Southern Indiana Living Magazine - May/June 2024

STAYING ACTIVE: SPORT & REGENERATIVE MEDICINE 

Southern 

Indiana 

May / June 2024 

Living 

Starlight Coffee Co. 

A Gathering Place for Community 

Making a Difference in So IN 

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2 • May/June 2024 • Southern Indiana Living

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MAY / JUNE 2024 

VOL. 17, ISSUE 3 

PUBLISHER | 

Karen Hanger 

karen@silivingmag.com 

LAYOUT & DESIGN | 

Christy Byerly 

christy@silivingmag.com 

COPY EDITOR | 

Jennifer Cash 

COPY EDITOR | 

Sara Combs 

ADVERTISING | 

Take advantage of prime 

advertising space. Call us at 

812-989-8871 or e-mail 


12 

Featured Stories 

12 | COFFEE & COMMUNITY 

Starlight Coffee Co. 

15 | GRACE House 

Giving Community a chance everyday 

20 | A HOMEBASE OF HEALING 

Sports & Regenerative Medicine 

SUBSCRIPTIONS | 

$25/year, Mail to: Southern 

Indiana Living, P.O. Box 145, 

Marengo, IN 47140 

Contact SIL 

P.O. Box 145 

Marengo, IN 47140 

812.989.8871 


Southern Indiana Living 

MAY / JUNE 2024 

ON THE COVER: 

Starlight Coffee Co. // 

Photo by Michelle Hockman 

Check out more 

features and stories 

at www.silivingmag.com 

Southern Indiana Living is 

published bimonthly by SIL 

Publishing Co. LLC, P.O. Box 

145, Marengo, Ind. 47140. Any 

views expressed in any advertisement, 

signed letter, article, 

or photograph are those of 

the author and do not necessarily 

reflect the position of 

Southern Indiana Living or its 

parent company. Copyright © 

2018 SIL Publishing Co. LLC. 

No part of this publication 

may be reproduced in any 

form without written permission 

from SIL Publishing Co. 

LLC. 

8 

`12 

In Every Issue 

7 | FLASHBACK 

Delivery Time, New Albnay, IN, 1936 

8 | A WALK IN THE GARDEN 

Welcome, Spring 

11 | A NOTE TO BABY BOOMERS 

Spring Cleaning Time 

25 | REAL LIFE NUTRITION 

Go with your gut 

29 | EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 

Sasquatch Surprise 


MARK YOUR 

CALENDAR! 

MAY 25 

10AM-9PM 

AT BORDEN COMMUNITY PARK 

You’ll want to come hungry and try a variety of different 

foods from even MORE food vendors this year. Plus, get 

your fill of all things strawberry at Strawberry Lane, including 

chocolate-covered strawberries, strawberry smoothies, our 

famous Build-Your-Own-Strawberry Shortcake Bar & more! 

This year’s events will be better than ever with the return 

of our Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony, the 

Berry Run 5K, the Little Mister & Miss Shortcake Contest, 

Pie Eating Contests, a dessert auction, & more! 

There will be featured music from a variety of artists, including 

former contestant on The Voice, Jackson Snelling, & this year’s 

headliner, the Juice Box Heroes! 

Be sure to plan ahead to leave plenty of time to visit all the 

arts and crafts vendors, the bounce houses in the 

Fun Zone, horse rides, Farmer Steve’s Petting Zoo, 

face painting, and Bingo. 

New this year, the Red, White, & Berry Parade! 

Be ready to line up your lawn chairs on the route a week before 

the Strawberry Festival on Saturday, May 18th. The parade 

starts at 11AM. Visit our social media pages on Facebook and 

Instagram @starvalleystrawberryfestival for more information. 

Entertainment 

11:25AM National Anthem 

11:30-12PM Little Miss & Mister 

Shortcake Contest 

12-1:30PM Robin Embry 

1:30-2PM Children’s Pie Eating Contest 

(11 & Under) 

2-3:30PM Josh Glauber 

3:30-4PM Dessert Auction 

4-4:30PM Memorial Day 

Remembrance Ceremony 

4:30-5PM Adult Pie Eating Contest 

(12 & Over) 

5-6:30PM Jackson Snelling 

7-9:00PM Juice Box Heroes 

COME 

HUNGRY! 

SHOP AND 

PLAY! 

@starvalleystrawberryfestival 


Flashback Photo 

Delivery Time 

New Albany, Indiana 

ca. 1936 

// Photo courtesy of the Frederick Porter Griffin Center, Harrison County Public Library 

According to library records, Sunshine Hatcheries began in Harrison County, Indiana, in 1915. This snapshot shows 

Garrett McClaren, a partner of Sunshine Hatcheries and son of the original owner, Joe McClaren, loading chicks onto 

the company delivery truck. 


A Walk in the Garden with Bob Hill 

The bubbling April fountain 

came last, the watery finish 

to a wonderfully sunny day 

spent playing in the dirt. 

Sure, spring had officially arrived 

a few weeks earlier, but to me, the 

first full day of useful sunshine is 

what really counts as spring, not 

some movable number on the calendar. 

To lean slightly into the scientific, 

there are all sorts of listed 

reasons for why gentle sunshine 

pushes the mind toward mellow. 

One is sunshine, which produces 

a hormone called serotonin, which 

pumps the brain to cheer you up. 

Then there is evidence that the light 

can help release endorphins in the 

skin cells, a feel-good chemical. 

Early morning sun rays also have 

vitamin D — and you thought it 

came from milk — which warms 

the body and mind. 

Add it all up. Stick me in a golf 

cart dressed in two sweatshirts, a 

broad gardener’s hat and yellow, 

feed-store gloves accompanied by a 

rake, shovel and hand spade. Bring 

it on. Work to do. Up and at it. 

Starting off with transplanting 

some lavender. We hadn’t grown 

much of it in previous garden endeavors. 

