic & Electric Guitars: Taylor, Fender, Washburn, Seagull, Indiana
CEN USI C EM VAN C
Sales, Lessons, Accessories & Repair
TER
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Northside of Downtown Square 112 W. Sixth Street 812-339-0618
Keyboards:
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Yamaha, Korg
Amps:
Fender, Line6, Laney
Store Hours
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri: 9:30 - 5:30 Wed: 9:30 - 7:00 Sat: 9:30 - 5:00
A Taste of Southern Indiana
Riverfront dining Hop on the winding Ohio River Scenic Byway to discover these three noteworthy restaurants.
T
By Jansen Yoder raversing the hilly terrain, running through historic towns for close to 300 miles and sitting parallel to the mighty Ohio River is the Scenic Byway. 812 put riverfront restaurants to the test, and these three stood out for their views, tastes and overall atmosphere. For a weekend getaway, the Byway and these restaurants are a sure bet.
Overlook Restaurant Leavenworth
THE VIEW: Tucked into the hills of Leavenworth, the Overlook Restaurant offers home cooking and a wrap-around deck that gives you a 20-mile panoramic view of the Ohio River. THE FOOD: Once a small café and grocery store with only 35 seats, the restaurant now has a total of 225 seats in a town of 300 people. Walter’s Pub, added in 2010, offers up a variety of beers, mixed drinks and a full menu. THE ATMOSPHERE: “High point in dining along the Ohio” is its motto. It may be wise to reserve your spot by calling ahead for this popular scenic stop. This summer when you’re craving an all-American meal and a getaway trip, you may just wind up here at Overlook.
Photo courtesy of Overlook Restaurant
THE VIEW: Outdoor seating on the flower-filled patio is available at the first sign of warm weather. Here you can enjoy Middle Eastern cuisine and a view of the Ohio River.
Café Arazu Newburgh
THE FOOD: Try the kubideh — two skewers of flame-broiled minced beef and lamb mixed with seasonings and grated onions. If you’re in the mood for falafel or gyros or want to try something different, Café Arazu is worth a stop. THE ATMOSPHERE: Owners Penny and Ben Najad have established a restaurant known for its flavorful dishes and culturally diverse atmosphere. Located in the historic town of Newburgh, the café is a relaxed, bohemian retreat for locals and visitors. Photo courtesy of Café Arazu
Key West Shrimp House Madison
THE VIEW: The seating area outside gives you the ideal view of the river, but it is just as enjoyable in the dining room. You can make yourself at home with the cards, games and sodas available while you wait to be seated. THE FOOD: Besides the shrimp, a must try, halibut is another favorite. If you’re not a fish-and-chips type of person, don’t worry; they serve up mouth-watering steaks and chicken, too. THE ATMOSPHERE: This family-friendly seafood restaurant is nestled on the riverbank in Madison. It is on the second level of a former button factory built in the late 1800s. Corner fireplaces and 130-year-old wooden beams add vintage charm.
Photo courtesy of Key West Shrimp House
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In the early 1800s, two charismatic men established utopian communities on the banks of the Wabash River. /Photo by Matt Bloom
NEW HARMONY:
THE TOWN OF TWO CENTURIES
}
Dive deep into Indiana’s utopian past on its 200th birthday and plan your perfect weekend getaway.
Story by Matt Bloom and Carolyn Crowcroft Illustrations by Kurt Christian
T
he sun is shining on New Harmony, a community settled along the Wabash River, 200 miles from Indianapolis and 200 feet from Illinois. Tourists cruise down Main Street on golf carts, past Chris’ Pharmacy and Pop’s Grill. Locals wave and call out “Good afternoon!” to their friends walking across the street. Of the 910 residents, some mention the century-old architecture on Church Street; others talk about Meryl Streep’s visit to Church Park to see the sculpture
Iptingen, just outside Württemberg. Rapp’s childhood was anything but peaceful. The Protestant Reformation, economic turmoil, famine, diseases and high mortality rates left Germany in shambles. In these trying times, the community turned to religion. For Rapp and his family, that was the Lutheran church. Lutheran services at the time were rigid, focused entirely around ritual. Donald Pitzer, author of “New Harmony: Then and Now,” says this would influence Rapp later in life as a leader in the Harmonist Society, the first group to inhabit what is now New Harmony. As Rapp grew older, he began to preach his own Lutheran beliefs. He believed Christ was coming any day, and if people followed him, they would be well prepared for his return. “People were looking for God anywhere,” Pitzer says. In 1791, Rapp was arrested for holding services at his home, and many of his followers were fined. Out of fear and government harassment, Rapp decided to look for a new territory in which to settle his growing congregation. He set his sights across the Atlantic Ocean in the United States. Rapp moved to Philadelphia in the early 1800s. After several hundred followers joined him, he established a community in Butler County. They called it Harmonie and declared themselves the Harmonie Society, with Rapp as their spiritual adviser and overseer of all things economic and agricultural. Soon after, Rapp and other community members discovered the soil there wasn’t suitable to grow grapes, their crop of choice. Rapp began to consider land in Kentucky and the Indiana Territory that would lend itself better to the fruit. The War of 1812 was also a deciding factor in the Harmonists’ migration. As Pitzer explains, the Harmonists were devout pacifists and deeply unsettled by the outbreak of war in their area. “They’d rather pay a fine than serve in the army,” he says. A move needed to happen fast. So, Rapp secured 7,000 acres of land in Illinois and Indiana. Since this was to be the new home for him and his fellow Harmonists, he named the territory New Harmonie. As they settled in, Rapp oversaw everything that went on in New Harmonie.
“He wanted them to be like Adam before he sinned.” - Author Donald Pitzer her husband, Don Gummer, made for her. There’s a silent but welcoming pride among locals as they pass out flyers promoting New Harmony’s jam-packed bicentennial event calendar. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first Harmonists’ arrival in Southern Indiana, and everyone is invited to the celebration. Today people find their own modern utopia in New Harmony, an escape from the hectic outside world. Members of the New Harmony Town Plan and Historic Preservation Commission monitor the care of buildings constructed by the original founders. It’s a place where writers and artists can come to work in peace and tourists can relax for a long weekend. It’s a place where history is never forgotten.
W
hile the streets of New Harmony are lined with quaint shops and friendly faces today, the landscape of 200 years ago looked very different. The Indiana Territory was an untamed wilderness populated primarily by indigenous people. Statehood was still two years away. In Germany, a devout member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, George Rapp, passionately preached his radical ideas. He said he was a prophet of God, a belief that earned him followers and eventually brought him legal trouble as well. Born Johann Georg Rapp in 1757, he grew up in the German town of
He called for his followers to live celibate lives. Rapp refused to marry anyone within the town’s borders and prohibited procreation. As for the children already living in New Harmonie, they would be raised by a man and a woman who would address each other as brother and sister. “He wanted them to be like Adam before he sinned,” Pitzer says. Harmonists were also committed to pietism, delving deep into religious studies, and communalism — everything earned was given back to the community to share. In further preparation for Christ’s return, the Harmonists focused on what is now called post-millennialism, Pitzer says. “Things had to get better and better in some ways for Christ to come back.” Rapp’s intense involvement with the community paid off in the beginning. Over the course of 10 years, they erected 180 buildings and established themselves as an economic powerhouse. Rapp had expanded his share of land from 7,000 to 30,000 acres. Things seemed to be going smoothly for the Harmonists — until Rapp went a little too far. As years passed and Christ failed to present himself, people grew anxious. As members’ frustrations grew, Rapp’s dictatorial grip tightened. Pitzer says a major factor in Rapp’s downfall was his overbearing nature. “He would read through people’s mail, keep secrets from the community,” Pitzer explains. “He was totally convinced he was right.” When Harmonists demanded the
Never had a community of New Harmony’s size redefined the way civilization was organized in such a short time. right to marry and raise families, Rapp refused them. People began leaving New Harmonie in search of more freedom. Eventually, as Rapp saw his community dwindling, he had to let go of his final and greatest hope for New Harmonie: that his remaining followers from Germany would gather more people to come to Indiana to live in his utopia. No one was coming. Everyone had given up. And now, so would he.
I
n January of 1825, Rapp sold his town for $150,000 — which, today, would be more than $3 million. The new landowner was Robert Dale Owen, a
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workers with local wealthy industrialist resources. and social reformer Owen tirelessly from Scotland. He recruited residents and his son William for New Harmony. had sailed the He left the previous year to settlement soon the United States after purchasing in search of a place it to tour the East to test a radical Coast, coaxing social experiment. scientists and They purchased the artists to move to town and tweaked New Harmony. He its name to “New gathered a cohort Harmony.” of thought leaders Owen made his on his vessel, the fortune in textile Philanthropist, mills after finishing which many also school at the age of referred to as 10. While growing the Boatload of up, he lost all belief The Door of Promise stands at the entrance to Church Park. The door is engraved with a Knowledge. Once in the prevailing golden rose, a symbol of hope and belief to the Harmonists. /Photo courtesy of the Town of he had recruited forms of religion New Harmony enough people, he and developed a sailed west. personal creed, organization to rationally educate and Educators who arrived via the Boatload describing man’s character as “selfemploy all, through a new organization of Knowledge, like William Maclure, the determined.” of society which will give a new existence “father of American geology,” and Thomas But Owen was not an atheist; he was to man by surrounding him with superior Say, the “father of American zoology,” a deist. He believed the existence of a circumstances only.” Owen wrote out the helped develop the town’s creator was formed by educational institutions. the observation and The idea of equal education study of the natural for both sexes was put into world. He called God practice in New Harmony, an “incomprehensible part of Owen’s vision of power.” free, equal and universal Owen’s community schools. would in most ways New Harmony became become the opposite of a great scientific center. the religious community Women were given a voice and allowed that preceded it. The world watched as principles for his philosophy in the form of to vote in local legislative assemblies. New Harmony became the promised his “fundamental laws of human nature.” When emancipation of slaves came to land of Owenism, the new center of After acquiring the town, Owen the forefront of American politics, Owen enlightenment. passionately pursued his vision of a New voiced his community’s support of equal Owen declared in his book “The New Moral World. He drew an idealized map of rights to President Lincoln. Moral World” that his community was “an his utopia: a fortressed town, built by local
“He would read through people’s mail, keep secrets from the community. He was totally convinced he was right.” - Author Donald Pitzer
What They Believed Religion Life in New Harmonie was dictated by the imminent return of Christ himself. Rapp’s strict religious ideas and values infiltrated every aspect of life.
George Rapp
Marriage Education Harmonists were told to abstain from carnal sexual relations. In Rapp’s eyes, sin came into the world through sexual desire, even though marriage was a sacred institution.
All children, boys and girls, had an education to prepare them for Christ’s return. At 14, Harmonists were given apprenticeships to develop skills to serve the community.
Conflict
Economy
Rapp and the Harmonists refused to participate in the militia and believed Christ condemned bloodshed. Rapp settled community disputes himself.
Rapp and followers traded with 22 states and 9 foreign countries. They shared their wealth and material possessions. They didn’t have insurance because the community was their insurance.
Never had a community of New Harmony’s size redefined the way civilization was organized in such a short time. But, within two years of its establishment, Owen’s New Harmony began to decline. With Owen away on recruitment trips, organization and economic stability faltered. Although he envisioned a classless society of cooperative individuals, two distinctive groups formed. The country folk preferred not to work all the time and were viewed as freeloaders. People who arrived on the Boatload of Knowledge were educators. The growing divide between residents weakened Owen’s social experiment. The following year, the Owenites drafted another constitution in an effort to organize the community’s cooperation, structure and acquisition of knowledge. But many members still challenged New Harmony’s credit system. Under the constitution, members would provide services to the community in exchange for credit. Those who didn’t want to work could purchase credit with cash, allowing them to acquire basic goods for their homes. People were displeased with the inequalities between working and non-working Owenites. This social divide, along with an influx of people and lack of management, led to New Harmony’s downfall. In an editorial published in the The New Harmony Gazette on March 28, 1827, Robert and William Owen recognized the failure.
“We have yet to learn that the character of a person educated among the surroundings of the old world can be entirely changed,” Owen wrote. “The experiment, to ascertain at once whether a mixed and unassorted population could successfully govern their own affairs as a community, was a bold and hazardous attempt, and, we think, a premature one.” Owen urged members interested in furthering the experiment to stay. Those only interested in money were politely asked to leave. Many broke away and formed smaller communities near New Harmony. But some stayed, and hundreds of Owenite descendants still live in New Harmony and the surrounding region. “New Harmony cannot be numbered among the colonies of the social system, but there is progress, and the day is not far distant when it will join the ranks of
the faithful,” Owen said in his farewell address to the colonies before returning to Scotland. “When I return I hope to find you progressing in harmony together.”
