PUBLISHED IN THE JULY 26, 2023 EDITION

A few times each month, I meet with friends, former co-workers and former classmates to enjoy breakfast at The Hotcakes Emporium located at 6845 Bluff Road. We all enjoy attending these events. The staff is wonderful, and the food is great. A couple of the gals seem to enjoy giving me a difficult time. There is this one gal that after accepting my ticket and money at the register, she points to the door and yells, “Get out”.

We all laugh.

About eight years ago, several of my high school classmates and I were having breakfast. We were enjoying our meal and telling lots of stories to each other. I noticed a couple deep in conversation while sitting at the counter. When I glanced back a bit later, the guy was gone. The lady was still there, and it looked like she was having a very large breakfast.

A bit later, she hopped off of her stool and walked over to our table. She started talking to one of us. I believe that it was Ed Tinholder. She told him that she remembered him from a golf course. She also said that he was with his father and described his hair.

Ed smiled and informed her that she might have him mixed up with somebody else because he doesn’t play golf and his father was deceased. The lady said that she was sure of her memory and walked back to her seat.

She returned a few minutes later to tell us that she had gone to a liquor store the day before to purchase some pickles, but the clerk was very rude to her. She then informed us that she would never return to that store.

Her physical appearance led us to believe that she might have an oriental background. When one of the guys asked her what country, she was from, she replied Michigan. This banter went on for several minutes before she returned to her breakfast.

She then started chatting with other customers. They appeared to be polite to her but seemed very pleased when she moved on. She returned to our group several times.

One of our guys asked her where her parents lived. She answered northern Indiana, Carmel, Fishers or maybe South Bend.

She passed out business cards, but none were hers. She explained that the people identified on those cards were friends or relatives. A couple of times when a guy from our group would get up to use the rest room, she would take his seat until he returned.

The lady was there before we arrived and was still there when we departed. I’m thinking everyone in the restaurant was more than ready for her to leave. I was told that her breakfast had been reheated three times.

All of my classmates thought all of the employees were professional and polite under some difficult conditions.

I returned one or two days later and was told that she was there for over three hours. None of the staff members knew how she arrived or departed. They were very relieved when she paid her bill and departed.

I’m pretty sure that none of my buddies will forget that breakfast. Neither will most of the other customers. I smile when I consider that several of the staff are still working at The Hotcakes Emporium and they probably all remember that morning like it was last week.

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. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.

Published in Wednesday, July 19, 2023 edition

It has been a busy last few weeks. Lyn and I have helped celebrate some birthdays. I’ve reconnected with some old friends. We held that celebration of life to honor my late son, Mark. We took time to honor the State Trooper and the Sheriff’s’ Deputy.

On one of the weekends during that time, I took time to watch parts of the NASCAR race that was held on the streets of Chicago. Back in the days when I held a part-time position as a charter bus driver, I spent a few weekends driving the streets of Chicago. I don’t have many pleasant memories of those trips.

I had the race on television and watched it on occasion. I was multi-tasking that day. I recognized some of the streets. I bet closing off the streets used for the race really caused traffic problems.

Shane van Gisbergen was the driver who won the race. After the race, the announcers said that it had been his rookie NASCAR Cup race. They also explained that this was the first time in 60 years that a rookie Cup driver won the very first race that they competed.

My mind started wandering back and it occurred to me that I was present in person for that race. My good friend, Larrie (Bud) Johnson and I had traveled to Florida the summer before. We visited the Daytona Speedway and quickly made a play to return soon for the Daytona 500.

We knew all about the Indianapolis 500 and all the people that were always in town for the race. We saw that the city of Daytona was totally filled with hotels and motels. 

We figured we could go a couple of days early and it would be no problem to secure a motel room. We were wrong. Everything was full. We were finally directed to a place that had a list of private homes that would rent a room. The first home we visited was close to everything and looked good. We had learned that the motel room prices were about triple the cost we had paid the last visit. 

We met Mrs. (Maw) Hartzell at her house and she gave us a tour. It looked nice and when she announced the room fee, Bud and I looked at each other with mouths wide open. She thought we were upset at the cost she had offered. She quickly said, “Now that includes breakfast.”

In fact, we were shocked at the much more reasonable price as compared to the motels. We quickly paid her and totally enjoyed staying at her house. We even went back for a few years and sometimes there were four of us.

Over the years, we got to know “Maw” Hartzell’s family. Her son was a chef for the astronauts based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. She was very proud of him.

There are several races at the Daytona Speedway during the weeks leading up to the Daytona 500 in February. Bud Johnson and I were probably present when Johnny Rutherford won the very first NASCAR race that he was ever entered. It happened to be the second 100-mile qualifying race for the 1963 Daytona 500.

A few years ago, Lyn and I were traveling in Florida. We spent a couple of days in Daytona. I’m not certain, but I think we found “Maw” Hartzell’s old house. A great trip that brought back special memories.

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. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.

From the Wednesday July 12, 2023

Over the last couple of years, Whiteland, Indiana has offered me more of a connection. A couple of our grandsons and their wives live in the area. My friend Kellie Kirkhoff is now the girls basketball head coach at Whiteland. I met her during her college years at Marion University. Katie Gearlds was the head coach at Marion during that time. Recently, the tornadoes have placed Whiteland on the front page of many newspapers. I was very impressed how they came together to honor Fallen State Trooper, Aaron N. Smith.

