Photo of the Downtown Evansville riverfront by Zach Straw
Where has the time gone? On Evansville Living’s silver anniversary, look back at how the magazine covered Evansville’s culture, character, personalities, and quirks.
25 on 25
Milestones, buzzworthy stories, colorful personalities, and more as Evansville Living hits the quarter-century mark
Read more 25th anniversary stories in the March/April 2025 feature.
Today’s Evansville Living prioritizes the same local-centric content it did 25 years ago. But the process behind putting together a print magazine? “Change” doesn’t even begin to describe what’s occurred.
Shooting photos on film, for example, went the way of the dinosaur — it’s all digital now. Drones allow photographers to shoot from above, without frightful climbs up rickety ladders.
Electronic communication has eliminated all sorts of steps required 25 years ago. Stories, photos, and even ads can be delivered instantly. It’s a far cry from the magazine’s early days, when now-Creative Director and Owensboro, Kentucky, resident Laura Mathis and Publisher & Editor Kristen Tucker would meet in Reo, Indiana, to exchange files and page proofs, “often with a toddler in tow for either one of us,” Mathis recalls.
And, thanks to email, readers can send Evansville Living their snapshots from all over the world with the swift click of their finger across a smartphone.
Evansville Living’s visibility also extends to social media. While (thankfully!) so many of our readers still love their printed magazine, content also is regularly viewed and shared by thousands on digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram, words that none of us had heard way back when the debut issue hit the racks.
Playing it safe is overrated, Cinda Vote says. The owner of Cinda Vote Interiors cajoles her clients to make design choices that feel good — including (and especially!) those that could be considered bold. Trends back up Vote’s approach: Whites and cool grays are shifting to warmer whites and deeper shades of beige and charcoal. Also in, she says, are moody tones such as steel blue, mauve, yellow golds, “and literally any shade of green.”
“At the most recent market I attended, I rarely saw anything in (white and gray),” Vote says. “In all our new fabrics and wallcovering books, color is everywhere. It’s definitely on the rise.”
Bolder patterns are making a comeback too, according to Vote, who explains that designing your space “is basically creating a mood. Taking that first step into color might be scary, but what’s scarier is living in a home that doesn’t make you feel anything at all. Buy the bold paint or wallpaper or patterned sofa. Enjoy your home.”
Spring often is a season to refocus on the home. To those thinking about redesigning a room, Vote says a good starting point is to identify an inspiration keystone and let that guide decisions on items such as lighting and fabrics.
Keystones could be a rug, art piece, family heirloom, or cherished photos.
Thinking of a floor remodel? Luxury vinyl plank “is great for families with kids and pets because it’s so resilient and easy to care for, and it looks like wood,” Vote says.
Larger floor tiles — think 24-by-48 and up — in porcelain or luxury vinyl also are trending, Vote says, and so is engineered wood in wider-width planks.
And in carpet, “we are seeing a lot of bold geometric patterns,” Vote adds.
Vote’s own design style? When asked, she demures. “I like to be open to any style,” she explains. “I enjoy creating functional spaces that reflect the personality and needs of my clients.”
At first, Jeff Leystra couldn’t find Evansville on a map, but once he did, he never left. Tired of jaded minor leaguers in higher-profile independent leagues, a reinvigorated Andy McCauley discovered a home with the Evansville Otters and its youthful Frontier League players.
Together, they’ll help usher in the Otters’ 30th anniversary this summer, starting with a celebration May 9.
Archival photo provided by Evansville Otters. Field Manager Boots Day addresses the crowd at historic Bosse Field ahead of the team’s inaugural game on June 15, 1995.
“It was standing room only,” Leystra recalls of that first opening night on June 15, 1995, when the team took to Bosse Field under Manager Boots Day. “For Evansville to support the organization for 30 years the way it has is unbelievable.”
Evansville is the oldest member of the Frontier League, a professional league that is expanding geographically and numerically. Newly added teams in Kinston, North Carolina, and Pearl, Mississippi, swell membership to 18, broken down into East and West conferences with four divisions for this season. Evansville is a member of the Central Division of the West Conference.
Founded in 1993, the Frontier League is “by far the largest independent league in professional baseball, with teams in Canada down to Mississippi,” says John Stanley, Otters team president since 2017. “The Otters average roughly 100,000 people a year for our games, and it puts us right in mid-pack in the league, even though we are one of the smaller markets.”
Original owner Tom Sullivan brought the team to Evansville from Lancaster, Ohio, and renamed it after the region’s river otters. After two seasons, Sullivan sold the team to Charles Jacey, who in turn sold it to the Bussing family in 2001.
“As much as I loved baseball, I never desired to own a team,” owner Bill Bussing says. But when out-of-town consortium Goldklang Group came looking for a local partner, the Bussings bit, he says, and “our family owned 52 percent of a minor league baseball team. Who would have ever guessed?” The Bussings bought out Goldklang after the 2002 season and have owned the team outright ever since.
The purchase ensured Evansville would continue to host minor league baseball and that Bosse Field would remain viable. Bosse Field’s prior tenant, the Triple-A Triplets, played in Evansville 1970-1984 as a farm club for several Midwestern MLB teams. The stadium remained dormant until the Otters moved in in 1995. Baseball fans responded in a big way: During the 2005 season, home games drew 136,941 people, which remains a single-season attendance record.
McCauley, who became the Otters’ manager in 2010, notes that not many minor league teams have played in the same city and ballpark for 30 years. “It’s a credit for what Mr. Bussing did and has continued to do for so long,” McCauley says.
WHERE’S EVANSVILLE?
Jeff Leystra, who had pitched for nearly five years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, was recovering from an arm injury and looking for a new gig. He found it with the Otters, who began their first season in the Frontier League in 1995.
“I didn’t know where Indiana was,” says Leystra, a Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, native. “I tried to find Evansville, and it took me a while because it was way at the bottom. I thought, ‘I guess I’ll go down there and play.’”
Leystra says Evansville has the best of both worlds: a small-town feel with some of the amenities of a larger city. He also likes Evansville’s proximity to Louisville, Kentucky, St. Louis, Missouri, Nashville, Tennessee, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
After pitching three seasons for the Otters, Leystra became a pitching coach in 1998 and 1999 before retiring from baseball and making Evansville his new home.
Archival photo of Otter Express provided by source
THE Long Way THERE
There always are stories about the travails of playing minor league baseball. One revolved around a former high school bus nicknamed the “Otter Express,” a long-ago mode of transportation that ran out of gas three-quarters of the way up a mountain in West Virginia.
“It’s funny, under my seat I could smell something burning,” Leystra says. “I could see some smoke coming up.” Finally, another bus came to the Otters’ rescue, and they arrived in Parkersburg for a game with the Ohio Valley Redcoats about an hour later.
A PerfectFIT
Company culture played a big part in McCauley’s decision to manage the Otters. Between 1998 and 2008, he moved between five teams in the U.S. and Canada and collected a Frontier League championship in 1999 with the Werewolves, a now-defunct club in London, Ontario, Canada.
“Working for Mr. Bussing is an absolute blessing,” says McCauley, who guided Evansville to the Frontier League championship in 2016 and has posted a 14-year record of 676-617. “He has such a passion for the game and the community.”
If Bussing’s wife, Phyllis, is out of town, you’ll probably find him working at Bosse Field, even on an off day, sleeves rolled up and drenched in sweat.
“It’s unbelievable,” McCauley says.
Like Leystra, who later spent 25 years as a plant manager for LyondellBasell Industries, McCauley has made Evansville his home yearround. Tired of the brutal winters in Binghamton, New York, McCauley and his wife, Rachel, moved to Evansville full time in summer 2022. The couple have three children — Erin, 9; A.J., 7; and Ryan, 4 — and McCauley says his wife had grown tired of coaching NCAA Division I volleyball as an assistant at State University of New York at Binghamton.
McCauley has had offers to manage in the Atlantic League and American Association, but gave them “a defiant no.” He prefers to stay in Evansville and in the Frontier League, relishing the chance to tutor the Otters’ younger players. The Frontier League allows only two veterans age 30 or older on a team’s roster. A minimum of 10 of a team’s 24 players must be rookies.
He loves younger players’ energy and enthusiasm and receptiveness to learning, as opposed to an older player who might have been released by three or four organizations and no longer has a positive outlook.
“The big thing is strong character (players),” McCauley says. “We’ve had a lot of good moments.”
For new and returning players, much has been made of Bosse Field’s historic impact — it’s America’s third-oldest ballpark in continuous operation, trailing Boston, Massachusetts’ Fenway Park and Chicago, Illinois’ Wrigley Field. It is a fact not lost on opposing Frontier League players.
“More than 100 (National Baseball) Hall of Famers have played (at Bosse Field),” McCauley says. “It’s the right place to be. You see players from the visiting team come in and play here for the first time, and they record it with their phones.”
A FRESH TAKE ON AMERICA’S PASTIME The Otters are shepherded by President John Stanley, Owner Bill Bussing, Manager Andy McCauley, and General Manager Brycen Moore. Although the 110-year-old ballpark remains much as it did when early crews like the 1996 and 1997 teams played, management always is on the hunt for new ideas to excite fans. Photo by Zach Straw
Josh Allen liked playing for the Otters so much, the infielder made a point to return to the team twice.
“I came back for two reasons: Andy McCauley and Mr. Bussing,” says Allen, a Florida native. “Andy McCauley is the greatest man I have ever met in the game of baseball. I have a loyalty to him that is unmatched. … As well as Mr. Bussing, the way he treats all of us like family and not employees is what makes him so special. … I have never had an owner take the time to get to know you and go out of his way to make sure everything is done right for your benefit.”
During his first stint with the Otters from 2014-17, Allen’s nine home runs, 46 runs batted in, and 29 stolen bases helped spark the team to the 2016 Frontier League title.
“What made that team so special is that we all became brothers,” says Allen, who hit .354 on his way to earning league Most Valuable Player honors that championship season. He returned to the team in 2021. “The closeness and love we had for each other is what carried us through playoffs. Everyone wanted to win for our coaches and the city of Evansville and be able to present the trophy to Mr. Bussing as a small thank you for everything he has done for us and the city.”
Allen, who is the team’s career leader in triples (20) and stolen bases (77), was signed by the Otters for the 2023 Frontier League Championship Series, which the team lost to the Quebec Capitales, a team coached in 2002 by McCauley. Allen currently is playing his fourth season in suburban Chicago with the Kane County Cougars of the American Association. Allen, who turns 34 on March 26, plans to retire after this coming season.
Conversely, Central High School graduate Mason White attended a handful of Otters games with his grandfather, Doyle Wilson, while growing up in Evansville.
“At that time, I would’ve loved to play for them and now I finally have been able to live out the dream to play professional baseball and do my best to make a career out of it,” says White, who batted .255 with five home runs and 36 RBIs playing in 63 games for the Otters in 2024. He is signed for the 2025 season.
“Playing for the Otters means a lot. It makes it easier for my family and friends to come out and support me being a local guy,” says White, who helped lead Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana, to the NAIA World Series last year before joining the Otters. “It prepared me for pro ball because I was able to face the best players in the country at that level. It showed me how much commitment it takes to play at that level, and it showed me what it takes to win and be successful at the highest level. I give a lot of credit to my college coaches and teammates to help me get to that point.”
Baseball fans have flocked to Bosse Field for special occasions, like the 2006 Frontier League All-Star Game. The July 24, 2013, game set a record for the ballpark’s largest crowd: 8,253. The prior record was set, interestingly enough, at Bosse Field’s inaugural game on June 17, 1915.
Bussing says Otters ownership tries to treat fans as though they are “guests in our own home. We want them to have so much fun, they can’t wait to come back. We can’t control some factors — the weather, for example, or how well we are playing — so we focus on those that we can, such as good food, short lines, clean restrooms, and courteous employees.”
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Archival photo provided by source
Archival photo provided by source
OTTERS FRANCHISE CONTINUES TO Grow
The franchise has more than 100 rostered employees during the summer. The team has leadership that oversees financial matters, marketing, human resources, ticketing, concessions, stadium operations, technology and media, sales, and baseball operations. Although, at 24, Brycen Moore is the youngest person ever named an Otters general manager, he’s hardly new to the organization. The Castle High School graduate first interned for the team in 2021 and served as director of operations for two seasons, pulling double duty as assistant general manager in 2024.
Photo by Greg Eans
Moore says the Otters want to increase their community involvement and brainstorm how to bring more people to the park.
“Just because we work in an old and historic ballpark, doesn’t mean that all of our ideas and tactics have to be old and historic as well,” he says. “We are looking to be more with the times in the coming years and are currently working on our promotional schedule that we think will excite a lot of fans of all demographics.”
Aaron King, assistant director of sports development for Explore Evansville, says the organization values its partnership with the Otters.
“Their historic Bosse Field is both a treasured landmark and a versatile venue,” King says. “We work with the Otters to highlight the facility’s unique charm, helping to host marquee events and engaging the community in new and creative ways. Having such a historic sports venue in our community is an incredible asset that enhances everything we offer from a sports perspective. The Evansville Otters play a vital role in preserving and celebrating that rich history, ensuring it continues to thrive for future generations.”
OTTERS HIGHLIGHTS
1995 Otters begin playing in the independent Frontier League, managed by former major leaguer Boots Day (who remains involved with the ballclub to this day in a coaching role, at age 77). It had been an 11-year absence of minor league baseball in Evansville after the Triple-A Triplets left for Nashville, Tennessee
2001
The Bussing family purchases the team from Charles Jacey
2005
Otters draw 136,941 in 51 home games, still a single-season attendance record
2006
Otters defeat the Chillicothe Paints in three games in the Frontier League Championship Series to win their first title, under the guidance of manager Greg Jelks. Bosse Field hosts the league’s All-Star game
2013
Otters’ single-game attendance of 8,253 on Marathon Oil Night on July 24 is the largest crowd in Bosse Field history
2016
Otters defeat River City Rascals three games to two in the Frontier League Championship Series to win their second title, under the guidance of manager Andy McCauley
2017
Otters win their 1,000th game in franchise history with a 6-5 victory over the Normal CornBelters
2024
Otters draw 96,488 fans for the season, vaulting over 3 million in franchise history (3,052,717)
MAJOR LEAGUEOTTERS
GEORGE SHERRILL
Pitched for the Seattle Mariners 2004-07, Baltimore Orioles 2008-09, Los Angeles Dodgers 2010, Atlanta Braves 2011, and Seattle Mariners 2012; pitched in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game
ANDREW WERNER
Pitched for the San Diego Padres, 2012
BRANDYN SITTINGER
Pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2021
Photo of Dennis Walls and Kim Coslett by Zach Straw
You could say Kim Coslett has an innate talent for interior design. Her shop, Stella’s Finishing Touches, partially derives its name from her grandmother, whose blue dress adorns a mannequin in the storefront. And it was her mother’s store that nurtured her skills while growing up in Indianapolis.
After retiring, Coslett and her husband, Dennis Walls, sought more activity. The Newburgh, Indiana, shop opened in 2016 in the couple’s garage and relocated to 333 State St. two years later.
“We were both too young to not have something to do,” Walls says. Coslett adds, “He said, ‘This is boring. Let’s go home and start something fun.’”
Stella’s offers a one-stop-shop experience for all things interior design, stocking decorative items such as lamps, furniture, and wall art. Curated vignettes pepper each section, which functions as its own miniature living room. Some selections change seasonally. Even so, the colorful art, accent pillows, patterned flower vases, and unique decor all make sense together inside Stella’s. Shoppers even can pick up jewelry. Many products are sourced from trips taken four times a year to furniture markets in Atlanta, Georgia, and High Point, North Carolina.
“We have new things coming in almost every week. We always have art flowing through here because it’s such a hot item,” she says.
While much of the business remains local, the store also serves clients across the country, including in Florida and Nashville, Tennessee. Word-of-mouth and social media marketing play a vital role, but most of Stella’s business comes from repeat customers.
“I enjoy helping people design their dream home or just a room and feel proud of it,” employee Jarrett Wimsatt says.
Coslett says today’s clientele is particularly drawn to transitional designs — a blend of traditional and contemporary aesthetics. Many customers come in with photos of the space they wish to decorate, but Stella’s staff always prefers home visits to get a better read on the client’s design personality.
“Our customers have become almost like family. We get to know them and their families,” Coslett says. “We continue to enjoy what we do and take pleasure in making people happy with their homes, and when it’s not fun anymore, we’re done.”
Want to take your taste buds on a global tour?Aihua International Market features chips, sweets, and soda from around the world. Try these four.
Ramune Common at hibachi restaurants, this Japanese soda has a secret: Remove the cap, push a glass marble into the Codd-neck bottle, and watch your drink fizz.
Bungeo-ppang
Meaning “carp bread” in Korean, this fish-shaped puff pastry usually is stuffed with a sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans, which you might mistake for chocolate. It’s a popular winter street food, but at Aihua, you can buy it in a box of small cakes.
Plantain Chips (Platanitos) Made by Miami, Florida-based Mayté, these healthy snacks are popular in Latin American, Caribbean, and African countries and some Southeast Asian and Pacific Island nations. The flavors range from sweet to savory.
KitKat Mini Yokubari Adult Sweetness Double Matcha & Original
This dual-flavored version of KitKats is imported from Japan and brings together the slight bitterness of matcha with the taste of classic Hershey chocolate.
Photo of Tom Fischer at Entwined Wine & Cocktail Bar by Zach Straw
Photo by Zach Straw
From modest to sumptuous, these spirits all share more in common than just being aged in oak barrels — they’re perfect for your special event that brings people together.
Green River Kentucky Straight Bourbon Owensboro, Kentucky – $35
Green River Distilling Co.’s flagship bourbon is a must-have in your private bar. It’s affordable, as well as a perfect spirit for cocktails, highballs, or sipping neat, Fischer says. It’s so local that it’s made mostly from Daviess County corn.
Hard Truth Distilling Co. Sweet Mash Bourbon Nashville, Indiana – $45
Hard Truth is one of the few distilleries regularly producing whiskey through sweet mashing rather than the normal sour mashing. Without digging into the distilling science, sweet mashing can make for a smoother drink, Fischer says. Local ties: Master distiller and co-partner Bryan Smith is a Harrison High School graduate.
WhistlePig Snout-To-Tail Bourbon Aged 10 Years Shoreham, Vermont – $90
Don’t flip out. The folks at WhistlePig experiment, and their Snout-to-Tail Bourbon is proof of that. While aging in two oak barrels with differing barrel heads for a decade, the barrels are flipped upside down to soak up each head’s unique characteristics, Fischer says.
Four Gate Whiskey Co. Kelvin Collaboration VI Whiskey Rectified from several Kentucky distilleries – $200
A bold, unconventional choice is to sip on this whiskey blend. “Four Gate is one of my favorites,” Fischer says. The blend is finished in Portuguese Madeira and Florida rum casks, giving it a “bold yet nuanced” finish. Behind the name: Four Gate is a reference to the white rail fencing you see bordering Kentucky horse farms.
It wouldn’t be Derby season without Woodford Reserve, and this bourbon’s regality is worthy of busting out the flared-rim Glencairn glasses at your party. It’s aged in two barrels, with the second aging twice as long as its double-oaked companion, thus double double. It delivers a spicier, warmer taste, Fischer says. Can’t find the Double Double? The standard Double Oaked is a solid alternative.
The way family and friends clamor for Vicki Schmitt’s carrot cakes, you’d think she runs a craveworthy catering business. The mother of two and grandmother of four smiles: “I just enjoy baking.”
Schmitt had worked for one month at the organization now known as the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership when in 2012 she was tasked with ordering food for a quarterly advisory board meeting and decided to make a cake. She pulled out a recipe found in Southern Living magazine about a decade prior, and the result was a hit.
It snowballed from there. At E-REP, “We’d send out a new hire form that asked them how they’d like to celebrate their birthdays,” Schmitt says. “Half of them, after they tasted this cake, said this cake is what they wanted.” Retiring in January 2024 didn’t stall the requests.
Photo by Zach Straw
Schmitt’s cake swats away apprehension about that headlining ingredient. “People think, ‘I don’t like carrots, I won’t try it.’ Once they try it, it blends together. You don’t notice one thing more than another,” she says. “It tastes so much different than what it sounds like, like sweet potato pie.”
Calling the original recipe a success, Schmitt says she’s only tweaked it — for example, swapping walnuts for pecans. There is one key difference: “It has a buttermilk glaze on it. That makes it super moist. I include some pineapple and coconut, and that helps keep moisture in. But the buttermilk glaze helps it stay moist forever.”
Not that she’s had the chance to try that theory: “I haven’t tested it because there are no leftovers!” she laughs.
She makes carrot cake sparingly — probably five or six times a year — because “it is kind of a labor of love. You don’t come home and decide, ‘I’ll make this and take it to work.’ It takes hours. It’s not difficult; there are lots of steps, between grating carrots, chopping nuts, mixing batter, baking it, mixing the glaze, letting it sit, then doing the cream cheese icing. You’re talking several hours. Usually, I try to break it up into two days.”
Baking carrot cake is only a small slice of Schmitt’s culinary passion.
“I enjoy baking, I enjoy cooking. I like making pot roast, meat loaf, a chicken cheese dish, mac and cheese. I experiment a lot,” she says, although carrot cake isn’t regularly in her lineup. “It’s meant to be for something special.”
Amanda Southworth, Margaret Scott, and Angela Joensson photographed by Zach Straw
There are hobbies, and then there’s Margaret Scott’s love of charcuterie. Scott has been creating charcuterie for about three years, an interest she says “has become a delightful passion of mine.”
