Dear readers,

It looks like Shelbyville is serious about getting a new brand. The city has hired Hirons, an Indianapolis based advertising agency, to the tune of $100,000 to come up with a new brand by mid-July.

The entire city is all abuzz. Goodbye “Pride in Progress.”

Let’s get to the mailbag. Enjoy!

Dear Kris,

Wow, you have already had several columns dedicated to finding a new brand for Shelbyville. Shelbyville has now hired an advertising agency.  What if the advertising agency ends up using one of the suggestions from your column? Will they have to pay you? 

Dear Show me the money,

Team Schwinn is here to serve the public. The Hirons firm is welcome to use any of my ideas. Although, I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed that I wasn’t mentioned in their press release.

Hirons announced they would be working with the Tourism and Visitor’s Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, and Blue River Community Foundation, but no mention of Team Schwinn. I’ll just drop by their first strategic branding workshop to brainstorm with the rebranding team. I learned all about advertising from Don Draper. He was the creative director at Sterling Cooper. I saw him work his magic for several TV episodes of “Mad Men.” 

I do hope they go with “Shelbyville, Gateway to Boggstown.” I read where they were hoping to come up with a brand that would be “timeless.” Since Boggstown isn’t likely to relocate, I think the brand could work forever. 

Dear Kris,

My friends and I are all Generation Z. You really should keep up with the times by including your preferred pronouns every week in your column. I liked some of the new brands you have proposed for Shelbyville. I do have a suggestion that will not only improve one of your ideas but also bring it into the 21^st century.

Say this brand out loud a few times and let me know what you think.  “Shelbyville, Home of The Helbing, Pronoun, Whatever!”

Dear Generation Z,

Fun fact, in Canada your generation is pronounced “Zed.” I like your idea. I think the public might too. “Whatever” is a pronoun. I’ll check with Mike Helbing, creator of The Helbing and see what he thinks of your pronoun suggestion.

Dear Kris,

I’ve heard some folks complaining about Shelbyville paying an advertising agency a hundred grand to help the city come up with a new brand. I’m sure the agency will help us sell our old brand.

“Pride in Progress” just feels old to us because we’ve been living with it for a long time. I’m sure there is a city somewhere ready to jump at the chance to buy “Pride in Progress” for the discounted amount of fifty grand.

Dear Used Brand Salesman,

I agree, the old brand must be worth something. I’m not sure it is worth half of the cost of a new one, but we’ll see.

Let’s end this week’s column with other suggestions for our new brand that readers have suggested.

“Much More Than a Ville”

“Shelbyville, We Don’t Like Change, So Bring Cash”

“Just Like Mayberry, Except All Barney”

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed. Get the most recent Shelby County Post headlines delivered to your email by visiting shelbycountypost.com and click on the free daily email signup link at the top of the page.

Dear readers,

“M” is for the million things she gave me. “O” means only that she’s growing old. “T” is for the tears she shed to save me.

Need I go on? Hint, hint, hint, today is Mother’s Day. 

The famous M-O-T-H-E-R song was written in 1915. It was the year after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday. President Wilson famously said, “Mother’s Day is dedicated to the best mother in the world, your mother.”

In those days Golden Corral had not yet been invented. Mom couldn’t be treated to the giant salad bar with plenty of room to sit in the overflow tent pitched on the parking lot. The celebration consisted of attending church followed by a picnic lunch and a game of croquet. 

Mother’s Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Somehow it escaped moving to Monday in 1971 like Presidents Day, Memorial Day, and Columbus Day, for a three-day weekend. Three-day weekends were so popular in those days that many wanted Christmas and the Fourth of July moved to Monday.

Some days are more sacred than others and Mother’s Day is one. Plus, many mothers in those days were stay-at-home moms. They looked forward to Monday for some peace and quiet when the kids went back to school.

If you have young children in your family, take time to help them make mom a gift. A keepsake made with finger paint and little hands is always popular. When I was in grade school, the teacher usually helped us make something to give to our mothers.   

If the kids in the family are adolescents, please remind them that today is Mother’s Day. Unless the latest Tik Tok challenge involves celebrating Mother’s Day, I’m sure they have forgotten dear old mom. (Note to old-timers: a Tik Tok challenge is an internet fad created by the Chinese Communists to steal the secrets teenagers have hidden away on their computers)

Adolescents need to be reminded about Mother’s Day. Many think their very existence is sufficient thanks for the million things their mom has done for them.  They don’t realize that the cute they once possessed wore off a couple of years ago. Maybe the cute gradually wearing off a child as they age is nature’s way of preparing moms for when young adults leave home.

One mother once confided in me that when her child was born, she mistakenly thought it was the happiest day of her life. Later she learned that the birth of her child was actually the second happiest day of her life. The happiest day was when he finally moved out of her basement 40 years later.

If you don’t have any plans for mom today, get the croquet set out and celebrate like it’s 1915.

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed. Get the most recent Shelby County Post headlines delivered to your email by visiting shelbycountypost.com and click on the free daily email signup link at the top of the page.