The color was always intriguing, 

the fragrance, ah, heavenly, 

and last year we were long 

overdue to try it. 

It was a good move in theory, 

but I screwed up in practice. Lavender 

requires full sunshine to reach 

maximum color and fragrance. I 

had stuck it in partial, late-afternoon 

sunshine near a row of whitish 

birch trees. It was a good pick 

in terms of easy aesthetics, dancing 

purple flowers and flaky white 

bark. It was a dumb idea, given 

the birch tree shade. The lavender 

didn’t seem very interesting in that 

spot, or even interested. Floppy, actually. 

Janet Hill thus suggested a 

full-sunshine place in the front 

yard. The transplant journey began 

in the morning chill, the sunshine 

casting long shadows across the 

back field. Some of the lavender, for 

all previously listed reasons, just 

looked dead. I dug out fat clumps, 

anxiously searching for signs of 

life — hints of new growth in last 

8 • May/June 2024 • Southern Indiana Living 

Welcome, Spring 

year’s faded foliage. 

Optimism prevailed. Why 

else garden? About 10 of the more 

hopeful plants were carted to the 

front yard, where full sunshine had 

risen above the tree line. The lavender’s 

new home had been the site 

of a front-yard sculpture of some 

recycled metal thing that seemed a 

good idea at the time. The sculpture 

was subsequently banished to the 

barn. The site sat there empty for a 

couple years, perhaps waiting for 

some lavender. 

The transplanting first required 

the removal of some pea 

gravel on the metal-thing site, 

which also seemed like a good idea 

at the time. The pea gravel soon had 

a new purpose: filling in holes in 

the driveway, not normally a routine 

part of transplanting lavender. 

Some of that pea gravel remained 

mixed in the dirt of the metal-thing 

site, helping to add needed 

drainage to the tough soil. The 

10 lavender plants were carefully 

placed in a zig-zag pattern in what 

was now full sun. They looked up 

at me, strangers in a strange land. 

Now what? 

I had to drag a garden hose 

about 300 feet for the lavenderwatering 

process. It was also the 

hose’s Opening Day in the 2024 

Garden Season. It performed well; 

the hand sprinkler was still locked 

in its full and upright position after 

four months of off-season cold. The 

water-wet lavender looked more 

alive, even happy. I was happy. 

Bone-deep happy. Damn near euphoric. 

Garden sunshine filled the 

front yard. 

You go, serotonin. 

As it can in the garden world, 

the day just got better from there. 

The air warmed. One layer of 

sweatshirts came off. I looked 

around, kept going and checked 

out our azalea plants. They looked 

a little needy, so I found our almost 

empty bag of acidic fertilizer and 

sprinkled it around their feet. Better 

too late than never. 

I had made the first 2024 round 

of mowing the grass the day before 

but missed a few places. I saddled 

up my 60-inch mower and cleaned 

up the missed spots, leveling the 

whole grassy playing field for the 

upcoming weekly missions — and 

more — once the sun remained a 

little more engaged. 

To that end, I like to think of 

late March and April as “Fool’s Gardening 

Season.” This has been the 

best spring I can remember — an 

incredible parade of hellebores, crocus, 

phlox, daffodils, snowdrops, 

quince, tulips, magnolias, redbuds, 

lilacs, dogwoods and more. Right 

on cue. Boom, boom, boom, bang. 

With our peonies on the rise. 

All of it as yet without the oncoming 

onslaught of weeds, heat,

drought, humidity and skin-burning, 

biting sunshine. The garden 

world will not be this nice or refreshing 

again until October. We are 

so easily fooled now. We want to be 

fooled. 

But on this sunny, 50s and 60s 

day, I spring-feverishly pursued 

my garden chores across our 8 acres 

in our golf cart. I pruned hydrangeas 

I had missed earlier. I peered 

anxiously at my nascent heuchera 

and bleeding hearts, wondering 

what they were thinking. I mentally 

plotted the locations of about 

175 perennials I have on order to finally 

fill in all those damn spots the 

weeds want to own. 

Anticipation thrives in sunshine. 

Then I parked the golf cart in 

a sunny spot in front of a sweetly 

blooming pink almond shrub and 

took a nap. Gardeners in the fourscore-years-and-something 

territory 

get to do that. Mandatory, actually. 

I love our pink almond shrub. 

It just defines fleeting beauty. Every 

year. 

What made the day even more 

sunny was that a friend came over 

to help weed a few of those particularly 

loathsome garden areas. She 

needed a break, loves plants and 

planting, so we took off on a tour of 

much of the previously mentioned. 

Nothing warms a gardener’s heart 

more than showing off about 40 

years of work and hundreds of 

flowers, shrubs and trees to someone 

who understands and appreciates 

all that it took. My favorite 

stop at that particular moment on 

that particular day was our patch 

of woods, where a huge cluster of 

golden yellow daffodils had neighbored 

up to a couple hundred pink, 

purple and white hellebores. All of 

it was lit in gentle sunshine. 

Our last stop was at a big concrete 

fountain perched beneath tall 

trees at the end of a long path that 

had been cow pasture 40 years ago. 

The fountain is not elegant, but, 

more importantly, it is sturdy and 

loyal. It has been there for years. It 

Stick me in a golf cart dressed in two sweatshirts, a broad gardener’s 

hat and yellow, feed-store gloves accompanied by a rake, shovel and 

hand spade. Bring it on. Work to do. Up and at it. 

marks a special, expected place. It 

adds a different texture to the shade 

gardens along one side of it, the 

garden art and magnolia rising in 

the sunshine further down the way. 

The cord to its pump runs a 

short distance to an electric outlet 

about 10 feet away. It had been unplugged 

since last October for winter 

protection. I plugged it in. More 

anticipation. No problem. The water 

bubbled up, gleaming in the filtered 

sunlight. • 

About the Author 

Former Courier-Journal 

columnist Bob Hill enjoys 

gardening, good fun, good 

friends and the life he and 

his wife, Janet. 

