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SCHOOL BOARD<br />HIGHLIGHTS<br />June 4<br />Board members attending were<br />David Anderson, John Armbruster,<br />Brandon Burress, Cindie Fox,<br />Charlie Keyes and Kim Weber.<br />Glenn Scholl was not in attendance.<br />The board approved, by a 4-1<br />vote, a three-year teacher contract<br />with the Sunman-Dearborn<br />Education Association. The SDEA<br />voted to ratify the contract as follows:<br />1 percent increase for the 2006-<br />07 school year, ¾ percent increase<br />for 2007-08 and ½ percent for 2008-<br />09. Mr. Anderson abstained. The<br />board approved salary increases for<br />administrator contracts and classified<br />employees at the same rates as the<br />SDEA contract.<br />In personnel matters, the board<br />approved<br />- Jodi Cummings for a 2nd grade<br />job share position at NDES<br />- Katie Graf's transfer to 5th grade<br />Title I teaching position at SDIS.<br />- retirement of Diana Sunderman<br />as speech pathologist<br />- maternity leave for Mandy Stenger,<br />NDES part-time counselor<br />- Patty Hon for NDES part-time<br />counselor to fill maternity leave.<br />The board approved Jeannette<br />Hines' request for EC's Travel and<br />Adventure Club for a trip to Europe<br />on June 10-19. Mr. Roeder advised<br />that the parties have agreed to drop<br />the teacher lawsuit with discussion<br />between the parties to follow.<br />The meeting adjourned at 7:30<br />p.m.<br />NEW GENERATORS<br />OFFERED<br />RJ Lewis Electric has announced<br />the addition of Generac Brand<br />Generators to the line of fine<br />products and services they office.<br />RJ Lewis is well known in this area<br />for its electrical repair and installation<br />services offered to homeowners<br />and businesses.<br />Generac has been in business<br />for fifty years and everything they<br />make is made in the USA.<br />"Partnering our company with<br />Generac was an easy decision for<br />the company, their commitment to<br />quality and service closely matches<br />our own," stated Jeff Lewis,<br />President of RJ Lewis.<br />RJ Lewis is offering a free 1800<br />watt portable generator to the<br />lucky customer who wins its giveaway.<br />Customers will be automatically<br />entered when RJ Lewis gives<br />them an estimate by early August.<br />The company can be reached at<br />812-537-WIRE (9473) or toll free<br />877-537-WIRE (9473).<br />GRAZING<br />FIELD DAY<br />Mark your calendars for August<br />15th to attend a grazing field day<br />sponsored by the Tanners Creek<br />Watershed and Dearborn County<br />Soil and Water Conservation District.<br />The event will be held at the<br />Pearson's farm located on Platt<br />Road, approximately 1 mile from<br />Hwy. 48 in Manchester, Indiana.<br />Signs will be posted for directions.<br />The Pearsons were one of<br />Dearborn County's 2008 River<br />Friendly Farmer recipients. They<br />also participated in the Tanners<br />Creek Watershed Project and the<br />farm bill program EQIP<br />PAGE 6 THE BRIGHT BEACON AUGUST 2009<br />2009-10 SCHOOL CALENDAR REVISED<br />August 13 - 14 Teacher Work Days<br />August 17 First Student Day<br />September 7 Labor Day - No School<br />October 21 Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:30 - 7:00 p.m.<br />October 22 Students Not Present<br />Parent-Teacher Conferences 7:30 - 11:40 a.m.<br />October 23 Fall Vacation<br />November 26-27 Thanksgiving Vacation<br />December 18 Last Student Day Prior to Christmas Vacation<br />January 4 Teacher Record Day<br />January 5 Classes Resume<br />March 22-26 Spring Vacation<br />April 2 Good Friday/No School (Possible make-up day)<br />May 31 Memorial Day<br />June 2 Last Student Day<br />June 3 Teacher Record Day<br />June 6 EC Graduation<br />Please note that there are no professional development days, per<br />action taken at July 9 school board meeting.<br />(Environmental Quality Incentive<br />Program), to install many conservation<br />practices on their farm.<br />Conservation planning with the<br />Pearson and the staff at the USDA<br />Aurora Service Center began in<br />2006. During the field day, the<br />public will see first hand the success<br />that rotational grazing and the<br />other conservation practices have<br />on the environment.<br />Reservations are required by<br />Friday, August 7th, at the<br />Dearborn County SWCD office<br />812-926-2406 extension 3, or for<br />more information ask for Vickie<br />Smith, District Technician. Please<br />bring your lawn chairs.
