The Hamilton Southeastern School Board voted Wednesday night to reject all bids for 16.14 acres of district-owned land at 136th Street and Prairie Baptist Road in Fishers. Administrators recommended rejecting the bids after the October auction fell short of the district’s target price.
The vote clears the way for a real estate broker to seek offers. The district expects a sale to close in 2027, and the board would still have to approve the final sale. Tim Brown, HSE’s assistant superintendent for finance, previously told LarryInFishers.com that the auction drew 45 bids. He did not disclose the highest offer or the district’s target price.
The property is leased for farming and is part of a larger tract the district once owned at the intersection. A portion of the original tract was used for a Fishers fire station. District officials told the board’s finance and facilities committee in August that the remaining acreage was too small and poorly situated for a future school.
Brown has said the district plans to use the proceeds to pay down part of the $8 million its health insurance trust owes the operations fund.
The board also approved a 3% pay raise for non-certified staff in 2027, with a maximum increase of $1,828. The percentage matches the increase approved for teachers. A decision on raises for administrators was deferred.
The board extended its agreement with the City of Fishers for hands-on learning programs and added the district’s kindergarten arts program to the agreement. The program, piloted last spring, is already underway this school year. It brings kindergarten students to the Fishers Art Center and Hamilton East Public Library for activities that connect visual art, music and movement with storytelling.
Board members were also briefed on a proposal to authorize up to $40 million in general obligation bonds for 2027, with a decision expected in December. The board set the same borrowing limit for 2026, when the district determined it needed $33 million.
Laura Cole, Chair of the Advance HSE PAC, with many of her volunteers
Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley used Wednesday night’s school board meeting to thank the volunteers behind the district’s successful funding referendum. Voters approved it with 58% of the vote.
Kegley singled out Laura Cole, who chaired the Advance HSE political action committee, along with the committee chairs she recruited over the summer.
Kegley said he contacted Cole because she had been active in the district’s 2023 referendum effort.
“She came into my office, and she sat down, and anyone that knows Laura won’t be shocked. She said, ‘What do you need from me?’” Kegley said. “I knew I was in.”
Cole agreed to lead the PAC. During public comment at the board’s June meeting, she asked members to put the question on the ballot and assured them the community would rally behind it.
“As usual, she was not wrong,” Kegley said. “Our community has always come alongside our schools.”
Kegley said the result was no accident. He credited Cole and the team she built, as well as the volunteers who made calls, knocked on doors, wrote postcards and worked the polls. He also noted that many volunteers’ spouses deserved recognition alongside them.
“This team showed up, and the volunteers that followed showed up in a big way,” Kegley said.
He thanked them on behalf of the district’s employees, the community and its students. He closed with a joke: with any luck, the district won’t have to talk about referendums for a while, hopefully 8 years.
Cole told the board she sent out a call for help right after Kegley asked her to lead the effort. She reached her own network and people well beyond it.
“There’s Republicans, there’s Democrats, there’s parents, there’s grandparents, there’s retired teachers, there are school board candidates,” Cole said. “There are so many people that just showed up because they knew how important this funding was.”
She called the campaign a chance to build bridges in the community.
“I hope that this really helps us to move forward as a community and that we all just see how good we can be and how much good we can do when we all work together,” Cole said.
Cole said one of the things she appreciated most was the support from this fall’s school board candidates. The PAC could not help their campaigns in any way, but all but two of the candidates still pitched in. They staffed tables, worked football games, handed out flyers, donated or came to events.
“I just think it’s really incredible what they did,” Cole said. She noted that some of those candidates were at the meeting.
Cole called the campaign “a herculean effort.” She said she hopes the district won’t need another referendum for eight years, when her own children will be out of school. But she made a promise to the board.
“You have my yes vote in eight years if we have to do that,” Cole said. She added that she hopes the community can now turn its attention to coming together and doing what is best for the district’s teachers and students.
Indy Ignite players visit Hamilton Southeastern Schools students. (Photo provided)
Indy Ignite players are reading with elementary students and teaching volleyball in physical education classes as Fishers prepares to host the first Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
The school visits began Oct. 28 and continue through Nov. 20, the opening day of the tournament. Hamilton Southeastern Schools says the program is expected to reach about 5,000 students. The tournament runs Nov. 20–25 at the Fishers Event Center, where the Ignite play their home matches.
