The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, May 12, 2021 A-9 Submit East Gibson news items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: egnews@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg EAST GIBSON Something newsworthy? Email eastgibson@pressdispatch.net OAKLAND CITY'S TOWN MOM CELEBRATES MOTHER'S DAY By Janice Barniak Sonja Highfill, behind the counter of her clas- sic 1950's style diner in Oakland City, greets a customer considerably older than her. "How's mom today? " he asks, and she says fine. Others walk in and say, "Hey ma, how's it go- ing? " Highfill may be young enough to be their daughter, but to Oakland City, she's mom, the mother behind Mom's Diner, a business she took over Jan. 1, 2019, from former owner Mark Gray. "We kicked around a lot of names. People had a lot of suggestions," she said. When she thinks of a warm welcoming place, though, she thinks of her mother's kitchen. "Mom's is a place to hang out, talk and have fun," she said. "No arguments. No fights. A place to talk history." That's what she's trying to create in her home- town. Highfill has lived in Oakland City since she was four, is a Wood Memorial grad who lived some time in Indy before coming back to her own mother, Jeanie Hensley. "I wish she could have seen this place. She would have loved it," Highfill said. Hensley died five years ago and had 400 people at her funeral. She said she learned a lot about mothering from her mom, and from taking care of her daughter, Amanda Hurlock. "Being a mom means being able to, I guess, have your kids depend on you, trust you," she said. She tries to bring that same dependability to her customers, some of whom don't have trans- portation and need somewhere to go that's close and in town, especially a place they can wheel to in their wheelchairs. Those people can't walk or wheel themselves down the highway, she said. "Everybody said it's a dying town. Don't do it," Highfill said. "I know how it is in business. My dad ran a garage. I'd be more upset with myself if I didn't try this here." The building was the Cozy Cove, the Fish Hut and the Cozy Cafe before Mom took it over. "I know I'm not getting rich off it. We almost lost the business in 2019 — we were a few thou- sand from shutting down. Then we slowly came back. Then, in 2020, COVID hit. I hated it when the dining room shut down. We're coming back from that. We're sticking it out." Despite hardships, she hosts frequent car shows, and the $400 - $500 proceeds go to the East Gibson Food Pantry, she doesn't keep any portion. "It's just taking care of people, helping them out, taking care of family when they need you," she said. "There's a man with a wife in hospice, and no one to cook for him. It's a running joke that he comes in on Tuesday—we're closed on Tues- day, but we'd come by. He saw us and pulled up and said, 'Can I get eggs? ' I said, 'We're closed.' He said, what about toast? What about grilled cheese? " She made the grilled cheese. "I figure we're fortunate enough to be here, we'll help out where we can," she said. "We ain't nothing special. We're just people." Sonja Highfill poses behind the counter of Mom's Diner on Friday before a charity car show for East Gibson Food Bank. Split vote on zoning attorney bills By Janice Barniak Commissioners were split 2-1 on whether to pay attorneys Grant Schwartzentruber and Josh Clay- borne, who drafted anti-zoning language at the request of two commissioners, which was then passed language at their Jan. 5 meeting, the first of the year. The attorneys also attended zoning meetings and did zon- ing-related research for the coun- ty, much of it prior to March. Warren Fleetwood and Ken- neth Montgomery were in favor of paying, Mary Key was against the move. Schwartzentruber's re- quest was for $7,095 of services in- curred after Jan. 1, and Clayborne billed $4,759 for services, again, after Jan. 1 of this year. The Jan. 1 date was specified because the attorneys previously billed the county for work Mont- gomery and Fleetwood initiated in November and December, af- ter they had won election but be- fore taking office. According to Schwartzentru- ber, the attorneys had separately spoken with Fleetwood and Mont- gomery about doing the work, and, as they could tell there would be a majority when the new commis- sioners took office, they complet- ed the work. Schwartzentruber told the Star- Times in March the question came down to whether a signed and ex- ecuted agreement had to be done to complete work, and added theo- retically if the motion to pay them had not passed in the March 2 meeting, they would not have been paid for any of the work. "Which, it's not really a big deal either way...Either it's all le- gitimate time or none of it is legit- imate time," he said. Schwartzentruber and Clay- borne eventually waived $2,500 for the 2020 work, saying they didn't want the bills to distract people from the zoning repeal de- bate. Key was against paying the 2021 bills, she said, because the board did not vote to hire the attorneys until March. "This was all done previous to hiring them," said Key. "I have a problem paying people for work before we voted to hire." COVID cases decreasing in county By Janice Barniak According to Health Dept. Di- rector Diane Hornby, COVID cas- es are going down, with the county showing 125 cases in April, com- pared to 811 in January. The county is currently at the blue advisory level, which is the lowest, with a positivity rate of 3.12 percent as of this printing. The county is at 92 deaths of COVID patients total. The demographics of positive cases now show the highest per- centage of cases in those 0 -19, with the next highest among the 20 -29 year-old crowd. There were 125 cases in April. "It's going in the right direc- tion," Hornby said. "I like May," said Key, joking be- cause with the meeting being on May 4, there had only been four cases so far that month. Vaccinations are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday at the Gib- son County Fairgrounds. Pfizer is looking to be approved for a younger population, she add- ed. Plans take shape for Community Crossings grant use Orange barrels and cones are com- ing to Gibson County, after Commu- nity Crossings money was approved for area projects. The county received the $1 million maximum amount of grant, accord- ing to County Engineer Matt Holden, who received permission from Coun- ty Commissioners to bid out the con- struction project. Meanwhile, in Haubstadt, Bryon Will said North Main Street, Bradley Drive, Vine Street, Gibson Street and Third Avenue will see some work, which he expects to start mid-sum- mer. Unfortunately, petroleum prices being up has increased the cost of asphalt and the town may get into a situation where they cannot do all the proposed work. Some work is also planned to swap out 10 -inch PVC storm sewer pipe for 12-inch from Dewig's down to Gib- son Street, at a cost of $5,092 for the pipe and another estimated $4,640 in driveway replacements, the Haub- stadt Town Board learned last Mon- day. That money was approved out of the storm sewer budget. Greek's awarded landmark status Gibson County Commission- ers signed a proclamation in their May 4 meeting recognizing Greek's, the former candy store in the Ward building, as having local landmark status. "I'd have liked to know about it beforehand, but I don't have a problem with it," said Commis- sioner Mary Key. Downtown Princeton, Inc. di- rector Hannah Whitehead said the project plans to start build- ing in June 2022, focusing on the main floor and patio, with plans to re-open the candy store. Oakland City Elementary April Students of the Month Front row (l to r): Cash Gregory, Lillith Lasley, Addison Cox, Kylie Wiggs and Carson Heichelbech; middle row: Terrin Meece, An- thony Tucker, Jace Cooper and Brooklyn Hess; back row: Kynedi Maikranz, Maylee Stubbs and Ella Hillyard. Not pictured: Averiana Kimbrel and Kylie Kimbrel.