Christmas Walk

The town merchants are getting ready for the second weekend of Christmas Walk. The first weekend was huge, with the town full of visitors out to see all the lights, the lanterns along the canal, and start preparing for Christmas. The Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony event was a big success two weeks ago, with the biggest crowd ever- over three hundred people came to enjoy the sing-along Christmas carols with the Baggy Bottom Boys Band, and enjoy the choral music of the Roamin' Catholic Choir.

Idyllic Metamora

The town of Metamora today embodies the natural beauty of the Whitewater Valley while retaining many wonderful elements of a significant period of US history. The water-powered Grist Mill, the horse-drawn canal boat, and the only working wooden aqueduct in the nation, all restored and operated by the State of Indiana as a state historic site, continue to be a wonderful draw for tourists from all over the United States. Their park, with the beautiful gazebo, provides an often used idyllic backdrop for weddings, music, private picnics, and many other events throughout the year.

Many of the remaining buildings in town constitute an amazing collection of most forms of architecture that were popular in this country in the nineteenth century. Such a variety of different architectural styles all located within a few minute’s walk of each other is rare in this country, and continues to provide great enjoyment to visitors to Metamora as they relax and wander the town, many reading the bronze plates on the buildings to learn some of the history of the building.

The shops that grew up around the historic site continue to change. Despite Metamora’s general appearance of time stopped in the mid-1800’s, the local shops have not been exempted from the ravages of a lousy economy. Many of the shopkeepers have to work weekday jobs to pay their electric and grocery bills, and thus cannot be open five or six days a week.

While there are many shops that carry some made-in-China products, visitors can see the great home-made furniture and other products in Don Buchanan’s and the Colvin’s shops. Then there is the hand sewn dishtowels next to handmade fudge in Tom and Monica’s full service restaurant, Joy Hayes’s beautifully detailed hand painted crafts, and the gorgeous hand-painted glass next to the hand-made flower arrangements in Bill and Jay’s shop. Authentic documented Native American products can be purchased at Cranberry Junction, and fine leather products are found in two shops. All of that, along with a gourmet coffee bar and another full service restaurant, and other made-in-USA items, is located within the Duck Creek Crossing shopping area of Metamora.

Other shops in Metamora today include hand-made gemstone jewelry (made while you watch on weekends) and bath and body products in the same store that wows tourists with the unique handmade wood clocks with old computer parts. There is a collection of more than 2100 cookie jars, mostly made in the USA, with a bazillion flavors of ice cream products that draws people back to town time and again. One can watch a copper-smith at work fabricating beautiful unique products. Between at least seven antique shops, (Antiques and Uncle Junques, Meeting House, Antiques and More, Martindale Hotel, Salt Creek, Banes House, and Words and Images) there is probably at least one example of every gadget ever manufactured in the last century. Gail has a huge assortment of books to suit every taste, including many vintage books. And then there’s Donna making her baked goods and fudge as tourists try free samples of the fresh –made delicious products.

In my travels up and down the east coast of the US and in Italy while I was in the service, it was my experience that many local people never realize what wonderful sightseeing treasures are hidden just outside their back door. I have no reason to believe it is much different with the residents of Franklin County with respect to the historic village of Metamora. But there are tens of thousands of our tourist visitors who keep coming back year after year who know the truth as I write it here.

In my shop, we have many times heard from older visitors to town that the atmosphere in and around Metamora today reminds them of the way Nashville, Indiana and Branson, Missouri were 25-35 years ago. That observation usually comes with a plea to keep Metamora just the way it is, avoiding the slick commercialism that has taken over those other places. This echoes the desires of many residents in Metamora.

While largely sleeping in the winter (even though there are several shops open year-round), Metamora awakens in spring and blossoms throughout the year into a colorful, vibrant, peaceful village enjoyed by many visitors from afar. While the details in the town change, the character and beauty that is the essence of Metamora remains timeless.

This Weekend Only: Old Tyme Streets!

