broad ripple magazine february 2016

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FEBRUARY 2016 NOW SERVING MERIDIAN HILLS, WILLIAMS CREEK AND NORA MAGAZINE

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PUBLISHERTOM [email protected]. Box 36097Indianapolis, IN 46236317-797-8135317-536-3030 (Fax)

Colle

ge A

ve

Allis

onvil

le Rd

River Rd

86th St

Dean

Rd

Westfield Blvd

73rd St

Broad Ripple Ave 62nd St

Cent

ral A

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N K

eyst

one

Ave

Kessler Blvd East Dr

56th StWes

tfield

Blvd

54th St

52nd St

Sprin

g M

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Kessler Blvd West Dr

Hoo

ver R

d

71st St

WilliamsCreek

MeridianHills

NorthCrows Nest

CrowsNest

RockyRipple

37

43131

465

@atBRip$239,387Average Home Value

62%Married

Households

Annual Household Income

$87,083Direct Mail Average

$43,993State Average

$

$

11,647Circulation

90%Direct Mail

10%Retail Distribution

Average Age 41.7 Yrs

SIZE DIMENSIONS (in) NETWORK 1x 3x 6x 12x1/8 3.5 x 2.25 $1,012 $350 $300 $275 $2251/4H 7.125 x 2.25 $1,530 $500 $450 $425 $3401/4 3.5 x 4.75 $1,530 $500 $450 $425 $3401/2H 7.125 x 4.75 $2,025 $700 $600 $550 $450Full 8.125 x 10.625 $3,825 $1,300 $1,125 $1,050 $850

Charities receive the 12x frequency discount

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26FAMILY COURTWriter / Joshua Deisler

NCHS Girls Basketball Coach DeAnn Ramey celebrates all of her players, and one of her standouts happens to be her daughter, Taylor.

PUBLISHERTom Garriott

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Kara Reibel / Lisa MitchellMatthew Socey

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MAGAZINE

Cover Photo / Brian Brosmer

9 What Friends Do

18 Making Waves with Billie Dragoo

32 Indy Winter Blues Festival 2016

34 The Magic of Art

34 Antique Helper & Riley Auction Launches Auction Express

FEATURED 6 Hoop Dreams

13 Starlight Memories with Bob Young & Gary Hofmeister

30 DNK Presents


COMINGHOMEDAN WAKEFIELD

HOOP DREAMS

When I was a sophomore at Shortridge, I went to a High School Journalism Conference in French Lick, Indiana, and shared a room with my classmate and fellow sports columnist on The Daily Echo, Dick Lugar. When we turned out the lights at night, we spoke of our hopes and dreams. Lugar asked me, “What would you be if you could be anything at all in high school?” I answered without hesitation: “High point man on the basketball team.”

“Oh, Dan,” Lugar said. “You’re so frivolous!”

Lugar’s high school dreams were more appropriate for a future United States Senator: president of the class, valedictorian, student body president. Neither of us achieved our high school dreams, but Lugar came a lot closer than I did. I didn’t even make the basketball team, much less become the player who scored the most points. In defense of my dream, though, I would argue that I wasn’t being “frivolous” – I was just “basketball crazy,” an Indiana affliction.

I pleaded with my parents for a backboard and basket in our backyard when I was 10 years old, and my father hired the Broad Ripple Lumberyard people to do the job (the basket was always supplied with a real net, so you could hear the satisfying swish of a score.) This not only satisfied my lust for the game but also ensured my popularity with every kid in the neighborhood.

We played in fall and winter, summer and spring, on ice and in snow, in heat and rain, sleet and slush, in the earliest mornings until the shadows of winter drew us home for supper with the passing of the Monon train to Chicago at the very back of our yard, beyond the Victory Garden, at 5:15 every evening. Playing in all seasons, I became a good shot, but my flat feet denied me

the ability to run at even a normal pace. (I bought a stopwatch to time myself and learned that I couldn’t break the seven-minute mile – roughly a minute slower than the average kid my age.)

My only basketball glory was reflected in two of the graduates of my backyard basketball court – Gene Neudigate and Dicky Richardson, the legendary “Itchy," a slender, slithering master of the court and nonstop shooter from any angle. Itchy and Gene were both backyard regulars, and both went on to star for Broad Ripple. Though I’m a true blue Shortridge Blue Devil, my earlier loyalty to School #80 and my backyard backboard allowed me to root for both those guys even though they were Rockets.

Not only were they great players, they were also a lot of fun. We sometimes tried to spook whoever was about to take a shot by shouting incantation-like curses the moment the ball was about to leave his fingertips: “Oogum-Sloogum!” “Puget Sound!” (Don’t ask me to explain why these sappy syllables sent us doubling over with happy hysterics that caused noses to run and stomachs to ache. You had to be there, in my backyard, in 1944.)

Gene now sports a neatly-trimmed white beard; he’s a retired, respectable businessman, but he still lights up like a kid when he tells me how he averaged 15 points a game and was seventh in the city in scoring his senior year. “We beat Tech in the Sectionals when I was a junior,” he says. “They were the favorites, but then we got beat ourselves the next day.” Those were the days when the tournament was played in the “any team can win” era that was dramatized in the movie “Hoosiers” – before the schools were divided up according to enrollment

numbers into “athletically correct” divisions so more kids could be called “winners,” but the sacred spirit was lost. Butler Fieldhouse was filled to the rafters for every game from Sectionals to Finals, rocking in a frenzy of unforgettable March Madness that will never be matched.

