Drizzle some of our 25 Star Aged Balsamic and/or our Basil Infused Olive Oil over heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil for a delicious Caprese salad.
We’ve been bringing great taste to you since 2012 from our inviting little shop in the heart of Brown County, Indiana.
We have curated a flavorful collection for your tasting pleasure with plenty to offer for foodies, the experienced cook, or the novice. It goes well beyond the high-quality olive oils and balsamics we built our reputation on. We’ve added jams, pastas, dipping oils, salsas, sauces, and much more. Come in for a tour of tastes and let us be your guide. You’ll be wild about our shop. Shop us online from anywhere, anytime at www.thewildolive.com
Brown County N
Jeff Tryon is a former news editor of The Brown County Democrat, and a former regional reporter for The Republic. Born and raised in Brown County, he currently lives with his wife, Sue, in a log cabin on the edge of Brown County State Park. He is a Baptist minister.
Joe Lee is an illustrator and writer. He is the author of Forgiveness: The Eva Kor Story, The History of Clowns for Beginners, and Dante for Beginners. He is an editorial cartoonist for the Bloomington Herald-Times, a graduate of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Clown College, and a veteran circus performer.
Julia Pearson loves learning and writing about local history, faith communities, and the radically ordinary lives of people. She continues the work and association of her late husband, Bruce L. Pearson, with the Wyandotte and Delaware tribes, and visits museums of all types and sizes.
Mark Blackwell no longer makes his home in Brown County where “the roadway is rough and the slopes are seamed with ravines” He now resides within sight of the sixth green of an undisclosed golf course. He was born in the middle of the last century and still spends considerable time there.
Bob Gustin worked as a reporter, photographer, managing editor, and editor for daily newspapers in Colorado, Nebraska, and Indiana before retiring in 2011. He and his wife, Chris, operate Homestead Weaving Studio. She does the weaving while he gives studio tours, builds small looms, and expands his book and record collections.
Chrissy Alspaugh is a freelance writer and owner of Christina Alspaugh Photography. View her work at <ChristinaAlspaughPhotography. com>.She lives in Bartholomew County with her husband Matt and three boys.
Boris Ladwig is a Columbusbased journalist who has worked in print, online and TV media in Indiana and Kentucky and has won awards for features, news, business, non-deadline news, First Amendment/community affairs and investigative reporting.
Jim Eagleman is a 40-year veteran naturalist with the IN DNR. In retirement, he is now a consultant. His program “Nature Ramblings” can be heard on WFHB radio, the Brown County Hour. He serves on the Sycamore Land Trust board. He enjoys reading, hiking, music, and birding. Jim and his wife Kay have lived here for more than 40 years. copyright 2024
*Tom Preston’s love of photography began as a teen. He enjoys sharing the Brown County scenery and activities around Nashville through his photograpy. He captures nearly every Brown County Playhouse event, and has acted in front of audiences there, too, most recently as Oscar in The Odd Couple. And when he isn’t taking pictures or acting, he is probably driving tourists around town in the Nashville Express train.
Amy Huffman Oliver has lived in and around Brown County most of her life and raised two kids here with her husband, Jim. She grew up with “newspaper in her blood” by way of her parents, Jane and Stu Huffman, who were both local journalists. She writes now as a freelancer after working most of her career as a public interest attorney and a seventhgrade teacher in Brown County Schools.
Cindy Steele is the publisher and editor of this magazine. She sells and designs ads, sometimes writes, takes photos, and creates the layout. For fun, she likes to play the guitar or banjo and sing.
Thanks, Mom, for making it happen!
Endless fun in the Brown County sun
Planning your getaway has never been easier. Download your FREE Dining and Entertainment Guide and explore the endless fun, grub, and entertainment in Brown County. And while you’re here, be sure to swing by the Visitors Center for more tips to make the most of your summer adventures!
Let’s be friends
@ILoveBrownCounty
@ILoveBrownCounty
@ILuvBrownCounty
Brown County Visitors Center. 211 South Van Buren Street. Downtown Nashville.
History Mystery
FIRST to leave a message with the answer along with your name and phone number WINS!
This woman collected one of the greatest bodies of modern art in the United States and operated galleries in New York City and Puerto Rico before she turned her rural Brown County home into an art museum. She was a model for many artists, and they would give her works in order to paint her. She was known for throwing parties at her home near the state park entrance where the guest list made for a kind of social stew: young and old, native and new, professional and trades people. She willed a substantial sum of money to the town that was eventually used to create a community space for the arts, meetings, and other activities. Who was she?
The answer to last issue’s mystery was Otto Ping.
~by Bob Gustin
Aformer Brown County resident’s effort to build a lasting memorial to his wife was the spark needed for a new medical center in Nashville, scheduled to open August 14.
The new office near the intersection of Indiana 46 and Maple Leaf Boulevard, north of the Brown County Music Center, will house improved technology and space for visiting specialists.
Burt Borgelt, the major donor for the new facility, now lives in Sarasota, Florida. The facility will be named in honor of his wife Sue, who died about three years ago. Dedication of the facility is scheduled for August 27.
Chip Johnson, chief practice officer for Indiana University Health Southern Indiana Physicians, said the new office is 7,500 square feet and includes sufficient parking.
“We have incorporated, both in design and finishings, the aesthetics of Brown County.” Johnson said. “This includes locally sourced sandstone, rotating wall art provided by the Brown County Art Guild, and a mural completed by Burt’s daughter.”
The Borgelts were also major funders for the YMCA, and the new office is an extension of that project, he said.
Though they moved from Brown County about 20 years ago, the Borgelts continued to donate to the Y. But after Sue died, Burt decided to do something in her memory. In conversations with Kim Robinson, chief
New IU Health Facility
“Our primary care office has been in Brown County for over 20 years, and we recognized the need for a new facility that would allow for future expansions of programs and services that fit the needs of this community.“
—Chip Johnson
executive officer of the Y, the idea of a new medical facility was born.
Previously, the doctor’s offices were operated jointly by Columbus Regional Hospital and IU Health on Willow Street adjacent to the YMCA. When CRH withdrew from the facility, there was concern that IU Health would do the same, leaving Brown County without medical care. That’s when Borgelt stepped in. He purchased the building, now owned by the Y, and donated $5 million for the new facility. The IU Health Foundation also donated $2 million, Borgelt said.
“Our primary care office has been in Brown County for over 20 years,” IU Health’s Johnson said, “and we recognized the need for a new facility that would allow for future expansions of programs and services that fit the needs of this community. With
Burt Borgelt, Kim Robinson, CEO of the YMCA, and Del Newkirk, first executive director of the Brown County Community Foundation.
courtesy photo
Burt’s generosity and our partnership with the YMCA, we’ll continue to offer excellent care closer to home for many years to come while providing the YMCA space for expansion.”
He said patient fees will not be affected by the new building.
The new offices will be owned by the YMCA, and IU Health will pay rent to it.
“It’s a win-win for the community,” Borgelt said, providing better medical care to Brown County patients and a steady source of income to the Y.
Borgelt and his family plan to attend the dedication ceremony.
“It has been an honor and privilege to work with Burt on this project,” Robinson said.” We, as residents of Brown County, have been blessed by Burt and Sue Borgelt’s generosity and caring spirit. I am grateful every day. The Y board, staff, and I are looking forward to the opportunities this transformative gift to the Y and our community will allow.”