We have had the streets modified for a short period of time to try and envision what the town would have looked like in the 1850's with dirt roads. Upon completion, the roads will be restored to near new, but several inches lower than the sidewalk and slanted to carry away rainwater. This photo taken Friday morning (Aug 22). Work should be completed by next Friday. Come on out this weekend and enjoy the view!

Repair Work on Main Street in Metamora

The county will be repairing Main Street in Metamora on the south side of the canal from about Aug 17 through Aug 28. All work should be complete by August 28. The first week it is anticipated they will do the work on the east side of Columbia Street, and the second week on the west side of Columbia. Traffic will obviously be impacted during the work, but sidewalk access will always be available to all shops.

This road work should dramatically help the problems of drainage forcing our town visitors to walk down the middle of the street and threats from icing of pooled water, plus stopping much of the storm water entering building basements because the streets are too high.

Please be patient- it will be an inconvenience, but only for a short time.

Thank you.

FREE outdoor Movie in Metamora

Plan to visit Metamora, Indiana on Aug 15 for a FREE outdoor Movie featuring "Race to Witch Mountain". Movie will be at 9 p.m. in front of the Historic Banes House. Bring your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy a free movie with family and friends. Pop, hotdogs and of course popcorn will be available at a small fee.

Metamora offers free events throughout the year. For more information visit http://www.metamoraindiana.com

FREE Concert by the "Tillers"

The "Tillers" are coming to Metamora August 15 from 1 to 4 at the Gristmill. Opening for the Tillers will be Metamora's own "Baggy Bottom Boys". Come enjoy this free family friendly concert. It doesn't cost anything to visit Metamora and you can enjoy a day to totally relax and let the stresses of the real world behind.

Visit Metamora Indiana for FREE FUN

You're looking for something family fun to do but don't have much money to spend. Metamora, Indiana is your answer. You won't find another place like this and it is FREE to visit. There are many free events and activities scheduled throughout the year. This is the perfect family friendly town to enjoy history, shopping and just relaxing and enjoying the beauty. Visit http://www.metamoraindiana.com to see what upcoming activities are planned.

Tillers coming to Metamora

August 15, Come and hear the Tillers in Metamora at 1:00 at the Grist Mill. The Tillers came into being while busking for nickels, dimes and burritos in the gaslight Clifton district of Cincinnati. In August 2007, Westside comrades Mike Oberst and Sean Geil united their fondness for thumping out old-timey folk and street-style blues. With Oberst on banjo, Geil on guitar, and soon finding a bassist in Jason Soudrette, the trio plunged into the Cincinnati pub scene, serving a concoction of old-time traditionals, labor standards, and some less typical songs of the people's perspective. The band is both traditional and progressive. They resurrect songs of America's past, touching on themes both historical and timeless. The dusty songs of dead generations take new life and energy before spry young audiences. Clawhammer banjo, accoustic guitar, and wooden upright bass meet high mountain harmonies that belt and croon, lament and rejoice. Stories of work and struggle are revived and rekindled. Country blues classics meet new, less known ballads while we all stomp and sing along. Opening for the Tillers will be Metamora's own "Baggy Bottom Boys" which will take the stage at 12 noon.

Metamora Indiana 4th of July

Metamora, Indiana 4th of July Celebration

Next week is the 4th of July and Metamora, Indiana goes all out for Independence Day. Come spend the day in Metamora and enjoy all the great features of this 1838 town as well as a hometown parade (you can even be in it), a ducky durby, a Firemens Festival and Indiana's 3rd largest Fireworks Show! There will be many games and eats for everyone to enjoy.

Spend Independence day in an old fashioned town.

Metamora Indiana Strawberry Days

Metamora, Indiana is an 1838 Historic Canal Town that attract thousands of visitors every year. People enjoy visiting Metamora because there is no other town simular to this amazing old world town.




On June 6th and 7th the town held its annual Strawberry Festival/1838 Days. For 23 years, Metamora has welcomed the summer with their famous Strawberry Day Festival. Visitors enjoyed strawberry shortcake loaded with ice cream and whipped cream.

