Bridge near Solsberry to be named after former rural mail carrier; dedication Friday night

The late Dannie Shute, of Solsberry (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge]

Signs have been erected at the bridge -- which crosses the Indiana Rail Road Company tracks -- and will be unveiled Friday morning naming it the Dannie Shute Memorial Bridge.

The idea to name the bridge, which was constructed about a year ago, after Dannie Shute came from Solsberry area resident John Doane, who approached District 60 State Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington) and District 39 State Sen. John Waterman (R-Shelburn) and asked for their help.

Doane came to Beech Creek Township Trustee Larry Shute and grandson of Dannie Shute and said "It was something that needed done, and I felt like I could accomplish the task."

Larry Shute helped out on the project along with his two daughters, Amy Shute Denney and Mindy Shute.

The formal dedication of the bridge naming will take place as part of the annual Solsberry fireworks event about 7 p.m. on Friday in the stage area, located next to the home of Beech Creek Township Trustee Larry Shute, who is Dannie Shute's grandson.

The dedication will also take place near the site of the old Shute homestead.

Rep. Welch and Sen. Waterman both plan to attend the brief ceremony to officially dedicate the bridge.

"He had a lot of friends and respect from the locals," Larry Shute told the Greene County Daily World on Wednesday.

Shute said it's a big honor to his family to have the bridge named after his grandfather.

"I feel honored to have been a piece in this," Shute pointed out.

Dannie Shute was a rural mail carrier for 44 years and retired in 1966 at 69 years old.

"He was very community minded. He was the kind of person that felt like what should be done for a community, he went ahead and done it. People have come to me for years and told me what a wonderful mail carrier he was. They remember him and have a lot of respect for the man," he said.

Larry Shute added, "On the final day of his career, he left a personally signed thank you note for each of his acquaintances on his mail route. It read, 'Through the years of serving you, I will always remember the many acts of friendship, kindness and favors you have shown me. Your patience and thoughtfulness has made my service to you a pleasure I will cherish and remember. Your retiring mail carrier,' signed Dannie Shute."

Formally named Horace Daniel "Dannie" Shute, he was the son of Joseph M. and Ella Richardson Shute.

In 1916, he married Mable Iva Crane.

They set up housekeeping on property two miles north of Solsberry, just west of State Road 43, commonly known as "the Riddle Place."

An infant son was stillborn, and later a second son, Lawrence Julian Shute was born Sept. 2, 1918.

Dannie served his neighbors and community in many ways.

"He did so not desiring recognition or accolades from anyone. If he knew of a family struggling to make it through life financially or with basic day-to-day needs he would lend 'silent' support. He would many times, with many different families, provide them with cash, leave them groceries, or provide other support without any acknowledgment, and he did not seek any. On more than one occasion he provided a home, for those with no place to go, for extended periods of time, using a home located on a nearby farm property he owned. He loaned cash, some never to be repaid, to fellow community members for college tuition. He did all these things for his neighbors because it was the right thing to do. Dannie Shute was a man of few words, but many actions," according to his grandson.

In 1922, Dannie Shute began a career with the United States Postal Service carrying the mail on the rural route out of the Solsberry Post Office, using a horse and buggy to make his mail deliveries.

"Mabel sometimes assisted him during bad winter weather. During winter, the conditions of the county roads would deteriorate, and caused hardships on his horses. He held all living things in high regard, and one way he demonstrated this caring was by utilizing a change of horses, left at a friends farm, halfway through his route, so as not to push the horses to unnecessary limits," Larry Shute said of his grandfather.

Shute remembers hearing talk of some exciting times on his grandfather's mail route.

"On one occasion, while delivering the mail, he was approached by a would-be robber, who indicated to Dannie he lacked the funds to feed his family. Clearly, this attempted act of robbery was out of desperation and Dannie successfully talked the fellow out of the robbery, and went on about his mail route. Mysteriously, the next day that same fellow found funds in his mail box to address the needs of his family. Dannie never reported this incident to the postal authorities, knowing the fellow's situation would only worsen if he reported it," Shute explained.

Dannie Shute passed away in 1983 at the age of 83 and is buried in the Solsberry Cemetery.