Shelbyville doesn't have the tall buildings of Indianapolis. It doesn't have the Colts or the Indy 500. But it does have a comfort and familiarity all its own.

Jon Orem did not decide to become a teacher until he was a sophomore at Indiana University in the late 1970s, but his excuse wasn't a lack of exposure to the profession.

Indiana State Police chaplain Mark Dodd does a fair amount of counseling but not in a setting you might expect.

Standing in the Shelbyville Municipal Airport terminal, Darrell Shrader, 60, motions toward a 30-year-old aerial photograph of the facility. His fingers trace the airport's 3,700-foot-long by 50-foot-wide runway. He points to old airplane hangars and fuel pumps.

Shelbyville's Bears of Blue River Festival marked its 25th anniversary Aug. 25-29 this year in Shelbyville's downtown square. To mark the occasion, festival organizers invited all the past directors and festival queens back. Festival President Jeff Martin estimated that about 75 percent of the queens made it to this year's event.

Rollin and Sandra Fogle know well the highs and lows of farm life. When the Fogles were first married 44 years ago, they rented a small farmhouse, with three rooms and a path to the outhouse. They had to give that up when the owner wanted the house back for a relative. In fact, they were displaced from homes two other times during the years.

In 2003, Jennifer Walker spent about $1,500 on groceries for her family of six. No, that wasn't on one trip to the store. That was for the whole year.

Shelbyville Fire Chief Todd Anderson's ability to lead was evident in high school. He won the 1986 Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude as the Shelbyville High School boys basketball team scrapped its way into the Final Four.

A nondescript factory in a small industrial park on Shelbyville's eastside plays a significant role in the war on terrorism.

His first name is Floyd, but lately folks have been calling him "Andy" -- as in Andy Taylor of "The Andy Griffith Show."

Shelbyville native Bob Adams' sense of smell as a child attracted him to holly plants. "I had a neighbor who was very interested in hollies," the Shelbyville attorney recalled. "She opened my eyes.

Sean Craig is the voice among many local voices on Classic Hits 1520, a radio station that prides itself on offering a wide range of programs of community interest and involvement.

Alone in their shotgun-style building, the three ladies remember the candy stores, the drugstore and Woolworth's -- childhood shrines forever linked in their minds.

Leaning against a pulpit in the empty sanctuary of First Christian Church, the Rev. James Horner feels at home. Serving as its minister from 1957 to 1992, Horner had a profound effect on the church and the community. Whether it was visiting the sick in the hospital, ministering to the congregation or conducting a marriage or funeral for anyone who asked, he became a pillar in Shelbyville.

When a student in Bill Murphy's class gives the wrong answer to a question, Murphy usually replies by saying, "Now be careful."

If someone had told Beth Crouch four years ago that she'd be working with children today, she'd have told them they were crazy.

Shelbyville's Maurice Holmes has spent a lifetime gazing at dim microfilm images, handling moldy books and reading yellowed newspapers. He's done family history research for himself and countless other families for more than half a century.

Large U.S. cities are no longer the only places with international flavor. Shelbyville is one example of a small city where global industries have brought new residents -- and cultures -- to town. A growing Hispanic population also contributes to the city's diversity.

It doesn't have a name yet, but Shelbyville's newest park has its first occupants. Members of the Blue River Soccer Association moved their playing fields earlier this month to the new 194-acre park on Old Rushville Road, near the existing Blue River Park. The association previously played games on school property between the middle school and high school.

Major Hospital's need for more space turned into a high-tech life sciences campus and a vision of hope for Shelbyville.

As a New York City native, Kris Schwickrath grew up surrounded by elegant homes and state-of-the-art skyscrapers. As an adult, she pursued a career in another city with historic structures that fed her passion for architecture.

Shelby County might be past its heyday as a giant in the furniture industry, but two factories carry on the tradition.

From old-fashioned push mowers to replacement fishing reel handles, Shelbyville has become a popular home for manufacturers of unusual products.

Shelbyville is kind of the Ellis Island for bananas. Atlas Cold Storage, a massive food distribution center, is the home of the world's largest banana ripening center, according to general manager Bob Grau. The facility has 19 ripening rooms, each of which holds 11/2 truckloads, or 1,400 cases of bananas.

A red thumbprint on a canvas of yellow corn, Indiana Downs is a state-of-the-art horse track snuggled along I-74 in a county ripe for change.

From a vice president to the "Twinkie King," a noted novelist to the world's tallest woman, several well-known people have called Shelby County home.