{"id":5607,"date":"2017-02-02T20:57:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T01:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/indylite\/?p=5607"},"modified":"2017-02-02T20:57:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T01:57:28","slug":"features-68","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/2017\/02\/02\/features-68\/","title":{"rendered":"Features"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>St. Johns This Week<\/strong> &#8211; The Castle and City Park<\/p>\n<p>by Maralyn Fink<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5BVolptcMO8\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>This week\u2019s Mystery Photo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Where is this?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/mystery301.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"187\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/mystery301.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/mystery301-300x140.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Can you tell us where this is located? Drop us a line at <a href=\"mailto:mail@sjindy.com\">mail@sjindy.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>410 E. Gibbs St. &#8211; St. Johns, Michigan<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/mystery300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"167\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/mystery300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/mystery300-300x125.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The current owner is Christine Perry. Previous owners include: James Bates, Dwight Whittaker, Harry and Alice Moon, Alice Hoeve, Eldon and Ruth LeBlonde, Ann Sinclair and Lyn Strang, and Andrew and Ashley Faivor.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>A Look Back Update<\/strong> &#8211; Money Bags<\/p>\n<p>Barry Clark Bauer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"400\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma2.jpg 276w, https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma2-207x300.jpg 207w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Willie Tabor, manager of the Ovid branch of the Central National Bank of St. Johns, and Clinton County Treasurer Velma Beaufore relax as they recollect the hours spent in counting well over 1 million dimes and quarters stored temporarily at the Ovid bank in November and December.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"343\" height=\"400\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma1.jpg 343w, https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/velma1-257x300.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One of the great fascinating untold stories of the year 1968 can now he told. It involved more than a million dimes and quarters, plus one penny and probably a bottle of Excedrin. For nearly two months the vault at the Central National Bank office in Ovid was a giant lock box for more than $130,000 in dimes and quarters stored there by private citizens from another county. The money had been hoarded for years, undoubtedly for speculative purposes. When the speculator passed away, the man&#8217;s survivors gathered the silver coins together and searched for a place to store it. This is where Central National Bank came in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This whole deal has been strictly a headache since I first laid eyes on it,&#8221; Willie Tabor, assistant cashier and manager of the Ovid bank office, said in retrospect. &#8220;It kind of snowballed. I never would have accepted it had I known what it was all about. And I would not wish it on anybody.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The story he tells is fascinating, even if it isn&#8217;t complete. For understandable reasons, Tabor is not disclosing the names of the people involved nor even where they&#8217;re from. A lot of whys and wherefores of the vast collection of silver aren&#8217;t known either, and perhaps they are nobody&#8217;s business. But the general facts can now be told-the money has been removed from the bank and Tabor is breathing normally again.<\/p>\n<p>It all started back about the middle of October. Tabor said a Ovid businessman called him up and wanted to know if the bank could store &#8220;some silver&#8221; in coin that had been accumulated for speculative purposes.<br \/>\n&#8220;We do have some extra storage space, Tabor said, and it wasn&#8217;t an unusual request. We frequently have people who want to store some money or valuables for a short period.&#8221; So Tabor agreed to store the silver. That was on Oct. 19. Several mornings later he got a call that the money was in Ovid waiting to be unloaded and stored. To Tabor&#8217;s surprise, he found a heavy equipment truck parked at the side of the bank. On it was a single wooden box about six by 10 feet in size, filled with bags of silver coins! &#8220;I was amazed,&#8221; Tabor said, &#8220;I have gone and gotten for our own use $10-$15,000 in silver, but any more than that was kind of hard to visualize. We never did know the amount that was stored until we completed a count of it on Monday, Nov. 18.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The face value of the money came to several thousand more than $150,000. There were roughly 1,078,000 coins, including about 770,000 dimes and 308,000 quarters. There was also one penny, one or two nickels and a few half dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Normally the bank would not have made a count of the funds. But shortly after the silver had been stored at the bank, a legal determination was made that it was part of the estate of the deceased man who had collected it. With this determination, it became the duty of the county treasurer in the county where the money was stored to come in and make an inventory.