WHEN TO WATER<br />By Teresa Young<br />Flowers Forever<br />25284 State Line Road<br />I have a lot of people asking me<br />or telling me about their watering<br />practices. They are watering TOO<br />much, almost every day. Their<br />plants are sick and their perennial<br />flowers are dying over the winter.<br />Here's why. When you water too<br />frequently, the top layer of soil is<br />moist, but down deep the soil is<br />dry. Therefore the roots are shallow<br />at the top of the soil. The<br />winter freeze kills the flowers with<br />the shallow roots and the summer<br />vegetables are small, tasteless and<br />sickly because of this weak shallow<br />root system. You want the roots to<br />go down deep, looking for water<br />and minerals down deep.<br />One good way to help your garden,<br />since we have clay here in<br />Bright, is to amend the soil. This<br />means adding as much organic<br />material as possible. That would<br />be grass clippings, shredded leaves,<br />kitchen scraps etc. These help<br />hold moisture in the soil. Clay<br />holds moisture but it will not<br />release it to the roots of plants. So<br />the clay actually competes with the<br />roots for the moisture. So every<br />year mix more and more organic<br />material in your garden so you<br />don't need to water so often. The<br />worms love it too. That gives them<br />something to eat, and that makes<br />natural worm fertilizer. If we get<br />rain every 2-3 weeks, my vegetable<br />garden doesn't even need to be<br />watered because of all the organic<br />material in the soil, the organic<br />material holds the moisture there<br />for the roots.<br />Here's how to water properly.<br />The vegetable garden needs an<br />inch of water or rain a week. If<br />you are watering, the watering<br />should be a slow gentle sprinkling<br />or a soaker hose, all at one session<br />of watering, once a week, so the<br />water filters deep into the soil.<br />Not every day, not twice a week, all<br />at once. If it is terribly hot you can<br />apply 3 inches of water all at once,<br />once a week, for your vegetable<br />garden. To know how much you<br />are watering, put a soup can down<br />in the dirt where you are sprinkling,<br />when it has an inch to three<br />inches, turn off the hose.<br />I have a lot of mulch in my<br />flower gardens and have not<br />watered them in years. The mulch<br />holds the moisture and the flowers<br />are close enough that they<br />form a canopy so the sun never<br />dries out the soil (or the mulch).<br />When your vegetables get larger<br />and form a canopy, which too is<br />good and keeps the sun from drying<br />out the soil.<br />Watering trees too often also<br />kills them. Only water deeply once<br />a week when they are small<br />unestablished trees. Once they are<br />big they can handle not being<br />watered at all unless we go into a<br />drought.<br />Now let's talk about your container<br />gardens. If you do not<br />amend the planting material to<br />hold water or buy a potting mixture<br />that holds water, you very well<br />might have to water them every<br />day since they can't send a root<br />deep to get water. Or coarse the<br />bigger the contain the less often<br />you have to water. I like to make<br />my own potting mixture so I only<br />have to water my pots once or<br />twice a week if it is really hot. To<br />make a custom potting mix use<br />store bought materials. Potting<br />mix and peat moss of equal parts<br />and a product called Soil Moist.<br />Soil Moist looks like clear gelatin<br />when wet. It holds water and<br />releases it to the roots. It is good<br />for 7 years. So I don't throw my<br />soil away, I save it for the next year.<br />You can also use diapers to hold<br />the water. I line the bottom of a<br />pot with a new born size diaper. It<br />holds water like the Soil Moist. I<br />think it might be the same stuff<br />only in a diaper.<br />It's July 15 as I write this. I<br />have not watered the vegetable<br />garden yet this year. It looks<br />great. But August is usually hot<br />and dry and maybe will need<br />some watering but I won't over<br />do it. Enjoy the harvest.<br />WHAT'S NEW AT<br />YOUR LIBRARY<br />Some great new materials will be<br />arriving at the library this month:<br />Smash Hit by Sandra Brown<br />Intervention by Robin Cook<br />The White Queen by Philippa<br />Gregory<br />The Traffickers by W.E.B. Griffin<br />Fire and Ice by Judith A. Jance<br />Blindman's Bluff by Faye<br />Fellerman<br />Alex Cross's Trial by James<br />Patterson<br />206 Bones by Kathy Reichs<br />The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners<br />by Luanne Rice<br />New in Town (DVD)<br />Customer Pick of the Month:<br />Living Proof (DVD)<br />Featured Program:<br />Year round the library offers oneon-one<br />computer sessions for<br />basic computer and basic internet<br />help. These classes are made to fit<br />your needs and your schedule. Call<br />for further details or to set up a<br />session. (812) 637-0777.<br />PAGE 7 THE BRIGHT BEACON AUGUST 2009
Page 1 and 2: THE BRIGHT BEACON 23995 Statel
Page 3 and 4: FREE CHILD ID PROGRAM The
Page 5: FFA BUILDS BENCHES FOR CO
Page 9 and 10: kept right on carrying her. I'
Page 11 and 12: BRIGHT HISTORY TRIVIA CONTEST<
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Page 15 and 16: EC GRADS ARE BUTLER UNIVE
Page 17 and 18: VIETNAM TODAY By Sheila DickCALENDAR BRIGHT

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