Columbus Magazine | September 2018

September 2018

Window to the past

Diane Robbins leads Bartholomew County Historical Society into the future

Taste » Mexican fare

Community » Ethnic Expo

Goodwill» Su Casa

Arts & Lifestyles» Writers Clubs

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contents

September 2018

24

Ayumi Matsushima, left, and Haruka Hagiwara hand out food samples in front of the Japanese tent at Ethnic Expo.

Feature story

Ethnic Expo A celebration of diversity

On the cover

Diane Robbins photographed by Jana Jones 4

Columbus Magazine

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contents

MEdley

10 12 14 16

What do you think?

Trends For What it’s worth Book Nook

18 Mexican fare taste

28 Metamora Worth the Trip

18

34 Writers Clubs Arts & Lifestyles

38 Diane Robbins Profile

Diane Robbins

44 Su Casa Goodwill

in every issue

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Weddings our side of town The Big Picture

Columbus Magazine

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Voices Please send letters to the address above or to ColumbusMag@therepublic.com.

Be sure to include your full name, city, state and phone number. Letters sent to Columbus magazine become the magazine’s property, and it owns the rights to their use. Columbus magazine reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length.

Back Issues To order back issues of Columbus magazine, please send $5 per issue (includes S&H) to the mailing address above or call (800) 435-5601. Please include the address to which your copies should be sent. PDF files are available for a fee of $20 per page and are permitted for personal use only. Š2018 by AIM Media Indiana All rights reserved. Reproduction of stories, photographs and advertisements without permission is prohibited.

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What Do You Think?

In each issue of Columbus, we ask local folks or visitors for their opinions on a variety of topics. This month’s question:

“Watching airplanes, flying airplanes, carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating.”

— Dillon Hashman

What’s your favorite fall activity?

Compiled By Carla Clark

“We enjoy Neighborfest, the farmers market, hiking, enjoying the weather and (as Laura reminded him) carving pumpkins with our kids even though they are adults now.”

— Laura Gorbett and her father, Mark Gorbett

“Biking around Mill Race Park.”

— Diego Jimenez

“Coming downtown on Washington Street and seeing the pretty trees change colors.”

— Cheyanna Heid

“I enjoy coming with the family to the park, the changing colors of the leaves and festivals with family.”

— Frank Escoto

“Raking leaves and jumping into the piles, going to trunk-ortreat, having a party and going to Apple Works.”

— Abigail Griggs

“My annual Halloween party, and this year the theme is the circus.”

— Barry Beeker

10

Columbus Magazine

“Ethnic Expo.”

— Megan Saurer

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For what it’s worth

What we eat is food for thought

By Bud Herron

14

Columbus Magazine

»

I grew up on a good, old American diet. At least, that’s what we called it.

Our cuisine (fancy word we never used) was a starchy, greasy mix of root vegetables, corn and red meat, cooked until limp in lard and bacon grease.

(If it couldn’t be fried in an iron skillet, it was not worth eating.)

My father’s family —the Herrons and the Dixons — migrated to the United States from Ireland during the potato-blight famine of the late 1840s.

My mother’s family — the Hamners and others — came primarily from England and arrived in Virginia as indentured servants in the early 1700s.

Both families brought with them their ethnic diets.

Both were “poor people diets,” high on the carbohydrates and fats needed for those who survived by

hard physical labor. The seasoning was salt. (If they ever heard rumors of basil, cayenne or coriander, they undoubtedly dismissed such ingredients as highbrow, sissy fads designed to destroy hearty potato soup.)

The diets came to southern Indiana as family members migrated west in search of land and economic prosperity. They found both, but kept the diet and grew fat as plowing behind a mule evolved into plowing through 250 cable channels from the comfort of a leather recliner.

While the traditional “poor Irish” meals of my extended family have somewhat expanded over the past 200 years, most of us still eat that way to a large degree. (Think “biggy burger” and fries with a supersized soft drink.) Now, however, some call this diet “American.”

Some people in my extended family refer to any dish containing or accompanied by rice as “foreign.” When asked which “foreign” foods they are willing to eat, they suggest pizza (an Italian-American dish that is hard to find in Italy), nachos (which were invented in Southern California, not Mexico) and chop suey or chow mein (both created in New York).

Even the so-called “English muffin” was invented in a New York bakery, and the Danish-sounding “Häagen Dazs” ice cream is strictly American. (No such Danish words exist. They were made up to make the ice cream sound foreign, exotic and rich.)

Purists in the art of international cuisine abhor — or at a minimum make jokes about — our narrow Anglo-American tastes and our un-

willingness to try foods we consider “foreign.” They say we are like a child who has to be lured to broccoli with a pinch of sugar, and thus we are provincial and unimaginative.

Locally, those among us who claim to be more open to other cultures, and are snobbishly proud of our alleged culinary sophistication, still laugh about the “Best of Columbus” survey done by The Republic back in the late 1980s. In that survey, Taco Bell was chosen overwhelmingly as the favorite foreign food restaurant. (To be fair, in those days, about the only other locally served foreign food was what the kids called the “mystery meat” in the school cafeteria.)

Columbus has come a long way since those days — both in the availability of ethnic food-based restaurants and in the willingness of locals to give some new or different foods a try. The number of our restaurants serving other than so-called “American” cuisine has greatly expanded.

Today, in downtown Columbus alone, several restaurants offer American versions of Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Thai and Caribbean menus. Even the restaurant-bars specializing in traditional “pub foods” have added a variety of more exotic offerings, such as tofu and vegetarian options.

And for decades, locals and visitors alike have enjoyed Ethnic Expo — each October’s celebration of diversity and inclusion, which features a parade and programs led by a different ethnic group each year.

But the heart of Ethnic Expo has been food from around the world — some served with great adherence to the recipes of the originating country and some offering versions that have evolved uniquely in the great American “melting pot.” The symbolism of a “common meal” — around which a family, a religious community or a nation comes together — is profoundly meaningful.

Celebrating as a community each year around the food booths at Ethnic Expo has become more than a nice tradition. It has become almost a sacrament in the community celebration of our sameness in the midst of our diversity.

The trite old expression that “you are what you eat” carries more than a little truth — whether that refers to the meals grandma taught us to cook or the traditional diets of others.

As for me, I still enjoy a good bowl of homemade Irish potato soup with some soda bread on the side. That doesn’t mean that a bit of pad thai over rice with roti bread on the side doesn’t sometimes call my name.

Bud Herron is a writer and former editor and publisher for various newspapers and magazines in Indiana and Texas.

A native of Hope, he retired in 2007 as group publisher for Home News Enterprises, the former owner of The Republic.

He and his wife, Ann, live in Columbus.

