The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1471837
A-2 Tuesday, June 28, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times ing to Clerk Treasurer and fes- tival organizer Vanessa Riggs. They refused to sign. "They said they'd rather have it in the street," Riggs said. The Watermelon Festival has insurance but the festival has gone 100 years without having to sign a contract, Riggs said, and especially a contract that referred to the festival as a renter of the space even though they've never had to pay for use and don't expect to pay in the future. While some members of the librar y board see requiring in- surance or a liability waiver to be a way to personally protect their assets and those of the librar y, others were against what they saw as an attempt to control events that had always been traditional in the town and never required a contract. Moreover, small events by the Owensville Community Planners don't have the funds for insurance as they strug- gle to complete paper work to establish their status as a 501(C)3 non-profit. This came to a head in the meeting Thursday that had people standing out in the halls of the new library building. According to Librar y Board Secretar y Dan Parrish, the insurance policy protects the board members from losing their personal assets in a law- suit were a person to, for ex- ample, fall. "I've spent 40 years building my career and my business," he said. "They are entitled to sue me personally. I personal- ly will not pledge ever ything I've worked my entire life for because someone is a klutz." The librar y carries its own policy, but a lawsuit could bankrupt it, Parrish said. Board member Robin An- germeier said ever y time she uses a facility she's required to sign a document. "Kids break arms and collarbones," she said. "It's fiduciar y; it's logical. It's un- fortunately the day we live in. There are people out there who fall and want to sue you." "It is not our attempt to con- trol," said Board President Mike Tremps. Board Vice President Jerica Davis said she not only stood apart from the board's deci- sions but wanted to bring up a troubling version of the us- age agreement that had been circulated, and not only that, was she believed what people had previously been required to sign in November, adding it required vendors of items to follow librar y standards. She read from the previous usage agreement. "...'Items that are illegal, racist, cruel or offensive will not be permitted. The decision to ban any items is solely that of the Owensville Carnegie Librar y Director.' That's the control I'm against," she said. That version of the usage agreement was not approved by the librar y board. Parrish called that previ- ous contract a "spaghetti at the wall" contract to see what would stick and said he did not agree with that particular clause either. Riggs said a version had been drafted specifically for Watermelon Fest, and ever y vendor at Christmas had to sign a similar document from the librar y to participate in the Christmas event Com- munity Planners put on, even though those planning the event weren't told in advance that was happening. That is how the document became circulated. "This whole can of worms started out political," she said. "Don't go there. We're not here for this," said Tremps. "That's what brought this in," she said. Audience mem- bers wanted to hear Riggs out. "You stated your facts. Please let them state their facts," said audience member David Doughty. Riggs continued. "It was blurted out in the May meeting. They didn't like the vendor I had over there selling Trump flags. The next thing they said was this year they'll be selling 'Let's Go Brandon' flags. She did not like that. That's what this all boiled down to," Riggs said. Parrish previously was pres- ident of the Owensville Mer- chant's Association, which used to do much of what the community planners have tak- en over, Riggs added, and Par- rish did not require a similar contract for their Easter egg hunts, Christmas events and similar events. Parrish said the Owensville Merchants Association was ignorant as to the importance of insurance. Parrish said he did not agree with the usage agreement that stipulated what could be sold. In fact, Riggs said, drawing attention to the fact there was insurance to cover a lawsuit, in her opinion, increased the likelihood someone would take advantage of an oppor- tunity to sue the Watermelon Festival. Board member Ronda Colbert called for a liability waiver as opposed to a usage agreement. As for insurance, when she ran a preschool she had to carr y insurance, and remembers people being sued when children were injured. Even cemeteries are getting insurance, she said. Owensville resident Dor- othy Jaquemai runs a schol- arship ATV ride, and told the board a one-day liability pol- icy for her event would cost $3,000. Instead, she has peo- ple sign a waiver, and gives away three more $1,000 schol- arships. "People don't want to pay for insurance to come to a farmer's market and sell may- be $60 in goods...It will kill it," she said. Owensville resident Moe Crabtree disagreed with Dan Parrish being a board mem- ber because Crabtree believed Parrish had not dealt fairly when he sold the librar y the building that the meeting was, at that moment being held in. When it turned out the li- brar y would not be able to afford an ADA accessible el- evator and update with the $100,000 the redevelopment board was willing to pledge, and no grant funding was forthcoming, the librar y bought a building across the street from the Carnegie structure from board member Parrish to add space without the large renovation costs. When Parrish originally bought the building at 110 S. Main Street for Parrish Con- sulting in September 2013, it cost him $25,000 (according to the Gibson County Asses- sor's office.) He sold it to the librar y in 2021 at a cost of $186,000 while he was a board member, which is a little more than sev- en times what he paid. (According to Star-Times re- search through the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, property values during that time raised 29.2 percent, which would have put a property worth $25,000 at approximately $32,300 over the same period of time. How- ever there's no saying that the price Parrish paid originally was the true value of the prop- erty at the time and not, per- haps undervalued, especially as the previous owners had only paid $7,000 when they bought it in 2005.) Crabtree said only people born and