A
fter the utopian communities faltered, New Harmony remained a town devoted to arts, education and the value of hard work. Today, it’s possible to mistake New Harmony for any other friendly small town. But hints of Rapp’s and Owen’s communities linger. The Working Men’s Institute contains hundreds of years of books, documents and photographs. Harmonist cabins dot the north side of town, where visitors tour and learn about the Rappites and their lifestyle. And the peaceful roofless church invites all into a sanctuary unlike any other in the world, a lasting reminder of the town’s deep historic roots.
New Harmony's visitors center in the striking Atheneum welcomes tourists and locals on the north side of town. /Photo by Matt Bloom
Economy
Conflict
Owen organized his utopian experiment's economy on socialist principles. "Kindness" was a word Owen often used to describe his economic decisions.
Owen hoped war would soon become irrelevant. By focusing on education and true happiness, mankind would solve disputes through more reasonable, nonviolent processes.
Education Marriage
Religion
To protect children from their parents’ biases, Owen opened Community House No. 2, a Pestalozzian school that housed children from the age of 2 until they began working.
Owen was a deist, not an atheist. He called God an “incomprehensible power.” He sought education and happiness in his community as his homage to a benevolent ruler.
Sex and marriage were seen as important parts of an individual’s happiness. Birth control was studied and practiced, and couples had the right to seek divorce.
Robert Owen
A WEEKEND IN NEW HARMONY DAY ONE
10 a.m. Tour of Historic New
Harmony.
Wear good walking shoes — you’re going to need them! Look out for the Granary, which holds many local weddings and socials, and the Opera House, where you’ll see a display of beautifully preserved costumes from past shows.
12 p.m. Pop’s Grill, 516 Main
St.
Check out the family-friendly Pop’s Grill. The ‘50s-style diner features Route 66-themed decorations. Don’t leave without trying one of the ice cream concoctions (we recommend the banana split).
2:30 p.m. New Harmony
Gallery of Contemporary Art, 506 Main St.
Take a walk through this gallery, dedicated to displaying the work of young and midcareer artists. If you’re lucky, you might catch a reception for one of the artists on display.
3:30 p.m. Antique shops along
Main St.
1 p.m. Working Men’s Institute
Museum & Library, 407 Tavern St.
Continue your New Harmony education at the Working Men’s Institute, the oldest continually operating library in the Hoosier state. Focus most of your time upstairs in the museum, which houses rare books, a horse skeleton and stuffed birds. The most striking exhibit? The stuffed twoheaded calf.
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Hit the streets and shop ‘til you drop. Don’t miss Firehouse Antiques and its delightful home furnishings, including vintage tablecloths and colorful dishes.
5 p.m. The Red Geranium, 520 North St.
Known for its great food and elegant atmosphere, the Red Geranium is a major attraction. Try the Black Angus filet mignon or Italian penne pasta for the true fine dining experience.
6:30 p.m. Event at Murphy Auditorium, 419 Tavern St.
This auditorium is a mecca for cultural events in New Harmony. It’s also home to the University of Southern Indiana’s New Harmony Theatre.
8:30 p.m. Sara’s Harmony Way, 500 Church St.
This pristine little coffee shop turns into a bar at night, and it features a wide variety of Indiana wines and brewed beers. Order a Harmonist Lager, the first beer brewed in Indiana.
DAY TWO 9 a.m. The Main Café, 520 N. Main St.
A plate of fresh scrambled eggs and toast is fast and inexpensive at this quintessential mom-and-pop breakfast spot.
10 a.m. Golf Cart Rental, 504 North St. (New Harmony Inn) & 401 Arthur St. (New Harmony Golf Car Company)
The self-titled “golf cart capital of Indiana,” New Harmony has more than 200 licensed golf carts. Rates range from $15 to $20 an hour.
11 a.m. The Labyrinths
Nurture your spirit by walking New Harmony’s two labyrinths, including one of the oldest in North America.
Harmonist Labyrinth
This labyrinth was originally built around 1815 and renovated in 1941. The hedges were planted according to a pattern established by the Harmony Society: a concentric circular design with only one path.
10:30 a.m. The Roofless Church
This interdenominational church, commemorating the town’s religious heritage, was dedicated in 1960. The dome in the interior courtyard is built in the shape of an inverted rose bud and casts the shadow of a rose in full bloom. This image ties the modern church facility to the founders of New Harmony, the Harmonie Society, whose symbol was a golden rose.
1 p.m. New Harmony Soap Company, 512 Main St.
Load up with the local soap company’s Eucalyptus Spearmint Body Bar or Organic Almond Coconut Ginger Body Wash. The owner’s pet dachshund Ginger waddles around the store, welcoming adults and children to this one-of-a-kind shop.
Cathedral Labyrinth
The rose granite unicursal labyrinth is a close replica of the 12th century one in Chartres Cathedral. Aligned with the walls of the Harmonist Cemetery and Native American burial mounds, the plan follows ancient sacred geometry used in European cathedrals.
12 p.m. Woody’s Pizzeria, 518
S. Main St.
Woody’s is the perfect stop for lunch. Try the loaded specialty with sausage, beef, pepperoni, green pepper, onion, tomato, black olives and mushrooms.
3 p.m. Wabash River and Harmonie State Park, 3451 Harmonie State Park Rd.
Cap off your weekend with a walk on the Wabash riverbanks. Newly paved pathways make the experience easy, and just wait for the views. Return your golf cart and buckle up in your car for a few minutes’ drive south to Harmonie State Park. Bike, run or hike through the trails in the park’s 3,500 acres.
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The Indiana University Opera presented the opera ”The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh” with backdrops painted by Don Geyra. /Photo courtesy of Don Geyra
ARTIST DON GEYRA LIVED A LIFE BEHIND THE CURTAIN ON BROADWAY, IN MOVIES AND ON TELEVISION. NOW IN BLOOMINGTON, HE’S READY FOR THE NEXT ACT TO UNFOLD. By Ashley Minyard
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on Geyra and his crew set up shop in Al Pacino’s New York City loft. They’re preparing the set for the movie “Chinese Coffee.” They’ve been warned: “Do not make eye contact.” “Do not get on the elevator with him.” “Stay out of his way.” The scenic crew obliges, used to the rules set by method actors. After all, scenic art is serious work with high pressure and short notice. The task at hand is the movie’s most important prop: a brand new wicker table that needs to look aged and worn. Geyra attacks it with only 45 minutes until cameras roll. He sands the raised areas of the wood, brushes on a tinted glaze and wipes the table down, allowing the color to sink into the sanded grain. It looks as if Pacino has been playing cards on it for years. Geyra dips a coffee cup in a warm tinted glaze and presses it gently on the table — coffee dribbles, perhaps from the previous morning. Suddenly, he feels a presence next to him. An arm wraps around his shoulders, and a strong hand gives him a squeeze.
It’s Pacino. Geyra shrinks, remembering the rules. He’s not supposed to look at him, not supposed to talk to him, and here Pacino is hugging him. “You know, I just wanna tell you, man, you really came through for me,” Pacino says. “We needed it fast, and we needed it perfect, and you did it. I just want to thank you. And I want you to know how much it means to us to have this to work with.” Experiences like this are special in a scenic artist’s life. They’re typically behind the curtain, unseen by the public but critical to the production. Scenic artists are the magicians of set design, expected to transform everyday objects into breathtaking scenery and crucial props. Without their expertise, movies, television and theater would be bland and featureless, yet scenic artists go largely unnoticed. They’re the manpower and paintbrush behind the vision, creating the space for the action to live. Don Geyra, now 60, a 1977 fine arts graduate from Indiana University, has been doing scenic art for 32 years. He’s worked on Broadway shows from “Cats” to “Young Frankenstein.” He did movies like “Biloxi Blues” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” and his television repertoire includes “The Cosby Show” and “Ugly Betty.”
Today Geyra’s hair is a little grayer. He’s returned to Bloomington for a rest from New York and the demanding schedule of an active scenic artist. He’s grateful for a break, but Geyra insists that scenic art isn’t something he can just quit. Since he moved to Bloomington in 2012, Geyra has teamed up with the Indiana University Opera, painting backdrops for productions like “The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh.” It was, he says, one of the three best jobs he’s completed in his lifetime. “It was just glorious,” Geyra says. “Visually, that was unbelievable.” “The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh” featured backdrops, 40 feet high and 70 feet wide, adorned with blossoming cherry trees, a vibrantly purple moonlit night and large silky clouds rolling across the stage, all designed by Mark Smith and painted by Geyra. Smith has been working for the IU Opera and Ballet Theater for 17 years and has been director of scenic painting for the last four. “We work with a variety of designers, and each show features a unique design,” Smith says. “Don has been a valuable local resource for us, and I’m always eager to observe how others approach a project. It’s been great for me to watch him work.”
lines his Bloomington basement studio. At CBGB he experienced bands like The Talking Heads, Stray Cats, The Dead Boys and the iconic Ramones. In fact, Geyra lived just above the Ramones and became close friends with the band. Memorabilia from the era is now scattered throughout his house, including the original Ramones T-shirt silk screens, created and slashed by Arturo Vega, and old promotional posters of the band. But dearest to Geyra are the memories of his friends. “I had the first answering machine anyone had ever seen,” Geyra says. “Joey goes, ‘Man, that is cool. Can I put an announcement on?’ So Joey Ramone was on my answering machine. He goes, ‘Hey, uh, this is Joey. This is Don’s phone. Leave a message and he’ll call ya back — if you’re lucky!’” Although Geyra never turned down a good time, when he was on the job, he worked with dedication and focus. He often had to fight the weather if working outdoors or even risk his safety with jobs in dangerous neighborhoods. Geyra was once required to work in what is called Alphabet City, an area of the city with high crime rates and drugs running rampant. He was told to go to Harlem and paint out all the
“IT WAS JUST GLORIOUS. VISUALLY, THAT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.”
Geyra works on a motorcycle painting in his home studio. “This painting looks very dark, but it was such a happy time,” he says. “It was like a dream.” /Photo by Caitlin O’Hara
Geyra poses on the set of “Biloxi Blues” after lettering and aging a real train. /Photo courtesy of Don Geyra
While in Bloomington, Geyra is making the most of his retirement. He finally has the opportunity to just paint or go out and enjoy the town. Another perk of being in Bloomington is the local art scene. Geyra often visits The Venue on Grant Street, where his paintings are displayed along with those of other area artists, whose works adorn his home. Gabriel Colman, owner of The Venue, knows what Geyra sees in Bloomington. “I know that Don was thoroughly impressed with the creativity that exists in this community,” he says. “He was drawn to retire here because it had the cultural diversity of a big city but in a small-scale setting that would allow him to relax.” You can see Geyra on The Square for First Fridays or cruising around Monroe County on his beloved 1981 Harley Davidson (hand painted by Geyra to look like marble). Always a talker, he’ll grace you with stories of the glory days, both at IU and, of course, in New York City. Geyra lived in the New York Bowery from 1977 to 1981 during the prime years of the punk scene. As a manager at the legendary CBGB nightclub, he was part of one of the biggest eras of music history and amassed an impressive record collection that now
Geyra is very organized when it comes to his paints. “Oil paints are expensive these days,” he says. “You have to keep things clean so nothing goes to waste.” /Photo by Caitlin O’Hara
graffiti. “I said ‘Why don’t you just kill me now? You can’t just go paint that out, they’ll kill me!’ I got out of that one, you know. Live to paint another day.” The difficulties of location, time and weather aren’t the only adversities scenic artists face. Author Peter Beudert, a professor for the School of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of Arizona, says one of the biggest differences between scenic and studio art lies in scale. Scenic art is created on massive canvases large enough to fill the stage. Close up, the artwork may look a little odd, but step 15 feet back, and the masterpiece comes together. “The effects of the perspective really are striking, and the depth expressed is much more prominent,” says Beudert. “You have to make an intellectual shift to make sure that your technique is correct.” Scenic artists also have to think out of the box when it comes to finding materials on set. When Geyra was working as camera scenic artist on a Woody Allen movie, he needed to make pure white sheer curtains look older. He searched the studio and found a large container of hot water and tea on hand for the crew. He made a gallon of tea and dyed 20 feet of curtains in minutes.