Pepper Construction of Indianapolis is general contractor, and Johnson said Cooler Design of Indianapolis was an instrumental partner in the design of the building, both internal and external, while Doug Harden with Miller Architects of Nashville was a support throughout the project. Construction of the new IU Health primary care facility began in October, 2023.
Continued on 18
Pharmacist Rachael Kramer, Dr. Marin Garcia, and Nurse Practitioner Nina Kuhlman.
photo by Cindy Steele
photo by Bob Gustin
Robinson said IU Health and the Y have collaborated for years and will continue to do so. PT Solutions, now housed in a portion of the Willow Street complex, will expand into some of the space previously occupied by IU Health, she said.
Johnson said the same team will serve patients under a new roof, and generally, staffing will remain the same. However, as specialty outreach continues and walk-in demand grows, a slight increase in staffing may be seen.
Dr. Marin Garcia, who has led the IU Health center in Nashville for 12 years, said the new facility will benefit patients with more accurate diagnoses and treatment because of improvements in technology. Increased availability of specialists will also help with medical care in Brown County through more highly qualified targeted treatment.
New technology available at the facility will include modern X-ray equipment, which will rely more on digital imagery, and make the experience seamless for the patient.
OF NASHVILLE
The Willow Street building hosts orthopedic specialists once a week, and a cardiologist once a month, Garcia said. It may be possible to expand specialist hours at the office in the new building, and next year, office hours for a urologist may be available, he said. Increased availability of specialists will also benefit Brown County Health and Living, where Garcia is medical director, by allowing those residents easier access.
“IU Health is also about education and training,” Garcia said, and medical students, nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants will continue training in the new facility. Access to the new hospital in Bloomington with its sophisticated equipment and experts will also be beneficial, Garcia added.
In addition to Garcia, nurse practitioners Nina Kuhlman and Chelsea Budd also work at the Nashville office.
The new office will also house the Women’s, Infants and Children’s program.
Changes Dr. Garcia’s office made prior to the new building’s completion will continue including the start of walk-in hours (Monday–Friday, 4–6 p.m.), and visiting specialists.
“The new building only furthers the partnership that IU Health has with the YMCA and Burt Borgelt in helping to make Indiana a healthier state,” Johnson said. “We know healthcare access is important, and this building, along with the additional services we have added, will help us be successful. It is our privilege and honor to be a valued partner.
“Through this project in Brown County, we see the power of community, relationships, and keeping our patients and citizens at the forefront. Significant investments such as this health center do not occur without everyone demonstrating their commitment to the best care for our patients and communities. Our vision is to make Indiana one of the healthiest states, and we do this by promising the best care, designed for each person. Brown County has welcomed us, and we are excited to design a facility that fits the needs of the community, as well as increases access to care.”
Brown County Antique Mall
~story and photos by Chrissy Alspaugh
The memories thousands of Americans have made zip-lining, playing paintball, camping, offroading, mountain-biking, enjoying music festivals, and more at eXplore Brown County all began with one man and one family meeting.
When Gary Bartels inherited 500 acres of woods in 1994, he was working as a patent engineer for Columbus’ Arvin Automotive. He remembers the day he sat down with his wife and two sons, then ages 8 and 12, and made a proposition.
“I told them, we can sub-divide [the land], sell it, and retire. Or…we can sacrifice summers and weekends to build something together. My boys, Chris
eXplore Brown County
and Lance, came back two weeks later with a list of demands: two-hour lunches, ice cream, swimming, and that I hire their friends. We made our deal,” said the now 73-year-old, laughing.
Bartels said as an engineer, he knew that lacking a plan—and a backup plan—would result in failure.
Bartels and his wife, art teacher and painter Patricia Rhoden Bartels, laid out a seven-year plan to build what they thought would be a small campground and banquet hall for weddings or corporate retreats.
As for the back-up plan, “We knew that even if this place failed, our boys would’ve built a work ethic and lots of really practical skills like determination and troubleshooting,” Bartels said.
And so, a trajectory of fun for his family and countless others began.
As time and cash allowed, Bartels and his boys used trees harvested from the property and their own sawmill to build about one group camping cabin each year and the property’s featured Harvest Hall.
Many of the activities the family added to the park stemmed from their own interests. An avid mountain
Gary Bartels, owner of eXplore Brown County.
biker, Bartels added mountain bike trails. And he vividly remembers the day he came home to find his son and some friends in the woods wearing ski goggles and armed with BB guns. He soon swapped their arsenal for paintball weapons and opened a paintball course to the public.
The family added a lake, tree-top zip line canopy tours, arrow tag, Airsoft games, off-road rockclimbing tours, buggy rides, and an array of other adventure activities over the 25 years that followed.
“Nashville draws all kinds of people from around the country who are looking for all kinds of things to do,” Bartels said. “Some visitors want to shop, but not all. We became the adventure part of Brown County.”
Before they knew it, eXplore Brown County found itself hosting annual music festivals, mountain bike races, triathlons, motorcycle/dirt bike trials, medieval feasts complete with jousting, workshops on topics including how to ride and tune a bike, birthday parties, family reunions, and mild-to-adventurous team building events for church groups, businesses,
sports teams, schools, fraternities, and sororities.
Bartels can laugh now about the time eXplore Brown County even unknowingly hosted the FBI.
On the heels of the 1993 Waco, Texas, religious compound making headlines for allegedly stockpiling illegal weapons, Bartels said one of his then-teenage sons was working at the camp when two individuals arrived and began asking “really interesting questions” about whether the camp hosted antigovernment groups, built illegal firearm silencers, and such over the course of about two hours. The next day, the undercover agents played paintball at the camp. Bartels remembers being on a phone call when the pair readied to leave—having found nothing suspicious happening at the park—and one of the agents handed him a business card listing his title: within the FBI.
“I hung up the phone and asked him, ‘Were you checking us out?’ He said, ‘Yep.’ I asked, ‘Did we pass?’ He said, ‘Yep,” Bartels said.
Continued on 26
EXPLORE BC continued from 26
Today, he believes his outdoor adventure park plays an important role at a time when families spend less time than ever bonding outdoors.
“Families come out here and play paintball together, and every time they go home smiling, talking about the battles they had,” he said. “I really believe in what we’re doing, and I can see the immediate results of it. Now, that’s really fun.”
Bartels’ fun was paused in 2022, when a backand-leg injury sidelined him from work. He said his sons and their families stepped in, investing in remodeling the paintball course and camping cabins and transforming Harvest Hall into an elegant, gallery-style event space brimming with Patricia’s paintings. His family also added to the campground a new Vintage Village featuring five furnished vintage campers.
Throughout his months of recovery, Bartels said he wondered whether it was time to begin thinking about retirement. “But I still truly enjoy what I do,” he said. “I like projects, and I love the sweet smell of success.”
Today, the man with the title of Chief Adventurist is back to “doing pretty much whatever I want!”
“When I look back and see what I’ve accomplished, I just laugh. How did we do this?” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “Little by little. I hope eXplore Brown County continues to evolve, helping even more families make memories.”
eXplore Brown County is located at Valley Branch Retreat, 2620 Valley Branch Rd, Nashville, IN, 47448. For more visit <www.explorebrowncounty.com> or call 812-988-7750.
Pickin’ in the
Backwoods
August 16–17, 2024
Presented by Coyote Radio Show and Podcast, alongside Duke’s Indy, this intimate event will be held at eXplore Brown County in August. There will be 30+ bands, free camping, free parking, BYOB, food trucks, and campfire jams. All ages.
