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By: Jerry Curry, Staff Writer

Come camp at Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery to experience the 2024 Solar Eclipse!

Primitive camping is available from Friday, Apr. 5, beginning at 5 p.m., through Tuesday, Apr. 9, at 5 p.m., in the Salem Speedway Campground.

Camping sites 25' x 45' are available for $200 for one day or for the whole weekend. No electric or water hook-ups. Portable restrooms will be available. Camp sites will be first come, first served.

Receive solar glasses and one free shirt per camper. Additional shirts will be available for purchase.

Camp sites can be purchased in advance at the following link: http://salem-speedway.square.site/ or by going through the link on the Salem Speedway website.

On Monday, Apr. 8, Eclipse Prime Viewing space is available in the front parking lot from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., for the cost of $30 per car, truck or SUV load.

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The Orleans Chamber of Commerce has announced that plans for the town’s trademark Dogwood Festival are well underway. This year will mark the 54th anniversary of the celebration of the blooming dogwood, which is set for April 20 through April 27. This year’s general theme is "Quality of Place - Pride in Community.”

Chamber Executive Director Robert F. Henderson said the festival committee has been working hard to bring back both old favorites and new offerings for this year’s edition of the town’s beloved springtime celebration. “This year we really want to celebrate all the things community and spotlight some of the many special things about the place so many of us simply love to call home,”

The Orleans Dogwood Festival has been named by Midwest Living magazine as one of its Top 5 Flowering Festivals in the Midwest. The town’s signature event has also been featured in Midwest Traveler, Travel Indiana and Southern Indiana Living magazines.

The Chamber’s Annual Town Wide Yard Sale is set for April 19-20. The Chamber will pay for advertising for anyone wishing to have a yard or garage sale on that weekend. Everyone is welcome to participate and there is no fee to participate in the event.

Back by popular demand will be the Dogwood Murder Mystery Dinner Theater on the last weekend of the festival.

The Dogwood Baby Contest is back with Kyanna Dugger as chairperson this year. The event will take place on Sunday, April 21st 2 p.m. at the Orleans High School Cafeteria.

Ashley McDonald is once again chairing the combined Dogwood Pageants. This year as in previous years both the Little Miss and Queen Crowning will again take place on the same day Saturday, April 20th at Orleans Elementary School. As has become tradition the 2024 “Mr. Dogwood” is also expected be named during the intermission for the queen crowning ceremonies. The pageant will begin at 5 p.m.

Angie Dilks approached the committee about the possibility of adding a “Little Mr. Dogwood” to this year’s festivities. More details to be announced.

The Orleans American Legion will once again provide the midway, Brady’s Amusement, which will set up and operate the entire week as in the past. New this year on the midway will be a children’s train ride. Advance Sales of Bracelet Tickets will be announced by legion members.

Jennifer and Neil Blanton will coordinate the Dogwood Parade for 2024. The chamber is now accepting entries for the event and everyone is being encouraged to participate in everyone’s favorite parade on Saturday, April 27th 2 p.m.

Other festival favorite highlights include the Phi Beta Psi Styles & Salads, Photo Contest, Student Art Show, Pet Parade, OBR Band Parents Food Stand, and Arts & Crafts in the park.

A new event will be a “Dogwood Volkswalk” on the opening Saturday, which will include a guided historic walk through the neighborhoods of the Dogwood Capital.

Michele Hardman have agreed to once again coordinate the festival Vendors, and Arts & Crafters. Vendor applications are now actively being sought and accepted online on the festival website.

Committee members agreed to once again having a special handmade Amish Dogwood Quilt created to be raffled off as a fun-raiser for this year’s festival.

Henderson added that festival organizers this year are also expanding live entertainment for the main stage throughout the event’s week-long run.

Corporate sponsors are still being sought and accepted from community partners. Those companies wishing to help sponsor or be a part of this year’s festival should contact the Chamber office, 812 865 9930 or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

More festival details, entry forms, event chairmen contacts are available on the festival’s newly revamped website, www.orleansdogwoodfestival.com

The Orleans Dogwood Festival Face Book page is also being updated regularly with new information for 2024.