Those were the days when 14,000 people came to the Fieldhouse to see Crispus Attucks High School play in a regular season game when Oscar Robertson was there; everyone waited for “The Crazy Song” that meant the Tigers had the game sewed up, and you clapped in rhythm no matter what school you were from as they sang: “You can beat everybody, but you can’t beat us.”

Gene and I were so basketball crazy, we


went across the Monon tracks at night to the Broad Ripple gym to see the high school games and the grade school “curtain raiser” – it came before the freshman game, which came before the varsity game; we even went to games of “old guys” who played for company teams after work.

“We used to laugh at those ‘old men’ who were probably in their 20s and 30s,” Gene reminds me. “We even made up a cheer for the team of guys who worked for 7 Up. We knew the head man of the company was Tom Joyce, so our cheer was ’7 Up’s our choice, Rah Rah Tom Joyce!’”

Gene said sometimes he even went by himself just to watch the Broad Ripple team practice. (I can hear the often-quoted words of the NBA star Allen Iverson complaining that he was rumored to be traded because of missing a practice: “We talkin’ about practice – not a game, not a game – we talkin’ about practice. We talkin’ about practice, man. We talkin’ about practice…”)

Gene is talkin’ about walking over the Monon tracks after school to go watch the Broad Ripple high school team practice – not even to see them play in a game, man, but just to watch them practice. His devotion – addiction – is more understandable when you know he was watching the Broad Ripple team that went to the state finals in 1946 (and was beat by Bosse of Evansville 35-33.) “Do you remember that the guys from that Broad Ripple team used to stop by sometimes after school at Gene Pursel’s Pure Oil station and get peanuts out of the penny machine?” I ask Gene.

“That team was my inspiration,” Gene says, and we both, in unison, recite the starting lineup: “Allen and Chafee at guards, Chapman at center, Baker and Steinhart at forward…”

The coach was Frank Baird, so just imagine how Gene felt one day when he was shooting around by himself at the outdoor basket by School #80. A car stopped, and the driver sat there a while and watched Gene shoot the ball. After a while, the man in the car asked Gene, “Are you going to go

to high school at Broad Ripple?” Gene said he was, and the man said, “Well, I hope you do, and I hope you play for me.”

The man was Frank Baird. That was the neighborhood equivalent of Knute Rockne watching a boy named George Gipp kicking a football and asking him if he’d like to play for Notre Dame.

“Frank Baird was a real gentleman,” Gene said. “He never once used a cuss word. But he could make you feel small. Once when we were losing a game and playing badly, he told us at halftime, “I’m going to deflate this ball, and you can use it for a sewing kit – you might as well use it for something since you don’t know how to use it to play the game out there.”

Even the low points of basketball memory are high points now.

“Remember who made the shot that beat Ripple in the Finals?”

“Brock Jerrell!”

How could we ever forget?I remember playing for The Coagulators,

an intramural team at Shortridge that won at least half their games (as I remember). I remember being in the starting lineup with Jerry Burton, Don “Moto” Morris, Bailey Hughes and Johnny “Big Red” Peterson, backed up by the all-star bench of Pete Estabrook and Dick “Ferdie” Falendar.

I remember joining Ted Steeg of Shortridge and Jere Jones of Broad Ripple in a pick-up game at an outdoor court in Greenwich Village against three high school guys from Harlem in 1957. I remember being so beat and exhausted after the game that my teammates and I couldn’t speak until we flopped down on the grass in Washington Square Park, and Jere Jones summed up our experience, calling it “The Parable of the Three Fools."

We were basketball crazy.


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Few things hit a person’s heart harder than when a friend is struck with a tragedy, loss or unexpected diagnosis. The immediate instinct of a friend is to jump in and help, to find a way to comfort their friend and provide much needed support. They just want to help.

That was the exact feeling that Broad Ripple resident Aimee Kandrac and her friends had when their friend Laura was diagnosed with brain cancer, and her life was turned completely upside down. During Laura’s battle with the disease, “Laura’s Team,” as they dubbed their group of friends, was formed, and they became collective caregivers to help ease the burden of life’s everyday tasks and responsibilities for Laura. It was during that time that Aimee realized the joy that comes when a group of people work together to care for someone well and in ways that really help them manage their “new normal” while dealing with an illness or tragedy.

Many people find themselves in similar situations everyday: a friend or family member finds themselves needing help and care due to an illness or tragedy. How do you know what they really need? And how can you help organize an effective network of other concerned friends and family members to ensure that they are continually cared for in all the ways that may really be of help to them during their toughest moments?

Now there’s a tool that lets friends who want to help do what they do best: provide care, comfort and support to those they love when they need it most in way that best matches their immediate needs. Welcome to WhatFriendsDo (whatfriendsdo.com).

WhatFriendsDo is a caregiver’s best friend when it comes to organizing the right type of help for the person at the right time and in exactly the right way. It is an easy-to-use, completely free website that puts all the tools for communication, encouragement and coordination of helpful services in one spot.