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was just like opening a lock box, actually,&#8221; Tabor pointed out. &#8220;She (Mrs. Velma Beaufore, Clinton County treasurer) would make an inventory for the administrator or executor of the estate. So the vault was one big lock box.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Because Tabor and his aides, as well as Mrs. Beaufore, have other duties, it was decided to make the count of the huge silver pile after normal working hours. They started counting Nov. 4 and accumulated about 20 man hours on it that night, Nov. 14 and Nov. 18 before the job was completed. The counting was done in a basement room, small and with low ceilings. It was hot and stuffy-and dusty, because several of the bags had dirt mixed in. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know how the dirt got there,&#8221; Tabor said. &#8220;Perhaps it was in a container and buried, although I don&#8217;t know. It did make it uncomfortable in there for a while until the dust died down. We used a square quarter-inch screen to screen the dust out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A machine was used to count the coins, but even then it took a long time. Three minutes were necessary to count $1,000 in quarters, and it took about twice as long for dimes. &#8220;There was about $77,000 in dimes and $77,000 in quarters,&#8221; Tabor said.<\/p>\n<p>The money when it came in was in bags, and Tabor reported it was pretty accurately counted. In some cases, dimes and quarters were mixed in together, so these had to be separated before they were counted. About one third of the coins were put in $1,000 bags and the rest in $500 bags. The weight was tremendous. With a roll of quarters weighing about a half-pound, Tabor figures there was around 35 tons of silver coin involved. That&#8217;s why the heavy truck was necessary to bring it over; the truck normally was used for hauling bulldozers and draglines.<\/p>\n<p>Presence of a large amount of money at the Central National Bank in Ovid wasn&#8217;t general public knowledge, but it was by no means a secret. Nobody would have realized what was going on by seeing the truck on the highway, with two cars following it, but when it got to Ovid Oct. 21 it was just about bank opening time, and a lot of people going to work saw it being unloaded.<br \/>\n&#8220;People would ask me about it on the street,&#8221; Tabor said. &#8220;I&#8217;d have to say it was &#8216;just another deposit and try to let it go at that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The coins stored at the bank were run-of-the-mill,&#8221; Tabor said. &#8220;There were some Canadian coins, some mercury dimes and some Roosevelt dimes. Generally they weren&#8217;t old coins. This was strictly speculation,&#8221; Tabor said. &#8220;It&#8217;s over and above what a normal coin collection would be. I&#8217;d say he had been at it three to five years. It&#8217;s only been two or three years that this silver thing has broken loose.&#8221; Tabor said that while accumulation of this amount of coin certainly is unusual, it is not unusual that people are putting silver away. &#8220;When the government started making clad coin there was a lot of people who started investing in the silver coins due to the shortage of silver, which is commonplace nowadays. The silver content in a quarter is around 90 per cent, so at today&#8217;s prices it would be feasible to purchase this silver coin and hold it in hopes that the government would release their ban on smelting. It could be an expensive venture, too, depending on when they get rid of the silver.&#8221; Some collectors are paying 10-15 per cent over face value for silver coin. There&#8217;s a lot to fit around, but people just have it hoarded up. And this is partially what created our national coin shortage. People who make film and jewelry use a lot of silver. They&#8217;re just not processing silver like they used to because it is getting costly. So if they don&#8217;t produce it out of the mines, It becomes scarce and this adds to the price.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some of our dollar bills are backed by silver-our silver certificates. For over a year the government advertised they would buy these back for silver bullion at the rate of $1.29 per ounce when the world market calls for $1.78 per ounce. So these people who turned in the silver certificates actually got the silver for speculation, and again it drives up the price of silver to where it&#8217;s feasible to melt the coin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tabor pointed out this is not the case yet, and there are heavy fines involved for those melting silver coins. Tabor said the bank took no special precautions during the eight weeks the coin was stored at Central National-except to keep their fingers crossed. &#8220;It was safe in the vault. It is thick concrete, steel lined, and it isn&#8217;t feasible for anybody to open up a bank vault today. But it makes you kind of nervous,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t that somebody could come in and make off with the whole thing, because this would almost be an impossibility. But a lot of people wouldn&#8217;t understand this. They figure $150,000 with no idea of the size and weight involved. For example, if somebody knew it was here and they wanted to knock over the place, they could never load it all in without being caught, in the first place. It would take an hour to load it, and Lord only know how long before they could get at it.