Muncie Magazine May 2023

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GROWING NICELY Buck Creek in Bloom Is in the Full Flower of Success 8

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WHEEL MAN Tony Stewart Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

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CONSERVATION, VETERANS AND CAMARADERIE Catfish Pirates Gathering and Tournament Event Returns 10 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Dianna Lott

MEET VOGUE CLEANERS OWNER BILL SHROYER Lifelong Muncie Resident Talks Politics, Business & More

18 THE 110 YEAR FLOOD Lessons Learned for Muncie

KEY CONTRIBUTORS AIMEE MACARTHUR / MELISSA GIBSON DAVID FENNIG / KYLEE WHITE

Located in Yorktown, Buck Creek in Bloom is owned by Julie Vance, who has been running the business since 2007.

“Buck Creek in Bloom is a full-service florist,” Vance says. “We offer all kinds of floral designs including funeral flowers, wedding flowers and everyday flowers. You can even come in and pick stems. It doesn’t have to be a bouquet. We do some gift items, mostly geared for sympathy work, but we do a lot of high-end, bigger events as well as everyday business.”

In 1988 Vance moved to Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, where she went to college for art and worked at a Kroger floral department in Castleton. After about a year, Vance started working at different florists for about 20 years, before opening her own shop in Yorktown. Throughout her years working, Vance has also had the opportunity to showcase her work by creating floral wreaths for Indy 500 race winners.

“I first made the wreath in 1992 at a shop called Fairfield Florist, which is near Keystone at the Crossing in Indianapolis,” Vance says. “It was kind of word of mouth, from a church friend to the owners of the shop. There was a man at the church that was an attorney for BorgWarner. He referred me to him, and so I’ve always made it since.”

Vance’s store focuses on a botanical look for their flowers and arrangements. She views her work as pieces of art, rather than simple bouquets.

“I think that’s what people like, so most things that leave here have some kind of branches or vine or river rock, or something kind of earthy,” she says. “We even use driftwood for some pieces.”

Creating the wreaths for the race has given Vance a unique opportunity to display her work, and allows her to be a part of a standing Indiana tradition.

“There’s nothing like the Indianapolis 500 in our state when it comes to excitement,” Vance says. “It’s just the tradition of it. Of course, it’s brought me a lot of excitement along the way.”

Vance has been making the wreaths for the Indy 500 races for the past 31 years. She has been able to work with other companies such as Ferrari and Red Bull, creating wreaths for their events as well.

“My favorite aspect is all the different families that I’m able to help with my floral designs at important times, such as funerals and weddings,” she says.

To learn more about Buck Creek in Bloom, you can visit buckcreekflowers.com, or visit their Facebook and Instagram pages @buckcreekinbloom. You can also visit their store at 8905 West Adaline Street in Yorktown, or call them at 765-759-8777.

CONSERVATION, VETERANS AND CAMARADERIE

Catfish Pirates Gathering and Tournament Event Returns

Writer & Photographer / David Fennig

For the last nine years, Catfish Pirates, a group of local conservationists and fishing enthusiasts, have held an annual overnight competition to raise awareness for the health of our local waterways. Now, in partnership with the Veterans Association of America, they are raising funds to benefit veterans.

Allen Dytmire Jr., says that in 2022 they raised just over $5,000 that went directly to the Veterans Association, and this year they are aiming to reach $10,000. Having grown the event from a few fishermen gathering to pursue their passion into a two-day gathering with hundreds of attendees and more than 140 sponsors, he is optimistic about the growth of the event. The group itself can be found on Facebook under the name Catfish Pirates, and has more than 3,000 active members.

“Our main concern is the health of the fish,” Dytmire says. “Commercial fishers catch [catfish] out of our public waterways and then sell them to these private pay lakes. Then people catch them over and over again until they die. That’s what we are trying to stop. It’s awful to see.”

It can be hard to get the public informed about a conservation issue that is often far from the public eye.

The founder of the Catfish Pirates, Roger

“People seem to think you can keep taking and taking and taking, and there will be no repercussions for it, and that’s furthest from the truth,” Dytmire says. “They did that with the buffalo. It’s the same kind of thing, just a different breed of animal. We have the Muncie Parks Department and Prairie Creek Reservoir Park working closely with us. The biggest thing I want is to get this event out in the public more, because a lot of people still don’t know that we are doing this.”

