Enjoy an in-store discount of 20% off furniture & accessories, and 15% off all regularly priced decorative lighting all month long.
COMMUNITY
American Legion Post 331 honors longtime chaplain
By Piper Bailey news@youarecurrent.com
Brownsburg’s American Legion, Col. Billie J. Holmes Memorial Post 331, has renamed Veterans Hall in honor of Chaplain Danny L. Nelson.
The area is off of the kitchen and serves as a dining room and as a large gathering area for the post.
“I had no idea about it. I don’t feel worthy of it,” said Nelson, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam. “There’s so many people here at this post who have done so many great things, and I feel very honored about it. I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I wish I had more time to do more.”
Nelson was drafted in 1967. He served in the 1st Infantry Division and participated in the 1968 Tet Offensive. He received a battlefield commission, which he said was a rare distinction during the Vietnam War.
Upon returning to the U.S., Nelson joined the Indiana Army National Guard, attained the rank of colonel and retired after 32 cumulative years of service. He has been a member of Post 331 for 41 years and has served as chaplain for the past 15.
As chaplain, he regularly visits veterans in nursing homes and assisted living facilities; assists them in navigating and arranging their VA benefits; speaks and honors members at their funerals; and serves as members’ point of contact during difficult times.
“It’s one of the most rewarding jobs in my life I think I’ve done outside of
being a husband and dad and grandpa. I just really enjoy working with people,” Nelson said.
Shelby Hobbs joined Post 331 eight years ago and said Nelson has been a pillar of support for his family following the death of his son.
“Between Danny and the Auxiliary, they brought my wife out of wanting to commit suicide,” Hobbs said. “She got involved here at the post, got involved with Danny and the girls, and if it wasn’t for them, she’d probably be dead.”
Hobbs said Nelson also has transformed the post’s atmosphere from being a drink-oriented environment to family-friendly.
“He has changed the culture here from a bar to a family gathering place,” he said. “You can bring your wife, your kids, everybody like that. It’s not a bar anymore, it’s a family-orientated place.”
Despite being in his 80s and navigating health issues, Nelson does not have plans for leaving his position or community any time soon. He once told Hobbs, “If I died here today serving my veterans, I would be a happy man.”
“That explains everything about Danny, right there,” Hobbs said.
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Past Commander Angel Faulkner, right, congratulates Chaplain Danny L. Nelson, left, after the American Legion Post 331 renamed Veterans Hall in his honor. (Photo courtesy of Gelnn Nulty)
A photo of Danny Nelson during his Vietnam service hangs outside the hall renamed in his honor. (Photo by Piper Bailey)
Patty, Danville
Council OKs tax abatement
By David Jacobs david@youarecurrent.com
The Brownsburg Town Council approved a 10-year tax abatement period for the global supply chain and logistics trust, Prologis.
The approval helps facilitate a $35 million investment in the community and is expected to generate an estimated $4.7 million in property tax revenue over the next 10 years, according to the Town of Brownsburg.
Without the project, the Town of Brownsburg estimates that $36,000 in property tax revenue would be generated over the next 10 years, according to the Town of Brownsburg. With the abatement, the project has the potential to generate an estimated $949,000 in property tax annually, according to town officials.
The project is expected to create 50 new jobs with an annual payroll of around $2.4 million. The town’s tax abatement fee could generate an estimated $613,000 in revenue, according to town officials.
“Prologis is looking to develop a
Sometimes motivation just needs a little company. Own it
Patty knew her family’s health history put her at risk—but ignoring it wasn’t an option. As a single parent, she needed to be strong for her daughter and set a good example. So, the laboratory scientist turned to the Hendricks Regional Health YMCA for support. One small step turned into miles, and miles into marathons, always with great friends by her side. Today, Patty runs races and is passionate about inspiring others. If you’re ready to take charge of your health, make the first move at Hendricks.org/OwnIt.
modern, sustainable logistics project in Brownsburg,” Prologis communications associate Audrey Chaddick stated. “The site is currently zoned for industrial use, (and) logistics facilities play an important role in communities to help move the goods people rely on every day.”
A time frame has not been established for when construction might begin on the development at C.R. 700 N. and the Ronald Reagan Parkway.
More than 100 residents — mainly from the Belle Arbor neighborhood — petitioned against the development, citing the proximity of the proposed development site and concerns about air, soil, light and noise pollution.
“As with every development we do, this project will be designed to meet all applicable local and state-level requirements,” Chaddick stated. “In this case, that includes Brownsburg’s unified development ordinance, which includes standards intended to help manage site design, screening and visibility.”