&#8221; He said it would be hard to even get away with anymore than $10-15,000 of it unless they had an awfully, awfully strong struck, and usually people just don&#8217;t do these things in a truck. &#8220;By loading $10-15,000 in a car, if your springs did hold out, you&#8217;d go down the street like a motorboat at full throttle-your front end&#8217;s going to be high and your rear end low. In a car you couldn&#8217;t disperse it out where it would be level.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tabor said his and the bank&#8217;s main concern involved personnel, and that&#8217;s why the story hasn&#8217;t been made general public knowledge until now that the hoard has been removed from the bank, &#8220;If somebody did want to knock us over, they might raise more damage by getting the employment involved. This was my main concern,&#8221; Tabor commented. &#8220;You don&#8217;t want to see anybody get hurt. In a deal like this it would be possible, although if anybody did break in it would be at night so employees wouldn&#8217;t be here. But this is always on your mind that somebody would be stupid enough to try it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A few Excedrin tablets probably tumbled from the bottle during the course of Central National&#8217;s great coin adventure. Tabor has vowed it will be the first and only time it happens. &#8220;I think here after that if anybody wants to store something in our vault, we&#8217;ll find out how much and a little more about what we&#8217;re talking about before we say yes,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Benny and Jessie\u2019s Pet Info<\/strong> &#8211; The Cone of Shame: Why E-Collars Get a Bad Rap<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that really necessary?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cDoes he really need that thing?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cBut we will watch him!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/e-collar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"326\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/e-collar.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/e-collar-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Although they may seem extreme and look ridiculous, e-collars play a very serious role in veterinary medicine. The purpose of the dreaded cone is to deter your pet from licking, biting, rubbing, or traumatizing a sensitive area. It may be applied post-operative so that a pet doesn\u2019t get to their surgical site. It may even be applied to a pet with allergies or a hot spot to stop them from scratching at the area and causing more damage.<\/p>\n<p>Why are they so important? Say, for example, that your dog has just undergone surgery. Chances are, the experience was not only stressful on you, but also on him. He had to spend a day in an unfamiliar place, with lots of strange noises and smells, different people he doesn&#8217;t know or trust, and then fall asleep unexpectedly and wake up (possibly) missing body parts, disoriented and with a weird plastic lampshade on his head. That must have been some party!<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, you altered your schedule to drop your dog off at the hospital, worried all day about him, then paid for a procedure you may not even fully understand the purpose of And got your pet back with a plastic satellite dish on his head. As your veterinary technician, I explain to you that if your dog gets to his neuter site, chances are, we may have to re-anesthetize him for another surgical procedure to repair the damage. You will understand, at that moment, the financial penalization of this and will want to do everything in your power to avoid this scenario. Then, I bring your dog out to you and the questions begin. Not, \u201cis this recovery hard on him?\u201d or \u201cwhat are the effects of anesthesia we should look for?\u201d but \u201chow many channels does he get?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once you are told that the e-collar is necessary until his recheck in two weeks, you start to panic. How is he going to eat? How is that going to work in bed with us at night? And then it happens. Your dog comes running at you full force and the cone takes you out at the knees. Or he tries to walk through the door and the cone hits the door frame and he gets stuck. Though funny, you feel bad. And do the inevitable &#8230; you take the cone off.<\/p>\n<p>Now your dog is happy and so are you. Then, you turn your back for one second to take the garbage out to the curb. Or to answer the phone. It is at these moments of distraction that it will happen (Murphy\u2019s Law) and your dog will do everything in his power to lick at that neuter site because it\u2019s just so darn itchy from being shaved, sore from being poked and prodded and smells of funny antiseptic used during surgery. Next thing you know, you&#8217;re back at the veterinary hospital, checking your dog in for his next procedure, a neuter site repair. And we begin all over again. The truth is, you cannot keep your eyes on them at all times. You must eat, sleep and go to the bathroom (not to mention work!).<\/p>\n<p>Still not deterred from taking off that e-collar? Fortunately, there are other options available. There are soft e-collars, inflatable ones, Bite-Not collars, body stockings, even clothing that can serve the same purpose of deterrence if necessary. Even with an e-collar (or e-collar alternative) on, it is important to examine the area of concern a couple of times a day, just to make sure your pet is not getting to it, or using other things (like furniture or the floor) to satisfy that itch.