Column: Pumpkin patch at Meltzer Woods

column-pumpkin-patch-at-meltzer-woods

Dear readers,  

October has arrived. Today’s photo features little Millie Herbert from Rush County. Millie is busy searching for the perfect pumpkin. Millie’s parents, John and Caitlin Herbert, brought her to Meltzer Farm to pick out a pumpkin and take a walk in the woods.

If, like Millie, you decide to follow Ralph Waldo Emerson’s advice and visit with nature, it is a great time of year to take a walk in Meltzer Woods. It is just a short drive from Shelbyville. Don’t forget to bring your camera. There are many historic sites along the way.

Head out old 421 toward Greensburg. Turn left on State Road 244 just past Kenny’s Frostop Root Beer and before St. Vincent’s church. Just over the interstate to your left is what remains of Stuckey’s. Just seeing the ruins makes me yearn for one of Stuckey’s famous pecan logs.

Keep your eyes on the left side of the road and you will next see Cousin Tom’s log cabin. Tom is married to German socialite Baroness von Krueger. When the Baroness is in residence, the German tricolor flag flies beneath the Stars and Stripes. If you are lucky, Tom’s famous donkey Cletus will be out in the pasture.  

Tom, a proud graduate of Waldron, has the Mohawk mascot carved in a tree stump near the driveway. There was a rumor going around that Tom carved the image of the Indian into the stump using only a scout knife.  I’m pretty sure that a chainsaw was involved.  

The brick one room schoolhouse is at the next crossroads. Turn left and park in the parking lot between the schoolhouse and the old sawmill.  My niece, Vanessa, and her friends have turned the schoolhouse into a free library. Stop in and pick out a book. 

Meltzer Woods is immediately north of the schoolhouse. There you will find not only the woods, but this time of year there is a pumpkin patch and corn maze. 

After seeing the historic ruins of Stuckey’s, Cousin Tom’s cabin, the Indian carved into a tree stump, a one room schoolhouse, pumpkin patch, woods, and corn maze, you might think nothing is left to see. You would be wrong. Just like Ron Popeil always said, “But wait, there’s more.” 

Loyal reader MariBeth Schmidt and her friends at Hoosier Landmarks for Learning have come up with a scenic drive including all of the above plus two covered bridges and an orchard. I’ll include the directions at the end of this column.

Now let’s get to the mailbag.

Dear Kris,

I enjoyed listening to the interview with Shelby County Post columnist and foreign correspondent Professor Todd Jay Leonard on Johnny McCrory’s morning show.

I was just wondering how much you had to pay him for promoting “The Helbing.” I couldn’t believe that the first thing he mentioned about being back in Shelbyville was the thrill of seeing “The Helbing.”

Sincerely,

Just Wondering

Dear Just Wondering,

I think that the professor mentioned The Helbing as a favor for a fellow columnist. However, my co-promoter of The Helbing, Jack Yeend, might have sweetened the deal with a pecan log from Buc-ee’s. 

Now for the scenic drive directions that I promised:

From Meltzer Woods drive north to the next crossroads

Turn right on Blue Ridge Road

The road will become 650 S., stay on it and you will cross the Forsythe covered bridge. After crossing the bridge turn right on 500 W. Then it’s a right on Skating Rink Road. Somehow find your way across the Moscow covered bridge, back to 244 and visit the Harker Family Orchard.

On second thought maybe you should just look for directions on the Hoosier Landmarks for Learning Facebook page. I couldn’t keep my map “true to the world” and somehow got lost in Gowdy.

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

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