Discover What Makes Washington County a 

Great 

Destination! 

Fiber Revival at Beck’s Mill 

May 11, 2024 

Activities begin at 10AM. The event features the 

very rare running of both the carding machines. 

Food will be served. 

Outdoor Youth Day—John Hay Center 

May 18, 2024 

1:00 to 4:00PM. Activities including archery, air 

rifles, a visit from the raptor birds of prey from 

Hardy Lake, and more! 

Beck’s Mill Artist Series 2024 

May 19th 

Sunday’s, 1:30-3:30PM April to October. 

A blend of artistic activities as you learn 

the history and myths of Beck’s Mill. 

Artist Topic - The Waterfall 

$15 per session, or $75 for the season. 

Register: Austys.com 

In Historic Washington County 

Your outdoor adventures start here! Camping, 

fishing, hiking, mountain biking, spelunking, 

Knobstone Trailheads and more! 

Plan your trip today! 

Beck’s Mill Artist Series 2024 

June 23rd 

Sunday’s, 1:30-3:30PM April to October. 

A blend of artistic activities as you learn the history 

and myths of Beck’s Mill. Artist Topic - The Cabin 

$15 per session, or $75 for the season. 

Register: Austys.com 

Washington County Master 

Gardeners’ 

June 29, 2024 

Tour of Salem Area Residential Gardens. 

Be sure to check visitwashingtoncounty.org for more information 

and other events that are planned, or call 812-883-5533 to plan your trip! 


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Spring Cleaning Time 

H 

ow am I doing? 

Teachers no longer 

grade me; my last report 

card was way, way last 

century. Bosses quit evaluating me 

once I quit being bossed. 

Moving? Sorry, I’m busy that 

day. 

Besides, my far-from-superpowers 

went the way of pet rocks 

and the Ford Pinto. 

All I muster these days is envy. 

I wish I was the one trying to fit 

my life into the bed of a borrowed 

truck. How lucky to be forced to 

figure out which thingamabobs are 

necessary and not just nice. Why 

did anyone need that in the first 

place? 

Good question, like this one: 

Will one dumpster do the trick? 

I never have moved, not really. 

I took a bag or two to college, 

along with stereo speakers the size 

of Marengo. I then got married, my 

wife and I with parents obviously 

aware our old bedrooms would become 

warehouses. 

Now that is love. 

Such detours brief, I live well 

into my 71st year in the same home. 

I do not know when I am going to 

die, of course. My community has 

plenty of dollar stores but not a 

single fortune teller with a coupon 

in the Valpak. So, I am stuck — that 

familiar old-person stuck — going 

a bit crazy about the quantity of the 

future as well as its quality. 

My parents died before their 

time, same with each and every 

grandparent. So, there’s that. Then 

again, I surely eat better and exercise 

more than did any of them. If 

it’s bad genes versus good habits, 

what wins? 

Meanwhile, the clock only 

ticks. 

It would be great to rest assured 

that my chronic leukemia 

stays dormant. I can’t. It would be 

great if every idiotic driver turned 

smart or stayed sober. They won’t. 

It would be great if I could 

climb steps as long as there’s something 

at the top I need. That one’s 

especially worrisome. 

It would be great if I gave up 

as many things as I got. I don’t. That 

I could control — without moving. 

Will I? 

Moving helps a bunch; how 

could it not? Moving requires 

weeding, sorting, handing off — 

decision after decision, argument 

after argument. 

Who gets this? Anybody use 

that? What even is this? These are 

questions those who move must 

ask. 

Maybe next week, maybe next 

month, maybe my grandfather’s 

missing diamond wristwatch is 

somewhere amid all our canceled 

checks and holey T-shirts and bookof-the-month 

club books yet to be 

read. 

A friend asked how a recent 

week had gone. Ever full of it, I 

responded that the highlight was 

hauling a trunk-load of clothes to 

a thrift shop. However true, also 

true was that the pile had sat since 

spring cleaning. 

I hate to admit which spring. 

I finally know why we became 

parents. It’s to have the kids’ bedrooms 

for storage when they grew 

up and moved out. Almost worth 

all their overpriced sneakers and 

blown curfews. OK, OK, I kid about 

our kids. 

They do us proud, in ways big 

and little. They ask our opinions 

and enjoy our company. We are 

glad to continue to do the occasional 

favor. 

While one hangs — moving 

without moving. It should be us, 

not them, who shrink the Moss collection. 

As a newspaperman, I toured 

the back room of one of those thrift 

shops. It was loaded with unsorted 

donations. Atop one bin was a 

stack of a couple’s wedding photos, 

seemingly from the 1950s. 

The pictures were giveaways 

in someone’s mind. How sad. What 

to keep, who’s to say? I trust our 

children will make better, more respectful 

decisions. But now is the 

time for my wife and me to help 

with that, to accept the burden instead 

of passing it on. 

No problem, right after I learn 

to trim my toenails without grunting. 

The very day I wrote this, I 

looked online for bourbon-sipping 

glasses. I found ones I liked, to 

A Note to Baby Boomers 

which my exasperated wife offered 

this challenge: What’s wrong with 

the ones we have? 

Well, uh. 

I always was better at adding 

than subtracting. Adding is fun, exciting 

until the bill comes. To each 

his own, but bargain hunting is my 

idea of hunting. 

I am not a hoarder; those 37 

bars of soap were an accident. Do 

I need all my jeans, all my sweatshirts, 

all my sneakers? 

The adding, the piles — they 

slow in retirement, at least. Is it 

reason to celebrate, probably never 

needing a new suit or button-up 

shirts or topcoat or neckties or dress 

shoes? Is my car my last one? Will 

its tires outlast me? 

