Columnists – The Times of Noblesville

Please bring back our city’s Christmas Parade

27Nov

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Betsy Reason, Columnists

Please bring back our city’s Christmas Parade

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive in 2019 in the Noblesville Christmas Parade, which is a tradition in downtown Noblesville. Hamilton County 4-H’ers and their llamas from Hamilton County Llamas, walk in the 2019 Noblesville Christmas Parade. Dressed in their “ugly Christmas sweaters,” Noblesville High School Marching Millers perform in 2019 during the Noblesville Christmas Parade. The Times photos by Betsy ReasonRetired professional ballet dancer Robert Moore, Noblesville, co-owner of En Pointe dance studio in Noblesville, has fun operating a snow machine on the En Pointe parade entry, during the 2019 Noblesville Christmas Parade. (This year’s En Pointe Christmas is Dec. 17-18 at Noblesville High School.) By Betsy Reason Sunday afternoon will feel a little empty this weekend without o...

27Nov

By jennifer@thepaper24-7.comNo Comments

Columnists

Take time to reflect and be thankful

By Derek Arrowood With Thanksgiving upon us, this is the perfect time to pause and reflect on what we are thankful for in our lives. For one, I am extremely grateful to be a part of the Hamilton Heights family. Every day I get to see how the attributes and qualities of caring adults throughout our campus create a unique blend of talent, competence, and innovation that is a blessing in the lives of our students. Thank you to our educators, staff, parents, and volunteers for being key ingredients to ensuring that Hamilton Heights continues to be an empowering and inspiring place for our students to learn and grow. I am also deeply thankful to live and work in a community that is extremely supportive of our school corporation and the many collaborative partnerships that e...

Ask Rusty – Should I take my widower benefit now?

26Nov

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Columnists

Ask Rusty – Should I take my widower benefit now?

By Russell Gloor Dear Rusty: I lost my wife 7 years ago. I was told that I could possibly collect 30 to 35% of her benefit as a widower benefit when I turned 60. I will be 61 soon. Would it make sense to pursue this if it is true? I am still working full time. Would this affect my ability to collect Social Security on my own account once I retire? Signed: Working Survivor Dear Working: Survivor benefits for a widower can be paid as early as age 60 if you have not remarried prior to that. But collecting a survivor benefit before you have reached your full retirement age (your “FRA”, which is age 67) creates some other considerations you should be aware of: Your survivor benefit will be based upon the SS benefit your wife was entitled to at her death. T...

26Nov

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Columnists

Do online pharmacies threaten the future of the neighborhood drugstore?

by John Grimaldi, editorial contributor for the Association of Mature American Citizens There are still a few of us who remember having a bite to eat at a drugstore soda fountain owned and operated by a local pharmacist. A few of them are still around, the rest were acquired or put out of business by chain pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS or by mega-stores such as Walmart. And now even they, despite their size, are being threatened by Internet-based virtual pharmacies. A sort of a death knell for brick-and-mortar pharmacies sounded loud and clear when Amazon announced the establishment of the Amazon Pharmacy last year. According to the online technology news site, TechCrunch, “After launching its own line of over-the-counter drugs in 2019, this is arguab...

Bits & pieces from big week for Boilermakers

26Nov

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Columnists

Bits & pieces from big week for Boilermakers

Trevion Williams (seated), the Big Ten Player of the Week, and his Purdue teammates celebrate their Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic championship.Photo courtesy Purdue Athletics By Kenny Thompson It’s not often that (a) a senior preseason All-American candidate comes off the bench for a major college basketball power and (b) earns his conference’s player of the week award as a reserve. Trevion Williams accomplished both, earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors for his performances in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic and in a victory against Wright State. Not bad considering teammates Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey made the all-tournament team. Third-ranked Purdue became the first repeat winner in the tournament’s history Sunday by overcoming then-No. 5 Villanova 80-74 in the title g...