Inspiration struck when Scott threw a party for her husband’s coworkers. “I watched the catering company I hired make an impressive spread. The creativity and variety fascinated me, and I wanted to bring that joy to my own gatherings,” she says.
Self-taught, Scott learned to compose charcuterie through online tutorials, cookbooks, and experimenting in her own kitchen.
Photo by Zach Straw
Watching videos and reading articles helped her understand the basics and gave her the confidence to begin trying different food com- combinations, but one particular Thanksgiving turned her hobby on its head.
“My husband and I have 10 children, and I wanted to change things up for Thanksgiving, so I decided to prepare a charcuterie in lieu of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The family loved it, so now our Thanksgiving dinners are charcuterie boards. It turned out to be a delightful surprise!” she says. “The first one I made for the family covered my whole island. It was so big, I ended up sending food home with everyone and had enough food to last us two weeks.”
Now, she crafts charcuterie for gatherings about once or twice a month, often making smaller ones for family dinners or special occasions.
Photo by Zach Straw
Make no mistake: This hobby is far from casual, involving hours of planning, shopping, and food preparation before the arranging even begins — Scott estimates each charcuterie display contains 8-15 pounds of meats, cheeses, crackers, breads, fruits, and vegetables, depending on the number of guests. Then, there’s an additional 1-3 hours to set up a display. Scott typically preps all food at home and completes arrangements at the destination. Her pricing for events depends on the board’s types of food and decorations. Her daughters Amanda Southworth and Angela Joensson help with arrangements, with Scott calling it “a fun activity to do together.”
Word has gotten around. Scott’s charcuterie has fed guests at weddings, family gatherings, birthday parties, baby and bridal showers, and business lunches.
“I’ve been surprised by how much people appreciate the effort!” she says. “It’s rewarding to see others enjoy the creations and the conversations they spark.”
The image fronting the May/June 2007 issue of Evansville Living was photographed by Jerry Butts and included a murderer — fortunately fictional and for the 2007 Reitz Home Murder Mystery. This gatefold cover displayed all the suspects posed in the museum's parlor.
Read more 25th anniversary stories in the March/April 2025 feature.
151 is the number of covers Evansville Living has produced in 25 years, including this issue. Designing the best cover for each issue takes a lot of work and often takes us to some interesting places.
One example is our second cover, which posed Harrison High School graduates and pro basketball teammates Calbert Cheaney and Walter McCarty on the revered hardwood at the now-called TD Garden, where the pair then played for the Celtics.
The July/August 2005 cover about education is a point of pride, having earned a third-place finish at the City and Regional Magazine Association’s 2006 awards ceremony. Keeping Evansville Living company in the top three were Los Angeles and Texas Monthly, the two largest magazines in the trade group. Evansville Living is among CRMA’s smallest markets, so the prize was extra poignant.
Only a handful of people have appeared more than once, among them “Smallville” actor Michael Rosenbaum (January/February 2007, September/October 2012). Both of Evansville resident Brenda Wallace’s appearances — first, for the inaugural Best of Evansville issue in September/October 2001, then for Evansville Living’s fifth anniversary in March/April 2005 — depicted her among a group of partygoers. Joni Matthews of Evansville held court solo on the cover in November/December 2003 and September/October 2014.
Talent agency owner Lori Rosas has the honor of being the only person who has landed on the cover three times. In her first appearance, she was seen in a convertible for the July/August 2008 “Crazy Days of Summer” feature package. Her torso was pictured for the November/December 2009 “Be Good” issue, and she was seen again on the cover of March/April 2013 as part of the “Relax & Renew” feature.
One of Evansville Living’s covers included a murderer — fortunately, it was fictional and for the 2007 Reitz Home Murder Mystery featuring a gatefold with all the suspects. Recurring cover topics include animals (five covers), Christmas (five), desserts (three), and sports (seven).
Two bartenders walked into a bar and decided to give patrons a buzzworthy experience. Ally Speicher and fiancée Zane Skeels have channeled their fun-loving spirit into Industry Bar, which opened in October 2024 in the former Myriad Brewing Company spot Downtown.
The pet-friendly watering hole offers a rotating cocktail menu, bottled beer, and standard brands on tap, plus billiards and darts. Hungry visitors can enjoy regular stops by popular food trucks like Chino Taco and Lashbrooke’s BBQ, plus bread bowl soups whipped up ahead of time and frequently offered by Death by Bread.
Industry Bar attracts diverse crowds through events like a Bloody Valentine goth night and Super Bowl Sunday custom cocktails served with a Taylor Swift-inspired friendship bracelet wrapped around each glass.
In this April 2022 photo by Zach Straw, Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., Senior Account Executive Jennifer Rhoades rappels down the CenterPoint Energy headquarters in Downtown Evansville as part of Over The Edge 4 Granted.
Read more 25th anniversary stories in the March/April 2025 feature.
Kayaking in gator-filled waters? Posing as a dead body for a murder mystery photo shoot? Rumbling through a field inside a World War II Sherman tank? At Evansville Living, it’s all in a day’s work!
We say there’s never a dull day at the office, and while that statement often is accompanied by a laugh, it truly is no joke. Part of putting together a city magazine is exploring parts unknown and getting behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places, and things that shape our community.
For the sake of the job, Evansville Living staff have gotten to zip around on Segways when they were relatively new. Adventurous employees have gone to new heights by trying aerial yoga at the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana and rappelling down CenterPoint Energy’s nine-story Evansville headquarters for Over The Edge 4 Granted. We’ve wrapped ourselves in seaweed, sailed on the USS LST-325, and instructed Teddy the therapy pig, perfectly posed like the pro he is, to tilt his head slightly and say “cheese!” at a photo shoot.
While in Los Angeles, California, in December 2006 to interview “Smallville” actor and Newburgh native Michael Rosenbaum, Publisher & Editor Kristen Tucker scored an invite to late actress Carrie Fisher’s star-studded birthday party, where Rosenbaum and film director George Lucas brought out her cake. A few months later, Deaconess Henderson Hospital CEO Linda White got the fright of her life when she stumbled upon a murder victim, bloody knife in back, during a murder mystery photo shoot at the Reitz Home Museum in 2007. (Todd Tucker gamely posed as the “dead millionaire with no socks.”)
There was the time Evansville Living visited John Hull’s ranch in Mexican Yucatan in 2009. The 88-year-old former CIA operative spoke candidly of his time in a Costa Rican prison decades earlier and the investigation into his alleged involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. “We’re so pleased you’re coming,” Hull told Kristen Tucker during a pre-visit call. “We’ll try not to get you kidnapped.”
The work hasn’t always been fun. In late 2005, Evansville Living staff boarded a Traylor Bros. jet bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, and — clad in steel-toed boots — surveyed the submerged, post-Hurricane Katrina city from above and below bridges. Two months later, a Life Flight gave us a bird’s-eye view of the devastation wrought on Evansville and Newburgh by an F3 tornado.
As a bi-monthly publication, we often plan far in advance. In December 1999, three months before the inaugural issue of Evansville Living hit newsstands, Creative Director Laura Mathis and photographer Fred Reaves approached a dozen homeowners asking to photograph their houses’ front exteriors for the “12 Doors of Christmas” feature … for publication in a year. Imagine knocking on someone’s door and telling them you want to feature their home in a magazine that does not yet exist! We still marvel — and appreciate — how supportive people were in the magazine’s early days.
Read more 25th anniversary stories in the March/April 2025 feature.
Early work opportunities are crucial to developing professionals, and many successful careers have been launched at Evansville Living. Since 2001, the magazine has hosted 131 students for internships in graphic design, writing, photography, marketing, and advertising. In fact, Evansville Living earned Indiana INTERNnet’s first Impact Award for Outstanding Employer for its college internship program in 2006. Here, a few of those former interns share their favorite memories of working at Evansville’s city magazine.
Colleen (Bowen) Payne Editorial intern, 2001; Evansville Living’s first intern Graduate of the University of Evansville Program Consultant, Spina Bifida Association, Louisville, Kentucky
Kristen Tucker came to speakto my journalism class, and at the end I asked if they take interns. She said they had never had one before, and I said I would like to give it a try. I was Evansville Living’s first intern, so that is something special to me. The internship really bolstered my confidence, and I learned so much about the process of producing a magazine. I decided to focus on magazine journalism for my master’s degree.
I’d been working on the student publications staff since freshman year, but I was worried about how my skills would measure up in a professional environment. I remember being surprised at how much the Evansville Living staff let me do, and I think they were surprised that I could do those things. They let me do an entire special section on outdoor living in July/August 2001, and I still have copies of it in my files. I was so proud of it.
Chris Lenfert First graphics intern, 2003 Graduate of the University of Southern Indiana Web Developer, CodeGeek.net, Fort Collins, Colorado
It was validatingto put my skills to work and see my designs in high-gloss, full-color “real” publications. Everyone on the team — staff and owners — were very professional, but also nice, fun, and passionate. Seeing that type of group dynamic early in my career definitely helped me find it in future jobs.
Todd Tucker ran marathons at the time that I was interning. I was a soccer player in high school, and I didn’t think I could even run that many miles. Looking back now, I’m guessing Todd was about the same age I am now, or maybe even younger, and he’s still getting after it today.
Evansville Living elevates the community. It provides insights that aren’t on the surface, connections that are essential to community building, and inspiration for anyone who’s aware of the publication and the work that goes into producing it.
Kristen (Woszcynski) Lund Editorial intern, 2007 Graduate of the University of Evansville Physical therapist and founder, Bloom Physio, Bloomington, Indiana
The internship was a really important step in transitioning into the “real world” after college. At the time, at least, unpaid internships were incredibly common for English majors like myself, so the simple fact that I got paid made me feel like a valued member of the staff who was expected to produce professional-quality work, and I was eager to rise to the challenge.
I think Evansville Living builds community pride by highlighting the stories of the amazing people, organizations, businesses, and events in the area. When I lived in Evansville, I never felt like there was nothing to do, and I think a lot of that is because of Evansville Living bringing light to all of the opportunities available.
Jake Martin Graphics intern, 2006 Graduate of the University of Southern Indiana Musician and founder/guitarist of classic rock band The Smoke Rings, Mount Carmel, Illinois
The internship was a major accomplishment for me. Ten years before, I was working in a factory, dreaming of a better future. I took out loans and decided to give graphic design my full attention. I wanted to continue my education from USI in a real-world setting. The internship was the best thing a graduate could hope for.
One day, I decided to wear a shirt that was different than the Jim-from-“The-Office” gray or blue that I wore every day. It was a light rusty red colored shirt. Graphic artist Matt Wagner, who was always the early guy in the shop, said, “Oh, nice shirt, man. Now I’m hungry for salmon.” I never wore that shirt again.
The overall quality really makes Evansville look inviting. If someone were to ask me about what Evansville is like, my first response would be to check out an Evansville Living magazine.
Interning at TPG was effectively my launch into professional life. Because the publications are held to such a high standard, I knew coming in that this was going to be a valuable experience, but I didn’t anticipate how welcome, embraced, and valued I would feel. Louis LaPlante was a great writing coach, and something he taught me was to pull my lede from the middle of my story. It’s a technique I still use.
As a portrait photographer, I witness the power a great portrait has on a person’s self-image. When we see our best features emphasized and celebrated, it helps us see ourselves at our best and show up that way in our lives. Evansville Living does that for the city. When Evansville’s residents see themselves and their city highlighted in such an elevated way, it brings a sense of personal pride in the community.
Sarah (Ulrey) Mikhailova Editorial intern, 2004 Graduate of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri Media Relations Manager, Quad, New York City
It was the first time I could see my work in print in a real publication, working with real journalists, editors, and designers. It was really powerful for me to be part of the staff, as before this, I had only worked on student publications.
My immediate boss was Shellie Terry, and I did a whole bunch of stories for her. She helped me to improve my metaphors and writing structure. At the end of my internship, she said, “You did a great job — you’re a really good writer — but promise me, when you get back to school, you’ll take an editing class because your small editing errors detract from your writing.” It was really good, honest feedback that is funny in hindsight. And when I returned to college the next semester, I made sure I took a copyediting class.
Evansville Living really punches above its weight. The magazine represents the community of Evansville, its culture, and its vibrancy. It’s a beautiful representation of the community. It’s been rough out there in the publishing world. So, to me, Evansville Living is a wonderful standard bearer for local journalism.
Kaitlin (Crane) Mansfield Graphics intern, 2013 Graduate of the University of Southern Indiana Interior designer, SugarBakers Home Fashions
This was my first “big girl job.” This internship, which turned into some freelance work afterward, meant the world to me. I still have so much appreciation for Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., for giving me the opportunity.
I couldn’t believe I was trusted with designing sections of the magazines, even writing a small article or two that were published.
In today’s world, we’re so flooded with hard news through mainstream media, local media, and social media that we sometimes are overloaded with the “need to know” articles, and I believe Evansville Living harbors a feeling of “want to know.” People want to read about the positives happening in our city.
Jessica (Campbell) Hoffman Editorial intern, 2001 Graduate of the University of Southern Indiana Senior Account Executive, Tucker Publishing Group, Inc.
The magazine was still relatively new, with fewer employees than we have now. The tasks I received were great training for a soon-to-graduate college senior. I was thrilled when I was offered a full-time position with TPG in October before I graduated that December. It meant the world to me that I had secured a job and in the field I wanted to work in.
Todd let me shadow him a few times to see what his day was like. I recall that one of the stops was Roy’s Shoe Repair. I was also asked to play some pranks on Todd’s friends by making funny phone calls to them. Todd would tell me what I was supposed to say, and I would take notes, like a professional intern.
Evansville Living is the biggest cheerleader for our community. The magazine showcases Evansville as the vibrant community we are. It does such a nice job of attracting new people to move or interview here. Locals are proud of how their community is represented in their city and regional magazine. The publication puts local businesses on our readers’ radar. I have heard so many times over the years that readers discovered a new business that they enjoy patronizing because of the magazine.
Doug Hunter knows he’s filling big shoes, and he embraces the opportunity and challenge.
Jacob’s Pub is a new enterprise in the former North Main Street home of DiLegge’s Restaurant, which Italian food lovers enjoyed from 1986 to 2022. When owners Dan and Gina DiLegge closed their dining room and transitioned to catering, they passed the baton to Hunter, who in August 2024 rebranded the property.
Hunter had plenty of ideas of his own, like offering savory grinders, thick burgers, and tempting sandwiches. Sensing an opportunity, he began serving the full DiLegge’s menu in January. Those longtime DiLegge’s favorites — try not to let your mouth water thinking of that baked ziti, clams and linguine, four cheese ravioli, chicken scampi, manicotti, and lasagna — are living on under the same roof.
Only the name has changed.
“It’s still the original recipes with the original chef,” Hunter says. “And we’ve been blessed to have her.”
The DiLegge’s fare brought additional heft to what was already a robust menu with plenty of hearty selections — steaks, especially. Hunter takes pride in the porter- house, a 24-ounce cut, as well as the 16-ounce black Angus ribeye, both of which come with either tasty garlic pasta underneath or a baked potato alongside.
That same ribeye can also be served as Bistecca E Gambretti (alongside six shrimp). If you’re hankering for steak but slightly less hungry, grab the Filetto di Manzo, a 6-ounce seasoned tenderloin atop the garlic pasta.
The DiLegge’s influence is felt elsewhere on the Jacob’s Pub menu, too. Original DiLeg- ge’s house dressing is poured on the Insalata DiLegge and Greek salads. Glance at the dessert choices for even more tastes of Italy: There’s spumoni gelato, Italian cream cake, and cannoli.
Hunter looked to the Midwest for even more menu inspiration: He says that comes from his partner, Rachel, who hails from the Chicago, Illinois, area.
The Jacob’s Pub Chicago Hot Dog is no ordinary frankfurter. It comes loaded with mustard, diced onion, sweet relish, tomato, pickle, sport peppers, and celery salt. The Italian beef sandwich, meanwhile, is where Italy and the Windy City collide, and it’s prepared either hot or mild, with Italian gravy.
Don’t call Jacob’s Pub’s big sandwiches strombolis, though. Here, they are grinders. Wrap your hands around any of four — the Italian sausage, eggplant parmesan, meatball, or chicken parmesan. You’ll also discover Evansville favorites such as a German bologna or pork tenderloin sandwich, plus the Jacob’s Pub burger, which is a grind of brisket, short rib, and chuck, served with cheese and bacon on a pretzel bun.
Hunter says his house-made chips are a crackling match for any of those grinders or burgers. He prepares them with a salt, pepper, and garlic blend and no vegetable oil.
“They’re a hit,” he says. “They’re extra crunchy and have none of the nasty seed oils.”
Let’s back up to the beginning. Jacob’s Pub has filling appetizers, too. Hunter says the mushrooms stuffed with crab meat and herbs and topped with Alfredo sauce have been popular with diners. Other sharable choices for your table include smoked salmon antipasto, bruschetta, shrimp scampi, toasted ravioli, and cheese curds.
Hunter previously owned the local Heady’s Pizza chain, which ended its nearly 20-year run last year. He says his interest in taking over the former DiLegge’s location sparked on something of a whim: “I happened to drive by and saw a for-sale sign in the window.”
The name is a nod to the Jacobsville neighborhood, and it also honors a First Avenue steakhouse of the same name from many years ago. Hunter says he and his family dined at that original Jacob’s Pub when he was growing up.
Early returns have been positive – diners are flocking in. Hunter says he’s seeing a good mix of customers with Jacobsville residents rubbing elbows with those arriving from elsewhere in town.
They come to drink as well as well as dine. Jacob’s Pub has an ample bourbon and beer selection and plenty of wines, which pair well with the DiLegge’s Italian dishes. In fact, Jacob’s Pub looks much like DiLegge’s once did, with the same exterior façade, hardwood floors, and fun atmosphere.
Hunter is thankful for the community’s early show of support and for the DiLegges’ decision to hand down their well-known Italian recipes. “It’s been such a blessing to just have it take off as fast as it has,” he says. “It’s kind of been a whirlwind.”
Kazhia Kolb is a keen observer. Wherever she goes, the Indiana artist keeps her eyes open and pencils handy to quickly capture people in the moment.
“My subjects choose me,” Kolb says in a British-inflected accent. “I felt a bit sorry for them all, filling up my sketchbooks. So, I began looking for a way to make them come alive. Linoleum block prints worked best.” Long a painter, she taught herself the process.
“Fugitive Moments” is a new exhibition of Kolb’s prints that runs through April 20 at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science Begley Art Gallery. The figures in its 18 works — both active and reflective — have stories to tell.
Her people, flat and clear-cut, would be at home in the Bayeux Tapestry — on display in Normandy, France — depicting The Battle of Hastings in 1066.
“That’s because they’re influenced by Romanesque art, which has a tradition of expressive storytelling and gesture,” Kolb says. “I look for the gesture and build around it.”
“Man Reading.” Exhibit photos by Kazhia Kolb
This is evident in the music-making of “Quartet 2” and the activities of “Family Picnic.” Emphasizing a casual solitary subject, “Man Reading” is more reflective. Each work demonstrates that, for Kolb, “people are always active, always thinking.”
Others, like “Conversation,” look at changing social norms. Its subjects, a couple, sit together absorbed with their mobile phones. Yet, their feet are touching.
“Togetherness, but apart; that’s how society is going now,” Kolb says.
Her subtle, refined prints look more like paintings.
“I paint directly on the linoleum block, so you see all of my brushstrokes like you would in a monoprint,” Kolb says. “Then, I carefully place the paper over the painted surface.”
“Quartet.” Exhibit photos by Kazhia Kolb
With a wry smile, she explains that the next step is right out of a kitchen drawer.
“I use a wooden spoon to press on the paper and transfer the paint from the surface of the block,” she says.
Raised in England, Kolb was inspired by art study at Sorbonne University and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. She later moved to the U.S. and now lives in St. Meinrad, Indiana, with her husband. She created these prints in a sunny home studio.
“After years painting landscapes, movement and gesture are what I find most exciting now,” Kolb says.
Photo of the Downtown Evansville riverfront by Zach Straw
A crucial part of Evansville’s identity from the city’s beginning more than two centuries ago, the Ohio River remains as mighty today as it was then.
24 feet
Average river depth across its full length
53.74 feet
River’s record level in Evansville — nearly 19 feet above flood stage — during the 1937 flood
981
Miles it is long, starting at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and ending at Cairo, Illinois, where it flows into the Mississippi River
1975
Year the Newburgh Dam was completed, following five years of construction. The Newburgh Locks were placed in operation in late 1969
62,000
Approximate tonnage of commodities that passed through the Newburgh Locks and Dam — which sit 16 miles upstream from Downtown Evansville — during 2024, including coal, grains, crushed stone, petroleum products, iron, and wood chips
Sources: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service
Diners love their fish filets on Fridays during Lent, which this year runs from March 5-April 17. Hot catfish fiddlers are a staple all year long at Knob Hill Tavern. A mainstay in Newburgh, Indiana, since 1943, these cornmeal-crusted fiddlers earned Evansville Living readers’ accolades for best catfish in 2024. Many parishes hold pop-up fish fries during Lent, with St. Benedict Cathedral hosting one each Friday. Other established spots for fresh fried fish on daily menus are Tin Fish, also in Newburgh; COMFORT by the Cross-Eyed Cricket, Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub, and Major Munch, all Downtown; St. Phillip’s Inn, on Evansville’s far West Side; and via fish and chips platters from Bodine’s Newsstand food truck.
