And the winner is…

By Tia Nielsen

[caption id="attachment_4473" align="alignleft" width="459" caption="Photo courtesy of Banayote Photography"][/caption] The Audience Choice Award for the Best Short Film of the Heartland Film Festival went to Grande Drip. Produced by Perry Meridian graduate Greg Wilson, Emily Moss Wilson and Wilson’s good friend Ryan Cheevers, the film mixed humor, a sweet love story and fear of rejection with a creative homeless character whose daring stunt changed everything. Associate producers Dr. Paul and Karen Wilson, Greg’s parents, flank Cheevers after the presentation during the Film Festival Closing Night event at the Indiana History Center.

- Compiled by Tia Nielsen

Greenwood: To merge — or not to merge

By Mike Alexander

The City of Greenwood is at a monumental time in history. If the governing bodies of Greenwood and its westside neighbor White River Township (Center Grove area) decided to merge, their populations of 48,000 and 40,000 would join to make both corporate bodies the sixth-largest city in Indiana. A reorganization committee, appointed by city council and township board, will present their proposals at the Greenwood council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16. The meeting will be in the second floor council chambers of the City Building, 2 N. Madison Ave., Greenwood. [ad#single-post] If approved by both boards at some time over the next several weeks, the merger decision by voters will take place in the primary election May 4. It will require a majority vote in both camps for the merger to take place. Mergers differ from annexations. In a merger, local governments within both boundaries would be completely reorganized. The trustee and advisory board would be eliminated. Taxes and governing bodies would be restructured. At the heart of coming to a merger decision is how much of it will it affect property taxes. It’s likely to go down generally for Greenwood because of the increased assessed valuation that White River Township’s properties would bring. Also, a larger city is likely to attract quality retail stores and corporate offices. White River Township’s property taxes are likely to increase. How much? That has not been revealed. The reorganization committee currently is working on the figures. However, township residents will have to consider what an increase in property taxes would provide them in city services, such as police and fire protection, increased road repairs, water and sewer improvements, more and better recreational areas and regular trash pick-up. The town of Bargersville to the south is wondering where it will come out with all of the merger planning. Town officials attempted to annex lucrative land along Ind. 135, until a Greenwood law suit stopped them. It’s been reported that a majority of property owners — many are farmers — in southwest White River want to be annexed by Bargersville because they feel their property taxes will be lower. Also, the town has about 8,000 water utility customers in the township which it wants to keep within its borders. The reorganization committee nominated by theWhite River Township Board are Forrest Chambers, Paul Reed and Dale Tumey. Those nominated to the committee by the Greenwood City Council are chairman Pat Sherman, David Payne, Don Handlin and Eric Kapke. The White River Township board consists of chairman Mark Messick, John Ebert and Joe Acker. Greenwood City Council members are Ron Deer, Linda Gibson, Monica Magna-Rees, Bruce Armstrong, Ron Bates, Brent Corey and Tim McLaughlin.

Walking the Line

By Sara Gentry

Musician Tommy Cash pays musical tribute to brother Johnny with a concert benefitting local charity Flags over Greenwood Musician Tommy Cash started playing music at 16, around the same time that his famous brother, Johnny Cash, was putting out hit singles with Sun Records. Tommy’s high school band played socials and churches around Memphis, but as an adult, he started out in music publishing. He worked with staff writers and didn’t have any interest in being a stage performer. But it didn’t take long for producers to hear him sing on demos and ask him to record on his own. [ad#single-post] Since his professional start in 1965, he’s had 19 top 20 country albums and a massive hit with the song “Six White Horses.” “I feel very grateful,” Tommy said of his music career. “My No. 1 priority and main thing in life is country music.” Tommy has played about 200 shows a year for the more than 40 years, winding back to 100 the last few years. His tours have taken him all over the world. When he’s not writing hit songs or touring the world as a successful stage performer, Tommy plays a lot of golf and sells real estate, something he’s been doing for 25 years. Each year he does quite a few benefit concerts like Friday’s concert at Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria. “It’s a lot of fun to play those,” Tommy said. “It’s good to see them raise a lot of money.”