The festival planning committee will meet again on February 20th at 6:00 p.m. at Orleans Town Hall to continue plans on this year’s festivities. All event chairmen and anyone interested in helping with this year’s festival is urged to attend. Supporting organizations are also asked to have a representative present at this meeting.

Robert F. Henderson, Jr.
Clerk-Treasurer

History

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By Jeremy Elliott

The Salem Lion, now 140 years old, has a commanding view of the Washington County Courthouse. Every citizen who has lived in Washington County since the mid -1880's is familiar with the limestone statue of the lion on the northeast corner of the public square. Many of us retain vivid memories of this hand-carved, king of the jungle from our youth. And the lion continues to capture the attention and imagination of the county's children, generation after generation.

This year the old regal beast is celebrating his 140th birthday!

The lion statue was commissioned by Mr. Lee W. Sinclair for the State Bank of Salem, as a symbol of the bank's enduring service to the community. He originally sat on the steps of the bank, before the building was torn down in 1957, and he was moved to his current position on the sidewalk.

The stone-carving artist hired for this sculpture was Collins James Morgan, a resident of Birmingham, Alabama and former resident of Salem. Morgan had married Effie M. Lindscott, the daughter of local monument maker, William "Whiskers" Lindscott, who had a shop on Mulberry Street for forty years. It was in this shop that Collins James met Effie, while carving tombstones for her father and after their courtship; they were married and moved to Birmingham in 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. Collins Morgan visited the Lindscotts frequently, sometimes spending several weeks here in Salem and it was during one of these extended visits, that he accepted the commission to carve the Lion.

He started, in his father-in-law's monument shop, in 1884, with one enormous cut block of quarried limestone, which was a very popular building material of the nineteenth century and is still popular with stone carvers today, due to it's relative softness, rating a 3-4 on a hardness scale of 10, as well as, for it's ability to show detail and endure time. By using simple iron tools and abrasives, he began to mold the beast, starting with a process called 'roughing out the stone', where large sections of the rock were broken off with heavy chisels, hammers, mallets, hand drills and wooden wedges. Morgan then began to hone in on his artistic vision, shaping it with flat and point chisels, pitching tools and files, then finally, he spent countless hours hand-sanding the sculpture, birthing the animal to life.

During this time, the late Bradie Shrum became an adamant admirer of Mr. Morgan's work on the lion, stopping at the shop to watch him work, on her way to and from school. She remained affectionate toward the statue throughout her life, eventually encouraging the Morgan family to have a plaque placed honoring their artistic grandfather for his labors, before she passed away.

After his work on the lion, Collins Morgan was contracted, in the late 1880's, to do some of the stone carving involved with the construction of the present Washington County Courthouse. Mr. Sinclair also commissioned him for some work at the West Baden Springs Hotel.

Mrs. Effie Morgan, who was suffering from severe diabetes, came to Salem in 1891 to attempt to recuperate from a year long struggle with the illness, but continued to get worse and died suddenly in October, at her parents’ home on the Canton Road. Collin James Morgan passed away five years later in Birmingham, the first week in February of 1896, from pneumonia. His body was brought to Washington County for interment alongside his wife.

Effie's parents, the Lindscotts, immediately assumed custody of the Morgan's three orphaned children, Thomas Morgan, Mamie (Morgan) Spaulding and Effie (Morgan) Huckleberry, who were raised to adulthood here and have many descendants still living in our county today. These grandchildren, of the stone-carving artist Collins James Morgan, still hold the legacy of their grandfather and the statue in high regard and have created a family tradition, through the generations, of taking pictures of their children around the Lion.

Over the years, the King of the Public Square has grown into a very recognizable landmark of the town of Salem and Washington County and many have discovered he is a very photogenic beast. If he had the ability to speak, he could tell you about the construction of the current courthouse, the Centennial, Sesquicentennial, and Bicentennial Celebrations. He could speak to the days of the traveling circuses, when African elephants walked around the square to everyone’s bewildered delight or the war bond drives of the first World War, when one of the earliest Army tanks took laps around our square and a plethora of other historic moments. Assuredly, when all of us have long passed into history ourselves, the lion will still be sitting atop his perch, watching over our future descendants.

So if you happen to find yourself on the sidewalks of the public square this year, walk by and wish the old Salem Lion a very Happy 140th Birthday!

