Bartholomew County Road 200N between State Road 46 and Meadow Drive (Oak Hills subdivision) will be closed next week, weather permitting, for tree clearing, the Bartholomew County Highway Department said.

The closure will start about 8 a.m. Monday and last through Friday, or until the work is done. Buses and emergency vehicles will be allowed to pass, but the road will be closed to through traffic.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Hope man for child neglect and leaving the scene of a property-damage accident on County Road 525E north of State Road 7, near Elizabethtown.

Michael G. Furst, 33, 130 Midway Drive, Hope, is being held at the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $12,500 bond, jail officials said.

Deputies were sent to the vehicle accident about 1:22 p.m. Wednesday after witnesses said they saw an adult male had left the vehicle and was walking toward Ceraland with a small female child, according to a sheriff’s department a media release.

Deputy Andrew Dugan found the man, identified as Furst, and the girl near the Ceraland gym. Furst told the deputy he had been driving the vehicle and left the accident scene. Furst and his 2-year-old daughter were checked by emergency personnel and were not injured, according to the sheriff’s department.

Where I lived in Georgia, country folks shot mistletoe out of the trees when it was time to decorate, because it grew everywhere.

Once you have decorated with shot-out-of-trees mistletoe, those wilted specimens in the plastic packages pale in comparison.

Still, they are the product of a horticultural industry providing a seasonal product rich in tradition. And not everyone can or should shoot mistletoe out of their trees!

So what about that mistletoe? You may know that it’s a parasitic plant, with a native range that comes up into the Ohio Valley. Next time you travel south in winter, look for green globes of foliage in the crowns of the otherwise-bare oak trees. That’s mistletoe. Cross the Ohio into Kentucky and it’s everywhere.

Mistletoe can compete in a tree’s crown for sunlight, also removing water and nutrients through the bark, but healthy trees can usually tolerate it. The trade-off is favorable for wildlife.

Without mistletoe, there are three butterfly species that wouldn’t exist. The mistletoe flower’s pollen and nectar is an important source of food for honeybees. And those sticky white berries are favored by evening grosbeaks, bluebirds and grouse. Even the cover provided by that globe of foliage provides habitat for raptors and migratory songbirds.

If you have small children or pets, be aware that mistletoe can be toxic. Reactions when it is eaten can range from mild stomach upset to — in rare instances — death. Of course, the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe should be free of tragedy, so keep it completely out of reach.

The poinsettia is another tropical plant that has is part of a rich holiday tradition. Breeders have upped the drama with colors beyond red and green, and there’s nothing like blooming poinsettias as part of a mantle, altar or tablescape.

For more information on growing the, Purdue Extension has resources.

Christmas cactus and Norfolk Island pine can also add to the Yuletide cheer. The cactus is often given as a gift, and getting it to rebloom the following year takes some doing, as one must expose it to about 12 hours of total darkness daily for about 60 days leading up to the desired bloom time. It’s rewarding if you like that sort of thing!

The Norfolk Island Pine is a tropical tree that cannot tolerate temperatures much below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so keep it indoors for the most part. Some folks will move a Norfolk Pine to their patio in summer. Decorated or not, it’s a great addition to the indoors if you like trees.

Plants given and enjoyed during the holidays carry rich tradition as well as their own nature-story. Learning and passing along those traditions and stories is part of the fun.

Columbus Food Co-op will conduct an open house from noon to 3 p.m. today at 1750 25th Street for the community to learn more about the food co-op. Additional open houses are scheduled at the same time for the remaining Saturdays this month.

Member-owners can pick up more information about the current loan campaign. Attendees can stroll down the aisles of the preliminary store design and offer feedback about what they would like to see sold in the store. The open house also offers a chance for people to pose questions to the co-op’s board of directors and other members.

Children can participate in an activity learning about food origins. Refreshments will be available.

Information: columbusmarket.coop

Columbus Food Co-op will conduct an open house from noon to 3 p.m. today at 1750 25th Street for the community to learn more about the food co-op. Additional open houses are scheduled at the same time for the remaining Saturdays this month.

Member-owners can pick up more information about the current loan campaign. Attendees can stroll down the aisles of the preliminary store design and offer feedback about what they would like to see sold in the store. The open house also offers a chance for people to pose questions to the co-op’s board of directors and other members.

Children can participate in an activity learning about food origins. Refreshments will be available.

Information: columbusmarket.coop

I found Hoosier hospitality at its best at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College recently. A charming place nestled in the woodlands near Terre Haute, this 175-year-old college is an all-girls school and the oldest of its kind in the United States.

It was founded by a small group of French Catholic Sisters of Providence, on a journey from their convent in Ruillé-sur-Loir, France, to the wilderness of Indiana. I was invited to attend the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce gathering and luncheon at the new Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center at the College.

I was seated with the speaker for the event, Gov. Mike Pence (my son), along with the college President Dottie King, Chamber President David Haynes, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett, Terre Haute Chamber Chairman Curt Wilkinson and Terre Haute Regional Hospital CEO MaryAnn Conroy.

In seeking to “Aspire Higher,” the college offers many opportunities in woman’s education and has expanded access to its undergraduate distance and adult programs to men as well as its campus-based undergraduate program for women only. Through the Woods Online program, both women and men earn college degrees in a wide variety of majors at a pace suited to their lifestyles.

Graduate programs are also offered in a number of programs. Also, St. Mary-of-the-Woods has the only equine program in Indiana and offers a bachelor’s degree in equine studies and is the only college in the nation to offer a music therapy equivalency distance program.

Sports in the new Knoerle Center will include an NCAA regulation-sized gym with all the amenities. The college added its eighth sports team, volleyball, and will compete next fall. Other sports offered are basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, hunt seat and western equestrian. One of the girls’ teams is called the Pomeroys after a nun named Sister Pomeroy, who played basketball in 1920 at the school.

While at the Chamber luncheon, I had the distinct honor to meet Gene and Donna Griffin, who are involved in the Griffin Bike Park in Vigo County, which will be part of the park system there. The park is in honor of their son, Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, who lost his life while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq on Oct. 27, 2009. To remember his love of biking, this will provide much joy and fun to children and adults of Vigo County and surrounding area.

Columbus Signature Academy-Lincoln campus had Fox 59 news anchor Nicole Pence — a Columbus native and relative — visit with the students on Jan. 30. As part of the state standards for students to learn about Indiana history, CSA has come up with a program where Indiana history “living legends” come and speak to the students about making a positive impact in the state and world.

Nicole Pence spoke to the students about her career as a journalist and how they can reach for their goals as they continue their schooling and make a positive impact on their community. The idea of living legends inspired the fourth-grade students by reminding them that at one point Nicole Pence was a fourth-grader sitting in a seat in an Indiana school, just like them.