The weather was perfect - a beautiful sunny weekend that was not too hot. Visitors could hear old time music around town by one of Metamora's favorite musicians "Pappa Joe".

Music was also onboard the Canal Boat and riders enjoyed the songs by John Kogge while they were pulled by horses down the canal.

Of cource you can't have a Strawberry Festival without a pie eating contest.

Metamora's next event will be held on June 20th. This is a special day for Red Hatters.

You can find more information about Metamora, Indiana by visiting the website: http://www.metamoraindiana.com/

Three new chimneys

Workman completely rebuilt the three chimneys on the
Banes House on the finest day of the year so far, April 15. If it's 'Beware the ides of March', it's 'Hurray the ides of April" at least this year.
The original brick crumbled so bad when it was removed that it was useless for anything except the land fill.

Ben Franklin back in Metamora

Ben Franklin, the third, made her less than distinguished appearance last week from a long winter's nap inside a lock. She came up scratched, dirty, and not quite ready for prime time play. Still, there's no surer sign summer these days in Metamora.

Lower The Street Project

Last June a letter was sent to the Franklin County Commissioners describing the problems and requesting repairs on Metamora's Main Street on the south side of the Canal. The road has had so many additions of paving through the years with apparently none of the old paving underneath being removed, that the level of the roadway is at, or in some cases, higher than the sidewalks.

This presents issues with storm water when it rains, with rain water threatening the foundations of many of the historic buildings along the street. In addition, the puddling and pooling of the water presents safety issues to the visiting public who try to walk around the pools. This is particularly dangerous in the winter when the water freezes- there is often no way to walk around the ice ponds formed as a result of the rain because they are so large.

The fix seems to be removing ten or more inches of old paving, then repaving with a new layer, bringing the level of the street down a net six inches or so. And while regrading, careful attention must be paid to dealing with the storm-water runoff.

At a recent County Commissioner's Meeting they indicated the project has been studied, but there are still some unresolved concerns about the appearance of the final street vis-a-vis the overall historic appearance of the town, and about potential safety issues with the access to sidewalks and storefronts from the newly-lowered street.

We'll keep our ear to the ground to keep up with status.

Riding along the canal

Spring brings a chance for horseback riding along the Whitewater Canal into Metamora.

First train 2009

The first train of the year pulled into Metamora almost on the stroke of spring. This was an all caboose train filled with recent railroad tech graduates. The next Saturday another train brought in a load of folks from Connersville Station.

Where else but Metamora?

Jim's pig roams over the streets of Metamora on a bright winter day. Could it be that he is trying for the coveted Freshest Sausage in Town award?

Solutions from the Green Economy

-an editorial from Green America-

Everyone now understands that the economy is broken.

While many name the mortgage and credit-default-swap crises as culprits, they are only the most recent indicators of an economy with fatal design flaws. Our economy has long been based on what economist Herman Daly calls “uneconomic growth” where increases in the GDP come at an expense in resources and well-being that is worth more than the goods and services provided. When GNP growth exacerbates social and environmental problems—from sweatshop labor to manufacturing toxic chemicals—every dollar of GNP growth reduces well-being for people and the planet, and we’re all worse off.

Our fatally flawed economy creates economic injustice, poverty, and environmental crises. It doesn’t have to be that way. We can create a green economy: one that serves people and the planet and offers antidotes to the current breakdown.
Here are six green-economy solutions to today’s economic mess.

1. Green Energy—Green Jobs
A crucial starting place to rejuvenate our economy is to focus on energy. It’s time to call in the superheroes of the green energy revolution—energy efficiency, solar and wind power, and plug-in hybrids—and put their synergies to work with rapid, large-scale deployment. This is a powerful way to jumpstart the economy, spur job creation (with jobs that can’t be outsourced), declare energy independence, and claim victory over the climate crisis.