The Man in Black

“To watch him work in the studio was an amazing experience — just watching him create,” Tommy says of his brother, Johnny. “When he walked into a room, he took it. I want people to know that he cared deeply for others. He was always doing things for people that he didn’t want anyone to know about.” In 1976, Tommy accompanied his brother on a year-long tour. One of the shows they played was at the University of Wisconsin, and their dressing room was the men’s locker room. Before they took the stage, Tommy saw Johnny walking up and down the aisles of lockers, peering into each one. When he asked him what he was doing, Johnny told him he was looking for the guy with the most ragged shorts and sneakers. When he found that locker, he rolled up a $100 bill and stuffed it in the kid’s shoe. Tommy joked about how shocked the athlete would be the next day, when he showed up to practice and found $100 in his locker, not knowing who put it there. “I don’t want him to know who did it,” Johnny said. Tommy calls the 2005 blockbuster “Walk the Line” about 80 to 85 percent accurate. While the love story between Johnny and June Carter is represented magnificently, he worries that Ray Cash was depicted as hard to get along with, but Tommy insists his father was much more mellow. Overall, he’d give the film an 8.5 or 9 out of 10. Musical Tribute to Johnny Cash By Tommy Cash and the Cash Crew Band Friday, October 30 • 7:30 p.m. Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria $20 (cash only) Tickets may be purchased at Bloomfield State Bank (Greenwood) or Greenwood Public Library Benefitting Flags Over Greenwood

Obituaries for the week of 10.29.09

By Submission For The Southside Times

Brenda Faye (Sexton) Proffitt, 54, of Indianapolis, died Oct. 24. She was born May 19, 1955, in Oneida, Tenn., to John Riley & Ollie May (Griffith) Sexton, Jr. who preceded her in death along with her sister, Jean Helen Casavant. She was a homemaker. She is survived by her husband, Gerald A. Proffit; sons, Patrick Anthony Sexton, Gerald Riley Proffitt, Jr., David Anthony Proffitt; daughters, Corine Lee Stevens, and Tiffany Nicole Proffitt; brother, Clyde (Debbie) Sexton; sisters, Joyce (Bobby) Miske, Theora Lynn (Stuart) Price and Mary (Steve) Danielson; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Services were held Oct. 28 at Fountain Square Mortuary. [ad#single-post] Robert P. Schaler, 73, of Indianapolis, died Oct. 25. He was born January 23, 1936, in Indianapolis, to Walter H. and Catherine M. Schaler. He served in the Army Reserves for six years. Bob worked 47 years as a union carpenter with the Local 758 Union and during that time, he owned and operated R. P. Schaler Contractor, Inc. for 27 years. His wife, Kathleen Schaler, preceded him in death. Survivors include his daughters, Denise Cole and Elaine Schaler; grandchildren, Stephanie, Brandon, and Violet; and brothers, Walter and Joseph Schaler. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at G. H. Herrmann Madison Avenue Funeral Home, 5141 Madison Avenue. Prayers will be held at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at the funeral home, with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10 a.m. at St. Roch Catholic Church. He will be laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery.