The Development Plan Review and the Belle Arbor petition will be discussed by the Advisory Plan Commission next month.
Standout wide receiver commits to IU
By David Jacobs david@youarecurrent.com
Brownsburg High School wide receiver Branden Sharpe, who helped lead the Bulldogs to two consecutive Class 6A IHSAA state championships, has committed to continue his football career at Indiana University.
A four-star recruit who had more than 20 NCAA Division I offers, Sharpe committed to the Hoosiers on May 18. His short list included Purdue, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati.
A 5-foot-10, 160-pound rising senior, Sharpe said he chose IU because of head coach Curt Cignetti’s renowned player development process and the opportunity to work with offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan.
“I’m really glad (with) how it all played out in the end,” Sharpe said. “Be-
ing able to commit to Indiana, especially with the recent season they just had, I feel like it’s all come into place. I’m now able to just focus on my senior season.”
In the past two seasons, Sharpe has 125 receptions for 2,300-plus yards and 20 touchdowns. He tallied a Class 6A state championship game record of 250 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the 2025 state championship game.
Sharpe’s goal is to help the Bulldogs win a third consecutive state title.
“We’ve enjoyed our time as back-toback state champions, but (I’ll) never forget the Monday (after the championship game) we lifted (weights) first period and everyone was dead,” Sharpe said. “That just goes to show the standard that (BHS) coach (John) Hart has been preaching. There’s no complacency here.”
Experts in Rehabilitation
for this
Hendricks Power Member Appreciation & Annual Meeting event at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds! Enjoy a safety demonstration, face painting, balloon animals, Silly Safaris animal shows, and the Board of Directors election. Cast your votes for the Board of Directors in July!
Branden Sharpe is ranked the 34th-best high school receiver in the nation, per 247Sports. (Photo courtesy of Branden Sharpe)
BHS juniors launch sticky business
By Piper Bailey piper@youarecurrent.com
What started as a classroom project became an award-winning business idea for Brownsburg High School students Luke Padgett and Nathan Peck. The cousins, who play baseball and will be seniors next school year, created Luna Bandages after becoming frustrated with traditional bandages that failed to adequately protect athletes’ blisters.
“They either don’t hold on good enough or we sweat through (them and they) fall off,” Peck said. “We had to find a way to come up with something that could not only be more secure but also reusable and better for your blister.”
Luna Bandages was created in an entrepreneurship class during the 2025 fall semester. The bandages are made of machine-washable hook-and-loopshaped fabric designed to stay in place while blisters are treated. They are stretchable and come in three sizes.
Peck and Padgett entered a business competition at DECA’s State Career Development Conference in March but did not advance past the first round. Encouraged by their entrepreneurship teacher, they refined their product and entered the STARTedUP Challenge, an
Indiana entrepreneurship competition for high school students.
Luna Bandages won first place in Region 3, earning a $2,000 prize and an invitation for Peck and Padgett to present at the June 12 state finals at Butler University. Although they did not place, they left with valuable experience.
“I did not expect to meet all these people (who) are extremely interactive and willing to invest and give time to what we’re doing,” Peck said.
Peck and Padgett plan to continue developing Luna Bandages during their senior year. According to their presentation materials, their goal is for the product to reach local retailers within 15 to 18 months and expand into larger retail stores within three years.
Padgett’s biggest takeaway from the journey was stepping outside of his comfort zone. He encourages other students considering entrepreneurship to do the same.
“Get used to being uncomfortable,” he said. “You (will) feel uncomfortable at times when you aren’t sure. You’ll realize you don’t know everything you thought you did. Being okay with being uncomfortable and being able to push through that and keep working through it (is) one of the biggest things.”
BHS juniors Luke Padgett, left, and Nathan Peck, right, presented their company Luna bandages for the chance to win $25,000 at the STARTedUP competition on June 12. (Photo by Piper Bailey)
big trees now!
SKYLINE HONEYLOCUST 15’ for $925
YOSHINO CHERRY 10’ for $625
for $450
SPRUCE 7’ for $750 FALL FIESTA MAPLE 20’ for $1,650 AMERICAN YELLOWWOOD 18’ for $1,925
BROWNSBURG MEADOWS CELEBRATES HELEN WOODS’ 100TH BIRTHDAY
Brownsburg resident Helen Woods celebrates her 100th birthday June 15 surrounded by family, local officials and fellow residents at Brownsburg Meadows. Woods, who moved to the community in May 2024, attributes her longevity to a lifetime of honesty and kindness.
