The Bartholomew County Parks and Recreation Department will soon have its 12th park.
Newton Park will consist of eight acres that include what most people call the Tannehill Road Boat Ramp, which provides access to the Driftwood River west of Taylorsville.
The land transfer from the Bartholomew County Conservation Council to the county parks department will be celebrated at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 22.
“We look forward to preserving the area, just as the council has done all of these years,” parks director Rich Day said.
The council is planning a fundraiser to finance a shelter house on the site, and the parks department is preparing to plant about 25 new trees, Day said.
The park will honor the memory and contributions of William P. “Bill” Newton (1911-1998), a Clifford farmer who also worked 35-years at what is now Cummins, Inc. before retiring in 1976. He was regarded by his peers as among the region’s leading conservationalists.
Newton was instrumental in the creation of the Flat Rock-Hawcreek Conservation Club. These types of organizations support safety and conservation education programs that include hunter education and shooting sports. The Bartholomew County Conservation Council provides an annual $1,000 scholarship each year in Newton’s memory to a student who is active in conservation.
The boat ramp project at the Driftwood River began in October of 2008 – a decade after Newton’s death. That’s when the Bartholomew County Conservation Council purchased eight acres to have the Indiana Department of Natural Resources build the boat ramp and parking lot. A few months later, about 25 percent of the acquired property was turned over to the county to help straighten out a dangerous curve.
Surveying and engineering work began a year later, followed by work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After four years of preparation and paperwork, the Bill Newton Boat Ramp and Wildlife Area was dedicated in 2012.
While Newton received recognition for his contributions during his lifetime, he was probably best known as one of the most talented fishermen in the region.
If you grew up during the 1970s and ‘80s, you may have been in awe at the huge, live fish displayed annually at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair. Few people knew at the time that Newton was responsible for catching all the displays.
Newton’s skill became so well known that he even became the subject of a widespread (pardon the pun) “fish tale.”
The story goes — a prank phone call was made to former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight to come to Bartholomew County the next day to go fishing in the Flatrock River. Knight took the invitation seriously and showed up to fish the next morning.
Since the surprised prankster didn’t know anything about the sport, Newton was quickly recruited to take Knight out on his boat and serve as his guide and fishing companion. After the event concluded, Knight supposedly proclaimed that “Bill Newton is the best river fisherman I’ve ever fished with.”
Many accepted that story as fact from about 1976 until Newton was interviewed by The Republic in 1989. While he calls the story flattering, Newton said during the interview that he had never fished with Knight and the story was a complete fabrication.
“But if people want to believe it, that’s all right with me,” Newton said then with a smile.