Read more about Evansville Living’s 25th anniversary in the March/April 2025 feature.
“Over the years, I have sent gift subscriptions to friends and relatives who live in larger cities like Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Georgia, and Indianapolis, and they have all told me that Evansville Living is a better-quality magazine with content and the material used to print the magazines than their own local magazine. Now, I would say that is a compliment!”
— Dennis Hare is an art and history collector whose artifacts have appeared in several issues. His holiday ornaments prominently factored into the “Shiny & Bright” cover of the November/ December 2013 issue.
“Evansville Living is one of the best marketing tools for our city. Over the years, I have made sure it was included in a packet for prospective employees, in a welcome basket for visitors (personally and professionally), and in presentations for work, whether on Capitol Hill or to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.”
— Lucy Himstedt has contributed articles about parish picnics and unique homes, and sent in Snapshots from around the world since retiring as the general manager of Channel 14 WFIE in 2004.
“Everyone looks forward to seeing their pic- ture in Evansville Living, including me! When I was asked to take a picture for Evansville Living, I said, ‘No problem.’ I met photographer Jesse Southerland at Veterans Memorial Coliseum and took a few pictures, and that was it. The next thing I know, I’m on the cover of the Best of Evansville issue!”
— Gina Moore is a singer and one half of The Browne Sisters gospel act. She was our editors’ pick for Most Likely to Steal the Spotlight in the 2006 Best of Evansville awards.
“An annual favorite is the Best of Evansville issue. It opens my eyes to what others have discovered and are passionate about in the entertainment, business, and government sectors. This is always a truly educational issue.”
— Randy Wheeler worked 30 years for WIKY-FM before retiring as news director in 2014. He penned the cover story about Newburgh in the March/April 2017 issue.
“I was very flattered to be asked to prepare a lengthy timeline for the 2012 bicentennial issue of City View. We adapted that work for Leadership Everyone’s visioning program and use it quarterly for LE retreats to shape attendees’ views on the area’s past.”
— Kelly Coures retired in January 2024 as executive director of the Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development. He has shared his vast knowledge of local history with Evansville Living readers since 2011.
“When I have what I thinkis an interesting story idea, I don’t hesitate to reach out, as was the case when I emailed Kristen Tucker in December 2022 about George Relyea and his passion for baking bread. How cool is that? I’m not sure if we lived in a larger community, we would have the option to get to know the magazine’s publisher and editor.”
— Patricia Jackson is a communications specialist for CenterPoint Energy. Her passion for cooking was featured in the September/October 2018 issue.
“(Evansville Living has) an impact on the whole Tri-State and has shown locals and visitors what it means to be here. We live in a great River City. It’s nice to be reminded, ‘Look what’s here.’ You live here; you should be proud of that. … It’s a bold introduction to this community.”
— Kirsten Wagmeister was feted by readers as the Most Active Volunteer on the July/August 2003 Best of Evansville cover. In the magazine’s early years, she also covered events in a section called Soiree.
“Evansville Living has made people know that this is a great place to live with a whole lot going on. It’s made the city more knowledge- able in recognizing people who have done a lot for the city that others didn’t know about. Recognizing people who have lived here and what they’ve accomplished. Hidden treasures. It has brought to the horizon things that peo- ple never knew about.”
— Frank Patton Jr.’s sons Frank III and Jeremiah both have interned for Evansville Living. The retired caterer’s barbecue was featured in the March/April 2016 cover story, “Into The Pit.”
Evansville skyline photo taken in February 2025 by Zach Straw
Read more 25th anniversary stories in the March/April 2025 feature.
Picture Evansville in early 2000.Although Y2K hysteria proved unfounded, we were on the cusp of big cultural changes. Email was in its infancy, chat rooms were the rage, and social media — who had heard of that? If we had news to share, we mailed a letter. If we wanted to meet a friend at the Casino Aztar riverboat, we picked up the phone and called them. We swapped stories over plates of schnitzel at Gerst Bavarian Haus, then a new West Side restaurant. We weren’t glued to electronic devices for the simple reason that cell phones — and tablets, and laptops — had yet to break into the mainstream. Meanwhile, Todd and Kristen Tucker asked themselves a question: “Why doesn’t Evansville have a city magazine?” After years of flipping through hyper-local glossy publications while traveling, the Tuckers led a coordinated effort spotlighting the people, places, and things that color Evansville, from beautiful homes and beloved pets to solar eclipses, nostalgia, and our unending love affair with pizza. A quarter-century later, Evansville Living still has plenty
of stories to share. Look back at these 25 highlights since the magazine first rolled off the press in 2000.
Cover of Evansville Living’s first issue
1.Let’s Start at the Beginning Launched in March/April 2000, the inaugural issue of Evansville Living sported a bird’s-eye view of the city skyline shot by Fred Reaves from the Mead Johnson parking lot behind its Ohio Street complex. Inside, an ensemble of notable writers crafted the first features on Scott Anderson’s restoration of the Old County Jail, the Ohio River Scenic Route, and master trumpeter Doc Severinsen. That first issue crackled with excitement and potential. As Kristen Tucker stated in her first editor’s letter, the magazine was “founded on the sincere belief that the Evansville area is an exciting, diverse, and unique place to live and write about.” Readers agreed then, and still do!
2.Longstanding News Anchors Just Now Retiring Some of the most recognizable faces in any community are its television news anchors, and Evansville is no different – a May/June 2002 article profiled five of them (Randy Moore, then of WTVW; Brad Byrd of WEHT; and David James, Ann Komis, and Mike Blake, all of WFIE). The piece described the quintet as “long running,” but as it turned out, they were just getting started: All stayed on local airwaves way beyond the article’s publication. Both Moore, who moved onto WFIE, and Byrd signed off in 2024. Komis and James retired in 2014 and 2015, respectively. And Blake? Viewers still can tune into “Middays with Mike” on WFIE.
Actor Michael Rosenbaum first was profiled by Evansville Living in early 2007.
3.Being Starstruck Evansville Living has enjoyed rubbing elbows with VIPs now and then. Michael Rosenbaum, who was raised in Newburgh and portrayed Lex Luthor in the TV show “Smallville,” was interviewed for cover stories in 2007 and 2012. The magazine has profiled “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement” creator Matt Williams as well as fellow University of Evansville theater graduate Ron Glass. A July/August 2007 interview with Sue Watkins delved into the creative genius of her late brother, the fashion designer and Benjamin Bosse High School alum known as Halston. The River City, of course, also was a setting for the 1992 star-studded baseball movie “A League of Their Own,” and while the production predated Evansville Living, the magazine’s 2011 City View issue recalled that memorable summer when Tom Hanks, Madonna, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, and other stars roamed Evansville for a little while — “A Film of Our Own,” the article called it.
4.What’s New in Food? Where to eat? From the beginning, Evansville Living has shared its appetite for memorable dining experiences with readers. The inaugural issue described Regent Court (which rebranded in 2003 as Cavanaugh’s on the River) as “no place to plan a cheap date,” but where diners “get what (they) pay for.” It also praised Gerst Bavarian Haus – then a mere three years old – as the authentic German restaurant Evansville had long needed. Other early editions reviewed Turoni’s, whose thin-crust pizza still stands the test of time, and although it closed in 2022, DiLegge’s Italian dishes live on at Jacob’s Pub. After 25 years, have we had our fill? Not even close.
The new Ford Center arena in Downtown Evansville was introduced to Evansville Living readers in the November/December 2007.
5.Downtown’s Overhaul As a Downtown resident ourselves, Evansville Living has had a front-row seat to the neighborhood’s transformation. Old National Bank and the utility now known as CenterPoint Energy opened riverfront headquarters in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The Koch Family Children’s Museum of Evansville opened in 2006 in the former Central Library building. We were around, too, for construction of the Ford Center in 2011. (Can you believe it’s been 14 years?) When the Casino Aztar riverboat sailed off in 2017, gamers moved to the land-based casino now known as Bally’s Evansville. It sits within view of the USS LST-325, which in 2020 relocated downriver from Inland Marina. Let’s also not forget the 2017 debut of the Hilton DoubleTree hotel and the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences a year later, plus many restaurants, small businesses, and housing units. What will Downtown look like in the next 25 years? Stay tuned.
Plans for a major leaguer-backed ballpark went from “go” to “no” in the span of one Evansville Living production cycle.
6.Reporting in the Moment It was supposed to be a swing and a hit. Instead, it was a bad case of whiplash: Class A baseball was coming to Evansville from Georgia, backed by star power like retired Yankee Don Mattingly and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. as minority owners. “Evansville television stations went live with the announcement, and it had the feel of a genuine pep rally,” Mark Mathis wrote in the March/April 2003 issue.By the very next issue, that “go” was a “no,” as the $25 million concept had been scrapped.
7.Dreaming Up Idea Homes While touring Coastal Living’s Idea Home in Beaufort, South Carolina, in summer 2002, real estate developer John Pickens and his late wife, Susan, wondered if this same initiative could land in Evansville. The concept showcasing the region’s best in original residential construction and design in one premier home appealed to the Pickenses, who shared the idea with Evansville Living’s owners upon returning to the River City. The idea took root, and a jaw-dropping seven months later, Evansville’s first Idea Home opened in Sutherland, then a new subdivision of Southern-style residences off Covert Avenue. Buoyed by local enthusiasm, five more Idea Homes followed, including a McCutchanville villa with European influences in 2005, an Old World-New World marriage in Cambridge Village in 2007, a lakeside retreat in The Estates at Victoria in 2009, the extensive restoration of a historic property on Washington Avenue in 2010, and a mansion with Southern California cool in Victoria Estates in 2021. Tours of each Idea Home benefited area charities and put local collaboration front and center.
8.Big Moves at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science Wasn’t it only yesterday that Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science was in the middle of its $14.1 million expansion? Actually, that was 12 years ago. At the time of the January/February 2013 issue, four of the five phases of the construction project were completed, with the final stage being a renovated plaza and planetarium to replace the former 60-year-old dome. The new planetarium has since become a main attraction at the museum, showing the wonders of the universe. Since then, Mary Bower retired as the museum’s John Streetman Executive Director, and the museum’s rediscovered Picasso glass mosaic, “Seated Woman with Red Hat,” was put on display last year. The Picasso’s rediscovery made national news, and it took more than a decade for the public to gaze upon it once again, bringing a once-forgotten treasure back into the light.
9. Evansville at War Evansville’s wartime prowess is the stuff of legend, receiving major attention since 2005, when the USS LST-325 was sailed up the Ohio River to its new home in a town that produced 167 of them (more than any other U.S. shipyard) during World War II. That, in addition to manufacturing 6,670 P-47 aircraft and 96 percent of the country’s total .45 caliber ammunition, sparked the 2017 opening of the Evansville Wartime Museum to document the city’s staggering war efforts. A national WWII Heritage City designation — an honor only one city per state can receive — followed in 2023, which inspired Indiana officials to create a statewide military trail. “Here on the home front, Evansville stepped up to the challenges as many cities across the country did. World War II changed the fabric of our city in business and industry, societal norms, population, and much more,” read an opening paragraph of the January/February 2021 cover story. Seventy years after the war ended, the city’s hard work is getting its due credit.
Photo of 420 Main implosion on Nov. 21, 2021, by Audra Straw
10.420 Main and Main Street The city has seen subtractions over the past quarter century, as well as fits and starts on certain activities. Nowhere was this truer than on the Main Street block between Fourth and Fifth streets. The former Old National Bank headquarters — at 18 stories, a signature part of the city’s skyline — was eyed in 2019 for a remodel that would whip it back into shape. (The December 2019/January 2020 Evansville Business cover story delved into the concept.) A closer building inspection and the COVID-19 pandemic took a wrecking ball to those plans, and the decision was made to implode it and start anew. That spectacle carried the January/February 2022 issue of Evansville Living. In 2024, we were there again as ground was broken on a four-story mixed-use development, which has been framing up fast ahead of its expected 2026 completion date.
Since 2001, Evansville Living readers have shared their picks on the city’s best. Editors have weighed in, too — for example, naming singer Gina Moore “Most Likely to Steal the Spotlight” in 2006.
11.Celebrating the Best of Evansville Each summer buzzes in Evansville Living’s office, as the magazine’s Best of Evansville awards come together. Since 2001, readers have voted for the businesses, organizations, places, and people they think stand apart from the rest in town, and the awards have become a point of pride among winners. Staff get in on the fun for this city magazine staple, too. Editors’ picks have included winners for Best Way to Light Up the Night, Best Unvarnished Look at Evansville, Best Way to Throw Shade, Best Comeback, and Best Glow-Up. The best part? Seeing what readers choose each year, adding new and unique perspectives on our city.
Photo of Nicole and Chad Bobe in April 2023 by Zach Straw
12.Most Beautiful Homes Home stories are a big hit with readers, and this is one of our most popular issues. Inspired by a concept in St. Louis Magazine, in 2019 Evansville Living editors featured the first profile of the area’s Most Beautiful Homes. It was no easy feat: Eighty-two homes were vetted, and the list whittled down to 10. We start photographing at the first tinge of green each spring. Varying architectural styles are celebrated, and each profile uncovers the details and stories that make each residence unique. Backed by readers’ enthusiasm, five covers have been devoted to Most Beautiful Homes stories, with a sixth on the way — we already are scouting homes to appear in May/June!
Photo of April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse on the Evansville riverfront by Zach Straw
13.Chasing Eclipses What are the odds that we’d find ourselves in the shadow of the sun twice in 25 years? Evansville skirted 2017’s Great American Solar Eclipse and the magazine was all aboard, trumpeting the eclipse on the July/August cover and even printing posters. Community organizers broke out those prints five years later when they started planning for 2024’s eclipse, in which the River City landed a coveted spot in the path of totality. Thousands of umbraphiles — a term for eclipse chasers, we learned — again flocked to Evansville for the celestial event last spring. Consider us starstruck.
A 2009 Evansville Living story about ex-CIA operative John Hull resulted in a note from Col. Oliver North thanking the magazine for the story on his “friend and patriot.”
14.Stories That Got People Talking “Did you see that article in Evansville Living?” Plenty of stories have sparked conversation in coffee shops, around the office water cooler, and, more recently, on social media. More buzz came in a July/August 2003 story that asked crucial questions about a splashy plan for an aquarium – it eventually went belly up. A 2009 story about John Hull, a Gibson County farmer who spent years as a CIA operative and factored into the Iran-Contra Affair, resulted in a note from Col. Oliver North thanking the magazine for the story on his “friend and patriot.” On a lighter (figuratively speaking!) note, the May/June 2016 cover story unveiled the discovery of a two century-old wooden mallet in Spencer County that belonged to, drumroll please, Abraham Lincoln. “It was very exciting,” then-Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch told Evansville Living. “… Not just to be a part of it, but to be able to hold it. Something that Lincoln made and held; it was surreal.”
15. Times We Wore Our Heart on Our Sleeve Events both locally and internationally have reminded us that life shouldn’t be taken for granted. Evansville Living was in its second year when hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001. The devastation touched every corner of the globe, including Evansville. Still raw with grief, the final issue of 2001 encouraged in readers a sense of reflection through images of Evansville houses of worship, and Sept. 11 influenced the magazine’s coverage throughout the next year. A closer-to-home tragedy came on Nov. 6, 2005, when an overnight tornado roared across the Ohio River and claimed 25 lives in Evansville and Warrick County. The next six issues mourned the neighbors we lost and chronicled what happened through survivor and first responder accounts.
16. Songs of Our City Music is a part of the city’s soul, and Evansville Living’s as well. Readers learn the stories behind performers like the Evansville Philharmonic’s classical musicians and singers, harpist Caroline Roberts, singer-songwriter Brick Briscoe, and Father Claude Burns, a Catholic pastor and rapper. A 2011 cover story declared that the city’s music scene was budding and “about to make some noise.” That proved prescient: When the July/August 2024 issue came around, some of the stages had changed (RIP Duck Inn and Gloria’s Corral Club), but local bands and talent were soaring. The Pits remain a favorite for their big bag of eclectic covers. The magazine winked at multi-instrumentalist Monte Skelton’s many talents on the 2020 Best of Evansville cover. Newer bands such as groovy Georgia Funkadelic and punk rockers The Chugs have made waves and helped usher in Evansville’s first Front Porch Fest in 2015.
Readers met Erin Miller and her four rabbits, plus dogs, cats, birds, and more pets in the March/April 2019 feature story.
17. Pets Who Have Captured Human Hearts We love our own pets at Evansville Living, and given a chance, we’ll probably love yours, too. Over 25 years, we’ve devoted three covers (so far!) to the beloved animals that enrich our lives. The July/August 2023 cover package, featuring reader-favorite therapy pig Teddy, noted how pets helped us persevere during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 1-year-old Labrador named Little Boss graced the March/April 2019 cover, while the September/October 2013 cover package reported on “pawsitively the most epic showdown of all time” — dog vs. cat — a debate which still causes fur to fly.
Greyhound building photo by Tom Barrows
18. Championing Historic Preservation Historic preservation is in Evansville Living’s DNA, and not just because two of the magazine’s three offices have been housed in historic buildings. One early piece was the March/April 2002 cover story detailing resident Kathy Oliver’s battle with the Historic Preservation Commission over her plan to restore a home on Southeast Riverside Drive – the dispute centered on windows, of all things, and wound up in court. By the May/June 2005 issue, the Preservation Commission had approved a lengthy list of rules to guide its work. Other stories have chronicled high-profile commercial and residential projects, like the former National Biscuit Company building as 2nd Language restaurant and upper-level apartments. Multiple issues reported on the years-long effort to bring back the beloved former Greyhound station Downtown — its second life as BRU Burger Bar remains a point of pride. And who can forget Owen Block? The 1882-era French Second Empire building on Chestnut Street would have faced demolition if not for the efforts of Indiana Landmarks, Architectural Renovators, and a group of passionate citizens who called themselves “Blockheads.” On the horizon? Preservation work at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Mesker Amphitheatre, and more.
19.Power Players The November/December 2001 issue asked, “How has Evansville produced so many great athletes?” There are too many to name, but the city’s starting lineup is stacked, and many have graced the magazine’s covers. In spring 2000, Evansville hoops stars Calbert Cheaney and Walter McCarty posed on the TD Garden court in Boston, Massachusetts, for the magazine’s second cover. New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly’s 2003 cover touted a new baseball stadium for his hometown. Pro golfer Jeffrey Overton lined up a putt at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, on the March/April 2006 cover. Putting Olympic gold medal swimmer Lilly King on Evansville Living’s 100th issue cover in 2016 just made sense, as she was celebrating two gold medals earned at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That athletic star power led to “Sports Town,” a 2024 feature package with stories about renowned River City athletes, the city’s many IHSAA titles, profiles on up-and-coming sports stars, and more jewels in the city’s sports crown.
20.Indulging Nostalgia The city’s colorful history has given Evansville Living readers plenty of opportunities to reminisce. 2020 kicked off with a look back at Evansville’s 1970s culture, such as the disastrous music festival in 1972 known as Bull Island, the shocking 1977 car bombing death of wealthy oilman and gambler Ray Ryan, and, also in 1977, the reverberating grief of losing the University of Evansville men’s basketball team and others in a downed airplane. Many other nostalgic reflections in the magazine brought joy, like a 2014 cover package full of readers’ memories of growing up in the River City, from seeing Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden’s monkey ship to eating at the Farmer’s Daughter restaurant.
21.Weathering COVID-19 There has not been a greater impact on so many lives in recent years than the COVID-19 pandemic. We started seeing local effects in spring 2020, and the government’s subsequent stay-at-home mandate resulted in the first issue of Evansville Living produced entirely remotely. The May/June issue noted the strange circumstances in a photo essay called Porch Portraits: From a safe distance, Zach Straw photographed family and friends, even the furry ones, from the entrance of their domiciles as the world navigated a new socially distanced normal. Some people had fun with it — striking a silly pose or putting on a mock circus act — while others displayed messages of community solidarity and support for front-line workers. Five years to the month since COVID-19 changed life in Evansville, we find it’s still worth reflecting on.
22.We Still Love Pizza Over the years, we’ve hungrily enjoyed reporting on Evansville’s pizza palate. A 2015 cover story — “written and devoured” by Evansville Living, the byline read — paid tribute to longtime favorites like the cracker-thin crusts served una-style at Turoni’s, wide gourmet slices at (where else?) The Slice, a Grippos-and-Ski Westsider pie from the Niemeier brothers at Azzip Pizza, and spin-offs like stacked strombolis from Pizza King. What’s been cooking since then? In 2017, we sank our teeth into the Neapolitan and Detroit-style pizzas at Pangea Kitchen. A signature stromboli pie from Spankey’s Una Pizza comforted us while social distancing in spring 2020. And we were hungrily lining up in 2021 when the Square Zip debuted at Azzip.
23.Capturing a Slice of Evansville Life Stories of the rhythms and energies that make up everyday life are what fuel Evansville Living, and several cover stories have dug into those slices of life. Take a 2011 lighthearted exploration of people, places, and things in the city that define “fun,” or the tongue-in-cheek analysis of what pumps up the male species in 2006’s “The Man Issue.” (We still break out those Best Damn Chili recipes!) A 2009 issue sought to answer “how does it feel?” to catch a ride on Air Force One (then-Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel), score a hole in one in golf (Robbie Kent Sr.), win the lottery (Bruce Rockman did it twice), and sail a boat for three years (Randy Julian). And as Evansville’s multicultural population has grown and evolved, cover stories in 2007 and 2025 spotlighted new residents and the cultures they brought with them to their new hometown — proving that a slice of life in Evansville is anything but ordinary.