The lineup includes: Arlo Mckinley, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Hellbound Glory, Jeremy Pinnell, The Local Honeys, Jake Kohn, Tim Goodin, William Elliott Whitmore, The Tillers, The Resonant Rogues, Vaden Landers, Low Water Bridge Band, Joshua Quimby, Rachel Brooke, Bill Taylor and the Appalachian Heatherns, Dylan Walshe, Ramblin’ Ricky Tate, Zach Willdee, Tori Miller, Ginger Wixx, Jason Dea West, Hammer and the Hatchet, Pine & Fire, Eliza Thorn, Sophie Coyote, Indy Annies, The Circle City Bandit, Booze Hounds Bluegrass, Doug Dillman, Hannah Unsalted, Johnny Logan and the Roughnecks, and Arianna Barton.
Located at 2620 Valley Branch Rd, Nashville, IN, 47448.
87 E. Main St. • Nashville, IN 47448 (812) 988-6990 • (800) 988-6994
Hours: 10am – 5pm • 7 days a week touchofsilver@gmail.com
Hoosier Buddy Liquors
Cold Beer, Fine Wines & Select Spirits
Cold Beer:
Hoosier Buddy o ers more than 150 di erent beers, including more than 80 craft, micro, and impor ts We proudly o er a wide variety of beers from Indiana’s nest brewers.
Fine Wines:
Hoosier Buddy is a wine -lovers type of store. With more than 200 wines to choose from, we’ve got something for ever yone. Check out our “A ordable Impor ts” and “90+ Point” selections
Select Spirits:
Hoosier Buddy o ers an ever expanding array of top -notch spirits. Our whiskey categor y alone includes more than 75 di erent choices Whether you’re look ing for a Single Barrel Bourbon or a Single Malt from Islay— we stock them. 284 S. Van Buren • Nashville, IN (next to Subway) 812-988-2267
and
Musings
~by Mark Blackwell
Irecently got together with a couple of old buddies that I used to play music with. We had taken a short break that wound up lasting about ten years. We decided break time is over. We got out our trusty implements of musical destruction and tried to remember our old song list. One of those tunes was called “Barlow Knife.”
“Barlow Knife” is a song about a knife and the poor boy who owns it. It’s an old song—so old nobody knows who wrote it. The tune goes back far enough that different musicians have given it several different names.
It is reported that those who favor sawing a fiddle call it “Cabin Creek,” but banjo pickers prefer the other title. I suspect that this has something to do with lyrics. It’s fairly difficult to sing while playing a fiddle, so fiddlers give it a different name and go on about their business. That’s all I know about the song.
There is some history to the knife itself. The original Barlow knife was developed in Sheffield, England back in the late 17th Century by a fellow named Obadiah Barlow. It started out as a folding knife with one blade. But the most common and familiar Barlow has two blades both fastened at one end.
Barlow Knife – Mumblety Peg
It features a a long steel bolster and a substantial handle, usually made of bone, stag, or wood. The lager blade runs about three inches and can be one of various designs, clip or spear point to name two. This makes the closed knife around three and a half inches. The Barlow was built to be tough and affordable. This made it one of the most practical and popular knives ever made.
They were first exported to the American colonies by John Barlow, Obadiah’s grandson, in 1745. But it was soon copied by homegrown knife makers. A man named John Russell was probably the first American to mass produce Barlows and they soon became ubiquitous.
The Barlow knife’s popularity can be attested to by the fact that Mark Twain mentions them in his novels The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Also, it is reported that George Washington owned one as a boy, and so did I. I imagine there was a time when the Barlow knife was more American than apple pie.
So, what does one do with a Barlow knife? Well, for one thing, you can whittle with it. I expect that most folks think of it as making small pieces of wood smaller by shaving them down, while chawing tobacco and relating pointless tall tales. But history shows that whittling is one of our species’ oldest art forms.
There are oral traditions that tell us that long pointless stories can be traced back to Homer in ancient Greece and even farther back to Mesopotamia almost five thousand years ago. And there are examples of whittling that date back more than eleven thousand years.
Whittling is more than just a way to pass the time—although, that’s not a bad thing. It can be a way to make useful things like toothpicks and wooden spoons. Or you can make useless novelties like whimmy diddles and whirligigs to befuddle the grandkids.
Or you can even whittle decorative items. In the case of decorative items, you have to be on guard not to let your whittling cross the line into ART. When that happens, you cease to be a whittler and you become a woodcarver. You will know that you have crossed that line when you start looking at catalogs that offer chisels, gouges, and parting tools. Once you go down that path, there’s no coming back.
There are other uses for a Barlow knife. You can clean and scale fish with it, or you could kill and dress out a Grizzly bear. I have found mine to be useful for making shavings to start a campfire and for tightening loose screws. The only limitation for the usefulness of a good pocket knife, Barlow or other, is your imagination.
One thing that occurred to the imagination of boys from time immemorial is the game of mumblety peg. If you are not a boy and/or never owned a pocketknife you might not be familiar with this exercise of daring and precision and stupidity.
the ground close to but not hitting the opposing players foot. This will cause the player to move his foot and widen his stance. When one player’s stance becomes so wide he can no longer maintain it, he loses. Or, if the thrower stabs the other player’s foot, the thrower loses, and more often than not, a fight breaks out.
That feature along with school and TSA confiscation of pocketknives is probably why the game is no longer popular. There have been some efforts made to resurrect similar activities in modern times—like lawn darts, for instance. But we will leave that discussion for another time.
“You can take my money or take my wife, just don’t take my Barlow knife.” Just kidding, Honey!
Mumblety peg is a game, generally, played by two players, in which turns are taken to throw a knife into
Woodstock Chimes •
Tervis
Swan
Melissa & Doug • Ty Plush
Jeeps T’s • Simply Southern Bobble Heads • &Livy
BROOKS RUN CABIN
photos by Tom Preston
Brown County Playhouse
July 6 The Toons - low dough show
July 11 Greg Koch - Koch Marshall Trio
July 12 Gutty’s Comedy Night presents The Ministers of Comedy
July 13 The Petty Breakers - Tribute to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
July 14 75th Anniversary Gala
July 19 Minute by Minute - Tribute to Doobie Brothers
July 25 An Evening w/ Nelson
July 26 The Classic Rock Experience
July 27 IN Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
Aug. 16 Sounds of Summer - the music of the Beach Boys
Aug. 17 Dave Clark Band
Aug. 21 ChamberFest Brown County A Night of Tango
Aug. 23 Matt Stone as “Elvis in Person” w/ the TEC Band
Aut. 24 Atom Heart Mother A Pink Floyd Tribute
Aug. 30 Tastes Like Chicken
Aug. 31 An Evening w/ George George Harrison Tribute
Most shows at 7:30
70 S. Van Buren Street 812-988-6555 www.browncountyplayhouse.org
Brown County Music Center
July 16 Ben Folds
July 19 Get the Led Out
July 27 Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Aug. 1 Night Ranger
Aug. 2 Taylor Hicks
Aug. 7 Joss Stone
Aug. 18 Steve-O
Aug. 22 Cinderella’s Tom Keifer Band
Aug. 23 Turn The Page - Bob Seger Tribute
Aug. 24, 25 Aaron Lewis Acoustic
Aug. 30 Crowder 812-988-5323
www.browncountymusiccenter.com
The schedule can change. Please check before making a trip.
