Last week was a long one here at our house. My wife, Lyn, was in Colorado because her brother, Tom, passed away. She will be staying a few more days to continue to be of help and support to the family.

Here at our house on Fairhope Drive, Stuart, my therapy dog, Guessie the cat, the three chicken girls and myself have been operating under “camp conditions.” Stuart and I understand how these conditions affect our lives. I don’t think that Guessie notices any difference as he thinks he is in charge, and he doesn’t care who provides meals as long as they are served at the right time.

Alberta, Betty and Jacky, the beautiful chickens, seem to be a hot mess. They understand that Lyn and I have specific duties in regard to their well-being. My basic responsibility is the delivery of special treats every morning. Lyn offers much more of her time and attention to them. She takes good care of the girls’ nesting area and often lets them out in our backyard so they can roam and play under her watchful eyes. 

The girls have learned to follow Lyn’s instructions, and when it’s time to return to their fenced-in area, they do so quickly. I’m not privileged to have them pay that kind of attention to my instructions,  so I don’t release them as often as Lyn does. Each time I step out our backdoor they loudly complain about their lack of freedom.

A few weeks ago Stuart and I were getting ready for our normal Tuesday nursing home visitation. Well ... I was getting ready. Stuart was sitting on his favorite couch. As I stepped toward him he snapped his head toward the television, but he doesn’t ever pay any attention to it. 

I passed the doorway again to see Stuart looking in my direction. I stepped toward him and was surprised when he again turned away from me and toward the television. This time I looked at the TV to see what was getting his attention. I was fairly sure that “The Today Show” was on. A video that had been produced by an animal shelter in Santa Fe, N.M., was on.

The video was airing in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and it was a parity on the reality show “The Bachelor.” Instead of the show being about dating, it was about pet adoption. The “bachelor” was a handsome dog and was being courted by a couple of attractive human gals. The ladies were talking to him and trying to get his undivided attention.

The dog in the video was named Stewart!
My Stuart had been sitting on his couch patiently waiting for me to get ready and was hearing female voices on our television saying things like, “Oh Stewart, you are so handsome.” It was obvious why he had been turning toward the sound of their voices.

We finished watching the video and then headed out to do some nursing home visiting. When we returned home I got on our computer and typed the words “animal shelter, parody, bachelor, dog bachelor and found the video. 

As I was viewing it, Stuart once again started looking toward the sound of the voices calling his name.
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.

It was only fitting that Marian University’s Katie Gearlds was named NAIA Division II Coach of the Year after her lady Knights defeated No. 1 seed St. Xavier (Ill.) 66-52 March 14 in Sioux City, Iowa, to defend their national title.
   
The Knights (35-3) finished their season by winning 23 games in a row, including five in six days to win the tournament. The players did a remarkable job of trusting one another in the tourney; they took each individual assignment to heart.

Gearlds, a graduate of Beech Grove High School who also named Coach of the Year last season, has a special group of players and coaches that work well.

“I am so proud of this group,” she said. “We went through it all this year, losing three games before Christmas. They stuck it out and believed in us. I don’t know a team that works as hard as this team. I am proud to be their leader.”

Marian’s Jessica Almeida and Joana Soeiro were named first team all-tournament, and Soeior was the Most Valuable Player. That sure brought a smile to my face. Roncalli graduate Kelli Kirkhoff, who averaged 13.4 points per game, was named to the second team. 

Kirkhoff, a junior, and Rachel Titzer, also a Roncalli grad, played well throughout the tournament. Titzer (3.6 ppg), a freshman, got the ball rolling early in the tournament by scoring 11 points in the opening game against Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)   

Last year when in Sioux City for the tournament, the team made a connection with Hunt Elementary School. The bond was still there this year as students and staff attended tournament games. And just like last year, the Lady Knights visited the school after winning the national title.

The team returned home March 16, and I was among the loyal fans waiting to greet them. It was a special time when they slowly stepped off their chartered bus. I spoke briefly with Katie Gearlds and assistant coaches Vicky Volonaki and Mark Parker. I also had a short visit with Kellie Kirkhoff and Rachel Titzer. The word “tired” came up often.

I feel honored to have this connection with this team. We will really miss the graduating seniors: Ana Kirby, Jessica Almeida and Jenna Sullivan.
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The Southside was once again well-represented in Sioux City. Thank you, Lady Knights! I can’t wait for next year.

A few weeks ago I was visiting with some friends, and we started talking about how some of the roads in Perry Township were named after residents. The streets that I am going to talk about are those that were named after someone I met or a member of a family that I knew.