<\/p>\n<p>Consult with your veterinarian to see which is the best option for your pet, and what they will tolerate and provide the best outcome \u2013 a speedy, happy, healthy recovery for both you and your pet.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Letters<\/strong> &#8211; CASA says thanks<\/p>\n<p>Special thank you to Capital Region Community Foundation for being a wonderful partner and supporter of our program.<\/p>\n<p>We are very appreciative of the nearly $15,000 grant which will help provide a voice to children who are in foster care. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>CASA &#8211; The Voice for Clinton County&#8217;s Children<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Maralyn&#8217;s Pet Corner<\/strong> &#8211; Signs of Pyometra in Cats<\/p>\n<p>How do you know if your cat has pyometra? Sometimes the symptoms are straightforward, but at other times the disease can be tricky to diagnose. Knowing the signs of pyometra can, quite literally, save your cat\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p><em>What is Pyometra?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pyometra is defined as an accumulation of pus within the uterus, which can develop because of the hormonal, anatomical, and physiological changes that occur after a cat has gone through a heat cycle but does not become pregnant. Bacteria then take advantage of the situation, resulting in a potentially fatal infection.<\/p>\n<p><em>What are the Symptoms of Pyometra in Cats?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Some cats with pyometra show no signs, or may show vague clinical signs like lethargy, fever, dehydration, and poor appetite, even if they are suffering from very advanced disease.<\/p>\n<p>Vomiting may also be present. Because the signs of pyometra can be mild and\/or ambiguous, abdominal imaging (x-rays and\/or ultrasound) is sometimes the only way to definitively diagnose or rule out cases of pyometra in cats.<\/p>\n<p>If a cat with pyometra has an open cervix, pus (often tinged with blood) will drain from the cat\u2019s vagina, but fastidious feline groomers often clean it away before owners can observe it. Because the pus has a way to get out of the body, these cats may not show many signs of systemic illness.<\/p>\n<p>In comparison, when a cat with pyometra has a closed cervix, the pus will accumulate within and distend the uterus, leading to pain, abdominal enlargement, and more obvious signs of illness. The uterus may eventually rupture, leading to peritonitis\u2014infection of the abdominal cavity\u2014which is fatal without aggressive treatment.<\/p>\n<p>While increased thirst and urination are classic symptoms of pyometra in dogs, these clinical signs are rarely observed in cats.<\/p>\n<p><em>What Puts a Cat at Risk for Pyometra?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The probability of a cat developing pyometra increases with age, and affected cats have often gone through a heat cycle roughly a month before falling ill.<\/p>\n<p>Intact females are at highest risk for developing pyometra, but the condition can be diagnosed in spayed female cats, as well. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n<p>When a cat is spayed in a traditional manner most of the uterus is removed, but a small portion attached to the cervix is left within the abdomen. This is called the uterine \u201cstump.\u201d An alternate form of spaying is becoming more popular in which the entire uterus remains in the body and only the ovaries are removed. Pyometras are extremely unlikely with either of these two surgical procedures, as long as the cat is no longer under the influence of reproductive hormones. Unfortunately, this can occur under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, ovarian tissue has been left behind within the cat\u2019s abdomen. The tissue may be microscopic and therefore invisible to the surgeon\u2019s eye, or a mistake may have been made and a larger piece of ovary remains.<\/p>\n<p>Some spayed female cats also develop pyometras after coming into contact with their owner\u2019s estrogen-containing topical products or after being treated with progestins for skin problems, a practice which is no longer in wide-spread use.<\/p>\n<p><em>Treating and Preventing Pyometra in Cats<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The best way to treat a cat with pyometra is to spay her as soon as her condition has been stabilized. The ovaries, entire uterus, and cervix are removed as one unit to minimize the chance of pus leaking into the abdomen.<\/p>\n<p>When a spayed cat develops pyometra, the uterine stump is removed (or the whole uterus if only the ovaries were previously taken out) and any remaining ovarian tissue must be identified and excised. If an owner plans to breed the cat in the future, medical treatment is available that may eliminate the need for surgery that inevitably leads to infertility.<\/p>\n<p>Spaying a female cat when she is young and healthy is the best way to prevent pyometra. The spay procedure is much more risky once the disease has damaged her uterine tissues and weakened her ability to withstand surgery and anesthesia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>St. Johns This Week &#8211; The Castle and City Park by Maralyn Fink This week\u2019s Mystery Photo Where is this? Can you tell us where this is located? Drop us a line at mail@sjindy.com. 410 E. Gibbs St. &#8211; St. Johns, Michigan The current owner is Christine Perry. Previous owners include: James Bates, Dwight Whittaker, <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/2017\/02\/02\/features-68\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/indylite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}