Small Business Saturday weekend among 35 holiday things to do

25Nov

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Betsy Reason, Columnists

Small Business Saturday weekend among 35 holiday things to do

The Times photo by Betsy ReasonLogan Village Mall on Logan Street in downtown Noblesville is decorated for the holidays and awaits shoppers this weekend during Small Business Saturday weekend, today through Sunday, with special shopping events throughout downtown Noblesville.The Times photo by Betsy ReasonHamilton County Historical Society’s Santa House awaits the arrival of Santa on Sunday afternoon on the Courthouse Square in downtown Noblesville.The Times photo by Betsy ReasonNoblesville Antiques on the Square on Ninth Street in downtown Noblesville is decorated for the holidays and awaits shoppers on this Small Business Saturday weekend, today through Sunday, with special shopping events throughout downtown Noblesville. It’s already the day after Thanksgiving and Black Friday is he...

24Nov

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Columnists, Tim Timmons

EOY budgets, forecasts and processes

By Tim Timmons For those who have been in big business a long time, there’s nothing I’m going to write this week about the budget process that you don’t already know. However, if you are new to the process, or if you are just bored silly, come on along. Let’s begin by getting on the record that I am not a fan of budgets. No, it’s not that they are painful, time-consuming and laborious (although they are all those things), it’s that they too often have four problems: 1. They have little to do with reality 2. They can be forecasts based on forecasts 3. They often create unrealistic expectations 4. Managed poorly, they can create outcomes that reward (or penalize) unevenly To be fair, the rapidly changing world has also impacted budgets. Used to be that mature busine...

Grumpy new man instead of a grumpy old man

24Nov

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Columnists, Dick Wolfsie

Grumpy new man instead of a grumpy old man

By Dick Wolfsie I’m about to turn 75. I’ve always wanted to be a grumpy old man. Over the years, I thought I had made a lot of headway in this area, especially in the getting older part, which is easy. I also found myself getting progressively grumpier, as well. Or so I thought. My father was a grumpy old man by the time he was 60 and I always admired my dad, so I aspired to be just like him. But I wanted to do it even sooner. Remember, 60 is the new 50. Or is it 50 is the new 60? Whatever. I first tried to be a grumpy old man when I was in my 40s. But sadly, people mistook my crankiness for wittiness. I complained to the manager at Kroger that their entrance and exit doors were on the wrong sides. “I’ll never shop here again,” I told him. “I don’t know if I’m coming or going...

Great-granddaughter shares history of Ringer family farm, 100-year honor

24Nov

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Betsy Reason, Columnists

Great-granddaughter shares history of Ringer family farm, 100-year honor

The Times photo by Betsy ReasonOnly a long lane remains on one of the Sheridan parcels of the Ringer Family farm property, which the Indiana State Department of Agriculture this year honors as a 100-year-old Indiana farm.Janet VawterPhoto courtesy of Indiana State Department of AgricultureIndiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler (left) and Lt. Gov Suzanne Crouch (right) present a 2021 Hoosier Homestead Farm Centennial Award to the Ringer Family Farms’ family, Susan Ringer, Nancy Norris, Janet Vawter (fourth from left) of Noblesville, Jim Ringer and wife Susan. By Betsy Reason Janet Vawter is proud of her family heritage and her fourth-generation family farm. The Noblesville resident and 1964 Sheridan High School graduate is one of three daughters of the late...

23Nov

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Columnists, Paula Dunn

It’s Time To Talk Turkey!

By Paula Dunn It’s Turkey Time! Although Hamilton County has never been as big a producer of turkeys as it has been of cattle and hogs, there was about a 20-year period, from the 1930s to the 1950s, when thousands of turkeys were raised on local farms. In fact, the Nov. 7, 1953, Noblesville Daily Ledger reported that between 25,000 and 30,000 turkeys were raised here that year. The article pointed out that, if all those turkeys had been consumed here as well, every person in the county could have had a turkey! (I know it’s hard to imagine, but Hamilton County’s total population was around 28,000 then.) The earliest large-scale commercial turkey farm — at least the earliest I could find — belonged to William E. Brobst, Sr. Located two miles south of Noblesville on what i...