Wild River Nursery

With three master gardeners on staff, Wild River Nursery endeavors to be the convenient neighborhood nursery destination for those seeking advice from a professional yet approachable staff.
“You don’t need to read the plant tags and wing it, we help you figure out how tall plants will be when full grown. We like to be competitive on price, but our knowledge separates us,” said Teresa Lorton, the nursery’s store manager.
Open since early April, the six-acre nursery complex is a great resource for vibrant flowers and shrubs, as well as mature trees. “We’re a great resource for tall trees. We’re so lucky to be in a bunch of neighborhoods where trees are needed,” Lorton said.
The nursery store features lawn and landscaping items, including customized rugs and garden flags for Geist residents. You can also find pots and planters as well as fragranced soaps and lotions to complement a floral gift.

Manager – Teresa Lorton

Wild River Nursery owes its name to the man-made stream that the owners added as a tourist attraction. “If kids like it, the moms will end up liking it too,” said Lorton” Kids get to send rubber ducks down the river to win a t-shirt prize.
The river includes resting places where patrons can relax and take in the wide variety of plants and flowers on the property. “We often see local runners and walkers taking a break on our benches,” Lorton said.
Co-owner and former teacher Jane Kay Thomas incorporates many of the same principles she used as a teacher to help customers. “It’s important to me that I help guide those looking for new plants or trees. It’s lot like teaching—you guide,” said Thomas.
Thomas also sees it as an opportunity to help her children understand how to manage a thriving business in a hands-on way. “When people come through the door, I expect them to be treated like family by our staff,” Thomas said.
Customers seeking advice can bring in tree samples. “We want to be the place where you find answers. If someone comes in with a tree fungus question, for example, we can learn how to treat the problem,” said Thomas.

David Lindner: Still Scooping Up Life Lessons

David Lindner, former president of Lindner's Ice Cream stores in Central Indiana, is still scooping up life lessons.

Do you remember your favorite Lindner’s ice cream flavor? Was it the perfect peach, or maybe butter pecan or rocky road? Or possibly a catchy name like Raspberry Salad or Purple Fink calls back childhood memories of warm summer nights. The man behind the fondly remembered ice cream is David Lindner, an Indianapolis business visionary and, a man who continues to live an incomparably full life.

Lindner spent his childhood in the Irvington area of Indianapolis. His father and uncle started an ice cream plant and store, Lindner’s Brothers Ice Cream stores, Inc. in 1929, known for offering the finest quality ice cream for a reasonable price. He attended grade school at George Washington Julian, School #57, where he encountered a love of learning and met his future wife, Elizabeth. After graduating from Arsenal Technical high school in 1941, he attended Purdue for one year.

In 1942, his college career was cut short when he volunteered to serve in World War II. With a background in flying and an interest in taking it further, he became an aviator. He flew a CG-4A overseas as a glider pilot and those war experiences shaped his life.

LIndner with writer Beth Taylor at his Morse Reservoir home.

With sharp detail, he recalls packing displaced Parisians into a plane to transport them out of the Buchenwald concentration camp. To squeeze more people onto the cramped plane, he asked everyone to leave behind all possessions. He watched a man toss his pair of shoes to the ground. “After seeing that, I decided never to have a bad day in my life.”

When the war ended, Lindner returned home to the family ice cream business. He spent time re-acclimating to post-war life by diving in and learning every manual job at the company, including packing ice cream cans and scrubbing floors. With limited automation, work nights followed long workdays — especially in the summer.

“We had to go back to the plant every night to fill the stoker and set the ice cream machine,” he said, recalling the days before the factory had an oil-fired boiler.

Lindner quickly assumed a leadership role as the director of the company, working with his mother, Hannah Lindner, who served as president of the growing business following his father’s death in 1940.

After contributing to years of measured growth, Lindner became president in 1961. By 1986, there were 40 locations, and Lindner’s ice cream regularly earned top billing at national ice cream conventions.

Lindner knew that a key component of business success is understanding what pleases the consumer. “On the East coast, vanilla bean was popular, but here that didn’t work. Our customers liked a good, smooth vanilla ice cream at that time,” he said.

Always one to think from a broader viewpoint, Lindner brought convenience stores and drive-thru windows to his stores in Central Indiana. Appealing advertising with coupons attracted new customers.

A newspaper ad from 1982 showing Lindner advertising his "award-winning" ice cream.

For all of his successes, he admits to having failed many times, but garnered valuable lessons from each failure. “Failure makes you get smart and refine your approach,” he said.

During his 40 years with the company, he relied on this knowledge as he found success in other business ventures, such as real estate. After selling the ice cream business, rather than retiring, he began a new phase of his career as an international consultant for several companies, including Chiquita.

Business success lead to far-reaching philanthropic accomplishments. Lindner served as a board member for numerous organizations including Community Hospital, United Way, Franklin College, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to name a few.

