The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/906097
A-2 Front Wednesday, November 22, 2017 The Press-Dispatch BLACK FRIDAY Sale Friday, Nov. 24 & Saturday, Nov. 25 oNLy the Fitness Center HOURS: Mon-Thurs: 10am-7pm, Fri: 10am-6pm Saturday: 10am-1pm ( 812 ) 354-1303 604 East Illinois St., Petersburg (near the Little League Park) TANNING SPECIAL 2 MONTHS TANNING ANY BED... PLUS GET A FREE BOTTLE OF MOISTURIZER! $ 60 ONLY.. Reg. $72 • SINGLE - Reg. $275, NOW $220 • STUDENT/SENIOR - Reg. $225, NOW $170 • HUSBAND/WIFE - Reg. $460, NOW $395 • FAMILY - Reg. $635, NOW $510 1-YR MEMBERSHIP SPECIALS Busy this Friday and Saturday? Enroll by phone with a credit card! Ask about 24-HOUR access! call us at 102 W. Illinois Street Petersburg, IN 47567 6 Sullivan Dr. Washington, IN 47501 812-254-2707 or 812-354-1406 Winter Service Special We will service and get your lawnmower ready for the next season! Service Includes: • Change engine oil • Replace oil filter • Replace air filter • Replace spark plugs • Replace fuel filter • Lubricate entire machine • Sharpen and balance mower blades • Set tire pressure • Adjust mower deck • Clean battery cables • Clean top and bottom of mower deck • Clean radiator, test anitfreeze & top of (if applicable) • Check all belts, pulleys & adjust if needed • Check all safety switches ** We service all makes and models of mowers, compact tractors, skid steers and mini excavators ** Prices DO NOT reflect parts. Parts average around $50 for riding lawnmowers less for push mowers** Riding Lawnmowers Push Mowers Only Only $ 99 $ 29 99 Free pickup & delivery if signed up by 12/15/17 *15 miles of locations** By Andy Heuring Eighteen-year-old Kaleb Claridge has been helping with auctions, from hold- ing items to actually calling them, for sometime, but Sat- urday was the first time he actually did an auction for his fledgling auction com- pany: Claridge Auction Ser- vice. "I have been going to auctions for a long time. But this is my first time to do one on my own," said Claridge. Since his middle school years, Claridge has been helping out Johny Ray Auc- tions in Lynnville with auc- tions. He has done about ev- erything for Johny Ray, from being in a ring holding up items for sale to helping him prepare and eventually even calling the auction. Claridge said his inter- est in auctions started at a young age. "I remember go- ing to auctions with my fa- ther when I was probably five years old." Claridge said when he was little, his father, Kevin, went to sev- eral auctions and he would take Kaleb along. "He would let me pick out one thing and bid on it," said Claridge. "I just really enjoyed it when I was young and I still enjoy it now." Last spring, Claridge de- cided to get serious about the auction business and went to auctioneer's school in Indianapolis. "It was a 10 -day course. I had to pass three tests there and take the state exam. I passed it and got my auction- eer's license," said Claridge. "It went pretty smooth- ly. The weather kept some people home, but there was a good crowd," said Claridge of his first auction. He said he owed a lot of thanks to his family for help- ing him with the sale. It was a family affair. His grandfather and cousin held items up as they were being bid on, his mother, Kay, kept track of the bids and sales, his other grandparents were selling concessions, a cous- in was grilling and an aunt was ringing up customer's purchases. If things go as he plans, it will be the first of many. A senior at Pike Central, Claridge plays basketball and soccer. He said he would like to get into the business when he graduates. "My dad owns a small business. He does coal mine reclamation work and digs graves. I would like to help him out, but I want to get in- to the auction business and see how far I can go with it," said Claridge. Claridge calls his first auction LIGHTS Continued from page 1 eral Savings Bank and Parsi- fal. Now comes the decision on where to go from here. Klipsch said Petersburg was approved for a streetscape grant that will fund im- provements to Main St. that include replacing the old lights poles, along with new sidewalk and curbs. How- ever, it isn't scheduled until 2020 and 2021. He said Duke has a lease program for light poles similar to the one they are operating on with the old poles. However, they can't get the style of pole that is in place. Klipsch said they will be meeting with Duke to talk about their options. There are some aluminum poles available but they won't match the seven exist- ing poles. Another option is to temporarily install wood poles. "That is one option. I'm not very crazy about it," said Klipsch. He said if that ends up be- ing their only viable option, they probably wouldn't have three poles per block. Petersburg purchased new Christmas lights last year. "Last year, we had 29 poles with Christmas lights. This year, it looks like we will have seven. ACADEMY Continued from page 1 bit short, but we can get through November and De- cember. The state told us we won't get any money in No- vember and December. Jan- uary and February is the time that we have to work." Rhodes subsequently asked an audience member if they knew what the date was. "It's not a trick question – the 20th of November," Rhodes said. "In January and February, we run out of gas, if we don't do some- thing." "What do you want me to do? " Rhodes asked. "Do you want me to take the keys and lock the door? That's a legit- imate question. Do you want me to lock the school up? " Receiving a negative re- sponse, Rhodes continued. "Of course not," Rhodes said. "You know me well enough that, that ain't go- ing to happen." Rhodes announced that it was "gut check time." "Now's the time," Rhodes said. "And I'm not going to Jasper Engines, and I'm not going to Kimball. I'm not going to Toyota. We may, at some point and time, go to those fine, kind people, but we're not going to them. I'm turning to you." "I need everybody in this room on double time," Rhodes added. "I need ev- erybody who's not here. I need to energize the eastern Pike County ministerial as- sociation. I need to energize the churches and the con- gregations. I need to reach out to our friends in Dubois County and Daviess Coun- ty, who have been very gen- erous to date, and ask them to look again into their finan- cial situation." Rhodes