Columbus Magazine

15

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Book nook

“An Ocean of Minutes”

16

“LifeL1k3”

“America for Beginners”

By Thea Lim

By Jay Kristoff

By Leah Franqui

What would you do if the love of your life contracted a deadly flu virus and the only way to pay for treatment would be to travel 12 years into the future as a laborer to rebuild society? This book tells the story of Polly and Frank. Polly chooses to make this journey to save her soulmate, with a plan to meet up after her arrival. The plan, however, is foiled when unbeknownst to either one, she is rerouted for an additional five years.

At what cost will Polly and Frank pay to find the love that was lost?

There are many issues worthy of discussion in this book, and I think book clubs would enjoy choosing this one. — Celia Allman-Watts

I’m a sci-fi geek working in a (mostly) literary bookstore. If you are a literary reader, sorry, keep on going to the next review. But for all you closet geeks, I’m here for you. I love Kristoff’s writing style and characters who are so well-developed you come to know and care about them all. We meet Eve, who is a dome fighter against malfunctioning mechanical AIs. Her world is post-apocalyptic where the continent is owned and ruled by corporate states. She lives on an island that used to be part of California but has become a waste dump following an earthquake. She finds a “lifelike” (an android) that has crashed to the ground, and she plans to salvage him for useful parts to barter. Lifelikes were banned after the revolt that devastated the Earth, but she is captivated by his perfection and desperate for the credits. Now all the action begins. Her story is fascinating and compelling. I love how Kristoff incorporates the three laws of robotics from Isaac Asimov’s robot series. Then his AIs ... well, read it and find out. — Melinda Clark

I loved this road trip book with a twist. Three individuals embark on a cross-country tour of the United States. Pival Sengupta is a widow from Kolkata who is secretly searching for her beloved son, Rahi, who left India and devastated his parents when he told them he was gay. Unsure if he is dead or alive, Pival is determined to uncover the truth. Assigned tour guide Sayta, an immigrant from Bangladesh, has only been in the U.S. for a year and has never left New York City.

Joining the trip as a “modesty” companion, Rebecca Elliot is a young aspiring American actress who is trying to figure out her own life. Orchestrating the entire affair is Ronnie Munshi, owner of First Class India USA Destination Vacation Tour Co., another immigrant who may or may not be misrepresenting exactly what he has in store for these three. As they travel from one tourist site to the next, all members of this diverse threesome explore their own views of America, prejudices, immigration, each other and love. A touching and heartwarming read. — Michelle Malina

Columbus Magazine

Reviews by the staff of Viewpoint Books

“The Broken Girls”

By Simone St. James Who wants to spend their reading time in a creepy, derelict, abandoned boarding school for girls haunted by a malevolent spirit?

Me! St. James takes you away to just such a place. Alternating between the past and the present day, she explores the ugliness of human nature at its murderous worst. Everyone has a past.

Everyone is broken. The question (as in real life) is can one move beyond the horrors of life or will one stay hauntingly stuck? I love these atmospheric mystery novels. I think you will, too. —Polly Verbanic

“Save the Date”

By Morgan Matson This weekend, Charlie’s older sister is getting married. Charlie is looking forward to finally having all of her older siblings together in the same house they grew up in and to reconnect with her favorite older brother. The wedding is expected to be magical and full of beautiful decorations, food and music.

All goes well until the surprise appearance of their estranged brother and unexpected guests, the disappearance of the wedding planner, a dramatic interview with “Good Morning America” and a broken house alarm. And while the surprises and disasters seem endless, Charlie is romantically conflicted by the arrival of her former love interest and the charming wedding planner’s assistant. In this “romantic comedy of errors” it is revealed that there are no perfect families and certainly no perfect weddings.

—Kamebry Wagner

“The Perfect Couple”

By Elin Hilderbrand It is wedding season on beautiful Nantucket Island. As family and friends gather to celebrate, the bride is found dead on the morning of the wedding. The investigation begins. No one escapes questioning, and we soon discover that there is no perfect couple.

Hilderbrand is my go-to author when I am looking for an enjoyable and easy read. Her descriptive writing style makes you feel as if you are on the island and entangled in the lives of each character. This is my new Hilderbrand favorite.

—Theresa Wilson

Columbus Magazine

17

Taste

Camila’s Mexican Restaurant

Flavor Fiesta Mexican food is right at home in Columbus Ooey, gooey enchiladas. Flavorful fajitas and bursting burritos. Nosh-able nachos with killer queso. For those who think Columbus is light on options for some serious, savory Mexican fare, read on and you might be convinced otherwise.

By Jon Shoulders | Photography by Jana Jones

Guac and Roll According to Kelly Flores, manager at Camila’s on 25th Street, there’s an art to making a perfect batch of guacamole, and her servers prepare it table-side for customers to observe and replicate at home.

“Our traditional guacamole is something we’ve become very known for,” Flores says. “It’s two whole avocados, so it serves quite a bit of people. It comes with shredded cheese, which normally people don’t put in, and we use powdered garlic and salt.

We do our tortilla chips fresh every morning also. So you get a guacamole experience that’s really fresh and tasty, and you can learn how to do it, too, by watching the waiters.”

Flores says her chimichangas and fajitas have also become house favorites, served with

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Columbus Magazine

rice, beans, pico do gallo, sour cream and guacamole. “Some of our other traditional dishes get a good response too, like our Molcajete Camila’s, which has a variety of meats like steak, chicken, chorizo and shrimp with cheese,” she adds.

Bosworth is quick to point out that her guac — along with most everything you’ll find on the menu at Luciana’s — is never made with canned or pre-mixed ingredients.

“There’s times of year where we’re paying a premium price for avocados from Mexico, and we never pass that price increase on to our customers,” she explains, adding that her vegetarian fajitas have become popular with Columbus crowds in recent months. “We make our own guacamole and salsa; everything is made fresh every day.”

Columbus Magazine

19

taste

Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina

Say Cheese Debbie Bosworth, operations manager at Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina on Washington Street, says her arroz con pollo dish has become a Columbus customer favorite. It includes house-made rice, grilled chicken, choice of flour or corn tortilla, and queso she describes as “rather addictive.”

“We buy the highest quality of cheese possible for our queso; our supplier actually orders it in just for us,” Bosworth says. “They’ve tried to talk us down to something that’s not quite as expensive, but that’s one of the things we’re known for and we won’t compromise on it.”

The Luciana’s staff shreds the cheese daily and cranks out 90 pounds of queso per batch. You’ll find it throughout the menu included with burritos, nachos, chimichangas and more.

To add a little variation to your main course while still getting your cheese fill, go with the Luciana’s Enchiladas entree, which comes with three enchiladas — one cheese, one shredded chicken and one bean — topped with red sauce, lettuce, sour cream and guacamole, with your choice of rice or beans. And of course patrons can always request a side of queso to punch things up a bit.

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Columbus Magazine

Let the Chips Fall When it comes to cooking truly tasty tortilla chips, Luz Delfin, co-manager of El Nopal on Jonathan Moore Pike, says there’s more to it than just firing up the fryer.