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“Everyone used to always write at my shows, ‘Don’t ever stop.’ So I’m not,” Geyra says. “I’m never going to stop.” /Photo by Caitlin O’Hara
“Woody Allen comes in and goes, ‘It smells wonderful in here. Chamomile right?’ That was a real tea bath,” Geyra says. Sometimes these materials can be created simply by carving something new out of foam found Dumpster diving or adding shoe polish to furniture to reduce glare. The alterations don’t have to last long, especially when on a television or movie set. Their creations are equally temporary when it comes to the giant backdrops on Broadway. “Some of it is donated, some of it is destroyed,” Geyra says. “You do your work, you do it the best, it’s accepted, your reputation is intact, and you move on.” Geyra has become used to the realities of impermanence, understanding that what really matters is getting the job done. But if there’s anything Geyra learned from the industry, it’s that you never stop learning from those you work with. The life of a scenic artist is a very social one, with hours of work on scaffolding alongside a variety of people. He worked in some of the most prominent New York scenic art studios of the industry: Hudson Scenic Studios and Scenic Art Studios. “It’s so important to keep an open mind with things,” Geyra says. “That’s what I learned from being a scenic artist more than
anything else. If you or anyone around you gets an idea, never dump on it. Always be open to other people’s opinions, and be able to defend your own opinions.” Geyra’s good friends still in the industry miss his presence in New York. Ian Zdatny recalls his absurdist sense of humor and impressive talent. “Don was the kind of guy that would break out into a skip in the middle of the street,” Zdatny says. “But I would say Don is one of the finest living artists, scenic or otherwise, that I know. Don has Old World skills. He can really bring imagination in his art that allows people to see it in a way that they couldn’t before.” Geyra credits much of his skill to great artists and mentors. He first began his scenic art career in a New York apprenticeship with artist John Koch. Koch was one of the best in the industry and would take jobs outside the Scenic Artists Union in order to give beginner designers the opportunity to work by his side. In order to do big-time scenic work, you must be a member of the union, and to be in the union, you must have experience. Geyra wishes to take his experiences in scenic painting and use them to help others launch their careers. “I feel that students really need the opportunity to earn a
“IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND WITH THINGS. THAT’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM BEING A SCENIC ARTIST MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.”
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living when they leave school. I can prepare them for that,” Geyra says. “No matter what your background is, when you go into the big time, the learning starts right from the beginning.” He hopes to one day teach students at IU, but in the meantime he’s using those Old World methods back in Bloomington. His artwork covers the walls, and he cheerfully shares the stories behind each one. A mountain landscape holds the romance of how he met his wife, a small simple painting of a doorway represents happy college memories, and a large green tinted stairwell leads down to the loft of the Ramones, packed full of youthful troublemaking. In Geyra’s home studio, he works on a painting of a latenight motorcycle trip. Worked completely from memory, the piece brims with emotion. “This was so visceral,” Geyra says. “This painting is all coming out of my head. It was like a dream. This trip was at four in the morning and, well, we had been drinking all night, but it’s a lot of fun to be in a group like this — to ride as a group.” Geyra has had his motorcycle since the days of CBGB and the Ramones. Inside, Geyra is still a young rambunctious artist on the Bowery. Although he’s retired from New York, he will never stop painting. He remembers the Ramones, along with others who rose and fell and paints in their memory. Dee Dee Ramone and the rest of the band were his good friends, but he recognizes they were tragically flawed with drug addictions and destructive lifestyles that eventually killed them. “I’ve known a lot of really, really great and important artists who are no longer alive,” Geyra says. “And I’m still alive. And almost every day I think about somebody and think that I owe it to them to paint. Because I still can. And I know that they would still create, too, if they could.”
Did you know that most of your favorite movies and TV shows have artificial sets? It’s the job of artists like Don Geyra to render these hyper-realistic scenes from scratch. Next time you watch these movies, see if you can spot some scenery Geyra created.
“BIG DADDY” Julian and Sonny stop to pee on the side of a building in front of a large wooden door, which is actually painted contact paper over a glass building. The detail was so exact that the image was blown up for a billboard.
“BOURNE SUPREMACY” A car crashes into a wall at the Port Authority train station, where the crew was prohibited from altering the building. The car actually runs into a fake wall that’s a giant concrete extension painted to seamlessly match. The manager of the building saw the wall and was furious, thinking they’d damaged the real building, until the crew wheeled the fake away without leaving a mark.
“PERSON OF INTEREST” The show’s office is set in an abandoned library, but none of the elaborate stone or woodwork is real. Geyra says that typically, if there is a police station in a movie, it’s staged on a set.
“BILOXI BLUES” Inside the army barracks looking out the window, you see endless rows of other barracks. The views outside those windows are all huge printed backdrops, known as photo murals. To spot fake window scenes, look at the clouds — are they moving?
Twin H
Tree Farm & Nursery
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22 summer/ fall 2014
/Photo by Ben Mikesell
Back
front porch to the
Pull up a chair, pour some lemonade and sit for a spell.
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By Anicka Slachta and Mary Kate Irrgang
e sit on them to watch storms, to tell stories, to talk on the phone, to chat with our neighbors and to make memories with family. The romantic roots of the front porch run deep in Southern Indiana. While some may consider the front porch a thing of the past—a nostalgic piece of American architecture—it’s making a surprising comeback. “I suspect we’re feeling nostalgic these days,” says Philip Gulley, author of “Front Porch Tales” and owner of a vintage Orange County farmhouse, “and a bit overwhelmed with technology, which makes the peace and simplicity of the porch all the more appealing.” We spoke with local enthusiasts about their distinctly Southern Indiana porches. You’ll meet a young family on their modern home’s front steps, gather for hors d’oeuvres at a chef’s rustic outdoor space and reminisce on a swing with two empty-nesters. With their help, we’ll explore our love affair with front porches and why they’re here to stay.
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PORCHES PA S T The front porch’s popularity began in the mid-1800s in the South where temperatures were higher. A well-known landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing, saw the porch as a way to set American architecture apart from English design. By the turn of the century, every home style from Colonial to Victorian included a front porch. The porch connected the interior of the home to the world outside. Families could escape from the heat and enjoy the surrounding landscape. Author Phil Gulley says porches serve an important function. “You’re looking at the world passing by,” he says, “and the world is looking at you. You exchange waves and treasure the connection.” In the 1950s, WWII veterans began moving to single-family suburban homes with back yards, back decks and privacy. It wasn’t until the 1980s that people began to embrace “small living,” the idea that we don’t need sprawling homes. Porches suit these more compact homes, often built in walkable neighborhoods designed to foster a sense of community. Last year, more than 60 percent of houses built in the Midwest had porches, an increase of 50 percent since 1992. Gulley says we long for the simplicity of the front porch. “We associate the porch with rest, renewal and relationships,” he says. “When life is complex, those virtues get lost in the shuffle. The return to the porch is the collective way of saying, ‘Slow down, world.’”
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Chef Daniel Orr’s sweeping front porch invites guests to pour a tall glass of iced tea, take a seat and put up their feet.
“Porches give you the opportunity to open yourself up and be better.”
DANIEL ORR R U S T I C C A B I N | B L O O M I N GT O N
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Photos by Ben Mikesell
hef Daniel Orr’s Southern Indiana cabin is 10 minutes away from his restaurant, but he says it’s 2,000 miles away in feeling. In New York, where he used to work, he’d have to drive two or three hours to get that same effect. He describes his cabin home as a kind of tree house — it has lots of windows, and when plants are in full bloom, everything is green. The home has it all — a sleeping loft, an open floor plan, a two-story fireplace and a wraparound terrace. But the first thing a visitor sees is the porch. Orr’s porch is the most traditional feature of his home, he says. The rest is a “mix of new cuttingedge with a mid-century modern feel,” but out front, it’s old-timey and folksy. You’ll find antique wicker furniture, a myriad of plants that Orr grew himself and a huge pile of firewood — chopping it is one of Orr’s preferred pastimes. “It’s a place where you can really decompress after a 12-hour day at the restaurant,” he says. Orr hails from Columbus, left home for college and didn’t come back until he was an adult. “I ran away from home for about 25 years. I was in New York City, Europe for three years, the Caribbean…” He came back around seven years ago because his father was ill, and Orr decided to open FARM, his restaurant on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Both sides of his family were farmers, and Orr says that influenced his decision to go into culinary arts. “Food was always important to our family,” he says. “It’s something that I found early on that I did well, and I grabbed onto it.” His passion for food doesn’t stay at work, though. “You really can use the porch as an area for
entertaining,” he says. “I like to do the moveable feast where you eat different courses in different areas of the house.” Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres belong on the front porch. The screened-in back porch is home to wild game barbecue and grilled eggplant baba ghanoush. Eating outside used to be simpler for Orr. When he was a kid, he remembers his grandparents coming over and drinking ice tea or lemonade on hot days, breaking beans and playing checkers and backgammon. That’s what the porch is for, he says, to play games and kibitz with your family, friends and neighbors. “I wanted to create that old feeling of what the porch was meant for.” He says porches foster community and notes that people who have porches tend to have more friends. Orr’s porch has an iPod dock and WiFi accessibility, but he insists on keeping the oldtime charm. Every porch needs the simplicity of a sleeping dog and a welcome mat to feel complete, he says. “That’s what the porch does. It welcomes people into your space. It’s like an extra room on your house.” Orr has the welcome mat, but not the sleeping dog. Instead, he has a pair of 1-year-old twin tuxedo cats, Cooper and Conner. Orr cherishes his porch. Nowadays, he says, people have sidewalks that sidle right up to the front door. Guests don’t have anywhere to wait for the homeowner to come and welcome them in. Without a porch, you have nowhere to watch the world go by. “It seems like we hide ourselves away,” he says. “Porches give you the opportunity to open yourself up and be better.”
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“We love our front porch. We have taken 26 years worth of family photos out there.”
iBill and Susan Ohlendorf treat their German shepherd mix Shelby like family.
susan & bill
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porch was where they met. It’s been there for first days of school, proms and birthdays. It has seen neighbor kids grow up and housed a happily creaky swing for 26 years. Bill Ohlendorf, 63, swears he has greased the springs and chains on the swing that has hung on their current front porch since they moved into the turn-of-the-century home in Madison in 1988. Susan Ohlendorf, 60, swears she’s never sat on that swing without it calling out that comforting creak. “Bill and I actually met on a front porch,” Susan says. She was best friends with Bill’s sister Elaine, and the three of them spent time together as kids on his family’s porch in Louisville. Susan remembers hearing Bill’s mother strum her ukulele for them, playing chess on tea tables and having a “secret crush” on Bill at an early age. That secret turned into a happy marriage and family. Bill and Susan bought the home to provide more space for themselves and their daughters, Mary Beth and TJ. It was no surprise to them that they put an offer in on a house with a great front porch. They remember walking around Madison looking for new houses and seeing their current home’s previous owners sitting out front. “It definitely was one of the things that attracted me to it,” Susan says. The porch soon became a family favorite, welcoming guests at get togethers, neighbor kids during playdates and family members for gatherings. TJ and Mary Beth, now 38 and 29, have moved away, but they still consider the porch one of their favorite parts of the house. TJ liked to sit out on the swing during thunderstorms, feeling the breeze and listening to the thunder,
all while being sheltered. She still loves being welcomed home on the porch by Susan, Bill and their German shepherd Shelby. Mary Beth remembers sitting out on the swing with friends and hopes to have a porch like her parents’ someday. “It really is more of a community porch than a family porch,” Susan says. Her daughters’ neighborhood friends came over to play as kids, hung out as teenagers and now catch up as adults. Susan says that so many of their family’s memories are there: when Bill tried rollerblades for the first time, when a neighborhood kid was found napping there, when her girls would stage their own plays there. Now that Susan and Bill are retired, life has slowed down a bit. They use the porch as a place to phone family and friends, to photograph the changing seasons, to read and to watch the dog. The porch is a comfortable place to come home to, to relax and recharge after a busy day. Just as they used to glide with their girls on that wooden porch swing, they now swing with grandsons Robby and Alex. Same old creaking, same old porch, brand new memories.
ernesto
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o matter the weather, when Ernesto Castaneda looks up, he sees blue. “With this winter we’ve had, with all of these gray skies, I always wanted to have a blue sky,” he says. “At least for a moment.” That’s why he painted his porch ceiling blue, a Southern tradition. When the weather mimics his paint job, he lies out on the expanse of wood with his son Max and peeks out at the sky. They trace the shapes of clouds together. Castaneda smiles at the memory. “He loves that, you know? He’s almost 6, and he still loves that.” When Castaneda purchased his 1920s-bungalow-vibe home on South Dunn Street, he picked the color palette — a vibrant green and yellow — and decided which trees to plant along the road. He was an architect with the South Dunn Street housing project, which began in 2003. Castaneda says the neighborhood was all about “small living” and “new urbanism.” “The reality is, there’s nothing new about it,” Castaneda says. “We’re just trying to bring back the good things that were done back in the early ‘20s. Community is what is important.” Castaneda can sit on his porch and talk to his neighbor across the way because the streets are so narrow. The landscaping, the houses, the shops, the streets and the sidewalks make a community, and porches are a part of that. “It’s just like a recipe when you’re cooking,” he says. “You could have all the ingredients, but if you don’t
put one in right, the dish isn’t going to come out right.” Castaneda gestures to a small notebook where he’s sketched a floor plan for a client. Porches must be deep enough and wide enough to fit furniture — especially a swing, he says. “A porch without a swing is just not a porch.” His porch, naturally, has a swing. It also has chairs, a table, baskets of flowers hanging from the balcony and a 15-year-old chocolate lab named Frida who Castaneda says has a “hug me” face. She likes to pad onto the porch in the early hours of the morning and lie in a patch of sunlight. Casteneda says he’s looking forward to the summer. Maybe, when fall rolls around, Max and he will camp out on the porch. “He might not last the entire night, but the intention is there. Building memories, I think, is a good thing. And you can do that on the porch,” he says. His daughter Eloisa is just an infant, but she should be walking in the summertime, during prime porch weather. Castaneda will dig in the garden, and his wife, Angela, will be right behind him planting flowers. “You can make it as romanticized as you want,” Castaneda says, “but you build your own story.”