In addition to helming a thriving, beloved Indiana business, Lindner excelled at fatherhood. He guided his two daughters and later his five grandchildren, to survive any issue by facing it with grace and gratitude,” said his daughter, Karen Lindner Moriarty, executive director and owner of Lindner Learning Center. Moriarty continues to enjoy the benefits of his business acumen. He is the senior executive advisor at the private, family-owned tutoring center.

Working with his daughter at the tutoring center has special meaning to Lindner who discovered that he has dyslexia later in life. Although a poor student, he credits his love of learning for his success. “The philosophy of learning has allowed me to tackle enormous obstacles in my life and reap rich rewards.” Each year of his adult life, no matter how busy, he has taken a formal course or a class. Most recently, he completed his Stephen Ministry training, so that he can serve as a lay caregiver to people in need.

“Our large, entrepreneurial family greatly benefits from this active coaching in areas of business and finance,” said Moriarty. To help pass on business lessons he’s learned, he and Elizabeth have created and funded investment seminars for their grandchildren. They also established an annual family vacation to keep the members connected.

Lindner greets each day with a positive mindset and decides how to divide a 24-hour day with intention. He begins each day with calisthenics. “You’ve got to take care of your body; it’s the only one you’ve got.”

As Lindner approaches his 90th year, he feels blessed by the richness of a life well lived. He gladly shares his secret to an active, long life: expect change and embrace it.

Prominent Fishers Orthodontist Goes Distance for Leukemia and Public Officials

Dr. Chuck Sadler (middle) plans to match funds raised for his Nation's Triathlon and donate to the Fishers fire and police departments. He's pictured here with Police Chief Kiehl (left) and Assistant Chief Mitch Thompson (right).

As millions of people across the United States plan to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 by participating in a charitable service, one local resident, Dr. Chuck Sadler, is doubling his charitable efforts.

The 6th annual Nation’s Triathlon to Benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) will take place on September 11, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The international distance triathlon includes a 1.5K swim in the Potomac River, a 40K bike course through the city, and a 10K run through D.C.’s historical landmarks.

“Although I have competed in the Nation’s Triathlon two prior times, when I saw that this year’s race would fall on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, I felt called to do something that would highlight and honor the men and women who put their lives on the line every day for our safety in addition to the LLS
fund raising that I had done in the past,” says Dr. Sadler.

Dr. Chuck’s triathlon training began with a close friend from church, Todd Andritsch, whose son, Luke, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in 2007. The two trained with the LLS Team in Training program and have raised over $40,000 to fund research and education to fight blood cancer.

This year, Dr. Chuck’s money raising efforts double in meaning. For every dollar he raises for the LLS, he will match that amount and give the donation to local public safety for special projects that continue to keep our families safe. “Living in Fishers with four children of my own and being an orthodontist of course, I have especially been drawn to many of the educational projects that these two organizations
do for our youth here locally,” says Dr. Chuck. “That is the kind of public safety that gets taken for granted by the community and is severely underfunded by our tax dollars.”

He continues, “As a Fishers community resident since 1987, I have been privileged to get to know many men and women who keep our community safe. Their dedication to our town and its residents’ safety should be an inspiration to all of us.”

Dr. Chuck’s effort to bring public safety back to the forefront is much appreciated by local public safety officials. “When the events of 9/11 happened, we received an outpouring of support from the public, from monetary donations to baked goods,” says deputy police chief, Mitch Thompson.

As the years have passed, the support from the community has faded. “Dr. Chuck’s generosity brings public safety back to the forefront,” adds Thompson.

“Not very often do we get guys who walk in the door and want to donate. But that’s Chuck. We’re very appreciative of his effort,” says deputy chief of the Fishers Fire Department, Brian Lott.

The money raised is needed for special projects that are not funded by tax dollars. Such projects include the D.A.R.E. program, a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches kids how to resist peer pressure and live drug-free lives. Donations support Project Lifesaver Hamilton County, which provides wristbands for persons at risk of wandering, potentially children with autism. Money also goes to help the Books and Badges program – officers visit schools to read to children and donate books.

“We can all remember where we were on 9/11, and we all remember the bravery of those who rushed to the scene. Their quick action and selfless acts saved thousands of lives that day,” Dr. Chuck recalls. “I felt that I just wanted to be a part of shining a light on these people who tend to be taken for granted.”

In addition to the the fundraising that he is doing for the LLS through this event, Dr. Chuck is selling seat cushions and T-shirts to maximize his fundraising efforts. If you would like to make a donation or purchase Fishers or HSE seat cushions and have 100 percent of the proceeds go toward the Fishers Police and Fire Departments’ educational programs, you can call 317-594-0888 or stop by his office at 11921 Lakeside Drive in Fishers.