“Each day we take the time to make our tortilla chips fresh with vegetable oil,” she says.

“You don’t want to let them sit cooking for too long. The timing is important. And a lot of other Mexican restaurants put salt or

other seasonings on their chips, but we like to let the chip flavor stand on its own without any salt or anything else added to it.”

There are plenty of items on the El Nopal menu through which Delfin showcases her fresh-made chips. You’ll find choices ranging from chorizo dip to queso fundido to nachos with choice of meat, and dine-in and carry-out patrons get chips on the house with hot and mild salsa.

El Nopal Mexican Cuisine

Columbus Magazine

21

taste

Morales Mexican Restaurant

Get Real If it’s authenticity you’re after, sample the molcajetes at Morales on Central Avenue. Manager Ruben Leal strives to present a menu full of dishes prepared just the way you’d find them south of the border, and the molcajetes are no exception.

“They’ve been very popular. You get beef, chicken and sausage, and it comes with cactus leaves and jalapeños,” says Leal, adding that the staff preps the ingredients fresh daily. “It’s a real, authentic dish that a lot of the other

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Columbus Magazine

restaurants around here don’t do.”

Also be sure to check out Morales’ extensive taco menu, which includes a few not-socommon choices like lengua (beef tongue) and cameron (shrimp), in addition to chicken, beef, chorizo and veggie options.

Those pressed for time after a long day at the office or between errands can get a quick-hit taco fix at Sabor De La Vida (“flavor of life”), which relocated its Columbus location to State Street earlier this year and has a store in Edinburgh

as well. Choose from a wide taco selection that includes chicken, tenderloin, seasoned pork, ground beef, egg with Mexican sausage, fish, beef head and more.

Tamales, empanadas, stuffed jalapeños, soups and Mexican sandwiches help to round out the Sabor menu, and if you have the time and appetite to spare, owner Ariel Cesario recommends the house-made flan or arroz con leche (rice pudding) for dessert (don’t worry, we’ll explore the sweet stuff in greater detail later).

Riviera Maya

Strong Finish If you have some room left after indulging in all those apps and entrees and you’re game for a traditional Mexican dessert, you can’t go wrong with some baked, buttery sopapillas. Riviera Maya on 25th Street makes them fresh daily, starting with a flour tortilla that’s cooked to a golden brown and topped with butter, cinnamon and honey. “Our churros are very popular too.

They’re the traditional style with a cinnamon and sugar coating,” adds manager and co-owner Antonio Ruiz.

El Rincon de las Delicias on 25th Street offers several sweet selections like flan, arroz con leche and pastel de tres leches (three-milk cake), as well as smoothies, juices and a few lightbite options like gorditas, nachos, tortas and salads.

Need something a bit more intense to satiate your sweet tooth? Luciana’s brings its dessert A-game with fried ice cream.

A single scoop is coated with crushed sopapillas and flashfried, then drizzled with honey and chocolate, and finally served with sopapillas and whip cream.

Check, please.

Columbus Magazine

23

Community

V

Bienvenue, Columbus

With France as host country, Ethnic Expo celebrates 35 years

By Rebecca Berfanger

24

Columbus Magazine

Vive la France! The country’s dancing, traditional music and, of course, food and wine will be celebrated at Ethnic Expo this year.

An annual tradition since 1984, the family-friendly event will take place Oct. 12 and 13 in downtown Columbus, featuring food and entertainment from international groups from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days, with a parade kicking off Saturday’s festivities. Although the food isn’t free, there will be low-cost options for sampling a little bit of everything.

Columbus Indiana Accueil, an organization that represents the French community, has been working closely with the city and will partner with Oui Crepes. It will be the first time in the history of the event that France will be featured prominently. Plus, international automotive parts manufacturer Faurecia is sponsoring the French cultural activities.

Attendees can also expect a few other firsts, says Katherine Dunn, who earlier this year was hired as community development project specialist for the city, while

also serving as entertainment coordinator for Ethnic Expo.

For instance, instead of two entertainment stages, one in front of City Hall and one on First Street, the First Street area will instead be a space where the host country will be able to feature its culture: food, dancing, music, art and other opportunities to interact or just observe.

For this year’s event, the area will be set up to have the feel of a “guinguette,” an open-air Parisian café. The area will feature dancing and music from the late

19th century up until World War II. Think of Auguste Renoir paintings of diners eating outside.

Another first for the city is the goal to make the expo a zero-waste event. A community celebration is planned instead of the traditional fireworks on Saturday evening, and Dunn is hoping to have more participants in the parade than in past years. Many of the same vendors, up to two per country, will be returning this year, along with a few new ones.

She has also been working with the Columbus Magazine

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Columbus Area Multi-Ethnic Organization to get their members and organizations involved. CAMEO is also hosting Columbus Got Talent, and the winners will perform at the expo.

Dunn adds that while the event started with about 5,000 attendees and the most recent numbers from about five years ago show about 35,000 to 40,000, she is hoping to get a more accurate count this year.

Cathy Prince, the president of Columbus Indiana Accueil, said there were a handful of French families in the area when she first moved to Indiana for her husband’s job a little more than six years ago. Now there are at least a couple of dozen, and she has helped them feel at home.

“I always do the welcome and presentation of the city, give them a tour of the

city and give them some advice for the doctor, for the dentist, finding a good school depending on the age of their children,” says Prince. When she realized the French community was growing, she and others decided to form Columbus Indiana Accueil.“We were excited when the city asked if we’d be part of the Ethnic Expo, but we knew it was hard, there would be a lot of planning,” she says. “We have a little community compared with others … but we have a lot of resources and we are looking forward to it.”

Prince is particularly excited about the new cultural area on First Street, which she calls “a French village.” “We’re going to have a dance floor and going to recreate the atmosphere of guinguettes, with music and all-night dancing. Well, maybe

not 24 hours, but we are going to have dancing,” she says. She adds there will be photo opportunities, including a replica Eiffel Tower.

Prince adds that they plan to teach anyone who wants to learn the dances of the guinguettes, which she assures are easy to learn. There will also be plenty of seating for anyone who would rather watch than participate.

“And for the first time the expo is going to have a wine booth,” she says. “We will have French wine — white, red and champagne.”

Prince adds that they will be engaging French students from Columbus schools, including a poster contest, and showing a documentary film about French culture that will be produced by local high school

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students. She also plans to honor a World War II veteran who served in France as a way to highlight the friendship between the United States and France.

Performances on the main stage will include Traveler’s Dream, who typically play Celtic and French Canadian music and will focus on French music on Friday afternoon; the Cummins Diversity Choir; Salaam Band, a Middle Eastern music ensemble that plays traditional and original music; and Guero Loco, aka Mr. GL, a hip hop artist who also performs in schools.