Instead of group texts or Facebook groups that can be frustrating, slow and ineffective in really putting a care plan into action, WhatFriendsDo takes the desire to help and

lets people do so in a way that is an exact fit for both them and their friend receiving the helping hand.

WhatFriendsDo is the creation of Aimee, along with her mother and sister, with Aimee currently serving as Founder and CEO. In addition to being part of the care team for her friend Laura during her battle with brain cancer, Kandrac shares another pivotal experience that convinced her and her family that WhatFriendsDo was a service that needed to be created.

Aimee shares, “When someone was sick or in the hospital, my parents were the first ones to go sit at the hospital and be there for the family. It’s what our family did. During the time my dad was sick and when he later passed, we were recipients of that same care and love. After that experience and knowing the positive impact that receiving that care and support from friends had on our family during that very difficult time, my mom called me and said, ‘This is something we need to do.’

“After putting two kids to bed and having a husband studying for med school, I agreed that we needed to do it. We needed to give people a tool to help manage supporting their friends. There was a passionate yes, no hesitation. It had to happen, and we were the ones to do it.”

Kandrac and her team began to build a tool around the concept of allowing a close friend or family member to coordinate the care that is really needed to support their friend in just the right ways. Whether it is coordinating meals, arranging for childcare or ensuring that their friend’s lawn is mowed regularly or driveway is shoveled when needed, WhatFriendsDo helps everyone find a way to help and provide care in a way that is a good fit for them and is truly helpful to the person receiving the assistance.

Kandrac recognizes that this is not a new idea, friends wanting to help friends during their times of illness or tragedy. She says, “This is not a new concept in our culture. This is what we do. We are just bringing the technology and tools to help people do it more efficiently.

Writer / Lisa Mitchell

WH

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O

AN ONLINE TOOL FOR HELPING FRIENDS IN NEED


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PHOTOS & VIDEOS Keep your team updated by posting pictures and videos throughout your friend’s journey.

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With social media, we know more people, and we want to truly help them in a way that’s appropriate to our level of relationship with them. We allow them to do that with WhatFriendsDo.”

WhatFriendsDo works to assist care coordinators in three primary ways:

COMMUNICATION: A caregiver can share their friend’s story in one consistent place, so everyone involved is hearing the same information and knows exactly where to go for updates and details on how they can help.

ORGANIZATION: It helps concerned friends find the best fit for how they can help with specific tasks and lets them know they are helping in the exact right way to help their friend as they adjust to their “new normal.”

SUPPORT: Show your support and love through encouraging messages, picking up a weekly task that will help or coordinating a coffee talk with a group of friends. There are so many ways to show your support, and hundreds of ideas are provided on the site.

Trying to care for a friend in the right ways can be tricky territory to navigate and may seem like an overwhelming task to take on, but you don’t have to do it on your own with WhatFriendsDo. The WhatFriendsDo site gives you access to a team of people ready to provide one-on-one care planning assistance if needed. They call it a “friendspert,” and that role is to serve as a personal concierge for caregivers.

Kandrac says, “Everyone on the WhatFriendsDo team has personally experienced some sort of loss or longterm health challenge with their family or themselves. Empathy comes very naturally for this team because they have been there.”If you or someone you know has a

friend or family member that is currently trying to manage life in the midst of an illness or tragedy, create a care team today at whatfriendsdo.com. Start doing what friends do – caring and supporting the people you love in the best possible way.

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Gary Hofmeister as Finch in "How to Succeed Without

Really Trying"

atBrip.com / FEBRUARY 2016 / BROAD RIPPLE MAGAZINE / 13

Writer / Kara Reibel . Photos Provided

In 1963, Gary Hofmeister was the leading actor/singer in a USO Show traveling through Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador. On the day that President Kennedy was killed (November 22, 1963), he was hired to travel with the New York-based company of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

Upon joining the resident company of Starlight Musicals, Gary was, in essence, the “unofficial” understudy for the leading role of Finch. Several years later when this show was running with Van Johnson as the major star along with Warren Berlinger as Finch, the show was delayed for over a half hour.

Rumors circulated backstage that Berlinger had gone to New York during the day, and airplane mechanical trouble developed. Gary went to the production stage manager to ask what they were going to do if Berlinger didn’t make it. The stage manager said laughingly, “I don’t know. Do you know the part?” Gary said he did indeed. “Stand by!”

The next thing Gary heard was the announcement that rather than keep the audience waiting, they would begin the show with him as Finch. About 45 minutes later, the police escort rushed Berlinger to the theater who took over the remainder of the show. Thus ended

the one and only time an understudy, albeit unplanned, took over a starring role at Starlight Musicals.

It’s been 50 years since Gary Hofmeister took to the Starlight Musicals stage in that brief understudy emergency. Starlight Theater was known for its big name acts and performers of the day. Starlight, which began at Garfield Park in 1944, wandered around for the next decade until opening at Butler in 1955.

Robert L. Young Jr. was offered the general manager’s job in 1962 but accepted it only if he could initiate the “Star System.” Bob had earned his reputation during the 50s when he was an officer in the Air Force booking stars of the caliber of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis for the troops. Bob was in his early 30s when he took over Starlight.

