The Press-Dispatch
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D-2 Home Life Wednesday, September 13, 2017 The Press-Dispatch To enter the Birthday Club, email your name, ad- dress, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@ pressdispatch.net. Only the person's name, town and birthday will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free prize from a local business and a free three month Press-Dispatch subscription. This month's birthdays have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Mandy's Mums. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS Freda White ............................ Oakland City .....9/13 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR Mandy's Mums 4590 S. Royalty Rd., Winslow North of Arthur Junction off State Road 61 812-789-5213 or 812-789-2174 Pike County Personals by Judy True Sweet's Column by Barbara Sweet Brighter Side by Janice Barniak Water the children daily Hi stars and welcome to this big stage all lit in colorful lights and dec- orated to help celebrate with all our stars who will have a birthday or anni- versary in the week of September 14 to the 20, so come on up onto this big stage and take a bow. September 14 – Halle Blackgrade turns 12 years, Mark Whitney, To- ny Russell, and Michael Hill turns 25 years. September 15 – Jeanette Bertram, Mike and Roberta Meyer will celebrate 38 years, Mitch and Leann Stephens will celebrate 27 years, Ollie and Su- sie Doublemont will celebrate 34 years. September 16 – Brooke Schriefer turns 40 years, Silas Kincaid Brown turns 8 years, and Don Bolin turns 76 years. September 17 – Carlie Mae Perry turns 11 years, and Steve Schriefer turns 50 years. September 18 – Annabel Richardson turns 82 years. September 19 – Jay Raney turns 29 years, Diane Sasser, Mary Ennis turns 70 years, Tim Bolin, Lucretia Cross- ley Miller turns 19 years, and Tim and Sandy Bolin will celebrate 8 years. September 20 – Tyler Simmons Jr turns 11 years, and Courtney Robert- son turns 14 years. May all our stars have a really great day and may all your wishes come true. Keep in your heart and in your prayers all our stars who need that card, visit, phone call and that daily thought to help get through another day. Katie Oxadine is at Amber Man- or, Ruthie Hayes is at Golden Living, Brian Dillman is doing better at and Evansville hospital. Events coming up in Winslow and the surrounding areas are: September 15 and 16 – Petersburg Buffalo Trace Festival – 200 years of Petersburg as a city. Rides, pageants, musical groups, bed race, parade, and ending in fireworks. September 16 – Winslow Community Festival and Light Up Winslow Parade – Riverside Park will have the Winslow Lions serving breakfast and lunch, games and slide, sack race, tractor show, music of Karaoke and talent, musical group, Chili cook-off, Bake off, and much more. Main Street has the Winslow Beautification Flea Market, inflatables, games, exotic petting zoo, Karaoke and musical groups, dunking booth, a magician, frozen T-shirt, Bat- man meet and greet. Patoka River Fitness will hold an Olympic weight lifting, Millers Field will have Pony Rides and paint ball. Pa- toka River will have Kayak float from the new bridge to Riverside Park with the Kayak Mafia and friends. Winslow Churches, Winslow Masonic, Eskimo Grocery, and more fun enjoyment for all ages. Flyers are out with times in all locations, then to end up a day filled with joy the Light Up Winslow Parade will begin around 9 p.m. September 15 – 17 – Blue Jeans Fes- tival in Monroe City – Food booths, rides, and inflatables, musical groups, pageants, and talent show, church ser- vices on Sunday, fireworks, and pa- rade, plus much more. September 18 – Winslow Girl Scout Troop #211 will meet in the House of Mercy Church Basement at 6 p.m. September 21 – Winslow Lions Club at 7 p.m. at the Trading Post. September 21 – Pike County Moms Group at 7 p.m. at the Otwell United Methodist Church. September 22 – Fall Begins September 23 – 10th Annual Pike County Tractor Drive – leaving Otwell Crop Production Services and travel Northwest Pike Co in- to Northwestern Dubois Co, have lunch at the Ire- land Sportsman Club with lunches from the Pike County Young Farmers. The tractor drive through the backroads will be ap- proximately 33 miles and there are several trailers that you can enjoy the day. September 29 and 30 – Spurgeon – Monroe Township VFD Annual Com- munity Festival – Spurgeon will cele- brate 150 years of becoming a town. Parade, Car Show, Poker Run, Carnival Rides, Friday Pork Chop Dinners, Sat. Morning Breakfast, and Flea market, Games, Musical Groups, and bring- ing back DeWayne Spaw. Contact for festival is Donnie Pancake 812-354- 0704, Flea Market is Dee Fiscus 812- 