2. Clean Energy Victory Bonds
How are we going to pay for this green energy revolution? We at Green America propose Clean Energy Victory Bonds. Modeled after victory bonds in World War II, Americans would buy these bonds from the federal government to invest in large-scale deployment of green energy projects, with particular emphasis in low-income communities hardest hit by the broken economy. These would be long-term bonds, paying an annual interest rate, based in part on the energy and energy savings that the bonds generate. During WWII, 85 million Americans bought over $185 billion in bonds—that would be almost $2 trillion in today’s dollars.

3. Reduce, Reuse, Rethink
Living lightly on the Earth, saving resources and money, and sharing (jobs, property, ideas, and opportunities) are crucial principles for restructuring our economy. This economic breakdown is, in part, due to living beyond our means—as a nation and as individuals. With the enormous national and consumer debt weighing us down, we won’t be able to spend our way out of this economic problem. Ultimately, we need an economy that’s not dependent on unsustainable growth and consumerism. So it’s time to rethink our over-consumptive lifestyles, and turn to the principles of elegant simplicity, such as planting gardens, conserving energy, and working cooperatively with our neighbors to share resources and build resilient communities.

4. Go Green and Local
When we do buy, it is essential that those purchases benefit the green and local economy—so that every dollar helps solve social and environmental problems, not create them. Our spending choices matter. We can support our local communities by moving dollars away from conventional agribusiness and big-box stores and toward supporting local workers, businesses, and organic farmers.

5. Community Investing
All over the country, community investing banks, credit unions, and loan funds that serve hard-hit communities are strong, while the biggest banks required bailouts. The basic principles of community investing keep such institutions strong: Lenders and borrowers know each other. Lenders invest in the success of their borrowers—with training and technical assistance along with loans. And the people who provide the capital to the lenders expect reasonable, not speculative, returns. If all banks followed these principles, the economy wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in today.

6. Shareowner Activism
When you own stock, you have the right and responsibility to advise management to clean up its act. Had GM listened to shareholders warning that relying on SUVs would be its downfall, it would have invested in greener technologies, and would not have needed a bailout. Had CitiGroup listened to its shareowners, it would have avoided the faulty mortgage practices that brought it to its knees. Engaged shareholders are key to reforming conventional companies for the transition to this new economy – the green economy that we are building together.

It’s time to move from greed to green.

--Alisa Gravitz

Canoefest meets Wednesday

An organizational meeting for the 2009 Canoefest will be Wednesday, January 21, at Ye Olde Shack. The meeting starts at 6pm, but come at 5:30 and order some dinner. This year, Canoefest meetings will be held in various local restaurants to help support Brookville and Franklin County’s economy.

Canoefest will be on Friday June 26 and Saturday June 27, with the races occurring on Saturday June 27. After such great success in 2008, we are looking to keep that momentum going in 2009, and hope to get many new volunteers for this year’s events. Canoefest is Indiana’s largest canoe race, with 205 boats entered in 2008.

If you have never volunteered for Canoefest before, this is a great meeting to get started. If you have volunteered before, bring a friend to the meeting. New people, and new ideas for events are very welcome, to keep making Canoefest a great event.

Please call Jim Suhre, 765-647-4116, or email jsuhre@fcnbank.com for more information.

Pipe line crosses Salt Creek

Pipe line crosses Salt Creek

The gas pipeline cutting its swath across the middle of Franklin County went under Salt Creek last night. According to one of the workers the crew had 24 hours to make the crossing. It went under the creek and they had to make it look like they’d never been there, he said. It took the crew until 1 a.m. to finish to finish.


I got the feeling talking to a worker in newish overalls and a hard hat, he was ready for more. He looked about 19, might have been 29. I talked with him and took these pictures from the road around 3:30 Monday afternoon, January 19, 2009. I got the feeling he was really proud of getting the job done, maybe standing up to a -7 degrees Indiana winter.

I wasn’t able to see what they’d done to the creek bed, but this would be a worthwhile spot to monitor to see if they lived up to the bargain.