The event expanded its reach and impact last year when it partnered with the Veterans Association to start raising funds for local veterans. The money goes directly to veterans in the community, helping to put roofs on houses or pay off utility bills of struggling vets.

Along with the fishing tournament, the event includes a motorcycle ride that leaves from AMVETS Post 12 on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., and ends at the Prairie Creek beach area.

“We had 25 bikes last year come in, and it’ll be even more this year,” says John Reeder, Sons commander at AMVETS Post 12. “We are thinking out of the box to help veterans.”

The event is open to the public, and includes a hog roast dinner along with door prizes donated by sponsors and raffles. The tournament guarantees a firstplace prize of $2,000, and offers both boat entry and bank entry options. The event takes place on Saturday, May 27 at Prairie Creek Reservoir Park, located at 7801 South County Road 560 East in Selma. More information can be found on Facebook in the Catfish Pirates group.

Roger Allen Jr: Founder of the Catfish Pirates

John Reeder: Sons Commander at Amvets Squadron 12

Amvets Post 12 in Royerton

Writer / Aimee MacArthur

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For many students, choosing where to attend college is one of the most important life decisions. There are a variety of factors to consider, including academic and emotional needs, along with the financial costs. The path to a successful college experience is not always easy. For Dianna Lott, director of human resources at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, it was a complicated journey.

Lott was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. When she was in high school, she and her family moved to Warner Robins, Georgia. Lott was a gifted

DIANNA LOTT STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

student-athlete, and many colleges contacted her with offers to play NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Ultimately, Lott chose to play women’s basketball at the prestigious University of Georgia. The transition from high school to a large college with an elite, Division I basketball program was difficult for her. “I probably needed to be at a smaller school and didn’t realize it,” Lott says.

For Lott, being a Division I female student-athlete was extremely demanding, and with it came a great deal of pressure to succeed both athletically and academically.

“Learning had always been easy,” she says. “I was an A student. I went from a really small environment where I got a lot of attention to detail and the support that I needed, to a very a large environment, and I was devoured in a lot of ways, even socially and emotionally.”

Although she had a lot of support from family, a large school was not the right fit at the time for Lott’s overall well-being.

“I just really struggled on my first go in college,” Lott says. “I played for three years and left prematurely, and played basketball afterwards professionally and semiprofessionally and got into coaching.”

Lott lived and worked in many places around the country, and ultimately moved to Muncie to be closer to her parents, who relocated there. “I got into my 20s and decided I needed to complete my degree,” she says. “I needed to finish what I started.”

Lott enrolled at Ivy Tech in Muncie and managed to balance classwork while expecting a child. “So here I am, starting over, expecting a child and trying to complete my associate degree,” Lott says. “I never thought I would find myself as a single parent.” She says her family was instrumental in supporting her while she was a student at Ivy Tech.

Lott received encouragement and assistance from Ivy Tech. “I met Margot Middleton,” she says. “She was a part of the TRIO program for first-generation

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college students, and I was a firstgeneration college student. They gave me a lot of support, the tutoring, the checkins, the mentoring. There was just so much support built into being a student, but also helping me balance life.”

While working on her associate degree, Lott accepted a position with Ivy Tech as a financial aid specialist. When she completed her associate degree, she accepted a position as assistant director of admissions and recruitment at Ivy Tech’s Anderson campus. This is where her interest in human resources began.

“I’ve always had a passion for linking people to the right people and the right places,” Lott says. She continued her education and earned her bachelor’s degree at Indiana University East. Lott left her position at Ivy Tech due to budget changes and worked for another company. In the fall of 2022, Lott accepted the position of director of human resources at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, and will complete her master’s degree in human resource management this year. It is a full-circle moment for Lott to be back at Ivy Tech, a place that nurtured her growth and played a large part in making her the successful person she is today.

Lott is thankful for the support from her family, including her daughter, Zoe Love. Lott also enjoys a wonderful co-parenting relationship with Zoe’s father. Zoe is playing basketball and Lott plans on continuing to coach and mentor athletes.

