Beacon Apr 2024

Page 8B THE BEACON April 2024
AURORA
By
Randy
Turner
Community
Correspondent
aurora@goBEACONnews.com
Hello Beacon readers,
I think good weather for
spring is here! Each night as
I drive home, I see two boys
walking toward town, one is
still wearing a down jacket
but he also has shorts on.
Mine are ready to go, but I
am still in my bibs and it is
too cold to ride my bike. The
signs are there!
Fish Frys were underway,
and that’s my favorite sign of
spring. I hit Saint Mary’s first
one which was held during a
snowfall. The kids were in the
drive-thru selling pop for their
class trip. St. John was in the
action the next Friday. Paul
Kunkel told me their fish was
so good, they did not want
to spoil the people by doing
more than one! I just cannot
say no to either one.
Maybe a little too early, but
Charlotte Hastings told me
they are putting the flower
pots out on the street corners.
No flowers yet… I think they
want to stir interest in people
to sponsor them.
A city project to clean the
river bank at Lesko Park
looks fantastic! Now we just
have to hope for no serious
flooding to bring driftwood
back onto the bank. I learned
that the hard way after cleaning
it years ago only to have
Mother Nature bring that river
up with all the new debris that
we had just gotten rid of. No
matter what the “GROUND-
HOG’’ says, grass cutting and
flower planting will get here!
As for Market Street, despite
some things not being
where the engineers thought
It’s your
O
ur
they were, the work continues.
The contractor has been
doing excellent work, but DO
NOT look for an early road
opening. They still have a lot
to do. People on the hilltop
will be using the Dutch Hollow
route all year.
The City has introduced a
new website look for www.
aurora.in.us on City services
and activities. As with any
change, some say it is easier
to navigate, and others miss
the historic tone that matched
Aurora.
Façade Improvement
Matching Grants are happening
again in Aurora, for more
information contact the Clerk
Treasurer’s office in care of
Benny Turner.
Non-profit grants for Aurora
residents are also in the works
by contacting City Manager
Austin Woods, awoods@
aurora.in.us.
I also want to stress that
Aurora residents can stay up
to date on utility outages and
road closings by signing up
for “REACH Alert”. Voice,
text, or e-mail informational
methods are available free
of cost. You can go to www.
reachalert.com or simply call
the Utility Office at 812-926-
2745, and sign up.
While I am on City topics, a
BIG THANK YOU to Gregg
Plyman and his City crew
for keeping our streets salted
this winter. It was not a bad
winter, but they rolled when
needed. Before Gregg came
to the City, he had previously
worked for the County Highway
and State Highway, so he
knew what to expect. When
you are in this position, you
get many comments, good and
bad, from the public. I for one
have been happy with what I
have seen from grass cutting,
street cleaning, and painting,
to decorations for Christmas.
You get a little of everything.
Gregg has two full-timers,
Communities
Willie Weaver who has been
around for a while, and Joe
Burris who came on board
last summer. Kerry Brunner
is part-time but he logs
a lot of hours. He also drives
a school bus. I have known
Kerry and his family since our
Saint Mary’s days, plus when
he was an apprentice printer
at Moreton Printing for Joe
Henry. My THANKS to you
guys, keep up the good work!
Another former City guy,
Mike Crider, keeps me up to
date on the SDHS basketball
teams. It has been tough for
him this year as he is having
health issues. Now I cannot
begin to tell you how many
phone lines this guy took care
of in his job with Sprint, but
Mike was there for a lot of
people. I’m sure he did more
service work than the phone
company intended, especially
if you wanted to talk. Please
drop him a card and tell him
you are pulling for him.
I was also very excited to
see the East Central Sports
Hall of Fame inducting Kenzie
Bentle into their honor’s
class. Kenzie was the longtime
band director responsible
for entertaining fans at football
games and basketball. He
directed a whole lot of kids
in his years and put on some
great shows. The shows have
always been my favorite, and
I could enjoy a return to television
showing them instead
of the “talking heads” that we
endure now! THANK YOU,
Kenzie for your service.
The South Dearborn Opening
Knight and The Overtones,
have been busy this
winter, attending four competitions,
and achieving top
marks in all. The most recent
being in Loveland, OH, where
Maddy Burris was Best
Female Vocalist, and Dance
Captain Myla Bennett was
the Outstanding Performer. In
their slow time, they also sang
day when you
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the National Anthem for a
Northern Kentucky basketball
game. When you are good,
they just keep wanting you!
This was a tough Beacon to
do, as I am getting ready for a
knee replacement, my second
one. Dr. Brian Wissel is my
guy, he is young, but aren’t
they all now? I had good luck
on the first.
On top of all this the Super
Bowl with the Chiefs, and
Taylor Swift mania had my
attention. I was amazed that
the NFL did not know ladies
could be fans. Now I
also have tuned in to Caitlin
Clark and her record-breaking
performance at Iowa. I
keep having dreams of Coach
Woodson convincing her
to come over to the Indiana
men’s side so we can finally
have a 3-point shooter!
Remember now, it is getting
warmer…
MILAN
By
Sialia
Swainson
Community
Correspondent
e
milan@goBEACONnews.com
Winter was relatively kind
to us this year and I know I
am happy to see more hours
of daylight. I saw the first
robin in mid-February and am
looking forward to spring.
The Indiana State Police
recently announced appointments
to the local post in
Versailles. Among them was a
Milan native, Jordan Hartman.
He was a 2014 graduate
of MHS and graduated from
the ISP Academy in December.
He has previous experience
working at the Ripley
County Sheriff’s Dept. and
will no doubt be an asset to
the ISP. Many thankas to Jordan
for your law enforcement
service to the community.
The story of the Milan
Miracle continues to fascinate
basketball fans of all ages.
This year is the seventieth
anniversary of the 1954 state
championship win and a commemorative
celebration is
being planned. On Mar. 23 at
the high school gymnasium,
a panel will be held. Beginning
at 11:00 A.M., the panel
will be hosted by Indianapolis
sportscaster Greg Rakestraw
and will include players from
the ‘54 team and other dignitaries.
Following the program
there will be a chance to get
autographs from players and
also from cast members who
portrayed them in the movie
Hoosiers, which premiered in
1986. Milan is the smallest
school to ever win the state
championship and will retain
that distinction now that class
basketball has taken over.
MHS senior Dylan Thomas
was recently recognized on
television as the Student-Athlete
of the Week. Dylan has
set many school records and
has advanced to the state finals
in swimming the past two
years. He also volunteers at
his church and is a member of
the band, does all of this while
earning an academic honors
diploma. Way to go Dylan!
Have you made plans to
watch the solar eclipse coming
on Apr. 8? Much of the state is
in the path of totality. The next
opportunity to see something
like this will be 2044 in the
northwest part of the United
States. I’ve seen many tips for
watching the eclipse and the
most important, of course, is
to protect your eyes.
I would love to hear from
you with community news!
You can reach me at milan@
goBEACONnews.com.