HISTORICAL TRIVIA

1981-1985

Fulton County, Indiana

From The Rochester Sentinel

Selected, copied and indexed by Wendell C. Tombaugh

Special thanks to Jack K. Overmyer for suggesting the Title.

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THE INN SPOT

Opening Soon at Talma

The Sentinel, January   22, 1981

          The Inn Spot, a family restaurant, will open soon in Talma.  The restaurant, on Ind. 25 directly across from Burkett’s Store, will open in the next two or three weeks, according to John Sutton, owner.

          The restairamt will feature a salad bar every night and an open-flame steak grill.

          Sutton and his wife, Judy, will manage the restaurant.  The Inn Spot will offer family dining every day exccept Monday.  Hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday Brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - - - -

MANITOU BAR & GRILL

Pur Ed Fansler

The Sentinel, February   5,  1981

          Known by long-time residents as the Brass Rail, the Manitou Bar and Grill at 604 Main St., now has a new name and new owners.

          Called the Dugout, it is owned by Ed Fansler and his wife, Beverly, who took over ownership and operation on Monday from Joe and Dorothy Conaway, who owned and operated it for some 27 years.

          Fansler left his position as superintendent of the Chamberlain Products plant in Akron, where he had been employed for 12 years, to devote full time in his new business.

          His wife, employed at Moore Business Forms, helps in the evenings.  His mother, Mary Fansler, helps at noon lunch time, and Mrs. Conaway still is on daytime duty.

          Fansler, a native of Kewanna, a graduate of Rochester High School and a lifetime resident of Fulton County, took the name “Dugout” because of his close association with athletics in general and softball in particular.

          He is president of the Rochester Men’s Softball League and

vice-president of the Indiana Amateur Softball Association.  He is a former member of the Rochester Parks and Recreation Board.- - - -

F & M BANK

Macy-Nyona Lake Branch

The Sentinel, February   9,  1981

          The Macy-Nyona Lake branch of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Rochester will be introduced to the public Sunday afternoon during an “open house” from 1 to 4 o’clock.

          The branch, on Old U.S. 31 just south of Speck’s Corner, seven miles south of Rochester, will open for business on Monday, Feb. 16.

- - - -   The branch will be a full service bank, offering complete loan service, all types of certificates including Money Market certificates, no-charge regular checking, interest bearing checking accounts, traveler’s checks, safe deposit boxes, drive-up service, and night depository.

          Glenn Skersick, F&M president, said a staff of four people will be on duty at the branch - manager Steven J. Savage, Sherri K. Moore, Rt. 2, Macy, Linda L. Reese, Rt 2, Macy, and Nancy Jo Smith, 1000 Madison St., Rochester.

          Savage joined Farmers and Merchants last Sept. 8 and is an assistant cashier in addition to his new duties as branch manager.

          He holds a bachelor of science degree in agriculture and a master of science degree in education, both from Purdue University.

          Single and a lifetime resident of the Macy area, Savage taught vocational agriculture for eight years, the last five years at Lewis Cass High School, and farms on a part-time basis, raising purebred sheep and grain.

          He is a member of the Macy Masonic Lodge, the Macy Christian Church, the state and national Woolgrowers associations, and has been active in 4-H and Future Farmers of America work.

          Savage is the son of Kenneth and Opal Savage, Rt. 2, Macy.

          The Macy-Nyona Lake branch will be the third one for the Farmers and Merchants Bank.  There is a branch office in Kewanna and a drive-up branch on East Nnth Street in Rochester.

COOKSEY FURNITURE

Pur Bill Murphy

The Sentinel, February   14,  1981

          Murphy Furniture and Carpet at 106 E. Rochester St., in

Akron - formerly Cooksey Furniture and Carpet - will observe its grand opening under new ownership Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

          The business was purchased by Bill and Cathy Murphy from

Bill and Jean Cooksey.  Mrs. Murphy had been manager of the store the last two years for the Cookseys.

          Mrs. Murphy will continue as manager of the store while her husband maintains his job at the Akron Foundry and spends part-time at the store. - - - -

          The Murphys, both of whom have resided most of their lives in the Akron area, have a son, Brooke, 10, and a daughter, Heather, 8.

CHAS FEAR & SONS

Becomes Two Firms

The Sentinel,   March   10,  1981

          Charles Fear and Sons Implement Co., a Rochester business since 1965, has become two separate businesses - Larry Fear and Son, and Mikesell Farm Equipment.