766 -3188, and Car Show is Terry Mc- Gregor 812-789 -2533. Winslow Seniors meet at the Sny- der Community Center on Monday and Tuesday. Petersburg Seniors meet in the Courthouse Basement on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. No postcards this week at Sweets Column Winslow, IN 47598. Last Monday was Labor Day and we hope your day of parades and cookouts or anything else you would have do- ne on this holiday was an enjoyable as our was. We stayed at the cabin and listened to the birds and all the oth- er animals in our neck of the woods. Peaceful! Some have said this was the end of summer and the temps all week seemed to do just that by the 70s at day and 50s at night. Some wore jackets at night and fires in the stoves may have See SWEETS on page 6 See PERSONALS on page 6 As the ISTEP scores came out this week, I was reminded of my early par- enting goals. To create high-scoring baby genius- es and to keep them from killing each other before they can reach their full potential. (Sidenote: older brother stabbed younger brother in the back with a pen this week because they disagreed about which one of them gets to marry Aunt Linda when they grow up. What I write is not parenting advice—it's a cry for help.) I started while my firstborn was in the womb. When I heard babies would recognize and respond to music they heard in utero, I wore headphones on my stomach for hours. Because you can't walk into even the classiest burger joint with headphones on your stomach, I starting listening to audio- books and radio while my oldest was listening in utero to the ABCs, the art- ist formerly known as Prince, Queen and those compilation CDs sold on late night T V. (Something like Now That's What I Call Pure Moods Greatest Folk Rock Eukele Solos.) There I'd be in my chair listening to NPR's Radio Lab, and if something was so brilliant I had to share, we'd switch, and my son would hear a radio talk about the Placebo Effect, while I'd be reassured "heaven is a place on earth." Then he was born. I sporadically kept up the commit- ment with Baby Einstein DVDs, Baby Signing Time, everything I felt I had to do to be a good parent. (I had the sec- ond son only 13 months after the first. I must have had an extra good epidur- al because in hindsight, that's the ac- tion of someone in an altered state.) When the oldest started kindergar- ten, I did research on the Dept. of Ed- ucation website and sent my son to the best school we could, based on rank- ings. I waited with bated breath for the school to call and say, "what have you done with this child? The diploma's a formality at this point." What did I hear? Crickets. So I asked about our son being tested to move up a grade, and the principal patiently ex- plained that while yes, he could read, write, add and subtract, he was lack- ing one kindergarten skill he badly needed. Maturity. I guess I shouldn't have brought it up after a conversation about my pride and joy slipping pretzels down the back of another student's shirt. The principal told me it was common—another student came into kinder- garten at a fourth grade reading level, but wasn't totally potty trained. Most kids needed kindergarten, she said. ( What I needed, I thought, was that other mom's crib notes.) I think it's important to note that this is not the way I grew up; my family put in effort, sure, but not math-tutor effort or buying-recreational-art-supplies ef- fort. I am the first woman in my family to graduate from college. The first per- son in my whole family ever if you limit it to strictly blood relatives I know of. ( Well, my mom became an or- dained minister through the mail one summer, but I'm not sure that counts, unless you need an officiant for your quickie wedding. Then she's your gal.) While in college, I took a Sociolo- gy of the Family course, and they had a term for the way I was raised—nat- ural growth. Natural growth children have much more unstructured time that they're expected to fill on their own, and their families tend to empha- size obedience. This, I was told at the time, was a parenting style most prevalent in work- ing class families, and the obedience prepared the children, the professor speculated, for the economic realities they would possibly face in a blue-col- lar job—things like listening careful- ly and obediently to instructions and dealing with boredom. This was contrasted against con- certed cultivation, a style of parenting where you grow your kids like plants with the sunshine of trombone les- sons and the water of a French-speak- ing nanny. Bloom fragile orchid child! These families emphasized inde- pendence and it prepared children for jobs being decision makers and cre- ative thinkers. I was terrified that I would be outed, at