Public School #57, at the corner of Julian Avenue and Irvington Avenue.
Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I’m going through a divorce and I’ve been busy paying bills.
But I haven’t been completely out of the loop. Rumor has it that the Irving Theater has been sold and is now under new management. According to my source, the Irving was bought by the owners of Indy CD and Vinyl, a record store in Broad Ripple.
The “new” model business plan, as I understand it, will be to make the Irving yet another rendition of the Emerson Theater, on E. 10th Street. I’m not sure how this will be different from what Joe and Mike were doing with the space but I have a pretty good idea of what will be the same about it.
I remember feeling really confident about the status of the neighborhood when I heard, a few years ago, that the doors would once again be open to this historic facility. The website boasted that the Irving would act as an all-ages music venue and we all waited with baited breath for the little theater to put us back on the map. There is no doubt in my mind that the Irving has, over the past few years, aroused interest and brought money into our community. I remember waiting in a very long line at Walgreen’s the day the Gym Class Heroes came to town. We’ve all noticed the long lines of music-loving teens wrapping around the block, past Lazy Daze, and spilling into the parking lot. In many ways, this is exactly what I want for Irvington.
However, there is alot of room for improvement.
Somewhere along the way, the term “all-ages” came to be defined as primarily late teenagers and early 20 somethings. Big mistake. Sure, sure, the kids know their music, no one’s questioning that! All I’m saying is that, by only booking bands that cater to the youth, the previous management missed out on a lot of business and, in a way, cut off a significant portion of the Irvington community. In fact, most of the Irving’s business at these shows has come from outside the community, and one might wonder what exactly the Irving has done for Irvington, lately.
And so now we have investors moving in from the north, from the trendiest area of the entire city…what will they give back to our little town? I only hope this is not a sign of a local version of Manifest Destiny, that being “Make the World Broad Ripple”.
Over the past couple months, my friends and I have been attending the Tuesday night traditional music sessions at the Golden Ace Inn (2533 E. Washington Street) with regularity. Now, I’ve been coming to this Indianapolis watering hole for about 11 years, and, one day, I’d like to share with all of you some of my favorite memories of time spent there, stories I’ve heard along the way, et cetera, et cetera.
But for now, allow me to explain the Tuesday night arrangement.
Every Tuesday, for as long as anyone can remember, musicians have sauntered into the historic tavern around 7:30 PM and played a various repertoire of Celtic folk music lasting, roughly, until 10 o’clock. The musicians are not paid for their efforts, at least not in the conventional fashion. However, they do get to drink for free…so long as the music doesn’t stop!
There is no cover charge. From time to time, the McGinley family is able to schedule some pretty big names in the Irish music world (such as Derek Warfield, formerly of the Wolfe Tones, who is playing at the tavern on St. Patrick’s Day this year). Of course, for these big shows, tickets are sold and the bar is usually packed, wall-to-wall, standing room only. Tuesdays are much more intimate. Last week, when the weather turned sour, the jam session included only two of the most ardent sessioners and the limited turnout allowed the musicians to experiment a bit more freely than at other times. On a good night, however, the session will attract an average of 6 musicians, playing everything from the fiddle, the guitar, the mandolin, the bodhran (traditional goat-skin drum), to the bones, banjo (pardon me, banj-er), and everything in between. The uilleann (or elbow) pipes are also a regular staple to the Tuesday night recipe.
Over the past few weeks, my friends and I have witnessed some amazing performances by these Tuesday session folk. Renditions of jigs and reels not heard in these parts anywhere else, recitations of Irish poetry and storytelling like the story of Nell Flaherty’s Drake, covers of new songs from bands like the Decemberists (we heard great covers of both the Mariner’s Revenge Song and Eli the Barrow Boy), as well as a smattering of random balladry that somehow seems to fit (i.e. Deb’s acapella version of Monster Science, a very rare ballad from the Industrial Revolution).
Drinks are cheap (especially the draft beer - Michelob) and the bartender, Keith Manning, is the classic, no-nonsense, always a joke at the ready sort. Order an Irish Flag (this is one of the only places you’ll find them!) or cozy up to a creamy pint of the black stuff…you’re gonna have a great time.
Also, the Golden Ace gets my vote for the best burger in town. Not served on Fridays during Lent, however, so plan accordingly.
Just a head’s up…
Two houses on University Avenue had their cars broken into last night. Nothing of real value was stolen, mostly just their spare change trays. These thieves were pretty bold though, the cars were parked right up next to the houses.
Be on the lookout, lock your car doors, report any suspicious activity. Let’s run these thieves off!