24.On The Open Road Road trip! Just like readers, Evansville Living has traveled from coast to coast, both literally via Snapshots and figuratively in the destinations written about in these pages. Readers have tagged along as magazine staff and intrepid contributors have feasted on oysters along Orange Beach, Alabama; rooted for mail jumpers on Wisconsin’s Geneva Lake; taken a salsa dance lesson at Mango’s Tropical Café in the heart of Miami, Florida’s South Beach neighborhood; sampled Rhône-style wines and adventurous cuisine in Fredericksburg, Texas; and discovered a 20-degree temperature difference along the 2.7-mile Sandia Peak aerial tramway in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A spring 2004 story likened a Caribbean excursion to “sailing through a postcard.” Ten years later, we cruised that idyllic path again. What destination is next on Evansville Living’s itinerary? Stay tuned!
What started as a cheeky remark in a March/April 2001 feature story still rings true: No matter where you are in the world, you’re six degrees of separation — or less! — from Evansville.
25.Evansville Still is the Center of the World We know you’ve experienced it: You’re out of town, maybe at a ballgame or a concert, and while engaging with a group of folks in the hotel lobby, you learn one of them grew up in Evansville. What started as a cheeky remark in a March/April 2001 feature story still rings true: No matter where you are in the world, you’re six degrees of separation from Evansville. Inspired by the 1994 game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” Evansville Living staff put their own twist on it and found links to everyone from 1920s singer Al Jolson, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, crooner Frank Sinatra, rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Buddy Holly, even the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. After 25 years, we can add more names — and even shorter links — to the list, like singer Bruno Mars, who has won half of his 16 Grammy Awards with his songwriting partner, 1992 Reitz Memorial High School graduate Philip Lawrence. Whether overt or under the radar, the River City’s ties across the world always have a way of coming to the surface.
For nearly 100 years, U.S. 41 has been an essential route for north-south travel, but did you know its boundaries expand far outside the Tri-State?
Today’s 2,000-mile highway stretches from Copper Harbor on Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula southeast to Brickell, a high-rise neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It partly follows a trail between the Great Lakes and the Gulf that buffalo and Native American tribes once traversed. During the stagecoach era, a section from Henderson, Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee, was called Buttermilk Road after the jugs that farmers left for travelers to quench their thirst.
In 1915, Evansville Mayor Benjamin Bosse launched a campaign to build the Dixie Bee Line, which would link the road with the Florida Short Route (now U.S. Route 280) near Nashville. The Dixie Bee Line became part of U.S. Route 41 and the new U.S. Numbered Highway System on Nov. 11, 1926. An average of 40,000 vehicles cross the Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Twin Bridges every day.
Before a bridge connected Evansville and Henderson, travelers relied on ferries cruising between Dade Park (now Ellis Park) racetrack and Downtown Henderson. The first cantilever bridge, named after 19th century naturalist John James Audubon, opened in 1932, and a second carried southbound traffic starting in 1965. Construction on a new bridge for Interstate 69 travelers is slated to begin in 2027.
Wishes are a big part of Granted, but they are just one element of the nonprofit’s mission.
Founded in the 1980s as Wish Upon A Star, the organization offers dreamed-of experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses. As its range of services expanded into emotional and financial support, community involvement, and guidance for navigating steps, in 2016 it rebranded as Granted.
Heather Lawson was introduced to Granted when her 18-year-old daughter, Alexis Rusin, was diagnosed with an aggressive late-stage cancer. Overwhelmed and with little time, Lawson credits Granted Executive Director Susan Washburn for working tirelessly and quickly to ensure that medical equipment, backup plans, and medications were in place for air travel and the Disney visit.
“They took care of all the expenses,” Lawson says with emotion. “When your child’s dying, the last thing you want to say to them is ‘no.’”
Many relatives of Granted’s wish recipients express their gratitude by volunteering for the nonprofit. After Alexis Rusin, pictured with her younger sister, died in 2021, her mother joined efforts to fundraise for the House of Hope. Each spring, Dan Dennison — clad in late son Grant’s signature stars-and-stripes hoodie — rappels down a nine-story building as part of Over The Edge 4 Granted. Moved by the support they received during his surgeries, 19-year-old Jason Reeves and his mother, Connie, are studying psychology and nursing, respectively, at the University of Evansville. Photo provided by source.
After Alexis passed away in December 2021, Lawson became honorary fundraising chair for the House of Hope, a multi-purpose center for Wish families under construction on Oak Hill Road.
Dan Dennison channels his pain into a new mission after losing his 16-year-old son Grant to an extremely rare and difficult-to-treat cancer in May 2022. Dennison became involved with Granted so his son could participate in the inaugural Over The Edge rappelling fundraiser that April but as the date approached, Grant entered hospice.
In addition to giving Dennison a financial gift, “After Grant’s passing, they arranged for us to have precooked meals delivered,” he says. “They kept in contact and included us in with the Granted Guardians website. … We stayed in contact with the organization and new events. Come the next April, I decided to participate.” Dennison now serves as a volunteer board member.
Jason Reeves has had his own unique experience as a Wish kid. Diagnosed with hydrocephalus as an infant, Reeves’ first surgery was when he was one. More than 40 followed. Granted stepped in to assist his family when Reeves was nine and build a lifelong relationship.
Now 19 and considered a Wish “graduate,” Reeves is pursuing a psychology and pre-medicine career track at the University of Evansville. He has joined Granted’s board of directors and is quick to credit the organization for improving his and his family’s lives throughout his procedures.
“I started reaching out to Susan because I just love helping … the people who help me,” he says.
For decades, crossing U.S. 41 at Washington Avenue on foot was a treacherous act, with pedestrians like Benjamin Bosse High School students aided only by sign-carrying guards in florescent vests as they trekked over five lanes of heavy, fast-moving traffic. Now, they can cross with confidence, ease — and safety.
The state long resisted pleas from Evansville mayors and Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation board members, among others, to construct a pedestrian bridge. But a turning point came in 2019, when then-Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and then-Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer brought former Gov. Eric Holcomb to the intersection. Finally, state transportation officials “got behind the project and pushed it,” says Mike Duckworth, an EVSC board member and himself a 1974 Bosse graduate.
Built throughout 2024, the concrete-and-steel bridge features ADA-accessible ramps on both sides and is wide enough to accommodate several lanes of foot traffic.
Christmas came early for students, as the bridge — although lacking finishing touches — opened in December.
“The pedestrian bridge is more than just steel and concrete — it’s the result of decades of advocacy from parents, educators, and community leaders who have refused to accept unsafe conditions for our students,” Bosse Principal Aaron Huff says. “It’s peace of mind for parents, security for students, and a reminder of what can be accomplished when a community comes together for its young people.”
Bosse students, Huff adds, “have been thrilled. While it takes a few more steps to cross 41, we’ll gladly take those steps to ensure our safety.”
Thank you! By reading this letter and this issue you are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Evansville Living! We could not have done it without you!
We are marking the 151st issue with a new look, a redesign, while we look back on reflecting the city for a quarter century. If you are holding this issue — yes, print is having a renaissance; thousands of copies were printed and distributed through the mail! — you might notice the magazine has experienced a growth spurt: The width has increased by a quarter of an inch. This additional space gives Creative Director Laura Mathis and her team just enough extra room to better use our layout grids, resulting in pages that we think are more reader friendly.
The nameplate, or Evansville Living logo, also is new, though it continues to harken back to the original nameplate design (in use until 2012, when the most recent iteration was introduced). Inside, you’ll find the same sections you go straight to — the events calendar and dining guide, for example — but with new, easy-to-navigate designs.
As we reworked the look of the magazine, we took time to look back; after all, anniversaries are occasions to reflect. Loyal readers for 25 years — you know who you are; thank you! — will recognize the cover photograph as a throwback to the inaugural March/April 2000 cover, but with the city’s now grown-up riverfront. Photographer Zach Straw took the striking image in February with his drone camera. (Smack dab in the middle of the picture are the Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., offices.) The main feature story is a huge collaboration by Managing Editor Jodi Keen, Senior Writer John Martin, and Staff Writer Maggie Valenti, along with the art department and longtime sales account executives Jessica Hoffman and Jennifer Rhoades.
They reviewed all 150 issues produced, noted significant stories, and organized them into the feature, “25 on 25,” beginning on page 38. Most of the stories referenced can be read in full on our website; start typing in your browser!
We welcome comments on the redesign. Thank you for your ongoing engagement with Evansville Living!
As always, I look forward to hearing from you. And … cheers!
Without this bendin the Ohio River, there would be no Evansville. It has defined the geographical and commercial aspects of our city, and since its inception, our magazine.
We live in the bend, tucked in so snugly that but for a vantage point on Reitz Hill, you don’t really get a grasp of all that you’re seeing. But it’s always there, grounding us.
Some of our city’s biggest moments were shaped by this river, and it continues to define our trajectory. Built up from the water, Evansville still is pulled back toward it, right down to the 45-degree angle that tips Downtown streets toward the water. As our staff mulled the magazine’s new look, the river emerged as a major thematic structure. You’ll find a new section called The Bend near the start of the magazine, and a riverbend end note concluding each story — just like how the Ohio skirts Evansville from beginning to end.
Evansville Living has never been more than two blocks away from the Ohio River. From passing watercraft to stunning sunsets, the water bookends our days with its gentle, steady movements. The river keeps pulling us closer.
A lot can happen in a decade. Just ask Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band. The Spanish-and-English indie music duo of Diaz and his wife, Alisha Gaddis, a 1999 F.J. Reitz High School graduate, were performing at Wesselman Woods’ Art in the Park when Evansville Living first featured them in the May/June 2014 issue.
The band also was fresh off winning its first Latin Grammy award in 2013 for Best Latin Children’s Album for “¡Fantastico!” With that accolade, Diaz and Gaddis became the first Americans to win a Latin Grammy in a children’s category.
“It is so special that I get to share what I do … in such a fun capacity,” Gaddis told Evansville Living that spring.
Since then, the band has been nominated for three more Latin Grammy awards — winning one in 2019 with the album “¡Buenos Diaz!” — as well as three Grammys for Best Children’s Album.
The Family Jam Band’s latest hardware came on Feb. 2, when The Recording Academy named its 2024 release “Brillo, Brillo!” Best Children’s Album. It was the group’s first Grammy win and a special moment for Gaddis.
“Winning a Grammy is an incredible honor, but what makes it even more special is representing the Midwest on a global stage,” Gaddis says.
“This win is not just for me. It’s for every kid in a small town who dares to believe that their voice can reach the world,” she adds. “It’s a reminder that big dreams can start anywhere, and with passion and persistence, they can take you everywhere.”
Do you enjoy meet-cutes with adoptable animals? Give cat yoga at River Kitty Cat Cafe a try. Evansville Living staff visited to see how the fur flies.
The Scoop
Since 2023, River Kitty’s cat room has let patrons meet felines available for adoption through Vanderburgh Humane Society. Cat yoga ups the cute ante.
Participants should bring their own mats and arrive 10 minutes early for the hourlong class, which often is led by Elizabeth Maurer and Brooke Armbruster. While a maximum of 15 humans are led through a continuous flow of simple poses, about a half-dozen cats wander between participants.
The Verdict
During Jan. 25’s class, five cats were playful with participants, with some demanding attention or lying down on yoga mats. Others expressed interest in playing with human toes or touching hair. Participants often broke their positions to pet the cats and take photos, giving the class a relaxed atmosphere.
“Spending time with adoptable cats is always a good time for cat lovers, but the cats benefit the most! It’s enrichment for them — meeting new people and experiencing something new,” says Laurie Miller, Development and Public Relations Coordinator with VHS.
Need to Know
Monthly classes are held on Saturdays and cost $20. Registration is required. Half-hour sessions for $8 are subject to availability. Classes are open to participants over age 12 and all skill levels.
Reitz Memorial High School opened its doors to students on Jan. 5, 1925, helping mold future generations over the next 100 years.
Memorial educators prioritize holistic learning, tying academics and spirituality through the private school’s affiliation with the Catholic Diocese of Evansville and Brothers of Holy Cross. That cultural aspect has drawn teachers like Randy Hupfer, who has taught math at Memorial for 45 years.
“Overall, the kids are really still the same. They’re trying to figure out who they are, how they’ll be successful,” he says. “… It always feels special having Mass. … It makes me feel more connected to the Memorial community.”
Since its founding by Francis Joseph Reitz, the Blue Ribbon School — A-rated by the Indiana Department of Education — has made its mark on its students and the Evansville community. It has produced a network of 16,000 alumni, and student-athletes have won 25 IHSAA championships since 1942.
“I would consider us highly competitive in the state,” says Angie Lensing, head girls’ soccer coach and health and physical education teacher for 29 years. “I feel lucky to be a part of the ride.”
Future plans first involve a $10 million capital campaign to invest in facility improvements and maintenance, academics and spiritual development, tuition assistance, and more.
President Josh Reising also highlights goals to reestablish a former 90-year relationship with Brothers of Holy Cross, broaden partnerships with local universities, expand workplace readiness programs, and launch a broadcasting department.
“During my time here, my mission is to honor and build upon the legacy of those who came before me, strengthening the foundation they laid, empower our community, and ensuring our school’s tradition of excellence continues to thrive for generations to come,” Reising says.
Photos on this spread of Mary Ann Lingo and Dr. Max Lingo's home by Zach Straw
For writers, editors, and photographers who enjoy residential architecture and home and garden design, working at a city magazine is a good gig. Offering readers a peek inside beautiful homes is a mainstay of the business; we consider it one of the best perks of the job. It’s not uncommon for Creative Director Laura Mathis to share a preview of the Home of the Issue on her socials captioned, “My Office for the Day.” While we are preparing to photograph multiple properties this spring for upcoming issues, here we look back at 25 homes that stand the test of time.
WE’RE ALL ABOUT COLOR
1. MaryAnn Lingo and her late husband Dr. Max Lingo brought a signature bold look to their riverfront home (January/February 2019). “Most people don’t like this much color in their home, but we like color,” MaryAnn said. “I don’t do neutral.”
2. The story on Mary Beth and Michael Guard’s New Harmony, Indiana, loft (May/June 2024) was aptly titled, “House of Hues.” “The color of the glass tile in the kitchen is the same color we used for our wedding nearly 46 years ago,” Mary Beth, who owns Capers Emporium on the first floor of the building, said.
3. Joni Matthews’ home in the University of Evansville neighborhood displays a colorful attitude much like her fashion sense. Featured in September/ October 2014, the sunroom highlights Matthews’ affection for the beach and sailing.
4. An apartment above the former Stratman’s Pharmacy on Main Street (March/April 2023) caught our eye with a big fish peering from the corner window. The fish was a relic from an early 2000s United Way fundraiser; the space was occupied by Rick Kueber and Elizabeth Clark. “We’re always trying to find funky stuff,” Elizabeth told us.
5. Designed and built in 1981 by Dr. Sanford and Jacquie Schen, the notable double geodesic dome home was featured in July/August 2004. The game room makes use of colorful geometric shapes in the art and upholstery to play to the home’s architecture.
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Photo of Mary Beth and Michael Guard's home in New Harmony, Indiana, by Zach Straw
Photo of Joni Matthews' home by Jerry Butts
Photo of Elizabeth Clark and Rick Kueber by Zach Straw
Photo of Dr. Sanford and Jacquie Schen's home by Nino Cocciarella
HISTORIC BEAUTIES
6. The yellow Italianate home of Kirk and Sherry Wright on Southeast Riverside Drive is an attention grabber (May/June 2014). The couple named the 1869 “Casa Finale” — for it is to be the last home they purchase. The home made an earlier appearance in March/April 2002 in a story called “Price of Preservation.”
7. Scott and Claire Bosma’s Historic Newburgh, Indiana, home (July/August 2019) has a compelling story, not only because it was built in the 1840s, but because the couple purchased the home from Claire’s parents. It’s where she grew up. “This has always felt like another sibling — the house,” Claire said.
8. “Why not Downtown?” then-Evansville mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel asked in 2009 about a potential Idea Home on Washington Avenue. A year later, the Downtown Idea Home opened for public tours (September/October 2010) in the neighborhood that had landed on Indiana Landmark’s “10 Most Endangered” list.
9. Leanne Banna’s early 1860s home on the Henderson, Kentucky, riverfront (March/April 2024) caught her eye decades before she purchased it to remodel. She calls it “the New Orleans house” because of its ironwork and wide porches — and it always was her favorite home on the street.
10. Hiding in plain sight is one of the city’s most historically significant homes (September/October 2012). Built in the 1840s or 1850s, Pete and Vera McCullough’s Federal-style home is the only aboveground remnant along the Wabash & Erie Canal route through Evansville.
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Photo of Kirk and Sherry Wright's home by Jerry Butts
Photo of Scott and Claire Bosma's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Evansville Living's 2010 Idea Home by Jerry Butts
Photo of Leanne Banna's home by Zach Straw
Photos on spread of Pete and Vera McCollough's home by Zach Straw
A MODERN TAKE
11. A 1955 residence on Scenic Drive owned at the time (March/April 2022) by Dan Hendrickson is recognized as one of the most authentic examples of mid-century modern architecture in the area. A year-long remodel restored it and added modern amenities selected to blend with the existing characteristics.
12. For Nathan and Noelle Mominee, the home that took three years to design before they built in the woods in Boonville, Indiana, is a mixture of functionality, modern design, and comfort (November/ December 2017). “It was a good thing it took some time to finalize because we’ve grown as designers and as people,” Nathan said.
13. Part science, part art, part architecture describes the modern marvel near Darmstadt, Indiana (May/ June 2007). The one-floor, V-shaped handicapped-accessible home with glass walls was designed for Nannette and Jerry Stump by their son, Reggie, an artist in California.
14. Jeff and Misty Bosse’s home overlooking the Ohio River in Newburgh was designed by family friend and Hafer architect Jack Faber (July/August 2024). Once the drawings were complete and the 3D rendering was made, “The house looked exactly like we imagined,” Jeff said.
15. The most modern Evansville Living Idea Home (May/June 2021) to date was built for Dr. Hubert and Maricel Reyes in Victoria Estates in Newburgh. The home design is the popular West Coast Japandi style, combining Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics.
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Photos on spread of Dan Hendrickson's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Nathan and Noelle Mominee's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Nanette and Jerry Stump's home by Jerry Butts
Photo of Jeff and Misty Bosse's home by Glen Tang and Mitch Ellis, Black Pixel
Photo of Evansville Living 2021 Idea Home by Zach Straw
UNIQUE ABODES
16. The 1938 administration building for the Boehne Tuberculosis Hospital on the far West Side is home to four spacious condominiums (September/ October 2021). Scott Anderson, known for his restoration work on historic buildings, and wife Rene purchased the property in 2008 and began restoration soon after.
17. Living in the 6,000-square-foot former Kasson School in German Township has required patience of owners Frank and Michelle Peterlin. “It took time. There was no need to rush,” Michelle said in the July/ August 2014 issue. “None of it was restored.”
18. In rural Sebree, Kentucky, Brent and Shawn Wiggins have stitched together their home from grain silos (November/December 2023). “I hate building the same thing over and over,” Brent said. “This was a totally unique idea.”
19. Sharon Mosely declared she would not move north of the Mason-Dixon line when her husband Scott proposed they relocate to Newburgh. Mosley wrote about their home, a condominium in the 1854-built former Methodist Episcopal Church in the January/February 2012 issue.
20. John Bassemier grew up playing in Hose House No. 8 at the corner of Third Avenue and Columbia Street, where his father Clarence was captain in the 1950s. “I used to slide down the pole all the time,” Bassemier said. He spent more than two decades restoring the 1909 hose house, featured in September/ October 2017.
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Photo of Rene and Scott Anderson's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Michelle and Frank Peterlin's home by Jerry Butts
Photo of Shawn and Brett Wiggins by Greg Eans
Photo of Scott and Sharon Mosley's home by Jerrry Butts
Photos on the spread of John Bassemier's home by Zach Straw
OUTDOOR OASES
21. “We feel like we have created Miami in the Midwest,” Lynn Ogle told Evansville Living in March/April 2020. She and husband David bought the lot behind their Newburgh home when they purchased the property in 1997. They transformed the extra backyard space into an oasis after adding a sunroom to their property in 2016.
22. The garden room behind Nancy Gaunt’s 1950s ranch-style home in the Audubon Terrace neighborhood (July/August 2005) is a structure with four walls of flourishing greenery, a carpet of blooming Gerbera daisies, and an oversized mantle in the form of an arbor.
23. Jane Hayden has been the primary caretaker of the backyard garden she shares with her husband Gary for more than 40 years. Readers got a peek in the March/ April 2019 issue. “It’s my retreat before I get my day started,” Jane said.
24. Third-generation horticulturist J.T. McCarty and wife Julie, former owners of Colonial Classics, have continually upgraded the landscaping and gardens surrounding their Jefferson Park home in Newburgh since moving in 16 years ago. In 2021, the couple began a major overhaul of the space, designed around the installation of a temperature-controlled Thursday Pool (November/December 2022).
25. The Vincennes, Indiana, home of Dallas and Susan Foster, owners of Landscapes by Dallas Foster, serves as a showplace for the landscape design the couple and their team specialize in. “Over the years, our designs have developed into what we call well-designed landscapes in a non-obvious way, reflecting nature but still satisfying the elements of design,” Dallas said in the May/June 2019 issue.