raised in Owensville should be on the board. "I didn't know being a trans- plant was not—" began Mike Temps. "You was not growed up here. You was not raised and know what we did the last 200—." "Having children in this community means nothing to you," asked Parrish. "You might as well leave yourself." Stacy McClellan, organizer of the Owensville Community Planners said planners have worked hard to bring events to the town and don't have the money for the insurance. Looking at the librar y's events, it seems some are win- ners by falling under librar y co-sponsorship, and thus get- ting covered by the librar y's umbrella of coverage. Mean- while others are not covered. "Then the problem's solved," said resident Dough- ty from the crowd. "The li- brar y should co-sponsor the Watermelon Festival." He added he didn't know why things couldn't stay as they are. "Nobody has a right to say what's racist and what ain't and what's their beliefs and what ain't," he said. Librar y Director Margo En- glish wanted to clarify that the usage of language against rac- ist or political items was draft- ed in mind with the librar y's requirement that they cannot represent one political party without the other—libraries have legal requirements to follow. Since that draft of the agree- ment, she was told by a lawyer that events on the librar y lawn fall under free speech, and she's since apologized. "The apology never left this room," she said, adding her mistake was broadcast ever y- where. The librar y did not vote on the usage agreement, but the next meeting is 6 p.m. July 7 at the Community Center. Meanwhile, the Owensville Watermelon Festival is set for Aug. 4, 5, and 6, and orga- nizers would like an answer about what will be required. LIBRARY Continued from page 1 gram in August of last year, he was arrested three times in one month on drug charges, first in Knox County, then two weeks later in Gibson County. When he exited the Gibson County Jail, he was only blocks from the jail when he encountered a person he could buy drugs from. "I didn't make it two blocks before I had drugs in my pocket," Rickard said. He was arrested again. He blamed his arrests on the police knowing him and knowing his name. When he bonded out in Gib- son County again, he realized he'd spent more money post- ing bail in one month than he had spent on his children over the last three years. "I'd lived a selfish life at that point," he said. His ex-wife, mother and girl- friend tried to convince him to seek help, as did friends from the old life who'd come to Ad- diction Solutions. He lied and made excuses about why he could not enter treatment. He often came to his moth- er for money with what he ad- mits were made-up sob stories to break her down and get money to support his addic- tion. "I wasn't a man. I was an im- mature, selfish child until 11 months ago." His mother's birthday was Aug. 18. When he showed up for her birthday, she and his oldest son looked worried and disappointed. He said they looked as though they wished he was locked up or even dead so they wouldn't have to worr y about him; he believed they were waiting to get the call with bad news about him. His mother has entered chemotherapy for lung can- cer, and for his oldest, he's the only living parent. As a birthday gift to mother, he said she could take him to Addiction Solutions at noon the next day. Even then he said he was hoping that morn- ing to get one last high in. In- stead she came three hours early and brought him to the house where he'd be sober for the next 11 months. Addiction Solutions re- quires church attendance and he remembers in the first few months purposefully wear- ing the roughest clothes he had—a bandanna on his head, prison tattoos showing and a white tank top—to New Life Nazarene Church. He said he walked in hoping to be judged so he had an ex- cuse to leave the program and his new lifestyle. "They hit me hard with a feeling of love. I was over- whelmed by how hard I tried to get judged but no matter how hard I tried to tap out, they never gave up on me," he said. On a cold-turkey 12-step program he had to eliminate the factors that lead him to addiction and heal around the deaths of his father and broth- er. Since beginning the pro- gram he's become a union worker, mentors other drug addicts, and has paid $11,000 in back child support. He cut off family and friends still in addiction. He's continu- ing to live at Addiction Solu- tions, even though he's com- pleted the program, as a way to help others. Some of the drug charges he's faced have not yet gone to sentencing, and he said he knows he may still ser ve jail time for those offenses. For Paris, the second grad- uate, he was following a friend into the program. "I had been in addiction for a really long time. I just got over it, ever ything was falling apart. I was going into jail, then I'd get out and get ever ything together, and then I'd lose it. I needed to break the cycle," Paris said. "My family showed me some tough love. They wanted me to do the right thing. The door was closed there." He said it was difficult for his mom to close the door on him without knowing what would happen or where he would go. He'd been doing drugs since he was 15 years old, when he first tried marijuana that an- other student in school gave him. His first meth experience was at age 35. These days, however, he said his mother is proud of his newfound sobriety. "She's full of joy about it," he said. Time in Addiction Solutions was its own cycle of church attendance, Narcotics Anony- mous meetings, 12- step pro- gram, responsibilities, chores and community ser vice. He got back a job he lost due to addiction, and has since moved up to a better full-time position. He will move back into an apartment of his own June 29, which will bring his sons back into his life. He said he still structures his life around the meetings. "I don't see myself going back because ever ything is so good for me now. I've got a lot of support. There's no possi- bility of the old life coming to my door," he said. Rickard agrees, his life- style is permanent sobriety, even from legal substances like alcohol. When he looks at graduating the program, he doesn't see it as an end of the program. He said it's the beginning of a new life. "I want my kids to be proud of me," he said. GRADUATES Continued from page 1 Reptile show for Summer Reading kids Rex Morrell presented a reptile show for the Princeton Public Librar y Summer Reading Program in Lafayette Park last week.