Personal

Voter Responsibility

by

I haven’t posted a good rant in a while, so…

The “Brexit” vote has me thinking about voter responsibility. I honestly only knew about Brexit peripherally until about a week before the vote. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it for a couple of reasons: 1) I had no say, and 2) I didn’t really see that it was going to affect me much. A 20/20 hindsight look at the turmoil in the stock market and how that affects my 401(k) negates #2, but in reality, #1 was still valid. No matter how much concern I had placed on it, I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it. I can’t even name one British citizen I know that I could have gone up to and said, “Look here Old Chap, you need to do the right thing because this decision is going to affect the whole world!” Not that I even thought that. I had pretty much trusted those in the know to have factored either result into the markets and that the outcome would be a blip outside of Great Britain.

Read more

Heart of the Tippy

by

PCPL - Heart of the Tippy Reception

We’ve done quite a bit of work for the Pulaski County Public Library over the past decade or so and have a developed a good working relationship with the current (and past) Librarian and the Library Board. We are currently working on a couple of projects that will tie into their centennial celebration of the Carnegie Library in Winamac. (More on that in a future post.)

The Pulaski County Public Library is a beautiful venue for events like this. They have several large rooms suitable for gatherings and the setting just above the river and park has great views from expansive windows. The library is located at 121 South Riverside Drive in Winamac, Indiana. Everything they do is first class, so I have no doubt that this event will be as well. I plan to be there!

Buxton Farewell

by
Pam Buxton
Pam Buxton

Saturday night Becky and I attended a farewell party for John and Pam Buxton at John and Carol Zeglis’s home. John Buxton is leaving his position as Head of Schools at the Culver Academies and they will be moving to the east coast. John and Carol honored them by asking representatives of the various charitable and service boards and committees they served on over their tenure at Culver to come and say a few words about their service to the community. I am sure I will miss some, but there were representatives there from the Marshall County Community Foundation, Leadership Marshall County, LIFT, Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council, Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth (Film Festival), Culver Boys & Girls Club, Culver Lions Club, St. Joe Regional Medical Center and the Town of Culver.

John Buxton
John Buxton

There were 30 guests in attendance and as John Zeglis said, there was as much overlap between those in attendance as there was between the various groups and the Buxtons. I know I have had interactions with all of these groups and served on several of their boards and subcommittees.

Both of the Buxtons have been very involved in our community. While most of my direct involvement was with Pam, I witnessed John’s influence in many other areas. To paraphrase one of John’s comments, “When you are guiding the 900 pound gorilla through a community you don’t always get to participate in some of the hands on things which interest you.” While that’s true, their influence was felt and their presence will be missed.

Happy Birthday Melba Easterday

by
Red & Melba Easterday
Red & Melba Easterday

If you happen to see my Great Aunt Melba Easterday tomorrow, March 21st, wish her a Happy Birthday! It will be her 95th!

She’s become the family historian and contributed significantly to the article that Jeff Kenny wrote about Easterday Construction which I reprinted here.  I also wrote a bit about her previously on her 90th Birthday here. Just for fun and history, the picture to the right came from one of the old Easterday Construction Scrap Books and shows Red and Melba at the Cove for one of the Easterday Construction Retirement Parties. Melba is the last of that generation of the Easterday Construction family.

Aunt Melba still brings me and all of us at Easterday Construction homemade candy every Christmas. her laugh can still be heard across a crowded room, her good spirits are infectious and she’s always someone with a positive attitude and a smile to share.

I still try and keep an eye on her. She still lives on her own in the house just north of Easterday Construction. Just last month when we had a wind storm blow through, I snuck over and picked up a bunch of down branches in her yard. I had to do it quickly though! If I had waited too long, she’d have been out there doing it herself!