Kaitlyn Hoevener and Cody Brasher put the finishing touches to the 160 fruit baskets put together by members of the Crothersville FFA and delivered Saturday to local residents.

A record of nearly 8.7 tons of food was distributed to needy Crothersville area families Saturday during the 20th annual FFA Toy & Food Drive.
Ninety-six families were assisted with food, fruit baskets and toys, according to local FFA chapter president Cody Brasher. Between contributions and fundraisers, the chapter raised and spent $11,500 for the annual holiday benefit.
The Crothersville-Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department supplied the trucks and transportation allowing local FFA members to make personal visits to area elderly and needy.
“This year the requests for assistance was particularly high because of the sour economy,“ said FFA Advisor Linda Maxie. “But the local community, which has always supported the chapter’s efforts, stepped up to help us meet the need.”
Some surprise visitors to help with the local deliveries were Indiana state FFA officers.
“When our kids go to FFA leadership camp they always talk about the big benefit the toy & food drive is to our community,” said Maxie. “The state officers wanted to come to Crothersville to see for themselves the outpouring of assistance. They saw that this is a big deal locally.”

It was all about the money when the Crothersville Town Council met Dec. 18 for the final time in 2008. The year-ending meeting is a traditional time for approving late December bills to be included in the current fiscal year’s expenditures.
It was noted that the town’s water & sewer bills would go up 3% on January 1. A combined water and sewer for minimum usage will go to $46.49 in January, up from $45.12 currently. The $9 a month trash/recycling fee did not go up.
The council approval a resolution for a hazard mitigation plan. The FEMA formality will allow the town to recoup 75% of the local expenditures of $2,053 to clean up debris left from Hurricane Ike on Sept. 14.
The longest discussion of the evening involved approving salaries for town employees for 2009.
The council quickly decided that elected officials for the town would make no more next year that they made in 2008. Just a quickly came a determination that part-time and seasonal help would likewise not get a raise.
After substantial discussion, the council agreed that, with two exceptions, full time employees would receive a three percent increase for 2009.
Town water utility worker Danny Derringer and sewer plant operator Mason Boicourt were granted higher wage increases since each had passed state tests to be certified operators of their respective area of supervision.
Derringer’s hourly wage will go up from $13.05 to $14.55 for 2009; Boicourt’s wage will got from $8.55 to $11.37 next year.
Other employees will receive a 3% increase for 2009. They include police officers Norman Ford from $16.95 to $17.46; Vurlin McIntosh, $15.05 to $15.50; Daryl Hickman, $11.80 to $12.15; town street department worker Donald Roth from $15.15 to $15.60; office manager NaLona Bush from $12.55 to $12.93; office utility clerk Alisa Sweazy from $11.80 to $12.15.
The clerk-treasurer’s annual salary was frozen at $9,500 per year and the council froze their own salary at $2,400 a year for 2009.
In another matter, the council agreed to hire North Vernon based FPBH as consulting engineers to assist with IDEM compliance for combines sewer overflow requirements.

Pictured with Senator Lugar are Derrick O’Sullivan and Erica Doyle of Crothersville High School and Lindsey Harris and Jennifer Sprague of Brownstown Central High School.

More than 400 high school juniors and 121 accompanying adults attended the 32nd annual Richard G. Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders held December 13 on the campus of the University of Indianapolis.
Held each year since he has been in the Senate, Lugar opened the Symposium speaking and answering students’ questions. During his address, he discussed the current economic situation and it’s international impact. Lugar then fielded a variety of questions from the student participants.
“We gather at the University of Indianapolis each year to discuss serious themes because the responsibility for how it all comes out is most likely to lie in generations down the trail rather than in the specific times in which we live,” Lugar said. “That is why we gather two outstanding students from most of the high schools and preparatory schools in our state. They will be leading our communities and businesses, and even our state and country, in the near future and will face many of today’s issues.”
In smaller discussion groups, students exchanged ideas and debated opposing views on seven different topics including U.S. leadership in the world, energy security and media responsibility.
Just before his speech, Lugar presented the inaugural Richard G. Lugar Distinguished Student Leadership Award to Katie Felix, a 2007 Symposium participant and senior at Perry Meridian High School. The award is given by the University of Indianapolis’ Lugar Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders, the permanent home for Lugar’s annual symposium. The new center provides extended experiences for high school and college students that expose them to leadership opportunities, the value of leadership in service to others, issues of ethics and integrity in leadership and the qualities of strong leaders. Building on the university’s core values, the center will reinforce the value of a liberal arts education in preparing young people to be tomorrow’s leaders.

