July/August 2021 OUR BROWN COUNTY

The Magazine of Fun and Fact

Comm munity Theaater Returns Reunionss ChamberFesst Sounds of Summ mer FIEELD NOTES: Milkweedds

July/August 2021 FREE

veggies!

there’s nothing like fresh grilled summer

wild & tasty

TIP

Looking for a flavorful, nutritious, and simple dish for summer? Whisk together your favorite balsamic vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper to make a delicious vinaigrette and drizzle over vegetables hot off the grill. Our favorite flavors for this are our Tuscan Herb Balsamic and our Fresh Garlic Extra Virgin Olive OIl.

We’ve been bringing great taste to you since 2012 from our inviting little shop in the heart of Brown County, Indiana.

We have curated a flavorful collection for your tasting pleasure with plenty to offer for foodies, the experienced cook, or the novice. It goes well beyond the high-quality olive oils and balsamics we built our reputation on. We’ve added jams, pastas, dipping oils, salsas, sauces, and much more. Come in for a tour of tastes and let us be your guide. You’ll be wild about our shop.

Shop us online from anywhere, anytime at www.thewildolive.com

www.thewildolive.com | 37 W Main Street, Nashville, Indiana 47448 | (812) 988-9453

Village Green Building Celebrating over 100 years in nashville The Nashville you came to see and love…

Where you can see the work of local artists — whether it’s ice cream, candy and fruit preserves made the old fashioned way or the artwork of local artists and craftsmen. · first floor · Homemade Ice Cream Homemade Candies Homemade Fruit Preserves · second floor · Antiques · Art and Craft Galleries Working studios of local artists

V NA S H I L L E

INDIANA

The Candy Dish

Yes, we really do make it ourselves!

Fine Homemade Chocolate Candies and Fudge Gourmet Caramels Over 50 Flavors of Salt Water Taffy

812.988.0815

812.988.7606

Homemade Ice Cream

Harvest Preserve the

Homemade Fruit Butter Gourmet Food Cookbooks · Cookie Cutters Postcards · Greeting Cards Kitchen Gadgets Galore Giftware · Tea and Teaware

812.988.7606

Functional and Fine Art Made in Indiana

812.988.6675

61 West Main street · nashville, indiana

Nineveh Edinburgh Morgantown 31 37 135 I-65 46 Bloomington Columbus 46 NASHVILLE 252

Brownie’s Bean Blossom Restaurant

Monroe Music Park & Campground

HELMSBURG

BEAN BLOSSOM

Helmsburg General Store

Vaught Rd.

Country Club Rd

Old SR 4

6

Kelp G rove R d.

Amanda W. Mathis

d

Recreation

A ls . KO nta n Co all tion Re ry w Tire M . o r o e e a C B iqu n Vac . Win wn o Ant Bro ONE Co. O’ Brow rown C n w WB s B A Bro N Hill G Salt Creek Mt . Li Golf Retreat Dunham ber Friends O’ Mine ty R Campground d Bear Wallow Mainstream Distillery Fiber

Lil’ Black Bear Inn

Abe Martin Lodge

eXplore Brown County

135

Val le

yB

Mike’s Music and Dance Barn

to COLUMBUS

Rd.

NG

TO N

46

MI to BL OO

Yellowwood Rd

Craftsman

ran ch

lley Rd.

Musical Entertainment Artist and/or Gallery

NASHVILLE

Green Va

Lodging/ Camping

Mike Nickels Log Homes

kR

Rd sburg

135

Brick Lodge

Rd.

Hoover Rd

Dining

Helm

Rd.

Oak Grove

46

Doodles by Kara Barnard

Flower and Herb Barn Farmhouse Café

Sal tC ree

to BL O

Ow l Cr eek

BELMONT

Cordry Lake

Sprunica Rd.

GATESVILLE

BLOOMINGTON

Yellowwood State Forest

Sweetwater Lake

Rosey Bolte’s Uncommon Gourd Studio

Lightspinner Studio

Dr. Lisa Baker, DDS Fireplace Center 4th Street Arts Festival

The Apple Works

Antiques Co-op Art Beyond Crayons Grandpa Jeff’s Trail Rides

Upper Bean Blossom

OMIN GTON

Brown County State Park

ELKINSVILLE Bob Allen Rd.

ton Cr

CHRISTIANSBURG

k Rd

ansbu rg Christi

STORY Monroe Reservoir

ove r Gr

Rd

STONE HEAD

la Pop

T.C. Steele State Historic Site

PIKES PEAK

Hamil

South Shore Dr.

Franklin

Trafalgar

Helmsburg Sawmill Pool Enterprises

45

to Porthole Inn

Martinsville

TRAFALGAR MORGANTOWN

Clay Lick Rd

Lake Lemon

135

to MORGANTOWN

NASHVILLE MAP ON PAGE 6

Carmel Ridge Rd

Brown N County

Indianapolis

Homestead Weaving Studio Salem’s Good Nature Farm

JEFFERSON STREET

HONEYSUCKLE LANE

OLD HICKORY LANE

Hoosier Artist Gallery

Fallen Leaf Books

Miller’s Ice Cream The Candy Dish The Harvest Preserve B3 Gallery

Brown Co. Art Guild

Moonshine/ K. Bellum Leather

The Wild Olive

ST SR 135 N

Village Green

MOLLY’S LANE Big Woods Village

Common Grounds Coffee Bar

Iris Garden

Brown Co. Winery

Head Over Heels

Heritage Candy Store

Heritage Mall

Spears Pottery Juls Etc.

Weed Patch Music Company

New Harmony Soap

Homes on a Limb

Main Street Shops

Woodlands Foxfire Gift & Home Gallery Foxfire Boutique

Log JJail L il

Pioneer Village Museum

MAIN STREET

The Nashville House

Courthouse

Copperhead Creek Gem Mine

Iris Garden Cottages & Suites

Complex Brown Co. Rock & Fossil Shop

Trolly’s

GOULD STREET

Brown Co. History Center

Brown Co Public Library

Gold &Old

Redbud Ter.

Health For U Scentual Journeys Kenne’s Corner Stop

Old

RE/MAX Team

Centra Credit Office Union

County Offices

Touch of Silver

LOCUST LANE

to Lory Winford Fine Art Heres Home Studio

Colonial Bldg.

Men’s Toy Shop

Carmel Corn Cottage

Heavenly Biscuit

MOUND STREET

Hidden Valley Inn

ROBERT “BUCK” STOGSDILL WAY

TO HELMSBURG - 6 MILES

Michael’s Flowers

Zieg LeDoux & Associates

J.B. Goods/ Life is Good

TO BEAN BLOSSOM & MORGANTOWN

Brozinni Pizzeria

Carpenter Hills O’Brown Realty

North House

Hotel Nashville

46

IHA

Brown Co Art Gallery

Masonic Lodge

SR

ARTIST DR

VAN BUREN

The Salvation Army

Precise Books & Payroll

JEFFERSON STREET Hoosier Buddy

Thrift Shop Community Closet

Nashville BP

PITTMAN HOUSE LANE

PAT REILLY DR

Calvin Place

Schwab’s Fudge

New Leaf Amy Greely

Life is Good JB Goods

VAN BUREN ST SR 135 N

SR 46 TO BLOOMINGTON - 16 MILES

McGinley Insurance

Franklin Square

The Totem Post

Jack & Jill Nut Shop

Brown Co Playhouse

58 South Apparel

FRANKLIN STREET

HONEYSUCKLE LANE

Brown Co Massage

Clay Purl Brown Co Pottery

Antique Alley

Old McDurbin Gold & Gifts

Country Heritage Winery

Bone Appetit Bakery Nashville Spice Co.

Brown County Inn

map not to scale

Theatre

Dining

Rafters

Brown Co Health & Living

Larry Sanchez • Misty Sanchez

Brown County Eye Care Blue Elk Family Clinic

Brown Co Music Center

Seasons Hotel & Event Center

Salt Creek Park

Casa Del Sol

Doodles by Kara Barnard

Craftsman

Artist and/or Gallery Rest Room

Lodging

Musical Entertainment Parking

COUNTY MAP ON PAGE 5

Nashville General Store & Bakery

Quality Inn Brown Co Community YMCA

Bear Hardware

Brown County IGA

N

Nashville Indiana

Coachlight Square

WASHINGTON STREET

Brown Co Craft Gallery

Cornerstone Inn

SR 46 TO COLUMBUS - 16 MILES

Visitors Center

Gyros Nashville Fudge Kitchen Brown Co T-Shirt Shop Moondance Vacation Homes

Sweetwater Gallery

Possum Trot Square

Carol’s Gifts House of Jerky The Wise Woman Yesteryear Shoppe Old Time Photos Wishful Thinking Back to Back

Artists Colony Inn

Artists Colony

Nashville Express

Rhonda Kay’s

Out of the Ordinary and Hickory Bar

OLD SCHOOL WAY

8 Our Brown County • July/August 2021

ADVERTISER

ANTIQUES Antiques Co-op................................. 60 Brown Co Antique Mall.................... 28 Michael’s Flowers.............................. 28 Plum Creek Antiques....................... 64 ART, ART SUPPLIES-INSTRUCTION 4th Street Festival............................. 41 Antiques Co-op................................. 60 Art Beyond Crayons......................... 60 B3 Gallery............................................. 3 Back Roads Studio Tour................... 55 Bear Hardware.............................59,64 Brown Co Antique Mall.................... 28 Brown Co Art Gallery....................... 18 Brown Co Art Guild........................... 19 Brown Co Craft Gallery.................... 13 HeresHome StudioLory Winford Fine Art....................... 19 Hoosier Artist Gallery...................... 23 Lightspinner Studio-M. Sechler..... 13 Nashville General Store & Bakery.. 29 Amanda W. Mathis............................ 19 Rhoden Art at eXplore Brown Co.... 4 Spears Pottery................................... 18 C. Steele Art....................................... 64 Rosey Bolte-Uncommon Gourd..... 18 Village Art Walk................................. 52 BOOKS Fallen Leaf Books.............................. 12 Restaurant Sampler Collection...... 63 Wise Woman Shoppe....................... 63 CLOTHING 58 South Apparel.............................. 48 Back Roads Studio Tour................... 55 Bear Hardware.............................59,64 Brown Co T-Shirt Shop..................... 28 Community Closet Thrift Shop....... 43 Foxfire Boutique............................... 53 Head Over Heels............................... 43 J.B. Goods/ Life is Good................... 24 Kenne’s Corner Stop......................... 49

Nashville Express.............................. 63 Porthole Inn....................................... 56 FOOD & BEVERAGE Abe Martin Lodge............................. 15 Apple Works....................................... 60 Artists Colony Inn............................. 25 Bear Wallow Distillery...................... 40 Brown Co IGA.................................... 57 Brown Co Inn..................................... 14 Brown Co Winery.............................. 24 Brownie’s Bean Blossom Rest......... 28 Brozinni Pizzeria............................... 48 The Candy Dish................................... 3 Carmel Corn Cottage....................... 28 Casa del Sol........................................ 42 Cedar Creek Winery.......................... 13 Common Grounds Coffee Bar........ 20 Country Heritage Winery................ 40 Farmhouse Cafe................................ 52 Gyros Food is Art.............................. 12 The Harvest Preserve......................... 3 Heavenly Biscuit............................... 52 Helmsburg General Store............... 42 Heritage Candy Store....................... 29 Hoosier Buddy Liquors.................... 25 Hotel Nashville.................................. 57 House of Jerky................................... 42 Jack and Jill Nut Shop...................... 13 Miller’s Ice Cream................................ 3 Nashville BP....................................... 61 Nashville General Store & Bakery.. 29 The Nashville House......................... 59 Nashville Fudge Kitchen.................. 68 Nashville Spice Co............................. 67 Out of the Ordinary & Hickory Bar.49 Porthole Inn....................................... 56 Rafters................................................. 56 Salt Creek Golf Retreat.................... 22 Schwab’s Fudge................................. 43 Seasons Hotel & Event Center........ 58 Trolly’s................................................. 28