On Saturday, the entertainment will include Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums playing bagpipes; Indy Hula, an Indianapolis-based Polynesian dance troupe; and DJ Papa G, who will be spinning some reggae tunes Saturday night.

Both nights, attendees can watch cabaret dance performances, along with French student ballet dancers and a French children’s choir from Indianapolis. A children’s activity Saturday afternoon will be based on Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” which French children traditionally use to learn about different instruments.

The biggest performance on the main stage will likely be the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Saturday around 7:30 p.m.

They will play French music, and they’ll be accompanied by cancan dancers.

Among the participants in the food vendor area this year will be Su Casa Columbus, says Sylvia Babcock, executive director. Each year, the Cummins Latino Affinity Group partners with Su Casa to

plan the booth and recruit volunteers.

This year, it will feature tamales and food from Venezuela.

Although this is Dunn’s first Ethnic Expo, she says everyone has been helpful and positive. “I’ve learned about a lot of community groups and I attend monthly CAMEO meetings,” she says. “It’s been fun to learn about the community this way.”

With the changes, however, she notes that the event will remain true to its original purpose, “to celebrate our current cosmopolitan area, a nice Columbus celebration of the people and how we came to be here.”

As for being the host country, adds Prince, “It’s a good way to show people who France really is, that it’s not just baguettes and Edith Piaf’s music.”

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Worth the Trip

making Metamora memories

Take a walk in the past lane

By CJ Woodring

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Metamora, home to about 250 residents, is roughly 70 miles southeast of Indianapolis. Platted in 1838, the unincorporated town once was a stop along the Whitewater Canal, which continues to define and shape the community.

Throughout the years, Metamora emerged as a major tourist destination for history buffs, artists, musicians and visitors seeking a relaxed vibe and nostalgic walk. Whatever your reason for visiting, your timing will be spot-on: The town and long-running Canal Days festival are experiencing a Metamora metamorphosis, if you will.

Although much has changed since the railroad replaced the canal, ambience has not. The Whitewater Canal, a town centerpiece, remains a viable, valuable attraction.

The canal, along with the Metamora Grist Mill, operates under the umbrella of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corp. Jay Dishman, now in his 30th year as historic site manager, oversees daily, year-round operations.

Along with administrative duties and employee supervision, Dishman ensures canal water is running and the two-story, water-powered grist mill is working. On occasion, he serves as miller for the current structure, which replaced an earlier mill sometime before 1900. The current grist mill continues to grind corn meal and flour available for purchase.

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worth the trip

The most recent site project, completed this spring, focused on reconstruction of the Duck Creek Aqueduct, which carries canal water over Duck Creek.

“This was the largest alteration on the aqueduct for the past dozen or so years,” Dishman says. “Among other things, it involved an application that extends the life of the wood, which we’d like to get at least two more decades out of.”

Originally constructed in 1843 and the only wood aqueduct still in service in the United States, the 75-foot structure was partially destroyed by a flood in 1846.

Rebuilt shortly thereafter, it was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1992 and a National Historic Landmark in 2014.

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Getting there is half the fun From Columbus, the trip to Metamora takes about an hour and 15 minutes. Visitors with children, and/or those who prefer not to drive, can travel via the Whitewater Valley Railroad. The railway offers several schedule options for the festival weekend, in addition to special excursions throughout the season.

Trains depart from the Connersville depot and provide travelers a two- or four-hour layover in Metamora, depending upon the excursion. Round-trip and one-way fares are offered; caboose tickets are priced separately. Visit whitewatervalleyrr. org for details and online ticket reservations.

Canal Days Autumn Festival

Any season in Indiana yields plenty of adventures; one of those adventures is the Metamora Canal Days Autumn Festival, held the first full October weekend. Now in its 50th year, this year’s event is slated for Oct. 5 to 7.

First held in September 1969, Canal Days Autumn Festival initially was celebrated for just two days. An extension to three days helped ease traffic during busy and crowded weekends, which last year drew more than 120,000 visitors.

The annual event is Historic Metamora’s primary source of income, derived from sales of art, antiques and quality handcrafts booths set up along the canal, across from the mill and in Tow Path Park. While these Canal Days vendors are juried, goods sold throughout town include flea market items, carnival food, plants, natural food products and more.

Hence, the festival is promoted as offering “something for everybody.”

Local business owners, many of them natives, roll out the welcome mat at restaurants, retail stores and overnight accommodations.

Innkeeper Cassie Garrett will be one of the Metamora residents welcoming guests. She was 5 when her family moved

to Metamora. As a child, she began accompanying her mother to work in the 1880 building Garrett and husband Nate now operate as The Farmhouse, a bedand-breakfast.

“The house has a long-running history as a bed-and-breakfast, and my mother worked for a former owner. So I spent quite a bit of time there,” she says.

After more than a decade out of state, Garrett returned to Metamora in 2015, working alongside her husband to refurbish the iconic building. Operating yearround, the inn also features a restaurant open to the public. It’s a comfortable home for the couple and their daughters,

Sophia and Savannah, soon to be joined by daughter Scarlett, due in October.

Cassie Garrett says when she left, the town was thriving, drawing tourists from throughout the region. By the time she returned, “a lot of shops had closed down. Things I’d remembered were gone.

So it was kind of a risk. But I had such good, fond memories of what it had been and knew it could rebound.”

The couple’s faith wasn’t misplaced: The inn draws guests from beyond the tri-state area, also hosting nationwide visitors seeking off-the-beaten-path eateries. “We’re steadily seeing a lot of artists coming for the festival,” Garrett says.

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worth the trip

“There are less and less empty buildings and an increase in original, handmade items. We’re definitely on an upswing.”

Exploring Metamora

Metamora’s star attractions include a half-hour canal excursion on the horsedrawn, 75-foot canal boat, and a visit to the mill. Visitors also hop aboard a horsedrawn carriage, the perfect way to explore this historic town.

Other fun sights include the canal boat horse stable; historic Odd Fellows Hall, home to the Metamora Museum of Oddities/The Dark Shadow; and Metamora Gem Mine & Luna’s Garden Gift Shop, where families pan for fossils and semi-precious gems.

Metamora Performing Arts features a

variety of musicians — Bluegrass Night is held at the Opry Barn the third Saturday of the month — selling out for nearly every performance.

Visitors can set out on a 2.6-mile hiking and biking trail along the historic Whitewater Canal or visit privately owned Salt Creek Ranch, one mile west of Metamora in Laurel. The venue offers horseback riding, canoeing, camping and cabin rental.

Whitewater State Park, in nearby Liberty, showcases 200-acre Whitewater Lake, a fun family getaway offering recreational opportunities and camping.