Ernesto and Angela Casteneda relax with Max and Eloisa on their bungalow-inspired porch.
“A porch is a state of mind.”
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TRUE BLUE Artist, teacher and indigo farmer Rowland Ricketts has transplanted centuries-old Japanese techniques to Bloomington, leaving vibrant color in his path.
By Natalie Schumann and Courtney Kabbes
29 Rowland Ricketts’ 2012 installation at the University of Illinois Krannert Art Museum captures the many shades of indigo. /Photo courtesy of Rowland Ricketts
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small plastic timer, its white surface stained with faint blue splotches, sits near the edge of a four-foot tall vat of dye. It beeps, and Rowland Ricketts darts across his studio to silence it. He reaches into the vat, his arms vanishing up to his elbows in the thick, dark liquid, and pulls out yards of fabric he had submerged minutes before. He examines his work, resets the timer and presses the start button with his index finger. His index finger is blue — as are his other nine. The distinct color covers most of Rowland’s fingernails, like half-chipped polish awaiting a new manicure. It spreads to his hands, filling the creases of his knuckles and palms and fading as it reaches his forearms. He rinses his blue hands in the blue-spattered sink and dries them on a blue towel. He wears a deep blue shirt and blue jeans. “Everything ends up blue,” he says. His hands have been stained some shade of this color, a hue between blue and violet, since he discovered the traditional Japanese methods of growing and processing indigo nearly 10 years ago. Now 43, Rowland lives in Bloomington and divides his time between farming indigo, working in his studio, teaching textile classes at Indiana University and collaborating with a growing number of
institutions that want to showcase his work. He lectures and holds workshops at universities across the country, and his art, including dyed wall hangings, patterned cloth partitions and various other pieces, has been featured in exhibitions from Australia to New York. You might say Rowland’s name has become synonymous with indigo dyeing in the United States, where he is one of a handful of artists who cultivate this art.
of light, delicate cotton, imported from Japan, on a handcrafted, fishhook-lined wooden frame suspended above the vat. Stray threads dangle from the ends of the fabric, grazing the surface as Rowland slowly lowers the frame, and the murky pool of dye engulfs the white cloth. He resets the timer. Across the studio, his assistant Jay Garst carefully irons T-shirts, each dyed a slightly different shade of blue. Today, the two are photographing the shirts for another project sponsored by the I FELL HIS STUDIO is located in the Arts Development Group, a community of 100-year-old McCalla building on Ninth artists in Bloomington. Rowland rushes Street, once a Bloomington elementary from the vat to the tripod and lighting school. Its walls are old and tired, the doorframes and windowpanes flecked with structure set up against the back wall of his studio, grabbing a freshly pressed shirt peeling paint. Creaking stairs lead down the color of worn denim from Jay’s pile. to the vibrant blue door that opens into He quickly hangs the shirt and straightens Rowland’s basement space. On this crisp the collar and sleeves. He knows his Friday afternoon, Rowland has settled into seconds are limited. The beeping timer the “crazy rhythm” of dyeing, hard at work beckons Rowland back to the vats. The on an upcoming installation for Kennesaw photo will have to wait. “This is what life State University’s Zuckerman Museum of is like trying to do things in three-minute Art in Georgia. intervals,” he says. Along with Japanese indigo farming and dyeing techniques, he has mastered another skill: multitasking. “You do your own photography, public relations and manual labor — as an artist you do everything,” he says. - ROWLAND RICKETTS With three more minutes on the clock, Rowland returns to the camera. He directs Jay as she crouches This project is an experiment of sorts. below the hanging shirt, manipulating the He hopes to determine how much of the light with a piece of thick white poster flowering plant he must grow and harvest board. Her fiery red hair keeps peeking from his six-acre plot to create the striking into the edge of the frame. Rowland blue textiles that have become his life’s takes a test shot, only to realize he’s work. He carefully arranges the next piece
“You do your own photography, public relations and manual labor — as an artist you do everything.”
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LEFT: Rowland slowly lowers a T-shirt into the vat of dye. He’s careful not to trap air in the folds and seams of the garment. /Photo by Courtney Kabbes MIDDLE: Finished fabric for the Kennesaw State installation hangs outside of Rowland’s studio. /Photo by Natalie Schumann RIGHT: In her studio, Chinami spins wool into thread to be used for weaving projects. /Photo by Courtney Kabbes
forgotten the memory card. Jay laughs. She is accustomed to the inevitable chaotic atmosphere of McCalla 002. “I’m always humorously struggling,” Rowland says. “But he always comes up with good ways to fix things,” Jay adds.
ROWLAND’S LOVE affair
dates back to 2500 B.C. The color became popular in the Middle East and Asia, spreading through trade routes to Europe where it signified wealth and luxury. Demand became so great that farms were established in the American colonies with slave labor to support the growing trade. Meanwhile, Japan was following
farming and dyeing. His JET supervisor connected him with a local indigo farmer, and he began a yearlong apprenticeship. Afterward, he secured a placement with the Furusho family, expert indigo dyers in Okinawa. Rowland met Chinami, now his wife, while studying in Okinawa. “We would all be sitting around chitchatting, and I realized we talked about what we would do if we had our own studio,” he says. The two traveled throughout China and Southeast Asia and later returned to Japan. While Rowland pursued dyeing, Chinami studied under a master weaver, perfecting Japanese “kasuri” weaving techniques. Apprenticeships completed, they brought their knowledge and experience, along with several bags of dried Japanese indigo leaves, to the United States in 2003. Rowland completed his Masters in Fine Arts in fibers at Cranbrook Academy of the Arts in 2005. He and Chinami lived briefly in Tennessee before settling in Bloomington in 2006. Rowland was enticed by a teaching job at Indiana University and the artistic personality of the town. They bought land not far from the campus, where they currently live with their three sons, one 9 year old and 6 year-old twins. They began to grow
The color became popular in the Middle East and Asia, spreading through trade routes to Europe where it signified wealth and luxury.
with indigo began nearly 6,500 miles from his studio. A high school trip to Japan sparked his interest in Japanese language and culture, and he went on to major in East Asian Studies as an undergraduate at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He spent his junior year studying in Kyoto and, unable to stay away after graduation, returned to the country with the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program, or JET. “All I knew was school,” he says. While teaching photography in Japan, Rowland noticed that the sink in the 150-year-old farmhouse where he lived was draining chemicals used to develop photos directly onto the surrounding land. “That got me thinking about how something as benign, or seemingly benign, as art-making really has an impact on the immediate environment,” he says. With his teaching contract about to expire, Rowland was introduced through his JET program to artists in the area who worked with natural plant dyes. From them, he first learned about indigo. Indigo was initially cultivated in India, and the oldest known dyed garment
an isolationist policy; the nation resisted trade and interaction with other nations as much as possible. This allowed the Japanese culture, along with their methods of indigo farming and dyeing, to develop untouched by outside influences. The all-natural dyeing process continues today, despite chemical dyes overpowering the worldwide textile industry. Intrigued by indigo’s specialized dye process, Rowland searched for a way to learn about this sustainable method of art making. Fascinated by the older residents of his Japanese community and their understanding of how to live in their immediate environment, he wanted to somehow bring their ideas back with him. “It flipped my world upside down,” he says. Gradually, he eliminated artmaking methods that weren’t sustainable and became determined to master indigo
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indigo two years after moving, and were relieved that the plant easily adjusted to the temperate Indiana climate. Neighbors would pass by their six-acre plot, eyeing the pink-blossomed rows of plants or the sprawling blue tarp covered in drying leaves, and sometimes asked, “Is this legal?” Eventually, the Ricketts accumulated enough dried and composted indigo to begin replacing their dwindling supply from Japan.
each evenly over both seedling beds, Rowland opens three bags of precious indigo seeds from previous years’ harvests. He grabs a handful and uses his fingers to sift through the mixture, exposing
10 days. Caring for the vats is a complex balancing act: too much or too little alkalinity could prevent fermentation from starting, and dyeing too much fabric too quickly could kill the vat completely. As an apprentice in Japan, Rowland once killed a vat containing nearly $2,000 of composted indigo. Now, after years of practice, he carefully monitors the vats and can determine the the dark, tiny seeds hidden within the alkalinity simply by feeling the liquid with dried plant residue. Careful not to mix his hands. seeds from different harvests, Rowland Rowland sips tea out of a chipped mug, distributes the contents of the three bags cream colored except for traces of indigo. over freshly tilled soil. His willowy frame leans against one of the The seeds are then covered with a two vats. A giant loom, used by Rowland layer of sand and a seedling sheet to and his assistant, Jay, to create some of keep out pests and left to grow for a his projects, swallows the middle of the few weeks, when they’ll be uncovered room, surrounded by a random assortment and transplanted to a larger field. After of crates and scraps of fabric and dyed harvesting, the leaves are dried and yarn. A once-white laundry basket hangs composted and then combined with hot in the corner above the vats, its original water and other materials in a large vat, color long ago disguised by the dye. where fermentation begins. Stained dishes and glass measuring cups are piled by the sink, and a ceramic bowl of clementines sits amongst the clutter. BACK IN THE STUDIO, Rowland reaches for one and begins to sunlight peeks through the back door, peel the skin, its propped open bright orange hue to let fresh a stark contrast air dilute the to the deep blue persistent smell BY THE NUMBERS of his hands. of composting He takes only plant material. At his first solo show in Japan, a short break By now, Rowland Rowland invited a handful of people before returning is immune to the to attend. 300 showed up, along to the white shirts sharp, pungent with the local newspapers. waiting to be scent. Artists One acre of harvested indigo can be dyed. in neighboring used for roughly 5 vats of dye. This T-shirt studios have project will not questioned the It takes 365 days for indigo to make be Rowland’s smell, concerned the transformation from plant to vat. first venture he was harboring Over the course of one week, into garment dead animals the vats are fed about one cup of dyeing. He has in his basement wheat bran, which is bought from worked for more workroom. He Bloomingfoods Market for 99 cents than two years responds by per pound. with American explaining that the Colors, a high-end smell comes from Indigo is the 6th clothing company the vats of dye, color of the rainbow. that prioritizes which are very sustainability. much alive. Rowland’s work has been featured American Colors The vats in 22 states and 3 countries. has storefronts in contain wood Rowland owns 12 pairs of Bloomington and ash lye, water, indigo-dyed socks and 16 indigoSanta Barbara, composted indigo dyed shirts. California, but and limestone, its garments are creating a sold in boutiques microenvironment across the inside the metal country. The shirts Rowland dyes for the walls. Bacteria in the composted indigo company sell for more than $200 dollars. thrive on a fiber-heavy diet of wheat bran, Owner Shannon Lehr describes Rowland’s which is added to the vat roughly every
Inside the greenhouse, gardening tools sprout like weeds from all sides, threatening to overtake the two small rows of soil meant for planting.