Men’s Toy Shop.................................. 29 CRAFTS, POTTERY, GIFTS 4th Street Festival............................. 41 Antiques Co-op................................. 60 Apple Works....................................... 60 B3 Gallery............................................. 3 Back Roads Studio Tour................... 55 Bone Appetit Bakery........................ 13 Brown Co Antique Mall.................... 28 Brown Co Art Guild........................... 19 Brown Co Craft Gallery.................... 13 Brown Co Pottery.............................. 21 Brown Co Rock & Fossil Shop......... 61 Carol’s Gifts........................................ 23 Clay Purl............................................. 49 Foxfire Gift & Home.......................... 53 Head Over Heels............................... 43 Homes on a Limb.............................. 59 Homestead Weaving Studio........... 18 Hoosier Artist Gallery...................... 23 Kenne’s Corner Stop......................... 49 Lightspinner Studio-M. Sechler..... 13 Men’s Toy Shop.................................. 29 Michael’s Flowers.............................. 28 Moonshine Leather.......................... 18 New Harmony Soap......................... 47 New Leaf............................................. 19 Rhonda Kay’s..................................... 48 Scentual Journeys............................ 49 Spears Pottery................................... 18 Sweetwater Gallery.......................... 21 The Totem Post.................................. 12 Rosey Bolte-Uncommon Gourd..... 18 Wise Woman Shoppe....................... 63 Wishful Thinking............................... 21 Woodlands Gallery........................... 43 ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC Brown Co Music Center................... 22 Brown Co Playhouse........................ 41 Copperhead Creek Gem Mine........ 61 eXplore Brown Co............................... 4

DIRECTORY The Wild Olive..................................... 2 FURNITURE Antiques Co-op................................. 60 Brown Co Antique Mall.................... 28 Plum Creek Antiques....................... 64 HARDWARE Bear Hardware.............................59,64 HATS Head Over Heels............................... 43 Moonshine Leather.......................... 18 JEWELRY 4th Street Festival............................. 41 B3 Gallery............................................. 3 Back Roads Studio Tour................... 55 Brown Co Antique Mall.................... 28 Brown Co Craft Gallery.................... 13 Foxfire Boutique............................... 53 Hoosier Artist Gallery...................... 23 Juls Etc................................................ 24 Kenne’s Corner Stop......................... 49 New Leaf............................................. 19 Old McDurbin Gold & Gifts............. 20 Rhonda Kay’s..................................... 48 Spears Pottery................................... 18 The Totem Post.................................. 12 Touch of Silver Gold & Old.............. 24 LODGING/CAMPGROUNDS Abe Martin Lodge............................. 15 Artists Colony Inn............................. 25 Brick Lodge........................................ 57 Brown Co Health & Living............... 65 Brown Co Inn..................................... 14 Brown Co KOA................................... 42 Cornerstone Inn................................ 15 eXplore Brown Co............................... 4 Friends O’ Mine Campground........ 49 Hidden Valley Inn............................. 21 Hills O’ Brown Vacation Rentals..... 23 Hotel Nashville.................................. 57 Iris Garden Cottages & Suites......... 61 Lil’ Black Bear Inn.............................. 42

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 9

Moondance Vacation Homes......... 59 North House...................................... 57 Quality Inn......................................... 30 Salt Creek Golf Retreat.................... 22 Seasons Hotel & Event Center........ 58 MUSEUM/HISTORY Brown Co History Center................. 63 PET PRODUCTS Bone Appetit Bakery........................ 13 PHOTOS 4th Street Festival............................. 41 B3 Gallery............................................. 3 Hoosier Artist Gallery...................... 23 Spears Pottery................................... 18 Yesteryear Old Time Photos............ 52 REAL ESTATE Carpenter Hills o’ Brown Realty..... 31 RE/MAX-Marg & Brenda.................. 66 RECREATION eXplore Brown Co............................... 4 Grandpa Jeff’s Trail Rides................ 60 Salt Creek Golf Retreat.................... 22 SERVICES Amish Roofers................................... 25 Arnold Asphalt.................................. 64 Dr. Lisa Baker, DDS........................... 48 Kara Barnard Lessons....................... 12 Bear Hardware’s Bagged Trash....... 64 Blue Elk Family Clinic: Dr. Larry Sanchez........................... 65 Misty Sanchez- Mental Health..... 66 Brown Co Convention & Visitors Bureau.................................. 33 Brown Co Eye Care............................ 64 Brown Co Health & Living............... 65 Brown Co Massage........................... 61 Brown Co Tire & Auto....................... 64 Brown Co Community YMCA.......... 66 Centra Credit Union......................... 23 Dave Carlile Heating & Cooling...... 65 Dunham Plumbing........................... 66

Helmsburg Sawmill Inc/ Pool Enterprises Inc.......................... 66 IN Seamless Guttering..................... 65 Mainstream Fiber Networks........... 65 McGinley Insurance (Farmers)........ 65 Michael’s Flowers.............................. 28 Mike Nickels Log Homes................. 42 Nashville BP....................................... 61 Precise Books & Payroll.................... 64 Rambling Dog Design - SIGNS....... 66 Zieg LeDoux & Assoc........................ 64 SHOES Head Over Heels............................... 43 Moonshine Leather.......................... 18 The Totem Post.................................. 12 SPECIALTY SHOPS Bone Appetit Bakery........................ 13 Brown Co Rock & Fossil Shop......... 61 Clay Purl............................................. 49 Fireplace Center................................ 43 Head Over Heels............................... 43 Health For U....................................... 65 House of Jerky................................... 42 Michael’s Flowers.............................. 28 Men’s Toy Shop.................................. 29 Moonshine Leather.......................... 18 Nashville Spice Co............................. 67 Sweetwater Gallery.......................... 21 Weed Patch Music Company.......... 19 Wishful Thinking............................... 21 WEDDINGS Artists Colony Inn............................. 25 eXplore Brown Co............................... 4 Hotel Nashville.................................. 57 OTHER Amish Roofers................................... 25 Health For U....................................... 65 Flower and Herb Barn...................... 66 Mike Nickels Log Homes................. 42

Contents 12 WHERE IS IT?

13 SUBSCRIBE 16 Restoring the Stone ~by Julia Pearson 26 New Shelter ~by Bob Gustin 31 Joyce’s Rocks for Charity ~by Bob Gustin 32 ChamberFest Brown County ~by Ryan Stacy 34-35 PHOTOS by Jeff Danielson* 36-37 CALENDAR 38 Reunions ~by Jeff Tryon 44 Indiana’s Crown Jewel ~by Paige Langenderfer

50 Community Theater Returns ~by Boris Ladwig 54 FIELD NOTES: Milkweeds ~by Jim Eagleman

62 The Sounds of Summer ~by Mark Blackwell 64-66 INFO PAGES

Cover: Cutting Stone for the Park Keith Woods and Kevin Harden ~by Jack E. Harden

Contributors Bob Gustin worked as a reporter, photographer, managing editor, and editor for daily newspapers in Colorado, Nebraska, and Indiana before retiring in 2011. He and his wife, Chris, operate Homestead Weaving Studio. She does the weaving while he gives studio tours, builds small looms, and expands his book and record collections.

Paige Langenderfer is a freelance writer and communications consultant.

She writes for numerous publications. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University and her Master’s degree in public relations management from IUPUI. Paige lives in Columbus with her husband and daughters.

Joe Lee is an illustrator and writer. He is the author of The History of Clowns for Beginners and Dante for Beginners and illustrator of six other titles, including Dada and Surealism for Beginners, and Music Theory for Beginners. He is an editorial cartoonist for the Bloomington Herald Times, a graduate of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Clown College, and a veteran circus performer.

Mark Blackwell no longer makes his home in Brown County where “the roadway is rough and the slopes are seamed with ravines and present a meatless, barren, backbone effect.” He now resides within sight of the sixth green of an undisclosed golf course. He was born in the middle of the last century and still spends considerable time there.

Jeff Tryon is a former news editor of The Brown County Democrat, a former region reporter for The Republic, and a former bureau chief for The Huntsville Times. Born and raised in Brown County, he currently lives with his wife, Sue, in a log cabin on the edge of Brown County State Park. He is a Baptist minister.

Julia Pearson wrote for a Franciscan magazine for ten years and served as its human interest editor. She and husband Bruce now reside in Lake Woebegone Country for life’s continuing adventures. Julia enjoys traveling and visiting museums of all types and sizes, with her children and grandchildren.

Jim Eagleman is a 40-year veteran naturalist with the IN DNR. In retirement, he is now a consultant. His program “Nature Ramblings” can be heard on WFHB radio, the Brown County Hour. He serves on the Sycamore Land Trust board. He enjoys reading, hiking, music, and birding. Jim and his wife Kay have lived here for more than 40 years.

Boris Ladwig is a Columbusbased journalist who has worked in print, online and TV media in Indiana and Kentucky and has won awards for features, news, business, non-deadline news, First Amendment/community affairs and investigative reporting.

Ryan Stacy and his wife recently moved to Pennsylvania and continues to stay connected with our Brown County. He appreciates good movies, good food, and enjoys cultural events. His other interests include reading, photography, and playing music.

ourbrowncounty.com ourbrown@bluemarble.net Also online at issuu.com/ourbrowncounty OR search in the mobile app ISSUU and on Facebook for OUR BROWN COUNTY

Cindy Steele is the publisher and editor of this magazine.

She sells and designs ads, sometimes writes, takes photos, and creates the layout.

For fun, she likes to play the guitar or banjo and sing.

*Jeff Danielson spent most of his childhood in Wales, Britain, and Scotland after his family moved there from Philadelphia.

He attended IU in Bloomington then owned and operated the Runcible Spoon Café for 25 years until he sold it in 2001. He has since become immersed in nature photography. He and his wife D’Arcy live on the Brown County/Monroe County line.

P.O. Box 157 Helmsburg, IN 47435 (812) 988-8807

copyright 2021

10 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Thanks, Mom, for making it happen!

Coloring Contest Win $20

Publisher’s choice. Send to this address by August 20.

OUR BROWN COUNTY P.O. Box 157 Helmsburg, IN 47435

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 11

WHERE IS IT?

Guess Photo to Win $20 Be the FIRST to leave a message identifying photo location along with your name and phone number to WIN!

Unplug with a Good Book Old, New, Used and Rare Books Journals • Sketchbooks Handmade Greeting Cards Local Postcards 45 S. Jefferson St. • Nashville, IN 812.988.0202 • fallenleafbooks.com

Open 7 days a week 10 am to 5 pm

812-988-8807

Stay safe and here’s to a great reemergence.

IS

Delicious!

Our own Tzatziki sauce recipe, made from scratch Free samples • Local Delivery Available <Most items under $10> gyrofoodnashville.com • Gyros Food

S. Van Buren & Old School Way • Possum Trot Sq. Look for the sidewalk signs • (812) 318-0840

The Totem Post ~Since 1952~

Last issue’s photo was of the welcome guy and antique car at the Brown County Antique Mall.

Jessica Taylor guessed it first.

12 Our Brown County July/August 2021

• Genuine Native American Jewelry • Zuni Fetishes • Sterling Silver Jewelry • Copper Jewelry 78 S. Van Buren St. • Minnetonka Moccasins Nashville , IN • Pendleton • Knives 812-988-2511 ~Open all year~ TheTotemPost.com

SUBSCRIBE! C Cinnamon Salted Roasted Nuts Almonds R d Roasted & Pecans Daily Cashews, Fancy Mi Mix, P Pepitas, it Peanuts Delicious Candies - Homemade Fudge Mail Orders - 812-988-7480

S.Van Buren (Shopper's Lane) Nashville

For the cost of a fancy coffee drink once every two months, you can have Our Brown County sent to your mailbox. That pays for postage, supplies, and processing time. Subscriptions make good gifts to family or friends, too.