Shop, eat and stay

Dozens of businesses line downtown streets in Metamora and adjacent

Henry Social Club is a unique culinary gem in the heart of Columbus, Indiana. Since opening in late 2014, the HSC staff, under the direction of owner and chef Gethin Thomas, have presented an exciting selection of large and small plate dishes, including steaks, homemade breads, pastas, salads, and desserts. The beverage program includes an extensive selection of fine spirits, creative cocktails, and a world class wine selection. With a warm, sleek interior, and an open concept kitchen that includes full service catering, Henry Social Club offers the kind of restaurant experience you would find in a large city, right in our hometown.

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Columbus Magazine

Duck Creek Crossing. Most are closed mid-December through mid-April. A majority of retail owners maintain fulltime jobs elsewhere, also working long weekend and night hours to provide quality merchandise.

Eclectic shops include The Wood Shack for handcrafted wood items; Words and Images/The Train Place, which combines the owners’ love for books and railroad memorabilia; and Mr. Fudge’s Confectionery, a Metamora landmark for more than 40 years.

In nearby Duck Creek Crossing, businesses are housed in relocated historic structures. Among them is Buttons ’n’ Bows, where owners Jenny Moster and Jackie Beneker hold down the fort, assisted by Moster’s sister-in-law, Mary Moster.

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The women set up shop in 1986, purveying merchandise that showcases miniature items for display in shadow and printer’s boxes. Frogs and turtles are the biggest sellers, Jenny Moster says, adding that a children’s area features tiny unbreakable items, perfect for little hands.

Moster notes that new businesses continue to open, replacing those that have left. This spring, eight new shops opened downtown, along with three in Duck Creek Crossing.

“Our business has gone steadily upward in the last two to three years, and we get to meet so many wonderful people who are just here to have a good time,” she says.

Although small in size, Metamora is large on good taste, including good-tasting food. Try Scooty’s Grill for barbecued ribs; The Smelly Gourmet European Coffee Bar and Gift Shop, which offers the adjoining luxury Banes Suite; Gold Diggers Family Diner, a themed restaurant where patrons dine in a gold mine; and Grannie’s Cookie Jars and Ice Cream Parlor, where customers enjoy homemade cones and view a collection of more than 2,600 cookie jars.

Spending the night? Along with The Farmhouse, consider the Grapevine Inn, Robin’s Nest, Cat and the Fiddle and the 1850s Metamora Inn. Fifteen minutes from town, Dreams End Log Cabin Vacation Rentals, a year-round Connersville getaway, offers five cozy cabins that can accommodate up to 10 people.

According to Jay Dishman, the future of Metamora and the Canal Days Autumn Festival appears rosy. “The town continues to grow, and we have some new ideas coming up for the mill site,” he says. “Hopefully, we’re educating folks, and they can also shop to their hearts’ content. We’re looking up.”

Moster echoes the sentiment. “The historic atmosphere remains,” she says, “and Metamora is still a wonderful and fun place to visit. Older people might remember what is was, but the younger ones are thinking of what it can be.”

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Arts & Lifestyles

Word processing

H

Writers groups share stories and aspirations

By Jennifer Willhite

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Historically the writer’s life has been romanticized as a solitary one fueled by black coffee, cigarettes and existential query. However, members of local writers groups say the writing life isn’t necessarily what pop culture would have one believe.

In fact, organized groups in Bartholomew and surrounding counties are a valuable resource for writers of all ages and experience.

More than 20 years ago, the Writers, Readers and Poets Society formed in Nashville to promote literacy, writing

and an appreciation for the written word. Since nearly all its founding members have died, Brown County resident Pam Raider currently acts as facilitator for the group, which meets the first and third Thursdays of each month at the Brown County Library.

Raider, who began attending WRAPS in 1995, says she was inspired to join the group after taking part in Poets Against the War, a global poetry movement established in February 2003 as a protest of the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq.

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“My previous writing was more essays and prose,” Raider says. “But after joining Poets Against the War, I was prompted to join WRAPS because it was something different.”

Raider says WRAPS membership has been as high as 30 people, but although there have been some children and young adults attend, today’s group is mostly made up of individuals 50 and older.

WRAPS meetings offer a variety of reading, writing and critiquing and are essentially guided by participants’ interests at the time, she says. Some people come and simply read a passage of a poem or work of prose they find interesting or inspiring. Others will bring pieces they are currently working on, seeking feedback and constructive criticism.

“The overall benefit of the group is being able to share our work with other writers and hearing what others are writing about,” she says. “You get introduced to other writing styles and genres.”

In 2007, Debi Stanton was living in the Brown County area and discovered WRAPS while she was recuperating from an illness. In 2008 she started the Bartholomew County Writers Group, which meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Bartholomew County Public Library.

“Aside from the camaraderie, writers attend to learn from each other,” she says. “We give one another feedback, encourage one another and talk about what is going on in the writing world.”

Stanton, who is also founder of Pen It Publications, says she talks to members about the ins and outs of publishing and self-promotion.

Writers groups are a prime setting for motivation, she says. “It’s almost family-like. It is a lot of inspiration, and you can go home and feel like you have learned something.”

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arts & lifestyles

Looking for a writers group?

WRITERS, READERS AND POETS SOCIETY Meetings are held first and third Thursdays each month at Brown County Public Library, 205 Locust Lane, Nashville.

Information: Brown County Library, 812-988-2850, or visit W.R.A.P.S. on Facebook.

SPILLING INK WRITERS GROUP Meetings are held at Jackson County Public Library, West Second and North Walnut streets, Seymour. Information: Jackson County Public Library event calendar at MyJCLibrary. org or call 812-522-3412.

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BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY WRITERS GROUP Meetings are held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. Information: Bartholomew County Public Library, 812-379-1255, visit Bartholomew County Writers Group on Facebook or email PenItPublications@yahoo.com.

SCRIBBLERS WRITING CLUB Meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Hotel Indigo.

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Familiarizing people with the realm of independent publishing is certainly a regular topic of discussion for the Spilling Ink Writers Group, which meets at the Jackson County Public Library one Saturday each month.

Kathi Linz, who founded the group in 2013, says she was asked to form it after leading several writing workshops at the library. “The people who come regularly are mostly not published, and I encourage them,” she says. “Most people just like to come and dabble.”

In this age of on-demand, digital platforms, Linz says independent publishing is the way to go for most writers. Not only is it more economical, but independent publishing allows the author more control over the process, such as where

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Columbus Magazine

the work is offered and the number of is always an inspiring time with friends. copies available.

She began attending Scribblers meetings But those who attend Spilling Ink in 2016 while working on her first chilmeetings don’t have to be published or dren’s book, “Emma’s Dancing Day.” even to have written a “When we meet, we single word, she says. each bring something we They simply have to be “The people who have written or somecome regularly interested. “I can relax thing that would be of are mostly not when I am with the benefit to the group,” she published, and I group,” Linz says. “Most says. “We go around the encourage them. of us are introverts, and table, offer advice and Most people just like we hang out and enjoy critique.” to come and dabble.” one another’s company.