The activities vary by grade. Ignite representatives are reading with students in kindergarten through fourth grade, teaching volleyball to fifth and sixth graders, and greeting seventh and eighth graders at morning pep rallies.
Members of the team’s front office are also taking part, along with the Firestarters dance team and Pepper, the Ignite mascot. Students who participate receive a Big Ten drawstring bag and pencil.
“Having Indy Ignite players visit our schools, read with students and even jump into our physical education classes is something our kids will remember and it might even inspire a new love for volleyball,” HSE Superintendent Matt Kegley said in the release.
Kegley credited the Ignite, the City of Fishers and the Fishers Event Center with making the visits possible. Mayor Scott Fadness encouraged residents to welcome the college teams and fans coming to Fishers for the tournament.
The Ignite are part of Major League Volleyball. The team finished as the league runner-up in its inaugural 2025 season and entered the 2026 championship as the No. 1 seed.
A near-capacity crowd for the Fishers Veterans Day ceremony
A large crowd gathered at Fishers City Hall Wednesday for the city’s annual Veterans Day ceremony, which featured a retired Army major general who spent more than 37 years in uniform and a mayor who remembered when the event drew only a handful of people.
El Ahlwardt, Chair of the Fishers Armed Services Commission, served as master of ceremonies. The program included a POW/MIA remembrance, and the city handed out pins to every military veteran in attendance.
The guest speaker was retired Maj. Gen. Timothy Winslow, executive director of the Indiana War Memorials and assistant director of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs. Winslow is a Master Army Aviator with two combat deployments. He served as interim adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard and was chief of staff of the 38th Infantry Division.
Winslow began by drawing the line between the two military holidays.
“Memorial Day honors those who died while serving our country,” he said. “Veterans Day honors all who have served.”
He told the crowd that service is not measured by how long someone wore the uniform. He pointed to young sailors aboard the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor. Some had not yet attended boot camp or been issued uniforms, but they had already accepted the responsibility of service.
“It’s measured by the commitment to serve, and the willingness to accept the risk,” Winslow said.
He said he had heard some veterans that morning describe themselves as “just” having served, and he rejected the idea.
“Everyone serves, and it takes everyone to complete that mission,” he said. “So don’t allow anyone to say, ‘I was just.’”
Winslow mixed in plenty of humor. He noted he served more than 37.5 years and has been married for 34, and he wanted to leave neither. Senior leaders finally told him it was time to retire, he said, which he took as the military’s way of saying someone else deserved a turn.
He drew laughs describing lessons every branch shares: five minutes early is merely the minimum acceptable level of punctuality, “hurry up and wait” is a complete description of military time management, and anyone who says a task “will only take a minute” deserves suspicion.
He also recalled the smells and sounds veterans never forget, from diesel fuel and gun-cleaning oil to boots in the hallway and engines starting before sunrise.
Winslow said families carry the burden of service too, through deployments, moves and uncertainty. He urged the crowd to listen to veterans’ stories, support the organizations that serve them and remember that returning to civilian life is not always easy.
“‘Thank you for your service’ means the most when it’s followed by genuine respect and meaningful support,” he said.
Mayor Scott Fadness called the day “doubly special.” His oldest son was born on Veterans Day and turned 12 Wednesday. Driving him to a 7:15 a.m. basketball practice, Fadness said, they passed about 50 American flags and a sign at his elementary school saying “we love our veterans.”
Fadness said he and Ahlwardt remembered the early years of the city’s veterans programs, when about 10 people came if you counted the two of them and city staff.
“To see what we’ve got is incredible,” he said.
The mayor credited a new veterans Hall of Fame inductee, FASC Co-Chair Eddie Rivers, and a newly-minted veteran, Deputy Mayor Elliott Hultgren.
Fadness, who is not a veteran, said speaking to the group is probably his most humbling experience each year. He referred to the recent election as more contentious than most.
“I doubt any of you went off to war to fight for a Republican Party or a Democratic Party,” Fadness said, “but rather for the things that unite us as Americans.”
He thanked veterans on behalf of city officials and community leaders and invited them back for the city’s Memorial Day service.
Here a some additional photos of Veterans Day in Fishers:
Dia de Muertos 2026 event photo with board members Alonzo and Gonzalez (L to R: Esperanza Alonzo, Luis Chavez, Fabi Gonzalez, Victor Zamudio) Photo provided by FAC
The Fishers Arts Council is looking for residents with a passion for the arts to join its board of directors. Applications are due Dec. 14.