FC grad founds clean water project

By Tia Nielsen

72 hours is all it took. A mere three days rocked the world of Seth Maxwell. The 2006 Franklin Central graduate was a first-year student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles in March 2007. Pursuing an acting career, something he had done since he was 7, was on his mind — not founding a not-for-profit that brings clean, safe water to people suffering from thirst. And as Maxwell tells high school groups he speaks to, “I didn’t wake one day and say, ‘I think I’ll start a charity today.’” But in a storyline that might not even seem believable for the movies, Seth Maxwell is now the founder, president and CEO of The Thirst Project, based out of LA. [ad#single-post] In 2007 a friend convinced Maxwell to see her photos from Uganda because there was a bigger story. Maxwell watched in growing horror as photo after photo showed Ugandan women and children collecting their daily water from dark brown water sources. Women and girls daily walked hours to any place they could find water. No matter how it smelled, what animals had defecated in it or how dark the water color, the girls and women collected the nasty brew in clay jars or large plastic cans. Water is survival. But polluted water is also death — especially for children. Shaken, Maxwell did online research and discovered that Uganda is not alone. There is a global water crisis. Every 15 seconds a child dies of water-related illness. “The next day my pastor talked about the global water crisis during his sermon. ‘We can reduce child mortality by 99 percent overnight,’” Maxwell recalls him saying, “if we solve the water crisis.” Gathering seven college friends the next day and pooling their combined resources, they came up with $70. They bought 1,000 bottles of water and headed to Hollywood Boulevard. They offered the bottles free to people in order to ask if they knew about the world water crisis. At the end of five hours, 1,000 people had gained awareness. Most also gave money to Maxwell and his friends. $70 became $1,700 — enough to rehabilitate a broken well. “I thought I had done my part and could go back to my life, focusing on myself,” said Maxwell to a group of Indianapolis high school students Monday. Maxwell also received two phone calls from people he had met in Hollywood the day before. Would he come speak to their school about his organization’s work? What organization? thought Seth. But he agreed to talk to Esperanza High School in Orange County and college students at Berkeley. By the end of the month, $9,000 had been donated. “I guess we’re onto something,” he thought. The Thirst Project officially launched in 2008 to raise awareness of and bring solutions to the clean water crisis. They offer a strong educational program to empower and mobilize students under the theme: Together…We CAN do something. Give Water. Give Life. Because of his vision, strong leadership and ability to get results from his generation, The Thirst Project board is peopled with high-level entertainment industry professionals. Actor Drake Bell is an official spokesperson. Bell sent out a challenge Oct. 26 to his 120,00 Facebook followers to join his Five4Four Campaign: donate five dollars a month for four months for a new well in Africa. Thus far, The Thirst Project has completed projects that provide water for 8,000 people and have helped up to 30,000 more through partnerships with other nonprofits. All funds raised through student outreaches go directly into well projects. Operating expenses are funded through other board initiatives. Maxwell told a high school science class on Monday, “Right now you have everything you need to do something to save lives. You don’t have to, but, if you could save lives for $20, would you?” Seth will be in the Indy area through Nov. 7. There is still time for a few more school or church visits. For more information, call Seth Maxwell at (317) 691-5806 or visit their Web site at www.thirstproject.org

Closing the curtains may be your get-out-of-jail-free card

By Mike Redmond

I’m sure we’ve heard the old saying about how people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Well, you can add some other things to that. They shouldn’t pick their noses, either. That is to be done in the car, at a stoplight. And they shouldn’t walk around naked, although I would be willing in to make exceptions for Halle Berry and Sofia Vergara. Which brings us, in a most roundabout way, to the case of Eric Williamson of Springfield, Va. [ad#single-post] He doesn’t live in a glass house, but he was naked the other morning, and that seems to be the trouble. So much trouble that he was arrested for it. Here’s the story, hot off the Internet: “Eric Williamson, 29, got up at 5:30 a.m. Monday and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. He was naked, but he was alone in the Springfield house, so he didn’t think it mattered. “Wrong." “A woman and a 7-year-old boy were cutting through Williamson’s front yard from a nearby path, according to WTTG-TV, Channel 5, in Washington. Through his front window, they saw Williamson having coffee in his birthday suit. “Fairfax County police showed up and arrested him.” The story didn’t say so, but I am 99 percent sure that the house is made of some standard building material with only the customary amount of glass. Which, evidently, is all you need to break the law against being naked in your own home in Springfield, Va. I presume one exists or else they wouldn’t have arrested him. Williamson says he was just standing in the kitchen, having a cuppa joe in his altogether. The police say he wanted to be seen. However, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Not that I have any personal experience, but it doesn’t seem to me that 5:30 a.m. is the prime flash-your-neighbors hour. That said, I’m not sure drinking coffee in the nude is the brightest idea he ever had, and not just because there were people cutting through his yard and looking in his window at the time. I can sum up the problem in one word: Spills. Owie owie owie. Now let’s go back to another detail of the case. This woman and the kid were cutting through the guy’s yard. Since when is this acceptable? How come they didn’t get arrested for trespassing, or peeping in his windows? I was taught to respect other peoples’ property, every hour of the day, including 5:30 a.m. You simply don’t go traipsing through other peoples’ yards. You don’t stare in their windows either. It’s rude. Besides, they might be naked, and if it’s not Halle Berry’s or Sofia Vergara’s house, you could well need a brain scrubber to get that image erased, and so far, nobody has invented one. You could very well scar yourself for life, and anything less than the aforementioned Halle or Sofia, it’s just not worth the potential trauma. But no. The woman and the kid skipped, and Eric is looking at a possible year in jail and a $2,000 fine. All because he wanted to have a cup of coffee au naturel, and also without sugar or cream. And because he didn’t do what anyone with a lick of common sense would do when walking around the house naked: Close the curtains.