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CHINAMI KNEELS on the floor of her quiet, peaceful studio just across the yard from the Ricketts’ house. She is spinning wool into delicate thread in preparation for future weaving projects. Two looms take up much of the main room, and finished work sits on the counter by the windows. These are intricate and detailed, taking hours, weeks and months to complete. Rowland dyes the threads and yarns she uses to create kimonos, bags, and sometimes shirts or other clothes. Her work is a harmonious combination of indigo production, dyeing and Japanese weaving. “I knew I wanted to work with my hands and with colors,” she says. “I like that all of the things I learned are connecting into one thing.” As for Rowland, planting season is quickly approaching, but important tasks still remain on his “ever-growing, never-shrinking” studio to-do list. The finished yards of cotton, now a rich shade of indigo, must be measured, rolled, labeled and packaged for the exhibition at Kennesaw State. American Apparel T-shirts sit in untouched boxes, waiting to be dyed for Rowland’s I FELL project, through which he aims to increase public awareness of sustainable dyeing practices. The American-made shirts will be sold to help fund current and future projects and to “get this beautiful blue color out into the world,” he says. On an overcast Friday in spring, Rowland wakes early to begin planting. His house is easily distinguishable by its blue mailbox and the blue roof on Chinami’s studio. A greenhouse and chicken coop occupy the center of the field. Inside the greenhouse, gardening tools sprout like weeds from all sides, threatening to overtake the two small rows of soil meant for planting. He begins the planting process by unrolling bags of blood meal and green sand, fertilizers used to balance the carbon and nitrogen in the soil. After sprinkling
INDIGO
City. However, work as unique the recognition and special. “It is merely a byis such a laborproduct of his intensive and work. “I still don’t extremely valuable think of myself way of dyeing,” as successful,” she says. he says. “I The installation think of myself at Kennesaw as completely State will likely exhausted.” require 600 to 700 His workload yards of material, only looks to which might have increase. He aims become wasted to partner with fabric at the end of local farmers the event. Instead, to grow the Rowland worked indigo and then with American establish a dye Colors to identify house, offering a cloth they could opportunities for transform into young designers garments. All of the material will ABOVE: Rowland harvests indigo from the field near his home. /Photo courtesy of Rowland and artists to learn go to the clothing Ricketts BELOW: His blue hands sometimes garner questions and quizzical looks from the the inner workings of small-scale company to be public. /Photo by Courtney Kabbes textile production. made into shirts. “You have to experience the process. Sustainable textiles It makes you appreciate indigo and its are a growing trend, Rowland says, but ROWLAND HAS NEVER magic.” After three years of growing and the movement lacks the infrastructure wanted to keep the beauty of indigo for harvesting the plants, participants started necessary to support development. He himself. He teaches textile classes at IU their first communal vat of dye this year. hopes to encourage stronger connections and helped reshape the school’s Master Rowland hopes that it will continue to between small-scale farmers and artists. of Fine Arts program in 2009. He’s also develop. “If you don’t teach it, and you Still, Rowland will be satisfied if he established a community program called don’t share it with other people, it’ll never simply is able to continue doing what IndiGrowing Blue. Open to the public, the expand,” he says. “There’s a real limit to he loves. He believes in indigo, in its project teaches volunteers to plant, harvest what you can do as one person.” long history that has unraveled over the and process indigo. His art has been featured in group centuries and in its cultural traditions. “Rowland is a patient and generous “It’s so much bigger than I am,” he says. “I teacher,” says IndiGrowing Blue participant and solo exhibitions at universities and museums across the country, such as the didn’t come up with this process — other Cathy Bullington. Bullington, 49, teaches Textiles Museum in Washington, D.C., and people did — it has nothing to do with me, middle school art and has been involved the Calvin-Morris Gallery in New York which is actually very liberating.” with the project since its creation in 2010.
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Phantom Patoka of the
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/Photo courtesy of Steve Gifford
By Kurt Christian and Hong-Ah Do
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By the time I slow down for the offramp, it’s apparent that Oakland City will never be more than a blur to most I-69 drivers. Houses sit far back from the road. A benevolent restaurant boasts its countryfried steak special. And with each building I pass, I seem to be traveling back to a time where the idea of neighbors would have to extend 10 miles before there’s anyone to borrow an axe from. Even Heath Hamilton, the assistant manager of the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge, assures me there isn’t much to do in town while I wait, other than hiking the refuge’s trails. And so, I ready myself for a search wildlife lovers have been conducting since 1969. Past a set of railroad tracks, in between mirrored lakes, nestled in in the belly of a fallen tree, somewhere, there lives a bobcat.
An abandoned coal mine is the unlikely key to the return of Indiana’s most elusive predator: the bobcat.
In the center of Oakland City in a nondescript tan building, the refuge’s main office is a bridge between the world of man and nature. Today, I’ve done my part. I’m tracking dirt from a thousand acres of refuge into the office; the Patoka mud caking my slacks is ornamented with leaves and twigs. Heath sees me and lets out a hearty, easy-going laugh. Dressed in weathered boots, a khaki work shirt and wraparound shades, he is more ready for the excursion than I could ever be. After a short truck ride, Heath dips and weaves through the branches as I struggle to keep up. It’s hard to imagine that woods so intent on keeping me out are what Indiana’s greatest predators call home. But in this preserve, the land needs the bobcats as much as the bobcats need the land. As spring creeps in, the quiet land is met with a series of resounding, chirping yowls. Sharp and strident, the calls travel through the brush and over rivers, announcing the bobcats’ presence. Males travel their 25-30 square mile territory, calling and leaving scent markers for eligible bachelorettes. Females leave their own markers behind, the warming sun a nagging instinct to produce the next generation of predators. Following a courtship ritual of purring, games of cat-and-mouse and persistent advances, the female gives birth midspring to an average of three kittens. After 10 weeks of mother’s milk, the kittens begin to eat solid food. At five months, they practice stalking and hunting with live rabbits and small prey brought to them by their mother.
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Predators are critical to a healthy ecosystem. Those at the top keep the rest of the food chain balanced, preventing overpopulation and resource depletion. In nearly all Indiana ecosystems, this task
humans, the bobcats held onto remnants of forests and grasslands in south-central Indiana. State officials put the predator on Indiana’s endangered species list in 1969. But without a home, there was little hope.
Indiana’s wolves, bears and mountain lions all fell victim to this same struggle, and the bobcats seemed destined to a similar fate. falls to the bobcat. After about a year of relying on their mother for food and shelter, the kittens are dismissed not only from their mother’s den, but from her territory. They disperse, padding away and gliding through the trees, phantoms fading into the forest. For more than 125,000 years, bobcats sustained themselves through this careful balancing act. Then settlers began cutting down trees and damming rivers. A patchwork of farmland replaced the bobcats’ prime hunting grounds. They were viewed as varmints, pesky threats to livestock and pets who wandered too far from the glow of the porch light. By the 1960s, global demand for their fur pushed the cats to the brink of extinction. Indiana’s other predators — wolves, bears and mountain lions — all fell victim to this same struggle, and bobcats seemed destined to a similar fate. But partly due to their skittish nature and aversion to
In its heyday, nearly 230 miners worked for Peabody Energy at the Columbia Mine near Princeton, harvesting nearly a million tons of coal annually. When the coal market weakened, Peabody halted all mining efforts. By the mid-’90s, the Columbia Mine was desolate, empty of man and beast alike. It was time for a revival.
Assistant Refuge Manager Heath Hamilton travels the same path the bobcats do, following a muddy riverbank under a highway in hopes of finding tracks. /Photo by Kurt Christian
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Heath never breaks stride in our conversation as coworkers approach him with baffling migratory numbers from an earlymorning duck count. He lives and breathes his work. His wife, Emily, teaches high school environmental science and biology. His son, named after famous conservationist Aldo Leopold, stands on a chair at the back window and identifies birds for hours on end. He’s 1 ½ years old. Without people like Heath and his family to care for the land in which our native wildlife, fish and plants thrive, these birds might only exist in books. And without the Columbia Mine property, Hoosiers might never have seen the bobcat again.
Peabody refilled the hundreds of feet they’d excavated. In accordance with reclamation laws, Peabody replaced the excavated soil in the same order that it had once been removed. Workers reintroduced grasslands and planted native trees and wildflowers in homage to a long forgotten Indiana. They created wetlands and stacked rocks in towering palaces for copperbelly watersnakes. In 2000, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission praised the restoration effort. Located nearby, the Patoka Refuge was the top contender to oversee this beautifully restored tract of land. “My boss worked on trying to buy the tract for 10 years,” Heath says. “Something would always happen. The funding would fall through, or they wouldn’t be able to get their ducks in a line at the right time. So Peabody just sat there holding it. They were doing us a favor by holding it for so long.” Trouble arose when both parties refused to assume responsibility for issues like shifting soil or other problems on the 1,043 acres. For-sale signs sprouted, and Peabody began parceling out 20-30 acre portions to be sold for country housing development and hunting tracts. The promise of the reclamation was in danger as, once again, humans threatened the sanctity of the land.
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Heath casually unwraps a Clif bar as he drives to the edge of the refuge. His head pivots from side to side, beckoned
by birdsong. Despite his five years in fish and wildlife services, it’s as if he is seeing the reed-specked marshes and rustling grasslands for the first time. He slams on the brakes, whips out a pair of binoculars and marvels at a tiny bird half a mile away. He hands me the binoculars and points, encouraging me to take a look. The real estate signs stood as rigid reminders of the impending loss, a stark contrast in black and white against the lush green surroundings. Then the Sycamore Land Trust stepped in. The trust decided the mine property was too important to lose and accepted the risks. Filling the gap between Sycamore’s existing properties, the Columbia Mine was a missing puzzle piece that connected more than 5,000 acres of protected ground. Sycamore purchased the land and handed it over to the Patoka Refuge for management. There’s still coal there, but the sound of thundering trucks has been replaced with silence. Now and then a duck squawks, a bird chirps and, in the distance, three neighborhood dogs bark as visitors approach the preserve. To celebrate the agreement, the land trust hired wildlife photographer Steve Gifford to take pictures. Not long after, Steve captured an astonishing image of two bobcat kittens peering cautiously at him from their perch atop a tree. “That was a phenomenal experience,” Steve says. Steve immersed himself in studying the bobcat’s habitat and behavior and the evidence they leave behind. Scratchings on trees, scat strewn along a hiking trail and paw prints in a muddy riverbank are all signs that a bobcat has frequented the area. Hollow logs with plenty of brush cover, preferably near a water source, make an ideal den. Much like the housecat, bobcats scratch out shallow holes in the ground to create a “bobcat toilet.” Steve spent months trying to understand the boundaries and territory routes of the cats, setting up trail cameras to continue his work at night. Of all the endangered species to repopulate the Columbia Mine Property, such as the Indiana bat and the Henslow’s sparrow, the bobcat may appreciate the land’s diversity the most. For bobcats, a balanced environment is key. The basic necessities of food, water and a place to raise their young require a number of different habitats. Their diet consists of small game, like rabbits, squirrels, mice and voles, but their dinner doesn’t all come from the same buffet line. In the preserve, hickory and hardwood forest bump up against brushy grasslands, creating a
smorgasbord for the prowling cats. Still, the bobcat manages to evade curious eyes. They naturally tend to be private, elusive and most active at dawn or dusk, allowing them to travel undetected. Even where suburbia hugs the very edge of the bobcat’s territory, these phantoms weave through vacant lots and dark yards, avoiding interaction with bipedal neighbors. This ability to hide becomes all the more important in the spring when kittens are born. “It takes a lot of patience, prayer and persistence just to find one, let alone photograph it,” Steve says. “I guess that’s why I enjoy it. Once you’ve seen one face-to-face in the wild, it’s hard not to want to find another one.”
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The roads are bumpy, a challenge for my compact car. Heath’s diesel truck grinds the popping gravel beneath its behemoth tires. We watch as ducks take flight, birds swoop toward their nests and squirrels bound across the narrow roads. Nature is showing off for us with a dazzling array of red-breasted robins and chartreuse-headed ducks. Bright colors are okay for some wildlife, but for other animals, the only way to stay alive is to stay away. To spot a bobcat, you need luck on your side.
Wildlife photographer Steve Gifford was looking for bald eagles in Gibson County when three bobcats crossed the road in front of him. / Photo courtesy of Steve Gifford
A vast moonscape, the Columbia Mine was desolate by the mid ’90s, empty of man and beast alike.
