School Board Mtg Update

Friday, March 11, 2005

The school board meeting was surreal. The board moved quickly down a list of a dozen or so items. Several of us chose to wait in the anteroom so as not to disturb the meeting. About 40 minutes after the meeting had been called to order a neighbor came out and said “we’re on deck”. We looked at each other and walked into the room in time to hear the president ask if there were any members of the audience who wished to speak “for the good of the cause”. We heard her say that we would need to limit our comments to 3 minutes each (I had practiced my comments and was confident I could get my points across in 4 minutes and Dorothy Miller had reassured me that I would be fine). As we walked toward the podium, (me with my stack of prepared remarks ready to be handed out to the board so they could follow along), the president said, “hearing no one I pronounce the meeting closed”, and her gavel pounded to the table with a thud. Puzzled by this breach of etiquette, our attorney. Mr. Greg Cafouros, approached the podium and introduced himself as counsel for Historic Traders Point Association and asked if we could speak. President Eilers said that it would not be legal for the meeting to proceed after it had been closed. An audience of puzzled spectators and neighbors ambled out of the room. A number of us remained, a bit stunned, and expressed our dismay to each other. I passed out to board members, and anyone else with an open hand, copies of my prepared remarks regarding the History of Traders Point, but it was over, for now. And one of my neighbors looked at me with a serious face and said, “this is war”.

About Ross Reller

I am pleased you have expressed interest in learning more about the historic Traders Point area in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1980 to 1982 I was employed in the PR department at Conner Prairie Museum in Hamilton County. There I learned about William Conner, an important figure in Indiana's pioneer days. A decade later I became interested in the history of the Traders Point area and was surprised to learn that William Conner had been the first land owner in the area. In 1823 he acquired, through the Federal land office in Brookville, a patent for an 80 acre tract carved by Eagle Creek and an Indian trail that was about to be named the first toll roadway through the township (Lafayette Road). Thirty years later a village took shape within this tract. A grain mill on the creek, houses, churches, stores, restaurants, and two gas stations would take shape here in the creek valley hamlet of Traders Point. By 1962 all improvements (except a farmer's co-op) had been removed by the Indianapolis Flood Control Board to make way for Interstate 65 and a new reservoir. This blog is dedicated to preserving evidence of this historic area but I will occasionally use it to discuss related topics. To activate this follow, simply click the confirm button below. If you don't want to follow, ignore this message and we'll never bother you again. I am also a member of the Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery, a non profit association still selling burial plots for those who would like to spend all eternity in Traders Point, and I am an officer in the Pike Township Historical Society and the Traders Point Association of Neighborhoods.

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