Helen Woods turned 100 June 15. She was born in Decatur, Ill., and lived most of her life in Urbana, Ill., before moving to Brownsburg in May of 2024. Woods lived independently until the age of 98. Her father Arthur Jordan was from Danville. (Photos by David Jacobs)
Woods joined by her family, members of the Brownsburg Town Council and several police officers and firefighters.
Brownsburg Meadows residents celebrate Woods’ 100th birthday.
David Woods wheels his mother to center stage for all to celebrate. In 1955, she traveled via ship with 2-year-old, David, to join her husband, George Woods, in Okinawa, Japan, where he was stationed in the Air Force.
Woods is gifted a “centenarian” plaque to commemorate her 100th birthday.
Cash: Funding helping address rape kit backlog
By Spencer Durham spencer@youarecurrent.com
An infusion of state funding is helping Indiana State Police address a backlog of unprocessed rape kits at its crime labs.
State Rep. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville) spearheaded legislation in 2025 that led to ISP receiving funds to test more kits. Funding went toward more robots for DNA analysis. A rape kit stores physical evidence such as hairs and bodily fluids and contains supplies such as swabs and glass slides.
for infrastructure. Her bill would have allowed funds to be used for salaries.
“We will continue to work on that,” Cash said.
Cash said efforts to address the backlog have garnered national attention.
Cash said the backlog, which prior to the additional funding, ranged between 600 and 800 kits, was predominantly because the state’s crime labs don’t just process DNA for sexual assault cases. The court schedule also plays a part. A sexual assault case needs forensics to go to court, but if another type of case already has a court date a rape kit gets put aside, according to Cash.
“By buying more robots, they can obviously process more (evidence) … in general and rape kits,” Cash said.
Cash said the backlog was down to 482 as of May 27.
Cash’s legislation did not pass. The Senate did not vote on it, but the funding made it into ISP’s budget. Despite $2.6 billion being cut from the state’s budget, the line item for ISP was spared. Cash said it’s rare to secure funding without the language getting approved.
Cash had hoped some of the funding could be used to pay the scientists who process the kits, to offer competitive wages, but the funds can only be used
“Indiana went from bad to good,” she said. “This legislation really put us on the map in getting the backlog down.”
Cash said addressing the backlog will benefit victims, possibly exonerate the innocent and hopefully encourage other sexual assault victims to come forward.
“We need to build trust in the system,” she said.
Cash requested the state legislature’s Interim Study Committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services to study the development and implementation of a statewide sexual assault response plan for law enforcement agencies. The goal is to have a consistent model in place across all agencies for when a victim come forward with sexual assault allegations.
“There is not a consistency between police departments and law enforcement agencies,” Cash said.
While some victims have had good experiences discussing their abuse with police, Cash said others have found it traumatizing.
“They were treated like they had done something wrong,” she said.
Additionally, Cash said there is work to be done to address the shortage of nurses who are qualified to administer a rape kit.
“It’s really looking at all things surrounding that,” she said.
WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Alpaca yoga summer events at Montrose Farms
By David Jacobs david@youarecurrent.com
Montrose Farms owner Lori Lovely began offering alpaca yoga classes after her husband died 10 years ago as a way to supplement her income.
The classes are taught by Chris Yovanovich, owner of Indiana Yoga Studio, and are offered on the first and third Saturday of each month from May to October. Cost is $30 per session, and class sizes are capped at 30.
Montrose Farms is at 3750 N. C.R. 950 E. in Brownsburg.
“We usually (have) somewhere between 25 and 30 alpacas on the farm,” Lovely said. “We keep our males and females separated, so we rotate classes between them. Most of them wander through, come up for treats and just like to see what’s going on (during class).”
Lovely said the classes are conducted in a calm setting.
the sun, and it gives another element of peace. It’s a really interesting experience to do yoga with these animals around.”
Because they are naturally curious, Lovely notes that alpacas are gentle and interact eccentrically around humans.
Other activities at Montrose Farms include a July 11 poetry and open mic night, a July 25 drop spindling class, an Aug. 8 soap felting class and an Aug. 25 painting class.
All events are ticketed through Eventbrite. For more, visit montrosefarms.com/ tours%2C-classes-%26-events.
Nonprofit to explore religion
“There are a lot of things about this class that are different (than traditional yoga classes),” Lovely said. “It’s very relaxed, and because you’re outside, you can hear the birds, feel the breeze and news@youarecurrent.com
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Indiana Humanities has launched a multiyear project to explore the role of religion in Hoosiers’ lives and how religious liberty influences education, democracy and culture.