Here’s the phone number for non-emergency police calls: (317) 327-3811
I thought I might post a paper I wrote last year in my Indiana Folklore class at IUPUI. The purpose of the paper was to highlight Irvington as a folk community. I’ll let you be the judge. Here it is:
Irvington is a large neighborhood on the eastside of Indianapolis, about 15 minutes from downtown. It was established by two land developers, Jacob Julian and Sylvester Johnson, in 1870, but did not become a town until 1873. At the time the land was mostly forest with large mature trees. Later, as people flocked to the new town, many of the trees were cut down to build the new houses, and the town flourished as a center for the affluent elite of Indiana’s early citizenry.
I have lived in Irvington my entire life, aside from a four year stint in the US Navy, and have grown up participating in many of the local customs without batting an eye or giving them a second thought. When we had to bear the bitter December cold to fill white paper sacks with handfuls of sand in preparation for the annual Luminaria celebration, I never stopped to think or ask the question why. It was just something that we did. It was something that made us Irvingtonians. Likewise, when Halloween came around each year, I bore witness at a young age to the supremacy of my neighborhood, as my cousins would all make the drive from their neighborhoods in other parts of Indianapolis just to Trick or Treat. Once again, I didn’t really think about it. It was just another one of those things that made us Irvingtonians. We knew how to celebrate Halloween and the rest of the world just didn’t get it.
So, for the purposes of this paper, I decided to highlight some of these things, these rituals, these celebrations. I want to help add credence to the belief that I hold, and that I hope spreads, that Irvington is one of those truly unique places where magic is real, the community is strong, and there is a true folklore interspersed in all of it.
Oral Folklore
The stories that have been passed down over the years about this area of the city are too numerous to either record or remember. I will share a few of them here in the hope that I can better illustrate the rich oral folk tradition that is alive and well in Irvington.
After interviewing several Irvington residents, or Irvingtonians as they prefer to be called, I discovered that much of the oral folklore hinges on the period of the 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan had gained momentum as a force to be reckoned with in the American political and domestic sector. In this ‘second coming’ of the Klan (the first surge being its original face, directly following the Civil War and led by Nathan Bedford Forrest), there was no stronger state in the union than Indiana for Klan activity. That being so, the state’s capital, Indianapolis, became the central hub or headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan. Some figures report that one in every three men of corresponding age was at that time a member of the Klan. The Klan’s leader, a charismatic yet brash young man by the name of D.C. Stevenson, made Irvington his home. Irvington had a history up until that time of being the home of Indiana’s elite, the affluent people, the rich. It was highly respectable then to live in Irvington and D.C. Stevenson wished to give a respectable face to his dastardly business. It all came crashing down around him, however, when, in 1928, he raped and mutilated (leading to her death) a young secretary named Madge Oberholtzer. His trial and fall from glory soon followed, and the Klan never again claimed the same amount of power in central Indiana again.
Now, that’s the history lesson, on to the folklore! Many Irvingtonians have mixed feelings about the old Stevenson mansion, located on University Avenue between Ritter and Downey Avenues. There are some that claim that D.C. Stevenson had amassed a great fortune in gold bars which is still buried in some secret locale on the property. Others purport that the ghost of Madge Oberholtzer still lurks the Irvington streets, running home after being raped and brutalized, and that on some misty nights you might catch a glimpse of her as she crosses Irvington Circle.
Customary Folklore
Irvingtonians enjoy their customary folklore. They don’t even realize that it is folklore, or customary, they just love getting out there and showing off. The first and foremost time for this kind of customary folklore is at Halloween. If ever there was an official holiday for Irvington, it would be Halloween.
Halloween lasts for nearly a month in Irvington. Basically, the entire month of October is dedicated to the wait. Families have started businesses in the area that focus solely on Halloween. One such example is the little shop, The Magic Candle, where they sell potions, amulets, and spells. Another business dedicated to Halloween is the LawnWeb business of the Miller family. Mrs. Miller knots together huge spider webs that are stretched over the entire front of the house. She and her family have been at it for years and she says that they turn a healthy profit from it all. In addition to the businesses that are set up to profit from All Hallow’s Eve, many festivities follow suit. Since 1947, Irvington has hosted a street festival that shuts down Washington Street to automobile traffic between Ritter Avenue and Arlington Avenue. The first Irvington Halloween Festival was actually sponsored by the Walt Disney Corporation and they sent actors in Mickey Mouse suits and the like to brighten the streetscape. Every year, the businesses along Washington Street tape off their windows into squares which they let out to the children of the neighborhood who use the medium to make spooky window paintings which are then judged according to age group. The day starts off with the Pleasant Run Run, which is named after an Irvington boulevard, and is a 5K race that attracts competitors from all over the city. As the day goes on, vendors set up shop along Washington Street and sell everything from local folk art to tshirts. Politicians even set up booths to try to garner votes for upcoming elections. There are many bands that play throughout the day and the Irvington Ghost Tours snake through the neighborhood to inform outsiders (and natives!) of Irvington’s spooky past. The day culminates after nightfall when a large costumed parade marches east along Washington Street to Arlington Avenue. Prizes are awarded for the best costumes in each category. And it goes almost without saying that Irvington hosts some of the best Trick or Treating in the state of Indiana. Like I mentioned about my cousins, kids from all over the city flock to Irvington for the spooky, yet safe, environment.
