The Edgewood Grade School all-class reunion is Saturday, Sept. 9, at The Atrium, 3143 E. Thompson Road. Reservations can be arranged by emailing [email protected] or calling Melinda Luttrell-Bush at 317-709-6629 by Thursday.

Memories of our school years make attending these reunions special. I’m so lucky to have more memories of the years driving my school bus. I remember Pete Bailey as my principal. I also recall him as a friend and customer at my family’s service station on Madison Avenue and later at our auto/school bus repair garage in Southport.

On one occasion at the garage, Mr. Bailey dropped off his car. Later that afternoon he picked it up. I visited with him and then we walked out to his car. I was getting ready to close his trunk lid when I noticed our favorite neighborhood dog curled up inside the trunk. I encouraged the dog to hop out, and Mr. Bailey was on his way. I often wondered if that dog had been a bulldog (that was our school mascot), would Mr. Bailey have just closed the trunk and adopted it?

I remember attending Edgewood basketball games, where Joe Simpson and Jesse Blackwell played together. They were a few grades ahead of me. It was so much fun to attend their games and watch the team toss the basketball to Jesse (I think he had grown to his total height by the time he was in the seventh grade) and he would make an easy layup. Some of the scores were like 48-7. 

Edgewood School’s annual fish fry was amazing. There were lots of games for the children to play. My parents were involved with the fish fry a couple of times. I recall cars being lined up on Shelby Street from almost Thompson Road to purchase dinners from the drive-through.

I have reconnected with several of the students who rode my bus to and from Edgewood. I’m sure I’ll see some of them at the reunion. I drove Bus No. 34 for about five years before switching to Bus No. 44.  

A few weeks ago I was talking with some former classmates about Edgewood and the different things that we remembered. One of the things was our walks to Edgewood Methodist Church during school time for a weekly Bible class. That was also the church where Boy Scout Troupe 96 held its weekly meetings. That has not changed. 

We also learned about music. I did an article about my experience with a flutophone. I believe we were exposed to the plastic whistle in the fourth grade. I ended up in the “special select expert flutophone concert group” that played during parents night. 

I was given a new flutophone a few years ago. Maybe I’ll bring it to the reunion ... but just to show it.

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.

I am really looking forward to the coming weeks as I will be attending reunions of all sorts.

Every month we have two meals for former classmates. There is a breakfast for mostly guys, and it is the last Wednesday of each month at The Hotcake Emporium, 6845 Bluff Road. Last month I sat next to Richard Sickels, and we had a wonderful time.  

Part of our chat involved Richard’s childhood neighborhood around Raymond and East streets, which was home to the Fireside South Restaurant and Singer’s Sunoco Service Station. We also talked about several other businesses in the area. My dad’s sister and her family lived on East Street, north of G.H. Herrmann Funeral Home.

Our class also holds a luncheon for mostly women on the first Wednesday of each month. The next one is Sept. 6 at Dawson’s, 1464 Main St., Speedway. Glenna Shotts-Warwick is handling the arrangements.

The fourth Edgewood/James Whitcomb Riley Grade School all-class reunion will take place from 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at The Atrium, 3143 E. Thompson Road.

I remember being somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the Edgewood building and the playground when I was a first-grader. The following year we moved to the new Riley building, which was just for first- and second-graders, and everything was much easier to deal with. I was back at Edgewood as a third-grader.

In addition to being a student at Edgewood, I was later a bus driver for the school for several years. It was special to go from being a student and being mentored by the staff to becoming a small part of that staff as a young adult. I drove Bus No. 34; the main area of my route was the Rosedale Hills.

Then on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15 and 16, my Southport High School graduating class of 1960 is holding its annual reunion. One of our former classmates, Judy Tout-Synder, can find anyone. She is our guiding force in organizing these special events. She even assists other Southport classes to find lost classmates for their reunions.

On Sept. 15 we will go out to dinner, and the following day is our picnic. It is so much fun to visit with folks who I see every month and former classmates who haven’t attended a reunion for a long time.

My class has always enjoyed getting together and recalling stories. These tales are often told and retold, back and forth at all of these gatherings. I have noticed that the stories seem to get better and better over the years.

We also try to attend a home football and basketball game each year. Athletic director Pete Hubert has been wonderful about having a small area of seats roped off and assigned to our class for these events. We have also been introduced by the public address announcers.