some point, as a blue-collar person who didn't belong in college and didn't have the right hob-nobbing credentials to get the life I wanted for myself. At least, I thought at 21, I can rest easy in knowing everything about rais- ing kids now because I took a class. Laugh; I deserve it; I was obnoxious. Of course, like that time I bought the greatest bell bottoms a week be- fore leggings were every- where, I was late to the parenting party. By the time I was doing my con- certed cultivating, the new parenting thing was free-range parenting, es- sentially letting your kid run around with unstruc- tured time with the idea it would make them inde- pendent and creative. There are new studies about the benefits of free-range, al- though, sometimes the parents also get arrested for letting their children outside alone, so really free-range is not for me. (Everything I know about jail I learned from T V and I do not want to improve my knowledge first-hand.) When I went to the regional manu- facturing conference at Toyota a few weeks ago, they talked about their per- ception problem, that people who are in manufacturing didn't raise a genera- tion of manufacturers; they raised psy- chologists and healthcare workers— they raised white collar workers with the idea that they wanted their chil- dren to do better than them. Frankly, that disproves my profes- sor's idea in a lot of ways, though there is no doubt that the buying power be- hind the nannies, tutoring and lessons helps. As an adult, I can rationally say I realize it's true that early youth ad- vantages grow more minor as the de- cades pass. No one puts on a resume how early they potty trained. So if my children chose to follow my family into working in manufac- turing and service industries, I would just hope they would be happy—as ma- ny of my family members have been in their jobs. But being rational is not the impulse of a woman who wore headphones on her stomach. I am still teaching frac- tions to my first grader, just in case his pretzel-loving, pen-stabbing heart wants to go to graduate school. His principal was right though, building maturity is the more import- ant battle; it's no use raising a baby ge- nius if he's going to grow up to be an evil genius. No one's thinking, "You know that guy who invented high heels and wait- ing in line? I wonder what his mom did right..." FARM Down on the ANR: Hurricane Harvey By Hans Schmitz and Brooke Haldeman Extension Educator Gibson County Purdue Extension Hurricane Harvey has ravaged the Texas region and potentially devastated crop production. Landing in Rockport, Texas on Au- gust 25 as a cat- egory 4 storm. Hurricane Har- vey met Texas with torrential rain and dam- aging winds. On August 25, Harvey's winds were measured at a sustained 130 mph with expected weakening after landfall. Rainfall over the Texas region continued un- til August 30th with Hou- ston receiving roughly 43 inches of rain; large scale flooding occurred through- out Texas with 54 counties being placed in a state of disaster. Harvey's total re- corded rainfall has sur- passed the previous record of 50 inches setting a new single-storm rainfall record for the United States. Ac- cording to Stanford news journalists in an August 31st article, Harvey depos- ited approximately 9 trillion gallons of water resulting in a 500 -year flood event. Texas Department of Ag- riculture estimates crop damages from Harvey are roughly 150 million dollars. However, as floodwater subsides more accurate assessments can increase that figure. Cotton farm- ers have experienced sub- stantial losses as strong winds and flood waters destroyed any standing crops. Additional loss- es may be incurred from unprocessed crops left in storage yards or dam- aged storage bins. To as- sist farmers and agribusi- ness owners, the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture is highlighting several disaster relief programs for both livestock and ag- riculture. One such pro- gram, the Livestock In- demnity Program (LIP), offers benefits in the form of payments for any ex- cess livestock mortality resulting from adverse weather conditions. Pro- ducers can receive pay- ments of up to 75 percent of average market value for any livestock losses. For agriculture, the Non- insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program of- fers financial assistance to farmers with nonin- sured crops whose yields are affected by natural disasters. Also, the Tex- as Department of Agri- culture has developed a STAR fund focusing on providing aid to farmers, agribusinesses, and pro- ducers impacted by Hur- ricane Harvey. Any quali- fying applicant can receive a 50 percent cost share for any el- igible expens- es. To quali- fy, farmers or other