SUBSCRIBE

One Year’s Subscription for $20 (six issues)

Lightspinner Studio Martha Sechler Unique Watercolors Mixed Media Gourd Art

4460 Helmsburg Rd. Nashville, IN • 812-703-3129

Name: N

Open June thru December — Call Ahead

Address:

Mail with check or money order to:

local artisans

created by hand

38 Franklin St. E. | Nashville, IN | drinkatthecreek.com | Open Every Day

E S T

1 9 7 8

BROWN COUNTY

Our Brown County P.O. Box 157 • Helmsburg, IN 47435

Fine arts and crafts by local and area artists

BONE APPETIT BAKERY

View their work on Facebook & Instagram

• Premium, all-natural treats since 1997 • Over 20 varieties from low-fat to grain-free • Gourmet and seasonal snacks, too

For Dogs

See something you want?

Message us!

Gallery Open 10 am – 5 pm Seven Days a Week call 812.988.7058

62 E. Washington · Nashville, IN · BrownCountyCraftGallery.com

Get a FREE Sampler bag of natural dog treats with $10 purchase and this ad.

DOGS WELCOME! (812) 988-0305

Open 7 days 211 S. Van Buren St. (behind Visitor Center)

www.barkingood.com

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 13

brown County Inn HOTEL, RESTAURANT & BAR

On the corner of 135 & 46 just 3 blocks of downtown with free parking

Serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7 days a week

8am to 9pm Sunday to Thursday

8am to 10pm Friday & Saturday

www.browncountyinn.com

14 Our Brown County July/August 2021

(812) 988-2291

REST • RELAX • REJUVENATE

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 15

Restoring the Stone photos by Jack E. Harden

~by Julia Pearson

T

he Brown County State Park was founded in 1929 and has been a nature-lover’s retreat for nearly 1.3 million visitors annually. This past year it has been a refuge for COVID-weary souls. The largest of Indiana’s 24 state parks, it encompasses 15,776 acres. Visitors today will notice the renovation works going on in the park to restore the stonework put in by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The Brown County State Park is the beautiful resource we have now because of a previous national and global economic downturn. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal was formed by the federal government after the stock market crash of 1929. The CCC was a New Deal program, established by executive order on April 5, 1933. It enlisted young men between the ages of 18 and 25 for renewable terms of six months and paid them $30 per month. The men received room and board in company/work camps and were required to send $22–$25 of their monthly pay back home to their families. Hundreds of

16 Our Brown County July/August 2021

thousands of young men were employed on environmental projects and shaped the modern national and state park systems. It is estimated that 57,000 illiterate men learned to read and write in CCC camps. The U.S. Army organized the transportation of thousands of enrollees to work camps. With 300,000 men put to work by July 1, 1933, it is considered the most rapid peace time mobilization in our country’s history.

Indiana’s state parks were built with the help of 64,000 enlistees during the 1930s under this program. With the mission to teach land management, soil conservation, and park construction, the CCC was under the command of the U.S. Army. Guided by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, the CCC fought forest fires, planted trees, cleared and maintained access roads, and implemented soil-erosion controls.

To encourage the use of America’s natural resources, bridges and campgrounds were

built. At the Brown County State Park, work was begun to correct severe soil erosion on June 1, 1934 with the CCC planting black locust, black walnut, pines, and spruces. They built many of the existing buildings, shelter houses, picnic tables, ovens, roads, trails, two log lookout towers, as well as Ogle Lake in 1934–35.

The story within the story starts with Thurman Harden, one of Brown County’s native sons who worked in the CCC stone mason crew from 1933–35. The stone was mined right there in the park itself. Pieces were cut by hand and then dry-stacked.

Harden helped build the sandstone steps from the lower shelter house up to the Abe Martin Lodge, plus many other structures throughout the park. He and his wife, Avis, raised their family of two daughters and three sons in Brown County.

Now after 80 years, the elements have caused deterioration in the stonework, making today’s restoration work necessary. Property manager of the BC State Park, Doug Baird, says that the retaining wall and sidewalk at the parking lot of the upper shelter is about 500 feet long; and the stairway on Hiking Trail #2 between the Abe Martin Lodge and the lower shelter is several hundred feet long. Both are being worked on. He explains that a lot of the stone will be reused, but 40% needs to be replaced. The stone masons are going to great lengths to shape and chisel the stone to match the chisel marks of the originals to duplicate the CCC’s stonework. Heavy equipment is used to lift the pieces in place. Drainage is being installed at this time to limit the effects of future freezing and thawing. The parking lot is also being repaved.

Continued on 20

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 17

HOMESTEAD WEAVING STUDIO

Visit homesteadweaver.com for remote shopping Handwoven Rugs & Clothing

by Chris Gustin

Brown County Art Gallery 2021 Events & Exhibits

Yarn • Looms • Supplies • Classes

Southeastern Brown County 6285 Hamilton Creek Road Columbus, IN 47201

812-988-8622

Open 11 to 5 most days CALL AHEAD Open daily in Oct. for Back Roads Tour

BROWN COUNTY ART GALLERY

COLLECTORS’

SHOWCASE OCTOBER 2 – NOVEMBER 14 BROWN COUNTY STATE PARK

Indiana’s Crown Jewel A two-year exploration by artist Tim Greatbatch

EXHIBIT · TOUR · PROGRAMS

Locally Crafted Pottery • Jewelry • Photography • Wood • Fiber • More...

Downtown Nashville (S. Van Buren St. near stoplight/courthouse) • Open Daily

www.spearspottery.com • 812.988.1286 • Spears Gallery on Facebook

Complete schedule of events and workshops online at

BROWNCOUNTYARTGALLERY.ORG

CORNER OF MAIN STREET & ARTIST DRIVE · NASHVILLE, IN 812.988.4609 · FREE ADMISSION · FREE PARKING shop online: bcartgalleryonline.org

OPEN DAILY WITH COVID-19 PROTOCOLS IN PLACE

MOONSHINE LEATHER C

O

M

P

A

N

Y

Handcrafted Leather Goods · Made in the USA 812.988.1326 · moonshineleather.com

38 SOUTH VAN BUREN · NASHVILLE, IN 18 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Weed Patch Music Company Your favorite lil’ music store in Brown County, Indiana

58 E. Main St. Nashville (by courthouse) 812-200-3300 www.weedpatchmusicshop.com

Amanda W. Mathis Musical instruments for all ages and skill levels

Offering affordable instruments to inspire the beginner and locally handcrafted beauties to awe the professional

Lessons, workshops, and more...

NEW LEAF

photo by Michele Wedel

Originals, Prints, and Cards

Open Daily • Call for Hours • 812-320-0747 220 Kelp Grove Rd. • Nashville, IN • amandamathisart.com Also represented by Spears Gallery and the Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville

Lory Winford Fine Art

An eclectic mix of creative items by local, regional, and global artists

Pastelist inspired byy nature’s colors

HeresHome Studio

15 N. Johnson St. Nashville, IN • Studio and gallery visits by appointment 916-804-2484 • hereshomestudio@gmail.com

Lory Williams Winford

© 2021 Brown County Art Guild, Inc.

Featuring handcrafted jewelry by owner Amy Greely

Calvin Place Franklin & Van Buren Streets Nashville, IN • (812) 988-1058 www.amygreely.com

The Guild.

Fine Art by Fine Artists.

SUMMER EXHIBITION & SALE

GALLERY AND MUSEUM 48 S. Van Buren Street Nashville, IN 47448 812 988-6185 BrownCountyArtGuild.org Morning Mist by Jeanne McLeish

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 19

RESTORING STONE continued from 17

CCC workers in the Brown County State Park during the 1930s.

Old McDurbin Gold & Gifts 50%

Customized

• Anklets • Bracelets • Necklaces OFFLRY E Watches JEW Sterling Silver Rings 1000’s of Pendants

Blue building in Antique Alley S. Jefferson St. • Nashville, IN 20 Our Brown County July/August 2021

The replacement stone is coming from the Brown County Stone quarry, near the west entrance of the BC State Park, just a mile and a half from Nashville. It is family owned and operated by Thurman Harden’s son, Jack. Jack and his wife, Carolyn, raised their family in Brown County.

They include Kevin, Brenda, Julia, and Jack. Kevin is carrying on the family business. Fittingly the address is named Harden’s Holler.

At the quarry, Kevin cuts the stone out of the ground and then splits and saws it to the required size. Besides providing the replacement stone, Kevin Harden and cousin Keith Woods are working with the current stone masons as the rehabilitation projects continue.

To provide stabilization during the freeze/thaw conditions of Indiana winters, the stone is now drilled to insert metal poles for stabilization with a finishing cap on top. So three generations of Harden men have had their hands in the history of the Brown County State Park. Brown County stone can also be seen on buildings throughout the community: the Brown County YMCA, the Brown County Schools’ Eagle Park Ball Diamonds, and many shops and homes. 

COMMON GROUNDS COFFEE BAR It’s like a coffee shop in a living room (with things to amuse you)

Hot, Cold & Frozen Drinks • Selection of Teas Froothies (our fruit smoothies) Famous for Cheesy Eggs & Toast • Pastries • Quiche 66 N. Van Buren, Nashville (Molly’s Lane behind the red door) Opens 8:00 am M-Sat; 9:00 am Sun (Closed Wed) 812-988-6449

201 N. Van Buren St. • Nashville, IN Private Bedroom with King Bed Dining Area and Fully Equipped Kitchenette Living Room with Queen Sofa Sleeper • Private Porch/Balcony Fireplaces and Whirlpool Baths Available

812-988-9000

www.hiddenvalleyinn.net

Above: Keith Woods. Below: Kevin Harden.

Sweetwater Gallery Stained Glass • Paperweights Mosaic Mirrors • Pottery Fabric Wallhangings

158 Old School Way in Nashville • 812-988-0449 Open Fri.–Sun. Now thru September • Thurs.–Mon. in October

Celebrating 20 Years

FREE in-store demos!

Old School Way and Pittman House Lane

(next to the Toy Chest, behind Yesteryear Old Time Photos) Visit our website for class schedules www.wishfulthinking-in.com • 812-988-7009

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 21

Brown County Music Center Sept. 11 Sept. 18

Halestorm Hotel California : A Salute to the Eagles Sept. 21 Gordon Lightfoot Sept. 23 The Price is Right Live Sept. 24 LeAnn Rimes Oct. 3 Chris Thile Oct. 5 Melissa Etheridge Oct. 9 Clay Walker Oct. 13 Christopher Cross Oct. 16-17 Broadway Fright Night

Nov. 5 Nov. 6 Nov. 7 Nov. 11 Nov. 30 Dec. 4 Dec. 5 Dec. 9

Craig Morgan Three Dog Night Mary Chapin Carpenter, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin John Hiatt & The Jerry Douglas Band Carrot Top Warrant & Hero Jr. Kenny G 38 Special & The Dane Clark Band

Tickets & Details for all 2021 shows at: BrownCountyMusicCenter.com & Ticketmaster.com

22 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Carol’s

GIFTS

HANDMADE

Fine Art & Crafts

Established 1981

Glass Baron Hand-blown Glass Jim Shore Collectibles • Lori Mitchell Figurines Inner Beauty Ornaments • Painted Ponies

Lang Graphics Calendars & Paper Goods Billy Jacobs Prints Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks Blue Mountain Greeting Cards Handmade Soap & Bath Bombs Wind Chimes • Music Boxes • Children’s Books

Discover fine art and crafts by talented local artists for wearing, collections, gifts, home or office decor.

Halloween & Christmas Gifts & Décor 125 S. Van Buren St. • Artists Colony Shops Nashville, IN • Open 363 Days • 812-988-6388

45 S. JEFFERSON ST. NASHVILLE, IN 47448 812-988-6888

HOOSIERARTIST.NET

Bank where your voice matters!

189 Commercial St, Nashville, IN 800-232-3642 | Centra.org

Federally Insured by NCUA. Equal Housing Opportunity.