The group has nearly It is like meeting with a —Kathi Linz a dozen members, but group of friends.”

Hoffman estimates Columbus author that only a few have Kimberly Hoffman says meeting with been published, which isn’t necessarily the Scribblers Writing Club the second the purpose of the meetings. “Being Tuesday of each month at Hotel Indigo published is a goal,” she says. “But the

underlying goal is to become a better writer.”

Hoffman, who is currently working on her fourth children’s book, says the critiques she receives from other members are not only helpful, but sometimes even spawn additional ideas she never thought of before. For instance, during a recent meeting a fellow writer pointed out that a story idea Hoffman had was one that could be easily fleshed out to become a series of books, she says.

“It gives me a lot of encouragement,” she says. “When I come home, I am excited about whatever I am doing because the meeting is uplifting to me. I can go to the group and come home knowing I have something to work on and go further with.”

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Profile

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Columbus Magazine

Preserving our heritage Diane Robbins brings the Bartholomew County Historical Society into new era

By Glenda Winders âœŚ Photography by Jana Jones

Columbus Magazine

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profile

T

Typically people spend the first few weeks in a new job settling in and making plans, but not Diane Robbins, the executive director of the Bartholomew County Historical Society, who assumed her position in January.

“We didn’t have time for that,” she said. “My first week or two here I realized there were just so many opportunities for this organization to take full advantage of what it has and what it

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Columbus Magazine

can add to the quality of life for Bartholomew County residents.”

The group had been without a fulltime leader for two years, so Robbins had some catching up to do. Her first priorities were updating the logo and – with the help of Don Nissen, director of information resources at the Columbus Area Visitors Center – the website.

She also spiffed up the exhibits at the historic McEwen-Samuels-Marr House at 424 Third St., where the society’s museum and offices are located; secured a $50,000 grant from the Indiana Historical Society to create a hands-on exhibit about the history of Bartholomew County and $30,000 in smaller grants; oversaw Spring at the Farm at the Henry Breeding Farm for schoolchildren; and organized the Open Door Tour (formerly the Historic Homes Tour) to include significant professional buildings and thus bring the 450 ticket-holders downtown.

“My challenge was to start creating collaborations and partnerships,” she said. “The historical society had lost a little ground in terms of what they had been doing with other organizations in the community, so I saw a real opportunity to bring us back into the public eye.”

To that end, she partnered with the Columbus Area Arts Council to create Art Break Day and with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic to organize a musical event in their shared parking lot. The historical society now partners with the Bartholomew County Public Library for Steps Through Time and with kidscommons for summer camps. It has also joined forces with the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives to write a grant proposal.

“I’m excited and I have energy and I’m passionate about helping this organization,” Robbins said, but she empha-

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profile

“Until you’re in the nonprofit world, you don’t fully understand or appreciate the philanthropic spirit that is embedded in our community.”

— Diane Robbins

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Columbus Magazine

sizes that she doesn’t get all this work done by herself.

“We are so fortunate to have so many passionate, dedicated volunteers and are excited to add new members to the active roster,” she said. “Volunteers bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and energy to the organization. We couldn’t accomplish what we do without them.”

She also credits Adam Rediker, education and programs manager, who is the group’s only other full-time employee.

“Adam and I work well together, and we think a lot alike in many ways,” she said. “None of it would have been possible without the supportive staff member I have in Adam. He’s as excited as I am for what we can do.”

And the feeling is mutual.

“Diane has been a joy to work with,” Rediker said. “She is full of positivity and excitement, which makes going to work something to look forward to.”

Another group she credits is the “active and very passionate” board of directors who hired her, and they’re happy about the situation, too.

“The search committee and board were looking for someone with established community connections who could integrate the Bartholomew County Historical Society into the fabric of the community,” said Jason Hatton, president of the board of directors and director of the Bartholomew County Public Library. “Diane fit the bill perfectly. She

has such a drive and passion for helping ing. “The historical society has a lot of others and accomplishing tasks. We are moving parts.” so far ahead of where we thought we In addition to the downtown musewould be in her first six months. She is um and its library where residents can truly a dynamo!” go to research their family heritage, her Robbins already had a proven track position puts her in charge of 80,000 arrecord of getting things done during her tifacts that are housed in a 7,000-squaremore than 11 years as the community foot facility, the farm and all of the relations/marketing equipment stored manager and six there, and a rental months as interim property owned by director at kidscomthe organization.

Want to get involved with mons – her first foray She said her job as a the Bartholomew County into the nonprofit buyer for Bridgestone Historical Society? To world – where she Tires back in her become a member, stop increased the number home state of Illinois of yearly visitors from helped prepare her by the museum for an 20,000 to 50,000 plus for this one. application form or visit 8,000 schoolchil“We may be www.bartholomewhistory. dren and upped the negotiating with org/support-us/ donations from the contractors to repair memberships. To Carnivale fundraiser something or purvolunteer, contact Adam from $40,000 to a chasing a piece of Rediker at arediker@ record $150,000. equipment, so that bartholomewhistory.org.

“When you work background as an for a nonprofit you industrial buyer has are really working for come in handy.” your community,” she Robbins moved to said, “and you work to provide a product Columbus in 1993, when her husband, or a service that’s going to add to the Mike, became south-central Indiana quality of life in the community and sales director for American Family make it a better place.”

Insurance.

But again she credits others for turn“We visited several towns and decided ing her visions into realities. this was the place to raise our family,” “Until you’re in the nonprofit world, she said. you don’t fully understand or appreciate At the time her three adult children the philanthropic spirit that is embed– Drew, Eric and Laura – were still in ded in our community,” she said. “The school, so instead of looking for a job she generosity and support nonprofits get opted for community service with the from individuals and organizations and Columbus Service League, the Parkside foundations is unbelievable.”

Elementary PTO and St. Peter’s Lutheran Besides the exhibits and events with Church. Today she’s also on the board at which she is involved, Robbins’ job also the Columbus Area Visitors Center and includes such projects as painting walls the Columbus Area Arts Council. She is at the museum and restoring windows in currently the president of the Downtown the house at the Henry Breeding farm.

Merchants Association.

“With a staff of two, you have to do a Despite being a busy person, Roblittle bit of everything,” she said, laughbins enjoys time off to spend with her

family and friends, exercise, run, walk, read, travel and garden. But you have to wonder if while she is relaxing she isn’t mentally adding more BCHS projects to a wish list that’s even longer than the one of work she has already accomplished.

She is planning a display of Christmas trees through time, using ornaments and toys from the collection as well as some borrowed from local residents. She also has in mind a military exhibit and one on design to tie in with next year’s Exhibit Columbus installations, as well as one on notable Columbus natives, such as Tony Stewart and Vice President Mike Pence. She and Rediker will also clear out the carriage house behind the museum to make room for more educational programs and work with teachers to bring those programs into line with state academic standards. Still another goal is to be more intentional about what the group collects.