We have a great high school class. It is awesome that we graduated in 1960 and most of us are only in our mid-30s (never mind trying to do the math).

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. 

There is going to be a wonderful all-class reunion Saturday, Sept. 9, for those who attended Edgewood Grade School. The gala is being organized by Ted Lobdell and Barry Hix. Call me at 317-784-9242 for more information. 

My sister, Kathy, and I attended Riley and Edgewood schools from first through sixth grades. 

A little over six years ago The Southsider Voice’s Kelly Sawyers and Denise Summers invited me to try my hand at writing a newspaper article. I was sort of thinking that it would be a one-and-done deal. Below is the first column I wrote for them; it was published July 20, 2011. Ironically, it was about Edgewood School and the neighborhood.

OK, here’s the deal. My name is Fred Shonk, and I grew up in Perry Township. I attended Edgewood Grade School and Southport High and lived along Madison Avenue in the house that is now the Longacre Bar & Grill.

My father opened a Sunoco service station on Madison when I was 14. Working there allowed me to meet many of the great people who lived and worked in the township. I am still good friends with a lot of them.
Our station was close to my grade school, which had – if memory serves me correctly – 11 outside basketball courts, making it the roundball capital of the Southside.

On nice weekends you might wait an hour to find a court that needed a player – but even then you had to be invited. Some of the games featured such talented players that I was relegated to only tossing the ball into play.

Big-name high school players from Manual and Washington often played with Southport’s top guns. I remember Louie Dampier, Jess Blackwell, Joe Simpson, twins Tom and Dick VanArsdale, Steve Downing, George McGinnis, Morris Epler, Leland Richards and others playing for hours.

On weekends I would fill my pocket with the proceeds from my Indianapolis News route and ride my bike to the courts. In between games we would go to Roehl’s Drug Store or Kauskey’s Grocery for something to eat and drink. 

Some of the players discovered that the pop machine at my dad’s station was the closest one to the courts. The drinks cost 10 cents, and there was supposed to be a 2 cents deposit charged if the bottles were taken off the premises; however, that rule never applied to the players.

About twice daily someone from our station climbed into our service truck and drove over to the courts, where there would always be two or three empty piles of bottles. Seldom did we come up short on empties when the delivery guy came to restock.

Looking back, I took pride in my ability to toss the ball in ... it was a wonderful experience.
I still reminisce about those days whenever driving past the location on Epler Avenue. 
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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. 

Last week was full of ups and downs as I was dealing with one of those crazy summer colds. Years ago I learned that if I got one and took good medicine, my cold would last two weeks. I also learned that if I took nothing it would last about the same length of time.

Well, I’m feeling better. Stuart, my therapy dog, and I can get back on our nursing home and school visiting schedule. It drives Stuart crazy when I do something that messes up that routine. 

We did do something different last week. Several times Stuart and I stopped by the Southport Police Department at Southport and Derbyshire roads and visited with folks stopping by to pay their respect to Lt. Arron Allan, who was fatally shot July 27 while responding to a car accident in Homecroft. We met several Southport officers and a lot of Southsiders. Several of my family members and neighbors also stopped by. It is such an honor to be a part of our solid Southside community. 

We watched the funeral procession from Banta and Derbyshire roads, where about 30 people gathered to honor Lt. Allan. It took more than 30 minutes for it to pass.

* * *
Saturday was also my birthday, and I got many well wishes on Facebook. A couple of days before my birthday, I watched an old episode of “The Jack Benny Show,” which originally aired on the radio before moving to TV.

I remember sitting on the floor near my folks’ big self-standing radio. My family really enjoyed listening to that radio show. All the years that Benny was on radio and television, he claimed to be 39 years old. This year I caught up with Benny. I was 37 for several years. Now I’m 39 – and like Benny – I’m locked into that age.

Saturday evening my wife, Lyn, and I went to Mike Heimel’s auction center in Beech Grove, where the bluegrass band Midwest Station was playing. 

At one point the band tried get Mike to sing with them, but the audience didn’t think that was a good idea. He did go up and “cuddle” with a couple of the band members. Those photos can be seen on Mike Heimel’s Facebook page. 

The band sang “Happy Birthday” to Mike and me. Our birthdays are only a couple of days apart, but I’m thinking he might be older than 39.

* * *
Attention former Edgewood Grade School students: Our big reunion  is Saturday, Sept. 9. If you need any information, give me a call at 317-784-9242.

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.