“You know when somebody comes into the office and they have a big grin on their face that it’s one of two things: They’ve either seen an otter or a bobcat,” Heath says. “Those two animals would be a good indicator of a place in Indiana that is still a wild place.” From a bird’s-eye view, the refuge is a growing mosaic of greens and browns and blues that occasionally bumps into remaining coal mines. Heath credits the bobcats and otters with attracting visitors to otherwise quiet Oakland City. Unlike the river otters, bobcats didn’t have to be transplanted into Southern Indiana. Once preserves provided new habitat, the bobcats returned on their own. As long as current hunting and trapping restrictions remain in place, those living in what Heath calls “just outside of town” could be seeing more of their bobtailed neighbors. But for now, a sanctuary for rescued wild cats in Center Point houses one of the only opportunities
for Hoosiers to guarantee a sighting. Tika stares back at me from her perch high above my head. Crouched low, her muscles ripple under her speckled, dustcloud coat. She stands, ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. But there won’t be any. Tika remains behind the fence of her enclosure, a few yards from her owner’s home. The center is a haven of a different sort for the bobcat. While these bobcats are here for a variety of reasons, the majority are another example of man’s intrusion into their world. Exotic feline enthusiasts assume that caring for a feral cat will be the same as rearing a domestic housecat. Almost all are taken aback when the cats prove that their place is not on a windowsill pining for birds they can’t reach, but in thigh-high grasslands, leaping to catch their prey. Since these bobcats are
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Tika stares down from the wooden jungle-gym above her enclosure at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. She is one of only 12 bobcats among the center’s 200-plus felines. /Photo by Hong-Ah Do
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unable to return to the lands they yearn for, the center is the next best option. There aren’t expansive meadows filled with voles and mice. There’s no running brook at the end of a trail muddied with paw prints, but it’s the next best thing for a population in peril. Director Joe Taft adjusts his cap and calmly ties back the neon orange tape that tells you just how far back you should stay from Tika. He stops to admire her, something that was nearly impossible to do at the peak of the cats’ endangerment. “The biggest misconception about bobcats is that they’re really dangerous. Bobcats in the wild do not pose a risk to people or children or livestock, and I don’t know that bobcats in the wild even pose a particular threat to your dogs and cats,” he says. The center houses 12 bobcats. Where there should be rolling hills and hollowed logs, wooden boxes and beams crisscross overhead. They are captives, refugees caught and tagged and named because of our invasion. But the center is also an oasis for those animals unable to survive in the wild. A world away in the preserve, reports of bobcat road kill and evidence from trail cameras suggest a rise in the population. Amateur and professional trackers note paw-print frequencies, cast plaster molds and report sightings to help those monitoring the resurrection that removed the bobcats from the state’s endangered list in 2005. Biologists study the cat cadavers to estimate the number of litters they’ve mothered. “I feel like I’ve seen one from all the pictures and trail cam photos I’ve seen,” Heath says, shaking his head. “But I can’t actually tick that one off my wildlife checklist yet. People come down to the refuge for a day and see one. I’m here
every day. It’s all up to chance.” Heath imagines his first bobcat sighting may not occur at the Columbia Mine, but rather in his sprawling backyard. An overflow from the incubating lands of the preserve would serve as a true testament to the cats’ recovery. Patoka plans to continue fostering a return to the native naturescape by planting wildflowers within the preserve’s grasslands, a measure aimed at creating diverse meadows for pollinators. Future hiking trails will string together wildlife environments in the park. Today, otters hunt and snack on turtle meat in the tall grass that surrounds each lake. Ducks migrate and speckle ponds in boisterous gratitude. Nesting grassland birds are omnipresent, a stark contrast to the decline of the ’70s. The refuge is still acquiring property. About 250 landowners still live on the land, and as properties become available, the refuge hopes to purchase them. Heath has seen a rise in local support for conservation efforts and awareness of wildlife, but he cautions that the work isn’t done. There’s always another fencerow being pulled out or a wetland being farmed over. “Humans have become disconnected from the environment. Unfortunately, people don’t see themselves as a part of the environment.
Wildcat Marsh Columbia Mine Property Patoka Refuge
They see themselves as apart from the environment. But there’s been a renewed interest in our connection to wildlife that’ll just continue to grow,” Heath says. “I’m proud of this refuge. I’m proud of Southern Indiana and what we are able to do here.”
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On our way back to town, Heath starts to talk faster. It’s as if he, like the bobcats he cares for, senses the danger we are approaching. Outside the property lines of the refuge is a world of intruders. We pass a gas station. A convenience store. When we arrive at the Patoka Refuge’s office, Heath turns off the truck and sighs. The noise and bustle of civilization are here, even in such a small town as Oakland City. We’re resigned to the fact that we haven’t spotted a bobcat prowling the trails of its new home. It’s a challenge that’s eluded us for another day. Illustration by Kurt Christian
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A showman-turned-cartoonist, Kin Hubbard often based Abe’s observations on his own life experiences. /Photo courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society
Homespun humor A century ago, cracker-barrel philosopher Abe Martin was the most famous sage in America.
By Nicole Montella Hunched over on a barbed wire fence, Abe Martin beckons you to join him in fictional Bloom Center, a small town in Brown County. Dressed in oversized shoes, checkered pants and a matching bowtie (depending on the day), he rambles off something about nobody being as agreeable as an uninvited guest. His worn cap slouches over his eyes and whiskers dance across his chin. He loves plays and moving pictures and eats sardines during the intermissions. “Politics,” he feels, “is just one five-cent cigar after another.” Created by Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard, Abe was born in Hardin County, Ohio. His early education came from a general store, and he played a yellow clarinet in a band on Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie. Abe “votes the Democratic ticket for nothing” and claims that the union was preserved so baseball players could practice in the South. His remarks about the weather, money and issues of the day delighted readers daily in 300 newspapers across the country. He talked about prohibition — “We hain’t got prohibition. It only costs more”; the jazz age — “This is a loose, fast age, an’ at the rate we’re goin’ jazz’ll soon run its course, an’ then watch th’ demand fer decent unscuffed girls”; and the economy — “What th’ country needs is a good, tough two-dollar bill that’ll last as long as it takes t’ save one.” The cartoon character, who turns 110 this year, has been compared to Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart. Iconic Will Rogers called Hubbard “America’s greatest humorist.” Abe’s countryphilosopher observations still ring true today — “Some girls seem t’ buy a skirt on th’ theory that they’ll never set down” brings to mind the likes of Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan. Abe first appeared in The Indianapolis News on December 17, 1904. The idea for Abe first came to Hubbard when he traveled to Brown County during John W. Kern’s political campaign as a political cartoonist for the paper. Hubbard decided to expand on the illustrations he had drawn during the campaign, mostly caricatures of Brown County citizens that hadn’t run in the paper. Soon, Abe appeared daily in the paper with two sayings below each new sketch.
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company is only tryin’ t’ pull her down with his work as a silhouettist, cutting t’ his own size,” made Abe a household paper into the likeness of people or name. animals. Later, he explained that he could “Hubbard was in a political cartoon “cut out from blank paper any kind of an heyday because newspapers were the animal with a correctness and deftness only way to get news at that time,” says that was almost creepy.” He loved the Andy Downs, political science professor at circus, the annual county fair and the Indiana University Purdue University Fort theater and drew exaggerated figures of Wayne and director of the Mike Downs each production after a visit. Center on Indiana Politics. “Now, this type He quit school at 13 to work odd jobs of information can come from anywhere in Bellefontaine and eventually enrolled in and in different formats.” the Jefferson School of Art in Detroit. He This new exposure brought a new stayed only a few days and returned home look for Abe. He sat up straight, pressed to produce a vaudeville show. In 1891, he his clothes and shaved. He shifted his landed a staff artist job at The Indianapolis philosophizing from farm life and small News but left after a disagreement with town affairs to political and social issues an editor. He bounced around some and current events. Ohio newspapers, worked at The Sun in In 1911, Hubbard expanded the Indianapolis and went back to The News world of Bloom Center with “Short Furrows,” weekly columns of Abe’s musings that appeared in the paper with some help from his neighbors. Abe talked about various birds, their personality traits and how they really were like humans. Miss Mame Moon, owner of the Star Livery James Madison, historian Stable, who was said to resemble her horses, encouraged women to ask their significant others to marry them. in 1901. In 1910, Hoosier humorist George Constable Newt Plum, a police officer with Ade praised Hubbard’s work in American a booming voice, informed all of Bloom Magazine, and syndication offers began Center of the crime level at all times. rolling in. Finally, Hubbard signed with the The cast of Bloom Center came George Matthews Adams syndicate. from a Kentucky jury list, and the Outside of Abe, Kin found love and neighborhood grew as Hubbard created inspiration in his personal life. He married characters to say what Abe couldn’t. Their Josephine Jackson in October 1905 when commentary appeared in the fictional he was 37, which was later in life for the Bloom Center Weekly Sliphorn. Other Abe time. They had their first child, Thomas, in installments were included in the annual 1907 and their second, Jane, in 1909. Kin Christmas books that began in 1906 and and Josephine experienced tragedy in their “almanacks,” which were parodies of Poor personal life. Kin Junior, who was born in Richard’s Almanac and the Old Farmer’s 1918, died in 1919 after their car went off Almanack. the road due to a mechanical failure and landed in a creek near Indianapolis. Two years later, another son died in childbirth. Kin’s parents and siblings also contributed to Abe’s opinions, spending many nights in the living room by the fire debating current issues and discussing ubbard is to Abe what Walt Disney what was going on in the newsroom. is to Mickey Mouse. One can’t Kin’s personal life inspired some of exist without the other, which Abe’s sayings, including progressive means Abe owes everything to Kin. thoughts on getting married later in life, Hubbard was born in 1868 in a woman’s right to choose her husband Bellefontaine, Ohio, the youngest of six as well as comments on crime from Abe children. His family owned the local and Constable Plum after the Hubbard newspaper, but oddly enough, Hubbard household was broken into. Abe became as never got involved in the business. He much a part of the family as his wife and showed artistic skills from an early age children were.
Abe and Kin had this down-home Hoosier stuff about them.
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“Abe and Kin had this down-home Hoosier stuff about them,” says James Madison, professor emeritus of history at Indiana University. “Indiana was an urban industrial state at the time that Kin was writing, so Abe became a rose-colored view of the old Indiana.” Brown County in the early 1900s was known as “the poorest, most backward and isolated county in Indiana,” according to “History and Families Brown County, Indiana 1836-1990.” The 1900 census shows fewer than 10,000 people living in the county, a drop from 1890 due to severe soil erosion and infertile farms. The deeply rutted roads made travel nearly impossible, and the economy depended on cutting down second-growth trees for railroad ties. The arrival of Adolph Shulz and his Nashville art colony helped Brown County catch up to the times. In 1908, 25 artists lived in Nashville. The establishment of the Illinois Central Railroad gave the local canning industry a means to ship its products to other parts of the country. Into this evolving community came Abe. His touch of the past and commonsense observations appealed to a growing audience. Phrases like, “The only way to entertain some folks is to listen to them,” and “Th’ feller that belittles his wife in
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Abe Martin Lodge The idea for both Brown County State Park and the lodge that bears Abe’s name came from Kin Hubbard himself. Head over to 812magazine.com to find out more.
Abe speaks to the 21st century Does century-old logic stand the test of time? The answer is a resounding yes. 812 asked three Indiana politicians about Abe’s legacy.
Mark Kruzan
Mayor of Bloomington “We’d all like t’ vote fer th’ best man, but he’s never a candidate.” For me, this saying holds truer today than ever before. Our confidence in government as an institution has reduced, and we attempt to deal with it through humor. Abe’s messages are so universal and prove true that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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lthough Hubbard was writing and drawing 100 years ago, his work as a political cartoonist isn’t all that different from today. Gary Varvel, political cartoonist at The Indianapolis Star, calls Hubbard’s work “clever, witty and timely.” Varvel worked in the same newsroom that Hubbard did before the merging of The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star, making Varvel and Hubbard part of the handful of cartoonists who have worked there in the past century. Varvel explains that the difference between a political cartoon and a comic strip is that comic strips are supposed to make the reader laugh whereas political cartoons aren’t, but usually do. “Political cartoons help make the news understandable for some people,” Varvel says. “The cartoons make it fun because most of this stuff is boring, and we can use humor as a tool to make it interesting.” Today Abe is still the talk of Brown County. Slats Klug, a musician who often plays around town, found in Abe a source of inspiration for the song “The Snake That Liked His Brew” on his CD “Liars’ Bench,” a collection of songs about Brown County.
“The more things change, the more people long for the past,” Klug says. “Abe’s prevalence today is a direct example of that.” The town of Nashville and the lodge bearing his name in Brown County State Park continue to keep his spirit alive. The town hopes to bring a play about Abe back to the stage after a 10-year hiatus and host Abe festivals. There are also cutouts of Abe characters sprinkled throughout Nashville. Handouts at the Abe Martin Lodge and the convention bureau tell tourists about Abe. The lodge is filled with Abe memorabilia and also offers programs about him. Kin stayed with The News until the end of his career. A heart attack ended his life in 1930, but he and Abe left a legacy of over 16,000 sayings, 1,000 “Short Furrows” and 8,000 drawings. “No one has had as much influence in the state as Kin Hubbard and Abe Martin have,” says Bob Kirlin, Nashville City Council president. “If people don’t think he’s important, I would tell them to look again.” As Abe would say, “Flattery won’t hurt you if you don’t swallow it.”
Bob Kirlin
Nashville City Council President “Th’ safest way t’ double your money is t’ fold it once an’ put it in your pocket.” I don’t know if I really have a favorite. It’s hard to choose just one, but his sayings are funny and have common sense.
Lee H. Hamilton Congressman
“Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature. When a fellow says, ‘It ain’t the money but the principle of the thing,’ it’s the money. It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.” Kin Hubbard and Abe Martin are an enormously important part of Hoosier heritage, and they’ve had an enormous impact on American political life. I often use his sayings in my speeches. They’re the best one-liners.
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One of 28 baby goats born this spring prances on the Jonas family farm in Scottsburg. /Photo courtesy of Goat Milk Stuff
Eight children. Fifty-eight goats. A growing soap-making business. It’s hard . . .
J nases. keeping up with the
By Elisa Gross and Chelsea Coleman
It’s all fun and games for Hewitt, Indigo and Jade as they play tag outside the entrance to the family business, Goat Milk Stuff. They laugh and chase each other around, but halt at the sound of a customer’s car door closing. Now it’s time for work.