She is passionate about helping and mentoring students. “I’ve always found myself working with people and pushing them to their highest ability,” she says.

Lott is equally enthusiastic about students choosing Ivy Tech Community College as a place to start their college journey. “When you look at Ivy Tech and what they bring to the table, to me it seems like a no-brainer,” she says. Lott encourages parents and students to keep in mind the small-school environment, coupled with the low cost of attending Ivy Tech Community College. Students can balance working and attending Ivy Tech, and not worry about being in debt. Students can earn an associate degree at Ivy Tech and then pursue further education at one of Indiana’s four-year institutions. Ivy Tech has partnerships with most four-year Indiana institutions to continue educational advancement at a considerable financial discount.

Lott is proud of her Ivy Tech education and happily shares her success story with students and parents considering Ivy Tech. “Ivy Tech provides students with the overall support that they need, at a pace I believe that’s more conducive to overall growth - not just getting a degree, but overall growth as a person and your development as a whole person,” she says.

For more information on Ivy Tech Community College including programs and admission, call 888-489-5463, visit ivytech.edu, or email info@ivytech.edu.

WHEEL MAN

TONY STEWART SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN

Writer / Melissa Gibson Photography Provided

He retired from NASCAR in 2016, but Tony Stewart hasn’t slowed down.

What began with racing go-karts 44 years ago led to a record-breaking career, with 12 driving championships including four United States Auto Club wins, a win in the IndyCar Series and three wins in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Stewart is the first and only driver to win championships in stock cars, Indy cars, and open-wheel midget, sprint and Silver Crown cars. His three NASCAR Cup Series wins make him one of 16 drivers who have taken home multiple titles.

“I’m in a unique scenario compared to most because of all the different types of cars I’ve driven,” Stewart says. “Literally, when we’re in town it doesn’t matter who I meet - if they’re talking about motorsports, I know at least a little bit about what they’re talking about.”

When asked about his shining moment, what memory sticks out the most, Stewart struggles with an answer.

“There are go-kart races that meant everything to me to this day, and I’ve ran everything in between,” Stewart says. “It’s almost easier to pick a moment in every type of car I’ve driven. When I think about it though, the trophy’s meant a lot, but the big picture is all the cool people I’ve met along the way.”

In 2000, Stewart formed Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) and moved into a stateof-the-art, 25,000-square-foot facility in Brownsburg. Since its inaugural season, TSR has won 27 owner championships. In 2004, Stewart purchased Eldora Speedway, a half-mile dirt oval, hosting 2013’s first-ever stop by the NASCAR Truck Series.

He’s hands-on every step of the way, and finds himself enjoying Brownsburg in a way many haven’t experienced.

“I’m good friends with Bill Simpson of Simpson Performance Products, and he worked with Brownsburg to get racers off of Gasoline Alley in Speedway and make the move to Brownsburg,” Stewart says. “I

love it out there. On our street, we’ve got six different organizations with [National Hot Rod Association] teams. There’s sports car programs, parts builders and more on one street. A lot of times we can walk a couple of blocks and pick up parts. It’s great for your business and makes it easier to operate. Brownsburg has really embraced our community.”

In 2021, Stewart announced he would tackle the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) world with two full-time entries. The team includes Matt Hagan in Funny Car and Stewart’s wife, Leah Pruett, in Top Fuel.

While Stewart had some experience with the NHRA, it wasn’t until he began dating Pruett that he truly took notice.

“I started going to her events and I enjoyed learning about it,” he says. “I always tell people that all of the other forms of motorsports are related, but NHRA are kind of off on their own island.”

Stewart says the differences are so vast, he found it rejuvenating and exciting. “It was different than what I was used to, and a totally different atmosphere,” he says.

For the man who raced the Indianapolis 500, jumped on a plane, and raced the Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 in the same day (Stewart’s 2001 attempt stands as the best combined result, finishing sixth at Indianapolis and third at Charlotte), watching NHRA drivers go home five minutes into the event was a drastic change.