I will awaken tonight, shuffle 

to the bathroom and then glance at 

the fake wood clock radio on the 

nightstand. It may be the Warren 

I always was better at adding than subtracting. 

Adding is fun, exciting until the bill comes. To each 

his own, but bargain hunting is my idea of hunting. 

Harding model. It and I have been 

married as long as my wife and I. 

Much in my life no longer 

works like new. But that clock radio 

does. So, it stays; my wife less 

than thrilled. Her patience likewise 

is tried by our landline phones 

and subscriptions to hold-in-hand 

newspapers. 

I suppose I could warm up to 

restaurant drive-thrus, much less 

deliveries, along with pretty much 

whatever Best Buy sells. 

Today’s challenge, though, 

is taking inventory of what we 

own and confronting what we still 

should own. We are not going anywhere, 

anytime soon. More of our 

stuff must. 

Perhaps next month’s Valpak 

includes a bargain on dumpster 

rental.• 

After 25 years, Dale Moss 

retired as Indiana columnist 

for The Courier-Journal. He 

now writes weekly for the 

News and Tribune. Dale and 

his wife Jean live in Jeffersonville 

in a house that has been 

in his family since the Civil War. Dale’s e-mail 

is dale.moss@twc.com 


Cover Story 

Coffee & Community 

Starlight Coffee Co. shines at five locations 

Story by Darian Decker 

Photos by Michelle Hockman 


Jim Book jokingly said he was 

“young, dumb, and broke” 

when he started Starlight Coffee 

Company under the name 

Bean Street back in 2002. He said 

there were no other coffee shops in 

Southern Indiana at the time and 

that Starlight remains the longestrunning 

coffee shop in the area. 

“Me personally, I was determined 

to do something and met a 

couple that ran a shop over in Louisville 

that also did their own roasting,” 

he said. 

The couple walked him 

through the process and helped 

educate him on the coffee business. 

“It’s kind of like bartending 

without alcohol, and it fits my personality. 

I grew up on a farm; I’m 

a morning person, and I like to engage 

with people,” Book said. 

The couple who helped him 

were very informative for him; after 

that, he said it took a lot of his 

own manual labor to get the space 

ready. 

“I went into running a business 

blindly and just had to learn 

how to manage, how to maintain, 

how to pay bills as I went,” he said. 

“It was definitely a hands-on learning 

experience.” 

After four or five years, Book 

changed the name of the shop to 

the same name as his roasting company, 

“Starlight,” after learning of 

another business using Bean Street. 

Since then, the business has grown 

from one to five different locations 

across Southern Indiana. 

Most recently, Starlight opened 

its doors at a new location in 

Georgetown in October. Book said 

he’s always had his eye on Georgetown 

since a lot of their Floyds 

Knobs business traffic comes from 

Georgetown. 

Once his friend Seth Ernstberger 

opened his orthodontic 

practice, he reached out to Book 

with the idea of using part of the 

space as a coffee shop. 

“For him, it was space that 

wasn’t being utilized; for me, it was 

a good opportunity,” Book said. 

Though Starlight now has 

multiple locations and nearly 60 

staff members, Book said something 

he felt challenged by early on 

was recognizing there were waves 

of good and bad days. 

“They level out, but you have 

moments where it’s good or bad,” 

he said. “From that point on, it’s 

just (learning) organization and 

managing a lot of people.” 

Going forward, he said one 

of his goals is increasing efficiency 

now that they have so many locations. 

“Putting the fifth store on was

kind of demanding, especially on 

the roasting side, so there’s some 

internal work to get going to make 

things more efficient,” he said. 

Book said Starlight is the only 

shop in Southern Indiana that 

roasts its own beans, while others 

use vendors. “We work with the 

farms to source it, roast it, and brew 

it.” 

“Coffee is just the pit of a 

cherry — it’s the seeds of a round 

cherry, so each farm and how they 

harvest it and depulp it and dry it 

creates unique characteristics in the 

bean itself, kind of like the terroir of 

soil for winemaking,” he said. 

For instance, you might have 

the same grape vine growing in 

California as in France, but their 

tastes are unique from one another. 

For Starlight, everything is specialty-grade. 

The different notes and flavors 

of beans are one of Book’s favorite 

parts, as he tends to take his coffee 

black. As far as a sweet drink, 

though, he recommends a mocha 

latte with an extra shot and half the 

chocolate. 

“We have our set menu of op- 

Jim Book, Owner 

“Most people start the morning with coffee, so it’s 

just like they need that positivity and that comfort. 

We want to make a great drink, something they carry 

away and makes them happy as they’re sipping on it. 

- Jim Book, Owner of Starlight Coffee Co. 

Barista Annie Hunchman and Karolynn Phillips 

Pictured: (left page) Johns’ mural on the Elsby East building in New Albany; (this page, from top) Carey Johns in her 

studio; one of two murals created by Carrie Johns in Milltown. 


tions, but then you can build your 

own, and then the staff creates specials 

as well,” he said. 

Community engagement is 

part of why Book enjoys his job so 

much. He hopes to create an experience 

where people get a dose of 

positivity and friendliness when 

they stop in or drive through a 

shop. 

“Most people start the morning 

with coffee, so it’s just like they 

need that positivity and that comfort,” 

he said. “We want to make a 

great drink, something they carry 

away and makes them happy as 

they’re sipping on it.” • 

The patio at the Georgetown location 

The Hawk’s Nest 

Reserve, Kick Back, and Enjoy! 

The Eagle’s Nest 

(812) 968-4334 | BigTimberRiverCabins.com 

Overlooking the Scenic Ohio River 




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Todd-Dickey Nursing 

& Rehabilitation 

712 W. 2nd St. 

SCOTTSBURG 

Hickory Creek 

at Scottsburg 

1100 N. Gardner St. 

Lake Pointe Village 

545 W. Moonglo Rd. 

CLK-mkt 7.5x4.75_SIndLivingMag_02.24.indd 1 


2/16/24 3:24 PM


Making a Difference 

“It was in 2018 that I found myself 

to be a full-blown addict,” 

said Ray Wiseman, the first 

graduate of GRACE House’s 

men’s recovery program. 

