The CCHS could use the following items, so if you have one of them laying around the house, consider donating it to the CCHS. Your donation will unclutter your life just a tad, and we will give you a receipt so you can write off the value from your taxes.
* Cordless Phone
* White bed sheets
* C.D. player
The Carmel Clay Historical Society’s office will be closed on Wednesday, May 16. Normal office hours (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.) will resume the following week.
The celebration this year of Carmel’s 175th birthday continues on May 10 at Woodland Country Club, as the Carmel Clay Historical Society hosts at is annual Springtime Luncheon. The event’s program will feature video clips of some of Carmel’s long-time residents talking about life here before Keystone Avenue stretched past 116th St.; when the buildings on Main Street were still residences, hardware stores, and farming stores; and when Northern Beach southeast of town was the only public park or pool for summertime play.
The society will also honor Nancy Hinshaw with the first annual Heritage Award, which is presented to women in Carmel’s history who have had a significant impact on the life or development of the city. As well, the seven longest-living Carmel residents and Carmel High School graduates will be recognized: Ermina Hinshaw Kaiser, Jeanette Hoover Roberts, Vera Buckles Bailey, June Morris Hedges, Geneva Hoover Graves, Marise Rogers, and Virginia Crawford..
To reserve your spot, call 317-587-1017. $45 CCHS members; $50 non-members.
The James Gray McShane home, 10000 Range Line Road, went the sheriff sale April 12. The bank lowered the sale price from $305,000, which was what was owed on the property, to $119,000. However, no bids on the home were made. The Bank of America/Chase officially took ownership of the home at that time, and contracted with a property management company to prepare it for sale. Late the week of April 15, a local company began to remove debris and trash from the home. It is anticipated that within two or three weeks, a relator will be selected and the home listed for sale.
The new exhibit on Lynnwood Farm will open at the Monon Depot Museum Sunday, April 22, at 2 p.m. Purebreds and Percherons: The Legacy of Lynnwood Farm details the development, growth, and final sale of this 623-acre farm in southeast Carmel through photographs, artifacts, and stories told by the people who lived, worked, and grew up there.
Indianapolis native and vice president and general manager at Eli Lilly & Company, Charles Johnson Lynn developed Lynnwood Farm on the outskirts of Carmel in the first half of the twentieth century. In the heart of the Great Depression, when many Carmel residents were still using outhouses, Lynn built a farm with facilities that were state of the art: cattle barns were cooled in the summer, steam pipes ran under the floors to warm the stock in the winter, and the horse barns had hot and cold running water.
In the course of its first decade, Lynn bred prize-winning purebred Percheron horses, Polled Shorthorn cattle, and Berkshire hogs and shipped his livestock all over the world. His farm became a laboratory for high school and college students studying animals. After Lynnwood was given to Purdue University in 1942, the farm served for more than 40 years as a center for research that would develop some of the most cutting-edge practices that today are common practice.
The Monon Depot Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and Sundays from 2-4 p.m.
Call 317-846-7117 for more information.
Steve Inskeep’s presentation at the Founders Dinner April 13 was fabulous! He addressed a sold-out crowd at the Ritz Charles and talked about the different “timelines” or histories we have in this city we share. One timeline includes significant events in the city’s growth and development, including the coming or settlers, churches, schools, and organizations. Steve’s timeline was much different….and shorter…and included, among other things, his first speeding ticket on 3rd Ave. SW: going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. Mayor Brainard’s timeline likewise is marked by other significant events. And in fact, we all have unique timelines that collectively represent this one city.
Steve also talked about the similarities between people all over the world. He drew parallels between the people in conflict-torn Pakistan and the edge city of Carmel. In both places, people are striving to make their lives better, to improve their cities, and to raise their families despite what’s going on around them. His presentation was relevant locally and globally, and he spoke to the crowd with such ease it felt as if he were having a conversation with just a few friends or colleagues rather than a room full of people.
Our thanks goes out to Steve and his wife Carolee for joining us Friday evening for a wonderful event.
“Here are some ideas for activities with the kids or grandkids”, states Katherine Dill, Executive Director of the Carmel Clay Historical Society. “Come to the Monon Trail and Second Street to the Foster Kendall Grain Elevator. This mammoth concrete structure has been part of Carmel’s landscape for almost 100 hundred years but it won’t be there long.”
This is a good opportunity to get out the camera or the drawing pad and bring the kids. Here are some tips the Historical Society recommends for taking pictures of the grain elevator:
Take picture with sun at your back with the sun shining on the object.
Best time of day for photography is morning or evening.
Try different vantage points: close up, looking straight up at the object, get higher off the ground, etc. These same tips will work for drawing or sketching the grain elevator.
You can also try “sculpting” the grain elevator with class. You can create clay cylinders and set them on a nail that has been hammered into a board with the nail sticking up. This project will need mom or dad’s help.
How tall is that elevator? You can estimate the height by using shadows. Kids will love this. See how at the bottom of the page.
The elevator is not listed on the 1916 map of Carmel but the company does advertize the program that accompanied the Centennial Celebration of Carmel. We think it may have been constructed in the 1920s. Do you have any memories of the grain elevator? Did you ever see it off load grain or “deposit” grain in a box car on the Monon Line. There is a place of “comments” on the Historical Society’s Web site (carmelclayhistory.org).
The Carmel Clay Historical Society will be closed March 26-30. Please visit us April 3 and 4, when we reopen.
Carmel native Steve Inskeep will be the guest speaker at the Founders Dinner Gala April 13 at the Ritz Charles April 13. The event marks the start of a year’s worth of celebrations commemorating the founding of Carmel as the village of Bethlehem 175 years ago. Inskeep is the host of NPR’s program Morning Edition and a 1986 graduate of Carmel High School. Emmy-Award winning newscaster and Carmel resident Kevin Rader will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
A cocktail reception begins at 7 p.m., with dinner at 7:45 p.m. and Inskeep’s program following. For more information, visit the event website at www.carmel175.org. Proceeds will benefit the Carmel Clay Historical Society.
Tickets may be purchased at The Center for the Performing Arts Box Office, One Center Green, Carmel, IN 46032, or by calling 317-843-3800. The box office is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4:00 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by phone or through the box office only. Ticket price is $75 plus service charge.