On June 28th, as soon as I heard about the death of Trooper Smith, my mind carried me back to the mid 50’s. I was a student at Edgewood Grade School. I also had an afternoon newspaper route. My route ended at Madison Avenue and Thompson Road.

On a cold afternoon as I finished my paper route and headed north on Madison Avenue to our house, I observed a couple of state police cars driving south with the revolving red flashing light on the roof of their cars. The siren was silent, and the cars were not exceeding the speed limit. I had never seen a police officer operating their patrol car in that manner.

I later found out that Indiana State Police Sgt. Hubert C. Roush had died in a traffic accident at Epler and Madison Avenues. I found out later that a truck had turned left into his path. I even learned later that the truck belonged to a local business that was located on McFarland Road.

While there were radio, television and newspaper accounts of this terrible incident, there was no coverage of any arrangement. So, my memories are of those slow, quiet red light flashing State Police cars.

In memory of State Trooper Aaron Smith
I quickly planned to watch the televised funeral ceremony on Friday. I sat with Simon (our dog) on my lap. I’m glad that I had a box of tissues on the table beside us. They came in handy a few times. I believe that Gov. Eric Holcomb was the first speaker that got to me. State Police Superintendent Doug Carter had a tough time sharing his memories. Aaron’s cousin, Christopher Marlin shared some family stories.

Aaron Smith was also a member of the Indiana National Guard. He was also a licensed pilot. That gave him and I a small connection. I was also in the Indiana National Guard and my unit provided maintenance for the aircraft. I believe we both held the same rank.

I was very surprised when I noticed that the ceremony was closing, and a couple hours had passed. I watched as everyone moved out of the service and the funeral procession began to Crown Hill cemetery in Indianapolis. I heard them say that it was going to be a 31 miles journey. They were going to Whiteland High School and later to his childhood neighborhood.

My wife, Lyn and I made a plan to find a place to honor Aaron Smith as the procession drove past us. We finally settled in at Thompson Road and Meridian Street. There were several folks already there when we arrived.

It was so special to watch the vehicles drive past us. I’m thinking their speed was around 35 mph. There were so many police vehicles leading the funeral hearse. It took over 12 minutes for the procession to pass us.

As we watched the vehicles drive past our standing location, I noticed a large helicopter hovering over our location. I had a feeling the Indiana National Guard was in the air above us.

I was also informed that Trooper Smith’s wife, Megan, is a teacher and also an assistant softball coach at Whiteland High School.

It was a beautiful service. RIP Aaron Smith.

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. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.

From the July 5, 2023 edition

I enjoyed my school days at Edgewood Grade School. I met so many friends, some of those friendships continue on to this day. Perry Township had five elementary schools at that time. There was Southport, Glenns Valley, Bluff Avenue, University Heights and Edgewood. All of the buildings were packed full of students. The James Whitcomb Riley building was constructed on the Edgewood property to accommodate first and second grade students.

The five elementary schools held all eight grades of students. The first junior high school had not been constructed at that time. The schools had both boys’ baseball teams and boys’ basketball teams. I believe the teams were 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. We played against other elementary teams in Perry Township.

I have great memories of attending basketball games and watching 7th and 8th grade teams playing. I was probably in the 4th or 5th grade at the time. It was fun to watch the older guys play. One of the Edgewood boys’ teams had quite an advantage. That team had a player that probably had a strong growing spurt very early in his grade school life.

He was the tallest player on the court. I’m thinking he might have been a foot or foot and a half taller. From the bleachers, he looked twice as tall as his opposition. His name was Jesse Blackwell. I have a feeling that coaching that team was very easy. I can almost hear the coach telling the players to toss the ball to Jesse and then get out of his way. I’m positive that many of the final scores of games that Jesse played were around 20-point victories for Edgewood Grade School. He excelled at both offense and defense.

Jesse, a 1956 Indiana All Star, had a great four years at Southport High School. The teams that he played on were always very strong. Coaches Blackie Braden and assistant coach Everett Swank had very good teams. Jesse probably had to learn to play a bit differently as many of the boys slowly grew closer to his height. I’m thinking he went from being over a foot taller to playing eye-to-eye with the competition. 

After high school, Jesse went to Butler University. He had a very good time playing for Tony Hinkle. I remember going to a few games during his time at Butler. I mostly listened to the games on the radio.

Jesse’s younger brother, Charlie, worked at our Sunoco Service Station on Madison Avenue for a while. I’m thinking that was when I got to know Jesse. After Jesse finished his years at Butler, he began a long teaching career. He also spent years coaching baseball, football and of course, basketball.

He is a resident of Florida and we have talked on the telephone a few times over the years. Several years ago, the Perry Township / Southport Historical Society developed a very special Basketball Hall of Fame. It is based on two blocks of Epler Avenue. To qualify, a player must have a playing experience at Edgewood Grade School or played for Frank Kautsky’s professional team. The next qualification is that they must have earned money playing, coaching or officiating games.

I talked with Jesse about this a few years ago. We installed our first group in the Hall of Fame in 2019. We haven’t done any more because of the pandemic. I was putting together my list and Jesse Blackwell was near the top. I was planning on giving him a call soon.

I got a text message from him last weekend. He explained that several years ago he had left some knee cartilage somewhere between Southport and Butler. He has knee surgery coming up this week.

We connected on the telephone later and had a great conversation. We discovered that at this time between both of us, we might have one fairly good knee. He said he would let me know how the surgery went and I’ll check with him about passing on the news.

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. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.