Pipe Creek Bridge to get rehab

Alley Ford Bridge, Franklin County bridge #48 over Pipe Creek, is going to be renovated to the tune of an estimated $830,000. It will be funded with local and federal funds.
“The project will restore functionality and safety to the historical structure by replacing deteriorated members and installing a steel grid deck,” according to a legal notice filed by the Federal Highway and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
The highway and transportation people expect it to have no significant impact to wetlands in the project area. It is thereby exempt from what appears to be proving the project will not have a significant impact to the adjoining wetlands. Besides carrying Pipe Creek Road over the creek, low ag fields on the western side of the crossing which apparently was known as Alley Ford, are prone to flooding.
Alley Ford Bridge is a riveted pratt through steel truss, 105 feet long and was built in 1927. Clark Deitz, Inc. has been retained by Franklin County to provide engineering services for this project.
The bridge is currently closed due to structural failure. Among other damage the concrete on the southeast stanchion is cracked and the steel girders are rusted through.
Local residents are anxious to get the bridge back in service. The detour presently in place runs from Haytown Hill Road, along Pipe Creek to where it ends at Silver Creek Road, then along Silver Creek Road to Snail Creek, a distance of around five miles.
Anyone interested in either requesting a public hearing on the project or giving their opinion have until Wednesday, February 4, 2009 to do so. Franklin County Auditor’s Office has copies of the environmental documents and preliminary plans for public inspection. Their number is 765 647-4631.
The engineer to contact at Clark Deitz in Indianapolis is Kevin R. Loisell, P.E. Phone 317 844-8900 or email kevin.loiselle@clark-dietz.com.

Winter shots of MacLyn campus

High-speed Metamora

When I first arrived here in 2002, I had a Verizon cell phone on a plan called something like All Across America. Since I was in fact driving my VW Westy all across America, it was perfect for me. I remember getting a call from the lovely Lisa in California one evening while I was camping beside the Clearwater River just east of Missoula, Montana. My phone worked fine there, but when I got to Metamora, nothing. It was like Metamora was not part of the plan. So it is today when it comes to high-speed Internet access. Metamora is not part of the plan.
High-speed Internet access is something we need in Metamora, like immediately. When the purchase of the MacLyn campground and campus is complete some time soon, the Whitewater Canal Byway Association will not be able to operate anywhere near as efficiently without a high-speed hook-up. Since this is a five-county regional effort, it seems to me high-speed Internet will be needed for administration as well as promotion.
Business runs on high-speed Internet.
Shopkeepers in Metamora itself are operating at a disadvantage to their counterparts in towns which have high-speed Internet. While it will cost them more for the service, it is a legitimate business expense and if used — I was going to say ‘wisely,’ but just used is enough — it means business, more business, at least potentially. And that’s what shopkeepers in Metamora deserve and should be demanding, the potential of making more money with e-commerce.
It isn’t really that we should have, it is more that we have to have it. Today, traffic on the Internet demands high speed. It just assumes you have high speed. The axis has shifted in the past couple of years, a subtle change and for people who don’t use computers, an invisible one, but you see it everywhere on the Internet.
Here’s a quick tale of woe: Yesterday I tried to listen to a tutorial which was less than two minutes long and for every two seconds of sound, I got— something like:” Hi, I’m Bob Ga.” Gone! Twenty seconds later my land-line connection had gathered enough data to blurt out, “glione. I’ll be your.” Gone again!
By my figuring I needed 20 seconds to get two seconds worth of tutoring, which at that rate could honestly be called merely a ‘toot.’ The lesson was 114 seconds long. I’m not good at math but by my rough estimate that would have been way too long. With high-speed Internet access, tutorials happen in real time.
Since Metamora does not have high-speed Internet service available to its many computer users (‘many’ is more than ‘several’, I hope), Metamora cannot quite operate in that virtual world of real time. (Virtual real-time, passive-aggressive behavior, what an a-contradictory world we live in.)
But maybe the strongest point in favor of establishing high-speed Internet in Metamora is education. With it we, the people who live here, can take advantage of the vast and growing free library of educational opportunities available on the World Wide Web. I was too frustrated to finish that tutorial, therefore I am a living example of the power of ignorance over intelligence, ignorance, in this case, in the form of a 46567 bps, low-speed hook-up.
Not having high-speed Internet available is detrimental to the intelligence of our citizenry and to our ability to partake in the wild world of e-commerce. What it really comes down to is Metamora’s staying on par with Brookville, Batesville, Connersville and the rest of the ‘villes’ when it comes to technology.