said that he had come up with a possible so- lution to the school's fund- ing crisis, which he called the "20/12 program." The first part of the pro- gram, Rhodes said, would be to identify and secure com- mitments from eight sepa- rate donors to give $5,000 each – four in January and four in February – for a to- tal of $20,000 each month. "I don't know how it's go- ing to shake out," Rhodes said. "I can tell you right now that of these eight po- sitions, I believe that two of them have already been filled." The second part of the program, according to Rhodes, would be to identi- fy and secure commitments from 12 separate donors to give $1,000 each during both January and February – for a total of $12,000 each month. "I can tell you, as of last Friday night, one of them was filled, like that," Rhodes said, snapping his fingers. "I can tell you that since Fri- day night, I've had two more filled. That number is down now to nine." However, Rhodes added, more donations would be needed. "We need everybody that believes in what we're doing, that believes in educational choice, who believes in edu- cational independence, who believes in the communi- ty schools, who believes in small class sizes and per- sonal attention by the class- room teacher," Rhodes said. "If you believe in any or all those things, I want you to tithe. I want you to tithe to Friends of Otwell. I want you to give whatever you can give. I want your nickels and your dimes and I want your dollars and your quarters." "I don't ask you to give a lot," Rhodes added. "It needs to be any amount you want to give any time you want to give it during the week, but I want you to give weekly. A regular weekly tithe. I want you to do it for 16 weeks ... just to buy us a little insur- ance. If we do it for 16 weeks, kids, the numbers work out a lot better." Rhodes subsequent- ly asked Friends of Otwell board member Josh Byrd if he thought the group could find enough donors to keep the school open. "I think we can," Byrd said. "We're just going to have to get out and beat the bushes. That's what it's go- ing to take." Rhodes noted that if 100 donors could each tithe $20 per week for the 16 -week pe- riod, it would generate an ad- ditional $2,000 per week – or a total of $ 32,000. "I don't know," Rhodes said. "I'm not prepared to bet the farm. That's why we've got 20/12 going on. But I think this tithing is a technique whose time has come, and I would like to try." "I believe that we have been handed this oppor- tunity to help ourselves," Rhodes added. "I believe that we've been handed this opportunity to stand on our own two feet, not in de- fiance, but in unity, to ex- plain once again that we are a community of families that value our size and our her- itage, and value the consis- tency of good, quality educa- tion that we choose, not that some other people choose and dictate to us." Rhodes noted that fam- ilies in Dubois County can choose to send their children to Precious Blood and Holy Family, while families in Da- viess County can choose to send their children to the Washington Catholic Com- munity Schools. "Without this charter school, there is no choice," Rhodes said. "Without what we're doing, our kids are rel- egated to doing what they're told to do and get on the bus." "Now, the issue has not changed," Rhodes added. "This is the same issue we faced two years ago. This may not be the answer. There may be other an- swers. But time is of the es- sence, and we cannot delay." Rhodes subsequently apologized to anyone who may not have complete- ly agreed with some of the things he had done or said in the effort to start up and maintain the charter school. "But I am going to tell you, and I'm going to tell you true, and you can take it for whatever you want, the nit- picking stops now," Rhodes said. "We are too close. We are too near victory for me to tolerate anybody who is not on board. I will not take any more complaints. I will not take any more criticisms of our people. Our people have served us long and hard and, damn the torpedoes, we are going forward." "If people think that I am unhappy with somebody's service, or if people are un- happy that I'm keeping other folks on board or other peo- ple around, keep it to your- self, because I don't want to hear it right now," Rhodes continued. "Push, pull or get out of my way. We're go- ing with the team that we've got and we're going to win." Earlier in the meeting, Friends of Otwell Elementa- ry board member Rita Allen announced that she expect- ed to begin selling restau- rant discount cards – featur- ing deals from 23 restau- rants in Pike, Daviess and Dubois counties – shortly after the Thanksgiving Day weekend. The cost of the each card is $10. For more information, contact Allen at (812) 709 -1836. Two road closings are scheduled in the area for railroad crossings repairs over the next couple of weeks. The Indiana Depart- ment of Transportation an- nounced it will close State Road 64 in Gibson County on Monday, November 27. Railroad crews area sched- uled to close S.R. 64 to re- pair the railroad crossing at the west boundary of the Francisco town limits near Green Street. The road will officially be closed from U.S. 41 to I-69, however local traf- fic will have access up to the point of closure. During the project, the road will be closed around the clock. Work is expected to last about five days depending upon weather conditions. The official detour for this route uses U.S. 41, S.R. 168, and I-69. INDOT urges driv- ers to slow down and stay alert near crews. A second closure on State Road 168 is schedule for Monday, December 4. Crews will close S.R. 168 to repair the railroad crossing be- tween Main Street and West Street at the north edge of Fort Branch. The road will officially be closed from U.S. 41 to S.R. 65, however local traffic will have access. Dur- ing the project, the road will be closed around the clock. Work is expected to last about five days depending upon weather conditions. The official detour for this route uses S.R. 68, S.R. 65, and U.S. 41. INDOT urges drivers to slow down and stay alert near crews. Area roads to be closed for crossing repair Kaleb Claridge points to a bidder while he calls an auction Saturday morning. Claridge, 18, is a li- censed auctioneer, who has started his own auction company.