The nonprofit’s mission is to support, advocate for and cultivate visual and performing arts opportunities that educate, enhance or enrich the lives of people who live, work and visit Fishers.
FAC says it wants applicants who can give two to three hours a month to promote and grow public and private art in the city. That time can go to meetings, serving on art juries or volunteering at art events. Board members are also expected to help put events on.
The council calls itself a working board. Members take active roles in its programs and support its part-time executive director.
Les Reinhardt, FAC’s executive director, joined the board in 2018 and served as its treasurer.
“Over the past eight and a half years I’ve witnessed an incredible variety of projects, events, and exhibits, thanks to the talented and creative people we have on our team,” Reinhardt said. “If you have a passion for the arts and are willing to lend a hand to make it happen, I strongly encourage you to apply for the board of directors.”
Meet the board
Prospective applicants can meet current board members and tour FAC galleries during the Second Friday Gallery Hop reception this Friday, Nov. 13:
From 6 to 8 p.m., board President Chris Hayes will be at the Ball State Gallery-Fishers in the Ball State Fishers Center, 8626 E. 116th St., Suite 300. The gallery can be reached from the Switch Plaza.
From 5 to 9 p.m., more board members will be at the Art Gallery at City Hall, 1 Municipal Drive.
There is one more chance to meet board members at the final Second Friday of the year, Dec. 11, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Art Gallery at City Hall.
How to apply
Applications are available at fishersartscouncil.org/how-to-help. Scroll down to the Board Application button, where you’ll find a printable PDF and an online form. Completed applications can be submitted online, mailed or emailed to the addresses listed on the form. To have a form mailed or emailed to you, contact FAC.
Questions about board membership can go to info@fishersartscouncil.org, or you can call or text 317-537-1670.
FAC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It runs the gallery inside the Fishers Municipal Center at 1 Municipal Drive, the Build BW Gallery at 11 Municipal Drive and the Ball State Gallery-Fishers.
The Fishers Event Center opened with a Turnpike Troubadours concert on Nov. 22, 2024. Two years later, the arena is preparing to host the first Big Ten Volleyball Tournament. In between, it has made room for events closer to home, including graduation ceremonies for 3,383 students in 2026.
The 7,500-seat arena is home to three professional teams: the Indy Fuel, Indy Ignite and Fishers Freight. Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high schools were among the schools that held commencement there this year.
Outside the arena, the FORUM Credit Union Plaza hosted five free World Cup watch parties over the summer, followed by free screenings of Back to the Future, Miracle and Hocus Pocus in September and October. The venue used the Hocus Pocus screening and an October CeCe Winans concert to collect supplies for HamCo Love and Wheeler Mission. The Event Center said the drive brought in 408 diapers, 194 razors and 976 menstrual products, among other donations.
The venue also announced new menu items, including a barbecue bologna sandwich made with Fischer Farms beef and a grilled cheese with brisket, cheddar and provolone.
What’s coming up
The inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament brings 15 teams to Fishers Nov. 20–25, with the championship match on Nov. 25. A free Fan Village will show every tournament match at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater and Central Green in downtown Fishers.
Nov. 29, 4 p.m. — Indy Fuel Teddy Bear Toss. The Fuel play the Bloomington Bison. Fans can throw stuffed animals onto the ice after the Fuel’s first goal, and the toys will go to local children in need.
Dec. 13, 1–3 p.m. — Pepper’s second birthday party. The Indy Ignite mascot’s celebration includes visits with area mascots and Santa. Admission is free with a ticket, and donations to Special Olympics Indiana are optional.
Dec. 18 — Mudsock basketball. Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern renew their rivalry, with the girls game at 6 p.m. and the boys game at 8 p.m.
Feb. 19, 2027 — Collective Soul with Edwin McCain. The concert is part of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation’s third annual Legacy Celebration.
The City of Fishers will honor local veterans and their families Wednesday at its annual Veterans Day ceremony.
The city and the Fishers Armed Services Commission are presenting the free event. It begins at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 in the Theater at Fishers Municipal Center, 1 Municipal Drive, and is open to the public. If you can’t attend in person, you can watch the livestream on the city’s YouTube channel.