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he retail room of Goat Milk Stuff is filled with a cloud of fragrances: vanilla, lavender, peppermint, citrus and blackberry. It’s not overpowering. It’s not harsh. It’s clean. Shelves filled with endless varieties of products line the walls — soaps, scrubs, lip balms and candles. Everything is in its place. Not unnaturally tidy, but neat enough to show it was arranged with care. Then we hear a small, high voice. “Hi.” That’s when it hits. There are no other adults in this room. Eight-year-old Indigo takes her place next to the counter of her family’s business as the customer, Bonnie Austin, strolls up to the entrance. She’s in good hands. A minute later, Bonnie squats down next to a kneeling Indigo. Indigo hands Bonnie black drawstring bags filled with various bath fizzies. Bonnie smells each one obediently, trying to decide which scent to take home. “I have to buy something because she’s so doggone cute.”
J
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im and PJ Jonas have a thriving business at their 36-acre Scottsburg farm, which is home to 30 adult goats and 28 kids born this spring. Each of PJ and Jim’s eight children, ranging in age from 6 to 17, has a specific role within the business, and they’re eager to show us around. The family has told their story and touted the benefits of goat milk soap in O Magazine and on the TV show “The Doctors.” Today the business makes several hundred thousand bars of soap that are shipped all over the world, and it has grown exponentially every year.
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46 summer/ fall 2014
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eventeen-year-old Brett Jonas works in the back room of Goat Milk Stuff, right behind the retail area. The room is filled with shelves — shelves that hold white trays of soap and shelves that hold boxes of soap for shipping. As we walk into the room, three people stand at a long table placing various products into boxes and sealing them up for delivery. This is clearly second nature to Brett, as familiar as breathing. Brett is the shipping manager at Goat Milk Stuff and is responsible for filling all of the orders that come in every day. They’ve shipped their products to every continent — yes, even Antarctica, Brett From top: Zea and Zany explore their backyard. /Photo courtesy of Johnathan Driver. Hewitt, Indigo and Jade pack up soaps. The Jonas children all have their favorite goats. Colter mixes up lavender-peppermint soap. /Photos by Chelsea Coleman and Elisa Gross.
says — and there was also an order for a Sandra Bullock. “It was somewhere in Oklahoma, though, so it probably wasn’t ‘Gravity’ Sandra,” says Jim, Brett’s dad. Brett is the oldest Jonas child and like many 17-year-olds, she’s not sure what she’ll do after high school. She does know one thing, though. She wants to be a mom. And college isn’t a certainty. “I already have a good job,” she says. “I’m a manager at 17. Not many people can say that.” While she says she sometimes gets tired and doesn’t want to come to work, she does her job with ease. When we arrived at Goat Milk Stuff, she was standing. When we left, she was still standing. We never saw her sit down once.
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hirteen-year-old Emery looks exhausted, slouched in his chair, eyes half open — but with good reason. For the past three nights, he has taken the midnight to 3 a.m. goat shift. Each family member takes turns watching the goats throughout the night because one of them could go into labor, known as “kidding,” at any minute. When Zaphire went into labor one morning during breakfast. Brett and Jim raced to grab their gear, an experience they liken to firefighters suiting up to battle flames. Jim jokes that they need a fireman’s pole to make the process even more efficient. By the time they arrived at the stall, Zaphire had birthed her daughter and son. Emery leads us to the red-roofed barn that houses the 26 pregnant goats — spring is kidding season. The Jonas family checks on their does every hour and a half, even in the middle of the night, hence Emery’s exhaustion. On top of the late-night watch, Emery keeps up with his duties as barn manager. He makes sure everything gets done, either by himself or other family members. That includes cleaning up, milking, feeding and watering the goats. A mixture of stale hay and dust replaces the smell of fresh air as we step through the barn door. We follow Emery and 6-year-old Jade into a room with three wooden platforms: the milking room. Jade climbs onto one of the platforms to demonstrate. Her head goes through a wooden frame, and Emery locks her head in place. This keeps the goats in place while they’re milked. We hear the bleating before we see the faces peeking through the fence. Jade and Emery climb over the gate with ease to join the goats in their pen and open the gate for us. We meet Sephora, a black goat
who watches us closely. The nearer we get, the more evident Sephora’s pregnancy becomes. The goats aren’t milked while pregnant, and her udder looks ready to burst. Since Sephora is an older goat, she will likely have more than one baby. Her sides protrude more than looks comfortable, a sign she is ready to give birth, Emery tells us. Redbird, Jade’s favorite, lies contentedly in the pen. She’s easily recognizable by a black stripe that runs down her spine. Jade rushes up to pet her, but Redbird, in her pregnant state, isn’t feeling up to the company. She stands and walks inside the barn. Now the goats circle us. White, black, brown, tan, bearded and not, but all definitely pregnant. That doesn’t stop the younger ones from jumping on us or attempting to eat our camera and notebooks. Zenith, an older goat, headbutts the younger ones who are stealing our attention. The young does begin to chew on our jeans, boots and zippers. They even unzip a purse. Their playful nibbles don’t do much damage since they lack upper teeth, but we leave the barn much dirtier than we were before.
followed two years later in 2008. At first, PJ made soap for her family and friends as gifts. But when Jim’s perpetually dry hands stopped cracking, she realized they had a special product. From the start, they knew they didn’t want their business to rely on craft shows and retail shops, so they created a website. Since Jim only worked four days a week,
the benefits of goat’s milk. Goat milk soap is rich in vitamins and minerals that contribute to healthier skin. Goat cheese and milk are easier to digest than cow products. While other soaps and beauty products can dry out skin, fat molecules in goat milk keep skin naturally moisturized. Tim Vanzant, president of the Indiana Dairy Goat Association, uses only goat milk soap. “I find that in winter, working outside, my hands become dry and cracked,” he says. “Goat milk soap is more moisturizing.”
While other soaps and beauty products can dry out skin, fat molecules in goat milk products keep skin naturally moisturized.
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he had time to help get the business started, a bigger challenge than they expected. PJ quickly learned that making the soap was the easy part. Managing the regulations and the paperwork was not. Their biggest obstacle, though, was coping with their rapid growth. Customer service became increasingly difficult, and they needed more physical space. They moved to Scottsburg from Charlestown just over a year ago and are already
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s we enter the back room of Goat Milk Stuff, 15-year-old Colter has already begun mixing oils for lavender peppermint soap. This is where the magic happens. Buckets and bottles spill out of cupboards. Shelves display a rainbow of herbs and spices. Dried soap splatters the floor. But the room still has an air of business amid the chaos. A five-gallon white bucket filled with
...
he Jonases’ journey to their goat farm started in New Jersey. Concerned about nutrition for her family, PJ questioned the information that existed in 1999 and began doing research. She came across an article about the benefits of soy, and one thing led to another until PJ realized she wanted a change. She wanted to live on a farm with chickens and dairy goats and start developing a more natural diet for her family. Jim, a junior high science teacher, found he was devoting most of his energy to other people’s children. He wanted Pink Sugary and Fiji Island soaps wait to be packaged and shipped to eager customers. /Photo by to enjoy his own children without Chelsea Coleman worrying about grading papers and preparing lesson plans. running out of room. PJ and Jim moved their family of coconut oil, vegetable oil and lard sits on “We have grown by double digits every eight to Indiana, where PJ raised goats the floor. A facemask with a plastic shield year,” PJ says. “Last year, our main focus and chickens, and Jim worked as a trash guards Colter against unwanted splashes. was on construction and moving to the collector. When PJ discovered how many He adds lye and mixes the ingredients with new farm, and even with that, we still chemicals were in her children’s bath soap, a pink, electric handheld mixer, stopping maintained our growth.” she decided to make her own. every couple of minutes so the mixer That success isn’t exclusive to the After more research on soap-making doesn’t overheat. Then he pours in the Jonases. Goat farming has been on the methods and recipes, she produced the goat milk, which he took from the freezer rise for the past couple of years due to first batch. The formation of the company and thawed beforehand. He’ll stir until the
47 summer/ fall 2014
liquid comes to a pudding-like consistency. Colter flies solo when he makes the goat-milk products. In the beginning, PJ made the soap herself. Then Jim started to help and taught Colter the process. Colter focuses on the bucket in front of him more than our questions. When we notice the “Grease” soundtrack on his laptop, he cracks a smile. He had watched it for the first time just the other day. He pours a half-bottle of peppermint scent and three-fourths of a cup of peppermint leaves into the “pudding.” The remaining leaves are placed in a smaller bucket containing a lilac liquid. He mixes up both, and the five-gallon bucket now holds what looks like ranch dressing. It’s time to pour the two mixtures into a gray soap mold. Nine-year-old Hewitt and Alex join in to finish the process. Colter places the soap mold on a circular platform, and Hewitt spins it as Adam and Colter pour in the white and lilac liquids.
The spinning ensures that the lilac color isn’t masked by the white mixture. Colter will check on the soap every couple of hours. If it overheats, bubbles can form, causing the soap to explode. After he shows us the process, Colter jumps right into cleaning up. The Jonases aren’t strangers to hard work. Along with their jobs at Goat Milk Stuff, PJ and Jim homeschool their children. They weave lessons into daily tasks, with conversations about currency at dinner or figuring percentages for customers. Everything is a learning experience.
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bout every year and a half, it seems, the Jonas family goes through a major change. For 11 years, it was adding a new member to the clan. After Jade, it was starting a new business and then moving that business to a new location. A year and a half later, the Jonases are
developing a new product: food. By 2015, they hope to use their goat milk to make candy like fudge and caramel. Today, though, they have customers to serve. Bonnie Austin came to Goat Milk Stuff because her son, Josh Asdell, suggested it. He remembered Indigo, which isn’t surprising. It’s not often you see an 8-year-old running a store. Indigo also remembered Josh. He reminded her that the last visit he had put a lip balm in his pocket and couldn’t find it when he went to pay. Indigo knew exactly where it was. She knew about the lip balm as she knew it was time for work when Bonnie drove up. Bonnie left that day with two bath fizzies and a good story: Lavender, peppermint and Indigo. Kool Koala, Luv Spell and Lemongrass soaps rest on a shelf. /Photo by Chelsea Coleman
A celebration of Southern Indiana. Catch the next issue in stands January, 2015.
48 summer/ fall 2014
For inquiries about advertising in future editions of 812 magazine, contact IU Student Media at 812-855-0763 or email advertise@idsnews.com.
TWIST SHOUT W By Samantha Stutsman and Jansen Yoder
rapped in holiday cheer 365 days a year, the town of Santa Claus is home to the world’s first theme park and three of the world’s top wooden roller coasters. Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari make this Southern Indiana town a real thrill. Holiday World, formerly known as Santa Claus Land, opened in 1946 as Louis Koch’s retirement project. The father of nine children purchased 260 acres to create a place where children from all over the country could visit Santa year-round. Until 1955, admission was free. Since Koch’s original idea, Holiday World has grown into a nationally recognized theme park. As a pair, Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari span over 125 acres and are still expanding. In 2006, the parks reached the 1 million mark for seasonal attendance and ended their 2013 season at 1.1 million. Today, Holiday World provides plenty of thrills and more bang for your buck than competitors like King’s Island and Cedar Point. The parks have been named No. 1 for friendliness and cleanliness by the trade magazine Amusement Today. Admission to Splashin’ Safari, named best water park last year by USA Today, is included in your fee. Lather yourself up with free sunscreen and sip unlimited soft drinks to beat the heat. Mariah Nix, a 21-year-old from Tell City, is an employee of a nearby campground, and her family has season passes. Many of her childhood memories are from the park. “It’s a safe, clean, family-friendly park, but it’s also fun for people of all ages,” she says. To help you plan your trip, 812 talked to park staff, roller-coaster enthusiasts and regular visitors to bring you an insider’s guide to Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. Read on to find everything you need to know to make your visit a day to remember.
Your insider’s guide to a thrill-packed day at Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari.
49 summer/ fall 2014
THE WOODEN COASTERS All three wooden roller coasters ranked in the Top 20 of Amusement Today’s 2013 Golden Ticket Awards, considered the Oscars of the theme park industry. “For any park to have three coasters in the Top 20 is nothing but outstanding,” says David Lipnicky, public relations director of American Coaster Enthusiasts, a non-profit organization with over 5,000 members from 16 countries who simply love to ride coasters.
If you’re looking for that whiteknuckle experience, you’ll find it on these three wooden and two water coasters.
THE RAVEN
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amed for Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem, this classic coaster is the oldest of the three wooden coasters but still a fan favorite. At 2,800 feet long, the Raven travels through heavily wooded terrain and around Lake Rudolph. Its twists and turns resemble the flight of a raven. Built in 1995 in the Halloween section, this is the first coaster you see as you walk into Holiday World. RIDE TIME TOP SPEED HEIGHT RIDER HEIGHT
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1 min, 30 seconds 50+ mph 110 feet minimum 48”
“AS YOU’RE WALKING INTO THE PARK, THE FIRST THING YOU SEE OR HEAR IS THE WOODEN COASTER WHIZZING BY YOU.” - Joe Muessig, 24, Loogootee
THE LEGEND
THE VOYAGE
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he Voyage is the newest of the three wooden roller coasters and the winner of Amusement Today’s “Top Wooden Coaster” award for five years in a row. Named for the Pilgrims’ voyage to America in 1620, the coaster is best known for its record 24.3 seconds of weightless airtime, the most of any wooden coaster. It also has five underground tunnels on a 1.2-mile-long track.