Brown County Inn
Open Mic Nights Wed. 6:00-9:00
Hill Folk Music Series Thurs. 7:00-9:00
Fri. & Sat. Live Music 8:00-11:00
EXCEPTION 7/6 6:00-9:00 for fireworks
July 3 Open Mic
July 4 Maria Devigili, Frank Jones
Father Kentucky
July 5 Austin James
July 6 Black Cat & The Bones
July 10 Open Mic
July 11 Steve Plessinger
July 12 Scrapper & Skelton
July 13 Gordon Bonham Trio
July 17 Open Mic
July 18 Jan Bell Duo
July 19 The Hammer & The Hatchet
July 20 Los Swamp Monsters
July 24 Open Mic
July 25 Rural Soul Trio
July 26 Fingerstyle Guitar Fest
July 27 TBA
July 31 Open Mic
Aug. 1 TBA
Aug. 2 Gene Fugate
Aug. 3 Banister Bluegrass
Aug. 7 Open Mic
Aug. 8 TBA
Aug. 9 Davis & Devitt
Aug. 10 Gary Applegate & Joe Rock
Aug. 14 Open Mic
Aug. 15 TBA
Aug. 16 Big Daddy Caddy
Aug 17 Steve Smith
Aug. 21 Open Mic
Aug. 22 TBA
Aug. 23 Zion Crossroads Duo
Aug. 24 M Squared Trio
Aug. 28 Open Mic
Aug. 29 TBA
Aug. 30 TBA
Aug. 31 TBA 51 State Road 46 East 812-988-2291
www.browncountyinn.com
Country Heritage Winery
Music Fri. & Sat. 6:00-9:00
July 5 Amanda & Brian Webb
July 6 The Steve Houk Band
July 12 Travers Marks Duo
July 13 Two for the Show
John Ryan
July 19 Homemade Jam
July 20 Gary Applegate & Joe Rock
July 26 Frank Jones Duo
July 27 Malachi Jaggers
Aug. 2 Ruben Guthrie
Aug. 3 Coner Berry Band
Aug. 9 Rocky Branch
Aug. 10 The Clearwater Band
Aug. 16 Ken Wilson Duo
Aug. 17 Kenan Rainwater Trio
Aug. 23 John Ryan
Aug. 24 Amanda & Brian Webb
Aug. 30 Steve Fulton Trio
225 S. Van Buren Street 812-988-8500 www.countryheritagewinery.com
19th Hole Sports Bar
Music Fri. 7:00-10:00 | Sat. 8:00-11:00
Karaoke 8:00-11:00
July 5 Shelby Ryan
July 6 Karaoke
July 12 Gene Fugate
July 13 Past Tense
July 19 Clearwater Band
July 20 Two for the Show
July 26 Mike Staublin
July 27 Coyote
Aug. 2 John Ryan
Aug. 3 Karaoke
Aug. 9 Gene Fugate
Aug. 10 Past Tense
Aug. 16 Clearwater Band
Aug. 17 TBA
Aug. 23 The McGuires
Aug. 24 Gene Fugate Band
Aug. 30 Doug Dillman
Aug. 31 The Wildflowers
2359 East State Road 46 812-988-4323 www.saltcreekgolf.com
Firebird Tap House
All music 7:00-9:00 and some afternoon music days noted
July 5 Stephen Hickman
July 6 Kolton Norton 2:00-4:00
Ruben Guthrie 7:00-9:00
July 12 Sam King
July 13 Rich Hardesty
July 19 Coot Crabtree
July 20 Rusted String Swindlers
July 26 Dave Sisson
July 27 Mike Staublin
Aug. 2 Caleb Hawkins
Aug. 3 The Vanguards
Aug. 9 Jaylen Martinez
Aug. 10 Sam King
Aug. 16 Timothy Scott
Aug. 17 Kolton Norton
Aug. 23 3 Beards Strummin’
Aug. 30 Ruben Guthrie
Aug. 31 John and Jessie 4040 State Rd 46 E 812-988-2336 www.firebirdtaphouse.com
Nashville House
Music Sat. 5:00-8:00
July 6 Steve Hickman
July 13 Travers Marks
July 20 Paul Bertsch
July 27 Jack Farnsley
Aug. 3 Gene Fugate
Aug. 10 Austin James
Aug. 17 Ruben Guthrie
Aug. 24 John Collins
Aug. 31 Sharianne Whetstine 15 S. Van Buren Street 812-988-4554 www.nashvillehousebc.com
Ferguson House Beer Garden
Open Mic Thurs. 5:00-8:00 Music Fri. 5:00-8:00 | Sat. 1:00-4:00 AND 5:00-8:00 | Sun. 1:00-4:00
July 4 Open Mic
July 6 Rich Hardesty 1:00-4:00 Hammer & Hatchet 5:00-8:00
July 7 Travers Marks
July 11 Open Mic
July 12 Ruben Guthrie
July 13 Ross Benson 1:00-4:00 TBA 5:00-8:00
July 14 Sharianne Whetstine
July 18 Open Mic
July 19 Dan Kirk
July 20 Ben Fuson
July 21 Michael Staublin
July 25 Open Mic
July 26 Zach Benge
July 27 Happy Accident/Angela Sullivan
1:00-4:00
Ben Justus 5:00-8:00
July 28 John Ryan
Aug. 1 Open Mic
Aug. 2 Dave Sisson
Aug. 3 Doug Dillman 1:00-4:00
Jess Jones 5:00-8:00
Aug. 4 Cody Williams
Aug. 8 Open Mic
Aug. 9 Rich Hardesty
Aug. 10 Ruben Guthrie 1:00-4:00
Sharianne Whetstine 5:00-8:00
Aug. 11 Allie Jean
Aug. 15 Open Mic
Aug. 16 Ben Fuson
Aug. 17 Hammer & Hatchet 1:00-4:00 Steve Hickman 5:00-8:00
Aug. 18 Travers Marks
Aug. 22 Open Mic
Aug. 23 Ben Justus
Aug. 24 Happy Accident/Angela Sullivan 1:00-4:00
Ciara Haskett 5:00-8:00
Aug. 25 Ross Benson
Aug. 29 Open Mic
Aug. 30 Gene Fugate
Aug. 31 TBA
Antique Alley 78 Franklin Street
812-988-4042
Sycamore Saloon at Harmony Tree Resorts
Sat. Live Music 8:00
July 6 TBA
July 13 Jaylen Martinez
July 20 Breanna Faith
July 27 TBA
Aug. 3 Travers Marks
Aug. 10 Jaylen Martinez
Aug. 17 Forrest Turner
Aug. 24 TBA
Aug. 31 Tim Scott
1292 SR 135 S, Nashville 812-200-5650 www.harmonytreeresorts.com
Hard Truth Distilling Co
Music 6:00-9:00
July 5 Low Landers
July 6 The Dynamics
July 12 The Rainwater Trio w/ The D&O Band
July 13 Slow Gin w/ Taylor Hernly
July 19 Black Cat and The Bones
July 20 Sustayn
July 26 The Rainwater Trio
July 27 The Late Night Revelators
Aug. 3 Hard Truth Tiki Party 2:00-9:00
Check website for additional info.
418 Old State Road 46 812-720-4840 www.hardtruth.com
Story Inn
Fri. Love Shack Karaoke 9:30-12:30
Sat. pianist Ted Seaman 6:00-9:00
Check out social media for entertainment that occurs once a month:
Live Music on a Friday 6:00-9:00
Comedy Show on a Saturday 8:30
July 14 Story Bridal Open House
July 27 Wild Mushroom Party - concert arts, crafts, food vendors
6404 State Road 135 812-988-2273
www.storyinn.com
Village
Art Walk
Fourth Fridays, 4:00-7:00 April-October
Free self-guided walking tour of downtown Nashville art galleries. Demonstrations. Make & take activities. Wine tasting.