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 23

in Nashville, IN

172 N. Van Buren Street AND

102 S. Van Buren Street (Calvin Place)

www.JBGoods.com • 812-988-0900

Brown County

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VILLAGE OF NASHVILLE

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Monday-Thursday 10 – 5 · Friday & Saturday 10 – 5:30 · Sunday 11 – 5

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BrownCountyWinery.com 24 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Touch of Silver, Gold & Old 87 E. Main St. • Nashville, IN 47448 (812) 988-6990 • (800) 988-6994 Hours: 10am – 6pm • 7 days a week www.touchofsilvergoldandold.com

www.amish-roofers.com

AMISH ROOFERS

TM

“Best Quality, Best Price Roofers in Town!”

Metal & Shingles 812-650-2475

Hoosier Buddy Liquors

the

Inn & Restaurant

A Charming 19th Century Style Inn and Restaurant

Cold Beer, Fine Wines & Select Spirits Cold Beer:

Hoosier Buddy offers more than 150 different beers, including more than 80 craft, micro, and imports.

We proudly offer a wide variety of beers from Indiana’s finest brewers.

Fine Wines:

Hoosier Buddy is a wine-lovers type of store. With more than 200 wines to choose from, we’ve got something for everyone. Check out our “Affordable Imports” and “90+ Point” selections.

• 20 Guest Rooms, 3 Suites with Whirlpool Baths • Banquet and Conference Rooms for Retreats or Parties • Gift Certificates Available Serving Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Breakfast Buffet 7:30 am–10:30 am Monthly Dinner Theatre Shows At the corner of Van Buren and Franklin Streets in Nashville, Indiana

812-988-0600 • 800-737-0255

artistscolonyinn.com

Select Spirits:

Hoosier Buddy offers an ever expanding array of top-notch spirits. Our whiskey category alone includes more than 75 different choices. Whether you’re looking for a Single Barrel Bourbon or a Single Malt from Islay— we stock them.

284 S. Van Buren • Nashville, IN (next to Subway) 812-988-2267 M-Th 8am-10pm • Fri. & Sat. 8am-11pm NOW OPEN SUNDAYS Noon-6pm Follow us on Twitter @HoosierBuddy1

As always, Hoosier Buddy Liquors reminds you to celebrate safe—don’t drink and drive.

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 25

New Humane Society Shelter

T

~story and photos by Bob Gustin

he new, state-of-the-art Brown County Humane Society building is a reflection of the people and places around it, a culmination of planning, fundraising and dedicated volunteer work.

A grand opening is scheduled for the facility in mid-July, located just south of its old building near the intersection of state roads 46 and 135 east of Nashville.

Sue Ann Werling, president of the humane society, said pictures of various buildings around Brown County, both old and new, were sent to architects and planners, hoping to capture the spirit of the area.

Inside the wood and stone exterior, the $3.2 million facility has temperature-controlled dog kennels and cat cages, each offering the animals a choice to stay put or go outside in securely fenced areas. Features include a medical treatment room, a large dog-bathing station, offices, get-acquainted rooms, a community meeting space, a kitchen for volunteers, storage areas, and more.

Soundproofing keeps down the noise, and ventilation systems keep down the odors. Strategically placed hose fixtures will make kennel cleaning more efficient. Segregated areas are adapted to animal needs, including strays, puppies, and kittens, and

26 Our Brown County July/August 2021

medical isolation rooms. Extra-large kennels can accommodate bonded pairs or extra-large dogs.

Construction began in April 2020.

A separate $225,000 fundraising drive provided furnishings and equipment. The medical treatment room is named in honor of longtime Bean Blossom veterinarian James Brester. That room, along with the ventilation and cleanliness features, made building the facility “like building a mini-hospital for animals,” Werling said.

Throughout the facility, placards honor major donors.

Big photos of dogs and cats, former residents of the humane society, line the walls. The large, well-lit lobby features an observation room where kittens romp freely, and discreet stations where those surrendering or adopting animals can interact with staff. Animal control officers dropping off strays after hours will have access to a holding area for pets without getting a volunteer out of bed in the middle of the night. While most of the building is no-frills, aimed at providing the best environment for both animals and their human visitors, Werling said one whimsical luxury was added: lobby ceiling tiles embossed with animal footprints leading from the front door to both cat and dog areas.

Throughout the shelter, steps were taken to make the building energy efficient, including LED lighting, quality insulation, and natural lighting.

The 9,000-square-foot animal shelter is a far cry from its nearby predecessor, which will now be used primarily for storage. That space will be a relief to humane society volunteers and officers, many of which now use their homes and garages to store items. The shelter will also use the building as a base for its SPOT program, the Serving Pets Outreach Team, which offers help to county pet owners.

A spacious parking lot is in front of the building. Behind it are the fenced spaces connected to inside animal areas, as well as larger fenced areas for exercise, and a fenced get-acquainted area. Behind that

is a lagoon, created when earth was moved to level the area. It provides a peaceful view and handles the rainwater runoff.

Money for the new shelter was raised by a combination of donations and grants.

Werling said it was scary to undertake the large fundraising campaign, but she always thought the group could do it.

“It starts with the organization,” she said. “We have a very good reputation and do what we say we are going to do.

“People in this county truly care about animals and about doing the right things.”

Through the years, Werling has been both a major donor and a tireless volunteer for the humane society.

“I’m able to do both,” she said. “I have the passion and love to do both and I believe in the organization.” But she admits she gets the most joy from her volunteer work with animals.

Brown County Commissioner Jerry Pittman said the new facility is important because it saves county taxpayers money through a contract with the county to handle strays, and other arrangements would be more costly.

But the shelter has an economic impact in other ways too, he said, making the county a more desirable tourist destination. Pittman remembers seeing roving packs of stray dogs when he was a child here, tearing up property and threatening people. That is no longer a problem, and he credits the humane society programs with solving those issues.

In other ways, the new building reflects the community: “I think this facility says something about the people of Brown County,” he said. “People who care about animals usually treat other people well.”

Continued on 30

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 27

Brown County Antique Mall Antique Store since 1972

Flowers

Over 10,000 square feet in three buildings

Filled with antiques, jewelry, pottery, china, glass, furniture, artifacts, primitives, books, collectibles, and home decor.

More than 76 dealers • We buy and sell

3288 State Road 46 East 3 miles east of Nashville, IN • 13 miles west of I-65 Open 7 Days a week till 5:30 • 812-988-1025

Brownie’s Featuring some of your old favorites and some tasty new ones Dine In or Carry Out

Design Your Own or choose from Ready Made Garments Hundreds of choices! • Something for all ages and sizes 5730 N State Rd 135 • Bean Blossom • 812-720-3743 Daily Specials • Breakfast till 2:00 7 am to 8 pm Owners Evelyn Allen Mulherin and Brian Baker

• T-Shirts • Hoodies • LS Tees • Hats

• Tanks • Jackets • Jerseys • Tye Dye

• Night Shirts • Swim Shorts • Beach Towels • Flip Flops

Corner of Washington and Van Buren Street (Across from Visitors Center) Nashville, IN • 812-988-6939

CARMEL CORN COTTAGE Assorted Ice Cream Bars New Popcorn Flavors

Double Dipped Bacon Popcorn Pickle Popcorn

Lemon Shake-ups Hot Dogs • Sausages •Brats Hickory-Smoked Pork BBQ COUPON

Buy One BBQ Meal Deal Get One HALF OFF North Van Buren and Gould Streets in Nashville Indiana • 812-988-4273

Accepting Visa, Mastercard & Discover cards

28 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Sweet Treats

Butter Toffee Chocolate Delites Chocolate Coated Bacon Strips Carmel Coated Bacon Strips

Free Samples

Show this ad & receive a FREE small drink with popcorn purchase.

Look for the red & white building at the north end of town

812-988-6011 • CarmelCornCottage.com

Nashville’s Unique Dining Experience (1800s Cabin) BREAKFAST & LUNCH

Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Specialty BBQ, Chicken Salad, Soups, Pit Ham 118 E. Washington St. Nashville, IN Linen, Rugs, Candles, Curtains, Stitcheries Cinnamon Rolls, Cobblers, Cookies, Brownies 812-988-6362 • Open daily 9 to 5 Gluten Free Items, Coffees and Cappuccino Antiques, Billy Jacobs Prints nashville general store and bakery nashgenstore812

’

Variety of T-Shirts

Things you can live Thi li without... ih but b who h wants to!

Old Colonial Bldg. 60 N. Van Buren St. Nashville, Indiana•812.988.6590 menstoyshop@yahoo.com•Visit us on Facebook

Tobaccos and Premium Cigars

Knives by Benchmade, Kershaw, Microtech, Esee, Tops, Protech, Zero Tolerance and more

Guns and Ammo for Competition, Hunting, Sport, and Home Defense

Luminox Watches (used by Navy Seals)

41 S. Van Buren St. Nashville, IN (in the Heritage Mall) 812.200.1077 HeritageCandyStore@gmail.com

We ship everywhere!

Fresh Homemade Fudge Old-Fashioned Candies Candy by the Pound Cream Filberts/Mothballs Rock Candy • Jelly Belly Chocolates/Turtles Pucker Powder Sugar Free

Ask about our Wedding Favors and Fundraising with Fudge

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 29

Sue Ann Werling, president of the Brown County Humane Society.

NEW SHELTER continued from 27 Unlike its by-appointment-only “pandemic hours,” the new shelter is now open from noon to 5 p.m. every day except Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Brown County Humane Society has one of the lowest “kill rates” in the nation, with about 98 percent of the animals who come into the shelter being adopted. Werling said the small number of animals who do not survive are usually newborns which fail to thrive, or those with major medical problems. The survival rate is possible, Werling said, because of an aggressive spay and neuter program, fostering, working with rescue groups and other shelters, and extraordinary steps to get animals adopted.

“This place is magical,” she said. “It’s an amazing place to be. The board felt like this gets us into the future for the next 30 years, leaving something for future generations to enjoy.

“It’s not a sad place. It’s a happy place. When you walk in the building it makes you smile.”

She said visitors to the area are invited to tour the facility and visit with the animals.

“We are all proud of our community.” 

Relax in Beautiful

Brown County, Indiana

This award-winning hotel offers a quiet getaway with free breakfast, complimentary high-speed Internet, heated indoor pool, fitness room, and whirlpool suites.

Walking distance to Brown County Music Center. Trolley available to downtown Nashville.

51 W. Chestnut St. • State Road 46 • Nashville, IN 812.988.6118 • 800.4CHOICE www.choicehotels.com 30 Our Brown County July/August 2021

JOYCE’S ROCKS FOR THE HUMANE SOCIETY

W

hen Joyce Sawyer retired as a campaign manager at Cummins Inc. in 2019, she found a way to express her need to make art, her love of cats, and her support of the Brown County Humane Society, all in a series of long-lasting creations.

She paints big-eyed animals on smooth Brown County rocks and sells them at Common Grounds Coffee Bar in Nashville, with all proceeds going to support the humane society.

The art part is not new. Sawyer studied fine arts at Indiana University before switching to business, and has painted landscapes, pet portraits, murals, and other subjects through the years.

Hills O’ Brown Realty 812-988-2227

Kathryn Richardson Branch Manager 812-327-7462

She started painting animals on rocks she found around her house, which were once used as foundation filler. A couple of coats of gesso made the rocks smooth enough to paint on, and she figures she has painted about 100 of them since 2006, often making them to use as gifts. She uses acrylic paints, and a coat of waterproofing makes them more durable.

Debbie Fleetwood Broker 812-327-6862

Bob Kirlin Broker 812-720-0222

Scroggins Team Brokers 812-327-3865

Story and photos by Bob Gustin.

“Retirement makes it feel like you have no purpose,” she said. So in December 2020, she began selling the rocks at Common Grounds in support of the humane society.

Although some portraits are realistic, the cute ones are more popular because “they make people smile, and people need something to cheer them up.”

It’s the animal eyes, she said, and the emotion they capture, which make her rock paintings popular.

They sell for $10 to $20 each at Common Grounds.

Why rocks? “I paint on anything that doesn’t move,” she said, “and canvas is expensive.”