Halloween isn’t the same in malls

By Kevin Kane

Of all the things that could spoil Halloween, the one that’s actually doing it is fear. Over the past few years, increasing numbers of trick-or-treaters have left the neighborhoods and headed to malls. Instead of going door to door, they now go store front to store front in search of their candy. Their parents have them trading dim lights and spooky sounds for fluorescent bulbs and Sheryl Crow. Sale signs replace spider webs. Hanging ghouls give way to mannequins and costumed doormen are swapped for hostesses and earpiece-equipped clothes folders. [ad#single-post] Sure, there’s still candy, and you may find an occasional pumpkin, but the atmosphere’s not the same. The experience isn’t the same. For these kids, Halloween’s no longer scary. But it is safe, and it’s a shame you can’t have both. Well, that last statement probably isn’t true. Considering most people aren’t evil, creepy or devious, I doubt it’s completely unsafe for children to continue getting candy from their neighbors as they’ve done for years and years. But there are enough creeps out there that you can’t completely blame the parents for playing it safe. Still, I can’t help but feel bad for the kids that it’s coming to this. Adults use Halloween for dressing up in funny or skimpy costumes before they head to bars or private parties. But for kids, Halloween’s about being scared while it can still be done so easily, and that just can’t happen in a mall. It may be safer, but the only thing scary about The Cheesecake Factory is the wait. The only frightening aspect of Finish Line is its prices, and there just aren’t enough stores like Hot Topic to make it really feel like Halloween. The eerie effects of a dark and decorated neighborhood can’t be duplicated within a shopping center. It just isn’t possible. Trick or treating inside a mall is safe, but it’s almost too safe. Even young kids surely know there’s nothing lurking behind the freestanding map and no one will jump out at them unless they’re trying to sell moisturizers. Instead of a man yelling “Rahhh!” they’ll only be confronted by “Can I ask you a quick question?” And that’s not scary. It’s just annoying. This is so commonplace that business managers stock up on candy like they’ve got the most popular house on the block. Carmel’s Clay Terrace center advertises this trick-or-treating, and I know multiple parents who’ve said they’ll only take their kids to such places for fear that their sons and daughters will catch the flu, receive tampered candy or even be kidnapped right before their eyes. You can’t blame parents for not wanting to chance it, but I just hope we don’t completely abandon the door-to-door system. Halloween is unlike any other holiday, but taking it off the sidewalks and into the shopping center makes it too much like all the rest. And if kids really want to spend their holidays in malls, the good news is we’re only halfway through the retail Christmas season. However the south side’s kids spend their Halloween, I just hope they have fun. Whether they visit their neighbors’ recently “haunted” houses or take free samples from Sarku Japan, hopefully they can find a way to keep the holiday both safe and scary. The easiest way to do that? Just check the wait at Cheesecake around seven o’clock.