RIDE TIME TOP SPEED HEIGHT RIDER HEIGHT
2 min, 45 seconds 67.4 mph 173 feet minimum 48”
“IF IT’S THE THRILL YOU’RE AFTER, YOU CAN’T BEAT THE VOYAGE.” - Haley Church, 20, Winslow
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ou’ll also find the the Legend, a spooky ride named for Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in the Halloween section. After the success of the Raven, Holiday World brought in the same designers to build a longer, faster and higher coaster. It’s known for the 113-foot drop at the beginning of the ride and the “four corners of death” near the end. RIDE TIME TOP SPEED HEIGHT RIDER HEIGHT
2 minutes 65 mph 116 feet minimum 48”
“I GREW UP GOING ALL THE TIME. I REMEMBER THAT I LOVED THE LEGEND THE FIRST TIME I RODE IT.” - Kyela Specht, 20, Munster
All photos courtesy of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari
THE WATER COASTERS Splashin’ Safari is home to the two longest water coasters in the world. Instead of winding down a tube, you are propelled up and down hills by motors to give the ride that coaster feel. Younger kids who don’t quite reach the 48-inch mark for the wooden roller coasters can ride these with an adult if they’re 42 inches tall.
2. MAMMOTH
1. WILDEBEEST
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oliday World broke its own record for the world’s longest water coaster with the Mammoth in 2012. The yellow-, red- and blue-striped monster takes you to the top via conveyer style lifthill while you sit in a six-passenger round boat. You can expect seven drops totaling 187 feet. The round boats add the element of surprise — you never know which way you’ll face for the next curve or drop.
his water coaster has been voted the “#1 Water Park Ride on the Planet” by Amusement Today for four straight years. The seven hills, two tunnels and speed of 36 feet per second make this ride a must try. Plus, you don’t have to clutch an inner tube to your side while you climb hundreds of stairs. This coaster propels you up to the top before you make the four story drop at a 45-degree angle. RIDE TIME 2 min, 30 seconds HEIGHT 64 feet RIDER HEIGHT 42” with an adult, 48” without
RIDE TIME approximately 3 minutes HEIGHT 69 feet RIDER HEIGHT 42” with an adult, 48” without
5 M U S T- R I D E S F O R F A M I L I E S If you’re less about the thrill and more about the family fun, try hopping onto one of these rides. H A L LO W S W I N G S Pick a colorful seat and strap yourself in with 47 other riders to get the feeling of flying and a relaxing view of the park.
GOBBLER G E TA W AY Save the turkeys with your turkey caller on this indoor interactive ride in the Thanksgiving section.
RAGING RAPIDS Get soaked in a trip through an old western town in an eight-person circular boat. Watch out for unexpected sprays of water.
F R I G H T F U L FA L L S
SCARECROW SCRAMBLER
Step into this log flume and prepare to be spooked and soaked.
Be thrown from side to side on a ride that will have you walking crooked by the time it’s over.
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1946
1955
1984
1993
Louis Koch opens Santa Claus Land
Actor Ronald Reagan visits the park
Halloween and Fourth of July sections are added and park name changes to Holiday World
Splashin’ Safari opens
2006
2004
2000
1995
The Legend opens, and the park starts to offer free, unlimited soft drinks
The Raven opens
2012
2013
2014
Mammoth, the longest water coaster in the world, opens
Matt Eckert is named president
The Mayflower swinging ship opens
Thanksgiving section and The Voyage open and attendance hits one million
The park is the smallest to receive the “Applause Award” for its creativity and business development
2010 The Wildebeest, the first water coaster, opens
I N S I D E R PA R K T I P S We sat down with President Matt Eckert and his heads of staff to bring you these 15 tips on how to make the most out of your experience.
1 2
6 7 8 9 10
Sit in the front of the coaster for the view and the back for the t hrill. Those car positions also tend to have the longest lines.
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Use the single-riders line if you want a shorter wait time. Single doesn’t refer to your marital status — you’re simply filling space on a ride.
Know what your children are wearing. Take their picture at the start of the day and agree on a designated meeting spot if you’re separated.
4 5
Avoid Saturdays and the later part of the season. These are their busiest times. Eat breakfast. You’ll have more energy to enjoy the day.
Remember where you park. Do your research about the park and its offerings ahead of time on the website: www.holidayworld.com Don’t wait until the last minute to get in line for the water coasters. Lines close an hour before the water park closes. Come early for the popular rides, and don’t stop at the first big ride you see. Head deeper into the park and double back later. Have your children measured at the beginning of the day. They’ll receive wristbands so they don’t have to be checked at each ride. (The park takes height and weight limits seriously.)
11 12
Eat lunch before 11:30 a.m. and dinner before 5 p.m. Dinner lines are also shorter in Splashin’ Safari.
13 14 15
Go to Splashin’ Safari early in the day, ride Holiday World rides in the middle of the day, and then, return to the water park. Most visitors do the opposite.
Buy tickets online for the best discount. You’ll save both time and money.
Don’t take your wallet, keys or cell phone onto rides. Stow your valuables at each ride in the cubbies or chests provided. Rent your cabana months in advance. What’s a cabana? These private huts in Splashin’ Safari will provide your family with a table, four chairs, two loungers, a water-stocked fridge, ceiling fan and a cabinet that locks. It is a great central meeting place for kids and families, and you can choose the location.
TA S T Y T R E AT S
A C H AT W I T H M AT T
Holiday World offers more than just milk and cookies for Santa. Sample these tried-and-true park favorites:
1 Pepperoni, sausage or cheese pizza at Kringle’s Kafé or Safari Pizza
2 BBQ pulled pork at Barbecue USA 3 Chicken ’n’ dumplings at Plymouth
Rock Café
4 Roasted green beans at Plymouth Rock Café
5 Blue raspberry ice cream at Udderly Blue Ice Cream — BEWARE: Your tongue will turn ”Udderly Blue”
Or try these new treats:
1Red, white and blue funnel
cakes (red velvet funnel cake with cream cheese icing and blueberry sauce) at the Funnel Cake Factory
2 Deep-fried, bacon-wrapped, cheese-filled hotdog on a pretzel bun at Hot Diggity Dogs
3 Deep-fried pickles with ranch at Bahari Snacks
4 Loaded sweet potato fries with
NEW! The Wildebeestro is new this season and located in Splashin’ Safari with menu items you can’t find anywhere else!
maple syrup and bacon at Bahari Snacks
5 Chicken salad on a croissant bun at Kringle’s Kafé and Wildebeestro
T H E PA R K S B Y T H E N U M B E R S SPLASHIN’ SAFARI IS OPEN AN EXTRA
MILLION SPENT ON THE 2014 EXPANSION
MINUTES DAILY
NEW MENU ITEMS THIS YEAR
SEASONAL EMPLOYEES
BROOMS USED BY THE CLEANING STAFF
GALLONS OF FREE SUNSCREEN DISTRIBUTED EACH SUMMER
DIFFERENT “SILLY HATS” AVAILABLE IN ST. NICK’S GIFT SHOP
DAYS OF FREE ADMISSION WITH YOUR SUMMER FUN CARD
RIDERS CAN FIT ON THE NEW SWINGING-SHIP, THE MAYFLOWER
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hen Matt Eckert took over as president of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari last year, he became the first non-family member to run the theme park. However, he had worked closely with former president Will Koch since joining the park staff as a controller on Valentine’s Day in 2000. His tenure as president began three years after Koch’s sudden death in 2010 and followed a now-resolved family dispute over control of the company. 812 took a golf-cart tour with Eckert this spring, and his enthusiasm would be about as hard to miss as Santa’s red suit. He’s proud of how far the park has come and is conscious of the fact that its biggest competition isn’t necessarily just other parks. “There are so many things that families can do when choosing how to spend their day,” he says. “That is where the competition is, getting them to choose to spend their day here.” With three kids of his own, Eckert understands the importance of a family-friendly environment. “Safety is our No. 1 cornerstone. As a parent, I appreciate this, and I want to take my children where I feel they are going to be safe, where I don’t have to worry about them being taken or getting hurt.” The Holiday World staff likes to add the superlative “-est” to their attractions — “the tallest, the longest or the fastest” — but they also like to be innovators in the overall park experience. They took that step in 2000 and 2002 by providing free, unlimited soft drinks and sunscreen. “To this day, even above any of our attractions that we have added, that was probably the smartest move we have made in the history of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari,” Eckert says. Santa may bring in large crowds, but they are focused on affordable family fun. Eckert takes a lot of pride in the recognition the park gets for its friendliness. “We are very fortunate in the area that we live in,” he says. “We have a lot of Southern hospitality. I think a lot of that is just engrained.”
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t h e 8 1 2 Li s t
812’s real-life haunted places … And these sites aren’t spooky just on Halloween By Anicka Slachta
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outhern Indiana is notorious for its tales of the supernatural, and Wanda Lou Willis, author of “Haunted Hoosier Trails: A Guide to Indiana’s Famous Folklore Spooky Sites,” says each story has its own personality. Details about these eight haunted sites have been embellished through the decades — Willis likens the translation of oral history to a game of telephone — but, she adds, “most, if not all, of the haunting tales of yesterday have a kernel of truth to them.” The Haunting of Culbertson Mansion
The Headless Boatman of Haunted Hollow, Mauckport
The Woeful Tune of Trombone Tommy
Legend has it: The elaborate 22-room mansion is built on the site of an old Civil War hospital, and visitors say the ghosts of those who died from the common war diseases gangrene and dysentery still haunt it. Curators of the house, as well as guests, have heard footsteps, slamming doors and furniture moving, both day and night.
Legend has it: This beautiful spot along the Ohio is where pirates once waited in caverns to ambush visitors. A group of boatmen met this fate one night, and one man was shot, stabbed and decapitated by the bandits.
Legend has it: Men in the early 1900s often had to travel a long way in order to find a paying job. Among the men who set up makeshift homes along the railways was “Trombone Tommy,” a moniker earned because he always played his trombone at night. He was killed in a train accident, but long after his death, citizens of the town still hear the music.
New Albany
Watch out! Keep an eye on the vacuum cleaner. On at least two occasions, people have vacuumed a room, turned off the appliance and left, only to hear it restart when they turned their backs.
Watch out! The ghost of the headless boatman who was killed is said to still wander the shores of the river.
The Tragedy on Azalia Bridge
Seymour
Vincennes University
Legend has it: The town of Azalia was built in 1831 as a pictureperfect community, so when a young, unmarried girl became pregnant, she was shunned. She journeyed to this bridge one night, her baby wrapped in a thin white blanket, and let it fall to its death. Her ghost still weeps at the bridge.
Legend has it: Colonel Eugene Wharf, the original owner of the house and land, speaks, flickers lights on and off and moves in a cold gust of wind. The building sits atop Rebel Hill, which was allegedly a meeting point for Southern sympathizers during the Civil War. Watch out! The colonel’s ghost isn’t friendly in the mornings. He has been known to turn perfectly hot coffee into a cold cup in one chilly passing. The Black Lady of Stepp Cemetery
Martinsville
summer/ fall 2014
Legend has it: A woman known as the “Lady in Black” haunts the grave of her son, who was killed in a car accident. She sits on the tree stump next to his grave, weeping and quietly singing to him. Watch out! Anyone who sits on the Lady’s tree stump is cursed to die in less than a year, since her son was killed before he turned 1.
Medora/Fort Ritner
Watch out! …Or don’t. This ghost is more of a sentimental legend than anything to be afraid of.
The Colonel of the Sigma Pi House
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Illustrations by Griffin Leeds
The Blue Lights of Story Inn
Nashville
Legend has it: In the little room at the top of the inn’s stairs, the Blue Lady usually materializes in the vanity mirror or the window after a guest turns on the blue light next to the bed. Guest books listed sightings of the Blue Lady so frequently that the inn owner changed the name of the room. Willis had a personal run-in with the Blue Lady when she visited Story Inn. She said the Lady threw wine on her at dinner! Watch out! If you smell cherry tobacco, you know the Blue Lady is near.
Watch out! If you dare peer over the side of the bridge, some say you can see the baby still bundled and crying for its mother. The Witch of White Chapel Cemetery Spraytown
Legend has it: Like many other women who were simply a little strange, Martha was branded as a witch. She was buried in White Chapel Cemetery, and it is said that her face can be seen on the side of her tombstone. Watch out! If you touch her face, legends suggest you’ll end up in a car accident.
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56 summer/ fall 2014