Reynolds by the numbers
• Population in 2000: 547
• Land area: .53 square miles
• Median resident age: 33.4
• Percentage of married couples: 61.4
Source: City-data.com
By KEVIN LILLY, Pharos-Tribune staff writer
REYNOLDS - While the origins of Reynolds date back to waterlogged lands of the mid-1850s, its hopes for the future include setting the pace for the rest of the country.
In 2005, Gov. Mitch Daniels choose Reynolds, a town of fewer than 600 people, to set the standard in reducing dependence on foreign oil through use of agricultural resources. Dubbed BioTown USA, Reynolds was selected as the first town in the United States to become an entirely biorenewable community, reliant on energy from locally generated biomass-based fuels.
"BioTown, USA, is an aggressive plan that I believe will become a model for rural communities throughout the country," Daniels said in 2005.
The project is moving right along, according to the Web site detailing its progress. In March, VeraSun Energy broke ground for a biorefinery, which will turn everything from municipal trash to farm waste, hog manure and even town sewage into energy.
Reynolds was picked based on its abundant supply of corn and hogs, access to highway and rail transportation and its people.
Referred to as the Heart of White County, the main intersection of the rural town has three highways but only two roads. U.S. 24 passes through its center east to west, Ind. 43 goes to the south and U.S 421 to the north. Semis put the highways to heavy use throughout the day. An oft-used railroad track runs through town. Its residents still think small town.
Resident insight
When Connie Stimmel was asked how long she had lived in or near Reynolds, she said, "56 years," which is also her age. Her mother and grandmother are also lifetime residents of Reynolds.
Stimmel has been branch manager of Lafayette Bank & Trust in Reynolds for five years, and she has worked at the town's only bank for 25. Stimmel has lived other places, but she has always come back.
"I like living here," Stimmel said. "Big cities like Chicago are nice to visit but not to live. I like a small town."
"The friendliness of the people," Stimmel said of the town's best feature. "Everybody knows everybody. It has a small town, hometown feeling."
So, what is there to do in Reynolds? Stimmel paused a few seconds before speaking.
"Be with friends, go out to supper," she said and mentioned the town's several churches to attend.
Sports watching is a favorite pastime, from youth baseball games to high school football, basketball and volleyball. A season to be proud of was 1994, when the North White football team won the class 1A state football championship.
"As for anything exciting, there's not," Stimmel said.
Stimmel and her husband, Dick, raised a child who is now 31 years old. They recently became a grandparents.
"I love being a grandmother, but I don't like being called, 'Grandma,'" Stimmel said.
Stimmel's daughter, Megan, broke the chain at three generations in Reynolds. She lives near Indianapolis with her husband. Stimmel says her daughter will likely never come back to Reynolds to live, but she understands her daughter's motive.
"There is not much in the way of jobs for younger people around here," she said.
There used to be a drug store, flower shop, grocery store and clothing retailer. Stimmel said larger shopping areas in surrounding metropolises have dwindled the downtown to nearly nothing compared to what it used to be.
A fabric and craft store just opened next door to the bank.
Sewing Notions
Pat Holeman opened Sewing Notions just over five weeks ago. She says she needs to get a sign to attach to the building because so many people are driving by without stopping.
"Everybody is so used to nothing being here," Holeman said.
Her store is across from the BP gas station that serves up E85, gasoline with an ethanol additive, and B20, a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel fuel. The station is referred to as the BioIsland.
Sewing Notions offers fabrics such as fleece, cotton, fur and corduroy to make "whatever they want to make," Holeman said.
She also sells scrapbook materials, stamps and various colored ink, cross stitching, beads and paint supplies.
Holeman rents space to the local craft makers who sell cut glass, hand-crafted wooden toys, quilts and jewelry. "All from here," Holeman said of the locally made products.
Holeman has lived in Reynolds since she was six months old. Her husband was born in the small town. She describes Reynolds as "very quiet" and a place where neighbors care about neighbors.
"Everybody cares about one another," Holeman said. "Anybody that needs anything, there are people here to help, no matter what."
She recalls the quadruplets born a couple years back. The woman went from having zero babies to four babies overnight and several townsfolk looked after the new mother. They held bakes sales to raise money, baby-sat, cleaned house and even spent the night.
Many Reynolds' residents have grown up together, Holeman said.
"A lot of us have been here forever," she said.
Holeman enjoys talking about the town. Standing at the front of her shop looking out the display window, she waves at drivers and passengers alike and shares knowledge on how long each has resided in Reynolds. She grew up in Reynolds in the 1950s and is now a memory bank of the townspeople.
"It's home," she said.
History of the land
In the mid-1800s, thousands of acres in Honey Creek Township had to be drained by pioneer farmers reclaiming land that was once water-soaked and considered poor farmland.
The Honey Creek the township is named after had no clearly defined banks, which stretched as far as a mile wide, according to an account in "A Standard History of White County Indiana." Pioneers dug miles of ditches and established a channel for Honey Creek. Doing so, revealed land ready for cultivation.
More than 150 years later, the land of Reynolds and Honey Creek Township continues to produce crops, the ones that state officials and many of the town's residents hope someday soon will fuel the town.
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