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Photos on the spread of Lynn and David Ogle's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Nancy Gaunt's home by Daniel R. Patmore
Photo of Jane and Gary Hayden's garden by Zach Straw
Photo of JT and Julie McCarty's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Dallas and Susan Foster's home by Zach Straw
Photo of Eric and Kathie Adams by Keeneland, provided by Eric and Kathie Adams
What did you do for fun growing up in Eldorado, Illinois? Eric: Pre-cell phones, our hobbies were part-time jobs and just being kids, sitting in the car, driving around in circles. We were just kids. We had ultra-blue-collar backgrounds from our fathers working in the coal mines and farm fields. A blue-collar work ethic. But something that connects to what we do now is, we’ve both had an appreciation for clothes. I was voted best dressed in our senior class! We would drive to Evansville and hang out at the mall. Kathie: I was already flipping my collar up or wearing Oxfords. To this day, I still do that. It’s not something I saw anywhere and wanted to emulate this. It’s just something I’ve always liked doing.
What is one thing that’s always in your pocket? Kathie: Clinique lipstick — I’ve never worn any brand but that, all through high school and to this day. I worked and saved my money to buy that.
The Kentucky Derby is around the bend. Do you attend? Eric: We have not been. I’ve been on a horse only one time in my life! We’re more Keeneland people. I love the horse culture and eventing more than racing. We do a lot of Derby coats, though. Clients ask for conservative or flamboyant coats. Guys want to look good, presentable. They want to have color. It’s an opportunity for guys to step out of their comfort zone a little bit.
Photo of Brit & Blue jacket by JJ Sillman/Skipperdoodlefritz Photography
Do you have a favorite bourbon? Eric: In the first few years of opening Adams & Sons, that was a common question: “What’s your favorite bourbon?” I don’t know, I’m from Illinois! I once went to a blind taste test and hated every single drop, but we were drinking it neat. Later, I discovered that ice takes the edge off, and since then, I’ve been a bourbon drinker. My favorite is a bottom shelf choice: Buffalo Trace Benchmark #8. Every guy I’ve had blind taste test it has said, “This is really, really good!” It’s $11 a bottle.
Do you have any unexpected talents? Eric: I grew up in the ’80s, a time when free style BMX was popular. I raced BMX and rode bikes all day long. I can still do that stuff. We have a large picture in the studio … of me on my old ’84 freestyle bike doing a trick, but I’m wearing a suit. People marvel that the guy they’re about to buy this nice garment from is doing a trick on a bike. Kathie: I’m a major bargain shopper, but I’ll pair items with one of our sport coats, and that’s what I’ll wear. I love to go into stores and try things on.
What’s one piece of style advice you would give to every guy or gal? Eric: Don’t be too precious or too perfect. A lot of guys are put off by dressing well because they feel they have to be perfect. We notice it with pocket squares. You don’t have to know how to perfectly fold a pocket square. That’s where personal style comes from, having little eccentricities and things that you like. That’s what makes you unique. Kathie: It’s OK to step a little bit out of the box. But if you don’t feel comfortable, you’re not going to wear it.
STYLE NOTES
Evansville Living readers will remember Newburgh, Indiana, resident Eric Adams as the designer of a caramel-colored leather chaise lounge featured in an early issue. He and wife Kathie long have had a passion for fashion and design. After moving to the Evansville area and forging successful careers in marketing and elementary education, in 2015 they opened Adams & Sons, a purveyor of men’s fine clothing based in Owensboro, Kentucky. They branched out in 2019 with Brit & Blue, a line of luxury tailored jackets designed from duck cloth in a variety of colors and built to go from the job site to the board room.
Photo by Kristen Tucker
“Our customers want more clothing that can be worn casually, in the workplace and outside the workplace,” Eric says. “Americans have a work ethic, independence, and can-do spirit. We’ve built Brit & Blue on that.”
Jackets adorned with Eric’s signature have found their way onto clients like two-time Grammy-winning song-writer Kendall Marvel and Gonzague de Montrichard, a French count and financier living in Boston, Massachusetts.
“What’s really neat is when you create clothing, you create for people something they take into their lives,” Kathie says.
Photo of Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children ribbon cutting by Maggie Valenti
Women and children in crisis now have a new resource to help them get back on their feet.
The Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children opened Mar. 13 at 1400 Professional Blvd. Evansville Rescue Mission, which operates the center — designed by L+D Architecture and constructed by Arc Construction — broke ground on Oct. 19, 2024. ERM’s “Safe & Sound” capital campaign raised $9 million to transform the former medical facility into a temporary home. Some areas, including the kitchen, still are under construction, but the facility is almost ready to accept its first residents.
“Over the course of the months ahead, we will … slowly move toward full capacity,” Tracy Gorman, CEO of ERM, said at the grand opening. “We’ll have a methodical course that will follow, so we have time to offer and refine and make sure that our processes and our best practices and procedures are exactly as they should be. After all, we’ve operated a men’s shelter for 108 years, but we’re rookies in this new space. … This place will be a warm, welcoming, safe, and secure space where life change indeed happens.”
In the works for a decade, the center is the first facility in Evansville offering programming expressly dedicated to women and children. Its opening represents a significant milestone for ERM and city officials, who point out that when women and children are in crisis, their needs are not limited to just a place to eat, sleep, and rest. Often, they require the dignity to restore their lives and create a path forward for themselves. The center’s purpose is to provide them a comfortable place as they get back on their feet.
“Today, we gather not just to celebrate the opening of the new building, but to recognize the creation of a true home; a place of safety, healing, stability, and hope for so many women and children in our community,” Mayor Stephanie Terry said at the grand opening. “Some women and children who will walk through these doors are facing the hardest battles of their life … trying to get back on their feet after a streak of bad luck or seeking a safe escape from domestic violence. No one chooses these hardships, but everyone deserves a chance to rebuild. That is what this center represents: a second chance, a fresh start, and a reminder that no one’s story is over yet.”
“By opening the center, more women and children will have a place to call home … to get assistance … to end the cycle of homelessness,” added Nancy Miller, the center’s executive director.
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Photo of Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children office reception area by Maggie Valenti
Photo of Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children's office kitchenette by Maggie Valenti
Photo of a Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children's residence room by Maggie Valenti
Photo of supply room at the Susan H. Snyder Center for Women & Children by Maggie Valenti
Once women and children walk into the center — whether referred by another local organization or otherwise — they are greeted by a colorful, inviting atmosphere. Women without children first are placed into the emergency shelter with 12 beds, where they can stay for 30 days. This gives them a chance “to get the sounds of the street out of [their] heart and out of [their] system,” says Miller. According to her research, 30 days is the time it takes for someone to feel like they are safe again after enduring such hardship.
“They have to make decisions they’re not fearful of,” says Miller, who has a background in education. She was hired two years ago after a 38-year career in education, including 10 years at Oakland City University as director of graduate studies for its School of Education.
Then, women are encouraged to move into a more permanent space — 15 downstairs rooms are reserved for women without children, and 19 upstairs rooms are held for women with children, stuffed animals included. The center has a total capacity of 125 guests. Residents share communal bathrooms and common areas. They also become involved with ERM programs — which were built by Miller through research and visits to shelters across the country —designed to reintegrate them into the workforce and a more stable living situation. Residents get 77 weeks — a year and a half — of programs designed to help them.
Women and children in the facility also have access to a fitness center, a beauty shop with stations for hair trimming and washing, a daycare center that offers children’s programming for infants, toddlers, and young children, laundry rooms with washers and dryers, and a teaching kitchen. Onsite storage spaces are stocked with hygiene products, clothes, children’s toys, and more.
Miller says that the response to the center’s opening has been overwhelming.
“I just want to almost fall to my knees and say, ‘God, thank you.’ Because it’s just so amazing that there’s so many people who care about people who are struggling … experiencing homelessness or domestic violence or addiction,” she says. “I cannot wait to see that first woman walk in and be able to help them…to get to where they need to go because they need a playing ground that’s level so that they can do what they need to do…Nothing compares to this.”
View the full feature in the March/April 2015 issue of Evansville Living.
Editor’s note: This feature story originally published in the March/April 2015 issue.
Why do we love pizza?
That’s an easy answer — but not a short one. It’s customizable, shareable, delectable, portable, and we can’t get enough of it, making Evansville a perfect place for us. Pizzerias cover this city and its surrounding areas, each with its own twist on a piece of pie.
People Behind the Pizza
Pizza makers explain their passion for their pies By Jenny McNeece • Photos by Jerry Butts
Eric Weber By The Slice Gourmet Pizzeria
The idea for By the Slice Gourmet Pizzeria, 2011 Lincoln Ave., near the University of Evansville, started 20 years ago as a graduate school project while owner Eric Weber was a student at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. He envisioned a pizzeria where customers could come in, choose a slice from an assortment of specialty pizzas, then sit a spell while it baked to bubbling, browned perfection.
“That’s how I like it best,” says Weber. “We usually make 12 different kinds of pizza, some daily, but others vary on different days of the week. And we try new stuff all the time, too.
“Customers can come up to the counter, take a look at what we’ve got made for that day, pick what they want, and we put it back in the oven to finish it off.”
Weber says his pizzeria, which opened in 1994, has become a popular place for young professionals looking for a quick slice of pizza on their lunch hour or even groups of regulars who look forward to the ever-changing daily specials. Some of their most popular pies, he says, are a spinach and feta cheese pizza garnished with garlic, olive oil, and mozzarella, and another with creamy ranch dressing, red onion, mozzarella, and tomato.
Weber has created pizzas that meet the rules of popular fad diets, all because his goal, he says, is to give people what they want all while encouraging them to think outside the usual pizza box.
“We have a group of regular guys who always comes in on Tuesdays,” says Weber. “They’re the kind of customers I like because they usually like to play around a little bit with what they choose.
“But I think the idea for a pizzeria like this works because there are a lot of times when you don’t want a whole pizza,” he says. “You just want a snack, and we can give you that.”
For more information about By the Slice, call 812-402-8518.
Tom and Kathy Groves Kitchen Sink Pizza of Evansville
People often ask Tom and Kathy Groves about the meaning behind their pizzeria’s name, Kitchen Sink Pizza.
And the answer is just as one might expect.
“Well, it comes from the phrase ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ because that’s exactly what we put on our pizza,” Tom Groves says with a laugh. “That is our specialty, and we try to keep those in stock at all times because people love them so much.”
Kitchen Sink’s business model is different than most. The couple doesn’t operate a store front business; they simply assemble the pizzas at 1815 John St. two days a week, and Tom Groves does daily deliveries.
The popular Kitchen Sink pizza is available most days. But those who want multiple pizzas — the minimum order is two — or other recipes must order ahead.
The pies then arrive frozen and ready to bake.
Tom Groves’ family once owned Evansville’s popular Pour House Restaurant, an establishment that originally opened in the 1970s as a bar on Mount Vernon Avenue. Groves tended bar while a student at Ball State University, and when he returned, his family opened the music club together.
But it was their entry into the craft of making specialty pizzas that catapulted them into the local restaurant business, and they operated successfully until 1986.
“I never thought another thing about making pizzas,” says Groves. “Then about five years ago, somebody mentioned something on Facebook about the pizzas we used to make. It got all kinds of hits and likes, so we started making them again for friends and family.
“From there, it just took off.”
Tom, a sales associate with Indoff, an office supply and furniture company based in St., Louis and Kathy, a fourth-grade teacher at Holy Rosary School, have enjoyed their return to the pizza-making business, but they have no employees and don’t necessarily want any.
“It has worked really well for us,” says Groves. “We are as busy as we want to be, and we hope to continue doing this when we retire.”
Orders can be emailed directly to kitchensinkpizza@gmail.com or called into 812-305-4412. They also can be found on Facebook by searching Kitchen Sink Pizza of Evansville.
Brad Niemeier Azzip Pizza
Brad Niemeier opened Azzip Pizza — that’s pizza spelled backwards — in February of 2014. Fresh out of college and armed with $20,000 in prize money after winning Purdue University’s Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition, he searched high and low to find the perfect spot to implement his plan of providing quick, made-to-order personal-size pizzas.
“I thought about doing it at Purdue, but I decided I wanted to bring my idea back to Evansville,” the hometown boy says. “I knew all the support and connections I had made in this community, and I eventually found the perfect spot on the West Side.”
Azzip Pizza, 5225 Pearl Drive, offers what Niemeier likes to call “fast, casual pizza.” The pizzas come in either 8- or 11-inch sizes, and customers pick their preferred toppings.
“They make it right there in front of you, and it bakes in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds,” he says proudly. “And all of them are made with fresh ingredients, fresh dough we make and roll out in-house everyday.”
The community he loved embraced him as well. Azzip has done well on the West Side, says Niemeier, who is partnered with local chef Blake Kollker, formerly of the Evansville Country Club. He recently opened a second location in Newburgh, Indiana, at 8680 High Point Drive.
Kollker has since helped Azzip to launch some of its most unique specialty pizzas, ones like the Westsider, which features Marx Barbecue sauce, cheese, pork, red onions, and crushed Grippos sprinkled on top, as well as the Mr. Potato Head, which boasts a ranch-based sauce, red-skinned potatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese, and chive sour cream.
“The response has been great,” says Niemeier. “We’ve got people who have come in every week since we opened. It’s been phenomenal.”
For more information about Azzip Pizza, call 812-401-3572 or visit azzippizza.me.
The Right Rise
Experiment in the kitchen, and find your perfect hand-tossed pizza crust. By Eli Haddix • Photos by Heather Gray
When experimenting in the kitchen, sometimes using a recipe is best. Particularly when it comes to baking, essential chemistry for a great final product can be missed if you’re not careful. On the other hand, half the fun of novelty can come from “winging it.”
Pizza exists firmly in both of these categories. For the crust, knowledge of how various ingredients interact can determine whether or not you achieve the perfect texture. From a thin, cracker-style crust to a thick, deep dish, Chicago-style pie, the yeast (or lack thereof) is the key. How you handle yeast determines, for the most part, how much rise you will have in your crust.
My personal favorite, stylistically, is a hand-tossed crust — not too thin, not too thick, flavorful, but not so much that the flavor takes away from the toppings. This style provides for a more artisan aesthetic as well, leaving symmetry to be an afterthought. Adding your best-loved meats, veggies, and cheeses gives this pizza an end result much greater than the sum of its parts. Let the little ones join in, because this pizza is fun for everybody!
Ingredients:
• 2-2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packet (¼ ounce) of rapid-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• Various herbs of your liking
• Pizza sauce (Marinara sauce works)
• 1 cup warm water (120-130 degrees)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Cornmeal (available in the baking section)
• Granulated garlic
• Toppings of your choice
Instructions:
Begin by combining two cups flour, dry yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix in a generous amount of granulated garlic and dried (or fresh) herbs. Add warm water and olive oil to flour mixture. Slowly add just enough flour to pull the dough from the sides of the bowl and make it nice and soft. I prefer to use my stand mixer for efficiency, but just a fork and some elbow grease works just fine. Using the bread hook attachment (or just your hands), knead until smooth and elastic, roughly 5 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let your dough rest on a floured surface for up to 30 minutes. Depending on how long you let it rise and how large you choose to make your pizza, you can get up to two whole pies out of this crust.
While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 400, and lightly oil a round pizza pan. Sprinkle pan with cornmeal (this adds texture and helps keep it from sticking). Shape your dough into a smooth ball, and begin rolling. As I mentioned earlier, symmetry is almost impossible to achieve, so delight in the imperfections. Leave a little extra dough on the edges for a risen crust feel.
For this example, I softened a 1/3 cup of butter and combined it with 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic, a 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of basil. Using a pastry brush, generously coat the entire crust with the garlic butter mixture. With the remaining toppings, less is more. A little of each ingredient goes a long way. I used spinach, sliced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, prosciutto, capocollo, roasted red bell peppers, and shredded mozzarella (any pizza blend works). Cheesing the pizza on top or directly on the crust has little to no bearing on the final product, merely the presentation. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the edges are golden brown and cheese is melted.
A Slice of Heaven
Photos by Michael Wheatley
Try not to drool — here we give you a rare side-by-side visual comparison of slices from select pizza joints around town. We welcome you to taste your way through each piece and place.
WHAT: Angelo’s Supreme WHERE:Angelo’s Italian Restaurant, 305 Main St. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Angelo’s menu options range from Veal ala Limone to this loaded slice. Perfect for a dinner date or lunch meeting, Angelo’s combines atmosphere with a sophisticated cuisine and extensive wine list.
WHAT: Spinach and Feta WHERE: By The Slice Gourmet Pizzeria, 2011 Lincoln Ave. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Creative pizza slices like this Spinach and Feta piece are on display when first entering By the Slice. Customers pick a piece and sit back or play pool while the sumptuous slice bakes in the oven.
WHAT: Schaum’s Special WHERE:Schaum’s Pizzeria, 210 S. Green River Road WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Schaum’s Pizzeria, formerly Greek’s Family Pizzeria, is known for a family-friendly environment and its Schaum’s Special. Customers chat, chow down on the Gourmet Wings Pizza or the Cordon Bleu Pizza, and can listen to a band each Wednesday night.
It’s Hip to be Square
Photos by Michael Wheatley
Through our tasty research, we discovered Evansville is a square-town. The tradition of the una style — a light cracker-thin crust, cut in a grid — began in Evansville more than 40 years ago, and it’s caught on.
WHAT: Roca Pesto WHERE:Roca Bar, 4600 Washington Ave. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Roca Bar offers daring flavor combinations. Surprising pies include the breakfast pizza and this sundried tomato, spinach, and black olive combination.
WHAT: The Supreme WHERE:Kipplee’s, 2350 E. Division St. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Kipplee’s has a long history in Evansville, starting as Harold’s Tavern in 1948. Today, it’s known for tasty pies, like the BBQ Chicken, Cajun, and this Supreme.
WHAT: Spankey’s Supreme WHERE:Spankey’s Una Pizza, 714 N. Sonntag Ave. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: With its cracker-thin crust, melted slices of mozzarella, and fresh vegetables, it’s no wonder people keep coming back for these delicious squares.
WHAT: Ham and Pineapple WHERE:Deerhead Sidewalk Cafe, 222 E. Columbia St. WHY WE CRAVE THIS PLACE: Deerhead serves up its famous double decker pizza alongside live music. Deerhead also offers traditional pies like this ham and pineapple piece.
It’s difficult to miss the multitude of pizzerias proudly displaying the phrase una pizza: Steve’s, Spankey’s, Harmes’, Jimmy’s, Rick’s, Stan’s, Una-Tu, and Covert — eight locations in the area from Boonville, Indiana, to the West Side. Though all use the term una, the restaurants do not make up a chain and are wholly unaffiliated except for the style of each shop’s handmade pizza pies.
“We’re not a chain,” says Ryan Huck, co-owner of Spankey’s Una Pizza at 714 N. Sonntag Ave. “Spankey’s put una in its name because of the style of pizza we serve. But we don’t have a connection to the other una pizzas. Other pizza places make una-style pizzas, like Turoni’s (Pizzeria), but they just don’t put it in their name.”
A tradition more than 30 years old, Stan’s Una Pizza, 1101 Harmony Way, is one of Evansville’s most enduring una pizzas.
“Stan’s Una Pizza was started through Roca Bar,” says Judy Davis, an employee of Stan’s. “It’s a recipe that goes back over 40 years, and Stan’s revived and tweaked the una pizza recipe.”
The una-style pizza starts with the light crust. Taking a piece of pizza dough, the una chefs fold it multiple times and use a dough press or roller to achieve the iconic cracker-thin crust. Then they slather on the sauce, layering meat on top. That’s right — the meat is baked under the cheese, which is sliced rather than shredded. Then any combination of fresh vegetables is heaped on top. Once assembled, the pie is popped into the brick, wood-burning oven atop a pizza stone. According to Huck, the sliced cheese layer holds the heat closer to the baking stone.
After being a part of the region for so many years, the una-style pizza has become integrated into our food culture.
Pizza Spin-Offs
We’ve all been there — the waitress asks if you’d like to add anything else to your order, and the temptation sets in. Maybe you select a hold-you-over appetizer, delicious dessert, or an alternative to a pizza pie altogether. Here are four tasty takes we can’t resist.
▲ Photo by Julie Hope
Nom! Nom! Strom! Strom!
A Midwestern stromboli, the baked-in-foil sandwich sold by University of Southern Indiana Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the Fall Festival or made every day at Pizza King, has little in common with the Italian version of the sandwich, which is made in pizza dough with Italian meats and cheese, layered and rolled, baked and sliced. Sounds great, but that’s not our stromboli. Pizza King is an Indiana brand — there are 74 stores throughout Indiana. In Evansville and Newburgh, it has operated for 45 years. Pizza King strombolis (6-inch or 12-inch) are made with zesty sausage, specially seasoned cheese, onions, and tomato sauce on a crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside Vienna loaf. We call the Pizza King stromboli an Evansville tradition. Of course, a place called Pizza King should do pizzas well, too, and they do.
Pizza King, East Side, West Side, and Newburgh, Indiana; pizzakingevansville.com. Local and nationwide delivery.
▲ Photo by Heather Gray
Calzone Prone
For those who want the great pizza taste without ordering a pizza, calzones are the way to go, and Milano Italian Cuisine serves seven flavors of the tasty pastry hot and fresh everyday with a side of marinara sauce. Milano’s fuses two Italian classics with the stromboli calzone. Stuffed with ground beef, Italian sausage, green peppers, and onions, the stromboli calzone is a favorite among Milano’s customers. For those who prefer meatless, choose spinach or a cheese calzone. Each pastry is baked for 10 minutes until the tops reach golden-brown perfection, leaving the crust soft on the inside.