Thompson Road was named for Edwin Thompson, who built and owned Longacre Swimming Pool and Park for many years. I never met him, but his widow lived next door to my family on Madison Avenue. Mrs. Thompson owned the first television set that I saw that wasn’t for sale in a store.

Mr. Thompson’s middle name was Elbert. The first street north of Thompson is Elbert, which starts and stops a few times. If it had crossed Madison, it would have been between our house and Mrs. Thompson’s.

One traffic light south of Thompson is Epler Avenue. I have known and are friends with several folks from the Epler family. The original Epler home was a large one that sat just west of Edgewood Grade School. My first connection with the Epler family was Mrs. Epler, a first-grade teacher at Edgewood. Her husband, Norwood Epler, was a bus driver, and I rode his bus (No. 12) to junior high. Morris Epler was a class ahead of me in school. His father, Al, owned a gas station at Meridian and Epler. 

McFarland Road also bears a family name. The McFarland family started the Golden Guernsey Dairy Farm in the mid-1800s. Some of the old stone fencing is still visible on Southport Road just east of McFarland. I knew Mr. “Red” McFarland, who was also a school bus driver. 

How about Gray Road. It was named after the Gray family. Jeremiah Gray has an elementary school in Perry Township named after him. Marilyn Gray-Mayfield is a lifelong township resident who I met when my dad and I had an automobile repair shop and school bus business in Southport. Marilyn was one of our drivers and later drove for the township.

Anita Hoss-Smith is one of my former high school classmates. As I remember she lived on or near Hoss Road, which runs west of Meridian Street and a few blocks north of Thompson.

Almost across from the Meridian-Hoss intersection is Bixler Road. The Bixler family farmed quite a bit of the land between Meridian and East streets. George and Peggy Bixler were friends of my folks, and Becky Bixler and my sister, Kathy, were good friends. The Bixler family operated The Southern Circle Drive-In Restaurant for many years and built and operated Southern Plaza Shopping Center.

There is also Derbyshire Road, which runs out of Southport. The family home is located about halfway between Southport and Banta roads. 

The Hannah House on Madison Avenue is just a few blocks north of Hanna Avenue. My friend Judy Elder takes care of the house, which in 1978 was recognized as a historical landmark.

There is also Cardinal Drive. Several years ago the Southport Cardinal attended my birthday party. He is a cool bird.

I’m sure there are more Southside roads that are named after area residents. If you know of any, let me know.

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. 

We lost one of our longtime neighbors last week. Joan “Jodie” Marks was a neighbor to my family when we moved into our house in 1958. This neighborhood was just being developed at the time.

Jodie, her husband, Bill, who was an attorney, and their children, Billy, Susie and Jimmy, and our family quickly became friends. Bill was an attorney and had an office on the Southside. Even though I was several years older, I was sometimes invited by the boys to play basketball with them on their court.

Bill died in 1967. I was driving my school bus and was stopped at Madison and Edgewood avenues. Bill’s office was on Madison, and I saw him looking out his office window and we waved and smiled to each other. A few hours later we heard something had happened and that he had died en route to the hospital.

A few years later my mother, Jodie, Judy Ralston and maybe another gal or two had a late afternoon get-together, which was known as happy hour. I think it rotated from house to house. 

Several weeks ago I visited Jodie at a nursing home. I told her that I remembered them celebrating happy hour, and she responded that they had lots of fun but never overdid it. After her children were grown, Jodie married Richard Marks in 1992. She and Richard continued to be our neighbors.

As I walked into the funeral home the first person I encountered was Jodie’s son Bill. I hadn’t seen any of the children for many years. It was so nice to visit with him. I had connected with his sister a couple of days earlier at Jodie’s house. Later at the visitation I caught up with Jim. Maybe we can plan a day to play basketball on their mom’s driveway. I chatted briefly with Richard too.

I also ran into Dr. Marvin Christie; he and his family were close neighbors for several years. He can always come up with some good memories and stories. 

Another former neighborhood family that we reconnected with was Tom and Amy Haag. I hadn’t seen them in a long time, and they told me that Amy’s brother, Jim, was living in Avon. He worked with me and my dad at our Sunoco station on Madison. I plan on getting together with Jim soon.

I also came across Dr. Robert Kopecky and his wife, Milly. It had been a long time since seeing him. Dr. Kopecky removed my appendix when I was in the fourth grade. 

A one point a fellow walked up to me and called me by name. He introduced himself as Scott Christie, Dr. Marvin Christie’s youngest son. Scott told me a couple of stories about going hunting with my dad many years ago.
The room was filled with so many people that I have known for such a long time. We all agreed that we would like to reconnect under different circumstances.
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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.