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“Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.” Since S ince 1882 1882 ~ Successor Successor tto oT The he P Poseyville oseyville N News ews a and nd T The he N New ew Har Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN
Tuesday Ma March arch 15, 2011
Posey County’s locally-owned newspaper
(USPS SP PS 4 439-500) 39-5 500)
Volumee 130 Edition 12
Public to hear ambulance results on Friday Daniels to speak here The Posey County Republican Party has scheduled their Lincoln Dinner for March 30 at 7 p.m. Gov. Mitch Daniels will be the featured speaker. If you would like more info, call 483-2922.
Orientation night set Orientation for students who will be entering seventh grade in the 2011-2012 school year will be held on Tuesday, March 15 at 6 p.m. at North Posey Junior High. Current sixth-grade students at North Elementary and South Terrace will receive their orientation packets prior to this evening. St. Wendel students should contact the school about prognosis testing and enrollment prior to orientation. Students should bring their seventh-grade orientation packet, along with the completed information forms. Please call the school office at 673-6617 if you questions.
Democratic women to meet The Posey County Democratic Women’s Club will meet at the Gym Annex in New Harmony on Thursday, March 17, at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend and meet local Democrat candidates.
Feed Mill group to meet The Poseyville Feed Mill Art Mill Gallery will be at the Feed Mill Restaurant on Wednesday, March 16 from 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Card party is March 16 The North Posey Relay for Life will hold a card party on Wednesday, March 16, at the St. Francis cafeteria in Poseyville. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and chili or vegetable soup will be served until 7 p.m. The card party will be held from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Door prizes will be awarded and a live auction will also be held.
‘Clean Up the Hill’ set The annual New Harmony “Clean Up the Hill” effort will take place on Tuesday, March 29, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Maple Hill Cemetery. Volunteers will work together to pick up the trash that has accumulated on both sides of South Main Street, starting at the Cemetery and continuing up the hill to Highway 69. Come join in this activity. Volunteers of all ages are welcome. Gloves and trash bags will be provided. For more information, contact Karen Walker at 682-3390.
Legion to meet The Poseyville American Legion Post #278 will meet Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 p,.m.
Arts Academy open house set The Mount Vernon Senior High School Fine Arts Academy will host an open house on Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in the MVHS Performing Arts Center. All area students and parents interested in the academy are urged to attend.
McNamara, Tomes to appear The Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana will host the third in the series of Meet Your Legislator events in Posey County on Saturday, April 9 at the Poseyville Community Center. Event will begin at 9 a.m. Representative Wendy McNamara and Senator Jim Tomes will be in attendance. This event is open to everyone and is free of charge. For more information or with questions, contact Tiffani Weatherford at 838-3639 or by email at tweatherford@ccswin.com
Ambulance results here Public Meeting to discuss the EMS Geographic County Study (Ambulance). The Public Meeting is scheduled for March 29, 2011 at 6 p.m. at the Posey County Community Center. Gary Ludwig from the The Ludwig Group, LLC will be in attendance to present the findings of the study.
Results of the study could effect where ambulances are housed and will probably affect response times for one area or another. The study was in response to a group of Poseyville residents who attended county meeting to let officials know that they believe anything less than 24-hour-a-day ambulance service for the Poseyville/ Cynthiana area is not acceptable. The ambulance which was once housed in Poseyville is now being shared with residents in Marrs Township. And while the riff is not
By Dave Pearce Posey County residents will soon learn the results of a study conducted regarding the Posey County Emergency Management System. According to information released this week, an open meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on March 19 at the Posey County Community Center on the 4-H Fairgrounds. The meeting is open to the public. Residents who attend will learn the findings of a study conducted by Ludwig and Associates, a consulting firm located in Missouri.
between representatives of the two areas, residents from both areas feel strongly their areas should have the same ambulance protection as other areas of the county, namely the Mount Vernon area. Plans for the public meeting were announced at the Posey County Council in their regular session at the Hovey House on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 9 a.m. In other business: •Council President Gentil read a request from the Prosecutor that $39.30 be reimbursed in the Prose-
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McCord has hens ‘eating out of her hands’ By Pam Robinson Mount Vernon native Amanda McCord has her laying hens literally eating out of her hand. The 29-year-old has stolen their hearts—and their eggs—with her tender clucks and care. McCord started chicken farming early last year after a conversation with her neighbor, New Harmony Town Marshal Scott Champlin. She expressed her desire for a brood, and the next thing she knew, Champlin and her husband Derek were at work in Champlin’s side yard building her a chicken coop from wine bottles recycled from the Red Geranium. On January 1, 2010, McCord brought in her first five hens, closeouts from another Posey County chicken farmer. By March 2010, she purchased 25 more hens from Rural King. To keep up with the demand for farm fresh eggs, she ordered 25 more biddies from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Missouri, that arrived in the New Harmony Post Office on February 11, 2011. Seventeen of those survived. In two more weeks, she will receive another 15 biddies from Cackle Hatchery as replacements and additions. All told, around 50 chickens will be settled by
New Harmony resident Amanda McCord has her laying hens literally eating out of her hand. Photo by Pam Robinson. See more farm stories in Today’s Agriculture, inside todays Posey County News. the end of March at McCord’s Treasured Harvest Farms, located just off Highway 69 in New Harmony. The hens are four to six months old when they first start laying eggs. Already, Treasured Harvest Farms sells eight dozen eggs a week at Naerae’s Naturally Or-
ganic Food Store at 601 E. Fourth Street, Suite A, in Mount Vernon. Each egg carton features McCord’s inspirational “word” for the month. During March, for example, the inside lids of the egg cartons present these two lines of verse: “Watch the world awaken as things become anew, quench-
