T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 139 Edition 7
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
$1.00
Recent lockdown spurs new officer training in MV Special to the News On January 22, 2019, Posey County Dispatch received several 911 calls from a cell phone reporting that there was a person on the Mount Vernon School Campus with a firearm. Responding Officers were able to lockdown the schools and determine that there was no active threat and no gunman to be found. Detectives with the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Indiana State Police then began an official investigation. After reviewing the 911 audio recordings, detectives were led to believe the callers were young, possibly elementary aged, children. Detectives filed for subpoenas and were able to retrieve the
calling phone’s IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number and traced it to an email account. This email account ultimately led them to the caller. Detectives determined that the caller was in fact an elementary aged child that was making a false 911 report. No charges will be filed on the juvenile. According to information released from Mount Vernon Police Public Information Officer Caleb McDaniel, Posey County Agencies now train to save lives in these hostile environments. “Active shooter and violent acts are becoming daily events in our world. These hostile incidents
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Although the recent call regarding someone with a gun on Mount Vernon school property proved to be a false alarm, Mount Vernon emergency responders have steeped up training for the future. Members of the response team are, in front: Robbie Wilson, Dakota Logan, Charlie Bradford, Ryan Harms, and Shane Claybrooke. In back: Caleb McDaniel, Wes Dixon, Caleb Garman, Brandon Woodley, Ryan Riggs, Brian Crossen, Ricky Roos, and Leo Gonzalez. Not Pictured: Charlie Reese.
Celebration Medley now heads USPS in Mount Vernon slated for Atheneum’s 40th year By Lois Mittino Gray The town of New Harmony is ready to rock another major celebration this year and it will be a boon for businesses and merchants as tourists flock to the many events. Members of the New Harmony Business Associates got a glimpse of the upcoming plans to celebrate the Atheneum at its February 6, monthly meeting. Dan Mason, owner of the Mason-Nordgauer Fine Arts Gallery on Main Street, reported that the renowned Atheneum Building, used as the Historic New Harmony visitor center, will celebrate its fortieth anniversary this year. The modern three-story structure opened on October 10, 1979. It was funded by the Indianapolis Lilly Endowment with the help of the Krannert Charitable Trust and is named after Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. The architect was famed Richard Meier who designed the white structure to flow like the Wabash River and reflect the beauty of nature off its polished white tiles. When the building opened in 1979, it won the Progressive Architecture Award, and in 1982 won the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award. In 2008, it was once again honored and won the AIA’s prestigious Twenty-five Year Award, which is given to no more than one building per year. Something that special needs a fanfare of fetes. The University of Southern Indiana and Historic New Harmony will have special exhibits throughout the year on aspects of the building’s story. From October 10-12, 2019 a speaker series will be hosted featuring key representatives from world of architecture, artists and “role models” who strive to make a difference in preservation, art, design and our world. Mason informed the group that a VIP reception will be held on Saturday, October 12 with a black and white gala dinner and auction. The “after party with DJ will light up the Atheneum and its sweeping lawn,” he told the NHBA members. “They’ve created a logo which will appear on a Main Street banner, as well as on t-shirts, tea towels and various items that will be for sale prior to the event and at the event itself.” Mason offered several ideas as to how the business owners could support the celebration. “From a local business perspective, this is an exceptional opportunity to highlight our amazing town and offerings. I would love to have the NHBA’s support in pulling together at a minimum the following: town banners welcoming the guests and daily tour maps of where to shop,
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By Pam Robinson Mount Vernon Postmaster Shawn Medley started the new year with a new job on January 19, but not a new position and not in new territory. The 43-year-old Mount Vernon resident had already served as postmaster in Oakland City, Indiana, in Robinson, Illinois, and Tell City, Indiana, before the position opened here. In addition, he has served 21 years with the Mount Vernon Post Office previously, starting in 1997 as a city carrier before advancing to supervisor and, ultimately, to postmaster. Medley believes his experience delivering mail and supervising mail carriers and postal clerks helped him to develop his management style. Built in 1932, the Mount Vernon Post Office employs 22 workers, including mail carriers. Medley says the size creates a family-like atmosphere and allows him to know the people working for him. He says the best compliment an employee can pay him is to say, “He’s firm, but fair.” Medley’s father, Carlis Medley, inspired him to train for the U.S. Postal Service, or USPS. His father worked for the USPS 32 years as the Manager of Distribution Operations, or MDO, in Evansville. Medley explains his father led “Tour 2,” or day shift, at the downtown post office before the processing plant was built on Petersburg Road. “Everyone I’ve run into in my career that worked with him at one time or another has said he was a great boss to work for,” Medley comments. “That inspired me to try to fill those shoes and be as good.