Her support of the Brown County Humane Society began after she spoke “unkind words” to someone and started to feel bad about it. As a sort of penance, she wrote checks to charities and was impressed with the response she got from the humane society. That, combined with her love of cats, sealed the deal.

The painted rocks can be purchased at Commons Ground Coffee Bar, 66 N. Van Buren St. in Nashville. All proceeds from go to the Brown County Humane Society. 

Annette Hardin Broker 812-371-2048

Libby Zeigler Broker 812-345-8979

Kathryn & Donna Team Brokers 812-327-7462 317-418-2320

Phil Shively Team Brokers 812-325-2290 812-322-0378 812-641-5626

The real estate market is very active!

We are continually seeking new listings.

Call your agent TODAY! July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 31

ChamberFest Brown County ~by Ryan Stacy

T

hroughout the uncertain days of 2020, we knew that the world after COVID would be forever different than the one we had left in the Before Times. Some of the changes we’ve seen as our community continues to re-open have been lamentable, but Brown County’s first-ever ChamberFest— six days of live classical music at various spots around Nashville—is a welcome new development.

Running August 17 through 22, the festival features top-notch musical talent from across the country, performing in the small-group format known as chamber music, as well as receptions, an educational lecture, and a documentary film.

Among the performers are Grammy winners Pacifica Quartet, who take the stage at the Brown County Playhouse on Sunday evening of the festival; Fry Street Quartet, the New York Times calls a “triumph of ensemble playing,” plays the Nashville United Methodist Church Friday night. Others you won’t want to miss include IU Jacobs School of Music faculty member Futaba Niekawa, performing with

the acclaimed five-piece Volante Winds; a voice and piano duet featuring baritone Bruno Sandes; and a piano trio featuring Andreas Ioannides of Indiana State University’s faculty, who’s also ChamberFest’s Artistic Director.

Other attractions at the festival speak to ChamberFest’s stated commitment to diversity and inclusivity, which were priorities in the planning process. A special performance for seniors is planned for Wednesday of the festival at the Brown County YMCA. Rising Tide: The Crossroads Project, a musical exploration-cum-documentary, screens at Brown County High School’s Auditorium on Thursday.

Opportunities to interact with festival performers and fellow classical music fans are also on the agenda: the Hoosier Artist Gallery hosts an open house on Friday afternoon, and a reception at Brown County Art Guild follows Pacifica Quartet’s performance on Saturday night.

Current fans of the genre and newcomers alike are in for a moving personal experience, Andreas Ioannides says. “To hear chamber

32 Our Brown County July/August 2021

music in an intimate space with beautiful acoustics is very memorable,” he promises. “It’s really beautiful music, but it’s also quite theatrical.”

You might notice that ChamberFest 2021’s lineup reveals a particular focus on Beethoven. That’s because the 250th anniversary of the beloved composer’s birth was in 2020—but, with the pandemic still in full swing, there weren’t many opportunities to celebrate. Better late than never, Andreas says. He explains, “We tried to include at least one piece of his each day of the festival, and Roman Ivanovitch’s lecture on Saturday afternoon will be about Beethoven as well.”

ChamberFest grew out of the efforts of Riversong, a nonprofit that began organizing music events in Illinois and New York a few years back.

Andreas’s performance at one of them impressed Riversong co-founder Annie Hawk, who asked him to replace the organization’s departing Continued on 46

Discover Brown County’s hidden treasures!

Sign up for our free Brown County email newsletter and learn about unique attractions, fun things to do and where the locals go for entertainment.

Plus, enjoy 10% off any item at the Brown County Visitors Center (211 South Van Buren Street in downtown Nashville).

Visit BrownCounty.com/Email for everything you need to know about Brown County.

Let’s be friends

BVB-0281-2021 BVB Local Ads-Our Brown County-7.25 x 9.25-FNL.indd 1

4/15/21 1:08 PM July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 33

photos by Jeff Danielson

Calendar Brown County Playhouse July 2 Summer of ‘69 July 3 Tribute to Elvis July 9 Wasting Away Again in Margaritaville July 17 The Best of Stream Showcase July 24 Steve Plessinger with

Michael Moulder July 31 Fingerstyle Guitar

Competition & Concert Aug. 6-8 You Can’t Take It With You Aug. 21 ChamberFest

Pacifica Quartet Concert 70 S. Van Buren St. 812-988-6555 www.browncountyplayhouse.org

Country Heritage Winery July 2 Kenan Rainwater July 3 Robbie Bowden & Friends July 9 Conner Berry Band July 10 Bob Palindrome July 16 Open Mic Night July 17 Darrin Issac July 23 Conner Berry Band July 24 Stant & Moore July 30 The Clearwater Band July 31 Barry Johnson Aug. 6 TBA Aug. 7 Gary Applegate & Joe Rock Aug. 13 Conner Berry Band Aug. 14 TJ & Tyler Too Aug. 20 Open Mic Night Aug. 21 Bakersfield Bound Aug. 27 TBA Aug. 28 Darrin Issac Music 6:00-9:00 225 Van Buren St. 812-988-8500 www.countryheritagewinery.com

Brown County Inn Wed. Open Mic Night 6:00-9:00 Thurs. Hill Folk Music Series 6:00-8:00 Sat. Acoustic Brunch Noon-3:00 HILL FOLK MUSIC SERIES: July 1 Will Scott & Steve Smith July 8 Kenan Rainwater July 15 Steve Smith

The schedule can change. Please check before making a trip.

July 22 Troubadours of Divine Bliss July 29 Chris Wolf Aug. 5 Will Scott & Dietrich Gosser Aug. 12 Gordon Bonham Aug. 19 Jan Bell Aug. 26 Elkins Family 51 State Road 46 East 812-988-2291 www.browncountyinn.com

Hard Truth Hills July 2 Jan Bell & Friends July 3 Rusty Bladen Band July 4 King Bee & The Stingers July 9 The Cosmic Situation July 10 Moonshine Mary July 16 Aly Cutter July 17 Rich Hardesty July 23 Willow Hill July 24 HARD TRUTH LUAU

Six Ways to Sunday 6-7

Island Breeze 7-9

Flame in the Valley 9-10 July 30 Henly July 31 Isaac Rudd Band Aug. 6 The Hammer & The Hatchet Aug. 7 Groovesmash Aug. 13 Bakersfield Bound Aug. 14 Three to One Aug. 20 JC Clements Aug. 21 Dude Aug. 27 Jack Whittle Trio Aug. 28 Christine Kindred Band most music 7:00-10:00 unless specified 418 Old State Road 46 812-720-4840 www.hardtruthhills.com

Story Inn July 2 July 3

July 4

July 9 July 10

July 11 July 23 July 24

Gary Phelps 4-7 Don Elberg 2-5 Gary Phelps 6-9 Gary Phelps 12-3 Foxxy Lady Music 4-7 Yoga & Wine Tasting 6:30-8:30 Will Scott 2-5 Comedy Show 8:30-10:30 Zion Crossroads 2-5 Doug Dillman 4-7 Will Scott 2-5

36 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Aug. 1 Foxxy Lady Music 4-7 Aug. 7 Zion Crossroads 2-5 Aug. 8 Will Scott 2-5

Paint & Sip 3:45-6:45 Aug. 13 Comedy Show 8:30-10:30

Yoga & Wine Tasting 6:30-8:30 Aug. 14 Stant & Moore 2-5 Aug. 15 Will Scott 2-5 Aug. 21 Gary Phelps 12-3

Story Wine Series 1-5

Gary Phelps 4-7

Foxxy Lady Music 4-7 Aug. 22 Don Elberg 2-5 Aug. 28 Gary Phelps 2-5 Aug. 29 Stant & Moore 2-5 6404 SR 135 S. 812-988-2273 www.storyinn.com

Big Woods Pizza Live Music Tues. 5:00-8:00 44 North Van Buren St. 812-988-6004

Mike’s Music & Dance Barn Mon. Line Dancing w/ Billy 6:30-9:00 2277 State Road 46 812-988-8636 www.mikesmusicbarn.com

Nashville Farmer’s Market Sundays 11:00-2:00, Brown Co. Inn parking lot at State Road 135 & 46 intersection Local produce, herbs, bedding plants, flowers, food

Murder Mystery Dinner July 10, Aug. 21, 6:30-8:30 Artists Colony Inn restaurant 105 S. Van Buren St. 812-988-0600 www.artistscolonyinn.com

Village Art Walk Fourth Fridays, 4:00-7:00 April-October. Free self-guided walking tour of downtown Nashville art galleries

Pioneer Village Tours Sat. & Sun. 11:00-3:00 Free to attend. Donations appreciated.

Fireworks July 4 | Brown Co. High School 10:00 Brown Co. Lions Club

Snake Fest July 17 | Brown Co. State Park Nature Center, 10-4, Snake displays, vendors, talks, crafts and more.

Area 51 Encounter July 17 | Figtree in Helmsburg, Noon-7 Guests from Indiana MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Learn from the experts and share your own experiences. Food for purchase. Proceeds benefit the Jackson Township Fire Department.

4865 Helmsburg Rd. Nashville, IN

Hippy Hill Dead Fest July 30-31| Bill Monroe’s Music Park Music, food, vendors 5163 N. SR 135 812-988-6422 https://billmonroemusicpark.com/

Fingerstyle Guitar Festival July 30-31 | Fri. Party at BCI 7:00 Sat. Competition starts 11:00 am Concert 7:30 at Brown Co. Playhouse www.indianastringfest.com www.browncountyplayhouse.org

ChamberFest Brown Co. Nashville United Methodist Church (NUMC), Brown Co. High School, Brown Co. Playhouse, Brown Co. History Center Aug. 17 NUMC Concert Aug. 18 NUMC Concert Aug. 19 Rising Tide, The Crossroads Project BCHS Auditorium Aug. 20 NUMC Concert Aug. 21 Dr. Rowan Ivanovitch lecture

Brown Co. History Center 4-5 Aug. 21 Pacifica Quartet Concert

Brown Co. Playhouse Aug. 22 NUMC Concert 3-4:30 www.chamberfestbrowncounty.com

Southern Indiana Blues Fest Aug. 27-28 | Bill Monroe’s Music Park Music, food, vendors 5163 N. SR 135 812-988-6422 https://billmonroemusicpark.com/

Brown County Dragway 480 Gatesville Road in Bean Blossom Races take place on weekends through October, weather permitting Check Facebook for schedule 812-327-6968

45th 4th Street Festival Returns to Bloomington The 4th Street Art Festival takes place in Bloomington on 4th Street between Grant St. and Indiana Ave. Labor Day weekend, September 4-5, 2021 from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday.

This year there will be 80 booths instead of the usual 125 to allow space between each booth for social distancing. Music and spoken word stages, and community booths are virtual this year. There will be a children’s tent with a take-home project.

Most artists agree that it has been a challenging year financially and emotionally. Artists shifted to online sales, wholesaling their work to galleries and shops, and pop-up sales at their homes.

Being off the road did provide some time to innovate.“Creativity is often sparked when one allows oneself to be still,” says potter Kris Busch, “Many of us have been able to put effort into creating new bodies of work without the pressure of considering how the public will react to it.”

Artists have missed interacting with patrons and other artists. Dawn Adams says, “There is nothing like interacting with a viewer who is taken with your work. Art is communication. It starts with the artist, moves into the artwork, and ends with the viewer.”

A large number of Brown County artists are juried into the show every year.

Learn more at www.4thstreet.org.

10th Annual Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival 30 of the finest fingerstyle guitar players from around the world will converge in Brown County July 30-31.

Artists compete for a handcrafted Thomas Roeger guitar, valued at $5,500, and the opportunity to play during an evening concert.

The competition and concert will also be live streamed in HD this year on Facebook Live and YouTube.

Friday, July 30 features the Party at Brown County Inn starting at 7:00.

Performers include nationally-ranked guitarists and previous winners. This event is free to the public.

Saturday, July 31 is the Fingerstyle Competition which begins at 11:00 a.m. at the Brown County Playhouse. The top three winners will be announced at 2:00.