The first star was Carol Burnett which sent the theater off and running. The lines to the box office were all the way out to 49th Street. The norm was to hire at least one big star to draw in the public and then use secondary yet highly talented performers for the other principal roles. After that came the resident company mostly drawn from New York but even some local performers for the chorus and minor principal roles were included. All were professional Actor’s Equity members. There were no amateurs on the Starlight stage.

WITH BOB YOUNG & GARY HOFMEISTER

Nearly everyone said that Bob Young had a “pact with God” because there were so few “rain outs” during the 30 years he led the theater. The seats were almost all out in the open, hence living up to its name. Nevertheless, the board decided to add a roof covering most of the audience in the late ’80s as a safeguard against the weather. Some felt it took away the ambiance and just might have added to the downfall of the venture.

As the “Golden Age of Musical Comedy” was essentially from 1943 with “Oklahoma” to “Fiddler on the Roof ” in 1964, it became increasingly difficult to find new shows to add to the old favorites, likely to have been written by Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Loewe.

Bob described how the board reacted to his suggestions for each new season. If he recommended one of the great old stand-bys such

as the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,” “The Sound of Music” or “The King and I,” they would say, “Oh, it’s too early to do that again. We had it just three or four years ago.” But if he brought up a new show that had a lot of promise, the Board would counter with “nobody’s heard of that.”

During the last decade of Starlight Musicals, many new theaters opened in Indianapolis. And though most were amateur, the fact is that amateur theaters were becoming much better in every way from the venues to the sets and acting. Theatergoers had more options with the risk of weather factoring in as well.

Starlight Musicals was a “guarantor” theater whereby numerous individuals would agree to underwrite any losses if the season was not profitable. One of Bob’s greatest joys was to announce at the end of the final show of the summer that no guarantors would be

q Liberace w "Hello Dolly" starring Carol Channing e Mitzi Gaynor r Jim Nabors t Mickey Rooney y Bob Young with John Davidson u Yule Brenner in "The King and I." His son sang Yule's notes from the orchestra pit.

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called on to pony up. At the end of the ’80s and into the early ’90s, that changed. It was a bright red flag that eventually turned into the black flag for the closing of this beloved institution.

From 2004-2006, Bob joined Gary on a weekly radio program on WFYI, titled “Broadway Memories: Music and the Stars.” They highlighted the great music from Broadway for most of the program, but it was their color commentary and stories about the great shows and personalities of the time that listeners loved to hear. Of course, many of the shows and performers had performed at Starlight Musicals.

One famous story is that of Yule Brynner performing in “The King and I.” Young picked up Brynner and his son from the airport, and Brynner had a horrible cold and could hardly speak. Bob was bereft of speech discovering his star was ill. Brynner, however, reassured

Bob that his son had an identical voice and would perform from the orchestra pit while Brynner moved his lips. It worked. The audience was not the wise, and the show was a success.

One day in 2007, Bob and Gary were having lunch when Bob leaned across the table and said to Gary, “Do you know what’s happening as we sit here?” Gary shrugged, for he didn’t have a clue. Bob continued, “They are tearing down Starlight. A reporter called to ask if I wanted to have my picture taken amidst the rubble. I declined.“

“No surprise,” says Gary, reflecting on that moment. “Even though Bob went on to produce and book traveling Broadway shows all over the world, there was no doubt that the 30+ years he managed one of the best summer theaters in the country was really his baby. He had no desire to see the wrecking ball make it disappear."

i Shirley Jones in "The Sound of Music" o Bob Young with Shirley Jones a Glen Campbell s Jane Powell d Petula Clark f Bob Young with then Mayor Dick Lugar g Eleanor Parker h Robert Goulet j Yule Brenner and cast of "The King and I" k Angela Lansbury in "Mame" l John Davidson

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WITH BILLIE DRAGOOWriter / Kara ReibelPhotographer / Amy Unger

RepuCare Founder, President and CEO Billie Dragoo has an office so heavily decorated with awards and accolades that it appears to be a trophy room at a Hall of Fame museum.

Dragoo is honored to have received every award proudly displayed in her office. When asked about her most coveted achievement or award, Dragoo doesn’t hesitate to say “the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame Junior Achievement Award I received alongside fellow Laureates David Simon (SIMON Group), Dave P. Lindsey (Defender Direct) and Michael Smith (Anthem) the same year.”

Make no mistake, Dragoo is a champion. She is a celebrated champion of her efforts to help others, namely women business owners. Dragoo’s story is inspirational of course. As a single mom of two young children, she started a business based in her home providing healthcare staffing which has flourished over the years.

But it’s not the struggles she has experienced or a sad tale that defines Dragoo. The truly compelling nature of why crystal trophies litter her office space is simple. It’s Dragoo’s method and her mindset that has brought her success. She didn’t trip the prom queen and throw the PTO moms under the bus; she has simply lived a life of service by reaching out to

help other women around her achieve their dreams.

“You help one woman in business, you help a thousand,” says Dragoo. Her friend, Deborah Collins Stephens, best-selling author and former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, adds. “The ripple effect of helping just one woman cascades to others. The outreach is profound.”

There is still a long way to go with measurable statistics supporting why companies should support diversity in business. Studies show that women-led teams in large companies outperform those led by men. Women-owned businesses give back more to their communities and are found to be more efficient.

