Jen Sadler noticed she was only one of a few women in the mass of 400 students in the lecture halls at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington. But it did not intimidate her. Because, she said, “I was there on a mission to get my business degree.”

She began college in the late 1960s, pursuing a degree in psychology, although business was what she had on her heart. “I didn’t know it was OK or acceptable at that time,” Sadler said explaining why she was taking psychology classes instead of business classes at first. She switched majors and nothing else mattered. Women were stepping into new roles and she was right there on the front lines and credentials were important.

After graduating, Sadler went to work for Mayor Richard Lugar and then went on to work at the Indiana Department of Commerce. While she was there, she met Stan Sadler, who was working in commercial real estate sales downtown. He encouraged her to take classes to become a Realtor™. Again, credentials and a deep knowledge of the field were important to her, so she took all the classes and exams necessary to not only be a licensed real estate agent, but a licensed broker as well.

The February enrollment figures for Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation made a big impression on Superintendent Randy Taylor. That’s because enrollment increased over the number of students from the beginning of the school year. Taylor said, “We have more students moving into the community. The indication is that we are being noticed and people are moving into our community seeing the strengths in academics, athletics, and performing arts.”

At the conclusion of this school year, Taylor will be celebrating 45 years in education and he is excited and enthusiastic about what is happening in the schools today and the part he wants to play in it. After 13 years as an instructor and coach in Martinsville, Taylor made the decision to become an administrator. “I felt a need to get into the side of education where decisions were being made as to what was best for students and also for the community, because they run hand-in-hand. To have a good community, you have to have a strong school system.”

It speaks volumes for both sides that the new superintendent of the Monrovia-Gregg School District, Kirk Freeman, said he wanted to finish his career in a great school district to help them become the best of the best.

Freeman began his career at Eminence Middle/High School in Morgan County. Unlike many new teachers, he had already completed a four-year obligation in the United States Army from his college days in ROTC at Indiana State University. He served in the medical service corps, achieving the rank of Captain before being honorably discharged.

Over three years there, he coached the boy’s junior varsity basketball team and the boys and girls track team. While there, he returned to Indiana State for a master’s degree and to get the principal licensure. In his last year at Eminence, he was the principal.

He spent a year at Linton-Stockton High School in Green County, Ind. and then nine years in Clay County. He was principal at Northview High School in Brazil and at Van Buren Elementary in Clay City. In 1994, he completed a doctorate degree at the Terre Haute campus of Indiana State.

Growing up halfway between Martinsville and Monrovia in the Wilbur area has caused Autumn Hodge to have a slightly different perspective on life today. Her backyard was several acres just down the road from her grandparent’s house. She spent a great deal of her time out of doors, engaged in sports like softball or basketball, or helping in Grandma Wilma Hodge’s garden. With little, if any, cell or internet service at home, she is less tethered to her cell phone or computer than most peo-ple, and she likes it that way. In fact, she says she often has to calm visiting friends telling them they will survive not having cell service for a while.

Her fondest memories of home and family are in the garden and kitchen with Grandma, making jelly, chicken pot pie, and baking up pies, cakes and other goodies. They would start in the garden picking produce that, depending on the season, could range from strawberries, blue- or blackberries, cucumbers, tomatoes or green beans to apples from the trees. She learned to sort, snap, chop, strain, mash, cook, and can the foods into good old Mason jars. They’d cool and be stored in the cellar ready to feed the family all year long. But before that happened, the “extras” would be fashioned into pies and other pastries to eat right away.

While the home he shares with wife, Terra, and their two children is elsewhere, Clay Hamilton says he spends about an equal amount of time in Mooresville, making it home, too. When you are a hands-on owner/operator of a business that is successful and growing, that’s how it is. Hamilton has no qualms about the time he devotes to Whites Electrical.

Hamilton was one of those lucky few who came out of high school with a direction. Beginning at 14-years-old, he became a staple on construction sites. During his junior and senior years of school, he participated in construction programs at Central Nine Career Center in Greenwood. The instructors were business professionals, contractors in the area, who led the construction of a home each year by students from Johnson, Morgan, and a portion of Marion Counties.

The experience helped Hamilton narrow his path. “I liked being around equipment and building things,” Hamilton said. “There’s nothing quite like standing back and saying, ‘Hey, we did that.’” When school ended each year, Hamilton continued to work for his instructors in their personal businesses.

The trades appealed to him, as Hamilton expressed, “because I like working hard and to have dirt on my hands. And the trades aren’t going anywhere. There aren’t enough tradesmen, and even fewer craftsmen out there.”

Talk with Larry Elsner about business or life and he is quick to say that he does not really make plans. In the next breath he is saying he is a workaholic who must always be doing something, and he says his wife Donell would confirm that. Take a walk around the lovely grounds on the outskirts of Martinsville that are home to Cedar Creek Winery, Cedar Creek Brew Co. and Cedar Creek Distillery and you will see the results of a family doing something.

Larry’s son, Bryce, quickly qualifies his father’s statement about always staying busy. “He does everything to the best of his capabilities,” Bryce said.

Larry, son Bryce, and daughter Alyssa Sims work together to operate the special attraction referred to as Drink at the Creek, with each one owning their own business that contributes to the whole.