To lead the project, Indiana Humanities announced in a news release that it hired Terre Haute native Emma Crossen as its new director of religious initiatives. She has a master of divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a bachelor of arts, history and political science from Bethany College.
“The stuff of religion is the stuff of being human — how we seek truth, make meaning, understand right and wrong, and embrace or reject stories, traditions and institutions to find guidance and belonging in these endeavors,” Crossen stated. “Every person, family and community in Indiana has a story to
tell about the matters of religion in their own lives. I’m excited to engage Hoosiers in programs that help us approach these stories with curiosity and respect.”
The goal of Matters of Religion is to bring Hoosiers together to explore why America’s founders valued freedom of conscience, how the meaning of religious liberty is negotiated and experienced by individuals and communities, and how curiosity about the religious lives of others can animate our commitment to freedom and strengthen the civic fabric of our state, the news release stated.
Matters of Religion programs will include statewide grants to local libraries, museums, congregations, schools and other organizations; a traveling exhibition; speakers bureau; public conversations; and research fellowships.
A grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. supports Indiana Humanities’ religious liberty project. For more, visit indianahumanities.org.
Montrose Farms has offered alpaca yoga for nearly a decade. (Photo courtesy of Lori Lovely)
COMMUNITY DEEP APPRECIATION
Local nonprofit advocates for caregivers
By Piper Bailey piper@youarecurrent.com
In 2011, Amanda Clark-Wahl was 29 when her fiancé, Joe Clark, was diagnosed with colon cancer — only two months before their wedding. The Clarks began sharing their journey with chemotherapy and the early stages of parenthood on their blog “Cocktails and Chemo,” a nod to their former date nights being replaced by treatments.
Clark-Wahl left her position as a broadcast journalist for an Orlando, Fla., news station in 2014 to care for Joe, who died on Nov. 16, 2014, and their 1-year-old daughter, Mira. She turned her blog into a nonprofit two months later before moving to Carmel in 2016.
“There was something about pouring my pain into this purpose that really kept me going,” Clark-Wahl said. “It was crazy and it was hard. I look back now and think I don’t know how we’ve done it all these years, but I know that it did give me a lot of purpose during that time when I was feeling pretty lost.”
She began by sending care packages that consisted of support resources and comfort items caregivers may not buy for themselves.
The nonprofit was renamed Cocktails & Caregivers in 2021 and has expanded to include all caregivers no matter their loved ones’ affliction. Besides care packages, the organization runs two private Facebook groups; awards one-time, needs-based grants; and hosts events throughout the year in the central Indiana and Chicago areas.
Longtime Hendricks County resident Kaila Dickinson, Cocktails & Caregivers’ executive director, has more than 12 years of experience working for nonprofits and joined the organization in October 2025. The mission resonated with her because of her own family’s experiences when her mother was a caregiver for a loved one.
“Everybody always asks about the patient, they never ask how the caregiver is doing,” Dickinson said. “I’ve seen the exact moment where someone (asked), ‘How are you holding up?’ The look on my mom’s face, and the moment of relief and appreciation of someone asking her (about herself) was crazy.”
Dickinson oversees the disbursement of the Our Tribe and Keeping Caregivers Close grants that help families over-
SUPPORT BY THE NUMBERS: 2021-2026
• More than $138,000 has been awarded in grant funding
• Nearly 800 care packages sent
• More than 25 states reached
• Hundreds of caregivers found support with in-person events
• 667 caregivers reached on their Facebook group, “Caregiver Chaos”
• 160 widowed caregivers on their Facebook group, “Widows don’t wear black.”
come financial barriers.
“We get the opportunity to pour back into the people that don’t get poured into,” Dickinson said. “(We get to see how) caregivers look and feel arriving versus when they leave. They’re leaving feeling more hopeful and less alone.”
Southside Indianapolis resident Amy Hatch followed the Clarks’ blog because their story resonated with her. Her husband, Bob, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008 two weeks after the birth of their youngest daughter.
Bob completed his treatments and was in remission until 2017, when he had a recurrence. Hatch was sent an anonymous care package through Cocktails & Caregivers recognizing her selflessness in being a caregiver.
“One day, I received a package, and it literally just brought me to tears,” she said. “It’s part of an organization you don’t ever want to become a part of, but you’re so thankful and so blessed, and so understood.”
After Bob died from a glioblastoma in September 2020, Hatch received a sympathy card from the organization. In 2024, a close friend nominated her to
attend Cocktails & Caregivers’ biennial Blue Tie Gala, the organization’s largest fundraiser supporting grants and operations.