TownePost.com / FEBRUARY 2016 / TOWNEPOST NETWORK

When Dragoo was looking for funding to expand her business, she was rejected. “I had a solid pitch deck, and there was not a single institution wanting to invest in my service-based company,” says Dragoo, “until Carol Curran stepped in and put up her own money.”

Carol Curran, CEO of Phoenix Data Corp, created a ripple with her investment in RepuCare, for the money enabled RepuCare to expand and subsequently purchase another woman-owned business. The ripple turned into a wave.

This experience propelled Dragoo to facilitate profound policy change in regards to venture money for women.

Most service-driven companies are owned by women. Finding capital for service-based businesses has been nearly impossible. Dragoo takes credit for the start of the Indiana Diversity Investment Fund as she should.

“I believe that if you are in a position to extend your hand and bring someone forward, you do it,” says Curran. “My investment in Billie’s company enabled her to help someone else directly. We are all proud of that.”

Collins Stephens adds, “Billie has opened doors for so many women in this state. I wish others could operate as she does from a ‘perspective of abundance’ instead of a ‘what’s in it for me?’ mentality. Billie

is the real deal, and I am blessed to have her as a friend!”

Dragoo’s value of other female entrepreneurs cannot be overstated. Mentoring is very important to her, and she feels it is a duty, rather than a choice, for women to assist other women for business success. The wave is gaining momentum.

For more on Billie Dragoo and her company, visit RepuCare.com.

Kara Reibel, a freelance writer and storyteller, is a main contributor for TownePost Network’s magazines. Follow her: Karareibel.com; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @karareibel.

“You help one woman in business, you help a thousand.”

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Taylor Ramey remembers the day she scrimmaged the JV. She had the ball, and as she pivoted around a defensive player, she launched a shot from half court. It sailed through the net, and her teammates quickly gathered to cheer her success. Taylor turned toward her coach who motioned for the game to continue.

“I think my weakness with her being my daughter is that I don’t compliment her enough,” says head varsity coach of the North Central Lady Panthers DeeAnn Ramey. “But when she’s gotten a hard foul or when I think she’s been hurt, I think the mother in me comes out.”

“She’s protective of us,” says Taylor. “You know when she’s mad when her heal gets to pounding, and you see everybody’s head turn!”

DeeAnn’s coaching career began as a “gym rat.” Her father was a gym teacher and basketball coach, so she spent plenty of time in the school gym. “It’s a great environment to bring kids up in,” says DeeAnn, who competed in the Final Four her sophomore year at Mooresville.

DeeAnn soon followed in her father’s footsteps. After graduating from Marian University, DeeAnn began teaching and coaching, eventually leading the girls’ varsity team in Richmond. In fact, DeeAnn’s father served as assistant coach. “It was a really neat experience for him to do that,” says DeeAnn, whose player—Miss Basketball 1997—is now her assistant coach at North Central.

Daughter Taylor soon brought a short respite from coaching but not for long. Like her mother, Taylor grew up in a school gym. “I grew up at North Central,

so I feel like I have a whole bunch of brothers and sisters,” she says. Taylor started playing basketball at the age of 3, eventually embracing soccer and playing all the way into high school.

As a freshman, Taylor played on the varsity soccer team and even started several basketball games. This year, Taylor has started every game for the Varsity Lady Panthers. “She is such a talented athlete,” says mom, DeeAnn. “I’m really looking forward to the next two years.”

Taylor eventually hopes to become an athletic trainer or sports journalist. “I just want to be around sports for the rest of my life,” she says.

Although DeeAnn had coached Taylor’s AAU travel team, she hadn’t planned on returning to varsity basketball.

NORTH CENTRAL BASKETBALL STARS MOTHER AND DAUGHTER

Family Court


“She doesn’t seem like my mother on the court. I’m not given any advantages. I may not think she’s always right, but she’s the coach, and I have to listen.”


For years, DeeAnn has taught physical education at North Central, and when the head girls’ coach retired, DeeAnn thought about Taylor. “I knew my daughter’s group was coming up, and I didn’t want it to go to just anybody,” she says.

DeeAnn’s first year was a smashing success. The Lady Panthers won the 4A State Championships in 2011, and DeeAnn’s father and daughter celebrated alongside her. This year’s exceptional team may just hold the key for another state win.

“This is a very special team. There’s so much talent, yet they’re so unselfish. They get along on and off the court,” says DeeAnn, who is proud that many of her players maintain a 3.5 GPA.

But mother and daughter dynamics are just as cohesive. “She’s just another player,” says DeeAnn who has the stats to prove why Taylor starts the games as a shooting guard.

“She doesn’t seem like my mother on the court. I’m not given any advantages,” says Taylor who still has her disagreements with the coach. “I may not think she’s always

right, but she’s the coach, and I have to listen,” says Taylor.

DeeAnn believes that facing challenges and disappointments, working together and remaining loyal are more important than winning. “I expect [the players] to be good people. Ultimately, you just want them to be successful in life.”

Taylor agrees that winning isn’t what’s important. “If we do what we’re supposed to, I feel like that’s fine because we got better,” she says.

“If they’ve given 100 percent, they’re winning,” says DeeAnn. For her, the greatest part of coaching is watching her ladies working hard, achieving their goals and celebrating together.

