What's Wrong With Culver? - 1956 Part 2  

Culver Ought To Count Its Mant Blessings!

Industrial Exepert Refuses To View Future With Alarm

By Charles W. McCafferty Senior Enginer Industrial SUrvey Division George S. May Company

Culver, Ind.
Editor, Citizen

We would like to thank The Citizen for beginning a series of descussions by our neighbors in this community

We believe that honest and objective appraisal is a helthy thing, provided we don't linger in the Ivory Towe of talk but take positice action on those things we uncover as being missing

We have nove lived in Culver two years so in a way we are Johny-Come-Latelys.


We believed Culver was a good place to live and a place where we could earn a living. Since buying our business we have continued to believe in Culver ny investing more money into our property. We are not afraid of Culver nor its future.

Fer is often begun and promulgated by our reluctance to face reality

Our good friend, Bob Kyle, itemized several pertinent factors of the Culver problem. May we offer our commen on these

1. We agree that a community's life itself is directly proportinate to its soul or spirity or espirit de corps or whatever you call that intangible something that we either feel or miss as we journey through many communitites

There is no lacking in Culver of talelnt or of individuals who possess the ambition to work in the direction of a united Culver. Perhaps therein lies the weakness. Every effort exerted is undivided. How much can one person do> Those who would join in hesitate because of fear. This community, like any organization, lacks the dynamic leadership of an individual, a man or woman who will weld those so-calles strata or our community together

It is not a job for the Town Board, Chamber of Commerce, the churches or Lions Club alone. It is a basic responsibility of each member of this community to quit bemoaning the fact that Culver has no industry, no opportunities, no afavantages.

2. Individually we do not agree with all the ordinances or the lack of them but it isn't impportant whether we as individuals agree. We, the citizens of Culver, choose and elected men who are our friends and neighbors to a job of directing the legislative affairs of all of us. These men are business and professional men whose own welfare is affected by their decisons. We have the opportunity to attend every session of the Town Board and propose our sugggestions or protest what we believe to be wrong. If we fail to take advantage of this, it doesn't materially affect our Board members. So may we suggest more interest and cooperation with our Board.

3. Schools. WH can argue that Glen Tibbets and Doc Ives hace not worked long and many unpaid hours to make Culver the best school in the state? Take a little time and over a cup of coffee hear them express their desires and hopes for their jobs. To do so has cost them may dollard and cents in lost time.

4. Chruches. No community can boast of finer buildings, more dedicated nem, more decout worshippers. We know all the clergy and love them all, fine men, dedicated to God, their community, and their neighbors. Can we ask more?

5 Our Town Park. There is no question about the needs for a study to be made of the physical and financial condition of the place. Eroded hillsides, inadequate facilities, low income from concessions. We suggest a study be made to give our board facts to use as consutrctive measures.

6. Prices If our people believe that Culver prices are too high, perhaps it is because we look at individual items and no the whole picture. Cetainly a realistic survery of store by store does not reveal that our merchants are any higher, if as high, as other communities around us. Larger areas that supply more traffice work on lower margins of profit. Our people's buying habits are mot on volume items and the fixed expenses of selling a pound of nails are the same as a carload of sugar.

Fed Adams and DOn Trone sell nationally advertised and prices items. They are the same in Boston, Miami, or Las Vegas. Not many barber shops today still have $1 haircuts. Chicaho is $1.73 and $2.25 on Saturdays!

Our grocery stores stay open long hours and we have not found the chain stores of Plymouth, SOuth Bend or Indianapolis any cheaper materially

Evert Hosel has given this community the finest small town move in the country. The latest and hand picked moves for only 50 cents

ZLes SNyder, Dick McClure, Hatten's and Forrest Goble have adequate and highly capable automobile businessess. Prices are as cheap or cheaper than anywhere else

Restaurants, take your pick and you'll find good food and fair prices. Bill Washburn has done a wonderful job for the kids at The Barn.

Our tradesmen. Enoch Andrews, Barney Barnhill, Earl Overmyer, Oscar Booker, Jim Talley, are only a few of the highly competent people that we hace found ready to serve day or night and prices fairly.