This year’s keynote speaker is retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Tim Winslow. He is executive director of the Indiana War Memorials and Museum and assistant director of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
Winslow oversees the Indiana World War Memorial Historic District in downtown Indianapolis. The district includes the Indiana War Memorial building and museum, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and 25 acres of monuments honoring Hoosier veterans. In his Veterans Affairs role, he supports the Indiana Veterans Home, the Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery, the Military Family Relief Fund and other assistance programs.
Winslow served more than 37 years in the military, including two combat deployments. He is a master Army aviator with 2,500 flight hours and is qualified in five aircraft. His assignments included interim adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard, commander of the 81st Troop Command, Indiana director of the Joint Staff and chief of staff of the 38th Infantry Division.
He received his commission through Purdue University’s Army ROTC program. He holds master’s degrees in business administration and strategic studies and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. Then-Gov. Eric Holcomb named him a Sagamore of the Wabash.
His wife, Dr. Catherine Winslow, is a former Army lieutenant colonel. She was inducted into the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame in 2022.
Year-round tributes
The ceremony is one of several ways Fishers honors veterans throughout the year.
Residents can request a $50 light pole banner honoring a veteran. The banners hang around the Central Green and the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater. Photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches, 600 dpi, and in PNG or JPG format. The city prefers close-up photos of the veteran in uniform, from the waist up or as a headshot. The city’s website has an interactive map of existing banners.
Families can also buy an engraved brick paver for the Liberty Plaza walkway at the center of the Nickel Plate District Central Green. An 8-by-4-inch paver costs $100, and an 8-by-8-inch paver costs $200. Questions about pavers go to Samantha Wisecup, the city’s community outreach manager.
Through its Hometown Help for Heroes program, the Fishers Department of Public Works also helps families with a deployed head of household. The program provides driveway and sidewalk snow removal plus lawn mowing and trimming. It is open to any Fishers family with at least one head of household currently deployed in a branch of the armed forces.
Chef Kelsey Murphy’s Clutch Kitchen will celebrate its grand reopening Nov. 12–15 at Sun King Brewery Fishers with a renovated kitchen, an expanded menu and four days of events. The restaurant is at 9713 District N Drive in Fishers District.
The new menu adds thin-crust pizzas, a pastrami Reuben, pork belly bao buns and garlic Parmesan mozzarella sticks. Clutch Kitchen is keeping its wings, Cuban sandwich and smash burgers, dishes Murphy served at her original Clutch Kitchen location at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Murphy, a longtime Fishers resident and winner of Season 11 of MasterChef, opened Inspo in 2022 in the Fishers Test Kitchen. The city launched the restaurant accelerator in 2020 to help emerging food businesses get started. Murphy later expanded to Lucas Oil Stadium and returned to Fishers District with Clutch Kitchen, which now occupies the former Test Kitchen space.
“This grand reopening feels like coming home, and watching this kitchen transform is a dream come true,” Murphy said in the city’s announcement.
Reopening schedule
Thursday, Nov. 12, at 4 p.m. The city, Clutch Kitchen and Sun King will hold a ribbon-cutting and VIP celebration.
Friday, Nov. 13, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The first 50 qualifying orders will receive a golden ticket. Winners will be announced at 6 p.m., with prizes including merchandise and gift cards.
Saturday, Nov. 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. Guests 21 and older can sample pork belly bao buns, the Reuben and cinnamon roll pretzel bites with Sun King beer pairings at a free tasting.
Sunday, Nov. 15, from noon to 9 p.m. The restaurant will host a game-day celebration. The Colts play the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m., and the Indy Fuel host the Toledo Walleye at 4 p.m. at the Fishers Event Center.
The Big Ten Conference’s first volleyball tournament is coming to Fishers, and organizers have planned much more than matches.
The inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament will be played Nov. 20-25 at Fishers Event Center, home of Major League Volleyball’s Indy Ignite. The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify, and it will be the first time the conference’s programs have played together in one venue.
The bracket will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 17. So far, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin have clinched spots.
The tournament opens with three first-round matches and four second-round matches, followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals. The championship match is set for Wednesday, Nov. 25. The schedule includes one off day.
A limited number of single-session tickets go on sale to the public Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 11 a.m. at FishersEventCenter.com.
Free fan village downtown
Fans without tickets can still be part of the action at the Big Ten Fan Village. It will be free and open daily at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater, 1 Municipal Drive. Every tournament match will be shown there. The village will also have merchandise, photo spots, grass volleyball courts, crafts, food trucks and bonfires.