FB ArtsVillageBrownCounty 812-320-0872
Nashville Farmer’s Market
Sundays 11:00-2:00, Brown Co. Inn parking lot at State Road 135 & 46 intersection
Local produce, meats, eggs, food, arts, plants, music.
Fireworks
July 4 | Story Inn at dusk
Live music all day - headliner: King Bee and the Stingers
July 6 | Brown Co. High School at dusk by Brown Co. Lions Club
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CALENDAR continued from 41
46th IHA Show and Sale
Now-July 13, Brown Co. Art Gallery Main St. & Artist Drive 812-988-4609 https://browncountyartgallery.org
July 26-27 | Fri. Party in tent at BCI 6:00 Sat. Competition starts 11:00 am Concert 7:30 at Brown Co. Playhouse www.indianastringfest.com www.browncountyplayhouse.org
Hippy Hill Festival
Aug. 1-3 | Bill Monroe’s Music Park Music, food, vendors 5163 N. SR 135 812-988-6422 https://billmonroemusicpark.com/
National Night Out
Aug. 6 | Nashville Village Green Night of games, free food while meeting police, fire department, and safety personnel.
Humane Society Barn Sale
Aug. 8-10 | 8-4 | BC Humane Soc. Fundraiser Donate items Aug. 2-4. Away A Day RV Campground (in Gnaw Bone) 5515 State Road 46, Nashville
Pickin’ in the Backwoods
Aug. 16-17 | eXplore Brown County/ Valley Branch Retreat
Presented by Coyote Radio Show and Podcast, alongside Duke’s Indy 30+ bands, free camping, free parking, BYOB, food trucks, campfire jams. All ages. 2620 Valley Branch Rd, Nashville www.pickininthebackwoods.com www.coyoteradioshowandpodcast.com www.dukesindy.com
ChamberFest Brown County
Aug. 18-24 at various locations
Stellar lineup of world-class musicians
Concerts start at 7:00, most free except*
Aug. 18 United Methodist Church
Aug. 19 St. Agnes Catholic Church
Aug. 20 St. Agnes Catholic Church
Aug. 21 Brown County Playhouse*
Aug. 22 United Methodist Church
Aug. 23 St. Agnes Catholic Church
Aug. 24 United Methodist Church www.chamberfestbrowncounty.com
Blues Fest
Aug. 22-24 | Bill Monroe’s Music Park Music, food, vendors.
Feat. Chicago Farmer & The Field Notes, John Welton & The Awakening, Graciously Departed, and more. 5163 N. SR 135 812-988-6422 https://billmonroemusicpark.com/
IN Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
Fingerstyle guitarists will converge on Nashville in July for the 13th Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival. It will bring 30 of the finest fingerstyle guitar players from around the world to the Brown County Playhouse Saturday, July 27.
The competition and concert will be live streamed on Facebook Live.
Friday, July 26 will feature the Friday Night Party at Brown County Inn, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Performers will include previous winners of the competition.
by the Walnut Valley Festival which has honored acoustic musicians for the past 50 years.
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with fingertips, fingernails or picks attached to the fingers. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking, classical, or thumb style. Prominent fingerstyle players include Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Tommy Emmanuel, and Andres Segovia.
Musicians will compete for prize guitars from Thomas Roeger Guitars and SDC Guitars, as well as the opportunity to play during the evening concert featuring Mark Sganga, Brian Henke, and Bryce Mullins.
The competition begins Saturday, July 27 at 11 a.m. at the Brown County Playhouse. The top three winners will be announced at 2 p.m.
The Indiana State Fingerstyle Competition is one of only eight competitions worldwide to be accredited
The Brown County Playhouse doors open at 10:00 a.m. on July 27. Competition takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The evening concert on July 27 begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the competition and for the evening concert are available online at <www.indianastringfest.com> or <www.browncountyplayhouse.org> or at the Brown County Playhouse, 812-988-6555.
Brown County Music Center
July 16 Ben Folds
July 19 Get The Led Out
July 27 Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Aug. 1 Night Ranger
Aug. 2 Taylor Hicks
Aug. 7 Joss Stone
Aug. 18 Steve- O
Aug. 22 Cinderella's Tom Keifer Band
Sept. 8 April Wine & Sweet
Sept. 15 Beth Har t
Sept. 20 Keb' Mo' & Shawn Colvin
Aug. 23 Turn The Page - Bob Seger Tribute
Aug. 24, 25 Aaron Lewis Acoustic
Aug. 30 Crowder
Sept. 5 The Australian Pink Floyd Show
Sept. 6 Dailey & Vincent
Sept. 27 An Evening with Amy Grant
Sept. 28 The Rasc als
Sept. 29 Bur ton Cummings & His Band
Tribute
Q ueen
Sept. 26 Always Loretta - Loretta Lynn Tribute
Nov. 23, 24 KANSAS: 50th Anniversar y Tour
Dec. 4 Ancient Aliens Live
~by Amy Huffman Oliver
By my count, Dad hawked popcorn at the Brown County Playhouse for around 40 years.
My childhood memories of summer are of Dad donning his distinctive yellow cap and vest to sell popcorn for the Brown County Lions Club at the Playhouse.
Once he was wearing the hat and vest, he would transform from his every day, newspaper man, Clark-Kentkind-of-persona, into his alter ego—a carnival carny.
July 14, 2024
Get yer popcorn!
“Hot popcorn! Get yer hot popcorn here! Cold Coca-Cola! Orville Redenbacher popcorn!” he would call out in a thundering cadence that could be heard a block away. Who can resist walking by the sound and smell of popcorn tumbling out of a salty, sizzling kettle without trying a box?
This summer, as the Playhouse celebrates 75 years as a center of performing arts in the village of Nashville, Indiana, it is time to reflect on its humble beginnings in 1949 and its successes through 2024.
History of the Playhouse
The Brown County Playhouse was unique from its start. It was not only the first summer stock theatre to open in Indiana after World War II, but it opened in a tiny village whose population in 1949 was only 493 residents and not yet the tourist destination it is today.
The history of the Playhouse was chronicled in a 1998 booklet called The First Fifty Years, written by R. Keith Michael, who was then the president of the board of directors and former producer for the Playhouse.
According to Michaels, Professor Lee Norvelle, director of the Indiana University Theatre Department, collaborated with local businessman A. Jack Rogers to build a nonprofit “straw-hat” theater on land supplied
Photos provided by the Brown County Playhouse.
by Rogers on “Shoppers’ Lane” in downtown Nashville. Rogers financed the initial cost of the building while Norvelle prepared the productions, hired a company of students, and constructed the set on the IU campus in Bloomington.
Norvelle wanted the Playhouse to “attempt to do for theater in Brown County, what has been done in the field of painting.”
The first show at the Playhouse, The Old Soak, ran for five weekends in the summer of 1949 and tickets sold for just 90 cents each. It and a second show that summer were such a success that Novelle produced four plays in the summer of 1950.
In the beginning, the Playhouse was nothing more than an open barn for the stage and a large tent with open sides to cover 300 wooden seats. Water seeped through the walls of the dressing rooms under the stage and matinees were halted because the summer heat was so oppressive that actors and patrons were fainting.