Top ten ways to get rid of unwanted trick-or-treaters

By Torry Stiles

10. “Hi there, kids. My name is _____. I’m your city councilman. Let’s talk about the bond issue.” 9. “You kids get a choice. Atomic Fireball or Atomic Wedgie.” 8. You open the door. The kids yell “Trick or Treat!” You flop backward holding your chest... and lie very still until they go away. 7. “Nothing until you cut the grass!” 6. “Hello, children. I don’t have any candy. Candy is bad for you. I’ve got steamed Brussels sprouts.” 5. Erect a large sign on your lawn: “This is a ‘Clothing Optional’ home.” 4. “Honey! They’re on the porch! Turn on the sprinklers!” 3. Offer them a choice from your mismatched sock basket. 2. “I got candy for you. I just need to see a picture ID and your trick-or-treat license.” 1. Invite them in to discuss the value and savings opportunities of new replacement windows.

Shame on you, Southport Council

By Submission For The Southside Times

Editor: As a longtime resident of Perry Township and a former resident of Southport, I am troubled by the action of the Southport Council regarding Mayor Rob Thoman. Instead of properly using their legislative powers when they disagree with a proposal, they have chosen to use their efforts in the politics of personal destruction. Some members of the council from the beginning set up situations so that whatever Mayor Thoman did, he would anger some group or political faction. As soon as he stepped on one or more of these little “political mines”, the appropriate group jumped on that single issue and attacked. Their ultimate reason seems to center on forcing the mayor to resign or insuring the election of a future mayor who will restore the little fiefdom that existed prior to Mayor Thoman taking office. [ad#single-post] We see way too much of the efforts to “destroy” the lives and careers of individuals who step forward and agree to run for any political office. It has become a thankless task and one that few people are willing to take on. The power of the voters to have a voice in local government is under attack, and this situation in Southport adds fuel to the forces that want to reduce that voice of the people. Most likely, any future candidate for Mayor of Southport will be sure to seek approval from the majority of members on the town council before asking the voters to elect him/her. Why would any candidate in the future step forward with new ideas to present to the voters and let the voters decide? As a reaction to a new mayor changing the old-time status quo and his efforts to address issues facing Southport, those disagreeing with him have chosen to destroy the individual rather than argue the issue. Dr. Thoman may be a different type of executive from the folksy style of former mayors, but he brought a different level of education and successful business acumen to the position and has attempted to administer from his base of knowledge and success. What has that brought him? From his detractors, there are the most extreme personal attacks and efforts to undermine his professional livelihood and career. Council members may not like his decisions, but they have the power to unite and vote against his budget or any other measure where they have voting authority. However, to use their efforts to personally destroy him is undignified and wrong. Shame on them. Evelyn Sayers Eldridge

Comforting through food

By Sherri Coner-Eastburn

Yesterday, a friend and I discussed comfort foods. For man problems, kid problems and money troubles, she migrates toward hot fudge, either on chocolate cake or across the top of an ice cream mountain. I, however, grab anything of the Little Debbie snack cake variety for any type of crisis. [ad#single-post] Later, I bought a small container of cinnamon at the grocery. Then I went home and sprinkled toast with an overabundance of butter, some sugar and my new cinnamon. I was taken back to my little-girl days, when this snack with a hot cup of cocoa made me feel safe and loved. I could see my grandma again, pressing the mouth of a drinking glass into dough for biscuits. Once they were puffy and brown from the oven, my grandma expertly tore the biscuits into little pieces. She never once complained like I would, that her fingertips had third degree burns. She added some butter to melt in the mix with sticky sweet white Caro syrup. And that was absolutely the best stuff in the world. My only stress in life was to keep my ponytails out of the syrup when I leaned over the bowl to take a bite. For some reason, I’m thinking a lot lately about what people say with food instead of words. My grandpa, for example, presented a lop-sided cake with bunches of icing or a loaf of banana bread as a peace offering. That was his apology without words. When my son visits, I make two specific meals. Chipped beef gravy for lunch and a roast with rice for supper. Those are his favorites. I make those meals to help him remember that we’ve been together for a long time, since the days when he sat on telephone books to reach the table. Someday when I’m gone and he’s whipping up some chipped beef gravy, he will hopefully smile and recall the same feelings I do about comfort. What’s comforting is different for all of us. Unique in its own way, a comfort food lasts a lifetime of memories.