Luminaria and caroling are some of the customary folklore of Irvington that do not fall under the large Halloween umbrella. At Christmastime, Irvington comes alive and it becomes easy to imagine it in those early Victorian days. The weekend before Christmas word spreads as to where and when you can purchase the white paper sacks and the location of the sand and candles. A handful or two of sand is placed in the bottom of the paper sacks, along with a candle, and the candles are lighted. People line their sidewalks and driveways with the little lanterns and it really is a wonderful sight to see. The entire neighborhood is awash in twinkling candlelight and it’s a great night to go for a walk. Caroling door-to-door is still alive and well in Irvington and usually takes place on the night of the Luminaria. None of this is organized officially or choreographed, in a manner of speaking, in any way whatsoever.
Material Folklore
The material folklore of Irvington comes in a variety of mediums. The first example that comes to mind is the artwork of E. Adele Schluge. She is a folk artist who has lived in the area for over 20 years now and caters mostly to the Irvington audience. Her artwork uses a lot of imagery that would be recognizable to a much larger, even national, audience (such as the depiction of Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty) but also relies heavily on local imagery, like Irvington’s thirteen churches and, of course, Ellenberger Park. She paints mostly in watercolor and her artwork definitely carries with it that earthiness that seems to be so prevalent in folk art. One of my favorite paintings by her is a depiction of a group of multi-ethnic children in line for their first communion, outside Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Anyone from Irvington would be able to recognize it as such and so it becomes obvious that her art is Irvington’s art.
In the early days, many nationally famous artists called Irvington home. Painters such as Clifton Wheeler and William Forsyth (who both befriended the world famous T.C. Steele) lived and worked in this area, and helped to promote Irvington as a great place to live and work. The cartoonist, Frank McKinney, better known as Kin Hubbard, lived at the corner of New York Street and Emerson Avenue. There is now a park there to commemorate his legacy. His Abe Martin character kept the Indianapolis gentry of the 1920s in stitches laughing at the backwards nature of the Brown County residents depicted in the comic strip.
There are two busts of Washington Irving located in Irvington. The first is on the Irvington Circle near the fountain on south Audubon Avenue. The second is on the lawn of Public School #57. The town was given the name Irvington by a woman by the name of Grace Julian Clark, the daughter of town founder Jacob Julian. Washington Irving was a popular author at the time and she is said to have thought that Irvington resembled Irving’s description of Sleepy Hollow. Her portrait is still on display at the historic Benton House (312 S. Downey Avenue) and, obviously, we’re still using the name she came up with.
As of late, there have been more statues popping up in the area, namely on the lawn of the Bona Thompson Memorial (5350 University Avenue), which is the headquarters and gallery of the Irvington Guild of Artists (IGA). The statues are by a local artist, carved from limestone, and depict a menagerie of cardinals, maple leaves, and other bits of flora and fauna. The Bona Thompson Memorial Gallery is a great place to view and to purchase much of Irvington’s folk art.
In conclusion, I believe that because Irvington existed between the years 1873-1902 as its own separate political entity from Indianapolis, it developed its own culture and heritage and must be considered separately from the capital city when discussing its historic implication on central Indiana. Obviously, it hosts an array of all the forms of folklore, material, oral, and customary. As one Irvingtonian once put it, “Irvington…a great place to live and an even better place to come back to.” (Hilton U. Brown).
(Photo by Robert L. Friedly)
The Legend was broken into last night. Both the cash registers were stolen. The robbers were in and out in less than two minutes. Hopefully, we’ll hear more on this story when the thieves are caught.
We named him Elmer Fudd. He’s from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Got him for only 50 bucks. Full-bred (13 inch) Beagle. Rabbits beware!
He looks pretty mean, don’t you think?
He’s already half-way, sort of, kinda housebroken and today he fetched a tennis ball for me three times in a row!
Okay, I just found a few other websites talking about our Irvingtonian candidates for Julia Carson’s seat in Congress so I think it’s okay to disclose their names at this point.
Greg Stroud is the father of four and Gabrielle Campo is the 26-year-old.