There were no restrooms on site for the first 16 years. The program announced that “Restrooms were across the street in
the Nashville House,” but it failed to mention that the restaurant closed its doors long before the play concluded.
In the 1950s, the wooden seats were replaced by canvas lawn chairs and a tin roof took the place of the tent to prevent a fire from the potter’s kiln that burned holes in the tent’s canvas.
The Playhouse remained a quirky, outdoor theater. The summer heat was intolerable, vehicle noise distracted audiences during poignant scenes, and the
Brown County Playhouse entrance in 1949 to its first play The Old Soak
Scene from 2022’s A Christmas Carol.
sound of pounding rain on the tin roof drowned out the actors. Even after upgrades in 1965 of restrooms, 200 additional seats, and the ability to reserve seats in advance, IU struggled to attract professional actors, designers, and directors to perform at the Playhouse.
The building you see today was built in 1977. Jack Roger’s son, Andy Rogers, donated the land and the IU Foundation, IU Chancellor Herman B Wells and others donated to the cause. The new building featured heat, air conditioning, and more comfortable seating for an expanded audience of around 400. It also included better lighting and sound systems and an orchestra pit for musicals.
Another feature was a separate space for concessions so the Lions Club volunteers could make popcorn without disturbing the show.
To maintain the rustic flavor of the theater, wooden siding from the original barn structure was used on the street front, lobby area, and as part of the interior décor.
From 1977 through 2010, IU used the Playhouse as its venue for summer theatre students to practice their craft.
In the summer of 2010, after building a larger, more modern facility on the Bloomington campus, the IU Theatre Department announced that it no longer needed the Playhouse, and it was going to close.
Thanks to members of the Brown County community, the Playhouse ownership transferred to a non-profit organization that continues to keep the Playhouse thriving today.
Since 2011, the Playhouse board of directors and its staff have remained committed to offering a wide range of national and local musicians, comedians, and movies, as well as community stage productions yearround.
Three Generations of Popcorn Poppers
My parents and I, along with many cohorts of local Lions Club members, sold thousands of cups of Coke and boxes of popcorn at the Playhouse to raise funds that went directly back into the Brown County community.
PLAYHOUSE continued from 47
A rehearsal in the barn and tent interior.
In the 1990s, my husband became a Lion and a dedicated popcorn popper. As young kids, our two sons learned the fine art of hawking popcorn from their grandfather. Although my dad has passed and my boys have grown up and moved away, my husband and I continue to volunteer at the Playhouse.
You too can be part of the history of the Playhouse by volunteering. It is fun and you can watch the shows or bands of your choice for free in exchange for welcoming guests and a little clean up afterward.
Join us at the Playhouse for its 75th Anniversary Gala celebration on Sunday, July 14 at 2:30 p.m. Return to the musical vibes of 1949 with the Dan Nix Big Band, and enjoy food, costumes, and entertainment of the era.
Advance tickets are available at their website <browncountyplayhouse.org/event/75th-gala/>.
Andy Rogers and R. Keith Michaels constructing the building in 1977.
ChamberFest Brown County
Overheard in Nashville, “Let’s get some folks together and jam. We’ll cover some tunes everyone knows, then just explore.”
Looking back across the centuries, you could say that’s how chamber music got its start.
Chamber music has something else in common with the jam session. It’s known as “the music of friends,” or “people conversing.” Every instrument has a distinct voice. Each gets special lines, parts of the melody or harmony, and its individual airtime. And each contributes to the overall weave of sound. Like voices in a conversation, each expresses its own point of view, its own character and nuance. In Nashville’s ChamberFest venues, you join groups of friends in musical conversations.
Our familiar church venues with their pleasing aesthetics offer the best acoustics. ChamberFest performers are extraordinary musicians and say our venues, unlike large concert halls, are the perfect
August 18–24, 2024 ~submitted by Jan Holloway
setting for chamber music, and provide a richer performance experience. Performers come, too, for our Brown County hospitality, the beauty of our hills and woods, and the charm of Nashville. Many come back year after year. Among those returning this year are the Lincoln String Quartet; Elisabeth Wright, harpsichord; Kevin Lin, violin; and ChamberFest artistic director and pianist Andreas Ioannides.
Whether a seasoned enthusiast or new to this genre, you’ll find the music accessible and immersive. This music expresses the love and loss, confusion, hope, and exuberance that make up human experience. It celebrates where we have been, what we have felt and learned about ourselves.
You don’t need a background in classical music to enjoy ChamberFest. Just listen with an open mind and let the music do the rest. You’ll find variety to suit every preference: voice, strings, wind instruments, early music, music from the Romantic era, modern music. Leonard Bernstein and Richard Rodgers of Broadway fame. Dance. Tango! Duets. Larger ensembles.
You can attend almost every concert at no cost, though suggested donations of $20 are welcome. The one exception is “A Night of Tango” at the Brown County Playhouse. If you’d like to ensure a seat up front you can reserve one online at <www.chamberfestbrowncounty.com>.
There is a multitude of outdoor entertainment options for visitors to the Brown County State Park, but two of the nicest places to unwind, interact with nature, and do a little hiking or fishing are the park’s two picturesque lakes: Strahl Lake and Ogle Lake.
Park Naturalist Eli Major said hiking is the most popular attraction at the lakes, although the fishing is pretty good too.
“We typically have over a million annual visitors to the park each year and our two most popular trails are around the lakes,” Major said. “Trail 7 around Ogle Lake is the most popular, followed by Trail 6 around Strahl Lake.”
Trail 7 is a great mile-and-a-half loop trail which goes around Ogle Lake, with a nice view of the lake from all points along the trail. The south side of the loop is fairly steep and rigorous, but there are several stairways to help you along.
There is an observation platform about halfway, at the back end of the lake opposite the dam/parking lot, which makes for a comfy rest stop to observe wildlife or snap a scenic photo.
Our State Park Lakes
On the east side, Trail 7 connects with Trail 4 and takes you into the Ogle Hollow Nature Preserve. Trail 4 connects with Trail 5 on the northeast side of the ridge, and it takes you up to the Rally Campground.
“So, you can actually hike about a two-mile loop by using trails 4 and 5 together,” Major said. “I highly recommend that anybody who wants to do that take Trail 5 down and Trail 4 up, because Trail 5 is a straight line down the ridge and Trail 4 has switchbacks, so it’s a little bit easier to ascend.”
Also connecting with Trail 7 is Trail 11, the “Vollmer Trail.”
“It’s named after Bob Vollmer, who had quite a storied career as a surveyor at DNR,” Major said. “Trail 11 is our best wilderness trail. It takes you way out in the middle of nowhere down into a couple of secluded valleys and ridgetops.”
~story and photos by Jeff Tryon
Eli Major, park naturalist, at Ogle lake.
Strahl Lake.
You can enjoy fishing for bass, bluegill and others on both of these pristine forest lakes. A state fishing license, available at the park office, is required.
Major said the fishing is “pretty good.”
“We do keep it stocked with standard small lake fish: bass, bluegill, channel catfish, redear, crappie, sunfish, and a few others.”
There is a publicly accessible fishing report available through the Division of Fish and Wildlife on the DNR website.
“Most of the north shore has a nice gentle slope into the lake, so shore fishing is very popular on that side,” he said.
Several years ago, the Friends of Brown County State Park installed some docks and piers and benches along the north shore.
