​When my dad operated his Sunoco service station on Madison Avenue and we had our small fleet of school buses, we did a lot of maintenance work on our customers’ vehicles. We did a lot of business with local auto parts businesses. We also had outside sales agents who sold us products and services. 

One of those agents was Paul Schroader, who was a neighbor of ours. He frequently stopped in to purchase gasoline. He and my father were good friends.

Paul worked for Bowman Products, which sold maintenance and repair products for automotive and industrial businesses. They provided fasteners, brass fittings, electrical connectors, welding materials and much more. 

Paul stopped in each month to inventory these products and write an order to refill products that were getting low. Lots of times he would stop in again later and refill the bins and cabinets after the products had been shipped to our station.

Several years after I had moved back to Indianapolis from California, I was in the market for a new job. I saw an advertisement in the newspaper, and the name of the company seemed familiar. It was Bowman Products. I remembered Paul Schroader being a sales agent for them. 

I contacted the district manager and scheduled an interview. I met with Bill Hensley and after a couple of interviews I became an outside sales agent for Bowman products. I was surprised to learn that Paul Schroader was still an agent with the company.

I remembered that Paul had a couple of “outside offices.” We mostly operated from our homes. I made my sales calls during the day and finished the paperwork in the evening in my small home office. 

Paul also had a home office but also operated out of a couple of taverns on Madison Avenue. If I noticed his car at the Colonial Inn, I stopped in and visited with him for a while. Paul was a good guy and I learned a lot from him.

After several years I was given the opportunity to become a district manager, which involved moving to Grand Rapids, Mich, where i lived for about 12 years. The things that I had learned from Bill and the agents that I had become friends with really helped me get started in my new position.

Last week, Stuart, my therapy dog, and I were out running some errands and were close to Carmel. I looked up the address of the business that my former district manager, Bill Hensley, now owns. Stuart and I drove through several totally crazy roundabouts and then sailed right into his parking area.

It was great to get to visit with Bill for a while. We communicate a bit on Facebook, but it was special to chat in person. Bill’s wife, April, also works with him. She was out of the office at the time of our visit. I told Bill that I often think about Paul Schroader when I drive past his former house.

I was telling him a story that involved a fellow we knew from Bowman who originally worked here in Indiana and later was my supervisor when I was in Michigan. Neither of us could remember his name.

Bill came out to the car to meet Stuart before we left. During the drive home I remembered the name of the fellow. I called Bill and all I said was, “Jesse Tatum.” We both laughed. I’m thinking we’ll make lunch plans soon.

It’s Sunday afternoon and I am out in my little office working on my weekly article and watching the Daytona 500 on television. 

The Daytona 500 brings back a lot of wonderful memories. For several years in the 1960s I had the opportunity to attend the race, but my initial trip to Florida did not include attending the event. My good friend Larrie Johnson and I made a trip to Florida, which wasn’t during the “speed weeks” of February. We toured the state and were impressed with the city of Daytona and the track.

We made plans to go to the race the following February. Since we were so impressed with the number of large hotels located in the beach area, we didn’t think we would have to make reservations ahead of time.
That was a big mistake. When we arrived in Daytona we could not find any vacancies. We got information that some residents were renting rooms in their homes. We stopped at a business and picked up a small list of homes that had rooms for rent.

We visited a home in a suburb of Daytona and the lady, Mrs. Hartzell, showed us a room and said it would cost $15 per day. We had planned on a hefty price for our accommodations. Larrie and I must have looked at each other with surprised expressions on our faces. Mrs. Hartzell mistook our looks as we might think she was charging too much. She quickly added that it would include breakfast. 

We couldn’t accept quickly enough. We attended several races. There were even drag races on the backstretch of the Daytona track in the evenings. 

For the next few years I enjoyed returning to Daytona. Our group of guys increased to four. We always stayed with Maw Hartzell, and she always provided us a great breakfast. We got to know her family; her son was the main chef for the astronauts at Cape Canaveral.

We saw Richard Perry win a couple of times and saw Fred Lorenzen win. We attended qualifications and races from midweek to the the Daytona 500 on Sunday. 

We also enjoyed the festivities on the beach. It was so nice to get away from Indiana weather for a week. I could always put up with any cold weather when we returned from Florida. This was when my dad operated his Sunoco service station on Madison Avenue. We were outside quite a bit then.

