The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1458183
East Gibson School Corp. announces Kindergarten registration James Wilson, Superintendent of East Gibson Schools, announces Kin- dergarten Registration. Children who are five years old on or before August 1, 2022 are eligible to enter. Parents must bring either their child's certi- fied birth certificate, obtained from the health department in the coun- ty of the child's birth, or their Hospi- tal birth certificate to show proof of date of birth. Children will register at their prospective schools. School teachers and staff members will be testing all students, so you must call the school your child will attend for an appointment. Children will be al- lowed two adults, no siblings. Masks are required to be worn at all times by the child and parent. Social dis- tancing is required. Parents must al- so bring a copy of their child's immu- nization record. Minimum immuniza- tion requirements by law must be met prior to entering school. The requirements are: • 5 doses of DTaP; • 4 doses of Polio: • 2 doses of MMR; • 2 doses of Hepatitis A; • 3 doses of Hepatitis B; • 2 doses of Chicken Pox Vaccine/ Varicella or physician's documen- tation of the disease Immunizations are available by appointment at the Gibson County Health Department. For more infor- mation, call 812-385 -3831. Immunization records will be ac- cepted from your family physician or a public health clinic. The dates and times for Kindergar- ten registration are as follows: • Francisco Elementary: Friday, March 11, 9 to 10 :50 a.m. and 12:45 -1:50 p.m. • Oakland City Elementary: Mon- day, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. • Barton Township School: Thurs- day, March 10 from 9 to 10 :50 a.m. and 12:45 to 1:50 p.m. Please call the school your child will attend for an appointment. • FES: 812-782-3207 • OCE: 812-749 -6133 • BTS: 812-795 -2292 The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, March 9, 2022 D-3 EAST GIBSON 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 Allen: Toyota YMCA name was in contract By Janice Barniak Cecil "Bob" Allen told com- missioners March 1 that he'd questioned and had an an- swer to why the new YMCA in Princeton will be named the Toyota YMCA. He said in talking to the president of the YMCA, the naming was part of a $1 mil- lion contract donation agree- ment between the non-profit and the company. "They bought it," Allen said. In November after the name was announced some citizens expressed frustration to com- missioners about the name be- cause the county put $13 mil- lion in redevelopment tax dol- lars into the project, and they believed the naming should reflect the county's input. "Gibson County's citizens are ignorant because we didn't know you had to buy the name," said Allen. In December the YMCA responded to commissioners about the name in a letter, say- ing Toyota Motor Manufactur- ing of Indiana was not just a major but an early contributor, according to a letter from local YMCA CEO Jonathan Pope. TMMI committed to the contribution in October 2020, (before the vote to spend the county redevelop dollars,) and secured the naming rights, and having a widely recog- nized company back the proj- ect with a lead gift was critical in securing other funding and adding credibility to the proj- ect, Pope said. "We are thankful for the ma- jor contribution from Gibson County," said Mary Key, read- ing Pope's letter aloud during the commissioners' Dec. 21 meeting. CARS WITH A CAUSE "Hillbilly Rick" planning to race 1,000 Hot Wheels cars in a fundraiser for St. Jude Hospital By Janice Barniak Warrenton's Rick Meyer, known to many as "Hill- billy Rick," is planning to race 1,000 Hot Wheels cars on a 250 foot track in a fundraiser for St. Ju- de Hospital. While the event is on hold until the hospital re- opens to visitors, that's not discouraged Meyer, who plans for the six-lane Hot Wheels track to break records. "I don't need any money. The idea is that we're going to race 1,000 cars on a track, which no one has ever done," he said. "Because of my love for St. Jude's, and also because my grandson loves to play with Hot Wheels, we'll have a new Hot Wheels car for each kid at St. Jude's Hospital." In addition he will encourage them to play the online Hot Wheels game he designed for iPad to let them virtually participate in the fun that will be fundraising for the hospital. An Evansville native that's now living in Warren- ton, some may know Meyer as the owner of Weath- er Rock Campground, and others may know him from his days as a line dance choreographer. His choreography credits include "Hillbilly Ricks Rap," "Fiddler Man," "Wiggles," and others. His "Baby Likes to Rock It" choreography set a September 2003 Guinness World Record, when 12,168 people danced it in Hong Kong. In the heyday of country line dancing, Meyer traveled the world once doing 72 fundraisers in a year. He remembers a year his fundraiser gave $116,000 to St. Jude. When his career hit the top he hosted Elvis Week in Memphis, which draws approximately 35,000 people annually, and was scouted for a television show. Then his parents got sick, he was in an ac- cident, and he noticed that some of the chari- ty events he was helping raise money for in oth- er countries were more about supporting the or- ganizers' overhead than giving money to charity. "I found out in Australia one