Funny, these two know each other yet are running for the same seat. I mean, they know each other pretty well, through OLL and Irvington functions. Funnier…I know the both of them. This is going to be interesting.
I first met the Stroud family in the late 1980s when Greg’s daughter joined our third grade class. They had just moved back to Indiana from Colorado. Since Greg’s daughter was in my class, we’ve all become good friends over the years. Greg helped coach our CYO softball team and volunteered with our youth group, opening his house on many an occasion to host meetings, film/book discussions, etc. I remember playing basketball on the Stroud court trying to impress the Stroud girls (which is really, really, really funny if you’ve ever seen me play basketball…I don’t deserve to be from this state!). One time, Greg played the role of block dad after some buddies of mine shot one of the neighborhood girls with a BB gun.
Gabrielle Campo is also a longtime friend of mine, having graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes just a year after me. She went off to Cathedral High School while I attended Scecina but our paths have crisscrossed several times since then. When I was stationed in Gaeta, Italy with the USS LaSalle (AGF-3) she was one of the very few people that came to visit me. Given, she was already in Rome doing the whole study abroad thing, but she’s still one of the only people back here in the States that can give an accurate visual account amidst all the lies I tell about life at sea. Recently, her mom’s van was pulling a trailer when the trailer got a flat tire right in front of my house. Gabrielle came inside to wash her hands while I got on the phone to her cousin Steve (automotive genius and good friend) to come lend a hand with the tire.
Gabrielle’s father is the well-known attorney Anthony Campo, himself a great Irvingtonian with much invested in our community. I remember seeing Mr. Campo at Marsh late one night. He could barely make it to the parking lot what with all of his former clients wanting to shake his hand. Always jovial and friendly, he chatted it up with the lot of them, never seeming in a hurry, always there to help. I have to admit, he got me out of a jam when I needed him and for that I am eternally grateful.
So, there you have it folks! Our Irvingtonian Politicos - Greg Stroud and Gabrielle Campo, may God have mercy on their souls! I guess I’m a bit too cynical about politics to give this all a fair shake but what the hey…good luck to the both of them. Irvington does have a rich history of participating in Congress and I hope the tradition continues with either one of these two fine folks.
Whew! It’s 1:17 in the AM and I’m just about to head to bed after a long day of school work. I’m not taking very many classes this semester but the workload is outrageous! I’ve been attending IUPUI for about 3.5 years now and I can just start to make out that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
So, I’ve got folklore on Mondays, poetry and Russian politics (hey, they’re no longer offering Intro. to Puppetry, true story!) on Tuesday and Thursday, guitar lessons at Guitartown on Wednesdays, and Literature for Adolescents on Thursday evening. All the other days seem to be spent at the Blue Ribbon Barn or downtown freezing my arse off.
So, I haven’t really spent alot of time in the Irv lately. It’s a shame, especially with the crazy weather we’ve been having, I’d rather hole up in front of my fireplace and play Fifa 08. I remember once this past summer when I managed not to leave Irvington (10th Street, Edmondson, Emerson, and Brookville) for two solid weeks!
However, amidst my travels to and from the Big City, I have picked up on a bit of Irvington intrigue of a certain political nature. Two Irvingtonians are running on the Republican ticket for the late Julia Carson’s seat in the House. I won’t disclose their names just yet but I will say that one is a father of four and the other is a 26-year-old woman. They are both longtime Irvington residents and members of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Although I have never voted Republican in my life, I’ll have a hard time choosing between these two as I believe they would both do such a fine job. Stay tuned for further info…I’ll definitely be following this story in the coming months.
Other than that, I’ve got nothing for ya. My wife and I have been looking to buy a house and I truly believe it’s driving us crazy. The last one we looked at had blood caked all over the floor in the living room. It looked like someone had been murdered there. Beautiful hardwood floors in this unique Irvington bungalow...my ass.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I’m thinking about getting a beagle. There’s a guy in Owingsville, Kentucky that has puppies for 50 bucks a piece. Road trip?
According to an article by Ethel Winslow, published in the East Side Herald last week, coyotes have been spotted by several Irvington residents in the past few weeks. The sightings occurred nearby Pleasant Run Golf Course.
Coyotes have been reported on the westside of Indianapolis, and even in the downtown area, for some time now but this is one of the few instances of their presence on the eastside. At this time of year, pups (now nearly full grown) leave the friendly confines of their family range and seek out their own territories. According to the Herald, these Irvington coyotes are most probably just passing through on their way to a new territory.
Coyotes weigh about 30-40 pounds and are very wary of humans. It is highly unlikely that they would attack a human being but, obviously, caution should be maintained if you come into contact with one. Report any suspected coyote activity to www.coyoterescue.org.