“It’s a 17-acre lake, so there’s going to be some big fish,” Major said. “I wouldn’t say a ton of them, but it certainly does allow for some big ones. I have heard anecdotally of channel catfish in the 15-inch range and bass in the 11-to-12-inch range.”
Ogle Lake is the only choice for folks interested in kayaking or canoeing. Boats need a DNR Lake Permit which is $5 a year.
There is no boat ramp; you’ll have to be able to lift whatever kind of boat it is into Ogle Lake.
Ogle Lake was built in the 1930s in part to provide a water source for the park. But as of last year, the state park is officially on Nashville public water.
“At this point, Ogle Lake is strictly for wildlife and recreation, Major said. “That’s probably about the biggest change I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
The older, smaller Strahl Lake was built in 1928, a year before the state park opened.
When visiting Strahl Lake, it is best to park below the dam where there are restrooms, a shelter house with playground, and a waterfall created by the overflow of the dam. A heartstimulating staircase takes you up to lake level.
Trail 6 around Strahl Lake is mostly flat, and always displays various wildlife from birds to turtles and small woodland creatures.
There may be a little muck down at the far end of the lake, especially if there’s been a lot of rain, but there are a couple of nice boardwalks to help you over the backwater.
If you’re feeling particularly athletic, or wanting to run some of that boundless energy out of the kiddoes, there’s a trail that branches off at the back of Strahl Lake, opposite the dam, that goes straight up an enormous hill to the Nature Center. I think they count this as a part of Trail 6, but you don’t have to do that part.
Wildlife abounds throughout the park and visitors are likely to see or encounter a whole range of species that are adapted to life in the forest and forest fringe, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, gray squirrels; and songbirds like robins, nuthatches, bluejays, cardinals, and crows. Sightings of wild turkeys are common.
On your hike around Ogle Lake, you may observe an active beaver colony.
“If you go to that extreme east side of the lake, where Trail 7 and Trail 4 meet, there is a marsh there that is maintained by the beavers,” Major said. “If you look carefully when you’re hiking on that side of the lake, you can see where they have a small dam, and the water level is elevated.
“They take a big tree down every now and then, but it’s not particularly problematic,” he said. “They just do what beavers do. They’re not really trying to fell large trees anymore, because they have the water level where they want it.”
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Sustayn Vying for Awards
~by Boris Ladwig
Recently formed Brown County-based rock quartet
Sustayn is vying for some national awards by the International Singer Songwriters Association that will be announced this summer in Atlanta, Georgia.
The band’s co-founder and lead singer, Amanda Webb, said Sustayn is among the finalists for band of the year, album of the year, single of the year and video of the year, while the band’s drummer, Jared Asher, also is up for sound engineer of the year.
As with many bands, Sustayn’s creation came about partly through coincidence and a bit of good fortune.
Webb’s band was playing a gig at Hard Truth Distillery, and the audience included Asher and his wife, Nicohl, who had originally come to Nashville to see Blues Traveler at Brown County Music Center. As the Blues Traveler show got postponed, the Ashers went to the Hard Truth instead.
Webb’s band drew a capacity crowd that night, and the Ashers ended up sitting with Webb’s mother, Pam Boer, who
got into a lively conversation with the couple and introduced them to Webb after the show.
The Webbs and Ashers hit it off and, shortly thereafter, the couples jammed together.
Webb, who has performed regionally with her band and in the blues community for about seven years, said she was looking for a new project.
Thanks to their immediate rapport and similar musical interests, Webb and her husband, Brian Webb, and the Ashers decided to form an original rock band, with Amanda Webb on vocals, her husband on guitar, Nicohl Asher on bass, and her husband on drums.
Webb said the band members chose rock in part because they all had an affinity for the 1980s rock with which they grew up.
“Just because you’re older…doesn’t mean you can’t rock out or that you can’t have new music influences in your life,” she said.
The band invites fans to sign up for updates on its website <sustayn-official. com> with the words, “Join the Rebellion.” You can sample their songs at the site.
Webb describes the band as a femaledriven AC/DC that takes inspirations from such acts as Heart and Halestorm and produces rock songs about love, perseverance, and dreaming of rock stardom.
The band’s single “Born with the Horns,” plays into that theme, with the video showing kids pretending to sing the song, a throwback to how the Webbs and Ashers, like many, dreamt of rock stardom when they were young.
“We’re still like that,” Amanda Webb said. She said the performers’ different personalities mesh well and enhance the others’ stage presence and composition capabilities.
Webb said her husband played guitar in many groups and many genres, including blues and country, but really enjoys playing fast riffs with Sustayn.
“It gives him a place to let loose,” she said.
Brian Webb grew up in Brown County, and Amanda Webb has lived here since they got married 20 years ago. The couple, who have five boys ranging from age 13 to 22, live within a five minute drive from the Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground. Jared Asher hails from Martinsville, while Nicohl Asher grew up in places including Utah and California and moved to Mooresville when the Ashers got married.
Todd Cramer, a fellow musician, said, “Two married couples coming together to make a four-piece, original band—that says a lot about each of their characters. Individually, you would have four different sounding bands, but they are writing together from different perspectives and I think people will find it appealing to hear what they offer.”
Cindy Hiland-McNalley, who runs a central Indiana consulting business, said she lives next to Sustayn’s studio and has the opportunity to hear them on a weekly basis.
“I have followed them to many venues and events,” she said. “I have purchased many items of merchandise in support of their endeavors. I have invited many over to experience their music and vibe. They have a unique sound with a raspy voice and heavy rock.”
Amanda Webb said the band is raising funds to support the band’s trip to the ISSA in August and to defray expenses related to recording.
As of late May, Sustayn had garnered more than 60,000 streams on Spotify this year.
You can support the band by making a donation or you can buy music and merchandise: <sustayn-official.com/fund-the-rebellion>.
Native Americans
~by Julia Pearson
The deep timeline of the Native American nations is recorded in archaeological digs and artifacts, as well as the written observations of the Europeans who pushed them from their homelands. It is estimated that before settlers arrived on the American continent in the 16th and 17th centuries, the native population numbered in the millions.
Different tribal nations had unique cultures, language families, and traditional lifeways. Due to diseases brought by the Europeans, plus warfare and forced displacement, historians estimate the Native American population was reduced by 90%.
The state of Indiana was admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816, and was named for the Indiana Territory established in 1800. The name of Indiana was first used in 1768 for a tract of land ceded by the native tribes in Pennsylvania. The state government records the Miami,
Shawnee, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wea, Plankashaw, Chippewa, Delaware, Wyandot, Kaskaskia, and Eel River tribes as all living in Indiana at this time.
A significant and well-documented boundary was established in 1809 when William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, signed the Ten O’clock Line Treaty with Miami Chief, Little Turtle. Sixteen miles in length, 7.29 miles passes through today’s Brown County State Park.
It provided the acquisition of 3 million acres of Native American lands, recorded as a purchase by the United States government with the Delawares, Potawatomi, Miami, the Eel River Band of Miami, Weas, and the Kickapoo. Negotiations did not include the Shawnee, previously asked to leave the lands by Little Turtle.
Many of the tribes were refugee groups. Following the Treaty of St. Marys in 1818, the forced movement of tribes to the Missouri Territory began around 1821. Pioneer settlement in Brown County was not opened until the 1820 U.S. government survey was completed.
