Casino plan makes no sense

With gas prices skyrocketing, it?s looking better all the time to live across the street from work.

It would sound like a great idea for everyone, but then there aren?t enough dwellings across the street.

I haven?t wallpapered for many years?until last week. It may be the last time, too. Don?t do plaid with 11,000 corners to work around and match.

We decided our kitchen soffit needed a new look. It was months ago when Nancy picked out the paper and brought it home. That roll has been moved from counter to countertop, waiting for the right moment.

Urgency developed when we learned that friends coming back for the all-school reunion were coming over. The old paper was almost falling off and had been taped up in places.

Get your buttons now at the Hillsboro Chamber office for this weekend?s festivities. And if you?ve never heard 5-Man Trio perform you should come out and hear the music Friday night in the 100 block of East Grand. Plus, there?s a barbecue and the Stuchlik Polka band on tap.

Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the evening.

I?m looking forward to seeing my classmates again this year, plus students I know who came before and after me. Brother Mark?s class is celebrating 40 years out of school, so I?m looking forward to seeing them in the parade on Saturday afternoon.

John Beltz, one of my classmates, died on May 17 from complications from diabetes.

We go back to grade school in the ?50s. I remember playing after school at his parents? house on West Grand when it was new. We both played tuba in the band and used to fight over which tuba we would play. He hiked the ball to me in football.

In 1983 he took Nancy and me to Indianapolis to a national hardware show so we could pick out cabinets and hardware for the new house we were building. Part of the trip included the time trials at the Indy 500. It was a great time.

My memories of John prompted me think of his dad, Clifford ?Woody? Beltz, who was a long-time Hillsboro businessman in plumbing, heating and air conditioning. Beltz Plumbing & Heating was located where Trail Lanes is now and later at 208 N. Main, followed by Beltz Appliance at 104 S. Main.

Woody and John teamed up in the late ?70s to form B&B Handy?man. John?s mom, JoHanna, was my fifth-grade teacher. The Beltzes were known for the many homes they built in Hillsboro and in California through the years.