A Sugary End
After enjoying a pizza, Heady’s Pizza offers a finger-licking good dessert that will have sweets lovers wanting more. Akin to their savory garlic knots with melted butter dipping sauce, Heady’s serves up cinna-knots with a warm white icing dip. Think of a cinnamon roll with the cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla, but instead of a pinwheel formation, Heady’s ties knots with its homemade dough. Offered in orders of six, the knots are never complete without the white icing dipping sauce. Made from powdered sugar and butter, it’s tempting to lick the container clean.
Heady’s Pizza, 4120 N. First Ave., 812-437-4343, headyspizza.com.
The Art of Pizza
Artisan pizzas’ popularity rises rapidly
Artisan pizzas are the newest culinary trend sweeping the nation, and pie lovers are rejoicing. Forget the mess or dripping grease of a quickly thrown together pepperoni and cheese — that’s child’s play. An artisan is defined as a skilled worker who practices a trade, which describes the mastery and craftsmanship applied to each pizza. While there are many artisan pizzas waiting to be devoured in Evansville, here are four pizzas in particular that make our mouths water.
Vecchio’s Italian Market & Delicatessen
Vecchio’s Italian Market begins serving its artisan pizzas at 11 a.m. each day. They are available as long as supplies last, which means around noon you may be out of luck. Newburgh, Indiana, native Anna Smith, who has worked at Vecchio’s since its opening, admits to stashing pizza away for her own consumption. “We are never sad when there are leftovers and we get to eat them,” says Smith. “There aren’t leftovers very often. I will admit to taking some and hiding them in the back.” Vecchio’s recently moved from 14 W. Jennings St. down the road to 300 W. Jennings St. in Newburgh after chef and owner Amanda Hancock received a liver transplant. The market also is for sale. The pizza dough and sauce are made from scratch everyday with the freshest ingredients. Generally, Vecchio’s serves three types of pizzas — a cheese, meat, and veggie — but those can change depending on what fresh ingredients are available and “what we feel like making that day.” A typical veggie pizza is topped with spinach, Boar’s Head mozzarella cheese, bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, artichokes, and roasted red peppers.
(Vecchio’s has closed since the publication of this article.)
Azzip Pizza
Azzip Pizza makes personal pizzas entirely customizable to your taste, and the options are endless. With sauces, meats, cheeses, and vegetables, Azzip cooks an 11-inch Big Zip or an 8-inch Small Zip in 2 minutes 30 seconds flat. The pizza crust is made daily, in-house. “It’s a thinner, crispier crust,” says Azzip owner Brad Niemeier. “We also add some of the Azzip Pesto into the dough to give the crust a little more flavor.” With two locations at 5225 Pearl Drive on the West Side and 8680 High Pointe Drive in Newburgh, Indiana, Azzip artisans construct your pizza while you make your way down the line. The sauce varieties include zippy ranch, garlic butter, and sweet and sassy barbecue, and the meat selection is just as extensive with choices like Marx BBQ shredded pork and Gerber’s Amish Farm Chicken. The last step is veggies, which seem nearly unlimited: sundried tomatoes, baby Portobello mushrooms, and chopped garlic to name a few. But if all the options are overwhelming, try the specialty “Potato Head” pizza, with a ranch base topped with red-skinned potatoes, or the “Kraut Pleaser,” with Thousand Island dressing and corned beef, strewn with sauerkraut.
For more information about Azzip Pizza, call 812-401-3572 or 812-490-0588 or visit azzippizza.me.
The Pizza Revolution
At The Pizza Revolution, owners Aaron and Stephanie Peckenpaugh insist on fresh, homemade ingredients. Specializing in Neapolitan style pies, Pizza Revolution stretches their in-house, handmade dough, crafted from high heat flour imported from Italy, and starts from curds to make a creamy mozzarella cheese. Popping up at events and festivals, the mobile pizzeria uses a wood fired oven to bake pies to perfection. Constructed from tile stone and firebrick, the oven reaches temperatures of about 1100 degrees in the dome and 900 degrees at the floor, burning seasoned hardwoods like Ash and Oak. “Wood fired ovens are more traditional and old school,” says Aaron. “And you don’t just let the pizzas sit. You have to turn them, and look at them, and see where the pizza is cooking and where it needs more heat.” One of the most popular pizza pleasers is the sweet and spicy “Buzz Killa,” including a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, spicy pepperoni, chili oil, and a drizzle of honey. The “Fig ‘N’ Pig” is another staple in their pizza line-up, with fig preserves, salty prosciutto (a dry-cured Italian ham), Gorgonzola, and mozzarella cheese crumbles.
For more information about The Pizza Revolution, call 812-430-5945, or thepizzarevolution.com.
Pizzeria Pangea
Our eyes and noses already are on the future opening of Pizzeria Pangea, which plans to open this summer. Owner Randy Hobson of Evansville recently retired from Berry Plastics after 25 years. The name Pangea is inspired by the scientific term for the supercontinent and Hobson’s way of bringing Italy to Evansville. Located in the former retail space formerly occupied by Excursions at 4910 Lincoln Ave., Hobson plans to serve Neopolitian pizza, which is cooked in a wood fired oven, very similar to the way pizza was first cooked in Naples, Italy. Pangea also will serve gelato ice cream. “We will be using a lot of ingredients imported from Italy, and all of our equipment is imported from Italy. We want to bring the very heritage of where pizza began to Evansville, with simple ingredients that are very good and very artisanal.”
Destination Pizza
This short list is all the excuse you need to get out of town
Clear your schedule for next weekend and push back catching up on the yard work. Once you experience even a whiff of these pizza places, you’ll be out the door and heading north on Interstate 69.
Villa Pizzeria Jasper, Indiana • 67.1 miles
Traveling youth sports teams and TripAdvisor reviewers have discovered Villa Pizzeria in Jasper, Indiana. I did, too, on a recent trip to the county seat of Dubois County for a grade school basketball tournament.
Villa Pizzeria is located just across the railroad tracks from the Jasper Riverwalk and across the Patoka River from the Jasper City Mill — a pretty part of town. Its website says the establishment is family owned by Bob and Michelle Cates. They opened the restaurant at its current location in 2006.
The interior of Villa Pizzeria looks like a diner. Online reviewers note its convenient and tasty lunch buffet. Pizzas can be built from fresh regular toppings or premium toppings, or a specialty pizza can be ordered. I arrived late in the afternoon and ordered a small Popeye & Olive (fresh spinach, fresh garlic, black olives, Roma tomatoes, mozzarella and provolone; $9.99, $12.99, $16.99). It was hot and delicious, and exactly as billed. I was tempted by the Southwest Fiesta (ground beef, red onion, green peppers, Roma tomatoes, banana peppers, and black olives over a bean sauce, topped with cheddar and mozzarella, served with a side of fresh salsa; $9.49, $11.49, $17.49).
Oven baked subs (choose from eight, with chips and a pickle) and several sandwiches, as well as a kids menu are offered. Dessert is warm baked cinnamon sticks with icing, almonds, or chocolate chips, or a root beer float. Beer and wine are offered. —Kristen K. Tucker
Villa Pizzeria, 124 Third Ave., Jasper, IN; 812-482-2555; villapizzeria.com. Mother Bear’s Pizza Bloomington, Indiana • 124 miles
Every time I visit Bloomington, Indiana, Mother Bear’s is always my first or last stop — sometimes both. During my most recent stop, my swift decision to wait 40 minutes to be seated while the first half of the Indiana University basketball game began without me was worth it.
Nestled on Third Street with a view of IU’s campus just across the street, the restaurant is frequented by students, parents, alumni, and high school seniors fresh out of orientation. The dim, cabin-like dining space provides a cozy and inviting atmosphere to socialize and reminisce. The wooden walls and booths are masked with doodles, signatures, and promises of forever love authored by past patrons.
Most online reviewers credit Mother Bear’s with “the best pizza in Bloomington” and “the place for comfort-food style pizza, a must-have.” Between traditional pan crust, deep-dish, and toasted sesame thin crust, customers choose their favorite dough and have the option to create their own or choose from the 18 specialty pies.
My family, who often visits with me, orders the deep-dish Deluxe pizza ($8.55, $15.30, $22.60) with a generous blend of pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, and green peppers, all topped with the award-winning Mother Bear’s red sauce. My choice is the Treasure of Monte Cristo ($7.65, $14.05, $20.75), layered with white sauce, mozzarella, spinach, bacon, tomatoes, and fontina cheese. The flavors and corresponding names range from funky to classic throughout the menu pages, bright with scribbles like a child’s coloring book.
Also on the menu are salads topped with yellow Goldfish crackers, homemade brownies, hot subs, pasta dinners, and pre-meal breadsticks. Beer and wine are available for dine-in and delivery. —Katelyn Phillips
Mother Bear’s Pizza, 1428 E. Third St., Bloomington, IN; 812-332-4495; motherbearspizza.com.
Napolese Indianapolis, Indiana • 174.7 miles
In Indianapolis, “Martha” refers to only one person: the pioneer of Indianapolis’ farm-to-table culture and Patachou Inc., her mini-empire of popular restaurant concepts.
Martha Hoover, (who Evansville can claim just a bit, as her brother-in-law, Dr. Michael Hoover, and his wife, Dr. Maria
Del Rio Hoover, reside here), is a former public sector attorney who founded Patachou Inc. in 1989. Her biography states, “Once I moved to Indiana, I couldn’t help noticing that the best ingredients were growing in the back yard. The best tomatoes, melons, wheat — the best beef, turkeys, and pork — were being raised on the farms in Indiana. … I was dumbfounded that a restaurateur in Indiana could not make the leap from the best ingredients to the best food. ”
Thankfully for all of us, Martha does pizza, too — and her pizzeria, Napolese (with three locations) is well worth the drive. I dined at its location near Monument Circle. As advertised, the pizzas pulled from its brick oven are classically Neapolitan with thin, blistered crusts.
The menu lists tempting Artisanal and Freestyle pizzas, where diners are advised to not pile on the toppings — the crusts are best with no more than three. Any pizza also can be made white, with extra virgin olive oil substituted for tomato sauce. Our party tried Hamaker’s Corner (pepperoni, Italian sausage, provolone, and mushrooms; $14) and a Freestyle with roasted tomatoes and imported green olives ($15). We also shared a vegetarian double chopped house salad — highly recommended ($10).
Napolese, 30 S. Meridian St., 114 E. 49th St., 8702 Keystone Crossing, Indianapolis, IN; napolesepizzeria.com.
Quick Trips for Tasty Pies
Sometimes a good pie calls for a little drive.
Only a few miles outside of Evansville, these places make our short list of where we’re heading for a slice — or four or five.
Lombardi’s(513 Barrett Blvd., Henderson, KY) promises a New York-style experience in Western Kentucky. Try the Sicilian Square Pizza, made from ingredients imported from Italy and a deep dish that tastes as if you’re in Brooklyn. For more than 20 years, Mister B’s(Henderson and Bowling Green, Kentucky) has perfected the combo of pizza and wings. Be sure to ask about specials when combining the two! Bordy’s Pizza(4222 Bell Road, Newburgh, IN) opened last September and is a popular destination for pizza and Italian sandwiches and pastas. If you want toppings packed to the edge on your pizza, Gardo’s Italian Oven(13220 Darmstadt Road, Darmstadt, IN) slices its vegetables daily and only uses fresh mushrooms. Patrons frequent Sandy’s Pizza(Fort Branch) for the food — and the atmosphere. On your next visit, sit in a room dedicated to Coca-Cola products (it seats 80). We first learned about Woody’s Pizzeria(518 Main St., New Harmony, IN) through Angie and Mike Woodburn’s second restaurant, Bliss Artisan, an ice cream shop. Both the Woodburn’s pizza and ice cream are made from scratch. Also in New Harmony is the Yellow Tavern(521 Church St., New Harmony, IN) known for its yellow historic structure and fresh ingredients on its pies. Susan Bobe’s Pizza’s(101 W. Broadway, Princeton, IN) reviews online are peppered with comments calling it “the best pizza in Princeton.” Try the Princeton Tiger with Italian sausages, hams, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, three cheeses, and black olives.
“The Tri-State Tornado: Tragedy and Resilience” traces the steps of a March 18, 1925, F5 tornado that raged through parts of Southeastern Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Southwestern Indiana. Winds peaked at 300 miles per hour, resulting in 695 fatalities, 2,027 injuries, and 15,000 homes destroyed along the twister’s 219-mile path.
“We want people to remember this event and honor the individuals who lost their lives, and those who provided relief and assistance for recovery,” says Tom Lonnberg, Evansville Museum’s chief curator and curator of history. “It’s an overview of the entire event.”
Photos from the Working Men’s Institute archives. Provided by the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science
In Southwestern Indiana, the tornado traveled through Posey, Gibson, and Pike counties before dissipating just southwest of Petersburg. The Red Cross, along with the three major hospitals at the time — St. Mary’s, Deaconess, and Walker — and the National Guard, assisted thousands.
To create the exhibit, Lonnberg collaborated with regional historical and genealogical societies as well as public libraries, the University of Southern Indiana, Willard Public Library, and New Harmony, Indiana’s Working Men’s Institute. He also used books about and newspaper records of the event as resources. Jeff Lyons, chief meteorologist with Channel 14 WFIE-TV, assisted with vetting information. The exhibit includes a video produced in 2007 by then-student Matt Mahrenholz for F.J. Reitz High School’s Feel the History class.
“Relearning this information has been fascinating,” Lonnberg says. “In some ways, I think the storm has been forgotten.” The exhibit runs through July 6.
Hafer Senior Associate Architect Jennifer Kissel. Photo by Zach Straw.
Editor’s Note: After this story was published in August/September 2022, Evansville Police Sgt. Anna Gray was named a supervisor in EPD’s Adult Investigations Unit in March 2024.
Jennifer Kissel
Senior Associate Architect ~ Hafer
Evansvillians likely are familiar with Jennifer Kissel’s work, even if they don’t know her. The AIA senior associate, architect at Hafer has been the design mind behind major projects such as the Deaconess Aquatic Center and Evansville Christian High School. Gender isn’t Kissel’s defining trait, but being driven is.
“I don’t do (architecture design) because I’m a woman; I do it just because that’s my personality,” the Evansville native says. “I like to think as a mother and a wife, and a woman, I bring a unique perspective to the table.”
Growing up with a grandmother who took her on neighborhood walks to appreciate houses, Kissel always enjoyed art and design. After a brief interest in equine veterinarian medicine during high school, Kissel shifted back to her childhood fascination and attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural sciences.
It was a milestone time for her professionally and personally, as she married her husband, Gregg Kissel. She went straight into the job market, but being a licensed architect has more requirements. In 2013, when her son Carden (now 14) was only three, Kissel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, earned a master’s degree in architecture in 2014 and completed all seven levels of the architect licensing tests.
She then worked for PCI Skanska (now Salas O’Brien) before joining Hafer in 2017. Now one of approximately 140,137 total architects in the U.S., Kissel makes up part of the 23.2 percent of women architects, according to a 2022 report from the research firm Zippia.
While the percentage of women architects is rising, the field still is majority male, but she says recognizing the gender label doesn’t mean it has to be the focus.
“I think the (rising) numbers speak for themselves,” Kissel, who is also the director of ANEW, President of the Southern Indiana Section of the American Institute of Architects, and a Junior Achievement of Southern Indiana volunteer, says. “I think you have to learn, unlearn, and relearn, so knowing what is there and being aware of it is important.”
She says educating the next generation of women about opportunities and roles in architecture is key to turning the tide and inviting more women into the field. A field that requires wearing a lot of hats, from initial client conversations to overseeing construction.
Kissel’s advice to anyone trying to find their place in the workforce goes beyond data, titles, and traditional gender roles: It goes back to drive.
“If you want to do it, do it because the time is going to pass anyway,” she says.
Public Information Officer with the Evansville Police Department Anna Gray. Photo by Zach Straw.
Sgt. Anna Gray
Public Information Officer ~ Evansville Police Department
Evansville law enforcement has been at the center of recent high-profile incidents, such as helping capture fugitives from Alabama to assisting in a federal drug bust. Each time media cameras turn toward the Evansville Police Department, public information officer Sgt. Anna Gray is front and center.
On the force for more than 18 years, the public information officer born in Saint Joseph, Michigan, has called Warrick County home since she was eight years old. Growing up, Gray didn’t know anyone in law enforcement and had never even fired a gun.
“When I was in high school, the concept of it (police work) interested me,” she says. “I always wanted to lend a helping hand. I wanted to get involved in the community.”
As a student at Newburgh’s Castle High School in 1998 and 1999, she shadowed deputies as part of the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office’s Explorers ride-along program. Gray earned a criminal justice degree from Vincennes University in 2001 and spent one year working as a civilian in Warrick County until she turned 23, the minimum age to join the force. (The age limit has since been lowered to 21.)
Only weighing roughly 99 pounds, people were somewhat shocked at Gray’s desire to pursue law enforcement, but she had fallen in love with the field.
“For me, it was easy. I just realized right away that I had a passion for it,” she says. “My parents always made us feel that we could do anything. It didn’t matter whether we’re male or female — whatever we wanted to do; you work hard at it.”
In 2004, she joined EPD’s motor patrol unit before serving in the crime prevention unit and adult investigations unit as a detective. Upon becoming a sergeant in 2021, she transitioned to her current role as a media liaison, facilitating daily reports, press conferences, and Freedom of Information Act requests.
Although one of only 25 women on the 275-officer department, Gray often doesn’t feel overlooked, even when she’s the only woman in the room.
“Once I was on the police department, never once did I ever feel that I was overshadowed by the men,” she says.
Statistically, men have dominated law enforcement, and it isn’t changing the way other industries are. According to the National Institute of Justice, women made up fewer than 13 percent of officers in 2019. That percentage drops to seven percent when narrowed down to state departments, according to a 2021 report by Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2000, that number was only one percent lower.
“Unless I stop and think about it, I just think I’m with my brothers in blue, and it doesn’t ever really feel any different,” Gray says. “I always felt like everything was very fair in the department. Everybody always made it feel like if you’re wearing blue, you’re family.”
Journeywoman Electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Sara Schapker. Photo by Zach Straw.
Sara Schapker
Journeyman Electrician ~ International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
One of the stickers on journeyman electrician Sara Schapker’s white hard hat reads, “There is no brotHERhood without her.” It’s a simple message, but one that resonates with the St. Wendel, Indiana, native who is one of 27 women out of the 1,025 member-strong International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 16.
“More times than not on a job site, I’m the only female,” she says. “But I never really thought I couldn’t do it or anything because of that.”
Growing up, Schapker’s life was centered around “male-dominated” activities. She helped her handyman dad complete odd jobs for family and close friends. Later, she studied engineering at Purdue University in Terre Haute, Indiana, before switching to computer graphics technology and graduating in December 2008.
The recession made her job search difficult, and in 2014 Schapker began a role that didn’t relate to her degree.
“It was my dad’s idea when I did apply for the apprenticeship,” she says. “We saw a commercial on TV for IBEW Local 16.”
She completed a five-year apprenticeship program in May 2020. Currently working on updates at Cleveland-Cliffs — formerly AK Steel — in Rockport, Indiana, Schapker is a commercial and industrial electrician for maintenance and new construction.
Her duties vary day-to-day, but often aren’t what people expect from an electrician. Most of her work consists of running conduit to place wire inside of, or ensuring that work is up to code requirements. The one consistency: she loves her work.
“A lot of what makes the job good and fun is the other electricians that you’re working with,” she says. “You have to get your work done and do it safe and do it good, but most of the time it’s pretty relaxed.”
Attending the IBEW international women’s conference in 2018, Schapker came to realize just how special her union companions are. Many speakers told stories of their male counterparts making it clear women weren’t welcome on their job sites. Some women believe industry titles, like “brotherhood” and “journeyman,” should be changed, but the terms do reflect the industry’s data: According to Data USA, 97.8% of electricians in 2019 were male.
“I definitely feel like it is my responsibility to show other people that women can do it and it doesn’t need to be male-dominated,” Schapker says. “But here in Evansville, I’ve always had very supportive guys that I’ve worked with. The difficulty I had going through several interviews to get the apprenticeship made me push myself harder so that I would come out on top (and) prove everyone wrong.”
Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana CEO Aimee Stachura. Photo by Audra Straw.
Aimee Stachura
CEO ~ Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana
Women earned roughly 57 percent of all American undergraduate degrees and nearly 60 percent of master’s degrees in 2020, but according to data from consulting firm McKinsey & Company, women made up only five percent of CEOs globally who were appointed in 2020. While Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana CEO Aimee Stachura cultivates an environment by women, for women, her title is still breaking historic gender roles in the non-profit industry.
An Evansville native who is the wife of Andy Stachura and mother to Eva (6), Cora (10), and dog Ella, Stachura is a music graduate from Belmont University who used her theater skills to pave a career path in non-profit leadership.
Following her mother’s footsteps directing theater at F.J. Reitz High School and working part-time at an HR and staffing firm, she then joined the Girl Scouts’ program department in 2010. After taking a brief hiatus in 2014 to run a children’s ministry, Stachura rejoined the organization in 2016 as CEO.
“We really preach to our girls, no matter if you’re five years old in kindergarten, you can be a leader,” she says. “Within this organization, that’s our culture; we all have investment to lead and to be who we want to be and make an impact.”
In the past six years, Stachura has helped facilitate programs, from selling cookies to campouts, that inspire female future leaders. Her co-workers even joke she almost takes on an intern role, taking on whatever duties are unattended on the to-do list each day.
