BEECH GROVE • CENTER GROVE • GARFIELD PARK & FOUNTAIN SQUARE • GREENWOOD • SOUTHPORT • FRANKLIN & PERRY TOWNSHIPS FREE • Week of May 27 - June 2, 2021 Serving the Southside Since 1928 ss-times.com Going green in Greenwood Junk King is paving the way to a sustainable THIS Southside with its new Greenwood location WEEK on the Page 4 JUST TO SEE THEM SMILE: HAUNTS & JAUNTS: ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: EDUCATOR OF THE MONTH: WEB Remembering First-ever food truck program The “ghosts” of Beech Grove’s Local teachers Kim Bartram-Van launches at Old City Park PAGE 2 Southern Plaza Malone Moore nominated Jelgerhuis Page 3 Page 5 Page 6 Page 12 INDEPENDENT LIVING WWW.CARDON.US ASSISTED LIVING ALTENHEIM REHABILITATION ASPEN TRACE experiencethe heart of CarDon. LONG TERM CARE GREENWOOD HEALTH & LIVING MEMORY SUPPORT UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS HEALTH & LIVING 2 Week of May 27 - June 2, 2021 • ss-times.com COMMUNITY The Southside Times THIS Contact the Editor Have any news tips? on the Want to submit a calendar WEEK event? Have a photograph WEB to share? Call Jessica Todd at (317) 550-7721 or email her at jessica@icontimes. com. And remember, our news deadlines are several days prior to print. Want to Advertise? The Southside Times reaches a vast segment of our community with readership of 88%.* SMARI For information about reaching our readers, • State-of-the-art technology call Mark Gasper at (317) 300-8782 or email him at & treatments [email protected]. • Warm, welcoming staff & relaxing office • Invisalign® treatment There will be a designated vending area for food trucks at Old City Park on Fridays and Saturdays from now until October. (Photo courtesy of the City of Greenwood) • Most insurance plans accepted • $99 New Patient Exam First-ever food truck program launches at Old City Park SERVING THE SOUTHSIDE SINCE 1928 (Includes comprehensive exam, The City of Greenwood’s Parks & Recreation Department and the Greenwood Parks Foundation are periodontal disease evaluation, partnering to bring food trucks to Old City Park. Gerald Sargent, Publisher Emeritus oral cancer screening, complete A PRODUCT OF (1925- 2015) set of X-rays and cleaning) ss-times.com/first-ever-food-truck-program-launches-at-old-city-park Rick Myers, Editor/Publisher Brian Kelly, Chief Executive Officer Now open at 7 am Lyla Turner Assistant to the Publisher on Tuesday’s for Jessica Todd, Editor Nicole Davis, Editorial Consultant your convenience. MEMBERS OF Mark Gasper Print and Digital Sales Executive Max Brown No insurance? Production Manager | Graphic Designer Ask about our in office discount plan for the entire family! For more information, contact us at: [email protected] Tel. 317.300.8782 • Fax. 317.300.8786 FREE WHITENING 7670 U.S. 31 S., Indianapolis, IN 46227 to new patients that carry insurance www.icontimes.com to cover their visit. Grow Local Media, LLC OFFER EXPIRES JUNE 30, 2021 ©2020. All Rights Reserved. 317-784-2266 Dr. Kevin Mowrer, Vincennes University Assistant Dean, spoke to the audience during the ceremony on May 20. (Photo courtesy of Center Grove High School) The views of the columnists in The Southside 1505 East Southport Road, 46227 Times are their own and do not necessarily Center Grove High School seniors receive reflect the positions of this newspaper. college degrees and certificates Call us today! Center Grove High School (CGHS) honored 114 seniors for earning college degrees or certificates The Southside Times is published by Grow Local through the school’s Early College (EC) program on Thursday, May 20. Media, LLC. Content published alongside this icon 317-784-2266 is sponsored by one of our valued advertisers. ss-times.com/center-grove-high-school-seniors-receive-college- Sponsored content is produced or commissioned 1505 East Southport Road by advertisers working in tandem with Grow Local Media’s sales degrees-and-certificates representatives. Sponsored content may not reflect the views of Indianapolis, IN 46227 The Southside Times publisher, editorial staff or graphic design Located on E. Southport Rd. between US 31 team. The Southside Times is devoted to clearly differentiating and Madison Ave. For more information on these articles and other timely news, visit ss-times.com. between sponsored content and editorial content. Potential advertisers interested in sponsored content should call: southportsmilesindy.com To join the conversation, visit our Facebook page or (317) 300-8782 or email: [email protected]. follow us on Twitter @southsidetimes. ss-times.com • Week of May 27 - June 2, 2021 3 The Southside Times COMMUNITY Left, a modern day aerial view of Southern Plaza. (Submitted photo) | Top right, The Southern Circle Drive-In back in the day. (Submitted photo) | Bottom right, The Triangle