Last Saturday, we sure had quite a bit of wind and rain around the Southside.

It seemed to start and stop all through the night also. When I got up on Sunday morning and turned on the television news, I was shocked to hear that Beech Grove had been hit by very heavy rain and wind. Thoughts that it was even a tornado were confirmed later Sunday as an EF-1 tornado of 100 miles per hour by the National Weather Service.

That brought back many memories of the 2002 tornado that really messed up things in our neighborhood and several other places on the Southside. We were very lucky. We had tree damage but very little else. Plus, no one was injured.

As the reports continued through Sunday morning, I understood that quite a bit of damage happened to Beech Grove High School and Beech Meadow apartments. I learned that the community center was open to assist anyone.

Stuart (our therapy dog) and I got ready and soon we were on our way to Beech Grove.  We pulled into the parking lot at the Hornet Park Community Center. Looking around, there was lots of debris and downed trees to be cleaned up and repairs to be made at the apartments across the street.

We walked up to the center and the first person that we encountered was Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley. We watched as he finished an interview and then had an opportunity to visit with him for a short while. He told me of the different areas that were damaged, but there were no known injuries. It was good to see the mayor out checking on everyone.

Stuart and I then went into the center and talked with Angel Calvert-McKenna. She works at the community center and is a Beech Grove resident. She was there with a lady from the Red Cross and they directed Stuart and me to a family that had spent the night at the community center.

The family seemed happy to visit with Stuart for a while. I told them a couple of Stuart stories and the younger kids really enjoyed petting him. Stuart was in full-therapy mode the entire time.

Later we drove around to the back side of the high school. I saw damage to electrical wires and destroyed trees, but the school bus fleet looked fine. Although, I was looking at that fleet from a distance because of downed electrical wires blocking our path.

We then drove around the city for a while. Downtown looked good. When we traveled south on 9th Street, we saw lots of activity near the South Grove Intermediate School. More trees were down and lots of power and light repair trucks were in the neighborhood, especially on nearby Elm Street.

In all the areas that damage was done to apartments or houses, we noticed that the Red Cross was there to provide aid.

It was great to see the Beech Grove community coming together so quickly to assist anyone in need. Stuart and I will probably stop by a few times in the next week or so to see everyone.
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I think we have had enough rain for a while...!!

I’ve been involved with the Southport/Perry Township Historical Society for about 12 years. We have semi-monthly meetingS and programs that provide wonderful memories and historical knowledge of our local Southside neighborhood.

In the spring of 2011, we began putting together a very special program about Longacre Pool and Park. We had connected with David Dodrill (son of Rufus Dodrill, owner of Longacre in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s). He provided us with over 100 photos of the entire facility that we were able to use in the program. David was also our main speaker for a wonderful evening with around 250 folks.

During the preparation for this program, the historical society was working with the staff at The Southsider Voice to promote the upcoming special evening. On one occasion, I was in their office and sharing some of the Longacre stories with the staff. After a few of those stories, publisher Kelly Sawyers said something about the possibility of me writing an article about some of my experiences growing up on the Southside.

On July 20, 2011, my first article was published in The Southsider Voice. It was about some of my memories of playing basketball on the numerous outside basketball courts on the property of Edgewood Grade School. I spoke of some of the memorable players from around Indianapolis who would venture down to Edgewood and play on those courts. They would welcome anyone to play there.

Now, let’s move forward eight years. On July 23, the historical society will open the Edgewood Basketball Hall of Fame, based on the basketball history in that two-block stretch of Epler Avenue with Madison Avenue in the middle.  The former Edgewood grade school and the Kautsky grocery store were located there.

The former principal the Edgewood grade school, Paul L. Bailey and Frank Kautsky were very good friends. Bailey taught Kautsky about basketball. Edgewood was centrally located, and the Edgewood school basketball teams were very strong. Several players from those teams continued to  excel in high school and college. A few moved on to play professional basketball.

At some point, Kautsky approached Bailey and explained that he had a great interest in developing and sponsoring a professional basketball team.  The team was formed in the mid-30’s and folded in 1949. Bailey was involved in the development of the team and played. The Kautsky’s became the very first professional basketball team in Indiana.

The list of great basketball players with connections to Edgewood and the Kautsky’s professional team is amazing. Several names have been nominated and approved for the dedication of the hall of fame on July 23.

I have become friends with a couple of great former Edgewood students that have been involved with several Edgewood school reunions. Ted Lobdell and Barry Hix have done so much to help honor the school and put together a special memorial on school property.

Ted and Barry also have met with union representatives in a building that is located on the former Edgewood school property. They have authorized an outdoor basketball goal to be placed on the same property.

So, anyone interested in Southside hoops, please mark your calendar for July 23 to attend the historical society’s meeting in the gymnasium of the Perry Township Education Center at the corner of Banta and Orinoco streets. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. And I am sure this will be one of our most special meetings.

As the weather warms up and between days of rain, Stuart began reminding us that we should start making an occasional trip to one of his favorite businesses.

Ritter’s Frozen Custard has been at the top of Stuart’s favorite places list for many years. Last week, he and I were finishing up some errands and it occurred to me that Ritter’s was very close. He had curled up in his official front right seat in the car. But, when I turned into Ritter’s from Stop 11 Road, he jumped up and his tail was going crazy.