Every year on May 5 in Japan, Japanese children are feted to their very own holiday called “kodomo no hi.”

On March 3 every year, girls celebrate “hina no matsuri,” that features exquisite dolls on huge graduated platforms and is a celebration of everything girl-related. The good health and development of girls are the focus of this holiday.

Traditionally, May 5 was “Boy’s Day” since ancient times, but was made a national holiday in 1948 and changed to “Children’s Day” in 1954 to better represent all children and not just boys. It is a day to celebrate children in order to reflect upon their healthy physical development and to encourage them to study hard in school. It is also a day to wish for children’s overall happiness and healthy growth.

The holiday has its roots in an ancient Chinese custom where it was believed that flying kites would fend off evil spirits around children.  The custom is also directly connected to Shintoism, the indigenous religion of Japan, which emphasizes the driving back of evil spirits, as well.

The celebration of Children’s Day features huge carp streamers called “koinobori” which are flown high on this day at homes who have children. This custom originated during the Edo Period (1603-1867) when samurai homes began displaying large, colorful flags in their yards called “nobori” or “fukinuke.” These featured colorful “mon” or family crests which were related to military units.

Gradually, as is true with many Japanese traditions and customs, what initially started out as something only the noble or aristocratic class did, eventually trickled down to the masses and became widespread. (photo)

But why does the carp represent Children’s Day in Japan? I have been told that the carp was chosen to symbolize this holiday because it represents courage, power, toughness, and strength because the carp must swim upstream which takes perseverance.

Today, families display carp-shaped windsocks in different sizes with the largest one representing the father, the next one the mother, then one for each child in the family. Traditionally, they only represented the males in the family, but in modern times have come to depict both parents and all the children, both boys and girls.

Children’s Day is a reminder to families to appreciate their children, celebrating children by encouraging physical fitness and healthy eating. 

Many families will go on picnics on this day, eating traditional foods like “Kashiwa-mochi” which is a rice cake filled with a sweet red-bean mixture, wrapped in an oak leaf. Another common food on this day is “chimaki” which is a steamed, sticky rice cake that is sweet and glutinous due to the short-grain japonica rice that is most common in Japan. These are wrapped in bamboo leaves.

All of these traditions and customs related to children are done to wish the children good luck, good fortune, and good health as they continue to grow.

In addition to the carps being displayed and flown outside on flagpoles, boys are often times given samurai-related objects like a samurai warrior doll (gogatsu-ningyo) or helmet (kabuto) to display on this day. These dolls often feature samurai armor and Japanese swords (photo) In many instances the samurai dolls represent popular folktales in Japan, especially Kintaro and Momotaro, who both represent courage and strength.

Kintaro, or Nature Boy, is depicted as a sweet, strong, and very kind boy. This legendary story is about a boy who was raised by a witch on a mountain and who possessed super-human strength that allowed him to fight off monsters and demons from the time he was very young. His strength was extraordinary and he could throw boulders the size of houses and he could uproot a full-grown tree with only his hands.

Momotaro, or “Peach Boy,” is a story about a boy that was born from a big peach floating down a river, where it was found by an old man and an old woman who ate part of the peach and were made young again. Momotaro has a menagerie of companions in the form of a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant that assist him in fighting off ogres. The moral of the Momotaro story is to emphasize how when you work together in harmony, people can achieve the impossible.  

Every year, when I accompany my university students on a sightseeing and home stay trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, we visit a number of American elementary and junior high schools in the area.  My students teach the American children origami and we always make a samurai helmet out of newspaper for the kids to wear. It is always a big hit with the children and they often wear them the entire day.

Many of the customs observed today have their origins in Tango no Sekku, which was a day for boys during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) dating back to the 12^th century. Before the Kamakura period, the day was observed by Japanese women as a day to purify the family home by placing irises in the thatched roofs, which was done to repel evil spirits that might be lurking about, as well as a day for the women to rest their bodies. It was then changed to a celebration of boys after the samurai class took power and controlled the government.

Why were irises used in the celebration by women to purify the home? The iris flowers’ leaves resembled the sharp, metal blades of the fabled Japanese sword, and another word “shoubu” (a military related word) had the same pronunciation as the word for “iris,” so since the Japanese enjoy a good play on words, they felt it to be a lucky sign and it should be connected with the samurai class. Also, yabusame, Japanese archery done on horseback, was traditionally held on May 5 and it was regarded as a way to stave off evil spirits, too.

Fast forward to modern times, the customs today of representing Children’s Day with mini suits of samurai armor, samurai helmets and swords, and archery arrows date back to ancient times. These are all displayed as a way to drive off evil spirits and to protect the children in the home. Unlike Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Children’s Day is an observed national holiday in Japan, showing the importance Japanese culture places upon recognizing children and in hoping for their good health and happiness.

