James W. Asher, M.D. 89.

James W. Asher, M.D. 89, died peacefully in his sleep on Monday, May 14 at Delmar Garden Nursing Center in Chesterfield, MO. He was the loving husband of Anamae Asher (nee Sinclair); dear father of Jane Weckl (Richard) of Chesterfield, MO and the late Bob Asher; grandfather of Angela D. Sandler (Andy); dear brother-in-law, cousin and a friend to many. He was the son of the late Ernest and Mable (nee Newton) Asher. Dr. Asher was a life long resident of New Augusta, IN until Oct. of 2006, when he and his wife moved to Chesterfield, MO to be close to their family. He graduated from New Augusta High School (Pike Township) and did his undergraduate work at Purdue and received his B.S. degree from Indiana University and his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1942. He loved his medical practice and worked side by side with his father Ernest Asher, M.D. for over 20 years, they were known throughout the community as "Old Doc" and "Dr. Jim". After 53 years of practicing medicine he retired in Dec. 1997. Not one to sit still for long, he continued to work in medicine by volunteering at a number of Indianapolis Clinics for the homeless, through the group Volunteers in Medicine. He was still enjoying his volunteer work until October 2006 when illness curtailed his involvement. Dr. Asher was a Diplomat and Charter member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the American Medical Assn., the Indiana Medical Society, AOA of Indiana University, an honorary medical society and Alpha Epsilon Phi at Purdue University. Dr. Asher was a wonderful family man. He and his wife, Anamae, were married 64 years and she worked in the office with him for 36 years. Their son Bob died in 1972 from injuries sustained in an accident. He was an active participant of the interests of both of his children and gave many hours of service and loving support to the local 4-H clubs, Little League, Boy and Girl Scout troops and the Indiana Angus Assn. He made many trips to St. Louis to visit his family and his granddaughter Angela held a special place in his heart. He always had a close relationship with his daughter and her husband and they spent many recent days watching the birds and turtles at the nursing center together. Dr. Asher was a true outdoorsman and loved to fish. He was an avid fly fisherman and enjoyed fishing trips with a number of friends. He also enjoyed tying his own flies and taught the basics of fly tying to many small groups and was a charter member of the Indianapolis Flycasters Assoc. He was a firm believer in "Catch and Release" program and made yearly trips to Alaska and Michigan to fish. Another favorite activity was gardening. He always planted a huge garden and then shared his produce with many family, friends and patients. He took great delight in sharing his garden space with many friends and family members as he felt that it provided not only fresh vegetables but a wonderful form of relaxation therapy and exercise. He had planted a small tomato and lettuce patch at the nursing center and was enjoying watching this year's garden take shape. Dr. Asher had a Christmas tree farm located in Brown County, IN where he raised trees for sale as well as donated many large trees to area churches and nursing homes. He also donated many trees to area Boy and Girl Scout troops for their use in fund raising activities. Dr. Asher was a true friend. Once he made a friend, that person was a forever friend. He was a quiet, well liked, hard working man who made this world a better place to be. Donations may be made to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 3000 Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208-4716, (317) 334-3322. He will be interred at Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery on Moore Rd., Indianapolis, IN later in the summer.

Traders Point Area May Seek Historic Label

May 19, 2007
Traders Point area may seek historic label
It would become state's largest rural historic district
By Robert Annis
robert.annis@indystar.com
May 19, 2007
More than 30 people turned out this week to discuss creating a rural historic district in the Traders Point area of Marion and Boone counties.
"We're seeing development pressures every day," said consultant Camille Fife of the Westerly Group. "It's swallowing up all these treasures."
Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services for the Historic Landmark Foundation of Indiana, said creating the district could help brand the area and enable residents to make it into a tourist attraction.
Fife is reluctant to put specific boundaries on the proposed area and said bisecting I-865 might mean creating separate historical districts.
In an interview last week, Fritz Kunz, one of the effort's organizers, said the tentative boundaries would be Cooper Road to the west, Eagle Creek to the east, I-865 to the north and 79th Street and Lafayette Road to the south.
Fife said it would take six to nine months to go through the process, and she plans to spend the next several weeks taking notes and photos throughout the area.
Fife said her firm has done more than 20 applications for other historical sites and has a 100 percent success rate at achieving historic preservation status. The state has two rural historic districts, and Fife said the anticipated 7,000-acre Traders Point site would be much larger than either.
Organizers of the historic district drive have raised $8,000 of the $20,000 they need to pay Fife's group to spearhead the efforts. Fritz Kunz's wife, Cindy Kunz, said the money came from two individual donors and a grant. Organizers are applying for two other grants and hope for more individual donations.
Local homeowners expressed concern that creating a rural historic district would place limitations on what they could do with their property, but Fife and Dollase tried to put their minds at ease.
"Nobody's going to be telling you what you can do or not do with your property," Fife said.
Fife said residents could do whatever they want with their property as long as they don't use federal dollars, and they would benefit from increased property values. Dollase added that property values in rural historic districts tend to rise considerably faster than in nonregistered areas.
While the rural historic designation won't necessarily keep developers out of the area, Fife said many businesses and government projects, such as a new highway, would have to go through an application process, and neighbors would have a bigger say in what happens.

