The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/680901
A-6 Local Wednesday, May 18, 2016 The Press-Dispatch It's not something you expect to hear from an electric company. But, we're not your typical utility. We're a local not-for-profit electric cooperative. We want to help you save energy so you can save your hard earned money. To learn more about the cooperative difference, visit YOUR SOURCE FOR POWER. AND INFORMATION. WE WORK FOR YOU. TouchstoneEnergy.com The Pike County Public Library for Otwell and Winslow Public Library Branches NEW SATURDAY SCHEDULE OTWELL WINSLOW Open 1 st & 3 rd Saturdays 9 a.m.-2 p.m. July 30, October 29 & December 31 Open 2 nd & 4 th Saturdays 9 a.m.-2 p.m. BOTH BRANCHES CLOSED ON FIFTH SATURDAYS Effective May 21, 2016 AREA HAPPENINGS Al-Anon meeting – Meetings are each Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., located at 424 W. 7th St. in Jasper. For more in- formation, call 812-887-0349. Celebrate Recovery Program – Meets every Sunday night from 5 to 7 p.m. at 207 Lafayette St. in Winslow. For more information, call Krystal Breeding 812-582-2562. Winslow Alcohol Anonymous – will meet every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Call 812-789 -8535 for location of the meeting. Narcotics Anonymous – will meet on Monday nights at 7 p.m. at River of Life Fellowship, 342 E. Co. Rd. 300 N., Peters- burg. For more information, call 812-734- 6701 or 812-380 -1395. EVV WHS Alumni Luncheon – Friday, May 20, 2016, at Wolf's, 6600 1st Ave, Evansville, at noon CDT. We plan to meet in the upper room and you can enter from there or at the main en- trance. You will be able to order from their menu or select to go to their buf- fet. Gratuity is of your choice as none is added to your ticket. As they do require a head count, ad- vise me by Thursday, May 19, 2016 via e-mail to: jddedman@gmail.com or telephone at: 812-455 -6998 Bring a class mate or friend and have an en- joyable time with classmates of WHS. Alzheimer's Disease and Demen- tia Caregiver Support Group – The next meeting is on Wednesday, June 1 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in Board Con- ference Room A, which is located on the lower level of Memorial Hospital near the Tower Café at 800 West 9th Street in Jasper. This support group allows caregivers to come together to share knowledge and experiences in caring for loved ones who are affected by these illnesses. For more informa- tion, visit www.mhhcc.org and click on "Classes & Events," or contact 812-996 - 6008 or mobrien@mhhcc.org . Pre- registration is not necessary. "Breastfeeding: Getting Started" – Wednesday, June 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Memorial Hospital in Board Confer- ence Room B/C, located on the lower level of The LCM Tower, at 800 West 9th Street in Jasper. The class is free for those delivering at Memorial Hos- pital; otherwise, cost is $15. Pre-registration is required. To en- roll, visit www.mhhcc.org and click on "Classes & Events." call 812-996 -2399 or toll-free at 800 -852-7279, ext. 2399. "Early in Pregnancy Class" – Memo- rial Hospital and Health Care Center is of- fering an in-depth pregnancy class, "Ear- ly in Pregnancy," on Wednesday, June 1 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Hospital's Mary Potter Room located at 800 West 9th Street in Jasper. The class is free for those delivering at Memorial Hospital. For more information or to enroll, visit www.mhhcc.org and click on "Classes & Events". If you do not have online access or are having problems call the 812-996 -2399 or toll-free at 800 - 852-7279, ext. 2399. "Preparation for Childbirth" Class – Expectant parents are invit- ed to attend Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center's "Preparation for Childbirth" classes on Thursdays, June 9 and 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Prep- aration for Childbirth" is a set of two classes to help prepare expectant moth- ers and support persons for childbirth, including a tour of Women and Infant Services Unit. It is recommended that both mother and the support person who will assist the mother during de- livery of the baby attend the classes. This class is at 721 West 13th Street, Jasper, in Memorial Hospital's Medical Arts Building Conference Center. It is free to those who are delivering at Me- morial Hospital or $65. To enroll, visit www.mhhcc.org and click on "Classes & Events". If you are unable to access online please call Health and Wellness department at 812-996 -2399 or toll-free at 800 -852-7279, ext. 2399. Pike County The Pike County Solid Waste Management District together with Advanced Disposal/Blackfoot Landfill invite Pike County residents to participate in the annual Spring Cleanup. Hours for the week of will be: Thursday 19th–Friday 20th: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday 21st: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. • Pike County Residents Only! (Must show proof of residency at entrance) • No commercial, industrial or farm waste. (Commercial waste will be charged standard landfill rates.) • One pickup truck load per resident. FREE recycling of appliances, computers, and televisions. FREE disposal of up to 4 tires. $1 charge for each tire thereafter. FREE collection of household paints, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, chemicals and other household hazardous wastes. FREE disposal of furniture and other bulky items. Items that are still in good working condition will be set aside and Pike County residents can go through items as they arrive FREE of Charge. For further information, contact the Pike County SWMD at 812-354-2924 By participating in this program the participant waives any and all claims of liability against Pike County Solid Waste Management District and Advanced Disposal/Blackfoot Landfill which may arise in any manner out of the services provided pursuant to this program. Fur- ther, any participant hereby agrees to hold Pike County Solid Waste Management District and Advanced Disposal/Blackfoot Landfill free and harmless from any and all liability which may arise in any manner by participation in this program. SCRAP METAL, COMPUTERS, TELEVISIONS, APPLIANCES AND HAZARDOUS WASTE WILL BE RECYCLED!!! PLEASE HAVE SEPA- RATED IN LOAD FOR EASIER, FASTER DISPOSAL. (Located on State Road 64, 2.3 miles east of Arthur Junction) Thursday, May 19th – Saturday, May 21st NO ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED At the Blackfoot/Advanced Landfill Rummage, Rummage!!!! AGAIN THIS YEAR!!! Houtsch said. Houtsch stated that he was still working with Wil- liams Scotsman – a portable building manufacturer with a branch office in Louisville, Ky. – on a building, which the group is planning to place on property owned by the Jeffer- son Township Ruritan Club, adjacent to the Otwell Com- munity Center. "We're going to have to de- cide, you know, what we're go- ing to do on the building, be- cause if we wait too long, then we won't end up with a build- ing," Houtsch said. "We're go- ing to have to make that deci- sion pretty soon as far as what we're going to do there, as far as the size of the building and things like that." Friends of Otwell Ele- mentary treasurer Michelle (Houtsch) Durcholz reported the group cleared $ 3,338.80 from a sporting expo it held last month at the Otwell Com- munity Center, and the alum- ni basketball games held on Saturday, April 23, raised $2,081.93. In addition, Durcholz not- ed that Friends of Otwell El- ementary generated an addi- tional $479 from the sale of homemade ice cream during the A zalea Blossom Festival in downtown Petersburg on May 6 -7. "That was 100 percent prof- it because we had some nice folks offer to make ice cream for us and not charge it back to us," Durcholz said. "So we appreciate that." Durcholz provided those in attendance with a treasurer's report, noting the organiza- tion had a balance of approx- imately $15,700 in its bank ac- count. The Friends of Otwell El- ementary's fundraising ef- forts, however, are ongoing, including a meat raffle spon- sored by the Jefferson Town- ship Fire Department to sup- port the Otwell Miller Acad- emy charter school and the Lil HOOsiers Daycare & Pre- school. Organizers of the raffle are hoping to sell at least 1,000 tickets for $52 each. A fter that number is reached, draw- ings will be held weekly for 52 weeks, with the winners re- ceiving a $ 300 gift certificate to either Merkley and Sons Meats in Jasper or Dewig Bros. Meats in Haubstadt. Currently, only about 120 raffle tickets have been sold, Houtsch noted. "It's very slow going," Houtsch said. "We do need your help trying to sell these tickets. So if you have any- body that you know of that is around large groups of people – factory workers or whatev- er – get with us so that we can