Each day has a theme:
Friday, Nov. 20 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.): Opening Celebration Day, with a concert by Toy Factory
Saturday, Nov. 21 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.): Family Day, with Indy Ignite appearances and youth activities
Sunday, Nov. 22 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.): Girls in Sports and Leadership Day
Monday, Nov. 23 (about 6 to 9 p.m.): Explore Hamilton County and the Major League Volleyball Draft, hosted by the Indy Ignite
Tuesday, Nov. 24 (4 to 10 p.m.): Semifinals Watch Party
Wednesday, Nov. 25 (5 to 10 p.m.): Championship Watch Party
Blood drive, volunteers needed
The fan village will also hold donation hours for the We Give Blood Big Ten Blood Drive Challenge. Big Ten schools compete in the challenge for bragging rights and a $1 million grant for student or community health. Hours are:
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 20, 21 (tentative), 22 and 25
Organizers need volunteers for fan village shifts on all six days. Roles include greeters, Kids’ Zone support, photo stations, information tables, trivia, outdoor volleyball courts and wellness activities. Most shifts last about two hours, with daytime and evening, indoor and outdoor options.
Local kids get in on the action
Starting Nov. 16, Hamilton East Public Library will offer young fans a Big Ten scavenger hunt with prizes. Kids can also make letters at a station to cheer on their favorite teams.
The tournament has already reached into Fishers classrooms. Since Oct. 28, Big Ten School Visits have reached about 5,000 students:
Reading visits at 13 elementary schools
Volleyball instruction at three intermediate schools
Morning pep rallies at four junior high schools
Each student gets a Big Ten drawstring bag and pencil. The city of Fishers and the Indy Ignite, including mascot Pepper and the Firestarters, are helping with the visits, which run through Nov. 20.
A conference built for crowds
The Big Ten has led Division I volleyball in attendance every season since 2007. Current conference schools have won 22 NCAA Division I championships combined, including 12 of the last 20. Eight of the nine most-watched college volleyball matches ever have featured Big Ten teams.
The Indianapolis area has hosted several Big Ten championships this year. Big Ten football’s championship games will be played Saturday, Dec. 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Valtteri Bottas never took the green flag at Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a frustrating new setback for the Fishers-based Cadillac Formula 1 team. It came in the same week as reports that the team’s majority owner may be looking to sell.
Bottas qualified 18th and was set to start 17th at Interlagos. Before the lap to the grid, the crew tried to change a tire but could not get the right rear wheel nut off. Team officials later said the nut was cross-threaded. Crew members went at it with a hammer on the grid, but the car was pushed back to the garage and Bottas was out.
“It’s sad that we were unable to start the race today,” Bottas said.
Teammate Sergio Perez started last, in 22nd, after a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit parts. He started on intermediate tires in wet conditions, switched to slicks as the track dried, and went back to intermediates when rain returned with fewer than 10 laps left. He finished 18th, two laps down, after a slow pit stop that he said was a repeat of a problem in Mexico.
“We need to make sure we fix our tools and get everything right,” Perez said.
Team principal Marcin Budkowski called it “a challenging day.” Budkowski took over in August when Graeme Lowdon was removed as team principal.
Cadillac is still without a point in its first F1 season and sits 11th, last, in the constructors’ standings. Reliability has been a theme all year. The team had nine retirements in the first 11 rounds, five of them Bottas’. The Finn also walked away from a heavy crash in Mexico two weeks ago.
The trouble on the track comes as the team’s ownership faces new questions. Sportico reported Nov. 2 that TWG Global, the company of billionaire Mark Walter, is seeking at least $3 billion for its controlling stake. Sportico counted at least seven possible buyers. The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal have named Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, as one of them.
That would reverse TWG’s position from August. Then, amid reports of a federal probe involving Walter’s financial empire, the company said it was not considering a sale of the Cadillac team. TWG has since said a sale is not imminent. FSG declined to comment.
General Motors holds an undisclosed minority stake. It supplies staff and infrastructure and is developing the team’s future power units. Perez, who is signed through 2029, said GM’s involvement gives him confidence and he does not expect day-to-day operations to change.
For Fishers, the stakes are local. The team’s headquarters is a $200 million, 400,000-square-foot building near Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport. The team has said it expects about 300 people to work there, assembling the cars. None of the reports so far suggest the Fishers base would change under a new owner.
Cadillac’s next race is in Las Vegas in two weeks, the team’s third home race this season.