The 43-year-old father of four 

and former minister admitted, “I 

did everything. It was mostly meth, 

some heroin — the full gamut of 

drugs, starting with alcohol.” It 

all came to a head when he disappeared 

for 36 hours. “I left my wife 

and kids and turned off my phone. 

No one could reach me. I did alcohol 

and every other drug I could 

get my hands on, the whole bit.” 

Things are very different now. 

He gives much of the credit to 

GRACE House’s programs. “I can 

face life on its own terms,” said 

Wiseman. “I can lead my family. 

My kids look up to me; consider me 

a hero. GRACE House gave me the 

tools to do that by providing a safe 

environment to heal and opportunities 

for leadership.” 

GRACE House (GRACE 

standing for Give Recovery A 

Chance Every day) began as a vision 

of Bill Mitchell, a retired teacher 

and a community volunteer. He 

saw the need after visiting with inmates 

at local jails and reached out 

to the judicial community, county 

officials and church leaders. Planning 

meetings began in 2017, he 

said. 

“A lot of churches, agencies, 

county officials and community 

leaders came together to make 

it work,” said Mitchell. “There 

wouldn’t be a GRACE House without 

Hoosier Uplands and its CEO, 

David Miller; the Community 

Foundation of Crawford County; 

Hillview Christian Church; First 

Capital Church in Corydon; and 

friends and family members of the 

recovering addicts.” 

The facility opened in 2018 

with a six-bed women’s recovery 

program that operated for two 

years and assisted 30-plus women 

before facing challenges from the 

state concerning contract wording, 

and the residents relocated to Genesis 

House, a new women’s recovery 

residence in Corydon, to complete 

the program. 


Giving Recovery A Chance Every Day 

GRACE House offers a place to heal 

With the problem resolved, 

plans for a men’s program were developed. 

GRACE House opened in August 

2021 and holds 10 men who 

pay $100 a week. They find jobs and 

are involved in community services 

such as the Crawford County United 

Ministries Food Pantry, where 

they unload trucks and do prep 

work. 

The program operates from 

three sites: the residential facility in 

Marengo, which the county commissioners 

lease for $1 a year; the 

former bank building in Milltown, 

donated by First Savings Bank; 

and the former Marengo Wesleyan 

Church, donated by the Southern 

Wesleyan Association. The church 

site hosts Narcotics Anonymous 

(NA) meetings as well as Saturday 

night Recovery Church services, 

with plans to include transitional 

living accommodations. 

Although Wiseman was welcomed 

back into his family, that 

isn’t true for all residents. “Some 

guys just don’t have any place to 

go,” said Mitchell. “That makes 

it hard for them to maintain their 

sobriety.” The church will require 

some remodeling, such as adding 

showers, before it is resident-ready, 

he said. “Eventually, we also want 

to be able to hold some beds for 

Story by Sara Combs 

Photo provided by GRACE House 

Pictured: The Community showed its support for GRACE house at a benefit concert featuring The Sound & Joseph 

Habedank with Faith and the Hillview Worship Band. 

emergency housing as well as 20 

beds for transitional care.” 

Some work has been done, 

Mitchell said. “When the Wesleyan 

Church closed, its appliances 

and cabinets were distributed to 

other churches, so those had to be 

replaced,” he said. “And new cabinets 

were installed by Tom Dennison 

of Dennison’s Cabinets of Laconia.” 

Wiseman’s story follows an 

all-too-familiar path. 

“I was working two jobs: one 

at a church, another at a restaurant,” 

he said. “I was under a lot of 

pressure, facing the high expectancy 

that goes with being ‘the preacher.’ 

It started with going out to get a 

bite to eat after work, then an occasional 

drink, and on to serious drug 

use, progressing a step at a time.” 

It came to a head with his disappearance, 

Wiseman said. “I finally 

turned on my phone and saw 

a text from my wife, Jessie, who is 

the true hero of my story.” The text 

read: “I know everything you have 

done. Come home.” He agreed to 

meet her at The Healing Place in 

Louisville, beginning his complicated 

road to recovery. 

“We lost our home, our car, everything,” 

he said. “My family had 

to move in with my parents, living 

in their basement for almost two

years. 

“I manipulated myself out of 

The Healing Place before I completed 

the program,” he continued. “I 

had no desire to quit taking drugs, 

but I thought I could manage my 

use. That lasted about three weeks.” 

It was after a number of attempts 

at area recovery centers 

with varying degrees of success 

that Wiseman learned that GRACE 

House was reopening with a program 

for men. “I thought, ‘Let’s 

give this a shot.’ It was not always 

the best of times. At first, you aren’t 

allowed a phone or to carry money. 

I didn’t like that, although Jessie got 

me anything I needed. Then, finally, 

I quit playing the victim. I had to 

own my problems.” 

As he healed, Wiseman said he 

could feel God’s call to come back 

to ministry. He told Jessie. “I have 

been praying for that,” she told 

him. They began searching for an 

appropriate church. “I felt it should 

be a church for addicts,” he said. 

They discovered the Recovery 

Church movement, with headquarters 

in Florida and churches 

throughout the U.S. “It teaches the 

12 steps of AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] 

and NA alongside the Bible,” 

he said. “It doesn’t replace the 

traditional church, but provides a 

safe, comfortable environment for 

addicts as they recover.” 

Wiseman is not only the first 

to graduate from GRACE House’s 

men’s program, but he is also the 

first addict on its board of directors. 

He is employed at Hickory Recovery 

Center in Corydon and is a minister 

at Recovery Church. Its first 

service was Jan. 6, 2024, with Wiseman 

and three other pastors, and it 

has an average attendance of 35. 

