In and around Milton, March 13

• Look for coverage of this week’s town council meeting in an upcoming issue.
• Next park board meeting is at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at the municipal building. The park board meets every other Wednesday regarding the CreatINg Places project at the old Milton school property. The public may attend.
• Clerk’s office will offer extended hours March 13-14. Open 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Save the date! Milton’s bicentennial falls on July 5, and plans are underway to celebrate our town’s 200th birthday.

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Milton residents are reminded of the importance of flushing only toilet paper and nothing else. So-called flushable wipes and other such products cause damage to the sewer pumps because they are engineered to be stronger than toilet paper and are therefore tougher and more destructive to sewer systems.

The debris builds up in the pump and the buildup reduces the pump’s efficiency to chop up particles to a smaller size and then pump everything 4+ miles and up a 95-foot hill to Connersville.

Failure to discontinue flushing these types of products could result in costs being passed on to every Milton homeowner. 

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• Leap Day has come and gone … and March seems to have come in like a lamb this year, which means it may go out like a lion.
• Did you remember to “spring forward” this past weekend? Cell phones and such make it easy to keep track of the time change, but it takes me a bit longer to adjust to ‘losing’ an hour of sleep.
• Do you have your eclipse glasses yet? I know there seems to be a lot of fuss over four (more or less) minutes of totality during daylight hours on April 8, but there is an hour and a half lead in to the total eclipse, followed by another hour and half as the solar system returns to normal.

Even if you have no particular travel plans that day, be mindful that lots of other folks will be flooding into the area by all accounts, with lots of special events and activities planned. Be sure to run your usual errands first thing that morning or save them for another day altogether. 

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Bicentennial plans underway

Town council member Dwight Smith recently updated Milton residents on tentative plans for the upcoming bicentennial celebration this summer.

The town is working on a bicentennial event that will start with fireworks on the evening of Friday, July 5. On Saturday, July 6, a flag raising ceremony will kick off the celebration; start time to be determined.

Speakers will share some history of Milton, including information about John Bell who platted Milton on July 5, 1824, and the history of the Whitewater Canal.

There are plans for a military veteran speech. Event planners are seeking pictures of military veterans to scan and share on a monitor for people to honor their loved ones. A guest speaker who was a professor at Ball State will speak about a WWII flying ace from Milton.

Local politicians will also be invited.

The town is in the process of getting coffee mugs made for citizens to purchase. All proceeds will go towards equipment for the conversion of the old Milton school into a public park. There are two mugs to choose from, a white cup with mill on one side and other side noting John Bell and platted date, and a maroon cup with gold lettering and two Sharp Shooter logos that were popular.

There are plans for other activities including a parade, car show, musicians, etc.

Milton will be sending a notification about this event in the mail along with information to order mugs so we can have enough and get better pricing.

Smith noted that this is a work in progress. It has been a challenge for event planners to pull everything together on such short notice, especially as it is already a holiday weekend. Volunteers will be needed and all suggestions are appreciated. 

Share your ideas on Facebook: Living in Milton or Speak out Milton. — jsp