ing our spirit with rays of hope, and taking in the stillness of the morning dew. Take time to notice all. . .gifts that God gives to you.” Although her hens are limited for now to range in a 10 foot by
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Countrymark announces boost for local Habitat Indiana-based CountryMark announced today that it will contribute up to $55,000 in matching funds to Habitat for Humanity of Evansville. With those funds, Habitat will have the financial resources necessary to build two homes this year in Posey County, bringing the total number of Habitat homes built in that county to seven. “We’re excited about the challenge presented by CountryMark to Habitat and our community,” said Jim Bartlett, who leads the Habi-
tat builds in Posey County through the Mount Vernon Ministerial Association. “We are especially eager to meet this challenge because we already have identified two families. We’d really like to make home ownership a reality for these deserving applicants and their children.” The two families are currently working on the 300 hours of sweat equity that all families are required to contribute. In addition to sweat equity, families must also attend
homeownership classes, where they learn about home maintenance, budgeting and many other topics to prepare them for homeownership. “CountryMark is going to get a big ‘thank you’ from me,” said Jennifer Trout, who has already put in 124 hours of sweat equity. “I’m just flabbergasted. I couldn’t ask for a better community.” Shawnte Bates, the other family working to build a home in Mount Vernon, was equally excited to learn about CountryMark’s pledge
of support. “It makes my heart dance with joy to know that CountryMark is donating to help build my house,” she said. “I know that I am really blessed, and I am really glad that I will be able to raise my son in the small town that I was raised in, where family is still at the core of the community.” CountryMark shares Habitat’s enthusiasm for the fundraising
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Sewer back-up stirs up stink in Mount Vernon’s Birdland By Pam Robinson The Mount Vernon Board of Public Works and Safety listened and responded for over an hour on Thursday as residents in the Birdland subdivision spoke regarding recent sewer backup flooding their basements. Addressing the board were Ruth Ann McDurmon of 1530 Lark Lane, Darlene McConnell of 1312 Cardinal who also spoke for Karl and Linda Dorff of 1320 Cardinal unable to be present, and Robert Hast of 1237 Cardinal Drive. According to McDurmon, sewer
back up started in her basement on Feb. 24, 2011, around 9 p.m. and continued until around 3 a.m. She reported that she called the sewer plant, but received no immediate callback. Then, she called dispatch, who, she said, told her no one could come out because of the rain. An hour and a half later, she stated, help arrived. Although her insurance company covered the damages to her home, McDurmon stated she wants the city to reimburse her insurance company in addition to her neighbors for all damages.
McConnell spoke next, reading a letter on behalf of herself and her neighbors, the Dorffs. She stated she had also called for help. Then, she noted her insurance will not cover the damages—amounting to $3,000 thus far—to her home. She questioned that if help had arrived sooner, perhaps no flooding at all would have occurred in her home. Then, Hast spoke and said his home also suffered damages. He asked if he could now safely lay his new carpet. All three residents wanted to know what happened and why as
well as the procedures in place in case another problem arose. Wastewater Superintendent Rodney Givens later explained that the pumps were working properly and pumping hard, but took on too much rain. He added that the cause of failure is up for debate. He stated that bigger pumps may be needed. He also commented that the overflow had been sealed off although now it is open. When the overflow is open, he said, there are no issues. Had the overflow been open, he
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Supt. Thoele adds Athletic Director to myriad of jobs By Pam Robinson The New Harmony School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to accept the resignation of Tabby Farrar as athletic director, activities coordinator and extracurricular activities treasurer, effective June 1, 2011. In the same vote, the board named New Harmony School Superintendent Fran Thoele as the new athletic director. New Harmony School Board President Jim Scarafia was absent from the meeting. Vice President Jason Wilson conducted the meeting in Scarafia’s absence. The three remaining school board members
were also present: Brenda Butman, Jim Eagan and Curt Schmitt. After the meeting, Thoele confirmed she would receive no additional pay for serving as athletic director. She stated that New Harmony School is now conducting a search for a secretary to assume responsibilities as activity coordinator and extracurricular activity treasurer as well as other duties as assigned. Immediately following the vote, the school’s National Education Association president, Rick Johnson, addressed the board. “I’ve been here a long time, probably too
long for most people,” he said. “It seems like we’re losing a whole lot of people—faculty, staff and students. It’s got to stop somewhere. Somebody’s got to find out the reason. Nobody seems to care. I don’t like it. I don’t like it when we lose friends. I don’t like it when we lose great, great people. I don’t know the answer, but I would suggest some people investigate. I think that position [of athletic director] should be posted. I would think there would be some faculty interested in that. I don’t know that you should fill that position right now when nobody even knew it was going to be open.
Inside this issue...
ThePCN
cutor’s Law Enforcement/Supplies budget line. Council President Bob Gentil read a request from the Prosecutor that $134.21 be reimbursed in the Prosecutor’s Federal Forfeiture/Supplies budget line. This money was received for a recorder that was returned because it did not work. •Posey County Clerk Betty Postletheweight came before the Council with a request for an additional appropriation in the amount
Retrospective ................. A4 Legals .......................... A14 Classifieds .................. C3-5
I don’t think that’s the way business is done anywhere, and I don’t think it should be done here. That’s my opinion.” Shortly afterward, a gentleman identifying himself as Bill Loveridge spoke out and said, “I second Rick’s opinion.” The meeting continued with no further comments from the audience and with no response from the board. In other business: •The board hired the following coaches for the 2011-12 school
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Go to www.poseycountynews.com Community ........... A5 Social ...................... A6 Deaths ................... A3 Sports .............. A11-13 School .................. A8 Business/Ag ............ A9
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