For Clark-Wahl, helping caregivers has become part of a legacy she shares with her daughter, 12-year-old Mira.
“(Mira) attends the galas now,” ClarkWahl said. “Something that has been really neat to be able to show her (is) you can have a sad story, but you don’t have to be a sad story. It’s been nice to have this nonprofit to just teach her about the power of giving back and turning your pain into purpose.”
UPCOMING COCKTAILS & CAREGIVERS’ EVENTS
BIER BREWERY 5K
Bier Brewery in Noblesville will donate a portion of proceeds from its 5K Fun Run collaboration to Cocktails & Caregivers. The event will kick off at 11 a.m. June 27 and tickets cost $46.03 or $57.58 with a T-shirt. Use code CC2026 for a 10 percent discount.
2026 CAREGIVER LUNCHEON
Cocktails & Caregivers will host their annual luncheon in Naperville, Ill. at the VAI’s Italian Inspired Kitchen + Bar from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 18. Details are still to be determined.
COCKTAILS & CAREGIVERS
2026 BLUE TIE GALA
The biennial Blue Tie Gala will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. Caregivers will have the opportunity to get their hair and makeup done beforehand by volunteers. Tickets are $350 and include access to an open bar, live music, a three-course meal, silent and live auctions and more.
For more, visit cocktailsandcaregivers.org/events.
ON THE COVER: Caregivers attended a self-care event at Round Room in Fishers. (Photo courtesy of Kaila Dickinson)
Cocktails & Caregivers hosts events throughout the year to support caregivers and give them breaks from their daily routines. (Photo courtesy of Kaila Dickinson)
Clark-Wahl
Dickinson
Commentary by Larry Greene
This East Carmel backyard transformation replaced an aging deck and patio to create a stunning outdoor retreat designed for entertaining and everyday enjoyment.
THE BLUEPRINT
• Replaced the existing deck with a larger, more functional outdoor living space.
• Added a covered porch with integrated grilling station and fireplace feature.
• Installed low-maintenance Trex decking with black aluminum railings.
• Created a spacious patio below, complete with a custom fire pit gathering area.
• Incorporated Weather Ledge stone and Black Pearl Suede granite accents.
• Enhanced circulation, views and yearround enjoyment throughout the backyard.
Larry Greene is the owner of Worthington Design & Remodeling (formerly Case). You may email him at lgreene@worthingtonindy.com or visit worthingtonindy.com for more remodeling inspiration and advice.
Outdoor living reimagined
Folk trio I’m With Her set for Palladium
By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com
Singer-songwriters Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan have collaborated to form a powerful folk trio.
The musicians, who all have had success with other projects, formed I’m With Her in 2014 and released the album “See You Around” in 2018. A single from that release,“Call My Name,” won the 2020 Grammy for Best American Roots Song.
The group’s second album, “Wild and Clear and Blue,” was released in 2025. It won two Grammy Awards, one for Best Folk Album, and the song “Ancient Light” won Best American Roots Song. The group released a live album, “Sing Me Alive,” in April.
I’m With Her will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 25 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. Watkins plays the fiddle, guitar and ukulele. O’Donovan plays guitar and piano and Jarosz plays banjo, mandolin and guitar.
“We are drawing from both of the I’m With Her records and a couple of covers here or there thrown in,” Watkins said. “It’s been really neat developing the songs from the stage over the last year. They continue to kind of shift and adapt to the stage from the album and we’re really enjoying playing the music.”
Watkins said the setlist might vary each concert.
“We get into a groove of a certain group of songs that feel good for a few days and then we might shift it,” Watkins said. “With just the three of us on stage, all the songs are pretty exposed. They are arranged quite vigorously, so that we can support each other at all the moments that need to be supported. We’ll find some magical combinations and that really helps us execute all the songs and have them be featured in the right way based on a sequence. The nice thing about not being hugely popular with ‘hits’ is that
we get to do whatever we want to do.”
Watkins said it’s not a situation where every popular song has to be played each concert.
“One of the lovely things about being a folk band is there’s some flexibility and the audiences are very happy to go on the journey with us,” she said.
Watkins said they enjoy playing together.
“We are big fans of each other individually, our individual projects and other collaborations,” she said. “We love to support each other and there is a huge amount of things that we have in common, but the thing that makes it most interesting is where our musical histories and personal histories vary. We’re all bringing different things to the table while having enough of a common language that we collaborate really well together. We travel really well together, and for those reasons, and for all the mysterious ones that I’m sure not all of us realize, it’s just a really gratifying project.”
