Banner Graphic, Volume 19, Number 33, Greencastle, Putnam County, 13 October 1988 — Page 1

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Quayle coveted at local rally By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Party philosophy and local and state issues may have been in Republican hearts Wednesday night, but Dan Quayle was definitely on their minds. Indiana’s junior senator, of course, was off in some national spotlight rather than the Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building. But if he wasn’t there in body, he certainly was in spirit as local party faithful recalled events of the night previous as Quayle came home to an Indianapolis rally. BRYAN POYNTER, president of the DePauw Young Republicans, said his group sent a busload of more than 60 students to Indy Tuesday evening. And they were among the most vocal contingent at the Convention Center. “Despite what you may read in the Wall Street Journal ... or other liberal publications, the people at DePauw support Dan Quayle,” added Poynter, a senior from Indianapolis who has seen his organization grow from “zero to 74 active members” in a year. He acknowledged that DPUrelated anti-Quayle comments have come from “a couple of outspoken professors... we can’t help that.” The partisan GOP crowd laughed and applauded at the comment FORMER GREENCASTLE mayor Gerald Warren, an emeritus professor at DePauw, added another Republican perspective. “As a DePauw professor who did know Dan Quayle and taught him his economics, I can tell you he is an excellent individual and a man with the talent to take responsibility afforded him, if circumstances would put him in the presidency,” Warren told the crowd. While Quayle was not in Greencastle, he did send a personal letter (read to the crowd by GOP County Chairman Mary Jane Monnett) and Greencastle resident Lane Ralph, state director of the Quayle-Lugar Senate office at Indianapolis. FEATURED SPEAKER at the

Rare horses missing from Belle Union area

BELLE UNION choked with emotion, Debbie Clark talked of her forlorn discovery Wednesday morning. About 3 a.m. she heard the whining a quarterhorse in the five-acre lot adjacent to her Route 2, Cloverdale, home. He was lonely, missing his two four-legged companions, she said. IT WAS THEN that Clark discovered her two rare Newfoundland ponies perhaps the only two of their lrind in the United States were gone. “I’ve been looking since I woke up yesterday morning,” she told the Banner-Graphic. “I don’t think I can walk another step.” She hopes that someone may have seen something suspicious in the area of her Jefferson Township home early Wednesday. She prays that the ponies somehow wandered off, but the emotion in her voice belies that hope. ‘THE FENCE WAS down,” she said, “but it seems too

No debate: It’s warmer

Clear and not as cold overnight with low in the mid 30s. Mostly sunny and warmer Friday with high 65-70. Indiana Extended Forecast Mild and cLy Saturday through Monday. Lows each day from 45 to 50. Highs from 70 to 75.

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Six-year-old Sarah Lowe adds another political button to her collection Wedneday night during the Putnam County Republican rally at the Community Building on the local Fairgrounds. Lane Ralph, state director of the Senate office of

Putnam County rally was State Sen. Ed Pease, seeking re-election to the District 37 seat in a race against Cloverdale Democrat A 1 Tucker. Pease, who has served in the State Senate since 1980, said he is confused by polls that show Hoosiers are happy with the way things are going within the state and its government, yet seem to express “a nagging desire to change things.” “I’m afraid we’ve allowed too much of the good times of the last few years to lull us into a false sense of security,” he said, noting Continued on Page A 4

strange that they would go off without ‘the baby.’” The Newfoundland ponies are beige in color. One’s a mare, the other a gelding (father and gelding, Clark says). ‘They’re really rare,” the distraught owner said. “There are only about 172 of them registered in existence. In order to be considered that breed, they have to be bom there (Newfoundland).” She described the horses as “very gentle,” adding that they are more like pets or members of the family. ‘THE OLDER ONE actually saved my life,” Clark said, recalling how she had once fallen off the horse. And when a bull readied to charge, the trusty pony placed itself between animal and owner to ward off an attack. “They’re very protective; very special that way,” she added. Persons with information about the missing horses may call Clark (795-6175) or the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department (653-3211).

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Quayle and Lugar, pins a “Bush-Quayle” button on the sweater of the Northeast School kindergartener. Sarah is the daughter of Bob and Pat Lowe, Greencastle. (BannerGraphic photo by Eric Bernsee).

Hearing on Distro next year By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor It appears the hearing concerning F.B. Distro/Charming Shoppes’ request to lower its tax assessment will not be conducted by the state until next year. That was the word Wednesday from Ed Bisch of the State Board of Tax Commissioners’ office in Indianapolis. “I ONLY HAVE A staff of X’ amount of people,” Bisch told the Banner-Graphic via phone. “Right now, they are all out in the counties doing budget reviews and they won’t gel off that until about Jan. 15.” That means, field representatives won’t be able to make any determinations regarding matters of conducting real estate hearings until next year, according to Bisch. “We’re talking about sometime next year, maybe as late as next spring,” he predicted. DISTRO, WHICH purchased the former IBM Corp. building, was first assessed approximately $1.4 million on the land and building it now owns east of Greencastle on Indianapolis Road. Distro officials followed the proper steps, appealing the original assessment to the Putnam County Board of Review. Board of Review members include chairman Marvin Steele, Juanita Anderson, county Auditor Myrtle Cockrell, county Treasurer Nancy Mcßride and county Assessor Charlotte Gould. TO BETTER MAKE a new assessment, the county Board of Review hired the professional appraisal firm Appraisal Research Corp. to give guidance. The Board of Review, and Appraisal Research Corp. representatives, personally went out to the former IBM plant, spending most of one day taking measurements and making notes. What resulted is a lowering of Distro’s assessment to $1,019,930, a drop of approximately $380,000 from the original figure. The new assessment valued the land at $54,830, while the improvements were valued at $965,100. Still, Distro officials believe the assessment should be lowered even further. Col. 3, back page, this section