And when practice is over and they’re off the court, DeeAnn isn’t the coach anymore. “She treats me like her daughter when we get home,” says Taylor. On the way out from practice, the conversation is less about missed points and failed plays; DeeAnn is asking Taylor about who she’s texting while Taylor is asking DeeAnn what they’re having for dinner.

For Taylor, the greatest perk of having her mother as coach is gym access. Even on days off, Taylor convinces DeeAnn to take her to the gym for extra shooting drills. With youth leagues, games and practices, mother and daughter are often at the gym until after 9 p.m. “We’re supporting the kids, so we’re here all the time. We probably just need to build a room here,” says DeeAnn.

The greatest part of having her daughter on the team is sharing the memories. “We’ll have those memories for the rest of our lives,” says DeeAnn, recalling the State Championship in 2011 and how her daughter was by her side. “We’re hoping that we get one together,” she says.

“Right,” agrees Taylor. And if anyone has a problem with her coach — her mom — Taylor says, “I’ve got her back no matter what.”

Joshua Deisler lives with his family in Broad Ripple. He teaches 7th grade language arts and enjoys running and writing stories.


Writer / Kara Reibel . Photos Provided

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Danielle Wolter Nolan and Kate Nolan, founders of DNK Presents, ask this question to everyone they meet.

Danielle recalls the first time she experienced a backpacking adventure. Not knowing the difference between camping, hiking and backpacking, she agreed to a weekend in the woods. The only thing she did know with certainty is that she loved the outdoors.

“I was ready to try something new,” says Danielle. “What I didn’t realize was that this experience would become the catalyst for dedicating my life to living each day as a new adventure and discovering a whole new realm of opportunities to explore the wilderness I never knew existed right here in Indiana.”

To experience an outdoor adventure, the destination is closer than you may think. “Indiana has a lot to offer the outdoor enthusiast,”

says Kate. “Backpacking, mountain biking and rock climbing can all be done over a weekend close to home.”

Brown County State Park is ranked in the top 33 trail systems in North America by Bike magazine. Brown County is just one of the many adventure destinations in Indiana.

Their company, DNK Presents, began organically. Kate and Danielle post their adventures to social media, and friends were intrigued. They were consistently asked what they were going to do next and if a friend could “tag along.”

“We were asked questions like ‘What should I take if I went on a backpacking trip?’ and we realized that people really wanted to try an adventure trip but were intimidated by not knowing what to pack,” shares Kate. “And most of the friends asking us these questions are outdoor fanatics.”

The opportunity and need for their company was obvious. In

DNK PRESENTSOUTDOOR ADVENTURES


addition to adventurous individuals, corporate outings were booked. Day trips for a team of executives was catching fire. Sticksnleaves took their team on a day trip with Kate and Danielle as their guides.

“The day trip with DNK was awesome,” shares Kristen Cooper, VP of Corporate Development and Operations of Sticksnleaves. “The experience was challenging and fun. We laughed perhaps more than we paddled.”

Kate and Danielle found that their connection to nature and the outdoors has given them the confidence to handle diversity in their lives. “We feel better physically, emotionally and spiritually in nature,” says Kate. “We want to share an adventure with women who have never done something like a weekend backpacking trip, so we’ve created an adventure contest for women to experience a new challenge.”

Nominations for this contest are being accepted until the end of

February. The weekend trip will be filmed as a documentary to share with and inspire others to push themselves into new and challenging situations.

“We wish to show empowering women in Indiana living life adventurously,” shares Danielle. “We are filming a documentary of this experience, so we can show everyone that women belong in the wild. We are strong, confident and capable. This will help illustrate why trying something for the first time is so important.”

Kate adds, “We want to get people doing something fun that’s out of their comfort zone. People have different levels of confidence in many areas, but placing someone outside in a completely different environment gives them confidence and empowers them in ways that cannot be accomplished indoors. The real sense of being a ‘risk taker’ is redefined.”

Nominations may be submitted on their website, dnkpresents.com, by the end of February. The adventure weekend is in mid-May.


Mike Milligan and Steam ShovelDwight Edwards

Craig Brenner

Andra Faye and Scott Ballantine


Writer / Matthew Socey . Photos Provided

Once again, it is that time of year where it is important to get out to support local businesses and local artists. Art doesn’t hibernate.

This was the idea running through the head of Kokomo musician Mike Milligan who organizes the Indy Winter Blues Fest that will take place Feb. 12 at Birdy’s (7121 E. 71st St.). This is year six of Indiana blues artists shaking off the cold to deliver a buffet of hot blues in the dead of winter. Dwight Edwards, Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel, Andra Faye and Scott Ballantine and Craig Brenner will be performing.

“I didn’t think I would make it this far,” Milligan said. "This year, we are flying on the faith of our fans to come out and support us.”

Milligan said this is the first year that the festival will not have corporate sponsorship.

“The same company who helped out the last five years told me they decided to make a change this year. Hopefully, the event has had enough of an impact that people will come out again this year. What we do is not about the money. I really enjoy performing and seeing people I have not seen in a long time. I can’t remember the last time I saw Dwight Edwards,” he said.