Branding Traders Point and TPAN

Discussion has begun about how we distinguish our area so that Realtors and home buyers understand what we have to offer. Of course, part of what we have involves whispering not shouting as to speak too much might change what we have. So it is with some hesitation that we consider a proposal to "brand" our neighborhood. In a way this began over a year ago when we created TPAN, an umbrella of many neighborhoods and home owner's associations that share the common interest of being within the "triangle". TPAN has become a voice and an advocate for interests in the area that is unprecedented. TPAN has been instrumental in getting neighbors to talk to each other about schools, home values, our distinctives, and about what each of us can do to maintain the unique history and rural lifestyle that we have so close to the city. One of the ideas for branding is to create median signage at the points of ingress to the triangle. The West 86th Street Homeowner's Association has offered to fund the sign and maintain the median near their development at West 86th Street near 465. Other signs might be located near 71st and I-465, near I-65 and Lafayette Road, and on Indianapolis Road where it becomes Lafayette Road and on 96th Street and Moore Road.

Branding, if handled properly, can call attention to our community in a tasteful and positive way without changing it and serve to distinguish it from other parts of the township, the county, and the region.

One of the questions is what to call our area. I am a fan of the moniker Traders Point for a very simple reason. When you go to Mapquest or Google Maps and type in Traders Point, Indiana, the result accurately pinpoints a spot inside of our triangle. Thanks to Rand McNally putting the tiny hamlet that is no more on the map years ago, we are still there today. And that is a great thing that no negotiated name can ever give us.

William Fortune 1863-1942

Few family names have had more lasting impact on the Traders Point area than this one. He frequented the area during the dawn of the automobile and his circle of influential friends included J.K. Lilly who assembled what is now Eagle Creek Park. Fortune's daughter and son in law Bowman Elder, established a large rural estate on Moore Road in the 1920s. His grandchildren and great grandchildren on both the Fortune and Elder sides of the family remain in the area to this day and operate separate dairies and horse farms. Family members helped create the Traders Point Hunt, one of the truly unique emblems of the region. Great grandson Carter Fortune leads the publicly-traded Fortune Industries, located just a few miles from Traders Point. Yet one must travel to Boonville, Indiana to see any public recognition of the man; a small bronze plaque in front of the Warrick County Courthouse.

The following is bit of background on Mr. Fortune from the Indiana Historical Society.

William Fortune (1863-1942) was born in Boonville, Indiana, the son of William Harrison and Mary (St. Clair) Fortune. After rudimentary schooling, he became an apprentice on the Boonville Standard at the age of thirteen. In 1881 he published a history of Warrick County, and later the same year did research on the Indiana period (1816-1830) of Abraham Lincoln's life.
In 1882 Fortune moved to Indianapolis. He took a job at the Indianapolis Journal, and soon became city editor. Resigning because of ill health in 1888, he served as correspondent for several eastern newspapers during Benjamin Harrison's Presidential campaign, and briefly edited a weekly paper, the Sunday Press. He then worked for two years at the Indianapolis News. In 1884 Fortune married May Knubbe. They had three children, and brought them up in a house they built in Woodruff Place.
In the early 1890s Fortune became involved with civic improvement. In 1890, working with Colonel Eli Lilly, he helped found the Commercial Club, which in the next few years worked to pave the city's streets, to get the city's first big convention (the Encampment of the GAR), to get railroad tracks elevated, and to provide relief during a depression in 1894-1895.
Fortune was an early advocate of automobiles, heading an early automobile club and working for good roads. In 1904 he took a lead in hosting a visit to Indianapolios by Prince Pu Lun of China. For twenty years he operated a trade magazine for the paving industry, Municipal Engineering. From 1908 to 1924 he was president of a group of independent telephone companies.
Invited to buy some stock in Eli Lilly and Company in 1916, Fortune served as a director of the company for eleven years and as chairman of the finance committee for five years. Through most of his life he was a close friend of J. K. Lilly, and he went on a world cruise with him in 1923.
In 1916 Fortune organized the local chapter of the American Red Cross. He raised large amounts of money, coordinated hundreds of volunteers, and organized the local War Chest. He continued to head the Red Cross chapter until his death. In the 1920s he was active in the national Red Cross and in the national Chamber of Commerce.
After his wife's death in 1898, and the marriage of his children in the early 1900s, Fortune was essentially a public man. He enjoyed the limelight, and used his prominence to promote his chosen causes.