Restaurant back in the day. (Submitted photo) The “ghosts” of Southern Plaza HAUNTS & JAUNTS And, as with east side neighbor Eastgate, what started as an open-aired mall, was eventually enclosed. By Rick Hinton Southern Plaza Shopping Center was dedicated in 1961, with J.C. Penney serv- Ghosts are not always something scary, ing as an important anchor. Other stores but many times just a part of our memories. included Woolworth, Kroger, AFNB Bank, As we grow older, these ‘ghosts’ are past re- Hook's Drug Store, Lyric News & Record flections of places still buried within us. For Store, Roselyn Bakery and W.M. Block De- long-time Southsiders, one of these jaunts partment Store. It sat where the present-day down memory lane is the Southern Plaza Kroger is today. The boom to this shopping Shopping Center. paradise location hit home when I-465 pro- ASK US ABOUT Many shared their memories during a vided an exit near the mall in the early 1960s. May meeting of the Perry Township/ South- Cindy Bertram recalled her teenage days port Historical Society a few years back. when she would borrow the family convert- OUR CAR LOANS! The room was packed with many waiting to ible and go cruising from the Southern Cir- tell their stories. It became a form of ther- cle Drive-In to the Triangle Restaurant to apy – reliving their youth in a time when the Teepee Restaurant and finally arriving GREENWOOD BRANCH life seemed simple. Original land develop- in the parking lot of Southern Plaza. ers George and Frank Bixler had a shared I was not a Southside resident in my AMBER PITTMAN vision for a parcel of farmland. It took off youth. However, I have vivid recollections of from there. my grandma Bessie taking a city bus south Branch Manager Frank Bixler’s granddaughter was in at- to shop most of the day away at Southern tendance at the meeting and smiled over Plaza. If I happened to be staying with her 2020 SR 135, Suite 203 every recollection, especially of her grand- that particular day, I would have to go. ma Peggy’s influence and drive that easily Many others in the meeting remem- Greenwood 46143 matched that of the men; and having a few bered their time of living in neighborhoods fond memories of her own. adjoining the shopping center and how www.msb.bank Several longtime residents of the area re- George and Peggy Bixler had been the most called the days when the first stop sign ap- gracious neighbors while change and devel- (317) 530-7012 peared on rural U.S. 31. Back in the day, it opment were in the air for the Southside. was a two-lane road that led into the sparse- M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. ly populated reaches of Southport, Green- wood and then to points farther south. In- terstate 465 was being constructed, coming together in stages. The Bixlers turned their Rick Hinton, a Southport resident, vision into reality – changing the landscape loves researching things that go bump that still retains ramifications today. in the night. His articles can be read Southern Plaza was the first shopping on Facebook: Rick Hinton, Southport mall on the Southside of Indianapolis. The Paranormal Examiner. Hinton conducts paranormal investigations with his concept that Southern Plaza adopted was – team, South Central Paranormal. One Trip, One Place, and One Experience. 4 Week of May 27 - June 2, 2021 • ss-times.com COVER STORY The Southside Times Elgin Martin is the owner of both the Indianapolis and Greenwood Junk King locations. (Submitted photo) Going green in Greenwood Junk King is paving the way to a sustainable Southside with its new Greenwood location By Jessica Todd years before he found the opportunity to get owned franchises in 32 states andCanada.” “There are so many things we find that into waste management. Junk King strives to recycle a minimum of are still in great condition. Recycling has With summer just around the corner and “I left the farm and got into waste man- 60 percent of the material its employees pick not caught on as much as many would have spring cleaning being all the rage, Junk King agement as soon as I could. I ran a compa- up. The process begins when a customer calls hoped. Our purpose is to take the items peo- hopes its new Greenwood location will help ny for three years until I bought Junk King,” a representative or goes online to book a job. ple throw out and reuse them. It is our way of keep Southside residents conscious of the said Martin. “I have experience with agricul- Once the customer schedules an appoint- keeping stuff out of landfills and giving back environment. ture and farm operations, decal and truck ment, Junk King employees show up and to the world so that our kids will not have The owner of Junk King’s Indianapolis and lettering, residential rental properties and assess what the customer wants to remove.