SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
S E E L E T T E R S TO S A N TA I N S I D E Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Volume 136 Edition 50
Safety nets Posey savings
Three-year-old Keegan Mulkey visited with Santa and the Misses on Saturday morning at Community State Bank in Poseyville. Keegan is the son of Kit and Kristina Mulkey of Poseyville. Photo by Theresa Bratcher
By Valerie Werkmeister Posey County Commissioners learned their annual property and casualty insurance premium would be lower, despite a considerable increase in coverage costs during last Tuesday’s monthly meeting. Andy Weintraut of Schultheis Insurance Agency presented figures to the commissioners and stated the annual premium would be $10,637 lower than those of last year. This is despite an $11 million increase in earthquake coverage and $14 million increase in real estate coverage. Weintraut stated he was very proud of the cost savings despite those increases. He stated the bidding insurance vendors sharpened their pencils and worked very hard to deliver the cost savings to the county. He added that if the new jail project wasn’t a factor, the county could have realized a $27,000 total savings. Weintraut also commended the county’s department heads for ensuring safety as a high priority for its employees. The county has received a very low, almost unheard of workman’s com-
pensation incident rate factor of .52. The commissioners approved the renewal of the county insurance with Schultheis Insurance. Joe Mattingly of Garmong Construction presented jail project invoices due to be paid for the commissioners’ approval. They approved a total of $648,718. They also formally approved a $279,332 contract with Central Restaurant Products. County attorney Jacob Weis read and explained ordinance 2016-12-16-01 that states any real estate documents filed with the county auditor’s office will also be recorded in the county recorder’s office. He added both county office holders support this new ordinance. The new ordinance will become effective January 1. County Assessor Nancy Hoehn requested approval to change the software her office currently utilizes. The current software program does not provide the level of service a new company offers. She stated converting to Ex Software will allow a better support system from the
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Unique ‘Originals by Jane’ are available in Posey now By Valerie Werkmeister Along a stretch of Big Cynthiana Highway sits an unassuming building next to Straub Outdoor Power. The outside door is decorated with humble Christmas greenery but a quick peek inside will let you know you have arrived at the new home of Jane Elpers’ floral business, Originals by Jane Design or OBJ for short. As you walk through the door, the store is exquisitely arranged to showcase Elpers’ talents. From ceiling to floor and everything in between, every display is masterfully and uniquely designed by Jane herself. Christmas trees decorated with ornaments for sale greet new customers at the entrance while music softly plays in the background. The faint smells of coffee and candles linger in the air, enticing customers to come in and stay for a while. Looking around, there is much to see as the store is beautifully decorated for the Christmas season. The space is cozy, but not overwhelming as Elpers’ clearly has an eye for everything in its rightful place.
Round tables with white leather chairs and diamond crystal buttons are set with white and red linens, in preparation for an upcoming Christmas party. Elpers explains the chairs are part of a collection of rentals often used for bridal parties at wedding receptions. They are as comfortable as they are beautiful. The retail space doubles as a rental facility for parties under 30. Bridal or baby showers, company parties or anniversary dinners are some of the events that may want to take advantage of the space. “We’ll take care of everything from the food, the games and the prizes. All they have to do is show up,” Elpers explained for those interested in a turn-key type approach to baby showers. She prefers to use the Granola Jar and Hornville Tavern as food caterers for in-house events. ‘Originals by Jane’ recently moved to its permanent loHoliday floral arrangements, Christmas wreaths and greenery crosses for grave decorations are on display for sale. The store cation. The shop offers everything needed for events from parties, to showers, to anniversary dinners. Pictured is Continued on Page A10 owner Jane Elpers. Photo by Valerie Werkmeister
School considers bank change
Kendra Schorr was named the 2017 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar on Monday afternoon at North Posey High School. Schorr, the daughter of Michael and Debra Schorr of Mount Vernon will receive a full-tuition scholarship to the Indiana College of her choice and a $900 yearly stipend for required books and equipment. Pictured from left to right are: Michael and Debra, Kendra, sister Kristin, and grandpa Paul Schorr. Photo by Theresa Bratcher