Fundraisers

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The Borden Community Special Olympics Polar Plunge is Saturday, Feb. 17, at the beach of Deam Lake State Recreation Area, 1217 Deam Lake Road, Borden.

Registration is 8:30 -10 a.m. at Deem Lake Beach. The opening ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., and the actual Polar Plunge will be 10:30 a.m. in Deem Lake.

This is the 25th anniversary of Special Olympics Indiana's signature fundraiser. Organized annually by a dedicated team of Special Olympics volunteers and supporters in southern Indiana, the Borden Plunge invites members of the local community to "Be Bold, Get Cold" again this winter at Deam Lake.

Funds raised by the event will not only support the athletes but also helps continue to provide inclusive and empowering opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Everyone is invited to attend the event and support the athletes.

Fundraisers

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For over 120 years, women in Tri Kappa chapters across the great State of Indiana have celebrated Tri Kappa Week annually during the week of the sorority’s founding on February 22 as a way to make the community more aware of Tri Kappa’s efforts as a philanthropic organization. With nearly 8,000 members, Tri Kappa exists only within the boundaries of Indiana, giving approximately $1.5 million annually on both local and state levels to important projects supporting charity, culture, and education. Locally, The Beta Tau Chapter awards a $500.00 scholarship annually to a graduating senior at each of the 3 area high schools and supports many other worthwhile causes and organizations through funds made available by our Beer on the Bricks event held in September and through the sale of Terri Lynn nut in the fall.

In celebration of Tri Kappa Week 2024, the Salem Beta Tau Chapter will be hosting a Drive Thru Donation Day on Saturday, February 17, from 11 AM to 1 PM at the Washington County Family YMCA parking lot.

Those wishing to donate will simply proceed to the designated drop area at the back of the parking lot where Tri Kappa members will be on hand and ready to take your donation items from you as you drive by, so there’s no need for you to exit your vehicle….it’s that simple!

Donors should proceed to the designated area and make donations of most needed items to any of the following:

Washington County Food Bank – Canned soup always hits the spot in the winter months, but any non-perishable food items are welcome!
Washington County Humane Society - bleach, Pinesol, laundry detergent, paper towels, cat litter, cat toys, dry dog food, and new or gently used bath towels. Monetary donations are also gladly accepted!
Domestic Violence Center - personal care and household items. The Center is always in need of hygiene items of all nature as the door is ever revolving with families of all ages. Household items are also needed since the Center is a fully functioning residence.
Choices Life Resource Center – formula, baby shampoo, soap, lotion, diaper rash ointment, sippy cups, baby wipes, size 6 diapers, and all sizes of pull-ups. Choices is a non-profit pregnancy and parenting center offering parents the opportunity to learn positive parenting skills while earning Baby Bucks to “purchase” these much needed items for their children.
American Senior Communities (Salem Crossing and Meadow View Health & Rehab Center) - individually wrapped snacks, adult crafting kits, word search and coloring books, crayons and coloring pencils. Residents love their snacks and activity books!
Salem Lions Club - used eyeglasses and hearing aids. The Salem Lions Club collects used eyeglasses and hearing aids where they are taken to a center for cleaning and repair and then distributed world wide to those in need.
WSLM’s Say Yes to the Dress Event - gently worn prom dresses. Tri Kappa member Becky White will be collecting gently used prom dresses for her annual event for girls to find that perfect dress…for free! Now is the time to get rid of those formals hanging in the closet taking up valuable space!
Washington County Family YMCA – small travel hygiene and toiletry products or new bath towels (no used, please) for their shower ministry. They also welcome financial donations for the YMCA's annual campaign making Y programs such as Pre-K, sports, day camp, and facility membership possible for all families.
Washington County Warming Station – Got a backpack lying around? How about that tent you bought 5 years ago only to use one time? Backpacks and tents are the current high demand items needed by the Warming Station. Monetary donations are always acceptable, too!
Riley Children’s Hospital – The Riley toy room gifts over 8,000 toys, blankets, games, and books EVERY MONTH! Infant rattles, Legos, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, art supplies, coloring books, and ear buds are wish list items, but pediatric patients ranging from toddlers to teens enjoy a good UNO card game! Only new, unused items, please!