          Larry Fear has taken control of the lawn and garden portion of the former business and is having a structure added to the building on Indiana 14 North, whitch will be used as his place of operation.

          The lawn and garden business handles Simplicity mowers, Homelight chansaws, Briggs & Stratton engines, Kohler engines, Echo chain saws and trimmers and Tecumseh engines.

          Dennis and Joyce Mikesell operate Mikesell Farm Equipment and handle Massey Ferguson farm machinery, New Holland farm machinery and Kewannee farm machinery.

          Both businesses offer complete sales and mantenance services.

          - - - - The former Charles Fear and Sons business moved to Indiana 14 in 1970 from Main Street where Wilt’s Food Center is presently located.  Fear, who plans on returning to farming, purchased the business from Howard Robbins in 1965, when it was located in the 400 block of Main Street.

          Mikesell is a 1967 graduate of Rochester High School and a 1971 graduate of Purdue University.  He is married to the former Joyce Roe and the couple has two children, Andy, 9, and Kelly, 6.  They reside at Rt. 5, Rochester.

          Larry Fear is a 1974 graduate of Rochester High School and is married to the former Sherry Taylor.  The couple has two children, Reena, 4, and Baral. 2.  The Fears reside at Rt. 1, Macy.

AKRON-MENTONE NEWS

Pur Richard McKee

The Sentinel,   March   26,  1981

          Richard Lynn, editor and publisher of the Akron-Mentone News weekly newspaper, announced in Wednesday’s issue that he has sold the business to Richard and Mary McKee of Rochester, owners of the Shopping Guide News.

          The first issue of the newspaper under the new ownershiip will be published next week.

          Lynn said he will devote full time to creative enterprises which include the development of literary properties for film, book and magazine publication.

          He said he has been retained as a consultant and copywriter for a new advertising agency which is being organzed in northern Indiana.

PETERSON-WAGGONER

Partnership Formed

The Sentinel,   April   1,  1981

          Robert E. Peterson and Ted A. Waggoner announced today the formation of a partnership in a law firm to be known as Peterson and Waggoner, with offices at 100 W. Ninth St.  Waggoner, a native of Franklin, has been an associate in the Peterson firm for the last 2-1/2 years.

          Waggoner, an undergraduate of Indiana State University, studied law at the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, from which he graduated in 1978.

          Peterson, a Purdue University undergraduate, also is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington.

AVCO FINANCIAL SVCS

Closes Rochester Office

The Sentinel,   April   8,  1981

          The AVCO Financial Services office at 802 Main St., has been relocated to Plymouth.  The business closed here Friday.

          The relocation was to consolidate two offices into one, said a company spokesman at the Plymouth office.

WOODLAWN HOSPITAL

To Rebuy Old Woodlawn

The Sentinel,   April   21,  1981

          The Fulton Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 Monday evenng to request an additional appropriation of $35,000 to repurchase

the old Woodlawn Hospital and building and grounds.

          Everett Smith made the motion and it was seconded by Harris Lease.  Voting against the proposal was Fred Brown.   The request will be submitted to the Fulton County Council for consideration at its next meeting on May 12.

          The advisability of repurchasing the property, and possibly offering it to the Fulton County Library, had been discussed at previous meetings of the commissioners.

KLINE’S TV-APPLIANCE

Opening Monday

The Sentinel,   May   1,  1981

          Kline’s TV and Appliances will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new building on the southeast corner of Ninth Street and Franklin Avenue Monday at 9 a.m.- - - -

          The 7,600-square foot structure was occupied several weeks ago, when the business from 126 E. Eighth St., where it opened on Aug. 6, 1976 as a local dealer in Zenith radio, television and home entertainment products and in numerous lines of home appliances.

          Since that time, Kline’s obtained a local franchise in Radio Shack products and opened a store for that business at 423 E. Ninth St. - just east of the new building.- - - -

          Also Sony and Magnavox radio, television and home entertainment products have been added to the Zenith line. - - - -

          Kline’s TV and Applkances is owned by Raymond Kline, father of Tim Kline and father-in-law of Showley.  The company also has stores in Culver and Plymouth.

TULEY-WELCH

Opens Law Office

The Sentinel,   May   15,  1981

          William (Bill) Tuley-Welch has opened a law office in the Shamrock Building, 222 E. Ninth St., and began practice of law on May 4.