“We need to make sure we have a thorough collection that doesn’t stop in 1920 or 1940,” she said. “We need 1980 and 2000.”

To bring in additional revenue to finance these ventures she’d like to have more events at the farm and start renting the museum for small gatherings.

The free museum currently features an exhibit of pulleys from the Reeves Pulley Co. that was active in Columbus during the early 20th century as well as a massive collection of just about every Arvin radio ever manufactured that was recently donated by Larry Ruble. An old-time summer picnic tableau is displayed in a gallery that will rotate with the seasons.

“I think the history and heritage of a town are absolutely necessary to be maintained, and this is the only organization that’s currently charged with that responsibility,” she said. “Our mission is to discover, collect, preserve and share, and I believe very strongly in that mission.”

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Goodwill

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Columbus Magazine

make yourself

at home

Su Casa serves Latino population in community

By Rebecca Berfanger / Photography by Ali Hendricks

Columbus Magazine

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goodwill

Sylvia Babcock

S

Su Casa Columbus, an organization that connects the Latino population of Columbus with various resources, has been around since 1999. A few years ago, however, a needs assessment was conducted to determine the greatest issues in the community and whether the organization was still relevant.

The assessment revealed that the Latino population in Bartholomew County had grown at four or five times the national rate, according to census data, which meant that the target population for Su Casa Columbus was certainly still there. The study also asked about the needs of the population, information that helped its board and staff.

“I would say for the organization, the most important focus really is helping increase self-sufficiency for Latinos through education, [while] forming relationships and becoming an integral

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part of the community,” says Executive Director Sylvia Babcock, who started in her role in 2016. But there was another challenge: building trust in the community it wanted to serve.

“A Latino person trusts the person, not the organization,” says board president Eduardo Martinez, who is from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and has worked for Cummins for 23 years. If they’re not accessing all of the available help, it could simply be a matter of trust, he says, “but if I talk to ‘Juan Ramirez’ and tell him he should go to this organization, I’ve helped make that connection.”

The reasons for distrust may not only be a cultural issue but also reveal discrimination and language barriers that continue to exist, adds board vice president Richard Gold, a longtime resident of Columbus and president and owner of Brainstorm Print.

To earn trust, Su Casa staff and volunteers meet the community at churches, schools, workplaces, retailers and soccer fields, so they can start working on those vital one-on-one relationships.

“I think it’s also a human condition,” says Babcock. “If I know you care about me, I’m willing to listen to what you have to share and trust you with my reason for being there. It takes one client to feel that, and they will pass it on to another family member or a neighbor. ... Perhaps we don’t have all the answers, but we know where to seek the answers.”

She adds that there is always confidentiality between Su Casa and its clients, which is a matter of respect and privacy.

To meet the needs of the Latino community, the organization provides several services, including document translation services from English to Spanish or Spanish to English; notary services; interpreting services via phone as well as in court and medical proceedings; tutoring; legal advice about immigration concerns; and most recently professional certification.

It can also assist with referral to another agency that offers the resources someone may need that Su Casa doesn’t offer directly.

For instance, says Gold, if someone comes in who is a survivor of domestic violence, Su Casa may contact Turning Point on the person’s behalf and make that introduction, while also providing interpretation and translation services.

He adds that the organization also often refers to the phrase, “no gaps, no overlaps,” when determining what services Su Casa offers directly and when it defers to experts in their fields.

For instance, the various social services organizations that already exist in the area may not all have Spanish speakers, but Su Casa can offer that.

Su Casa’s website also provides links to nonprofit organizations in Bartholomew County, and its social media often shares community events, such as job fairs and where to go for free school supplies.

It has also helped connect residents to food pantries, legal aid for various issues – not just immigration – and has assisted with filling out applications for rental properties or talking clients through the steps to home ownership.

“It’s a potpourri,” says Babcock.

She adds Su Casa is always looking for volunteers, including tutors and English teachers, as well as people who are handy with tools who can help with minor home repairs.

One of its services is a monthly legal clinic, where volunteer immigration

attorneys answer questions in 30-minute free consultations with clients who sign up in advance.

Volunteers also provide Taylorsville Elementary School students with tutoring services. About 40 percent of the students in 2017-18 were Hispanic, and more than three-fourths were non-English language learners, numbers that have been pretty steady for the past several years, according to the Indiana Department of Education.

The school even has a Spanish-language tab on its website.

Lydi Davidson, a Su Casa volunteer who is retired, started helping a 5- and 6-year-old in the tutoring program last year. Her work included “counting, letters, reading and a lot of worksheets.

I found that to be very rewarding. These

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goodwill

Clockwise: Sylvia Babcock tells a story of change during the United Way of Bartholomew County’s annual meeting at The Commons. She speaks during the DACA rally at City Hall. Babcock, left, and Julia Lopez see what can be repurposed for Su Casa from the now closed Clarion Hotel. (Republic File photos)

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kids really need our help. They are sweet and intelligent. They just need somebody that shows up,” she says of the one hour she gave each week. Like many volunteers in the tutoring program, Davidson doesn’t speak fluent Spanish, something Babcock says isn’t a requirement.

The organization realizes it’s important to work with all school-age students, says Martinez, because there continue to be significant achievement gaps between the Latino and general population, starting as early as elementary school, which only get worse as students age, including scores on SAT and ACT exams, and reduced success rates for students who get into college.

Su Casa’s goal for education is to help Latino residents of Bartholomew County not only earn a high school diploma

or equivalent but to obtain at least two more years of education. It also offers resources for scholarships on its website.

Su Casa has also been implementing educational courses for adults, including English classes, as well as what it calls opportunities for “up-skilling.” For instance, it is piloting a Spanish-language version of a Manufacturing Skills Standards Certification. For that program, Su Casa partnered with the AFL-CIO Labor Institute for Training for a grant to build a training center and to provide computers and other equipment.

While Babcock and the board of directors continue to look for ways to serve the Latino community of Bartholomew County, they also enjoy sharing the culture of their constituents with the community at large.

In August for the 2018 Afro-Latino Gala, Carnaval, Su Casa partnered with Cummins’ Latino Affinity Group and African and African American Affinity Group for a formal night of dancing and music from Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S. In September, Su Casa Columbus and Latino Education Group planned a much more informal event, Fiesta Latina, a fundraiser on Fourth Street to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and Heritage Month.

“It helps educate the greater community about the culture, history, language, music, food,” Babcock says. “It’s also an opportunity for the Latino community to celebrate who they are, to let them know that they should be proud of who they are, especially the second- and third-generation Latinos who were born in the U.S.” Finally, in October, they’ll once again participate in Ethnic Expo, this year with booths featuring food from Venezuela and tamales, and as always,

Su Casa volunteer Ana Oliviero

Part of the Su Casa office space.

support from volunteers, including Cummins’ Latino Affinity Group.