of the fundraisers was trying to use me, and 90 percent of the proceeds were not going to charity," he said. He withdrew to the Haubstadt area, which he said was a good place to raise a family. "I've gained weight. I've gotten a lot older," he said, adding he never realized he'd grow up to look like Santa, causing him to be mobbed in malls at Christmas time. He's kept working throughout the pandemic without traveling, and still writes and produces his own music, and takes on projects, like building a 16 foot Titanic to sink in his pool with his grandson. Several people have jumped on to help the St. Ju- de fundraiser, including a man who 3D printed con- nectors to hold six tracks side-by-side, and Haub- stadt welder Joe Knapp, who helped him with the aluminum plates to hold the track. "I'll walk in with 2-3,000 Hot Wheels cars in brand new packages, one to give to each patient. We're going to take down a 250 foot track, set it up, and have a booth at end. People who donate will get a car, and there will be races that day where they can win prizes," he said. He did a test run of 100 cars Thursday afternoon on one fourth of the track space, watching them fly at the end into the bucket, and then laughing — in a way, not unlike Santa — as many missed and spun off. "God just leads me, and I just follow," he said. Rick Meyer, known as "Hillbilly Rick," does a test run of 100 cars on about a fourth of the 250 foot track he's constructing for a St. Ju- de Hospital fundraiser. There will be 1,000 cars on the finished track. Commissioners acknowledge EMS workers By Janice Barniak Gibson County Commis- sioners acknowledged the work of EMS responders on a fatal accident on US -41 in their regular meeting last Tuesday. Commissioner Warren Fleetwood called the acci- dent tragic and called out Gib- son County EMS and Gibson County Sheriff's Office for providing what he called ex- cellent care for those patients. "I know it was a tough day for a lot of our emergency re- sponders," he said. "They an- swer the call when we need them." Gibson County Commis- sioners and Gibson County Council are currently in sala- ry and contract negotiations with Gibson County EMS, who are asking to be paid for all 24 hours of their 24 hour shifts, whereas they're cur- rently paid for 16 of the 24. Gibson County Coun- cil proposed a special safe- ty tax to cover the costs, and said it would probably also be enough to help staffing at the Gibson County Sheriff's Of- fice as well. Recovery dollars deemed lost revenue By Janice Barniak Gibson County will call the approximately $ 6.53 million from American Rescue Funds lost revenue for the county. Debbie Bennett Stearsman, who has advised the county on the rules and stipulations around the American Res- cue Funds (ARF) told com- missioners that deeming the $ 6.53 million as revenue lost due to COVID will increase the flexibility as to what the county can spend the mon- ey on. A committee to oversee Gibson County's ARF proj- ects has heard several hours worth of plans from everyone from businesses to non-prof- its to governmental organi- zations to private citizens on projects the county could sponsor with the money. There is another pub- lic hearing for projects at 5 p.m. March 10, at the Toyo- ta Events Center in Prince- ton. Projects previously pre- sented do not need to be pre- sented again, and anyone who wants to propose a project for Gibson County can present. The committee will not de- cide projects March 10, there will also be a formal applica- tion to fill out, the committee previously has said. COVID cases declining By Janice Barniak According to Gibson Coun- ty Health Dept. Director Di- ane Hornby, COVID cases are down currently. "Everything is way down," she told Gibson County Com- missioners March 1. "We were averaging about 100 new COVID cases a day, and this month about 20 (cases per day)." She said the restrictions from the CDC are lessen- ing. It was last July since the health department had a day when they had no positive cas- es. "We'll take a slow month or two," Hornby said. Food Truck Tuesdays will come to fairgrounds By Janice Barniak From 4 to 8 p.m. the last Tuesday of the month from April through Sep- tember, Gibson County Fairgrounds will host Food Truck Tuesdays, an event featuring five to seven food trucks, music and outdoor seating beginning April 26. "We had some food trucks show some interest," said Fairgrounds Di- rector Charlie Woodruff, who went to Farm 57 to look at their food truck event to get inspiration. "It's not a moneymaker for the fair- grounds. It's a public interest thing, so by the time we advertise we may break even, but some things we do just for the public." The event plans to get a wide va- riety of foods, so that the different vendors won't be competing as much against each other. So far, in April, Pappa Bear's Bar- becue, Bruce Li's Asian food truck, Sassy's Sweets dessert, and Tom's Coffee have signed up to sell. Participants can sit in the open air concession areas, which have a roof so they'll stay dry even in the rain. Woodruff said there will be a DJ or band at the events, and they'll be rain or shine. If the events go well, it could ex- pand to more than once a month next year, but it will be important to prove to the food trucks they can make mon- ey coming to the fairgrounds first. "We'll see how many people turn out and support it," said Woodruff.