We got our favorite custard treats and found a place to sit and enjoy them. A family sat down at the table next to us. They were also enjoying custard treats and their two children were interested in Stuart. Stuart finished his Pup-Cup and enjoyed being petted by the kids. As we were getting ready to head back to the car, I noticed that the father was wearing a company shirt. I recognized the family name of that business.

Otto’s Parking Marking was the business name on his shirt. I quickly introduced myself and started explaining how I was acquainted to his family. I spent a couple of years living and working in Southern California. During that time, I discovered a commercial driving school that used simulators as part of their training. It was known as Link Driving Center and it was a franchise.

I contacted my friend, Ken Otto and told him about the opportunity to maybe operate a franchise in Indianapolis. I moved back to Indianapolis a few months later and we obtained some financial assistance to open our local outlet.

Soon we were in Binghamton, N.Y., learning all about the existing training programs and the ones that were being developed. The Link Simulator Company, a division of the Singer Company developed simulators for cars, trucks, trains, buses, airplanes and spacecraft.

One afternoon, I was seated in a simulator for a single engine propeller driven aircraft. After my instructor talked me through the preflight inspection, I completed the process of starting the engine while I was sitting in what looked like a ride at an amusement park. He then showed me how to release the brake and instructed me to accelerate. He showed me the speed indicator and when it reached 80 mph I was to pull back on the steering wheel.

As I pulled back on the wheel, the simulator began tilting back. I had the feeling of climbing into the sky. I was talked through several maneuvers and provided with information as to what the various gauges were indicating.

I was then told to begin the landing process. The simulator tilted forward as my altitude was decreasing. I suddenly remembered that my instructor had explained to me how many feet the landing strip was above sea level. I quickly made some corrections and was smoothly gliding down toward that reading. In a very hasty manner, my instructor reached inside my cockpit and harshly pushed the wheel forward and down.

It felt like I had hit the runway very hard and I heard a loud screeching noise. As I climbed out, he was laughing and explained to me that no one was going to make as smooth a landing on their first attempt. He said he needed to make a last second adjustment to allow me the experience of a scary landing.

I was amazed to notice that my hands were shaking and that I was wet from perspiration after my short time in the simulator. He then walked me down a long hall and opened a door that led into a very large area where I was shown a working simulator of a Boeing 747.  He took me inside and explained that a pilot could fully learn to fly the aircraft using that simulator.

That was an amazing day. I was certain that our Link Driving Center and the use of simulators was going to be very successful.

It was very nice to meet some members of Ken Otto’s family that I had never met before. Stuart explained to me on the way home that he never ever wanted to participate in the operation of a simulator.

I can’t remember not listening to the Indianapolis 500-mile race on the radio.

As young kids and teenagers, we listened to the radio much more than any other form of entertainment. My folks had one of those big radios that sat on the floor. I can remember laying on the floor and listening to my favorite shows  - the Lone Ranger and Superman were high on my list. My parents also had a list of shows that were listened to in the evenings. Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Our Miss Brooks and many others were listened to in our living room. Lots of the best radio shows later were converted to television.

I remember listening to the race while riding in my dad’s milk truck. Those country pick-up milk routes operated seven days a week. We could listen to a good part of the race before we completed the route before arriving home. I would then switch to a radio in the house to finish race. The program was sent all over the world, and I thought it was so cool that all the announcers were local fellows that we could hear every day.

E.Z. Gwynn, Sid Collins, Jim Shelton, Paul Page, Bob Jenkins and many others entertained us over the years. One local Southside radio personality was a member of the track team. Tom Peden worked with one of the local radio stations and was one of the guys we would hear on the race broadcast. His son, Mark, attended Southport High School and was a member of my high school class. I always thought that if I visited the track a time or two during the month of May, I could fully imagine A.J. Foyt and all the others screaming past the start/finish line as the announcers reported it on the network.

I plan to sit in our backyard and listen to the race on Sunday and hope to have a great time. Stuart will probably hang out with me. I’m sure he will hop on my lap a few times and help me enjoy it.

 I was excited when a NASCAR race started at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A few years ago, I offered an article about getting to tour Junior Johnson’s NASCAR racing facilities. For years he drove and owned stock cars. During the tour I noticed a real problem with the use of some fasteners on these cars. I explained to the crew about the problem and offered a solution. They crew members summoned Johnson to the garage, and I was asked to explain it to him. He understood and asked us to travel to all the other NASCAR race shops and explain my thoughts to them.

I pointed out that he and his employees would be seeing all those racers that weekend and they could easily make the explanation in a couple of hours. His response was that the owners and teams lied to each other so much that he wouldn’t be believed.  So, we needed to send sales agents to each facility to help with the corrections.

One other time, I was working with a salesperson in Houston, Texas, who had several clients at large dealerships where our main contact was the parts manager. At one dealership we visited, I was introduced to the parts manager and told him I was from Indianapolis.

The parts manager paused and was eager to introduce me to the fellow who owned the dealership. I was pretty sure that I knew who it was. At this dealership, there were standing orders to contact the boss if anyone from Indianapolis ever showed up.

A.J. Foyt came out and shook my hand and started asking me questions. We had a blast tossing out names to see if we had connections. The one I remember was Joe Langley. Joe was an Indy 500 chief mechanic and later an outside sales representative for an automotive chemical company. Joe’s shop was behind his house on Madison Avenue.

Visiting with A.J. was a wonderful and totally unexpected. He has been a bit under the weather for several years. I saw that he attended the Daytona Races in February. I hope he is here for the 2019 Indianapolis 500.