Wandering Moore Road (snapshots)

Camille Fife and Rural Historic District Nomination progress

A group of Traders Point area neighbors met May 16 at the Traders Point Creamery to hear from Camille Fife who has been hired to assist us with the application for Rural Historic District Nomination in the National Register. We learned that a not to exceed $20,000 amount will take us through the entire process. Ms. Fife was introduced by Mark Dollase of Historic Landmarks who first became acquainted with her while he was pursuing his degree. She has impressive credentials including the recent completion and submittal of Madison, Indiana for historic place status. Donations to defray the costs of her efforts are welcome. Please call Cindy Lamberjack for more information, 873-5934.

The Passing of James Asher, M.D.

Earlier this week we received word that our neighbor and friend, Dr. Jim Asher, passed away. Dr. Asher and his wife Annamae had recently relocated to Missouri to be closer to a daughter. Fortunately for all of us, prior to their move they made arrangements with an adjacent farm owner to maintain the house and farmland and by all reports their property will not be sold for redevelopment . Dr. Asher's healing hands touched many. From a small office in New Augusta, Dr. Asher took over a practice established in the 1800's by his father, possibly one of the first medical practices in Pike Township.

He loved the rural character of the area and resisted numerous opportunities to sell any portion of his 100 + acre property; which lies on both sides of Moore Road. But recently he and his wife made arrangements to donate a portion of their farm for the expansion of the Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery, which their property surrounds on two sides. Their donation carried with it a small request; that a family plot be established there for the Ashers. His home is mentioned in the Multiple Property Listing as the Moore-Asher House (1879) referring to the original owner, Tolbert Moore for whom the road is named. The report indicates the property has significance for both the agricultural and estate periods and that it may be eligible for National Registry listing.

Traders Point Creamery to serve beer and wine

May 10, 2007
Traders Point Creamery gains alcohol permit
Cafe plans to add Friday, Saturday night dinner
By Robert Annis
robert.annis@indystar.com

Traders Point Creamery's petition for a liquor permit for beer and wine has been approved by the state's Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
The commision gave its OK last week.
Fritz Kunz, co-owner of the farm with his wife, Jane, said the creamery, 9101 Moore Road, will begin selling organic beer and wine and plans to expand meal service to include dinner Friday and Saturday evenings in the near future. The creamery's cafe was previously open only for lunch and breakfast.
Kunz said he sought the beer and wine permit to complement the cafe's food offerings, and not to become known as a bar or tavern. Remonstrators, such as neighbor Scott Hokanson, argued that a liquor license shouldn't be issued to an establishment in a predominately residential neighborhood.
Hokanson could not be reached for comment.
Kunz said he was a community activist and wanted only to make the area a more wonderful place. He suggested that other farms should follow his lead to make their businesses more valuable so they wouldn't need to sell to developers.
The license will be renewed automatically each year unless there are code violations, according to an agency spokesperson.
Call Star reporter Robert Annis at (317) 444-5572.

Cassilly Adams Slept Here

I have confirmed through the public record that the residence location of Mr. and Mrs. Cassilly Adams was an 8.4 acre parcel at the northwest corner or confluence of Fishback Creek and Eagle Creek. This is an area that birders know well as the site of the two observation platforms. The photos show the plat they owned, fronting on the westside of Dandy Trail (now underwater). But their property is entirely high and dry, with the possible exception of a meandering Fishback Creek that has gobbled up some of their property. The signficance of this find, in my opinion, is that Mr. Adams would have had a natural outdoor setting or backdrop that matches up well with his body of work.

Rural Historic District

RURAL HISTORIC DISTRICT
NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION DISCUSSION


We are excited to announce that Camille Fife, a consultant with The Westerly Group, has been hired to complete two Rural Historic District National Register nominations for our area. She will be speaking to area residents regarding our area’s cultural heritage, how our cultural heritage ties into a Rural Historic District, and what it means for the future preservation of our area. The two designated areas to be discussed encompass roughly an area from Lafayette Road and Moore Road north to Hunt Club Road so it will be possible for all of us to benefit from this endeavor one way or another!

Please join us to learn more about these nominations and to further support our area’s preservation.

Place: Traders Point Creamery
Time: 7:00 pm
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Speakers: Camille Fife, The Westerly Group
Mark Dollase, Historic Landmarks

Should you have questions, please call Cindy Lamberjack at 873-5934.