Watkins said they wrote the “Wild and Clear and Blue” album together.
“We came together with very small starts of songs, little seeds of ideas, and every song was built up from there,” Watkins said. “We were staying in the same house, living together, writing together. All of these songs were constructed, arranged and written by all
three of us, basically all in the room at the same time.”
Watkins said the debut album also was a collaborative effort.
“We hadn’t written together before and we had eight days to write together for that first record,” she said. “We came in with a verse and a chorus and then the other two bandmates would help finish the song or tweak the lyrics. There would be a pretty good chunk of lyrics already for most of these songs.”
Watkins debuted as the fiddler in Nickel Creek in 1989, joining her brother Sean Watkins and mandolinist Chris Thile. Nickel Creek released a new album and toured in 2023. Watkins and her brother also tour together.
“It’s nice to be able to step away and then come back together and not feel that every bit of our individual creativity has to come into this one project,” she said. “We get to step away and dig into these other parts of ourselves. It’s neat to have all these outlets, and then when we come together with I’m With Her, it’s different. I think that’s why the collaboration is so fun because it’s a unique thing that happens only when we do an album. We get to write by ourselves other times and co-write with other people.”
For more, visit thecenterpresents. org and imwithhertheband.com.
‘CINDERELLA’
“Cinderella” runs through July 12 at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis. For more, visit beefandboards.com.
JERRY GARCIA
The York Automotive Concert Series presents Andy Falco and Travis Book playing Jerry Garcia music at 8 p.m. June 27 at Hendricks Live! in Plainfield. For more, visit hendrickslive.org.
‘STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR”
Hendricks Symphony Orchestra performs “Star Spangled Spectacular” at 7:30 p.m. June 26 and 3 p.m. June 28 at Hendricks Live! in Plainfield. For more, visit hendrickslive.org.
‘SHREK JR.’
Civic Theatre presents “Shrek Jr.” through June 24 at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. For more, visit civictheatre.org.
FEINSTEIN’S CABARET
Jennifer Magley, Stooge Quest-Live is set for June 24, followed by Now That’s Funny June 25, “Esque, Burlesque” June 26 and “I Want My 80s: A Totally Tubular Party!” at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. For more, visit feinsteinshc.com.
Wilco’s Tweedy set for concert in Carmel — Singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy, best known as frontman and founder of rock band Wilco, will make his first appearance at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. Tweedy will bring his solo acoustic tour with opening act Case Oats. Tickets starting at $55 are on sale at thecenterpresents.org, by phone at 317-843-3800, or in person at the Payne & Mencias Palladium’s Fifth Third Bank Box Office, 1 Carter Green.
From left, Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz form the folk trio, I’m With Her. (Photo courtesy of Shervin Lainez)
THE FOUR PHANTOMS IN CONCERT
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
BONEY JAMES
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
A CONVERSATION WITH AMY SEDARIS
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
SIMPLY THREE
7PM | THE TARKINGTON
MAVIS STAPLES
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
AN EVENING WITH BERNADETTE PETERS
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
PUNCH BROTHERS
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
BAND: LEDBETTER HEIGHTS
30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY’S WILD & SWINGIN’ HOLIDAY PARTY
PALLADIUM
THE BILLY JOEL LEGACY: CELEBRATINGTHE PIANO MAN
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS: INDIGO PARK TOUR
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
THE WAR AND TREATY
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
THE SIXTIES SHOW
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
INVINCIBLE: A GLORIOUS TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
DANIEL EMMET: THIS THING CALLED LOVE
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
NILADRI KUMAAR: THE SPACE BETWEEN THE NOTES
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
7:30PM | THE TARKINGTON
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
LESLIE ODOM, JR.: THE CHRISTMAS TOUR 2026
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN IN COMING HOME: THE HOLIDAY CELEBRATION
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
HOLIDAYS IN HARMONY WITH GIRL NAMED TOM
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
JON MCLAUGHLIN & FRIENDS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS CHRISTMAS TOUR
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
ALAN CUMMING: UNCUT
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
LIVE AND LET DIE: THE MUSIC OF PAUL MCCARTNEY
FEATURING TONY KISHMAN
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
BIG BANG BOOM
3PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
MARCUS MILLER
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
Opera singers ready for Lobster Palooza fundraiser
By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com
BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO DE AMALIA HERNÁNDEZ
7PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS WITH CONRAD TAO
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
THE MUSIC OF THE BEACH BOYS FEATURING
PET SOUNDS LIVE 8PM | THE TARKINGTON
PAVLO AND BAND IN CONCERT 8PM | THE TARKINGTON
VICTORIA CLARK: IMPROBABLE INGENUE
MUSIC DIRECTOR, TED SPERLING
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
JOHN MALKOVICH AND THE VIENNA ACADEMY
ORCHESTRA: ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
SPYRO GYRA WITH SPECIAL GUEST STANLEY JORDAN
8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
KRUGER BROTHERS 8PM | THE TARKINGTON
DIONNE WARWICK: OVER AND OUT A FAREWELL TOUR 8PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
STRAY CATS’ LEE ROCKER 7PM | THE TARKINGTON
ITZHAK PERLMAN IN RECITAL 7:30PM | PAYNE & MENCIAS PALLADIUM
YASMIN WILLIAMS 7PM | THE TARKINGTON
THE BRUBECK BROTHERS QUARTET
Rachelle Woolston is ready to take a spin at opera jukebox.