The new Metamora momentum

The new Metamora momentum

Let me start off by saying, what follows is my opinion. It is admittedly incomplete, but who among us has the whole picture? About anything! But in this case about the purchase of the MacLynn property.
As you know the 33-acre campground and campus (that’s a high falutin’ way of including the restaurant, museum and excellent utility barn) is soon to become public property, sort of. Indiana DOT announced they would be kicking in $689,600 towards the purchase of the property by the Whitewater Canal Byway Association, a group headed by Candy Yurcak of Metamora.
As I remember it — I’ve been gone for almost three years — this was the result of a group of people with various interests in Metamora getting together and doing one of those Andy Hardy film things where Mickey Rooney jumps up and says “Lets put on a play!” But instead of a play this group decided to think even bigger, bigger than a play, bigger than a production to hold the play and bigger even than a single season, play or otherwise. They looked around, inventoried every conceivable opportunity and decided the best single-swoop effort they could make was to buy the moribund property across US 52 and churn it back to life.
Now, it seems, they can say, “We did it!” And I can say, “Congratulations!” As a property owner and citizen of Metamora, your success has made my life much more interesting.
Did I say this was a group from Metamora and Metamora being what it is, for anyone attempting a step forward, there is another one trying his or her best to anchor that offending leg. If momentum is any phenomenon with which to judge the economic vitality of a place, Metamora had little when these folks began to dream. By the success of their action, this group has worked mojo on that old Metamora momentum, which amounted to ‘a body at rest stays at rest’.
Things are now moving in Metamora. Like I said, I’ve been gone for several years and so I am seeing the town and the county from an outsider’s perspective. I remember things looking worse when I left in 2006.
So they started with not much more than a pipe dream and a head full of optimism for steam. They ran into obstacles, they ran into setbacks, they spent a lot of time spinning their wheels. But in retrospect those spinning wheels which may have seemed so frustrating when they were whirring away, were actually doing something. Those spinning wheels were sliding along trying to get a grip on that old momentum. And through their continued and determined effort they were able to slide over that tar baby ooze and put together, by a tally from the county commissioner’s minutes, $1,583,200. This is the big piñata!
Does that mean the old Metamora malaise has been conquered? Yes! Does it mean it is subdued? I doubt it.

The big news is that the purchase of MacLynn Campground is pretty much a done deal. If you’ve been to Metamora anytime in the last four or five years you’ve seen the big For Sale sign on the side of the buildings across US 52 from Metamora itself.
On November 14, 2008 Indiana DOT announced they awarded Franklin County $689,600 in Local Public Agency (LPA) funding. The money will be used to purchase the campground which includes 33 acres of land, including campsites and restrooms, a building which housed MacLynn’s auto museum and a restaurant which was used with the cooperation of the owners as a site for various activities to raise funds for this purchase.
The property will be used for the development of a visitor’s center, museum and interpretative center at the Whitewater Valley Regional Interpretative Park.
Two days before this announcement, on November 10, Franklin County Commissioners heard of the award and nominated Don VonderMeulen as the contact person for the grant.
But before they did they asked questions about matching funds and the county’s obligation. They were assured by their attorney the county would have no obligation for funding it. VonderMeulen reported that Franklin County National Bank (FCN) has made a commitment for $831,600. Other donors he mentioned included Steve & Shirley Beyer ($30,000) and Harold & Lyn McNeeley ($32,000).
The county will keep the budget item listed in the name of the Whitewater Canal Byway Association, a group comprised of area representatives from counties along the canal. As a regional park its managing board has interests beyond those of Franklin County alone. The park will then be promoted in these outlying counties and is expected to be a destination for area field trips as well as a boon to commerce in Metamora itself.
Yogi Gus Parnett