But heading a women-focused company doesn’t put Stachura in a bubble.
“As a non-profit leader, I have to sit at every table. It’s not just women-focused tables, I have to be at youth development tables, I have to be at mental health tables,” she says. “I have to come in and showcase the value of girl leadership every single time, which I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have to explain why it’s important for us to invest in girls early on.”
According to data from Girl Scouts, three out of four girls firmly believe that women have to work harder than men to succeed, but Stachura says leading by example is one of the easiest ways to change the narrative. Even her own daughters believe they can be a CEO because they know their mother is one.
“Ultimately, I think we do need to recognize that women still have a long way to go when it comes to leadership,” Stachura says. “And at Girl Scouts … what we do best is champion girl ambition. No matter what her ambition is — whether it is to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the president of the United States or the best mom that she can be — we want to champion that.”
Photo by Peyton Stegeman, University of Southern Indiana Athletic Communications
Get ready for a college basketball extravaganza throughout March.
For the eighth straight year, Evansville’s Ford Center will host the Ohio Valley Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournament. The March 5-8 event features the top eight men’s and women’s teams in the OVC, and the No. 5 University of Southern Indiana women’s team looks to defend its 2024 title.
USI defeated Nashville’s Tennessee State University 90-66 in its opening game of the tournament Wednesday afternoon and will next play the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Automatic NCAA Tournament bids go to the men’s and women’s champions, although USI and Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri, remain ineligible because of Division I transition rules. (USI officials on Feb. 13 announced their intent to accelerate the school’s transition to full membership in Division I athletics.) If USI or Lindenwood win, the regular-season league champion instead will advance to the NCAA.
The following week, March 13-16, the Ford Center hosts the Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament for the first time. All 12 women’s teams in the MVC, including the University of Evansville, Murray State University, Indiana State University, and Southern Illinois University, will be in action. The champion is an automatic NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Finally, Evansville continues its tradition of closing out its own brand of March Madness with the Division II men’s Elite Eight, which will have quarterfinals on March 25, semifinals on March 27, and the national title game on March 29.
The stacked schedule of hoops adds up to a busy month for Brandon McClish, executive director of the Evansville Regional Sports Commission. “What’s crazy about it is that looking at the calendar, March has 31 days, and I am at the Ford Center for 27 of them,” he says.
McClish notes the national television exposure that college basketball tournaments bring the city and the Ford Center. The OVC and women’s MVC championship games are shown on ESPN networks, while the men’s Division II title game is aired by CBS.
The events also deliver an economic jolt to Evansville, although McClish says the OVC packs the biggest punch with 16 men’s and women’s teams.
Past OVC tournaments in Evansville drew thousands of Murray State men’s basketball fans. With the Racers having moved to the MVC in 2022, McClish says the USI women’s team, as well as fan bases from schools such as Morehead State University in Kentucky and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, likely will move the most ticket sales.
The OVC’s men’s and women’s basketball tournament is committed to Evansville for 2026, and the conference holds an option for 2027, which McClish says must be decided by summer of this year.
McClish is optimistic the OVC will stay for 2027 and beyond. “We are looking at extending (the league’s stay in Evansville),” he says. “The presidents and athletic directors love it here.”
Evansville is getting the women’s MVC tournament for this year only. McClish says the competition will be strong — Missouri State University in Springfield leads the league, with Murray State and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, also having strong seasons.
It’s not yet known, of course, who the men’s Division II Elite Eight will bring to town. Fans can hope for a championship battle as exciting as 2024, when Minnesota State University in Mankato won its first-ever title on a late-game shot.
The Elite Eight has been played on the Ford Center’s court annually since 2021, and in 2019, 2015, and 2014. Roberts Municipal Stadium hosted the event from its beginning in 1957 through 1976, and again in 2002.
This year’s Elite Eight will be Evansville’s last one, at least for a while. It leaves for Indianapolis in 2026 — the Hoosier State’s capital city is hosting the NCAA Division I, II, and III men’s basketball championships next year.
Fort Wayne, Indiana, landed the Elite Eight men’s and women’s events for 2027 and 2028. McClish says Evansville will bid with the NCAA to recapture the Elite Eight in future years.
In the meantime, Evansville is chasing another high-profile college basketball showcase.
McClish tells Evansville Living that the city is a finalist to host the semifinals and finals of the new NCAA Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament in 2026. The 2024 championship, won by the University of Illinois over Villanova University, was held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This year’s tournament also is at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The NCAA WBIT would bring Evansville a Division I championship, likely with nationally known teams, McClish says. He expects to learn by summer if Evansville has landed the tournament.
It’s time for ‘Arch Madness,’ too
The MVC men’s tournament, which has been anchored in St. Louis, Missouri, for 34 years, is coming up, as well. UE heads to “Arch Madness” March 6-9 at Enterprise Center.
The Aces are the No. 10 seed in the 12-team tournament and will play No. 7 seed Murray State at 6 p.m. March 6. The winner advances to face No. 2 seed Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, at 6 p.m. March 7.
Arch Madness is circled on the annual calendar of devoted Aces fans such as Scott and Stephanie Morris, who are making the trip again this year with friends Don Shymanski and Kelly Gates, purple attire in tow.
Between games, the group enjoys exploring St. Louis. Ballpark Village outside Busch Stadium is one popular pregame and postgame hangout for MVC fans.
“We have a good time going and supporting and being fans,” Stephanie says.
Photo of Major Munch's catfish sandwich by Zach Straw
From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, religiously devout Tri-State residents will refrain from eating meat on Fridays while observing Lent. Although Lenten traditions vary between Christian denominations, no-meat Fridays are common, and so are regular fish fries. The weeks leading up to Easter are filled with these community gatherings focused on fish and fellowship. Here are a few in the Evansville area through April 18.
St. Benedict Cathedral has a fish fry scheduled for 4:30-7 p.m. every Lenten Friday starting March 7 at the school cafeteria, 530 S. Harlan Ave., with fish dinners served to adults for $15, children 6-12 years old for $5, and children under 6 for free. Carry-out dinners are available.
Head to Germania Maennerchor, 920 N. Fulton Ave., on March 7 for the first of its four Lenten fish frys. It’s a $13 plate featuring two breaded and deep-fried filets, potato salad from Nisbet Inn, coleslaw, baked beans, and rye bread. This fish fry runs 4:45-7:30 p.m.
St. Boniface Parish will offer drive-thru and dine-in options at its annual fish fries April 4 and 11 at its Saint Agnes campus, 1620 Glendale Ave. From 4:30 to 7 p.m., patrons can feast on fried fish, mac and cheese, potato wedges, coleslaw, a drink, and dessert for $13 per person.
St. Wendel Catholic Church’s fish fry at the Knights of St. John Home, 11714 Winery Road, Wadesville, Indiana, is slated for 5-7 p.m. March 14 and April 11. For $13, diners can dine in, drive-thru, or carry out a full plate of fried fish, potato salad, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, grilled cheese, and cornbread.Children’s plates cost $6.
Switch things up with a shrimp boil 5-7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 5528 Hogue Road. Throw in potatoes, corn, and sides like green beans and cornbread. Plates start at $13 and are cash and drive-thru only. Don’t forget the Cajun dipping sauce!
St. Clement Catholic Parish, 422 E. Sycamore St., Boonville, Indiana, will hold a fish fry 4:30-7 p.m. every Friday during Lent — except Good Friday — with fried or baked fish fillets, cornbread, slaw, sides including choices of potato salad, green beans, baked beans or macaroni and cheese, and a homemade dessert. Plates cost $15 for adults and $6 for children 12 years and younger. Dine-in and carry-out are available.
Resurrection Catholic Church, 5301 New Harmony Road, offers fish sandwiches, chips, and dessert for $7 drive-thru only from 4:30 to 7:15 p.m. p.m. March 5. Two days later, patrons — dine-in, carryout, and drive-thru — can fill up on fried fish, mac and cheese, sweet and sour coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread, and dessert for $13 each.
On March 14 and April 4, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 918 W. Mill Road, serves up fried fish, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, slaw, cheddar biscuits, dessert, and a drink for $10 (kids 8 and under eat for $5). Dine-in and drive-thru are available.
Fill up on fish filets, German potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and cornbread at St. Joseph in the County, 6202 W. Saint Joseph Road. Plates are $14 per person 5-7 p.m. March 7 and 21. Meals are carryout only.
St. James Catholic Church, at 12300 County Road 50 West in Haubstadt, Indiana, offers baked or fried Alaskan pollock, grilled cheese, German potato salad, baked beans, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, dessert, and a drink. Adults can eat for $14; children’s plates cost $7. Dine-in and carryout are available 4:30-7:30 p.m. March 14 and April 4.
The Men’s Club of St. Philip Catholic Church, 3500 St. Philip Road S., Mount Vernon, Indiana, hosts a fish fry starting at 4:30 p.m. April 11 that includes baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread.
St. Matthew Catholic Church, 421 Mulberry St., Mount Vernon, Indiana, holds its March 21 and 28 fish fries from 5 to 7 p.m. Put on by the St. Matthew Men’s Club, the menu includes fried fish, coleslaw, hush puppies, fries, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and cheese pizza. Plates are $12 for adults and $8 for kids.
Observing Lent while dining at a restaurant? Major Munch, 101 N.W. First St., Suite 100, does a brisk lunch business and serves a deep-fried catfish sandwich each weekday, in addition to a shrimp sandwich and catfish shrimp po’boy.
Cast a line into the fillet-filled menu at Journey’s Fish & Chicken, 825 Green River Road. Choose from meals starring cod, whiting, ocean perch, tilapia, and catfish available individual or for family-size orders.
Comfort by the Cross-Eyed Cricket, 230 Main St., offers fried catfish fillets, Atlantic salmon, and Icelandic cod starting at $16 for lunch and dinner.
Diners at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, 6401 E. Lloyd Expressway, Ste. 3, can select from sea scallop risotto, Dijon salmon, parmesan-crusted tilapia, crab-stuffed cod, and seafood-based entrees.
Fish dinners are a menu staple at St. Phillip’s Inn, 11200 Upper Mount Vernon Road. Catfish sandwiches can be had for $9.49. Catfish steaks start at $11.49; add a second filet for $2.50. All fish dinners are served with two sides and cornbread.
At The Tin Fish, 707 State St., Newburgh, Indiana, patrons can tuck into platters of mixed fish including salmon, swordfish, tilapia, trout, or walleye.
Irish hospitality is served at Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub, 203 Main St., including fish. Cod is beer battered and deep fried to a golden crisp before being served with Irish chips, tartar sauce, and slaw. Take your cod on a Martin’s Potato Bun, or for dinner order a chargrilled salmon filet served with barley risotto and lemon dijonaisse. On the go? Grab an order of fish and chips from Bodine’s Newsstand.
Albion Fellows Bacon was an Evansville reformer and author who fought to improve public housing standards.
This article originally published in March 2022.
Every March, Women’s History Month offers a special opportunity to celebrate generations of women who have strengthened our nation and paved the way for others. To honor local contributions, we are shining a light on five of the women who have helped shape the River City over time.
Albion Fellows Bacon
Perhaps one of Evansville’s most impactful women, Albion Fellows Bacon was a reformer and author who fought to improve public housing standards. Born in 1865, the Evansville native was married to banker Hilary E. Bacon and together they raised four children.
Fellows Bacon dedicated her life to improving living and working conditions for women, children, and the poor, and as a tribute, Evansville’s Albion Fellows Bacon Center is named after her. The center provides free, confidential services to survivors of domestic violence and abuse. It works to prevent domestic violence by educating the community about the dangers of abuse and advocating for survivors.
Fellows Bacon’s legacy does not stop there. She also helped organize the Indiana Housing Association in 1911 and was instrumental in the passing of the state’s safe housing law in 1917. She assembled several organizations including the Men’s Circle of Friendly Visitors, the Flower Mission for poor working girls, a Working Girls’ Association, an Anti-Tuberculosis League, and the Monday Night Club of influential citizens interested in charitable work.
She was also involved with Indiana’s Commission on Child Welfare and Social Insurance and served as the head of the executive committee of the Indiana Child Welfare Association before her death in Evansville on Dec. 10, 1933.
Mattie Miller
Mattie Miller
Mattie Miller was Evansville’s first Black teacher before local schools were desegregated. Miller was born in Tennessee in 1938 and moved to Indiana in 1953 after marrying William Miller. In 1959, 21-year-old Miller landed her first teaching job at Lincoln High School, an all-black school in Evansville.
When Lincoln High School closed in 1962, Miller began teaching English at Harper Elementary School on Evansville’s East Side, a position that made her the first Black schoolteacher at a segregated school in Evansville. (The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation began desegregating schools under federal mandate in the early 1970s.) Miller then moved to teaching at F.J. Reitz High School in 1975 and stayed there for 10 years, after which she served as the assistant principal at Plaza Park Middle School and returned to Harper Elementary School as principal. In honor of her lifelong dedication to education, the elementary school’s auditorium now bears Miller’s name.
Miller directed the first federally funded “Right to Read” program at Glenwood Leadership Academy and retired from Harper in 2001. She was inducted into the EVSC Hall of Fame in 2010 and received the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash and Leadership Evansville Lifetime Achievement Award. Miller is also involved with the Evansville African American Museum, at which her husband was curator and president — a position their son Kori now holds. Miller died April 2, 2022 at age 89.
Sylvia Weinzapfel
Civic leader Sylvia Weinzapfel was born on April 4, 1936, and graduated from Reitz Memorial High School, the then-Evansville College, and Indiana University. She married Ralph Weinzapfel and they had six children, one of whom is former Evansville mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.
Throughout her time in Evansville, Weinzapfel served as the assistant director of Continuing Education at the University of Southern Indiana and the Executive Director of Vanderburgh County CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Weinzapfel notably spent 22 years as the Executive Director of the YWCA, where she launched several initiatives including a mentoring program for at-risk girls, a shelter program for women and their children, and transition housing for women in recovery. Weinzapfel’s passion for social justice was evident in her volunteer work with the League of Women Voters, United Way, and A Network of Evansville Women. She died July 26, 2017, at the age of 81.
Daniela Vidal
Daniela Vidal photo by Zach Straw
While growing up in Venezuela, Daniela Vidal earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas before immigrating to the U.S. In the more than 20 years since she moved to Evansville, Vidal has blazed a trail for women and Latinas in the plastics industry. A master’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern Indiana gained her entry to management positions at large companies such as Procter & Gamble Latin America, Mead Johnson, GE Plastics, and Berry Global. Vidal then segued to education, teaching engineering and coordinating advanced manufacturing and industrial supervision degree programs at USI. At the time Vidal was appointed chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College’s Evansville campus in 2020, she was the vice president of operations at Vidal Plastics and had been with USI for more than 10 years, most recently as the director of Opportunity Development, and had set a goal of reaching out to diverse communities with the benefits of higher education.
Vidal is active in the Evansville community and was a founding member of HOLA, a Latino non-profit in Evansville. She received the 2009 Leadership Evansville (now Leadership Everyone) Celebration of Leadership Award for her community and neighborhood leadership. Vidal lives in Newburgh with her husband Alfonso and has three children.
Dr. Stella Boyd
Although born in Oregon in 1899, Dr. Stella Boyd made her mark on Evansville history as the first local female obstetrician/gynecologist.
In the 1930s, the University of Chicago graduate took over the practice established by her late husband, Dr. Elmer Boyd. She set up her office in the Hulman Building in Downtown Evansville and provided diaphragms – a form of female birth control – for married women. While more widely available today, birth control was a controversial practice in society and even was illegal in that time. Through this tactic, Boyd was instrumental in providing family planning services to underserved women during the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s and ’40s. She also educated female patients about their birth control options.
An amusing story about Boyd can be found in her obituary in the Feb. 25, 1969, issue of the Evansville Press newspaper. “For sterilizing purposes, Dr. Boyd often boiled her rubber gloves in her office, but she would get so busy with other tasks that she would forget about them,” the article says. “They would burn, and people would chuckle and say, ‘Dr. Boyd’s boiling her gloves again.’”
The 1940 U.S. Census shows Boyd as having four children and living on Kentucky Avenue. She died of cancer in Downers Grove, Illinois, in 1969 and was buried in Evansville’s Oak Hill Cemetery.
Both Boyd and Fellows Bacon were honored in the 2016 production of “Her Story: Evansville Women in the 20th Century,” which commemorated the accomplishments and impact of Evansville women.
“We’re really honored,” says Neil Dauby, chairman and CEO of Jasper, Indiana-based German American. “Our being recognized as a top performer across the nation is nothing new to us. But rising to the level of No. 2 is special. We could tell our team members they are doing a great job and give them internal recognition and acknowledgment, but when an independent and prestigious company like Forbes gives you that validation, it takes on a whole different meaning for our team.”
Now 115 years old, German American has about $8.3 billion in assets and $3.7 billion in wealth management assets under management. Its presence is in western, central, and northern Kentucky and central and southwest Ohio, as well as central and southern Indiana.
German American has conducted business at its Downtown Evansville location, at Southeast Third and Locust streets, since 2017.
John Lamb, chief commercial banking officer and senior president of German American’s Southwest Region, says the nod from Forbes “is very meaningful to our employees in our regions and our markets. They all have played a long-term part in making our performance possible.”
John Lamb photo provided by German American Bank
In addition to the diligence of those team members, Lamb says German American’s success is keyed by local governing within its six regions, all of which have distinct demographics and lending needs.
Each area where German American operates has “local people making local decisions,” Lamb says.
In its list of America’s Best Banks for 2025, Forbes notes that smaller often is better when it comes to financial institutions.
No banks in the top 10 have more than $25 billion in assets, and JPMorgan Chase is the only trillion-dollar institution on the entire list.
German American officials say they have been able to retain the smaller, community bank-style model even as the company has expanded to 46 locations in Indiana and 28 in Kentucky.
“We’ll out-local our competition with a relationship-based, community bank model,” Dauby says. “Corporately we want to provide the necessary resources to our local leadership teams and empower them with local decision-making and autonomy. We want them to be nimble and responsive to our customers and community’s needs.”
In rating institutions for 2025, Forbes looks at 11 metrics measuring growth, credit quality, and profitability for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2024, as well as stock performance in the year through Jan. 10, 2025.
The 200 largest publicly traded banks and thrifts by assets were eligible for the list. Forbes ranked the top 100 of that group.
In recent years, German American has grown its presence in Bloomington and Columbus, Indiana, as well as Louisville, Kentucky, and the 2024 acquisition of Heartland Bancorp will cast its net into Ohio.
Dauby says German American will remain involved with all types of organizations within its footprint.
The No. 2 national recognition from Forbes “should instill confidence in those who bank and invest with German American because it demonstrates our financial focus, strength, and stability,” Dauby says. “It also brings trust in the advice and counsel of our local team of banking and wealth management professionals. I believe our customers and communities will be prideful of our national ranking as well. It validates the strength of German American Bank and the communities we serve.”
After being an outbound state for many years — meaning significantly more residents were leaving than coming — Indiana is seeing its migration pattern pull close to even.
The Evansville region, meanwhile, has a goal to boost its own stagnant population.
Whether because of cost of living, professional opportunity, family considerations, or something else, imports in the Hoosier state caught up with exports in 2024, showing nearly a 50-50 split. That’s according to data from Evansville-based Atlas Van Lines, Inc., which tracks interstate and cross-border household goods moves state by state.
The trend for 2024 was stark. Among movers to and from Indiana, Atlas figures show that 49 percent were arriving in the state and 51 were leaving. Atlas considers that a “balanced” pattern. Between 2015 and 2023, departures from Indiana were between 57 and 60 percent annually.
“Let’s hope it’s a trend,” Atlas Chairman and CEO Jack Griffin says. “If we go back to negative outbound next year, we’ll know it was a blip.”
Among Evansville’s neighboring states, the data are rosier for Kentucky than Illinois. The Bluegrass State’s migration has recently weighed toward arrivals — last year, 56 percent of movers were coming into Kentucky while 44 percent were leaving.
Illinois was nearly the opposite, with 57 percent moving out and 43 percent moving in, which is actually better than the state has done lately. Atlas data for 2023 showed that 63 percent of movers were outbound from Illinois.
Griffin says many Midwest states have shown outbound patterns for several years — with one reason being the baby boom generation’s retirement and relocation to warmer climates.
The Atlas migration data is broken down by state and not regions within states. The Evansville area’s population has been flat for several years, and the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership wants to change that.
Census data show the City of Evansville’s population estimate for 2023 was 115,332. That’s down 1.7 percent from the 2020 official census count, which was 117,292.
In total, Vanderburgh, Gibson, Posey, and Warrick counties in 2024 saw year-over-year population growth of 0.1 percent, while peer regions grew nearly 1 percent, according to E-REP. Most of the region’s increase is happening in Warrick County, which has about 65,867 residents.
E-REP’s Talent EVV initiative has set a goal to add 10,000 people to the four-county region by 2030, with half of those relocated residents being early in their careers.
E-REP cites some modest early successes toward that end. The region participates in MakeMyMove, a nationwide program to financially incentivize relocation for remote workers.
In 2024, MakeMyMove lured 25 households with an average annual income of $127,823 to the Evansville area. The program’s goal for 2025 is 50 households.
Another population-boosting effort is called Belong Here, which also offers incentives and targets workers to fill local jobs in traditional fields such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education. E-REP launched this in 2024 and says that since April, it has brought in 15 households (33 individuals) with an average $97,000 annual income.
E-REP is financing MakeMyMove and Belong Here with funding from the state’s READI program, the American Rescue Plan Act, and other sources.