The soprano from Carmel will be one of the Indianapolis Opera singers at the annual Lobster Palooza fundraiser, set for 6 p.m. July 11 at the Basile Opera Center in Indianapolis.
“It’s a fun, fast-paced fundraising opportunity, and our guests are treated to opera snippets as a reward for raising money for the education and outreach efforts,” Woolston said. “They make a donation through an online link, and when they unlock a certain tier, the opera singers treat them with solos or duets from little snippets from operas that are super famous.”
Joining her will be Ganson Salmon, who grew up in the Lawrence area of Indianapolis. He is participating in Lobster Palooza for the first time.
“I’ve gone to the event with my family and my (grandmother),” the 2011 Heritage Christian graduate said. “I’m very familiar with the tradition of the event, but this is my first time being part of the entertainment.”
Salmon said he likes the opera jukebox concept.
Woolston couldn’t attend last year but said it sounded like fun.
“It’s a really creative way to get donations,” she said.
Woolston said the funds help Indianapolis Opera target underfunded and underserved schools, libraries and after-school programs and community organizations.
“It really helps us bridge the gap to reach these communities that wouldn’t be able to afford a program like ours with the education and outreach programs that we offer,” she said.
One offering is a children’s opera featuring popular opera tunes.
“They’ll use different lyrics over it and use a storyline. Sometimes it’s from a fairytale and sometimes it’s a brand-new storyline,” Woolston said. “It’s a great accessible way for children to be introduced to opera and to meet real-life opera singers in a really approachable setting. There’s always some sort of moral that’s included in the storyline, like not judging a book by its cover.”
Woolston, formerly the education director for Indy Opera, teaches at Ball State University. She works in productions for the opera and runs its summer vocal camp for teenagers
“I’m so grateful that Indy Opera hires local singers and involves us in all these capacities,” she said.
“It’s a creative way to make the evening really fun and spice up the evening and the fundraising,” he said. “It won’t be as tightly wound as a formal concert. It will be a hair-down evening. Lobster Palooza has seemed to me like not only a fundraiser but (also) so tied to the history of Indianapolis Opera. It’s been going on so long, so it always feels like a celebration of Indianapolis Opera, kind of a coming together of the family of Indianapolis Opera, the supporters, the donors, the singers of the company.”
Salmon, a tenor, made his Indy Opera main stage leading role debut in a production of “Rigoletto” in November 2025.
“That was a very important moment for me,” said Salmon, who moved back to the Indianapolis area during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Salmon’s grandmother, Sarah Jane Gradison, died in January at age 97.
“She got to see my performance in ‘Rigoletto,’” he said. “She was my main draw for staying here. She was such a dear person in my life and such a huge supporter of the arts and Indianapolis Opera. I can see the possibility of moving somewhere else in the next few years, but for now it’s been good to be based here in Indy.”
Salmon is always on the move for different productions. In January, he got a phone call to jump into a performance with the Boston Symphony.
“That was the second year in a row that happened to me because the year before that I jumped into the Kennedy Center with a performance with the orchestra to the same show,” he said.
For more, visit indyopera.org.
Woolston Salmon
Now, that’s quite a steal
Commentary by Dick Wolfsie
This marks my 27th year writing a weekly humor column. That’s more than 1,400 pieces. It’s tough to come up with a new idea each week, so I sometimes steal an idea. From myself. Yes, I will very occasionally go back to a really good column from decades ago and rewrite it. Sometimes, completely.