The event is one of only eight competitions worldwide to be accredited by the Walnut Valley Festival.

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with fingertips, fingernails, or picks. Prominent fingerstyle players include Chet Atkins and Merle Travis.

The Brown County Playhouse doors open at 10:00 a.m. on July 31.

Competition starts at 11:00 a.m. The evening concert begins at 7:30.

Tickets are available online at www.indianastringfest.com or www.browncountyplayhouse.org and at the Brown County Playhouse 812-988-6555.

Sponsored by Nashville Spice Company, Arts Village Brown County, and House Concerts at Hondo’s.

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 37

~by Jeff Tryon ummer is the natural time for reunions of all kinds. The weather is nice and people take vacations, or just try to be more out and about.

This summer, reunions take on an extra measure of meaning as we crawl out of our pandemic-enforced isolation like a horde of cicadas, craving human contact.

We are eager to reconnect and catch up with old school chums, people we knew from church, and family members from near and far we have not seen in at least a year.

Recently, I attended the class reunion for the Brown County High School Class of 1973. I am always a little nervous to appear before this group of folks, who may or may not remember what an obnoxious smart aleck I was in my teens.

All in all, they seem to have forgiven, or at least forgotten. A nice group, and, like me, considerably more mellow and wise these days, I expect.

You know how it is—at the ten-year reunion, everyone is striving to show off a little, everybody is decked out and at the height of their energy, eager for social encounters. By your 48th reunion, folks are a good bit more laid back, the drinking mostly iced tea.

S

38 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Reunions

Year after next, for our 50th, we will demur to the “Brown County Alumni” group, which organizes a reunion every year and each year honors the class which is celebrating its golden anniversary.

The second Sunday in June brought the “Homecoming” celebration at Unity Baptist Church up on Spearsville Road.

Homecoming Sunday typically includes an afternoon service where people who have previously attended return to share memories and reacquaint.

A few years back I had the distinct pleasure of bringing the message in the morning Homecoming service.

I sang a solo of “Precious Memories” and preached on the Prodigal Son, undoubtedly one of the greatest reunion stories ever told.

Between the morning and afternoon sessions, there is a big pitch-in dinner, with everyone sitting at long tables to eat and enjoy fellowship together.

One year, I brought a pot of chicken and dumplings, just like mother used to make. During dinner, one of my cousins approached me asking if I had made them.

“I knew those were Arnold dumplings!” she laughed.

When I was young, this was a traditional “dinner on the grounds.” The meal would be served and eaten picnic style, in the shade of large trees on the cemetery property adjoining the church. Nowadays, there is a fine, large “fellowship hall” equipped with a kitchen and all the conveniences, including indoor plumbing.

Brown County is a natural place for reunion gatherings, and a spin through the State Park on almost any weekend will reveal dozens of family groups gathering to picnic, play, and be with one another.

My own family reunions have been a study in contrasts. While the Arnolds tend to be gregarious, outgoing, salt-of-the-earth types, my Tryon relatives are more often taciturn, diffident, self-contained.

If you randomly released ten Tryons into a large room full of 100 people socializing, within a very short period of time, all ten would be standing in a circle somewhere in the back talking quietly with one another. That’s just the way they are—they only truly like other Tryons.

I love my Arnold cousins. We were all kids together swimming or catching fireflies, playing outside while the adults visited—running wild in Brown County.

When we were at the funeral of my last Arnold aunt, I told my cousin, “We only see each other at

funerals, and now there aren’t going to be any more funerals.”

She got together with her Alabama counterpart in getting stuff done and for a few years they were throwing some bangin’ family reunions, alternating between “Down South” and “Up North.”

But, we overworked our strong organizers and arrangers, and the whole thing kind of ran out of steam. Maybe we’ll get back to it sometime soon.

The annual “Old Settlers” meeting goes back to 1877, but whether or not it will be held this year is still up in the air. It has been held in various places over the years, most recently at the Pioneer Village adjoining the Brown County History Center.

When I was young, Old Settlers was and seemed always to have been held at “Cluppers Grove” outside Bean Blossom. I recall an event in which boys would attempt to climb a greased pole to obtain a five dollar bill at the top.

Summer is reunion time, a time for coming together again after a period of separation. A time for social gatherings of certain groups of people who have not seen each other for some time.

But a part of reunion is union, unity. Reunion is the process of being brought together again as a unified whole. Along with simple human contact, I think we need to put an end to the stark division and conflict in our society.

Maybe a reunion is a good place to start. 

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 39

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July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 41

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July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 43

Art Gallery to Showcase the State Park

Tim Greatbatch putting finishing touches on “Reflections, Strahl Lake Cove.”

~story and photos by Paige Langenderfer

B

rown County artist and Hoosier Master Tim Greatbatch will be the first living artist to be showcased by the Brown County Art Gallery’s Collectors’ Showcase exhibition this October.

“Tim is a highly honored and collected artist, who in mid-life made a calculated choice to live and paint in Brown County, as did members of the early colony,” said Lyn Letsinger-Miller, President of the Brown County Art Gallery and Museum Board. “They left careers in cities and states at midlife and moved to Brown County to follow a career in fine art.”

44 Our Brown County July/August 2021

As opposed to other Showcases, Tim’s art will be for sale with part of the proceeds benefiting the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation.

This year’s exhibit, titled “Brown County State Park: Indiana’s Crown Jewel,” features more than 80 paintings of the 16,000-acre state park.

“I am completely honored to be the first living artist showcased,” Tim said. “I had a lot of fun with this project. I love nature and I hope this exhibit encourages people to celebrate the park with me.”

This masterwork was a lifetime in the making for Tim, who is now 68. Growing up in Indianapolis, Tim

and his family visited Brown County and the state park often.

“I was about four years old the first time I saw the Brown County State Park vistas—and I was amazed by the views. Growing up in Indy, there was nothing like it,” Tim said.

Art was a passion from a young age for Tim. “Our house was not close to other houses, so I didn’t have a lot of friends to play with. Instead, I would draw, and I got pretty good at it,” Tim said.

He also spent a lot of time playing the piano.

“I took my first piano lesson when I was 8 and instantly fell in love,” Tim said. “By the time I was 12, I was playing concertos with the Indianapolis Symphony.”

After high school, Tim studied piano at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and then graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.

By the age of 40, Tim had achieved national recognition as a composer of contemporary orchestral and chamber music. He was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and guest lecturer at Swarthmore College and Princeton University.

But the pull of art was still in the back of his mind. Tim and his wife Lisa also recognized that they were ready for a change in scenery.

“I started thinking, ‘If I’m ever going to give art a try, I better start now. You only get one life, you know,” Tim said. “When you are young, living in a big city is fun, but as I got older I realized that I needed some space. I was tired of the concrete society.”

The couple moved to their secluded Brown County home in 2001.

“It was exactly what we needed. It gave us such a calm, relaxed feeling,” Tim said. “And there was a lot going on in the arts.”

Unlike his music career, Tim taught himself everything he knows about art.

“I became particularly fascinated with Monet,” he said. “I would go to museums and study his brush strokes and then come home and research and teach myself.”

In 2019, after nearly 20 years of practice, Tim came up with an idea to showcase both his work and a local landmark.

“I had revisited Monet’s “series” paintings.

Monet became fascinated with the idea of

multiple paintings of a single subject under different effects of light (time of day, season, etc.),” Tim said.

“Inspired by Monet’s experiments, I came up with the idea to paint the vistas of Brown County State park in different seasons and in different light.”

Over the next two years, Tim visited the park more than 100 times, studying, photographing, and sketching the park’s majestic landscapes.

“When I found a vista I liked, I would visit it several times to view it in different seasons and in different light,” Tim said. “I would then do a quick sketch for reference of what to include. I also took several pictures to help me recall specific structures in the hills and to help set the shadows, lighting, and colors. I quickly learned that studying how the light progressed and mental notes of the view were as important as my sketches and photos.”

Back at his home studio, Tim would combine the photographs and basic sketches into more refined sketches.

Continued on 46

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 45

CROWN JEWEL continued from 45 He would then work on anywhere from seven to 10 paintings at a time, giving the paint time to dry as he built the layers of each piece.

“Each painting has a variety of brushwork and texture,” he said. “I wanted to give each painting a rich, finished look to show more richness of detail.”

An average sized painting (20x24 inches) took five to seven settings of one to three hours each.

In all, the exhibit will include 85 paintings of the park, featuring 50 vistas, two lakes, three creeks, a few trails, a wildflower meadow, and various park elements.

Every painting in the exhibit will include a description of what is featured in the painting, the location of the setting within the park, and a description of the view Tim used including season and time of day.

All 85 paintings will be displayed together at the Brown County Art Gallery from October 2 to November 14.

“We hope people even new to art might find a painting with meaning to them,” Tim said.

In addition to Tim’s work, the gallery will also feature work by the early artists in a separate exhibit called “The Long View.” These paintings will feature similar vistas, painted by some of Brown County’s most historic artists.

During the opening weekend, there will be a private tour with the artist, a public barbeque with local musicians, and a town hall forum featuring Tim and former park naturalist Jim Eagleman.

More info: <www.browncountyartgallery.org>. 

CHAMBERFEST continued from 32 Artistic Director. When the idea for ChamberFest was floated, it was decided to hold it in Indiana.

Andreas recruited Futaba Niekawa, a classmate from grad school who’s now on the faculty at Jacobs, to join the ChamberFest Board as its secretary, and soon longtime Brown County resident Phil McKown was chosen as its treasurer. The group’s close ties and relentless dedication to its vision for the festival made for an uncommonly comfortable collaboration, Andreas says.

46 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Likewise, the choice of Brown County as the festival site was an easy one, he recalls. From its inception, the goal of ChamberFest’s Board of Directors was to bring live classical music— typically found only in larger cities—to a rural Indiana community. Brown County’s natural beauty and comfortable driving distance from Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus made it an attractive prospect, he says, and Nashville fit the bill perfectly for its popularity as a tourist destination and its longstanding reputation as an arts oasis. By scheduling festival events with both locals and visitors in mind, Andreas hopes to see ChamberFest fit into everyone’s Brown County experience that week.

Another way festival planners hope to make it attractive to all is through its very alluring price tag. With the exception of the Pacifica Quartet’s performance at the Playhouse, admission to all events is free. (For those who want to guarantee their seats, paid reservations are also available on the ChamberFest website, however.) And despite the genre’s reputation, classical doesn’t mean overly fancy or stuffy at ChamberFest: flip-flops and cutoffs are as welcome as bowties and tealength dresses.

For those new to live chamber music, Andreas does offer some tips for making the most out of the experience. It helps to think of small-group performances as musical conversations, he says, so listen for the way the players move in and out of their parts, and how they react to one another.

But mostly, he says, “Music speaks to everyone in different ways. Just pay attention to what stands out to you. Maybe it’s an instrument, or maybe the way the musicians look during the performance.

There’s a lot for new audiences to be intrigued by.”

Supporters from the Brown County Community Foundation to Target have signed on as sponsors, and Andreas says funding continues to come in.

“It’s the members of the community who provide the real support, though,” he notes. “We want to be able to continue to have ChamberFest every year, so we really depend on the people who attend to spread the word so we can grow and expand.”

More information on ChamberFest 2021 can be found at <www.chamberfestbrowncounty.com>.

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 47

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July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 49

Community Theater Returns to the Brown County Playhouse

C

~story and photos by Boris Ladwig

ommunity theater is returning to the Brown County Playhouse this fall with a Tony Awardwinning comedy.

Local officials hope the shows will spark a new era for the venue, with more community involvement, greater diversity of entertainment offerings, and perhaps, greater cash flow.

The theater’s unassuming exterior on Van Buren Street belies its surprisingly spacious interior, which features a concession stand/bar, gallery with works of local artists and a 425-seat auditorium that often welcomes locals and tourists to experience touring performers or movies on a 23-foot screen.