“We are that bridge between the Latino community and community resources,” Babcock adds. “Su Casa also works with the greater community, to help them see the value in a Latino community that is self-sufficient, that’s educated. … The bottom line is those parents and those families are truly no different than any other family that resides here in Bartholomew County or in the state of Indiana. They may look different and sound different, but truly when it comes down to it, they’re no different in terms of what they want for their kids, an opportunity for the American dream. That’s what Su Casa is trying to help with, by learning what their goals are and trying to remove barriers.”

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weddings

Lauren Smith & Sam Glanders Ceremony at First Christian Church; reception at Factory 12 Event Loft May 12, 2018 A trip out of state for a date blossomed into a romance that eventually led to nuptials for Lauren Smith and Sam Glanders.

Sam’s sister-in-law arranged the introduction in 2014, when he was in the military stationed in North Carolina. Lauren flew down to meet Sam in late May. “That trip was the first of many,” she said.

The marriage proposal came about three years later. Sam had been away from home for nearly six months with training and wanted to plan a special getaway with Lauren. While on that trip to Bali, Indonesia, in August 2017, he proposed. “It (the trip) was one for the books,” Lauren said.

The couple’s focus on their wedding day was to celebrate with family and friends. “The personal connections were most important to us both,” she said.

For example, they were married in the same church where Lauren’s parents were married 32 years ago. The bridal party was large (and fun, she said).

“The vibe was elegant and romantic,” she added, saying that the colors of ivory, blush, light gray and pops of burgundy were incorporated throughout the ceremony and reception.

“I was flooded with joy throughout the day as I soaked it all in,” Lauren said.

They plan to honeymoon this fall.

Photography by M Lang Photography

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BBQ, Blues and Brew Downtown Columbus June 23 1. Valdeci Viana, Francisco Messe, Luciana Messe, Arlete Vargas, Cleyde Viana, Fernanda Vargas, Roberto Potenza, Marilene Potenza, Roberto Potenza, Monia Lourencetti, Tiago Lourencetti, Minela Lopes, and Vincente Lopes 2. Madeline Sullivan, Richard Bodar and Alexis Adrian 3. McKenna Biehle

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4. Hayden Darnall, Hailey Hennessy, Jacob Kennedy holding Ada Kennedy, Jessie and Tracy Scott 5. Kay Hickey 6. Finnian Corsi gets bites of a sandwich from Corey Corsi 7. Jaehyo Yu and Bianca Maddox 8. Taka Aoyagi and Makiho Aoyagi 9. Ashlyn Booth, Majestic Queens pageants Indiana 2018 state princess, and Lilly Wilson 10. Barb Dunlap and Joyce Howard

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11. Luke Hurt, Daniel Hicks, Eric Green and Jerad George 12. Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel on stage 13. Charlie Vance, Kelly Spencer and Janice Wall 14. Jim Pridgen, Paula Barnett and Clarence A. Jackson

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Photos by carla clark

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Jeremy Sewall Seafood Menu Exceptionnel June 29 Henry Social Club 1. Addison Klare, Rachael Noel, Paul Meyer, chef Jeremy Sewall, chef Gethin Thomas, Lilia Abrego and Seth Shelton 2. Striped bass, line caught by Jeremy Sewall, wilted greens, ginger, lobster and radish 3. Jeremy Sewall and TrĂŠ Reising work together plating food.

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4. Joshua Ratliff and Brooke Hawkins 5. Rex and Sarah King 6. Jennifer and Marc Dougherty at front table and Sonja and Caitlin Wilson at table at rear 7. Bluefin tuna poke, nori chips, sesame and orange 8. Jana and Christopher Bartels

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9. Siomara Atehortua, Cindy Waggoner and Katrina Tovey 10. Brian Hannasch, Mickey Kim, Kim Pence, Patty Hannasch, Jenny Kim, Ed Pence and Tom Johnson

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11. Peter Thomas, Ann Robertson, Jonathan Thomas, Robert Stephenson, Gethin Thomas, Jeremy Sewall, Sophia Thomas, Eva Thomas, Sandra Thomas, and Addice Thomas 12. Mary Young and Connor Armstrong

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Photos by carla clark

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2018 Afro-Latino Gala Factory 12 Event Loft Aug. 17

1. Tamica Richardson, Michelle Taylor, Patricia Covington, Lisa Johnson, Chanel Spriggs, Tandy Harvey, Latonya Sisco 2. Andrea Kardiss and Luis Vargas 3. Eric Baird with Pam and Jim Lienhoop

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4. Dasia Gilbert, Shaura Smith, Farrah Brown, Bibi Takou, with Jasmine and Sarah O’Conner 5. Danielle Mugasa, Marwa Mugasa, D’metri W. Bailey and Robert Kery 6. Zack and Glinda Ellison 7. Matt and Julie Steinmetz with Claudia and Donald Jackson 8. Itzel Ortiz, India Hester, Nyla Ward, and Hazel Zengeni

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9. Samba 1 Brazilian Dance Group entertains 10. Christopher Raskob and Victoria Griffin with Jayne and Charlie Farber 11. Jordan Hilber and Elaine Wagner 12. Yamileth Martinez, Guadalupe Arenas, Jose Loyo, Joseline Medina and Cesar Hernandez

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Photos by carla clark

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UnCommon Cause Harrison Lake Country Club Aug. 25

1. Grace Kestler, Elizabeth Kestler, Amy Boerger, John Kestler and Brad Stinebring 2. Jan Caceres and Brittain Brewer

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3. Brooke Hawkins, Erin Hawkins and Joshua Ratliff 4. Cindy and Eric Frey 5. Thomas and Barbara Schoellkopf 6. Kayleigh Dinwiddie sings with Alan Kaye and the Toons 7. Daniel Martinez, Louis Joyner and Lulu Loquidis 8. Libby Jewell, Bobbie K Owens and Cari Roberts 9. Susan and Bruce Wynn

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10. Charlie Rentschler with Barbara and Bob Stevens 11. Dora and Dante Monroy 12. Jay and Rachel Kavathe 13. Mary Scheidt is taught how to dye a scarf by textile artist Daren Redman.

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Cocktails for a Cure: A fundraiser to fight Alzheimer’s disease July 29 | hosted by Jill Tasker at her home

1. Doug Stender and Jill Tasker 2. Amy Holmes, director of operations at Henry Social Club, holds a fruit shrub 3. Sandi and Tom Hinshaw 4. Holmes leads participants through the process of creating infusions, switchels and shrubs 5. Tony and Gail Plattner 6. Betty Haven and Sandy McCoy

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Photos by carla clark

We’re living and working right alongside you, celebrating triumphs and grieving tragedies, and building deep and lasting relationships that make our community a better place to live.

The Big Picture

Mill Race Marathon Photo by Chet Strange

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