Lifestyle

The typical 92-year-old has been long retired, but Sam Simmermaker isn’t your typical anything. After 64 years with White River Broadcasting in Columbus, Indiana, the longtime local play-by-play voice who soundtracked multiple generations of athletes has decided to retire. Despite his retirement, Simmermaker isn’t interested in a big send-off at WCSI 1010 AM this Friday. That’s just his style – he’s always preferred the spotlight to be on the young athletes whose games he’s called with such passion, not himself. “He wanted every broadcast to be about the young men and women who were playing the game,” White River Broadcasting GM Bob Morrison...

CLEVELAND — The North Coast Men's Chorus, Northeast Ohio's largest LGBTQ+ performing arts organization, is bringing in a star of the silver screen to perform at its upcoming concerts at Playhouse Square during Pride weekend. Drag artist and "RuPaul's Drag Race" star Nina West will be the featured performer...

COLUMBUS, Ind. – The first event in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s 2024 World Class Jazz Summer Series, “Jazz at Helen’s,” is Friday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. at Helen Haddad Hall. Pavel and Direct Contact, known for energetic and fiery performances much like today’s Latin Jazz world, is the entertainment.

NASHVILLE, Ind — You've heard it a million times, "do not try this at home," but that's exactly the type of energy "Jackass" star Steve-O is bringing to Indiana this summer!. The renowned stunt performer and actor just announced he will be performing live at the Brown County Music Center Sunday, Aug. 18.

NASHVILLE, Ind. — Brown County State Park in Nashville has been named Indiana’s best spot for outdoor workouts, according to a recent poll by Lift Vault. The survey of 3,000 fitness enthusiasts ranked the park among the top scenic workout locations in America. The poll aimed to identify...

I attended my first low impact exercising class at Hope United Methodist Church with the invitation from the facilitator, Margie Lou Boilanger. Classes have been meeting since 2019 on Tuesdays and Fridays from 1 - 2:30 p.m. with an important socializing period first. COVID was quite interruptive, but the “mature” members are back at it with the age presently ranging from Barry Beeker at 71 and June Gilliland at 96.

The Jackson County Public Library will host a plant swap at the Seymour Library on Wednesday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to noon at the tent in the grass at the corner of Second and Pine Streets. Volunteer Purdue Extension Master Gardener Trina Roark will be available to answer gardening...

SEYMOUR, Ind. – The summer Seymour Area Farmer’s Market officially begins its outdoor season this Saturday, May 25, from 8 a.m. to noon. The market is in the lot at the corner of St. Louis Avenue and Walnut Street, across the railroad tracks from the Jackson County Public Library.

83rd edition of My Random Thoughts: Sports, TV, music, food, life..... Through all these years, I never knew I should use two laundry pods for a full load of laundry. I assumed one load, one pod. Kelly said it's because I don't read directions. That's true. After all these years,...

COLUMBUS, Ind. – The winners of the design contest for the Mill Race Marathon and Fun Run posters were recently announced. Event sponsors, education leaders at Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation, accomplished artists, and business leaders in the community all had a say in the winning design, and White’s design came out on top.

COLUMBUS, Ind. – The South Central Indiana Master Gardener Association (SCIMGA) hosts its annual Master Gardener Plant Sale this Saturday, May 18. The sale is from 9 a.m. to noon, on the plaza at the Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 5th St., in Columbus. Plant Sale Chair Mary Shaffer...

“The floor was supposed to fit like a puzzle,” says Luis Ramos of West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Absolute Hardwood Flooring. “It didn’t fit like a puzzle.” For that slight hiccup in creating this masterful parquet, Ramos had Florida’s infamous humidity to thank. The 1,200-square-foot floor featured in this new high-end residence’s library is made of walnut, oak, wenge, rift-and-quartered white oak and curly maple, all passed through the creative hands of Daniel Antes of Nashville, Ind.-based Distinctive Hardwood Floors. Antes carefully measured the room before assembling the parquet in Indiana, face-taping it and transporting it to the site. On site, Ramos and his crew encountered the home’s castle-like accoutrements of Italy—along with the fierce humidity of Florida. “Every piece had to be cut and adjusted in the field” due to the expansion of the wood, Ramos says. “The humidity we have in Florida is night-and-day compared to Indiana.” Fortunately, Ramos and his team were up to the task and worked long hours to ensure it all fit perfectly, with Ramos assuring his team along the way, “‘I promise you, they’re paying for every cut that you’re making!’” Once the parquet was adjusted and installed, they sanded with the big machine, followed by the multi-head sander. Then they applied three coats of satin water-based finish. The building, which is filled with masterful wood floors by Antes and Ramos, is delightfully “over-the-top,” says Ramos, and fittingly required a bit of extra craftsmanship to bring to life a floor that could match. They were also given all the time they needed to get it right. A text from Antes to Ramos after the fact perhaps sums up both craftsmen’s feelings: “Bring me more jobs like that one.”

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services (FCACS) will be handing out free pet food through their Furry Friends Food Bank distribution this Thursday, May 16, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Columbus Municipal Airport, 4770 Ray Boll Blvd. The pet food will be given out in the parking lot in front of the plane, Charlie 119.

Johnny Gruelle was the son of famous Hoosier landscape painter Richard Gruelle, who had Brown County ties with the pioneer artists living in Nashville and vicinity. Richard also was a close friend of poet James Whitcomb Riley, but, more about that kinship later. Johnny admired his father and desired to...

On Sunday, April 28th, nearly 500 pets and their families came to the Brown County Humane Society (BCHS) SPOT Program’s Rabies Vaccination Clinic. This year’s Clinic was bigger than any we have held previously and I am thrilled with the results!. Despite the unexpectedly hot day, everyone remained...

INDIANAPOLIS — The overcast conditions Tuesday evening were not enough to keep the hard rockers in Indy away from the Egyptian Room as Royal Blood came to town on their “Back to the Water Below” Tour. The tour, named after the band’s fourth album, is in its...

BROWN COUNTY, Ind. — MTV personality Steve-O is going to bring a live act to the Brown County Music Center this summer. According to a press release, Steve-O, who is best known for his starring role in the “Jackass” series, will perform live on Aug. 18. The stop is one of more than 20 remaining […]

When Scottish Rockers Nazareth plays at Nashville's Brown County Music Center on Wednesday, May 15, it will be a bucket list show for me. I first heard Nazareth as a kid when I stole my brother Rick's 8-Track of Loud 'N' Proud. "Not Faking It" and their cover of Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" quickly became mainstays of my early rock education. A week or so later, after Rick busted me, he gave me his copy of Hair Of The Dog, and my 11-year-old mind was thoroughly and completely blown. While I dug the 3 big ones on that album, "Love Hurts," "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman," and "Hair Of The Dog," it was the album's closer, "Please Don't Judas Me," that stuck with me, and remains as one of my favorite tunes.

COLUMBUS, Ind. — The 2024 Columbus Animal Care Services (CACS) Moonlight Loop night bike ride will be hitting the streets of Columbus at 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 22. Whether you decide to ride the 19-mile course or not – you can still be a part of it all by memorializing a beloved pet (or a special animal-loving human).

COLUMBUS, Ind. – The first event in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s 2024 World Class Jazz Summer Series, “Jazz at Helen’s,” is Friday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. at Helen Haddad Hall. Pavel and Direct Contact, known for energetic and fiery performances much like today’s Latin Jazz world, is the entertainment.