The Jackson County Solid Waste Management District and the Jackson County Highway Department will be providing drop-off locations for live Christmas trees after the holidays.
Trees can be dropped off from Thursday, December 25, until Tuesday, January 15, 2009 at the following locations:
•The Jackson County Juvenile Residence, 416 East Walnut Street, Brownstown
•Crothersville Old Town Hall, 101 West Howard Street, Crothersville
•Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department, 6843 North County Road 400 East, Seymour
All decorations and lights must be removed from the trees. The trees will be chipped and used for mulch.
For more information call the Jackson County Solid Waste Management District at 358-4277.

This issue will be the last for 2008 as the Times staff takes a much deserved and eagerly anticipated holiday break. There will be no newspaper next week but readers can look for their first issue of 2009 on the usual Wednesday publication date, January 7.
From Curt, the editor; Lori, the mail room superintendent; Doris, the supervisor of the newspaper’s suburban Dudleytown retail delivery; Charley, the guard(?) dog; and Miz Mary, the Red-Haired Roommate who keeps us all in line…
Here is hoping you enjoy a Blessed Christmas along with a healthy & prosperous New Year.

by Curt Kovener

I’m going to clue you in on a bedroom secret at our house.
At ease, porn protesters, this isn’t X-rated but it is Z-rated as in ZZZzzzzzz.
When colder weather arrives in this neck of the woods of the Hoosier State, our bed gets covered with flannel sheets: top sheet, bottom sheet, pillow cases.
Yep, the same material we all wore as footed PJ’s as we toddled through the house in diapers & training pants. The same material I wear three seasons of the year in my outdoor shirts.
What Miz Mary & I have found as we achieved middle age status is that comfort is playing a larger role in our lives.
Satin sheets are way over-rated for sleeptime. They are cold & never warm up. The percale and muslin cotton sheets might be fine for the hot summer night sleeping, but when the frost is on the pumpkin, snow on the rooftop, ice in the birdbath, and the thermometer is even too cold to rise, we switch to the soft, warm embrace of old-time flannel sheets.
Growing up I think Mom called it a sheet blanket—a flat, white cotton flannel sheet which covered you. But you still had to deal with the initial cold bottom sheet.
Miz Mary now has an assortment of flannel sheets in a variety of colors—mainly plaids & outdoor scenes.
The flannels are particularly appreciated up at the wilderness retreat where after a day of working outdoors and some warming up in front of the fireplace with a toddy or two the flannel sheets, extra blankets and comforter offer a warm hug for the night’s slumber.
We made converts out of some northern visitors up in the wilderness earlier this fall. They say they now have flannels in their bedroom. And where they live in northern Indiana they need them.
In the winter we forego electric blankets. Instead, our furnace thermostat is turned down into the mid-60° range and we pile blankets and a thick comforter onto the flannel sheets. And the snoozing is never better. You don’t feel cramped up fearing to move to a new sleeping position because the sheets where your body isn’t are cold. No matter where arms & legs flail through the night, there is warmth.
Miz Mary says the downside to flannel sheets is that she can’t wear flannel pajamas. She says they act like Velcro®. She has found some silk PJ’s lined with flannel…but maybe I’m telling you more than she would prefer.
In addition to flannel sheets and flannel shirts, I have found another comforting cold weather application for the fuzzy cotton fabric—flannel boxers. But maybe that is a topic for another column.

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Beginning the monumental task of sorting and bagging hundreds of cans of
food and for this Saturday’s Crothersville FFA Food & Toy distribution are
local FFA members Darin Briner, Kelsey Hoskins, Kaylyn Luedeman and Logan
Isenhower.
While the lagging economy has resulted in fewer dollars raised and less food
donated, the local FFA chapter expects to deliver several tons of food to
needy families this Saturday.
To contribute to the effort, area residents can call FFA Advisor Linda Maxie
at 793-2051.

Homeowners who are age 65 and older are eligible for an additional exemption on their home’s property assessment.
To be eligible for the new income based credit, taxpayers must have a homestead exemption on the property. The individual adjusted gross income may not exceed $30,000 or $40,000 for married couples. The assessed value of the home must be less than $160,000 and the taxpayer must be 65 before Dec. 31, 2008.
“In order to file for the credit, homeowners must bring a copy of their most recent IRS Form 1040 showing the AGI amount to the auditor’s office,” said Jackson County Auditor Debra Eggeman.
The deadline for filing for exemptions—such as Homestead, Mortgage, Age, and Veterans—to residential property assessments is Dec. 31, 2008.
For more information contact the auditor’s office at 358-6122.

The Crothersville-Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department held their
annual holiday and service awards dinner Friday evening at the local fire
station.
Phil Thomas (in blue jacket) was named the 2008 First Responder of the Year
and Derrick Minton (in red jacket) was named the 2008 Firefighter of the
Year for the department.
Shown after making the presentations are B.J. McLain, department president
(left) and Fire Chief Charles Densford.