GCTA pact settled; policy due corporal punishment

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor The Greencastle School Board voted Wednesday night to approve a new contract with the Greencastle Classroom Teachers Association, and create a policy on corporal punishment in the schools. The new two-year contract gives teachers a 6 percent pay hike this year, and a five percent pay hike for the 1989-90 school year. However, only 3.8 percent of this year’s pay increase is new money. The remaining 2.2 percent will come from the state in the form of more money from school days added to the length of the school year. THE CONTRACT ALSO includes a clause that allows the teachers to get another two percent pay raise in 1989-90 if the GCSC receives seven percent or more in new state funds for that school year. Supt. Gary Druckemiller, board members Bayard Allen and GCTA President Jan Evans agreed the negotiations were friendly, and useful, even if they did result in GCSC

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Sharing a laugh, Shenandoah Industries General Manager Bill Radle and Greencastle City Councilman Sue Murray chat during a Tuesday afternoon reception for Radle at the Walden Inn. Joyce Hanlon (left) awaits her turn to say goodbye to Radle, who is leaving his

Radle rates ‘symbol’ role

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Bill Radle seemed confused, if not a bit embarrassed, by all the attention. After all, it’s not just anybody who’s feted with a two-hour going-away reception at Walden Inn. Then again, it’s not just everyone who’s been annointed the living, breathing symbol of Greencastle’s post-IBM era. For just as “Big Blue,” the sprawling former IBM complex will stand as the symbol of the way we were, Radle will always be the embodiment of where we went RADLE, GENERAL MANAGER of Greencastle’s Shenandoah Industries, will mark the end of an era, albeit brief, himself Friday. That’s when he will leave the manufacturing facility he helped bring to life on the city’s far East Side. He will be replaced by John Lawson of Automotive Industries’ Strasburg, Va., plant It’s a cinch, however, that Radle won’t be forgotten. At least not by those who were around to see the long faces and worried looks Nov. 11, 1986, when IBM told the world it was ending a 30-year romance with Greencastle. Turning those frowns upside down was entrusted to civic leaders and influential outsiders. But it was the confidence of Radle and Automotive Industries that provided the shot in the arm the community needed just 72 days after IBM’s ill-fated announcement Greencastle Development Center Director Dick Andis spoke to that exact point Tuesday afternoon as city and county business and governmental leaders said their goodbyes to Radle. Andis recalled that Radle and other AI executives pondered the old IBM plant as a possible home. “You looked at it and said, ‘That’s too big,”’ Andis smiled. “And today, it’s probably too little.” “POSSIBLY,I’ CONCEDED Radle, who has seen his Shenandoah Industries (nee AI) workforce already grow to 225 employees, with 250 on the horizon and projections of twice that many in a few years.

teachers receiving pay raises below the state average. Druckemiller told the board the reason for the substandard pay raise is the financial constraints the school system is still feeling from the closing of the IBM plant in March 1987. He said that is something the teachers association understands. Evans told the board the GCTA ratified the contact in a meeting after school Wednesday. THE CONTRACT ALSO features some technical changes in languages, and increases allowed leaves to include emergencies and funerals for in-laws. The GCSC will create a policy concerning corporal punishment as the result of a parent complaint filed in the September board meeting and input from some 50 audience members Wednesday night that included administrators, teachers and parents. Jim Jackson, whose daughter attends Greencastle Middle School, had previously complained to the board that one of her teachers had

Greencastle post this week to return to Automotive Industries’ main plant in Strasburg, Va. Radle will be replaced by John Lawson as GM at the local plant. (Banner-Graphic photo by Eric Bernsee).

Instead of the IBM plant, Radle and company wrangled 40 acres of undeveloped IBM ground from the computer giant, even before the city had officially accepted IBM’s gift of land, facility and cash. “When it all came together,” Andis continued, “what you really did was give us, in this community, the confidence in ourselves that we could do it.” Mayor Mike Harmless, not yet even an announced mayoral candidate on the day (Jan. 22, 1987) Automotive Industries formally selected Greencastle, likewise appreciates the mark Radle has left on Greencastle. T THINK EVERYBODY IN this community recognizes how very special Automotive Industries and Shenandoah will always be. You were the first to recognize what we had here in Greencastle,” Harmless said. And after Radle and Al/Shenandoah came TechnoTrim, Charming Shoppes (F.B. Distro), Heartland Automotive (Shigeru), Sherwin-Williams and Happico. Radle always knew the game plan penciled him in at Greencastle for only about 18 months. But it’s just hard to believe that time has elapsed. In fact, next month will mark the two-year anniversary of the IBM announcement. Radle and his family will be gone by then, returning to their waiting, empty house Continued on Page A 4

offered a “contract” to her students which spelled out certain punishments for being ill-prepared for class. That “contract” apparently included spanking for four offenses such as not having pencil or paper, or not completing a homework assignment. JACKSON INSISTED his complaint was not against the use of corporal punishment in school, only that he wished to be notified before his daughter is ever given a whack by a teacher or administrator. Several parents attending Wednesday night’s meeting expressed their concern over the use of corporal punishment in general, and specifically for non-performance of homework assignments. Kelsey Kaufmann, a parent, said she felt spanking children for not doing their homework was not fostering a love for learning in the children, and that other methods were open to teachers and administrators. She listed flunking a child or expelling him or her as alCol. 1, back page, this section

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