Todd Jay Leonard was born and raised in Shelbyville, but has called Japan home for over 34 years. He is currently a full-professor at the University of Teacher Education Fukuoka in Kyushu where he lives, writes, and teaches. He is the author of 26 books and can be reached at toddjayleonard@yahoo.com

Working in the garden or landscaping around the home is a great way to relieve stress and pressure for many people, that is until one experiences a spider bite. Did you know that there are over 35,000 species of spiders in the world?  Of those spiders only about 200 species are of medical concern to humans. In Indiana there are only two species of spider that fit that category.  To be fair, there are a few spiders that can bite and cause considerable pain in Indiana, but only two are poisonous: the recluse spider and the widow spider.

The first poisonous spider on our list is the Brown Recluse. This spider has a distinguishing violin marking on its cephalothorax or back. The Brown Recluse is a hunting spider that does not wait around for prey to come to it but instead actively hunts, mainly at night. Most spiders have 8 eyes, but the brown recluse has only 6 eyes. It is a relatively small spider with its body only being around 3/8 of an inch including legs might be the size of a quarter. The recluse possesses necrotic venom that kills off skin and flesh in the localized area where the bite takes place. Without medical attention, infection is common, and the area of necrosis increases in size if not treated. It is painful and, in some cases, requires surgery to correct damage to the flesh. The Brown Recluse prefers living indoors with us but may also be outside in places such as wood piles or heavy foliage.

The second poisonous spider is the Black Widow. The Black Widow spider is shiny black in color. The Black Widow is a small spider whose marking is the shape of an hourglass appearing on the underside of the abdomen of the spider. In Indiana, the hourglass is red. Its venom is a neurotoxin that damages, destroys or impairs the function of the central nervous system. Most of the time people do not need treatment because it is such a small amount of venom. Symptoms may include sweat, headaches, and vomiting.

Interestingly, there has only been one death attributed to our poisonous spiders in Indiana since 1983, but that does not mean that the bites are not painful and of medical importance. To decrease the chance of being bitten by one of these spiders, it is important to eliminate clutter in the home and overgrown foliage or weeds around the home. Be proactive in eliminating harborages both inside and out that provide a home for these poisonous spiders. The second most effective plan would be to have an inside and an outside perimeter spray.

Dear readers,

Last week’s column about the Duchess of Sussex now being in the jelly business brought almost as much mail as when I write about “The Helbing.” I didn’t realize we had so many anglophiles living in Shelby County.

According to one loyal reader, Duchess Meghan isn’t the only royal selling strawberry jam. Her father-in-law, King Charles, has his own jam for sale. The King’s jam is sold under his company name, “Highgrove Organic Strawberry Preserves.”  

I wonder which royal brand of jelly would win in a blind taste test. If Oprah wasn’t busy shilling for the weight loss drug Ozempic, it would make for a great television special. I can see it now. Oprah hosting a panel of celebrity judges rating the jam.

Do you remember the Quentin Tarantino movie “Pulp Fiction?” One loyal reader reminded me of the scene where John Travolta’s character Vince explains why the McDonald’s in France does not have a “Quarter Pounder” on the menu. It is because France uses the metric system and does not sell hamburger by the “pound.” So calling a sandwich a “Quarter Pounder” wouldn’t make any sense to someone living in France. 

Likewise, me claiming last week that there are two “Dollar General” stores on every block in England can’t be true. In England, their money is not in dollars so a store called “Dollar General” makes no sense. The loyal reader explained that England does have stores like our “Dollar General” in most neighborhoods, but the stores are named “Pound General.” 

Finally, I received a message all the way from California. It was from my childhood friend and college roommate Tony Wilson. Upon seeing the photograph of me holding a box of Saltine crackers, it brought back memories of me eating sardines when we were in college.

Tony didn’t say if they were fond memories. However, I’m guessing that they were because he was a co-conspirator of mine in those days. The summer before going to college we worked at a grocery store. The cafeteria at college didn’t serve meals on the weekend. We stocked up on food for those weekends when we would be living in a food desert.

Our dorm room had bookshelves, but instead of books ours looked like the shelves at the Dollar General but neater. Mostly we had canned goods proven to be favorites since the 19^th century. I believe we had cans of potted meat, Underwood deviled ham, and, of course, sardines. The sardines were my food of choice.

I am a big fan of sardines to this day. I enjoy them at least a couple of times a week. Sardines come in different sizes and are packed with various condiments. I like them all. They come in tomato paste, soybean oil, mustard, extra virgin olive oil, and plain water. I never get the ones in plain water. 

Most sardines are small fish. Some are so small that over 20 fish are in the little can. A few years ago, I discovered large cans of very large sardines were sold in Mexican grocery stores. Someone told me the giant sardines are caught swimming around beneath the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.

I’ve gone back to only buying the small cans because my family objects to leftover sardines being stored in the refrigerator. I am the only one in my family who likes sardines. So, I say, “more for me.”

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed. Get the most recent Shelby County Post headlines delivered to your email by visiting shelbycountypost.com and click on the free daily email signup link at the top of the page.