When there were four of us on the trip, we drove straight through on the way home. This was when interstates were being constructed. There might be times during our trip when we might have a 30- or 40-mile stretch of road that was finished and open, but there would be no connections to another part of interstate. Lots of people wouldn’t drive on them for that short distance.

We tested out these new highways. It was fun to drive those distances and be one of the only vehicles on the road. We also got pretty good at changing drivers while driving on these highways with no other vehicles on the road; we rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. This is something I do not recommend now.

Several years after we ended our annual trips to Daytona, I was in Florida on a business trip and contacted Maw Hartzell. We got together for an evening and had a wonderful time.
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Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.

After one of our chickens (Alberta) died several months ago, our household consisted of myself, wife Lynn, therapy dog Stuart, cat Guessie and chickens Jackie and Betty.

Well, a couple of weeks ago Lyn encouraged me to take a trip with her to interview some potentially new family members. As soon as I was ready to travel, I woke Stuart from his fourth nap of the day and invited him to accompany us to Greenwood for the interviews.

We entered the store and Lyn led us to an area where hundreds of baby chickens were chirping. There were many different breeds. Stuart and I made a couple of laps around the chickens.

Lyn had done her homework and knew what breeds she was interested in. She was soon chatting with a store employee and examining some young chickens. Stuart and I visited with some folks who recognized him from the articles that he writes for this newspaper.

We returned home with four baby chickens and the supplies needed to help them grow into hens. Some adjustments were needed to our garage, and our newest family members were set up under a heat lamp and provided food and water. Lyn told me that they will be full grown and laying eggs by midsummer.

It seems like I can see these baby chickens growing daily, and they are accustomed to us visiting with them. A couple of them seem to enjoy being held by Lyn.

Lyn and I are considering names for the new girls. Our three older chickens had special names; two of them were named after our mothers. Betty was named for my mom and Alberta was named for Lyn’s mom. The third, Jackie, is named after a former family member, Jack the rooster, who was a birthday present to me several years ago by our daughter, Michelle.

It was Alberta that we lost to illness several months ago. Lyn made sure that one of our new girls was of the same breed as Alberta. She was given that same name to honor Lyn’s mom again and also the first Alberta the chicken.

We waited about a week to name the new girls because we wanted to get to know them a bit better before naming them. Besides the new Alberta, we now have Nancy, Trudy and Kathy.

Nancy and Trudy are the names of Lyn’s sisters and my only sibling, Kathy. I’m certain that everyone is excited that they have chickens named after them.

Now there are eight of us sharing things around here. By midsummer we will be gathering in about a dozen fresh eggs every two days.

Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. 

I have been attending some great high school (Southport and Beech Grove) and college basketball games. The games help me get through winter. 

Did you know there is a women’s college basketball team in Indianapolis that has won the NAIA national championship the past two seasons? And that two of the players and the head coach played for Southside high school teams.

I’m talking about Marian University, where former Beech Grove, Purdue and professional standout Katie Geralds is in her fifth year of mentoring the Knights (24-2, 13-1, Crossroad League).

Her players include Roncalli graduates Kellie Kirkhoff and Rachel Titzer, who scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, in a 89-44 road win over Spring Arbor (Mich.) on Saturday.

The Knights defeated Indiana Wesleyan 76-56 at home Jan. 31 to avenge an earlier loss to the Wildcats. Kellie, a senior, scored 17 points, and Rachel, a sophomore, chipped in 10.

The Southside’s presence on the Knights’ roster will be stronger next season as Beech Grove seniors Cameron Cardenas and Katie Giller have committed to play for Gearlds. 

Geralds and Assistant Coach Vicky Volonaki recently attended one of the lady Hornets’ home games. It was nice to visit with them for a couple of minutes.

Marian has two more home games before conference and tournament play opens. The Knight host Huntington at 1 p.m. Saturday and Bethel at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Marian is on Cold Springs Road. I enjoy driving out there because I go past the area that used to be Riverside Amusement Park.

My wife, Lyn, and I really enjoy going to Marian’s games because we see a lot of familiar faces in the stands.  

Assistant coach Lakan Hasser-Smith is a 2016 Marian graduate and a former player. Jenna Sullivan, who played last year, is attending games this year. She played in a key role in the team’s march to the national championship las season. It’s great to see former players who are still connected the team. 

Now, take a moment and consider the fact that you and your family and/or friends can attend one or two games being played by the national champions. 

Hope to see you there.

Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.