“You can be the first pair of cars and drivers to go out, and in five minutes pack up your stuff and go home,” Stewart says. “In drag racing, you can be out on the first run and your weekend is over. In Daytona or Indy 500, this is going to be a three-and-a-halfhour race.”

With only one NHRA season under his belt, the process has been a whirlwind, but the team is beginning to catch their stride.

“Two years ago, Leah and I got married, we spent two days on a honeymoon, and then headed to Brownsburg to live in a motor home for 58 days at the shop,” Stewart says. “We bought the Funny Car from Don Schumacher and had enough pieces to build Leah’s car from scratch.

There were a lot of growing pains that first year, a lot of learning and growing, but we were in the playoffs till the end.”

Stewart was impressed by the commitment and dedication from his team.

“With only 58 days to prepare, there were a lot of long hours,” he says. “The team was there from 7 a.m. till after midnight most of those 58 days. The wives and girlfriends were bringing dinner to the guys and the community just rallied.”

Ultimately, Hagan finished in third place and Pruett finished 11th in the 2022 season, and they are gearing up to do it again.

Matt Hagan, Tony Stewart & Leah Pruett

“It’s remarkable how dedicated the fans are,” Stewart says. “They are so dedicated to what we do and they’re following our race teams. There’s been a lot of crossover.

I’ve seen fans that were with me in NASCAR and are now watching NHRA races.”

You may think he’s watching from the sidelines in the NHRA, but don’t count Stewart out of the driver’s seat just yet. He’s continued to compete in the SRX series and has been running sprint cars for the past two years. In addition, Stewart made his debut driving for McPhillips Racing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series in Las Vegas last October.

He won the first two elimination rounds in his Mobil 1 Top Alcohol Dragster, qualifying as the two seed, ultimately finishing second by two ten-thousandths of a second - just one inch short of the win.

The debut proved to be so exhilarating that Stewart announced in mid-February that he would be joining McPhillips Racing for the entire 2023 NHRA season.

He’s been a lifelong member of the motorsports family and doesn’t expect to leave any time soon.

“I’m proud to be a part of it,” he says. “I’ve been involved in motorsports since I was 8 and I think I’ll be here till the day I die. This community is a huge family and it’s great to work among your peers, with our shops next door to each other. We race hard, but in the end we all get along. I’m proud of our roots in Brownsburg and what the town has done for the motorsports industry.”

In 2003, Stewart formed the Tony Stewart Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, raising funds to support chronically ill and physically disabled children, animals that are endangered or at risk, and drivers

injured in the sport of motor racing. To date, they’ve donated over $7 million to organizations serving these missions. Visit tonystewart.com to follow TSR and their entire racing schedule.

Tony with wife Leah

PUTTING MUNCIE FIRST

LIFELONG MUNCIE RESIDENT BILL SHROYER TALKS POLITICS, BUSINESS & MORE

Writer & Photographer / David Fennig

Bill Shroyer is a proud life-long resident of Muncie. He is a family man, a business owner, a local landlord and he served on the City Council for six terms and spent 14 years as Council president.

He came into office in 1984 and his last term in office was 2008. “I had a good run, and I enjoyed it,” Shroyer says. “I learned a lot.”

According to Shroyer, there was no easy way to drive into and park in downtown during the late 1980s. “We had some key issues downtown

to address and we got that done,” Shroyer says. “I really feel like it’s not me, it was we. We got the downtown turned around.”

Just like many cities throughout the country, Muncie’s downtown had become unattractive to new business investment in the ‘80s. Buildings were abandoned and boarded up and the area was unappealing to most shoppers or residents.

“My goal was to make Muncie a better city to live and work in,” he says. “What was good for Muncie was good for me.”

He lists accomplishments not only in downtown redevelopment

Bill Shroyer standing outside Vogue Cleaners on Willard Avenue

but bringing in the southside Walmart and a developer to restore the dilapidated Roberts Hotel along with changing tax laws to help make Muncie more accessible to business owners. “I was a part of rezoning and bringing in Meijer and Menards,” Shroyer says.

After considering his long career in politics and the many different decisions he had to make and votes to cast, Shroyer noted that he would change only three of his past votes, though he didn’t elaborate on which ones.