The first white man to arrive in Brown County is believed to be a German man, Johann Schoonover, who came to trade with the tribes. Trade goods would include iron kettles, knives, ax heads, drilling awls, cloth, blankets, brooches and gorgets, arms and ammunition. He lived along the creek which bears a variation of his name, Schooner Creek.
He was followed by William Elkins, who cleared land and built a homestead in the southeastern part of the county. Elkinsville is the name given to the community that sprang up around Elkins’ home.
Beginning in 1830 when the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, the indigenous peoples were forced to move further west. Some individuals might have stayed behind because of intermarriage and strong trade relationships.
Settlement by Euro-Americans continued, and in 1835 a petition was presented to the state
Painting of the Delaware chief at the time of removal, by George Catlin.
legislature requesting a new county be established. A bill providing for the formation of Brown County was passed by both the House and Senate on February 4, 1836.
Crossing the Ohio River, oxen-driven wagons of homesteaders headed north through dense hardwood forests on narrow Indian trails, the same trails used by generations of native people traveling to the chert quarry where they made arrow points, scrapers, and choppers; going to hunting grounds; or visiting other villages.
Evidence of prior inhabitants of an area includes placenames and local oral traditions.
A survey of Indiana placenames undertaken by the Indiana State University and published in 1975 includes Bean Blossom Creek, a stream whose head is in Brown County. A Miami name for the stream was Ko-chio-au-se-pe, which translates “Bean River.” Local lore, however, says General Tipton named the stream for a man named Bean Blossom who nearly drowned while trying to swim in the stream.
One of the stories in Tales and Trails of Brown County, Indiana speaks of tribes in that area. Along the waters of Bean Blossom Creek between Helmsburg and Trevlac there is a very steep hill fringed with pine trees that was known to the natives as Echo Mountain. A tragic legend of love and loss has been passed down regarding a native couple, Sun Ray and Dove’s Bill. It was said they lost their daughter Star Glow during a spring storm that swept the infant from the bluff into the creek below. Dove’s Bill was said to have mourned the loss of her infant so intensely that she ended her life by jumping from the cliff.
COMMON GROUNDS
Brown County locals share the story of “Old KindEye,” a native warrior who escaped torment of an enemy tribe in Ohio by building a home camp on “Teepee Mountain,” what is now called Bear Wallow.
Carol Lucas Cummins recalls in 175 Years of Brown County of being at the foot of Browning Mountain, a location that has held the curiosity of many citizens: “There’s a hill there that has Indian designs in the buildings. As children, we knew this was Indian camp at some time…. We would pick up Indiana artifacts all the time. We picked them up by the handfuls.”
~by Jim Eagleman
Field Notes
Sycamore Land Trust
If someone mentions the word corridor to you, what do you think? A hallway between two rooms? A pathway leading from one area into another? Do you ever think of a corridor being outdoors?
They can exist between two parcels of land, uniting them, creating a natural connection to allow birds and animals a passageway. This is one of the projects, both on-going, and historic, of the Sycamore Land Trust, a nonprofit organization founded in 1990 to preserve the beauty, health and diversity of southern Indiana’s natural landscape. With a strategic land conservation and education mission, the organization has protected 119 properties totaling 10,126 acres to date in several southcentral Indiana counties.
Sycamore Land Trust is an option for Hoosiers who are considering selling or donating their private parcels of land for future uses and preservation. Landowners know the surest way to protect any parcel, wetland, forest, farmland, or small landholding, is to own it. But if the time has come to do something different, family priorities of course receiving top consideration, there is the land trust option.
Sales are in keeping with current land values and payments to the owner are always competitive. To many, knowing private land can now be added to other tracts nearby, creating a corridor, is comforting. Or the parcel could be used as a nature preserve if something unique and of natural interest is found there, possibly set aside with trails and access for others to enjoy. The owner can be sure that no development will ever take place. This can be reassuring, knowing their love of the land will continue and it is preserved forever.
The work by Sycamore Land Trust is on-going, every day, as land conservation employees and conservation stewards work to improve each property. Their work, for example in the Bean Blossom Creek area, east of Morgan-Monroe State Forest in Monroe County, continues as they work with landowners in the area. Their long-held vision of an important ecologic corridor through the Bean Blossom Creek watershed is becoming a reality. By connecting tracts of natural land together they are providing a contiguous space for plants and animals to thrive. These corridors are well-recognized as important avenues for species to move in a broader, protected range of habitat, a function that will only become more crucial as climate change drives shifts in the habitats of many species.
Imagine travel lanes along streams, woodland borders, ravines, even fencerows allowing birds and animals to move about unaltered, no interruptions of roads or developments. You begin to see the value of corridors and why Sycamore tries to keep them intact.
We’ve all seen our share of roadkill animals: turtles, deer carcasses, flatted opossums and the like. This casualty is what happens when animals travel across busy roads. Road signs alert drivers that they are entering heavily traveled wildlife routes. They can help as traffic slows down anticipating some animal, but a natural corridor is better. Establishing natural corridors has helped us live more compatibly with animals.
When corridors include streams and wetlands, the conservation effort becomes even more important. These areas act as dynamic crossroads in ecosystems, providing a space where water, soil, energy, and organisms interact. This intersection drives essential functions that promote resilience, such as cycling nutrients, filtering contaminants, supporting biodiversity, and regulating streamflow.
The importance of these ecological corridors has driven Sycamore Land Trust’s focus on land conservation in the Bean Blossom Creek area for almost 30 years. And the conservation of the local natural features has downstream significance as well, The White River, into which the Bean Blossom is a major tributary, supplies water to over a million Hoosiers.
None of the accomplishments of the SLT would be possible without the support from generous members. By creating a corridor in the Bean Blossom Creek watershed, and protecting the diverse ecosystems and species in it, they are creating a more connected and resilient future, for both us and the environment.
Hats off to the fine folks who work SLT and their conscientious members; and why not hike the Bean Blossom Creek conservation area this summer to see for yourself what a great natural area has been saved and managed for all of us to enjoy. You’ll be impressed.
National Night Out
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Children of all ages are invited to the Village Green in downtown Nashville on Tuesday, August 6, to celebrate National Night Out. It’s a night full of fun games, free food, and meeting police, fire department, and community safety personnel. The evening is capped off by dashing and playing underneath the downpour from a fire hose as it creates a rainbow against the setting sun.
National Night Out is celebrating its 41st year nationwide. Every state in America observes the first Tuesday in August to promote community partnerships with first responders. The purpose of National Night Out is to build strong partnerships between the police and communities and to promote crime awareness programs. This is a chance for Brown County children to create a bond with law enforcement and community safety members.
The event will start at 5:30 p.m. in the Village Green and end at 7:30 p.m. Be sure to visit the Dunk Tank and take a turn dunking someone. Cheer from the sidelines as law enforcement takes on the firefighters in a game of tug-of-war. Explore the firetrucks and other emergency vehicles. Join your neighbors and have a good time at National Night Out.
STATE PARK LAKES continued from 59
But you haven’t really truly appreciated the state park lakes until you’ve seen them by moonlight.
Every month, Major leads a full moon hike, typically around Ogle Lake or Strahl Lake.
“The lake trails don’t have any big hills, which can be problematic for some people in the dark. Also, those are the clearest views [of the sky] in the park, because of the water.
“I like to do that hike on Ogle Lake because I have it timed so that we get back to the dam and people can see the moon rising over the water. We’ve managed to take some pretty incredible photos there before.”
(discounts for multiple issues)
Contac t Cindy at ourbrown@bluemarble.net or c all 812-988-8807