But here’s the interesting part: It takes me longer to update an old favorite than to come up with a completely new idea. I spend a lot of time rephrasing sentences to make a funny line even funnier. I am often annoyed with myself for not thinking of doing it that way two decades ago. I hope that means I’m improving.
There are a finite number of topics to write about but a myriad of ways to write about them. I have written columns about my bad memory, poor hearing and forgetfulness many times. All aging humor writers expound on these topics. Occasionally, I do steal an old funny line from myself. Who’s going to sue me? Me? And who knows if Dave Barry or Erma Bombeck didn’t once think of the same thing? Plagiarizing myself is tricky work.
So, I was curious whether what I wrote about exactly 25 years ago this very week still holds up to scrutiny after all these years. The column was about my wife
Mary Ellen’s poison ivy. She was very prone to it back then, but I can’t update that column because she hasn’t been afflicted that way in 25 years. And because my column is always (loosely) based on something that recently happened, I wouldn’t feel comfortable pretending she once again had the affliction.
So, sadly, you will never see any version of that column in print again.
But wait. There were a few parts worth repeating. Here’s a part of our conversation from the spring of 2001 (yes, 25 years ago). At the peak of her unattractiveness, she questioned my feelings for her while she was covered in unappealing rashes (this was 100 percent true).
“Dick, will you still love me while I look like this?”
“This is silly, Mary Ellen. Wouldn’t you still care for me if I started to lose my hair and gained 20 pounds?”
“I’ve already proven that.”
By Sunday morning, Mary Ellen looked 100 percent better.
FUEL, PACERS; Awards: EMMY, GRAMMY, OSCAR, TONY; Apps: PAYPAL, VENMO, ZELLE; Cereals: CHEERIOS, FRUIT LOOPS; County: MARION
Dick Wolfsie is an author, columnist and speaker. Contact him at wolfsie@aol.com.
1. Bummed about a Bulldogs loss
4. Anti-drinking org.
8. Quarreled
14. Books & Brews brew
15. Indianapolis Opera highlight
16. In need of company
17. ___ City, Ind.
19. At first at Victory Field
woodwind
21. Newborn
23. Praiseful poems
24. Speedy delivery
27. Aroma
31. Out of shape
35. Changes, as the Indiana Constitution
38. Give off light
40. Post-ER place at Hendricks Regional Health
41. Peyton Manning, at UT
42. ___ City, Ind.
44. Butler grad’s desire
45. Electrical unit
46. Poet Angelou
47. I, in chem class
49. Composed a press release
51. Raw bar choice at Ugly Crab
53. Rose-Hulman, e.g. (Abbr.)
55. Postulates
59. Wile E. Coyote’s supplier
62. Worsted fabric
64. Seniors’ grp.
65. Battlefield shout
67. ___ City, Ind.
70. Phone feature
71. Spinning toys
72. Writer Fleming
73. Wall Street worker
74. Fever’s first coach: ___ Donovan
4. ___ tai (drink)
5. Braz. neighbor
6. Spanish devil
7. Comic Carvey
8. New Albany’s county
9. A long time at the Indi-
ana Geological Survey
10. Not yet delivered
11. Lifeless
12. “If all ___ fails...”
13. Salon supplies
32. Pacific island nation
33. James Dean, for one
34. Toothpaste holder
35. Declare
36. Area Toyota dealer
37. St. ___ Steak House
39. JFK and FDR, e.g.
43. Japan city
48. Fantasize
50. Like Lucas Oil Stadium
52. Old West tavern
18. Macho dude
1. Pago Pago’s place
20. BHS orchestra
29. Hates
75. Periodontist’s deg. DOWN
2. Cover story in Hendricks County Court
3. Designer’s concern ACROSS
22. Speaker of the Indiana House (2010-20)
25. Belly
26. BHS sports org.
28. Beats
30. BHS running or swimming event
NOTICE
54. Say “@#$%!”
56. Overzealous
57. Threesome
58. Crosses over
59. Billing abbr.
60. Burn slightly
61. Doll’s cry
63. Prefix with -gon
66. Test for a BSU sr.
Browning (8940 River Crossing Blvd, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46240) is submitting a Notice of Intent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management of our intent to comply with the requirements of Construction Stormwater General Permit to discharge stormwater from construction activities associated with the Northfield Drive Business Park West project located at 1610 Northfield Drive West, Brownsburg, Indiana 46112. Run-off from the project site will discharge to the White Lick Creek. Please direct questions to Patrick Sowinski at (317) 218-9560 or by email at Patrick.Sowinski@kimley-horn.com.
68. Hospital TLC provider
69. Put to work
ANSWERS ON PAGE 15