“My answer was this…I voted the way I thought was the right way at that time. I voted my conscience. I knew going in I wasn’t going to make everyone happy,” he says.

Shroyer owns and operates Vogue Cleaners which currently has four locations around town.

“At one time I had five locations,” he says. Shroyer has been in the business for 55 years and hs seen many different changes to the

business. He has started new locations, bought existing ones, closed some, remodeled others and even lost one store to a fire.

On May 19th, 2014, the south side location caught fire and burned down. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, but the building was gone in 25 minutes.

“The fire really set us back for a couple years,” Shroyer says. “We lost everything in it. But we bought all new cleaning machines and presses.”

Currently, that new equipment is at the Vogue Cleaners on Willard and allows the entire business to not only be more efficient economically but much more environmentally friendly as well.

Now Shroyer is optimistic for the future of his businesses and for Muncie.

In a simple statement that summarizes his life and career, “I put Muncie first,” Shroyer says.

THE 110 YEAR FLOOD LESSONS LEARNED FOR MUNCIE

In 1913, Indiana suffered a horrific flood that wreaked havoc on Muncie to a level that the city hopes to never see again. Record rainfall on March 23 through 26 led the White River to crest at over 22’, causing flooding to devastate the city. Four hundred homes and businesses were flooded in the city, railways were shut down, and public water service was completely shut off for days following the flood. As a mixed blessing, temperatures

dropped below freezing and the rain turned to snow, which helped stall the inevitable growth of dangerous molds in the affected buildings, but it made cleanup and repair a miserable prospect.

The 1913 flood caused more than half a million dollars (approximately $15 million in today’s value) of damage to Muncie alone, and the damage done to the rest of the state is immeasurable. It is estimated that more than 400 people died across the state from the flooding and the resulting typhoid that

Writer / David Fennig

Photography Provided

swept through the affected areas.

This was before the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is now responsible for responding to such crises across the country, and the American Red Cross was still a young organization without the resources to come to Indiana’s aid. Rescue work and crisis response was almost entirely the duty of the local community.

Currently, citizens can find information about their local floodplain through FEMA at msc.fema.gov. According to Adam Leach, city engineer for the City of Muncie, floodplain information can be readily found there to help keep residents informed about the flood risk in their area. There is terminology associated with these maps that can be misunderstood. A phrase like “100-year floodplain” is not a guarantee that a flood will happen every century, or that two

floods won’t happen in the same time period. It should instead be understood that every year has a 1% chance of rainfall that would result in flooding.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Army Corps of Engineers responded to the flood by building levees and widening the channel for the White River as it passes through Muncie. According to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, the amount of rain that fell in spring of 1913 would result in the river cresting 5’ lower than the level that led to the disaster.

The City of Muncie took responsibility for maintaining the levees in the 1950s, and currently the Muncie Sanitary District holds that responsibility, though the Army Corps of Engineers still inspects them annually, as they do for all U.S. city levee systems. “The levees are in good shape,” says John Barlow, district administrator for the Muncie Sanitary District. “We are constantly working to meet the requirements of the corps.”

Currently, maintenance of the levees focuses on mowing, managing and maintaining flood gates, clearing pipes in the canal, and much more. “When Katrina occurred, everything changed from the Corps of Engineers perspective,” Barlow says. “We are working closely with them to keep the levees working properly.”

Localized flooding still occurs from heavy downpours that have nothing to do with the river cresting, and homeowners still struggle with flooded basements and other drainage-related issues. Recently, two incoming housing developments were proposed on or near flood plains, which could pose problems for incoming residents. The City of Muncie worked with the developers to ensure the foundation of the project was built up until it was out of flooding danger.

“The city recently ensured that these developments would take steps to raise the level of their projects to above the flood plain, to provide safety and security for residents,” says Michele Owen, communications director for the City of Muncie. “Even though we haven’t seen water levels like those of 1913, residents still need to deal with occasional flooding and the city takes that quite seriously.”

Heavy rainfall this spring has led the White River to start overflowing its banks, but it has still not come close to cresting the levees. Though natural disasters are impossible to predict and loom as a threat to even the most prepared cities, Muncie has learned from the disaster of 1913 and has taken serious steps to mitigate damage from flooding.

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