But when community theater veteran Mark Stolle moved to Brown County nearly three years ago, he thought the venue would be ideal to host plays in which community members act, build sets, design costumes, and perhaps even sing. He pushed for the performances in part because he missed acting.

“I wanted a place to play,” he said.

50 Our Brown County July/August 2021

An electrical engineer by education, Stolle formerly owned a small business, but in his spare time he has been involved in community theater for more than 35 years and has acted in more than 30 productions, including Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the comedy the Playhouse will host late summer.

When Stolle moved to Brown County from Liberty, he set out to bring community theater back to the Playhouse and got immediate support from the nonprofit’s board.

“We all on the board were thrilled with that,” said Patty Frensemeier, the board’s president.

Stolle joined the board, relaunched Theatre Brown County and, with community help, picked the play, secured a director, and scheduled auditions for March 2020. The pandemic forced a postponement of just over a year, but performances are planned for two weekends in September.

The Playhouse hosted auditions in mid-June, and about 20 people showed up to read for six roles. Stolle auditioned and will reprise his role as Vanya, which he had played in Richmond. All the other actors, however, are novices.

Sometimes in community theater, actors and staff recruit other talent: For example, the play’s director, John Elmore, convinced a physical trainer at the local YMCA to audition for a part that required a trim physique.

“He did a fantastic reading,” Elmore said.

Elmore, an Indiana University graduate who formerly worked at the Playhouse in the 1980s, retired from the entertainment industry and worked on commercials, TV shows, and blockbuster movies, including as assistant director on Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. He also has worked with Hollywood royalty, including Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.

Elmore said that when he returned to Brown County and attended shows at the Playhouse he struck up conversations with Stolle and Hannah Estabrook, the venue’s executive director, and offered his services as director.

In mid-June, Stolle, Elmore, and Estabrook were still looking for community members to get involved with costume design, make-up, set decoration, and other offstage duties.

“You can’t have a production if those people don’t show up,” Stolle said.

And while Stolle promised that rehearsals for the actors would be fun, he and the board still want to put on good shows.

“We want to build a reputation that the Brown County Playhouse puts on quality productions,” he said.

Courtesy photo of Mark Stolle in the Vanya role.

Frensemeier and Estabrook said diversifying the venue’s entertainment offerings makes sense for many reasons, including community involvement and financial stability.

Frensemeier said that audiences consist primarily of tourists, but Playhouse officials envision the venue more as the community’s living room.

And, she said, it’s called the Playhouse, so that should mean it hosts plays.

Frensemeier, Estabrook, and Stolle said the plays also will add another revenue stream.

The nonprofit over the last decade has incurred some small losses, but the venue also has stayed in the black some years. About 40% of the nonprofit’s revenues come from ticket sales, with 60% coming from grants and donations.

Estabrook said bringing in touring artists costs a lot of money, sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars. Putting on local plays costs a lot less, and while they may draw fewer spectators, the lower overhead can make them solidly profitable.

But Estabrook said bringing back community theater is about more than finances.

Community theater likely will get more local people involved in the Playhouse, including people who otherwise would have little to no connection to the venue.

Continued on 58

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 51

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FIELD NOTES: The Milkweeds

Butterfly weed. photo by Michele Bland Pollock

~by Jim Eagleman

E

ach early summer milkweeds make a grand display near my home, filling abandoned fields and roadsides with dense clusters of yet-to-open, pinkish-purple flowers. Gazing out over rolling terrain, I see many individual patches containing dozens of soon-to-be mature milkweed plants. Some newly purchased native milkweed rootstocks for our natural area are slow to mature, but soon more young starts will appear. This growth pattern occurs because the perennial milkweed propagates by means of an underground root called a rhizome. Extending in all directions, the rhizome sends up a multitude of flowering stalks. Each colony of milkweeds in a field or garden may actually be a single clone of plants growing from a common root system.

Common milkweed, one of many genera, has a range from southwestern US deserts to the Rockies and across the east. Found in fields, waste areas, and roadsides, they don’t seem to have a preference where they grow. The milkweed genus, Asclipias

54 Our Brown County July/August 2021

comprises nearly 100 species and most are native to North and South America.

The name Asclepias comes from Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. He is usually depicted carrying a staff intertwined with a snake, the modern day symbol of medicine. So it comes as no surprise milkweeds have been used for a wide variety of ailments, experimentally, including asthma, dysentery, heart disease, stomachaches, snakebites, ringworm, warts, tapeworms, and even syphilis. Its popularity as a medicine may be related to the supply of a bitter, milky latex produced in a special system of tubes that branch throughout the plant.

The latex contains a substance identified as a cardiac glycoside. In small doses it can cause nausea and vomiting. In larger doses, as a poison to vertebrates. For the plant, the latex acts as a defense, visible when a leaf stem is pinched and the white liquid oozes out. When exposed to air it quickly dries and becomes sticky, gumming up the mandibles (mouthparts) of insects. Very few insects can tolerate the latex from milkweeds, but several are

specialized feeders on the plant, eating nothing else.

These specialists, like the monarch caterpillar, have evolved a means of coping with the plant’s toxin. They don’t deactivate it but incorporate it into their blood, permeating every portion of their body. This makes them distasteful to predators like blue jays, since the food they eat is poisonous.

Of the 15 or so species of milkweed native to Indiana, most are found in open areas. A few are found in forested communities not densely shaded.

The common purple milkweed is found more in open woodlands. Poke, variegated, whorled, and thinleafed milkweeds are also found in Indiana forested environments. I’m always on the lookout for these plants with a flower color unlike the solid dark red or purple color of the common. Another milkweed is the beautiful butterfly weed we see blooming along county roads. Its showy orange flowers are a standout, one of only a few to have this color, and the only milkweed with alternate leaves and colorless juice.

My milkweeds occupy several places in our recent hugel mounds created to improve soil. Their broad, usually paddle-shaped leaves make them easy to spot among other green plants struggling for sun and space. Now that cicada emergence is over, we’ll watch for another natural drama, the arriving pollinators as milkweed comes into bloom. It’s the monarch butterfly we know as chief pollinator but other insects will arrive, attracted to the fragrant scent, and rewarded with a meal of nectar. These include, but not limited to, bumble bees, yellowjackets, skippers, several species of moths, and the hummingbirds.

Later into fall, the feathery seeds of milkweed will take flight, a plume of fluff, lofting seeds like tiny parachutes. Tightly wrapped in a pointed husk about 3” in length, the spirally arranged seeds inside resemble a pine cone and gently fall out as the cone splits open and dries. The “silk” can be found in a variety of bird nest construction, including goldfinch and buntings.

One natural event gives way to another. It’s a schedule I track on the summer calendar as friends tell me what they see in their woods. It’s all part of the natural sequence, predictable and anticipated.

Undeterred by COVID, nature reassures. It wasn’t interrupted and it certainly never disappoints. I am heartened and anxious as our lives slowly return to normal, and I’ll look for the milkweeds to grace our fields and gardens for yet another year. 

20 STUDIOS 27 ARTISANS

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July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 55

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30 Hawthorne Dr. • Nashville • East SR 46 at light • 812-988-4546 July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 57

COMMUNITY THEATER continued from 51 “Community theater will be a great draw for a new crowd … and that is very valuable,” she said.

In addition, as the theater adds costume, set design, and other capabilities, the plays can get bigger and more complex. The initial play has a cast of six and only one set.

As plays get bigger and require more actors, including children, the Playhouse may be able to draw more people into theater at a young age who may be more inclined to support the nonprofit as they get older. And when children get involved in plays, their friends, siblings, parents, and grandparents usually fill the auditorium.

Stolle said the value of adding community theater also lies in getting more people in the community involved in the performing arts.

“I know how important that was and how exciting that was at Richmond,” he said. “There’s no reason we can’t get there as well.”

Stolle said he hopes next year’s lineup will include a drama and possibly another comedy, though he also may push for a musical.

Stolle is maintaining a Facebook group called Theatre Brown County where information regarding upcoming auditions and performances will be posted for those who are interested.

What: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a Tony Award-winning comedy by Christopher Durang.

Where: Brown County Playhouse When: Sept. 10–12 and 17–19, with matinees on Sundays.

Significance: After years of absence, community theater is returning to the Playhouse.

Artists needed: The Playhouse and Theatre Brown County are looking for community members who want to contribute behind the scenes with costume design, set decoration, make-up, and other duties. If interested, contact director John Elmore at 323-855-4420. 

58 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Hotel & Event Center Located across from the Brown County Music Center

Balcony Rooms Coming soon:

N Outdoo a ty a a

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Brown County Log Cabin

Arts Village Brown County ART VENUE

Every item in our store is

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Hand-poured Candles Made in our store 59 East Main Street (Old School Way Alley) Nashville, IN 812-322-3120 • homesonalimb@gmail.com

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Both couples and families can appreciate this escape to the country. Newly-built cabin is an easy 10-minute drive from the heart of Nashville. Soak your cares away in the spacious 6-person hot tub. Relax by the fire pit. Rock on the front porch and enjoy the outdoors. The cozy interior offers comfort from the elements if you prefer to spend your time inside.

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Your Headquarters for the Great Outdoors CAMPING SUPPLIES: Tents, Camping Lights, Sleeping Bags, Grills, Fire Starters, Coleman Heaters & Lanterns, Cooking Utensils

EST 1927

Brown County’s Most Historic Restaurant Serving our famous fried biscuits and apple butter, fried chicken and other traditional favorites all made in our own kitchen from scratch.

Come check out our Old Country Store, beautiful new patio, expanded menu and HOHENBERGER BAR 15 South Van Buren Street 812-988-4554 www.nashvillehousebc.com

• Fishing Tackle • Horse Tack • RV Replacement Parts • Bee Keeping Supplies • Maple Syrup Supplies • Pet & Livestock Food • Antiques We Fill Propane Tanks

WE SELL & DELIVER BULK MULCH & TOPSOIL Salt Creek Plaza • Nashville (812) 988-8888 • www.BearHardware.com Mon.–Sat. 7:30am–7:00pm • Sun. 10:00am–4:00pm

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 59

Visit

Morgantown 10 miles north of Nashville on scenic State Road 135

GRANDPA JEFF’S

Trail Rides Relax on a journey with Grandpa Jeff. ff.

Take in the scenery and wildlife.

No two rides will ever be the same —sunny summer days, fall colors, winter snowfalls, spring blossoms.

Trail Rides, Pony Rides, Hay Rides Cattle Drives, and Custom Excursions

At least one hour notice.

Trail Ride Reservations can be made by phone, e-mail, or through our website.

Grandpa Jeff personally trained our horses to take exceptional care of your family and friends of all ages.

call or text www.GrandpaJeffsTrailRides.com cell (812)272-0702 info@GrandpaJeffsTrailRides.com 5889 S. Skinner Rd. Morgantown, Indiana

ANTIQUES CO-OP 129 W. Washington St. • Morgantown, IN 46160 (In the old hardware store building)

Country Primitives Advertising Antique Garden Old Paint Early Smalls Open 6 Days (Closed Mon.)

What What a trip trip toto the the country country isis all all about! about!

Furniture, Art Architectural Elements Pottery The Odd and Unusual and A General Line Like us on Facebook

(812) 597-4530

Layaway Available

ART Beyond Crayons Creativity beyond the classroom Pick your • Art Lessons for All Ages Palette: • Group Painting Parties

• Birthday Paint Parties • Home Schooled Instruction

Judy D. Wells • owner, K–12 Licensed Educator • judydenisewells@gmail.com 59 S. Marion St. • Morgantown, IN • (317) 403-7147 Flexible hours including weekends and evenings

60 Our Brown County July/August 2021

Melons, Tomatoes Sweet Corn, Green Beans Summer Apples, Peaches Blackberries, Blueberries • Fudge Shop & Ice Cream Parlor • Baked Goods from scratch • Jams, Honey, and Gifts

317-878-9317 www.apple-works.com 8157 S 250 W. Trafalgar, IN Visit us on Facebook for Happenings

Brown County Michael Rebman

Nashville, Indiana’s #1 Fun Attraction

COPPERHEAD CREEK

GEM MINE

Certified Therapist

Pan for Gems Fossils Arrowheads

Fun and Educational for All Ages

BROWN COUNTY

ROCK and FOSSIL Chair Massage: $25 • Table Massage: $75

104 S. Jefferson St. • Nashville, IN 47448 browncomassage.com

812-988-4447

SHOP

5000 lbs. of NEW Beautiful & Unique Specimens for 2021

Just North of the Courthouse 79 N. Van Buren ~ (812) 988-2422 online at www.BrownCountyRockShop.com

Fresh In-Store Donuts “Smack Dab in the Heart of the Village” Nashville, Indiana

Located just North of the Courthouse across from Big Woods Restaurant and Brewery

www.IrisGardenLodging.com

Broasted Chicken

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812-988-1822

The Iris Garden rests comfortably in the heart of the village of Nashville.