produc- ers need to ap- ply for the pro- gram and pro- vide document- ed expenses; funding can be used for fence mainte- nance, agriculture disas- ter relief or other related causes. In the aftermath of Har- vey, farmers with live- stock face several obsta- cles: finding clean water and dry hay are top prior- ities; however, other dif- ficulties also exist. Tex- as Extension notes moldy or wet feed may contain toxins that are harmful and any debris, such as plastic bags, may be con- sumed by livestock. Addi- tionally, livestock that en- dured an extended period in flood waters may devel- op feet or skin problems with foot rot and pneu- monia being the largest threat. As all animals at- tempt to escape flood wa- ters there is an elevated risk of contact with poi- sonous snakes, biting or stinging organisms, and transferal of parasites. Texas Extension encour- ages farmers to inspect their livestock for any bites or external injuries that may have resulted from hurricane impacts. Another potential issue facing both livestock and Texas residents is a surge in the mosquito popula- tion. Abundant pools of water are ample breed- ing grounds for mosqui- toes and an increase in numbers is expected. "Flood Mosquitoes" are identified as more crea- tures of nuisance than po- tential pathogen carriers, although disease trans- mission is possible. Ac- cording to Texas Exten- sion Services, the initial surge of mosquitoes will be local, relatively harm- less mosquitoes while dis- ease carrying mosquito populations may increase after several weeks. BIRTHDAYS September 6 – Isaac True turned 11 September 10 – Dean Buechler September 11 – Dawson Armstrong September 12 – Bridget Berlin September 14 – Debbie Waple; Kaylee Minkler September 15 – Heather Buechler September 17 – Valada Peil September 18 – Donna Corn Hor- rall; Susan Ice; Robin Greenwood Dy- er; Kevin McKannan September 20 – Michael Salm; Kym Wolfe Whipps September 21 – Jordan Armstrong September 23- Marianne Neese Mc- Daniel ANNIVERSARIES Greg and Stacey Bane will cele- brate their 13th wedding anniversary on September 18. Joe and Bette Coomer will celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary on September 24. CARLISLE ARRIVES Tobias James Carlisle was born on July 30, 2017, at 12:30 a.m. at Jasper Memorial Hospital to parents Taylor Carlisle, of Oakland City, and T.J. Love- less, of Petersburg. Maternal grand- parents are Rex Carlisle, of Augusta, and Katie Richardson, of Oakland City. Paternal grandparents are Terry and Lisa Loveless, of Petersburg. RUTH'S NEWS Lucy McKannan had lunch with Ruth Morrison on Friday. Later in the day, Debbie Alexander, Todd Morri- son and Alan and Tina Barrett visit- ed with Ruth. Todd Morrison and Debbie Alexan- der ate dinner with Ruth on Sunday. Karla Schroeder, Payton, Alivia and Marleigh Wright visited Ruth on Sun- day afternoon. On Labor Day, a celebration was held on Hart Street at the home of Todd and Audrey Morrison. Those attend- ing were Todd, Audrey, Ruth, Ronnie, Patty, Aaron, Tylar, Noah, Lily and So- phia Morrison, Tony and Karla Schro- eder, Marleigh Wright, Damon and An- gie Pugh, Freida Mason, Lucy McKan- nan, Leslie, Jake and Thomas Schatz, Andrew Dill, Doug Kincaid, Debbie, James, JoAnn, Harley, Jaxon, Jacob and Cali Alexander, Parker Jacobs, Kevin and Jamie Dillon, Alexis Strick- land, Colton Dawson, Tyler Long and Rodney Nolcox. There were 37 in atten- dance. The children painted rocks. It was a great day for a celebration! Todd, Audrey, Ronnie and Tylar Morrison and Tina Barrett visited with Ruth on Tuesday evening. WEEKLY TIDBITS Nora Johnston, of Francisco, spent the weekend with her grandparents Bob and Elzena Strain. Albert Swain, of Kokomo, is visiting with David and Brenda Leighty and my cold bare feet off the frozen porch. But the jump- ing turned into swaying. And then into spinning. And by the time the chaos had calmed, I was dancing alone in the rain, holding out my hand to the light- ning, daring it to strike. On my last night in Rome, there was a lightning storm like one I have never seen. The sky was clear, with not a single raindrop, but the thunder boomed as lightning bore down on all sides of us. Bolts so close they were blinding. And on the terrace on the top floor of the city apartment, in the very spot that my friends and I had spent the previ- ous evening jotting down memories of the people we once were, we danced – jumping up and down in the center of the light show, holding out our hands and clicking our cameras as the Roman gods flexed their muscles for us. I caught a photo of the zigzagging current across from us. I captured my spark. Like Katiedid Langro- ck on Facebook, at http:// www.facebook.com/katie- didhumor. SPARK Continued from page 1