Guitarist and singer Dwight Edwards could be the living definition of Indianapolis blues. The 63-year-old blues artist has been playing music for 52 years.

“I’ve been all over the city my whole life. I started on the west side, then moved to the east side. I got married and went to the south side, got divorced and went back to the east side,” laughs Edwards.

Edwards’ stinging guitar and soaring vocals have made him a music staple in Indianapolis. Music that mixes blues, R&B and soul gives an old-school feel to the time when adults got dressed up to see live music. Edwards hopes to release not one but two new albums in 2016.

“I’ll have a horn section and keyboards with the band [at Birdy’s]. I’ll do some B.B. King, Marvin Gaye and Al Green mixed in with my music. I like to mix it up to shake things up. It’s going to be very sweet,” says Edwards.

The acoustic duo of Andra Faye and Scott Ballantine had quite the 2015. Their album “Coulda Woulda Shoulda” was released by Vizztone Records, gaining the duo national notice and airplay by the blues community. On the home front, they won the Best Local Blues category in NUVO Newsweekly’s Best Of issue.

“It’s been nice to know that our music is being played in places like Hawaii and Brazil, but to also get some love from the people of Indianapolis is great too,” Faye said.

Faye and Ballantine officially started playing together in April 2012 but have been friendly for a long time. In fact, Faye says, “My first guitar came from his guitar shop. He gave me a few lessons early on. Scott practices more than I do,” she laughs. "It’s been fun writing with him. I have been encouraging him to sing more. We really inspire each other to do more with our music. We bring out the best in each other.”

With the exception of Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel (well, he does organize the event), Craig Brenner has been the other festival staple. In the past, Brenner has brought his band, The Crawdads, with him. This year, he will be performing solo piano.

“I’m excited to be part of the festival again, so I

can contribute boogie woogie and blues piano. I may throw in a few New Orleans piano tunes which I love playing – Professor Longhair in particular because the fest comes days after Mardi Gras,” shares Brenner.

It’s usually a plug-in guitar world in modern blues music, but Brenner and his black and white keys will fill Birdy’s just fine. “Besides my own music, I’ll play some Memphis Slim and some Pinetop Perkins. I’m really looking forward to the show,” says Milligan.

Mike Milligan, the master of the Kokomo Boogie, will provide his guitar-driven trio to the lineup as usual.

“I feel kind of selfish because I’m always on the bill, but hey, I’m the organization,” says Milligan, laughing. "When you thrown your own party, you gotta invite yourself. This festival has always had a family reunion feel to it. I can’t wait to see the family once again.”

INDY WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL 2016

Matthew Socey is host of The Blues House Party for WFYI 90.1 FM in Indianapolis. He will also be the emcee for this event.


ARTMIX AIMS TO REDEFINE DISABILITY

Writer / Joshua Deisler

Linda Wisler stood in front of a kiln, peering down at a broken piece of pottery. What was meant to be an urn had exploded into pieces. After throwing plastic over the hardened clay, her Urban Artisans class began to transform the figures into a snowman.

Linda formed the snowman’s body while a student molded the head. A different student crafted the buttons, and another made the nose and scarf. Soon, the snowman will be sold in the enROUTE Gallery just outside the studio.

“I love that we’re part of something bigger,” says Linda, Vice President of Programs at ArtMix (artmixindiana.org), located at 1505 N. Delaware. The ArtMix Urban Artisans program teams up with local high schools to provide a safe and respectful environment for students with disabilities.

In the Urban Artisans studio, what begins as just a mound of clay is rolled, shaped,

fired, glazed and decorated into a beautiful flower pot. Each student contributes to the end product: some run the slab roller while others decorate or glaze. The projects are displayed and sold in the ArtMix gallery enROUTE – a welcomed stop on the IDADA’s First Friday art gallery tour.

“The combination of work and art is critical,” says Linda. “[The Urban Artisan’s program] is based on longevity and seeing a student evolve.” The program recently received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, and Linda and a student traveled to Washington, D.C., for the occasion.

Linda, a sculptor and studio artist, first became involved with ArtMix in 1999 as a substitute teacher. She oversees the Urban Artists program and the community classes offered throughout the year.

Community classes occur throughout the week and are open to all ages. Students spend 90 minutes rotating between two activities which usually involve experimentation with various forms of art from paintings and sculpture to music and drama. Each 8-week session is centered around a theme, and the ArtMix Teaching

Artists work together to design a curriculum that fits the needs of students with varied abilities. This session’s theme is “Scapes.”

“It gets down to quality of life. I think that’s where the arts are so critical,” says Linda. She’s proud of the ArtMix group of Teaching Artists. “[They] have a preference for people of all abilities.”

“Disability doesn’t equate with inability,” adds President and CEO Gayle Holtman. “The reality is that most people with disabilities are still capable.” To Gayle, that’s why the Teaching Artists are so important.

The Teaching Artists are first and foremost artists – they are dancers, musicians, painters and sculptors. But even more important, teaching artists at ArtMix adapt their teaching to students with diverse needs. While many are based in Indy, some work in satellite campuses around the state.

A former music teacher, Gayle has also worked several jobs with the Indy art scene. But she found her home at ArtMix. In her first days as a program director, she recalls observing Teaching Artists partnering with classroom teachers. “I’m not really sure what

Linda Wisler and Gayle Holtman

THE MAGIC OF ART


it is we do, but I know it’s good,” she recalls saying.