Population growth is important to bolster the local workforce and bring fresh perspectives and talents to the community, says Tyler Stock, executive director of Talent EVV.
Together with increased population, Stock says the Talent EVV initiative also has goals to boost the region’s average wages and education levels, improved health outcomes, and cutting poverty, through a variety of investments, strategies, and partnerships.
Stock says Talent EVV is about “casting a vision for where we want to be five years from now.”
Photo of Valentine's Day treats provided by Pangea Kitchen
Looking to celebrate your Galentines? We have you covered. Scroll to the end for ideas for your gal pals!
Valentine’s Treat Box
If your partner has a sweet tooth, treat them to boxes filled with raspberry Parisian macarons, chocolate strawberry gelato cake, heart-shaped vanilla bean sugar cookies, passionfruit chocolate truffles, and more treats from Pangea Kitchen.
Three Days of Valentine’s Dinners Feb. 13-15, Comfort By The Cross-Eyed Cricket, 230 Main St. Find love at first bite off two different menus at the Downtown Restaurant. Starting Feb. 13, tuck into crab bisque, seared sea bass, bone-in Berkshire double pork chop, cheesecake and more on Comfort’s daily menu. Feb. 14, bring your love to brunch, then return for dinner in the Upper Room with a four-course meal of oysters, tomahawk steaks, chocolate torte, and more.
Valentine’s Day Concert 6 p.m. Feb. 14, Your Brother’s Bookstore, 504 Main St. The Pink Pearls headline this Champagne Jam concert with Woe_Boy, a local bedroom pop band, and singer-songwriter Dyland Gaston. Cover charge is $10.
February Art Show: “If You Ever Loved Me” 6-8 p.m. Feb. 14; 2-5 p.m. Feb. 15, Twymon Art Gallery, 1015 Lincoln Ave. New works by Southern Illinois-based oil painter and sculptor Jaeda Thomason shine a light on domestic abuse.
Valentine Week Group Salsa + Bachata Lesson 6:30-8 p.m. Feb. 13, The Attic at Chaser’s Bar & Grill, 2131 W. Franklin St.
Take a 45-minute dance lesson in salsa, bachata, and merengue — no partner needed! Open dancing follows the lesson. Cover charge is $15 per person.
Miscast Cabaret: Valentine’s Edition! 7 p.m. Feb. 14, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 3600 Oak Hill Road Singers share their best not-ready-for-Broadway numbers during this musical comedy. Performers will be seated in the audience when they are not onstage. Admission is $25 and includes treats, mocktails, and coffee.
Swipe Right Night 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14, Ford Center, 1 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Unattached? The Thunderbolts want to play matchmaker. Join a round a speed dating in the Suite Club before the hockey game against the Quad City Storm. During the game, mingle with other singles in a special seating section, then participate in a blind date during the first 20-minute intermission for a chance to win a “perfect date.”
Love/Sick 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-15; 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Feb. 16, STAGEtwo at 321, 321 N. Congress Ave. Nine slightly twisted short comedic plays directed by John Cariani explore the pain and joy of being in love. Pre-sale tickets cost $18. Day-of tickets are $20.
Paint Your Partner Date Night 6 p.m. Feb. 15, Fired Up! Joe Schmoe’s Art Studio, 2121 N. Green River Road Painting novices and experts alike can use their lover as their muse, with a twist: Partners cannot see the work until the painter is finished. Tickets cost $55.
The Poisoned Rose: The Art of a Dying Love 6:30-11 p.m. Feb. 15, Henderson Haunts, 2480 U.S. 41 Unit 180, Henderson, Kentucky Do you prefer jump scares over romantic meals? This one-night haunted house experience ups the ante by taking place in complete. Hold hands — hey, that can be romantic! — and make your way through the shows to the poisoned rose. Single tickets cost $15.
Mutts at Myriad: Valentine Edition noon-3 p.m. Feb. 16, Myriad Brewing Company, 8245 High Pointe Drive, Newburgh, Indiana Show your best furry friend how much you love them with a Valentine photo booth, kissing booth, and cookie decorating for $10. Meet Warrick Humane Society pups available for adoption. Mother Truckers Pizzeria will be on hand as well and donating $2 from each pizza to WHS.
Galentine’s Day
Popularized by Amy Poehler’s hit sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” Galentine’s Day falls on Feb. 13 and celebrates your best gal pals.
Galentine Jewelry Design 3-5 p.m. Feb. 15, Memo, 209 Main St. Create three unique pairs of earrings with Jen Bretz, owner of JenArt Ceramics Studio. Bretz guides attendees through cutting and decorating ceramic earrings. The class costs $80 and can be registered for online or in Memo.
Girl Talk 6 p.m. Feb. 13, Mo’s House, 1114 Parrett St. This annual mixer — at a locale Evansville Living readers have twice voted the best place to have a drink — features charcuterie, custom cocktails, a photo booth, and giveaways.
Galentine’s Getaway Craving a weekend away with your best friends? Bloomington, Indiana, has crafted a full itinerary for a girls’ weekend. Among the highlights are relaxing at Bloomington Salt Cave, brunch, shopping, and toasting to friendship with stops at Butler and Oliver wineries — the latter is hosting a Chocolate Lover’s Weekend Feb. 14-16.
Photo from 62nd Mid-States Art Exhibition provided by Chelsie Walker
Two houses shimmer in their frames, garbed in Christmas lights and aluminum siding. They seem nostalgically familiar, as if you have seen them on a suburban street or rural road.
Both are the subjects of “Aster Drive” and “Atom Road,” two oil paintings on display in the 62nd Mid-States Art Exhibition through March 23 at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science. Created by artist and Missouri State University Professor Sarah Williams, the paintings’ uneasy Midwest vibe feels closer to David Lynch than Architectural Digest.
“My pride and passion for the rural Midwest … comes through in my paintings like a witness’ perspective,” Williams says.
Cheyenne E. Miller, the museum’s Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art, was excited the museum acquired “Aster Drive” for its permanent collection. “I appreciate its subtlety and all the detail in the shadows,” she says. “It’s a beautiful painting.”
The museum also purchased “In Hindsight, He Never Had a Chance,” a striking charcoal work from the exhibition by Paducah, Kentucky, artist Randy Simmons.
The exhibition had its start in 1948 as the Tri-State Art Exhibition, Miller says, with 72 entries from artists within a 50-mile radius of Evansville. It later expanded to include artists from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. Acquisitions from the show have added 332 pieces to the museum’s permanent collection.
“As an institution, it’s important we share what contemporary artists are up to in different cities, different states,” Miller says. “It’s art history in motion.”
Beyond their Mid-America ethos, this year’s 44 paintings, sculptures, collage, and drawings challenge the viewer, representing the state of contemporary art.
Significant to the Tri-State, one in five works is by a local art educator or student — “a sure sign that our art community is alive and well,” Miller says.
She and juror Lauren R. O’Connell, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, worked closely on selecting works for the exhibition.
“I chose works that had something personal to say,” O’Connell says. “Some started with a colloquial Midwest viewpoint, but then played with it. Instead of showing you beauty, they flipped the perspective and spoke to a contemporary moment.”
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2022 issue.
From 1924 to 1936, the Colored Speedway Association’s Gold and Glory Sweepstakes was the premier racing event for people of color barred from the segregated Indianapolis 500. In the race’s last year, one driver lost control of his car in the second lap, causing a 13-car accident that would cost one of racing’s greatest drivers his career and, later, his life.
Born in Evansville on July 15, 1897, Charlie Wiggins was destined to be a car man. As a shoeshiner at 11 years old, he picked up mechanical skills by watching engineers through the open door of the neighboring auto shop. By 1920, Wiggins had moved to Indianapolis to work at another garage and began constructing his soon-to-be-famous racing car, the “Wiggins Special.”
Photo by Kristen K. Tucker
In 1924, he entered the Gold and Glory Sweepstakes for the very first time. He would go on to win the 100-mile dirt track race at the Indiana State Fairground four times from 1924 to 1936, earning him the nickname “Speed King.”
In 1934, Wiggins snuck into the Indy 500 disguised as a janitor to be lead engineer on Bill Cumming’s Boyle Products Race team, but wasn’t allowed to stand on the podium.
After losing his right eye and right leg in the 1936 crash, Wiggins became a mentor for young Black racers and advocated to end segregation in racing. While he died in 1979 due to infection in his amputated leg, his legacy lived on and he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2020. Wiggins is also commemorated by a historical marker adjacent to the Evansville African American Museum.
Welburn Media Productions will begin production on a feature film titled “Eraced” adapted from an Emmy-winning documentary about Wiggins’ life in late spring 2022.
There are changes afoot at Colonial Classics Landscape & Nursery, but longtime shoppers can expect to see familiar faces.
Backed by a group of local investors, Andrew and Jesse Diekhoff have purchased the longtime landscaping business and garden center from Julie and J.T. McCarty. The latter’s father, Jim, opened the business in 1958, and it remained in family hands for the next 66 years.
The winds of change began blowing a few years before the December 2024 sale. Andrew Diekhoff had served as Colonial’s landscape design manager since February 2018. The Reitz Memorial High School grad had formed a strong relationship with the McCartys, which got him thinking about the future. Andrew was ready to take the next step in his career, and he knew the McCartys did not have another generation to carry on the family business. Sentiment also played a part.
“I love the place. I met my wife there. J.T. was our wedding officiant. I knew I wasn’t going to make a career change, and I didn’t want to move and start somewhere else. I remember going there with my grandparents,” he says. “It seemed like a dream come true to be able to do that, instead of starting from scratch. … I thought, I can pull this off.”
The McCartys agreed.
Photo of Julie and J.T. McCarty by Zach Straw
“We felt very good about that transition because we know how much passion he has for the business, and he’s a local person,” J.T. says.
That last point was significant to the McCartys, who over the years had rebuffed offers to sell to larger corporations.
“Colonial is as good as it is because of Andrew and Jesse and all employees there. I wanted to make sure Andrew understood that he kept all these people here. You continue to expound on what we’ve got going on here, and you’ll be successful,” J.T. says.
Andrew stresses he’s not trying to reinvent the business on Epworth Road, even if some new services — like an irrigation department — are on tap.
“We want to build on the foundation that’s already there. We don’t want to do things differently as much as we want to add to what we’re doing,” he says. “Having the longevity it’s had, you don’t get there by being big. You offer quality service, being fair, taking care of staff and customers, and offering a good, quality product, whether it’s something in garden center or a project at someone’s house. You deliver a trustworthy service.”
“I think I’m kind of surprised that I’m not more nervous about it than I am,” Andrew laughs. “I just know there’s such a good team in place. We can keep growing.”
J.T. “knows we’ll take care of a legacy that’s very personal to him,” Andrew says.
The McCartys, meanwhile, are embracing retirement.
“When you close one door, two more open. Julie and I are very adventuresome, and we like to travel. Now, because the good Lord’s been good to me, we’re going to start giving back to society,” J.T. says. “Andrew is a younger generation, and they have a lot of energy and ideas. We look forward to seeing the next evolution of Colonial Classics.”
Southwestern Indiana residents now have a better idea of how much their CenterPoint Energy base electric charges will rise.
CenterPoint on Feb. 3 received the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s approval for a rate increase, but less of one than the Texas-based utility sought. CenterPoint has since added details that the average residential customer – one that uses 799 kilowatts per month – can expect their bill to initially jump $7 and eventually $26 per month by early 2026.
That’s roughly half of the rate hike CenterPoint had petitioned the state agency to levy. In total, the IURC lowered the potential bill impact by about $6 million, says Mike Roeder, CenterPoint senior vice president for external affairs.
IURC members came to Evansville for a public hearing in February 2024 and faced a packed ballroom of residents who angrily denounced any rate increases. Dozens of people, including Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry, testified that the higher electric charges would be a hardship for those whose budgets are already stretched.
IURC members, who are appointed by Indiana’s governor, listened but made no comments at the hearing.
CenterPoint — which entered the Indiana market with the 2019 purchase of Vectren — had been charging the highest residential electric rates in Indiana, but as of mid-2024 its rates slipped behind those of the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO). Roeder says that NIPSCO and other utilities serving Indiana have sought, and received, IURC approval for rate increases, with citizen opposition also being aired.
According to CenterPoint, the added customer costs will support a list of upgrades in the utility’s Indiana footprint, some of which have already been financed over the past 14 years.
CenterPoint cites a need to upgrade its transmission and distribution system, replacing outdated equipment and modernizing its energy grid; automated metering technology; new generation facilities and power sources to support growth; and projects to comply with environmental regulations.
“These are investments for reliability,” Roeder says. “We are always trying to balance these investments for reliability with affordability.”
Roeder pointed to the IURC’s decision to lower the total requested bill impact as evidence that the opposition aired by area residents was heard.
The $6 million reduction “is significant,” Roeder says. “From the minute we filed this rate case, we wanted to phase in the impact. We wanted to keep affordability at the top of our mind.”
Terry and some other elected officials released statements condemning the IURC’s approval of an electric rate increase for CenterPoint Energy.
“At a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet – to find affordable housing, to afford groceries – this increase in the cost of a basic necessity is devastating,” Terry said in a Feb. 3 statement posted to her social media.
As for when CenterPoint customers might start to notice the higher bill, it apparently won’t be long.
“The short answer is it will be a least a week,” Roeder says. “The longer answer is we have to make a compliance filing with the (IURC) that allows them to double-check our math for all the customer classes before we implement rates.”
Photo provided by Evansville Thunderbolts. Bolts hockey players Robin Eriksson, Derek Contessa, Brady Lynn, and Jordan Simoneau pose with Ford Center Executive Director Scott Schoenike after completing Wayback Burgers' nine-patty burger challenge Jan. 21. Several of the Bolts' international players, including Lynn, list food as one of their favorite parts about living in Evansville.
Culture shock comes in many forms. For international athletes on the Evansville Thunderbolts professional hockey team, several of their biggest “newcomer” moments involved the basics: food, weather, and traffic.
More than half of the 18 athletes carving up the ice for the city’s SPHL team come from outside America. Nine call Canada home, while two hail from Europe. Unlike the group of international residents profiled in the January/February cover story, Bolts players arrive in Evansville each October and make the River City their home for the next six months. Set up with apartments in an East Side complex, many drive their own vehicles, set up a cell phone with an 812 area code, and have the autonomy and free time to explore their temporary home.
Grayson Valente, a 24-year-old defenseman from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who is in his second season with the Bolts, relishes the area’s easy travel time. He recalls being surprised at “how close everything is. It’s not often that you have to drive more than 15 minutes to get where you need to go,” he says.
Conversely, Jordan Simoneau found the roadways hectic.
“I dislike the traffic,” says Simoneau, 26, who joined the Thunderbolts in March 2024. “Coming from a small town and farm, I’m not used to the busy roads.”
However, the gregarious left wing from Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada, is loving the milder weather.
“(It’s) a great change for me. I’m used to freezing cold and lots of snow during the winter,” he says.
He may be in his first season playing the U.S., but for Vili Vesalainen, adjusting to culture shock is old hat. A 27-year-old center from Jyväskylä, Finland, Vesalainen already has played for teams in his home country, plus France, Sweden, and Germany.
Easing his culture shock in Indiana, Vesalainen says his hometown is about the same size as his new city. He also credits his introduction to Evansville to Joe Leonidas, a Canadian defenseman who played 11 games for the Bolts in 2022-23.
“He gave me a good talk about the place, so I knew something,” Vesalainen says. “People here are very social and easy-going. It’s easy to talk to people.”
The Bolts’ other European player is Robin Eriksson, a 23-year-old defenseman from Södertälje, Sweden, who also is in his inaugural season with Evansville. Both he and Vesalainen were consulted for the Bolts’ Feb. 7 theme night spotlighting European hockey hallmarks, like a golden helmet that is given as an award to the best player in the Finnish Liiga league.
If you have found yourself chuckling at the Canadian players’ accents, they’re probably having a good laugh listening to you.
“The biggest culture shock was hearing people’s accents here,” Brady Lynn, a 26-year-old right wing from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, says. Simoneau echoes his teammate, marveling at “being criticized about my Canadian accent while thinking everyone else has a crazy accent.”
The Bolts fill their free time by playing golf — “Evansville has many great courses,” Simoneau remarks — hanging out in Downtown Evansville and along the riverfront, working out, and bonding as teammates.
“We hang out lots as a team in each other’s apartments, whether it’s breakfast club, movie night, or watching sports,” Simoneau says. “We are lucky to have great gym facilities and basketball courts and a swimming pool that make for a fun time with the guys.”
On days off, players enjoy exploring the region, with Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, mentioned as frequent destinations. Still on several players’ bucket lists: Saint Louis, Missouri.
Also on their weekly itinerary is touring the local restaurant scene, hardly surprising for a team of pro athletes in their mid-twenties. Vesalainen and Lynn list coffee shops as some of their usual hangout spots. (For the latter, Best of Evansville award-winner Honey Moon Coffee Co. is a favorite.)
Valenti and Lynn remember their amazement at the food options when they each arrived in the River City. Lynn recalls being impressed with “how good the food is — and how cheap the food is.”
“Evansville has a wide variety of restaurants, so going out for lunch or dinner and trying new foods is great,” Simoneau says.
“I like the variety of food spots. There is a place for anything you’re craving,” Valente adds. “The only challenge is the lack of sidewalks in some areas to get around.”
As for acclimating to Southwestern Indiana, international Bolts validate the Midwest’s reputation for niceness.
What has surprised Lynn is “how welcoming everybody is,” he says. For Simoneau, his favorite part about playing in the U.S. is “the amount that these southern states love hockey,” he says. “It makes me feel like I’m playing back home in Canada.”
Photo from the 2024 Black History Unity Concert provided by Lori Gregory with Evansville African American Museum
Black History Month Activities Now through Feb. 28, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Oaklyn Children’s Area, 3001 Oaklyn Drive
Children can learn about Black heritage through scavenger hunts, coloring sheets, and more.
New Traditions Diversity Series 6-7 p.m. Feb. 6, Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church, 867 E. Walnut St.
The Eykamp String Quartet performs Sawney Freeman’s fiddle tunes, George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings,” and Wynton Marsalis’ “At the Octoroon Balls.” This concert is free and open to the public.
Community Racial Justice Prayer Service 2 p.m. Feb. 9, University of Evansville, Ridgway University Center’s Eykamp Hall, 1800 Lincoln Ave.
As a part of the BRIDGE (Building Respect & Integrity in Diverse Greater Evansville) Racial Justice Faith Week, which includes all faith communities, this prayer service focuses on social and racial justice.
True Black History Museum 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 11, University of Southern Indiana’s University Center East 2217-2218, 8600 University Blvd.
This traveling museum makes a stop at USI to teach about Black history using rare artifacts to preserve the history of African Americans. The public can view the museum at no charge.
The Trailblazer Black History Program 9:30-10:15 a.m. Feb. 16, St. John’s East United Church of Christ, 7000 Lincoln Ave.
Guest speaker Alex Burton, a first-term state representative and former Fourth Ward member of the Evansville City Council, leads the church’s annual Black history program celebrating Evansville trailblazers before the 10:30 a.m. worship service.
Black History Unity Concert 6 p.m. Feb. 16, Victory Theatre, 600 Main St.
The theme for this year’s concert is “Love | Unity | Justice” and features the Black History Month Unity Choir and Children’s Choir under the direction of the Rev. James Hamler. Tickets are available for $10 and must be purchased in advance.
STEAM Club: Famous Black Scientists 4-5 p.m. Feb. 18, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Red Bank Children’s Activities Room, 120 S. Red Bank Road
The contributions of Black scientists — including the late meteorologist June Bacon-Bercey, the first Black woman to earn a degree in meteorology — are discussed at this event designed for children, who will learn how to make an anemometer to measure wind speed.
James MacLeod: “Race Relations in Evansville: A History of Violence” 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 18, Willard Public Library, 21 N. First Ave.
Author and University of Evansville professor James MacLeod presents a historical review of race relations in Evansville, hosted by the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society.
Dr. John M. Caldwell Memorial Lecture Series noon-2 p.m. Feb. 22, Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Governor St.
Melissa Duneghy gives the address at this year’s Soul Writers’ Guild event honoring the memory of the late longtime Zion Missionary Baptist Church pastor and Fourth Ward city council member.
“They Fought the Law and They Won” 1 p.m. Feb. 22, Lyles Station Historic School & Museum 953 N. County Road 500 W., Princeton, Indiana At the site of the historic Black settlement in Gibson County, Lyles Station Board Vice President Juenell Owens discusses successful lawsuits in the 1800s brought by three Southwestern Indiana residents — Polly Strong, Mary Bateman Clark, and James Roundtree — that raised the awareness of the rights of Black people.
Desegregation and Busing in Evansville: Did it Work? 5:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 25, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Central Browning Event Rooms, 200 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Watez Phelps, a former University of Evansville African American Association president and one of the first cohorts of Black students bused in Evansville, leads this discussion on the successes and failures of local desegregation and busing efforts in the 1960s and ’70s.
“Customers can come up to the counter, take a look at what we’ve got made for that day, pick what they want, and we put it back in the oven to finish it off.”
Brad Niemeier
“We’re not a chain,” says Ryan Huck, co-owner of Spankey’s Una Pizza at 714 N. Sonntag Ave. “Spankey’s put una in its name because of the style of pizza we serve. But we don’t have a connection to the other una pizzas. Other pizza places make una-style pizzas, like Turoni’s (Pizzeria), but they just don’t put it in their name.”
Napolese