try to hit those areas and get those tickets sold." "The sooner we get those tickets sold, the sooner we'll have the money from the pro- ceeds from that," Houtsch added. Fundraising Committee co-chairman Nicole Sutton reported volunteers were needed to help with conces- sions and field preparation for weekend youth league tour- naments scheduled for June 11-12 and June 25 -26 at the Pe- tersburg Little League park. "It's basically an automatic $1,000 for us, whenever we do that," Houtsch said. In addition, Friends of Ot- well Elementary vice-pres- ident Bob Rhodes reported the Celebration Singers – a chorus of approximately 100 singers from Dubois, Pike, Spencer and Martin counties – will be performing at the Ot- well Community Center on Sunday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m. A spaghetti supper will pre- cede the concert, starting at 5:30 p.m. "We better eat fast," Houtsch joked. Houtsch also reported, after Ball State denied the group's charter school appli- cation, he attempted to get the university to reconsid- er by addressing the various concerns raised during an in- terview with the review com- mittee on April 6. "One of the concerns that they had was evidence that a facility was secured," Houtsch said. "So what I did was I went and got a quote and a timeline for delivery of the building for them." Another concern, Houtsch noted, was the lack of an aca- demic member on the group's board of directors. "I reached out to Rich Padgett, and he agreed to join our board as an academ- ic member," Houtsch said. Ball State, Houtsch noted, also wanted a 90 -day finan- cial plan. "What we did there was we went out and solicited pledg- es of a total of $78,850, from people in the community," Houtsch said. "Those pledg- es were based upon if and when the charter is approved, then they would ... turn those pledges in." In addition, Ball State of- ficials indicated a minimum of 120 students was required to be approved as a charter school. "We were just a little short of that number," Houtsch said. "I had some people go out and beat the bushes a lit- tle bit, and we have 124 stu- dents pre-registered." Houtsch said other con- cerns were also addressed, including one regarding community interest and sup- port. He stated the group has a signed agreement with the Otwell Community Cen- ter Board of Trustees and is working on a "pre-lease" agreement with the Jeffer- son Township Ruritan Club. "So we'll have that signed in a couple of days," Houtsch said. However, when Houtsch re-approached Ball State, the group's charter request was, once again, denied. "Basically, they kept refer- ring back to the letter of de- nial on April 14th and told us that the next deadline for sub- mission – or resubmission – of our application to Ball State is Sept. 19." Houtsch noted, however, that the Friends of Otwell Elementary board members were in the process of con- tacting another authorizer, Grace College & Seminary, an evangelical Christian col- lege located in northern In- diana. "We've just started pre- liminary talks with them," Houtsch said. "We're going to talk with them tomorrow, actually, some more, and feel them out and see what they say or how they feel about this situation of our charter school." Grace College & Seminary currently oversees two char- ter schools – Dugger Union Community School in Sulli- van County and Smith Acad- emy for Excellence in Fort Wayne – and recently grant- ed a charter to a third, Sev- en Oaks Classical School in Bloomington, after that school's organizers had been denied a charter twice (in 2014 and 2015) by the In- diana Charter School Board. A woman attending Mon- day night's meeting asked Houtsch if it were possible for Grace College & Semi- nary to act in time to be able to open a charter school in Ot- well this fall. "I don't think so," Houtsch said. "We've talked about that. But I think it would be al- most impossible at this point and time to do that. Things can happen, but I doubt it. We'll find out more tomor- row when we talk to them." The Friends of Otwell Ele- mentary's next public meet- ing is scheduled for Monday, June 20 at 7 p.m. "We need your help to contact people to get them to come, especially the par- ents," Houtsch said. "We need to get those parents in- volved and things like that. We need to get those parents to buy our raffle tickets – ev- ery one of them." PRE-SCHOOL Continued from page 1