Mitchell, who spearheaded 

the project and is a board member, 

said, “It takes a lot of money to run 

the program. There are some who 

give monthly and other donations,” 

he said. “And there are fundraisers. 

Sheriff Jeff Howell holds an annual 

pork barbecue. There are yard sales, 

a golf scramble, and there was a 

benefit concert.” However, more 

consistent givers are needed, he 

said, so there can be more outcomes 

“I can face life on its own terms. I can lead my family. My kids look up to 

me; consider me a hero. GRACE House gave me the tools to do that by 

providing a safe environment to heal and opportunities for leadership.” 

- Ray Wiseman 

like Wiseman’s. 

Mitchell pointed out that the 

leading cause of death for people 

under 50 is overdose. “Recovery 

is possible with appropriate treatment,” 

he said. “You can’t argue 

with changed lives.” • 

NA meetings are held Mondays at 7:30 

p.m., and Recovery Church is held Saturdays 

at 6 p.m. All are held at the former 

Marengo Wesleyan Church, 140 

E. Pleasant Ave. For additional information 

or to donate, call 812-365-9339 

or go to gracehouserecovery.org or facebook.com/GracehouseIN. 

Family Fun Awaits! 

WAKE UP TO A 

NEW EVENT … 

Let’s Make Memories! 

#MyFrenchLick | 812-936-3418 | vflwb.com 

Salvation Army hosts second “Fresh Start Festival” June 1 

Instead of the customary evening dinner event, the community 

is invited to enjoy a wide array of foods and coffees between 

8 and 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 1. Twenty local restaurants 

and coffee houses will provide samples of breakfast items 

and coffees at the event at the Salvation Army Corps and 

Community Center, 2300 Green Valley Road in New Albany. 

Proceeds will boost area families to 

a fresh start toward home ownership 

through the Salvation Army’s new 

”Pathway of Hope” program. 

Tickets are now available at $45 and 

must be purchased in advance by simply 

going to the Salvation Army’s website, 

www.SAnewalbany.org, and click on the Reserve Ticket link. 


Stephen Kirkman, MD 

Family Medicine 

Georgetown 

Medical Center 

Now accepting new patients. 

5300 State Road 64, Suite 101, Georgetown 


Visit us at 

www.hchin.org 

+123-465-7980 

Call Us 

812-501-5151


Business Spotlight 

Dr. Stan Schooler is all about 

helping his patients avoid 

surgery when possible 

and live healthy, active 

lives. 

Schooler’s list of credentials 

is overwhelming, having served as 

the medical director and staff physician 

at Kosair ER, having 33 years 

of ER practice at Floyd Memorial 

Hospital, an Air Force pediatric 

practice, being board-certified in 

pediatric and adult sports medicine, 

and even more. 

After retiring from the ER, 

Schooler knew he wanted to continue 

practicing and using his skill 

set. He has since opened a practice 

in Floyds Knobs focused on sports 

and regenerative medicine: Stay 

Active of Southern Indiana. 

Regenerative medicine is defined 

by the Association for the Advancement 

of Blood and Biotherapies 

as “the process of replacing or 

‘regenerating’ human cells, tissues, 

or organs to restore or establish normal 

function.” 

“I’m using techniques to allow 

for non-surgical treatments for 

bone, joint and spine conditions,” 

Schooler said. “And also, treatment 

of painful nerves that may be associated 

with the above (bone, joint 

A ‘Home Base’ of Healing 

Sports and Regenerative Medicine facility helps Southern Indiana residents stay active 

and spine).” 

Schooler said he uses ultrasound 

technology to see areas of 

painful nerves or areas where tissue 

could be breaking down. 

Several treatment methods 

are used, including PRP (plateletrich 

plasma), which uses a patient’s 

own blood products from a sameday 

office draw and injection treatment 

to painful areas of joints or 

tendons. This promotes healing of 

those areas. 

Another treatment method is 

painful nerve injections, which use 

an ultrasound to determine exactly 

where the nerves are affected. 

A third method is shockwave 

treatment. Schooler said this has 

been used in the United States for 

the past 30 years for plantar fasciitis 

and tennis elbow. It is now being 

used for many common musculoskeletal 

conditions to encourage 

Story by Darian Decker 

Photos by Michelle Hockman 

After retiring from the ER, Schooler knew he 

wanted to continue practicing and using his skill 

set. He has since opened a practice in Floyds 

Knobs focused on sports and regenerative 

medicine: Stay Active of Southern Indiana. 

healing. 

“Inflammation is the primary 

cause for this (pain), so we discuss 

lifestyle changes — diet, supplements, 

exercise, hormones, activity 

— to try to decrease the inflammation 

to help the joints and nerves 

and to promote functional movement,” 

Schooler said. 

One of Schooler’s goals is to 

get people active in some way. He 

and his wife used to own a fitness 

center in New Albany and have always 

been interested in exercise as 

a form of medicine. He said he recognizes 

that everyone has a different 

starting point. “They don’t have 

to be an athlete,” he said. 

Schooler’s background allows 

him to work with all ages. “Coming 

from a pediatric and adult background, 

I can see (kids), adults, and 

seniors who have problem joints or 

what they think is a painful nerve.” 

Pictured: (left) Dr. Stan Schooler; (right) Dr. Schooler demonstrating the radial shockwave machine on his daughter, Amy 


His office can do X-rays, MRIs 

and bloodwork based on the patient’s 

reason for scheduling an appointment. 

Schooler said he’s seen great 

success with regenerative treatments 

for osteoarthritis of the knee, 

Achilles tendon pain, and other areas 

causing discomfort or pain. 

“People that thought they 

were going to go for surgery can 

benefiting from treatment, among 

other areas already mentioned. 

“We changed our name from 

sports medicine only to doing this 

regenerative treatment that is being 

used pretty much all over,” 

Schooler said. “People are looking 

for non-surgical options to restore 

health, and that’s what our focus 

is.” 