ArtMix also partners with local schools to bring its Teaching Artists into art, music and even science classrooms. Classroom teachers and Teaching Artists design activities that foster artistic, academic and social learning. ArtMix sends the paint, clay, paper and other supplies, and students collaborate on group projects from murals to creative writing.

“There’s a real sense of pride [and] a sense of ownership. That is important for all students,” says Gayle.

In addition to its presence in area schools, ArtMix sends its teaching artists to Riley Hospital for Children through the Lolly Project, founded in honor of a former special education teacher. A recent activity featured paintings made not with brushes but syringes.

Formerly VSA Indiana, ArtMix recently adopted its new name. After months of careful thought and planning, the organization established its savvy tagline “Art Redefining Disability.”

“We knew we needed a name that would help convey the essence of what we do in a way that was interesting,” says Gayle who works closely with Linda to expand and extend ArtMix community classes. “It’s a secure, safe place for people to be themselves and not fear being further labeled,” says Gayle.

The organization also partners with Butler University which sends its art and education students to work with directly with ArtMix students.

To both Gayle and Linda, ArtMix is more than just as job. For Gayle, the best part of her day is seeing the folks come in and out of the studios: the students, volunteers

and artists. “It’s the people,” she says. “You never know what kind of difference you’re making, but you have to believe you are.”

And to Linda, ArtMix is all about the community. She smiles as she remembers an IPS student who spent many days in the Urban Artisans studio. Linda formed such a close friendship with her student that she spent a Thanksgiving at her house. Linda also mentored her student during her pregnancy and even stood alongside for the birth of her baby girl.

“It’s life. The power of [art] is the way people connect,” says Linda. “It’s magical. I think everybody likes magic.” At ArtMix, the magic of art transpires daily as it reaches into Indy’s classrooms, communities and hospitals. As its teachers find the ability in every student, friendships begin that last longer than Gayle or Linda will ever know. And that is the magic of art.

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Writer & Photographer / Kara Reibel

Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions recently launched their Express Auction off Winford and 62nd Street. By creating a buyer-friendly auction model, Express Auctions welcome anyone to be a buyer without the complications of buyer’s premiums or online bidding competition.

“We wished to create a simple, transparent process,” says Antique Helper, Inc. owner Dan Ripley.

Whereas the online auction involves scaled consignment fees, a complicated structure and online participants bidding in real time, Ripley identified a need for an easier platform to welcome new sellers/clients.

“Auctions of art and antiques can be intimidating, and there is a steep learning curve to become a confident auction buyer and collector,” shares Ripley. “We take the sting out of this process with Express Auctions.”

With the goal of promoting local businesses, artisans and sustainability, Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions was created with the purpose of cultivating stewardship for Indianapolis and surrounding area. Antique Helper Express and Indy Urban Flea were designed to help meet those goals of serving others.

Ripley learned his trade from his parents and grandparents. Coming from a family of dealers, their expertise is in recognizing what is valuable and sellable which has been passed down to Ripley. When Dan got into the business, he inherited his grandfather’s library. He started looking through his books and loved it.

“I was taught to not throw anything away – you never know…” shares Ripley. Last year, Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions sold an electric fan for $4,000. It was a 19th century electric fan – Edison fan.

Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions sold a toilet for $2,000, which was designed by Henry Dreyfus in the 1930s. The toilet belonged to the Art Deco home of Louis Schwitzer. Schwitzer won the first road race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions is a pioneer in the online bid process. They provided the online marketing platform in the early 2000s to other national auction houses. “From a tech side, we are leaders in the online auction business,” says Ripley. “Our website receives over 1,000 unique visitors per day, and almost all of them are there for research.”

Provenance is the history of an item. Antique Helper & Ripley Auctions keeps searchable history of their auctions and collections dating back to 2003. In addition to the auction history, Ripley believes that every great collection tells a story, and these are often an oral history shared upon meeting the collectors. Ripley is creating the Ripley Registry, an online database designed to provide a unique added value to a collectible: its history.

“Just like photographs of a place tell a story, we are creating a place to share the story of an object,” says Ripley. “Anything that adds to the experience of the object adds to its value.”

“As a consignment dealer, we have to rewrite the story of the piece. We don’t know it, so we have to research it and write it. But the idea is to take this photo of an object and record the information. It gets attached with a unique item number, and eventually it will all be recorded in the cloud somewhere,” says Ripley.

Antique Helper Express is a partnership with John Dillon of 62nd St. Furniture Resale. With no minimums and no reserve, there is no buyer’s premium to pay, and the public is welcome and any can attend. Express Auction is held twice a month on Tuesdays with a preview of items online.

“Consignment places turn away furniture and a ton of collectible property from estates, including art and jewelry,” says Ripley. “We accept these items and are offering real estate services too.”

By providing the Express Auction service, Antique Helper creates a truly full-service auction experience for the sophisticated buyer and the novice without pretension or hidden costs. Ripley has created a global marketplace with shipping and receiving consigned items from all over the world while making the experience very local.

Calls are welcomed for free evaluations and consultations. Please visit antiquehelper.com for further information.

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