How many hundreds of people have Will Osborn and his staff befriended?

No community can boast of a better publisher, man or firend than Chet Cleveland.

The pathetic part of all of this survey is that there is so much ability that theretohore has noe been amalgamated into a rosuing force for our homes and businesses

Nothing has kept industry out of Culver but the lack of the facilities. Power, cheap fuel, transportation, and other factors that other communities have to offer. We lack them and perhaps alwats will. So what? What has that got to do with our working with what we've got?

Doesn't it make common sense to quit condemning Culver, the Bank, the Adademy, the farmers, the businessmen, and start seeing the good. It's amazing what you can see when you raise your head.

This isn't window trim or SUnday sermon talk. We work for the most factual realistic thinking company in the world that doesn't tolerate undiased dreaming or wishful thinking.

We think Culver in itself is a good town to live in. The success or failure of CUlver depends entirely on what you and I do with it.

Let's quit looking for a crutch or excplanation for Culver's weakness. Its only real weakness is you and me.

We haven't made a fortune in Culver. Don't expect to. Everything we meade or have made either here or elsewhere we've placed back into Culver. So have many of our neighbors.

There isn't any magic wand or panacea for immediate remocal of our problems. May men and women here are working hard to bring about a better way of life that all of us will benefit by.

All it takes is a moement, led by honest, God believing, mankind loving and fearless leaders.

To this man or woman we hereby pledge our support to the limit of our ability, financially, spiritual , and physically.

Sorry, but we refuse to be negative and say "Whats wrong with Culver"> - Charles W. McCafferty

EDITOR"S NOTE: Mr. McCafferty is a senior engineer in the Indiustrial Survey DIvision of the George S. May company, large Chicago business engineering firm. He and Mrs. McCafferty own and operate the Outdoosman, a retail sporting goods establishmen on Culver's Lake Shore Drive.

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He Agains Asks: Just What's Wrong With Culver?

Writer of Original Letter Blasts Continued Apathy


Culver, Ind.
Editor, Citizen:

It was with a grat feal of amusment, and in s ome instacnes disgust, that I read the "sweetness and life" letter in last week's paper.

No doubt the George S May Company and all their senior engineers know their business, but I wonder. Charles W. McCafferty how we can hope to improve the economic stalemate in our fair town by only "lifting out heads and patting our neighbor's back".

Your're so true when you day we have many fine churches, businesses, tradesmen, etc. in Culver, hut that still doen't explaine why we do not have industry intown.

While reading the "Do You Rmember When?" column for 1936 I noticed that the enrollment for our school was 720 and read in the same paper that our present enrollment, including the kindergarten, is 727. Is that the sign of our growing community, when oung married people are evidently living elsewhere so they may find work?>br>
Our schools are, at the least, better than average, yet enrollment is about the same as in 1936, and were it not for our new kindergarten, enrollement would be well below 1936.

I believe Bob Kyle, in his first letter to the Citizen, took the most realisitc look at Culver. The next step is up to you and me as citizens, the Town Board, the Chamber of Commerce and other interesed organizations.


We can not progress as a town by taking a Pollyanna attitude about all our problems as Mr. McCafferty would have us do.

Congratulations to Fred Adams for his report a feww weeks ago in the Citizen advixing the public of the progress of the Chamber of COmmerce Industry Commities. Let's hope they don't give up the fight.

Regarding my first "What's Wrong with Culver" letter, it has been most interesting to be on the "inside looking out" so to speake. AS I have previously stated, my name could not be signed because of business contacts in town. As a result of my anonymity I've heard many interesting comments on my letter - pro and con.

One of the most frequent criticisms has been that I did not have the gumption to sign my name, yet thos same critics obviously have not taken the steps forward and make their own views public. The have rmarked to the "gang on the corner" about how they would get industry, and how they feel about industry, and abbout how they are going to write a letter and sign their name, but so far only Mr. Kyler and Mr. McCafferty have shown enough community spirit to do so.

Now its up to the citizens. I wonder if this too will die out like so many other civic improvement projects in the past years. Only time will tell. (Name withheld by request.)

Part One