Schooler said he’s proud of his 

on a timer or worry about me rushing 

for the next patient,” he said. 

Facebook reviews mention just 

this, saying Schooler “took a significant 

amount of time to diagnose 

my problem with my knee injury 

and ultimately recommended the 

PRP procedure, which prevented 

me from undergoing knee surgery.” 

Another review said, “Dr. 

Schooler really took his time and 

“People that thought they were going to go for surgery can postpone that for some 

time in the future, if necessary, at all. That’s why we try to implement the lifestyle 

changes and decrease the inflammation so they can continue on with normal life 

without being dependent on wheelchairs, walkers, etc.” 

- Dr. Stan Schooler 

postpone that for some time in the 

future, if necessary, at all,” he said. 

“That’s why we try to implement 

the lifestyle changes and decrease 

the inflammation so they can continue 

on with normal life without 

being dependent on wheelchairs, 

walkers, etc.” 

The practice tries to promote 

healing through non-opioid paths 

and commonly sees knees, hips 

and lower backs as sources of pain 

new location and of being so central 

for the community. 

“Having been the urgent care 

director for 20 years there, I kind of 

feel like I’m going back to my home 

base of sorts,” he said. 

Schooler also said he enjoys the 

problem-solving aspect of medicine 

and working with each individual 

patient’s mind, body and spirit. 

“I try to understand where 

they’re coming from. They won’t be 

made my daughter and I feel like 

a priority. He did not just want to 

make her pain go away with a shot 

or medicine. He really wanted to 

get to the root of the problem and 

find solutions to make it go away.”• 

If you’re experiencing any sort of pain 

or inflammation, you can make an appointment 

through stayactivesi.com or 

812-949-3482. Most insurance plans 

are accepted. 

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Generators by CELCO Electric 

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installation, maintenance to service, repair to Houseboat’s, RV’s Travel Trailer’s and Off-Grid 

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This is adventure 

SQUIRE BOONE CAVERNS 

CAVE COUNTRY CANOES 

HARRISON COUNTY POPCORN FESTIVAL 

Come alive in Corydon and Harrison 

County, Indiana. We offer a wide variety 

of outdoor adventures – some will have 

you totally relaxed, and others will have 

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you screaming your head off. 

To learn more, visit ThisIsIndiana.org 


VANWINKLE 

Quality, Integrity, and Knowledge Matter 

When Buying Hemp Products 

812 Hemp is Southern Indiana’s premier hemp education 

wellness center. We offer the largest variety of local, quality 

CBD/hemp products in store and online. 

• ALIGNMENTS 

• OIL CHANGE 

• TIRES 

812-347-3134 

CALL RAMSEY TODAY! 

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Talk to your 

neighbors, 

then talk 

to me. 

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812-736-3928 

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Theresa Lamb, Agent 

1523 State Street 

New Albany, IN 47150 

Bus: 812-945-8088 

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See why State Farm ® insures 

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service, plus discounts of up 

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Like a good neighbor, 

State Farm is there. ® 

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State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL 


Real Life Nutrition 

Go with your Gut 

Have you ever given much 

thought to your gut health? 

If you haven’t, it might be 

time to start! Gut health 

affects many aspects of the body, including 

sleep; digestion; allergies; the 

immune system; mental health; autoimmune 

diseases; and the risks of diabetes, 

cardiovascular diseases and cancer. 

There are about 200 different species 

of bacteria, viruses and fungi that 

live in your large intestine and are 

known as the microbiome. They help 

to break down and digest food for your 

body. There may be both good and bad 

bacteria in your gut. The diversity of 

the gut microbiome can indicate overall 

health. 

Symptoms of poor gut health can 

include gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, 

heartburn, fatigue, trouble sleeping, 

anxiety and frequent illnesses. 

The gut microbiome can be affected 

by things we cannot control, such as 

environment, age and the circumstances 

of our birth. However, it can also be 

affected by things within our control, 

such as stress, limited sleep, inactivity, 

smoking, alcohol use and antibiotic use. 

How could you improve your gut 

health? Try eating a healthy diet, including 

fibrous fruits, vegetables and legumes; 

getting exercise; reducing stress; 

getting adequate sleep; avoiding antibiotics 

as preventative care; and increasing 

water intake. (Refer to Southern 

Indiana Living magazine’s November/ 

December 2023 issue, where dietitian 

Bailey Lankster discusses ways to add 

fiber to your diet.) 

Probiotics and prebiotics are 

supplements growing in popularity to 

help improve gut health. Prebiotics are 

a nondigestible food ingredient that 

promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms 

in the intestines and can 

be found in foods such as legumes, oats, 

bananas, berries, garlic, onions and asparagus. 

Probiotics are live microorganisms, 

such as those found in yogurt, 

kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented 

foods. Due to the wide variety of prebiotics 

and probiotics found in food, 

supplementation is not always necessary. 

Consult a health professional prior 

to beginning any supplements. 

No matter which route you take, 

paying attention to your gut health 

could be beneficial to your long-term 

health! 

• 

Do you have a food, nutrition or cooking 

question you’d like answered by one of our 

experts? If so, send your query to katharine. 

perkins@bhsi.com. It may be answered in a 

future issue! 

About the Author 

Kate Perkins, MS, RD, 

LD is a clinical dietitian 

at Baptist Health Floyd 

in New Albany, Indiana. 

She graduated from 

University of Kentucky 

and completed her internship 

in Lexington, 

Kentucky. Although she has practiced in a 

variety of settings in the past 11 years, she 

finds most joy in clinical nutrition applying 

evidenced based practices to improve patient 

care. In her spare time, she loves reading, 

staying active and trying local restaurants. 

Tired of joint pain? 

Want to avoid surgery? 

joint and nerve pain in the back, shoulders, knees and hips. 