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New Mount Vernon Postmaster Shawn Medley
Innovative classes to be offered at MVSHS By Lois Mittino Gray Two very innovative new courses were approved at the February 4, Mount Vernon School Board meeting for next school year at the high school. Permission was granted to offer an Innovation and Open Source Learning class and Advanced Life Science: Food Science and Safety. Both elective courses will require hiring no additional staff members and will be on the schedule in alternating years, based on demand. The new courses, pitched to the board at the last meeting by Director of Curriculum Kyle Jones, were mulled over by board members, who are excited to see the creative classes and
voted positively for the duo. The Food Science course, team taught by FACS teacher Tammy Schneider and Ag teacher Alicia Schmidt, meets the Department of Education guidelines and has been approved by the DOE. The Open Source Learning multidisciplinary class is such a new concept, it will require a waiver as a Pilot Course from the DOE. Jones said they are likely to get it. The Open Source Learning class will allow students to create their own personal learning network by allowing them to connect and collaborate with experts and learners around the globe on a project. It will encourage collaboration, communication, creativity and critical
thinking. Mr. Jones cited, as an example, a MVHS student who is currently developing a prosthetic hand using a 3-D printer, as someone who could really take off with a self-designed technology course like this. Board Member Kathy Weinzapfel commented on how innovative the idea will be. “What a marketing piece for us. It’s so different. Is there a way to measure how successful this class can be?” School Superintendent Tom Kopatich replied that it would be very early to assess it, but he can give them an idea how many students expressed interest in it after spring registration.
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The eyes have it Love has kept Stallmans stepping in harmony for 60 years By Pam Robinson Small wonder Mount Vernon natives Glenn and Betty (McDurmon) Stallman only have eyes for each other. Once they moved out of the sandbox to the playground, the two became friends at Hedges Elementary School. This June 22, they will celebrate 56 years of marriage, but they became soulmates 60 years ago—when they started dating as high school freshmen. Their deep devotion filled their home with love for one another and in due time for their two daughters, Selena (Rick) Denning and Shelly (Greg) Owens, and later for their four grandchildren—Montana Eaton, Kamey Denning, Whitney Denning, and Gabe Owens. They chose a pastime—camping—the whole family would enjoy so they would know where their kids were at ten o’clock. During high school, their two daughters wanted to go straight from cheerleading at Friday night football games to their camp on Lake Barkley. “Our whole family life revolved around it,” Betty recalls. After high school, Glenn and Betty’s daughters shared their parents’ love for country dancing. One daughter, Shelly, taught dance classes for a while—just like her parents. Betty says to this day, both daughters look forward to a wedding as a reason for dancing. In their heyday 20 years ago, Glenn and Betty
The Golden Years
Glenn and Betty Stallman formed a tight-knit circle with nine more couples from Posey County and performed country dancing in venues across the Tri-State. They were a popular act with the residents at Mount Vernon Nursing Home, New Harmonie Healthcare, and Cloverleaf Apartments in Mount Vernon. They were once featured on television, dancing at the White Horse Saloon in Nashville, Tennessee.
At 75 years old, Glenn and Betty would still dance today, but the dance halls rarely feature country dancing for couples now. So nothing beats their memories of dances held at the Elks Club and American Legion in Mount Vernon and at the Ribeyre Gymnasium in New Harmony. While they brought love to their family with their leisure activities, Glenn and Betty were serving others in full-time jobs also. Both of them have worked ever since graduating with the Mount Vernon High School, or MVHS, Class of 1962. After a two-year stint as a mechanic at Evansville’s Beenix Chevrolet dealership, Glenn worked at Sears for 37 years. He stepped in first as a mechanic for 12 years. The next 25 years, he cared for appliances as a service technician. After he retired at Sears in 2000, he has still continued to help out neighbors and friends as a handyman. Glenn has already worked a long lifetime on appliances: a total of 54 years. Before her employment with the MSD of Mount Vernon, Betty worked first for Shawnee Plastics in Evansville five years and spray-painted Chevrolet emblems. Her move to Lutterman’s Market as meat slicer for the next three years brought her to her hometown for work.
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