John Martin

Evansville

Senior writer, Evansville Living. @WKU alumnus. Hardcore @Reds and classic rock fan. Please be kind to others. [email protected].

Articles

Planting a Prairie

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

The property long known as the Wesselman Par 3 golf course has a new name — Wesselman Woods West Meadow — and a strategy in place to reforest its 23 acres, a multi-phase process that will take an untold number of years to complete. Wesselman Nature Society became stewards of the former city-owned golf course in 2023. A first step toward reforestation involves eradicating the property’s turf grass with three to four herbicide applications. That will happen this summer.
Planting a Prairie

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

The property long known as the Wesselman Par 3 golf course has a new name — Wesselman Woods West Meadow — and a strategy in place to reforest its 23 acres, a multi-phase process that will take an untold number of years to complete. Wesselman Nature Society became stewards of the former city-owned golf course in 2023. A first step toward reforestation involves eradicating the property’s turf grass with three to four herbicide applications. That will happen this summer.
Promoting a Diverse Tourism Portfolio

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

New Explore Evansville President and CEO Tom White is approaching the agency’s top job with one keyword — growth — in mind for strengthening the city’s portfolio of tourism-related event offerings. White’s most recent career stop was with Visit Mobile, Alabama’s northernmost Gulf inlet. Drawing connections to the boost in meetings, conventions, and sports tourism that the Southern city of 201,367 has seen, White says Evansville is capable of the same.
Leaving Her Mark

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

In 1980, as a young, single mother on a part-time income, Janice Miller took a friend’s advice and tried selling real estate. The national economic climate was miserable, and mortgage rates were astronomical. Miller sold one house all year and bowed out. “It didn’t work out too well,” she says now. Three years later, the same friend approached Miller again, explaining that she was starting her own company and wanted Miller on the team. “I told her no, I hated real estate,” Miller recalls.
A Southern Italian Soirée

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

Last week, I was transported to Southern Italy without even leaving Southern Indiana. My friend Constance had asked me back in April if I would like to attend a wine pairing event with several of her longtime friends and had urged quick responses: “These wine dinners always sell out, especially the Italian dinners.” Intrigued, I jumped right on. It’s not every day I spend $100 on a weeknight dinner, and as I marked my calendar, it felt like a bit of special splurge, a real treat. And it was.
Ceramics Surprise

1 week ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

The smile beaming at you from the ceramic pitcher is unmistakably Picasso. A handle for its nose, “Four Faces” radiates with his creative DNA. The work is one of 48 of Pablo Picasso’s edition ceramic pieces — engaging plates, pitchers and vases — on display in “Pablo Picasso: 25 Years of Edition Ceramics from The Rosenbaum Collection.” The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science presents this critically acclaimed traveling exhibition through July 20, 2025.
Out of Bounds?

2 weeks ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

With the 2024-25 college basketball season in the rearview mirror, programs are preparing for 2025-26, and an early task involves building the schedule. The University of Evansville men’s team already has one confirmed early-season matchup with an in-state opponent: The Purple Aces will visit Purdue University in West Lafayette on Nov. 4.
Evansville Sinkhole: 'At the Mercy of the River and the Weather’

3 weeks ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin |Jodi Keen

One of the first things Vic Kelson does every morning is check the Ohio River’s current level. It’s information the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility executive director must know because the timeline to reopen Riverside Drive — disrupted since late February by a massive sinkhole — depends on it. Pavement at Riverside Drive and Chestnut Street collapsed as the river climbed to historically high stages.
Measuring Up

3 weeks ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

Nothing beat Holy Rosary Elementary School in the mid-1970s. Small classes, hip teachers, excellent friends, and Washington Square Mall, Burger Chef, and Arc Bowling Lanes right across the street. It even was on the cusp of a national movement: In late 1975, when the U.S. Metric Conversion Act designated the metric system as the nation’s preferred — but not mandatory — system of weights and measures, Holy Rosary voluntarily complied, and so did I. Volunteering was easy.
Grab a Plate

3 weeks ago | evansvilleliving.com | John Martin

Craving a homestyle meal? Several Evansville-area restaurants offer the tradition of the plate lunch, also referred to as a “meat and three.” Central is protein — think meatloaf, roast beef, country fried steak, pork chops, liver, sausage, fried chicken, or catfish — with a supporting cast of side dishes of your choice. Don’t know where to start? Here are a few menus to try. Head to Stockwell Inn (4001 E. Eichel Ave.), known for its ever-changing plate lunch specials Monday-Friday.