I grew up in Crothersville, Indiana where the population is less than 1,500. There are barely enough student athletes to have a basketball team. We didn’t have a football team when I graduated… and football is still not a sport you can participate in if you attend high school there.
Population in the city where I now live is almost 20k and football here is a pretty big deal. Because my home is close to the high school, football season means I can hear announcing, the band playing at half-time, and the cannon boom when the home team scores. While I thought it might bother me after living in a quiet rural area for such a long time, I really love it. Those are the sounds of fall!
Last night was the Jackson Bowl. The two rivals — Brownstown Braves and Seymour Owls — faced off for the title win. Brownstown fans left a message for Seymour during the wee hours of pre-game night on the railroad bridge not all that far from the high school or from where I live.
I smiled. No ugly words were written — just a simple message — but it sure got some Seymour residents crazy mad. Ok, so I didn’t have to paint over it myself (city crews had it covered up by mid-day), but c’mon… why is that so offensive?
I have a cousin that’s a Senior on the Brownstown Braves team, so I wasn’t even tore up over the fact that Brownstown took the title this year.
Kyan McKain (far left #60) and his Mom, Debra McKain (3rd from left)
A Crothersville educator posted the following on FaceBook:
Teaching my Enrichment 6 entrepreneurs how to “Create Distinction” the Scott McKain way with their project this week. Students were challenged to design a promotion poster for their business. Such a fun project. Kids were very creative.
Knowing that a published book created from your intellectual work might help a future business person be successful feels pretty amazing to my favorite brother — and it makes me proud.
I am about 99.9% certain the house in Crothersville is sold. The buyer provided a firm offer that I have accepted; the inspection went well; the appraisal came back higher than I expected; (wish I could change the sale amount) and the buyer’s loan has been approved.
As a first-time homeowner, this buyer is soooo very excited and I’m… ummm… happy/sad/upset all at the same time. I wonder if that’s normal.
Oh well… what’s important is there’s someone else that’s more than thrilled with HER new house — and that makes everything a-ok with me.
It’s official and will be out in the news soon, so I can now share that my favorite brother will be honored with signage designating US 31 through Crothersville as “Scott McKain Way.” How cool is that? To say that he is thrilled is an understatement.
Scott has always been proud of the fact that he’s from Crothersville. If you’ve heard him speak, you’ve seen the slide he uses every single time that is of the same stretch of highway that will now be named in his honor — that translates to over one million people around the world that he’s told about Crothersville, Indiana. What he never mentions is that I took that picture… and I can’t wait to take the next one once the signage is in place!
Back in the day… before Facebook… a handful of my friends and I ran a Crothersville community website. It’s since been converted into a website for the town, but I still have all those old files. I used to share something now and again but I haven’t for a very long time.
This appeared in October 2004 and was written by a gentleman who requested to remain anonymous, using the handle ‘Old Timer’:
Have you seen the movie with Michael J. Foxx called Back to the Future? There is one scene in the movie that reminds me of OLD Crothersville every time that I see it. You know the scene… the one at the gas station where the car pulls up to the Texaco station, the delivery bell rings and a whole herd of people rush outside to service the auto. That’s the scene that brings back fond memories for me of Crothersville.
Do you remember how many “service” stations Crothersville used to have? Bud Marshall had the Mobil which is now BP; Arnold Hien/CJ Masters had the DX; Shorty Breedlove sold Mobil fuel oil from his Ford Dealership; Lewis Forister and Walter Pevlor had the Texaco which is now Subway; Herb Hillenburg was Phillips 66; Buck Cutshall had Standard Service; Smear Kennedy sold Gulf Products which is now Erwin’s; George Crawford, now Charlie McIntosh’s Auto Repair, sold Sinclar products and Pappe Nay, (I can’t remember his fuel brand) sold something that maybe someone else may remember. Wow! What a list, and I may have even missed somebody.
Don’t you miss pulling up for gas and somebody else getting out in the rain, snow, cold, freezing wind or relentless heat to pump your gas, clean your windshield, check your oil or air your tires? Doesn’t it also seem that you only need gas when you’re already dressed up to go someplace? Even if you only pump the gas, your hands still stink. But in the old days, you could pull up to the pump and 2 or 3 guys would come out to service your auto and pump gas for you. And what did you pay? Why… you got around 5 gallons for a dollar! What are we paying today for gas that we pump ourselves in the worst of conditions? About $1.97 a gallon and don’t think anyone is going to rush outside for anything unless you forget to go inside to pay your bill.
Now this is truly ‘days gone by’!
-Old Timer
The Old Timer rarely submitted photos (I wonder if he even owned a camera), so the photo below is one from my personal time capsule from 2004. It was taken in Mexico by my late sister-in-law, Sheri.