Avoid the knife and call 812-949-3482 

for a second opinion or consultation today! 

NOW OPEN! 708 Highlander Point Drive, Floyds Knobs, IN 47119 


Proctor HouseYard Sale June 21 & 22 

7037 E. SR 64 • Marengo, IN 47140 

Tina Lee, Owner 

812-620-0754 

56 Public Square, Salem IN Tues-Sat: 10AM-5PM 

Crawford County Historical & Genealogical Society 

Tuesdays & Thursdays 11 AM–2 PM 

310 Oak Hill Circle, English, IN | CCHGS.org 

We Are More Than Just 

A Flower Shop 

Jessica Bliss 

Owner 

411 Capitol Plaza 

Corydon, IN 47112 

812-738-7556 

CorydonFlorist.com 

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Email: info@celcollc.net 

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Explore the Outdoors, in Crawford County, Indiana! 

Whether you’re looking to float down a class 1 stream, tube on the lake, putt a couple rounds, hike a trail or 

two, explore a cave, or just sit back and unwind in one of our cozy and secluded cabins, Crawford County has 

everything you need for the perfect outdoor adventure this summer! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


I 

have a running joke with a couple 

of friends about spotting a bigfoot 

someday. I don’t even remember 

how it started, but whenever I spot 

sasquatch merchandise, I usually snap 

a picture and text it to them. One step 

closer to tracking him down! 

A few years ago, when I was 

checking into a campground in Tennessee 

with my family, I saw a sticker in the 

office depicting Bigfoot loping through 

the Smoky Mountains. I took a picture 

and sent it to friends with a text saying, 

“If I don’t see Bigfoot this week, I’m asking 

for my money back.” 

Little did I know that before I went 

to bed that night I would get my full 

money’s worth and then some! 

Around 9:30 I had to run a bag 

of trash up to the dumpster near the 

campground entrance, and my family 

joined me for an evening walk. It was 

completely dark out and fun to see the 

campfires and colorful lights strung up 

around the tents and RVs. 

When we got back to our cabin, 

I stopped at the edge of our campsite 

to take down my hammock before it 

rained. Meanwhile, my family continued 

onto the porch to unlock the cabin 

My daughters were in front with the 

keys, and my wife was right behind 

them. 

As they were unlocking the door 

my wife heard me coming up on the 

porch behind her but couldn’t figure 

out how I’d gotten there so fast. Only it 

wasn’t me. I was still beside the cabin 

messing with my hammock. 

When she turned around, she 

expected to see her clean-shaven husband, 

but instead found herself staring 

at a mass of fur and fangs. She and my 

daughters were face-to-face with a real 

live sasquatch! Or at least a guy in a 

scary bigfoot costume, which in some 

ways, is more disturbing. 

My wife screamed. They all three 

leapt back in surprise. 

I, however, had exactly the opposite 

reaction. Instead of running away 

from the frightening ape man, I ran 

straight toward him. It was like that 

scene in the movie Elf when Buddy 

finds out Santa is coming to Gimbels 

department store. 

“Bigfoot!,” I yelled. “I’ve been 

looking for you for years!” He began to 

back away, probably more scared of me 

than most people were of him. I think he 

was afraid I was going to hug him. 

“Wait!” I said, “I need a picture.” 

Sasquatch Surprise 

I knew this was a classic Sasquatch 

hunting blunder. No matter how many 

people see this beast, they rarely think 

to take a photo. Not this guy! I grabbed 

a quick snapshot and promptly sent it to 

all my friends. 

In retrospect, running towards a 

Everyday Adventures 

costumed stranger in the woods at night 

might not be the wisest strategy, but at 

least it got him away from my family. 

I found out later that the next day 

just happened to be the annual Gatlinburg 

Bigfoot convention which made 

total sense. If you’re a sasquatch, that 

has to be the can’t-miss event of the 

year. 

All your friends are going to be 

there, right? 

My Bigfoot encounter was not 

how I typically react to scary things in 

life, though. Usually, like most people, I 

tend to run away from them and not towards 

them. That’s just human nature. 

Whether it’s bad news from the 

doctor, bad news about our jobs, bad 

news about a relationship or whatever 

other ugly things life throws at us, it’s 

totally normal to want to turn and run 

from the bad stuff. 

But the Bible says there’s a God 

who loves us and who does exactly 

the opposite. When trouble comes our 

way, He runs right into it to help His 

children. Psalm 46:1 says, “God our refuge 

and strength, an ever-present help 

in trouble.” Not a sometimes-present 

help or an every once in a blue moonpresent 

help, but an ever-present help. 

That’s not a promise for a troublefree 

life, but the promise of a God who’s 

bigger than our trouble who will walk 

with us no matter what scary things we 

face. Throughout the Bible we see God 

running into fiery furnaces, lions’ dens, 

As they were 

unlocking the door 

my wife heard me 

coming up on the 

porch behind her 

but couldn’t figure 

out how I’d gotten 

there so fast. Only 

it wasn’t me. I was 

still beside the 

cabin messing 

with my hammock. 

stormy seas and even graveyards to rescue 

His people, and He’s still in the rescue 

business today. 

But in an even greater way, God 

promises the hope of rescue beyond 

the grave. “In this world you will have 

trouble,” Jesus said, “but take heart. I 

have overcome the world” (John 16:33.) 

So while you may not encounter 

any legendary forest creatures this 

week, you can count on encountering 

trouble. And, more importantly, you 

can count on a very real God who has 

already overcome even our greatest 

fears. • 

Jason Byerly is a writer, pastor, husband and 

dad who loves the quirky surprises God 

sends his way every day. You can read more 

from Jason in his books Tales from the Leaf Pile 

and Holiday Road. You can catch up with Jason 

on his blog at www.jasonbyerly.com. 


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Times and locations att 

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Southern Indiana Living Magazine - May/June 2024

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