Simply walk out of your door to explore the wonderful shops, restaurants, wineries, and breweries without having to drive anywhere.

Nashville BP State Roads 46 & 135 270 S. Van Buren St. in Nashville

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 61

Sounds of Summer ~by Mark Blackwell

T

he cicadas are loud this year. In fact, the only time I can hear them not being loud is when I am indoors. That is because I have air conditioning; which also doubles as “sound conditioning.” There was a time when the sounds of summer could not be avoided for very long, even indoors. Historians refer to that time as BA/C (Before Air Conditioning).

There is no specific year designating BA/C, it slides around somewhere between about 1965 for some folks and 1980 for myself. It was a time when the only things separating indoors from out-of-doors were screen doors and porches. The Before and the After A/C (AA/C) is noted, at least for some of us, as the time when a different set of sounds defined our experience.

62 Our Brown County July/August 2021

In 1960 BA/C, a common summer morning started with birds singing, at roughly 5:00 a.m. You would hear them singing because you went to bed with your windows open.

Folks in the days BA/C needed to live with open windows to invite breezes through their homes to mitigate the heat of summer—but Nature was not always accommodating. As one went to sleep to the sounds of crickets and other nocturnal insects outside, there was also the soft Doppler hum of an oscillating fan. Thinking back on those days, I believe the steady hum of the fan was every bit as soporific as the cooling breezes it created.

Along with the hum of oscillating fans and whirring of night-time insects, one might hear a mournful train whistle in the distance. If you lived in a town you could hear the clinking of milk bottles being delivered.

On summer days you would hear the whisper of window blinds being lowered at late-morning to keep the afternoon sun at bay. Occasionally, you could also hear those suckers go slappetyslappety-bam as they got away from you and beat a noisy retreat back to the top of the window.

And from next door you might hear the snicketysnickety-snickety of your neighbor’s reel mower.

Another sound from back then is almost extinct now—the slow screech of a wooden screen door spring being stretched to its limit and then released to an accompanying holler of “DON’T SLAM THE…” from a distraught mother and then— BLAM! For a lot of us, those sounds were lost with the fast fading slap of our sneakers on the way to a summer adventure.

Of course, those adventures didn’t amount to much but a neighborhood baseball game. It was usually a game without umpires or spectators but with its own unique sounds: the crack of hickory on horsehide and the slap of the ball in the leather pocket of a fielder’s mitt, and the cheers and jeers of the players as they assessed the artfulness of a play.

When there weren’t enough kids to get a ball game up, there might be heard the click of a shooter on an aggie or cat’s eye in a marble game.

Or you might hear the chants of little girls skipping rope:

Cinderella, dressed in yella Went upstairs to kiss her fella She made a mistake And kissed a snake.

How many doctors Did it take?

1,2,3,4…

Or you could catch the sound of hops and scrape of shoe soles as they danced along a hopscotch grid chalked on a sidewalk or drawn in the dirt of a country path.

Another, now extinct, sound was the thrumming of a propeller driven airliner as it crossed the summer sky on a flight plan to a destination only guessed at in our imaginations.

As the day relaxed into evening, mourning doves and red winged blackbirds signaled the setting sun.

As the light grew dimmer on a BA/C summer day, somewhere in the distance an owl hoots its lonesome question, “Who? Who? Who?” All of these sounds are remnants of memories of summers past, when indoors and outdoors weren’t as separated. It was a time when folks spent as much time outdoors as they did inside. It was a time when sitting on the porch in the cool of an evening was a natural part of winding down the day.

But even now, in our After A/C era, every once in a while, driving down a country road in Brown County, if you turn you’re A/C off and roll your windows down, you just might hear the crack of a bat on a well-worn baseball as you pass a new mown field of hay. 

Brown County

History Center Displays and Exhibits

Pioneer Village Museum

Bringing Brown County’s Past to Life North of the courthouse • Donations welcome

Looking for event space? or more info 812-988-2899 Open Tues., Wed., Fri., Sat. 11–4, Archives: Tues. and Fri. 1–4 Pioneer Village open Sat. & Sun. 11–3

p New Sho

with many locally-crafted items

Hand-poured Soy Candles • Wax Melts Goatsmilk Soaps • Hand-blended Looseleaf Teas Crystals, Collectible Books, Decor, and more...

145 S. Van Buren St. in Nashville • Look for the pyramid on top www.wisewomanshoppe.com • rachelle@wisewomanshoppe.com

Looking for a good place to eat?

Curious about the dining scene?

NASHVILLE EXPRESS

Historical His Hi st tor oric ical al Sight-seeing Sig igh ht t-s -see ee ein iin ng Tours To T our urs of of Nashville Na as sh shv hv vill ille il le

Kiid K ds s 5 & Under Un nd de er r Ride Ride ide FREE id FR F REE EE d! Kids All aboar

The

Restaurant Sampler Collection Now on sale at:

Fallen Leaf Books Brown County Visitors Center Also available on

Amazon.com

Support local business

25 minute narrated historical and informational tour with a scenic loop along Old State Road 46

also service to Seasons, Brown County Inn, Quality Inn Board at Fearrin’s Ice Cream Depot Corner of Van Buren & Franklin Streets

812-988-6690

Available for field trips, business functions, private tours

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 63

INFO PAGES

• Individual Income and Business Taxes • Business Set Up • Business Financial Statements • Payroll Preparation and Payroll Taxes

Locally owned since 2010 138 S. Jefferson St. Suite C • P.O. Box 953 Nashville, IN 47448

ACCOUNTING / TAX PREP

ACCOUNTING & PAYROLL

64 Our Brown County • July/August 2021

ASPHALT

Plum Creek Antiques Open-Air Market Bean Blossom • Fruit Jars • Garden Art • Furniture • Iron Things, • Lots of Junk and more 5 minutes north of Nashville (intersection of SR 135 & SR 45) (812) 988-6268

$2 Bag • Salt Creek Plaza • Nashville Mon.–Sat. 7:30 am–7:00 pm, Sun 10:00 am–4:00 pm

Tax Preparation, Tax Planning, Bookkeeping, and Payroll

(812) 988-2865

bruce1040@sbcglobal.net 64 W. Gould St. • P.O. Box 565 • Nashville, IN

Brown County Tire TIRE &

AUTO Repair

24 hr. Wrecker Service

812-988-8473

27 Salt Creek Rd (Intersection SR 46) Nashville

Mosaic Tables and Small Paintings Available at Spears Pottery in Nashville, IN (On South Van Buren Street next to the Nashville House)

EYE CARE

BAGGED TRASH DROP OFF

ANTIQUES

812-360-2477

AUTO - TIRE, REPAIR, TOW

ARNOLD

& ASSOCIATES INC.

ART

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ZIEG LeDOUX

Checking eyes in Brown County for over 50 years!

50 Willow Street • Nashville, IN 812-988-4937

INFO PAGES

July/August 2021 • Our Brown County 65 Continued on 66

Indiana Seamless Free Estimates

Gutter Cleaning and Leaf Cover Available

Matt Hunter

HEALTH

GUTTERING

GUTTERING 812-344-4167

Quality Workmanship since 1992 Fully Insured

Dr. Sanchez MD Board Certified Family Practice Behavioral Health Services

Nashville, IN • 812-200-8265

HEATING & COOLING

HEALTH CARE

INSURANCE YOUR CATEGORY

HEALTH & LIVING

812-465-COOL (2665) 24 HOUR SERVICE FINANCING AVAILABLE Generac Authorized Dealer FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1999

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Salt Creek Medical Arts Building • Check us out on Facebook

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

“Call Dave 2 Save”

Your Ad Can Appear Here

Reach thousands of readers for just $70 an issue (6 a year)

(discounts for multiple issues)

Contact Cindy at ourbrown@bluemarble.net or call 812-988-8807

Continued from 65

INFO PAGES

66 Our Brown County • July/August 2021

The RE/MAX Team is Your Brown County Team

Logging to Lumber ~ Custom Log Home Lumber Packages ~ Posts ~ Beams ~ Rafters ~ Barn Siding ~ Board & Batten ~ Firewood ~ Mulch ~ Sawdust ~ Buyers of Standing Timber

REAL ESTATE

Pool Enterprises, Inc.

CSSS, CDPR

Broker/Owner Cell: 812-360-4083 margd@remax.net 812-988-4485 www.MargAndBrendaTeam.com

helmsburgsawmill@gmail.com • facebook.com/helmsburgsawmillinc

10 Artist Drive, P.O. Box 1609 • Nashville, IN 47448

• Mulching - Seeding NEED HELP? • Weeding - Pruning • Tree / Shrub Planting • Fences - Walkways • Retaining Walls • Mowing / Trimming (812) 988-7232 • Flower / Herb Beds

We Can Do It All!

Complete Landscaping/ Design Services

Licensed Plumbing Contractor since 1981 Bonded • Insured #CO89000011

Repair, Remodel, Pump Service, Water Conditioning, Drain Cleaning, Water Heaters

YOUR CATEGORY

Dunham Plumbing Co., Inc. PLUMBING

Marg DeGlandon

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812-988-6161

MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

LANDSCAPING

LOGGING - LUMBER

Helmsburg Sawmill Inc.

BLUE ELK FAMILY CLINIC Mental Health Counseling

Misty Sanchez LMHC-A and Mr. Bojangles

Call or walk in to schedule appt. • 812-200-8265

Salt Creek Medical Arts Building • Check us out on Facebook

Your Ad Can Appear Here

Reach thousands of readers for just $70 an issue (6 a year)

(discounts for multiple issues)

Contact Cindy at ourbrown@bluemarble.net or call 812-988-8807

812-988-0248 • Nashville, IN

All Types of SIGNS by CHRIS A. SHUSTER

BROWN COUNTY YMCA FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FOR HEALTHY LIVING FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

BUY 1 GUEST PASS, GET 1 FREE 1 per person, expires 12/31/21

Swimming Pool Fitness Center Gymnasium Exercise Classes

Personal Training Swim Lessons Day Camp Climbing Wall

812-988-9622 • www.browncountyymca.org

SIGN MAKER

WELLNESS

Open at 5:30 a.m. Mon.–Fri.

• HOMES • BANNERS • BILLBOARDS • STORE FRONTS

BOATS • TRUCKS • MURALS • LOGO DESIGN •

SIGNS THAT DELIVER: Digital Print & Vinyl to Hand Lettered, Carved & Gilded

812-822-2933 • RamblinDogDesign@gmail.com

nashville Spice c o.

OVER 500 SPICES, RUBS & BLENDS Gourmet Jams & Sauces · Mustards · Hot Sauces Artisan Salts & Sugars · Beekman 1802 · Kitchen Gifts & Accessories

NashvilleSpiceCompany.com 227 S. Van Buren Street · Nashville, IN · In Coachlight Square 812.200.1069

Old-Fashioned Fudge · Gourmet Popcorn All Natural Gelato · Seasonal Treats 175 South Van Buren Street · Nashville, IN · 812.988.0709

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CARAMEL APPLES fresh from our local orchard

July - October

NEW IN 2021 -----> CHOCOLATE SWIRL CARAMEL APPLES

SCAN SCANME ME