Briefly NH Recycling sets winter hours The New Harmony Recycling Center winter hours begin December 5, 2016. The center will be open on Wednesdays from 12 noon until 4 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. until 12 noon. Public Hearing set for Town of Cynthiana The Town of Cynthiana will have a public hearing at the December 13, 2016 regular board meeting to discuss rate increases for the Water and Wastewater Departments. The Town of Cynthiana will be applying for a grant and it is important that the surveys are returned that are being distributed to the public by board members. The board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall. APL announces weather cancellation policy In the case of inclement weather, programs at the Alexandrian Public Library may need to be suspended or cancelled for the safety and security of APL staff and patrons traveling to the library. If the MSD of Mount Vernon schools CLOSE or DELAY opening, all morning programs and storytimes will be automatically cancelled. In the case of a delay, closure or early release of schools due to weather, afternoon programs may be affected as well. Patrons are instructed to contact the library at 812-838-3286 the day of an afternoon program to inquire if a program will still be held. Decisions regarding afternoon programming will be made no later than noon by APL staff members. Poseyville announces leaf pick-up deadline Jeremy Farrar, Poseyville Utilities Supervisor, announced that December 16, 2016 is the leaf pick-up deadline in Poseyville. Red Kettle Campaign seeks volunteers It’s time for the Red Kettle Campaign, and we need volunteers to ring the bells. We will be ringing on Saturday,December 17 at three locations in Mount Vernon and one in Poseyville. We hope you will consider volunteering for a shift as a bell ringer. You can sign up now to ring by yourself or with a group. Simply go to the website – www.registertoring.org – and find the location and time that works for you. The website also has lots of information about the history of the Red Kettle Campaign and how funds are used in the community.
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By Lois Mittino Gray The Mount Vernon School Board meeting of December 6 was short and sweet, but the financial facts being bandied about may have long-lasting implications on the total budget. Every two years the school district asks for RFP’s (Requests for Proposals) from local banks on their special investments that compound interest daily. Banks do not send their proposals to the school office, but instead direct them to Umbaugh Financial Advisors in Indianapolis. Jeffrey Messer, an Umbaugh representative, presented the two proposals and their findings after analysis and answered questions, followed by board discussion at the meeting. The school district presently invests with Old National Bank and Jacob Tucker attended the meeting
as its representative. James Alsop attended representing United Fidelity Bank. Messer’s group recommended switching investments to United Fidelity Bank. Even using the lowest possible interest figures, Umbaugh estimates an increase of $38,000 over ONB. School officials will have a meeting this week to make sure all the computer software is compatible with the new bank program and can make an easy switch. “If all that is deemed ready to go, we’ll probably take action at the next school board meeting on December 19,” School Superintendent Tom Kopatich said. In other board action: • confirmed the employment of
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‘Flowers for Hitler’ describes MV woman’s trail to freedom By Lois Mittino Gray She remembers that his eyes were so bright blue that they seemed they could burn a hole through you like the eyes of a wolf. Even though she looked into those eyes over eighty years ago, they are still the bluest eyes Ilse Dorsch Horacek has ever seen. And she still remembers that “funny little moustache.” Ilse Dorsch presented a bouquet of flowers to Adolf Hitler when his car was passing through Munich when she was four years old. Her recounting of the event gives the title to her newly-released biography, ‘Flowers for Hitler’ written in association with acclaimed local author Mike Whicker. Whicker describes the book as a “personal account of a woman who lived through the most mind boggling era in modern time, the rise of the Third Reich. It is unique in that it is a first person account of a young female girl in those times and of her beliefs.” Ilse recounts that it was a warm summer day in June, 1934 and she was walking with her mother in town to cool off and show off her beautiful new dirndl dress with shiny black patent shoes. A large crowd stood on the sidewalk up ahead and she broke away from the back and worked her way up to the front curious as to what was going on. “Nosy me had to go up there. A large man in a brown SS uniform with a red armband handed me a bouquet of flowers and nudged me into the street and told me to give them to the nice man in the Mercedes. With everyone stiff arm saluting him, I waited for the car to stop. He leaned over to accept the flowers, patted Ilse Horacek and daughter Connie Angel look my head, smiled and said, “someday you are going to be over a copy of her new book. Photo by Lois MitContinued on Page A10 tino Gray