          He is a 1980 graduate of Indiana University Law School at Bloomngton and is a 1976 graduate of Valparaiso University.

          He worked for the Chudom and Meyer Law Firm in Lake County for six months before movng to Rochester.  He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Indiana State Bar Association.

          When Welch and his wife, the former Linda Tuley, were married, they combined their names to Tuley-Welch.  The Tuley-Welches live on Rt 5, Rochester.  Mrs. Tuley-Welch is her husband’s legal secretary.

PARADISE PLAZA

Now Is Station House

The Sentinel,   May   20,  1981

          The Station House, formerly the Paradise Plaza Auto-Truck Stop, officially opened for business today in the reconstructed building on U..S. 31 on the south edge of Rochester.

          The new facility is owned by Walter Kronberg and has been leased to Larry Smith of Huntington.  Smith also runs two other “Station Houses” - one in Columbia City and one recently opened in Huntington.

          The former Paradise Plaza was destroyed by a $450,000 fire last Dec. 13.  Rebuilding began in mid-January.

          The facility offers a stainless steel kitchen, restaurant, mini-store, showers and rest areas for truckers and office space for the business.

          The new building is bigger than the old one and a second banquet room has been added.  One room will seat 100 persons and the other will seat 200 persons.  The two banquet rooms also can be used together.

          Smith is having the cabinets for the mini-store custom-made and they will be added later.  He also will run the gasoline islands, and a service garage will be open soon.

          The traditional smorgsbord also will be featured daily.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Moved to Main Street

The Sentinel,   June   3,  1981

          The Rochester Chamber of Commerce office opened in its new quarters today at 617 Main Street - formerly occupied by Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (“The gas company”)

          It puts the Chamber on Main street for the first time in its long history after years of operating out of members homes, a corner of City Hall and, most recently, in the basement of the Rouch-Clary-Smiley insurance building at 110 E. Eighth St.

KUMLER REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   June   24,  1981

          The family of the late John J. Kumler met for a reunion Sunday, June 21 at the Rochester City Park.

          Wendell Hermburger was the host for the event, which was attended by 40 relatives.  Hermburger called the meeting to order after the noon meal and letters were read from Dean Kumler Phillips,

Bourbon; Olliviene Kumler Reynolds, Davis, Calif.; and Flossie Murray Behlefeldnt, Los Angeles, Calif.

          The 1982 reunion was planned to be in Logansport with John Kumler serving as host.

          It was reported that Marie Kumler, Logansport, is the only living daughter-in-law of J.J. Kumler.  She will be 96 years old in the fall.  The oldest member present at the reunion was Blanche Baker, Royal Center; she is also the John J. Kumler’s first grandchild.  The youngest relative present was Andrea Kumler of LaFountane.

          Families attending were:   Mr. & Mrs. George Hoover, Jeff and Jennie; Lois Ewen, Lindsay Ewen and Beth, all of Rochester; Mr. & Mrs. Dean Kumler, Kewanna; Mr. & Mrs. Earl Baker, Royal Center; Helen Bonnell, Star City; and families attending from Gordon, Calif; Troy, Mich.; Clawson, Mich.; Lafayette; LaFountane; LaPorte; Logansport and Kokomo.

THOMPSON REUN

Geme Thompson Home

The Sentinel,   July   6,  1981

          Descendants of the Joseph and Mary Osborn Thompson family met Sunday, June 28, in the home of Gene and Helen Thompson, Rochester, for a carry-in dinner with 49 families present.

          Families present were from Rochester, Mishawaka, Columbia City, Lafayette, Muncie, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Warner Robins, Ga. and ranged from six months to 88 years old.

LEAVELL REUN

Jerry Leavell Home

The Sentinel,   July   15,  1981

          The family of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Leavell, Fulton, met in the home of Jerry Leavell, Rt. 6, Rochester, Saturday for a picnic with 22 family members present.  Games were played.

          Those attending were Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Leavell and Michelle and Perry of Rochester, as well as the couple’s other children, formerly of Fulton.  They are:   Mr. & Mrs.. Joe Leavell and Darla, Dennis, Todd and Tina of Carmel; Mr. & Mrs. Jack Leavell and Amy and Leanne of Rochester, Min; Judy Ulselt and Christy and Kenny of Sharon, Pa., and Dr. & Mrs. Wayne Steele of Crawfordsville.

          Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Leavell and Jamie of St. Louis were unable to attend.

WILLIAMS REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   July   21,  1981

          Forty-three members of the Williams family met in the Rochester City Park Sunday, July 12, for the 49th reunion.

          After the carry-in dinner, a business meeting and election of officers were conducted.

          Jim Williams, Rochester, was elected as president, and Rosemary Williams, Fulton, was elected as secretary-treasurer.

          Preliminary plans were started for the 50th anniversary reunion to be Sunday, July 11, 1982, in Rochester.

          Members traveled from California, Florida, New Jersey, and Michigan.   Indiana members were from Fort Wayne, Logansport, Fulton and Rochester.

OVERMYER REUN

Monterey Meth Church

The Sentinel,   July   23,  1981

          The Daniel Overmyer family reunion was conducted at the Monterey United Methodist Church Sunday, July 19.

          The retiring officers were hosts.   They are:   Pat Warran, president; Katheryn Harding, vice-president, and Venus Engel, secretary.

          History of the family will be available this month and those interested in obtaining a copy are asked to call Engel.

          New officers for 1982 were elected.   They are:   Sam Overmyer, president; Don Overmyer, vice-president, and Katy Harding, secretary-treasurer.

          The 1982 reunion will be the third Sunday in July at the Monterey United Methodist Church.

BROOKER REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   July   30,  1981

          The 31st annual Isaac Brooker family reunion was conducted at the Rochester City Park Sunday; July 26, with 70 members and guests present.

          After the carry-in dinner, a short business meeting was conducted with the remainder of the day spent socially.  Officers were elected for 1982.   They are:   Donald Hudkins, Greencastle; president; Tom Snyder, Fort Wayne, vice-president, and Judy Hudkins, Greencastle, secretary.

          The birthday of Dean Neff, the oldest member present, was celebrated.  The youngest member present was Jessica Moyer, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Gary Moyer, Claypool.

          Traveling farthest were Mrs. Don Winslow and daughter, Alexandra, from Kennett Square, Pa.

VAN LUE REUN

James Barkman Home

The Sentinel,   August   5,  1981

          The James and Tincy Van Lue family reunion was conducted in the home of Mr. & Mrs. James Barkman, Rochester, on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and 2.  This was the 14th reunion of the family.

          A carry-in dinner was served both days and films were shown by Harold Vandegrift from 1951 to 1952.  The rest of the time was spent socially.

          Attending from Rochester were Mr. & Mrs. Robert Metzger and family; Mr. & Mrs. Chloris Barkman; Mr. & Mrs. Charles Borden, and Mr. & Mrs. James Barkman and family.

          Others present were from Quartzsite, Ariz.;   Gilbert, Minn.; Atkin, Minn.; Columbia, Mo.; Indianapolis; Greenwood; Fort Wayne; Warsaw; Gallen, Mich.; and Springfield, Ohio.

          The next reunion will be in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Metzger and family, Aug. 7, 1982.

ONSTOTT REUN

Msds. Harry & George Onstott

The Sentinel,   August   7,  1981

          The Onstott family reunion was conducted in the first week of August with hosts Mrs. Harry Onstott, Mr. & Mrs. George Slisher and daughters, Rebecca and Sarah, Billie Mae Musselman and Mr. & Mrs. Ben Daulton and daughter, C’Dale.

          During the week, Mr. & Mrs. Forrest Heishman (the former Phoebe Onstott) had a family picnic at their home on the Tippecanoe River.

          On Wednesday, Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Arone, Monticello, hosted the group at a swimming and dinner party at the Plymouth Holiday Inn and Ballroom Wurks.   Mrs. Arone is the former Phyllis Onstott.

          Local visitors were Mr. & Mrs. Paul Onstott and Troy of Burket, Ind.; Florence Scott and Mr. & Mrs. James Onstott and daughters, Jessie and Carrie, Rochester.

          During the parties, Mr. & Mrs. Arone celebrated their 31st anniversary; Mr. & Mrs. Heishman their 25th anniversary and Mr. &

Mrs. Abdelkader Bouabdellaoui of Chicago, their first anniversary.  She is the former Susan Onstout.  The birthdays of Adam and Matthew Onstott and Mike Gonzales were also noted.

COPLEN REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   12,  1981

          Family members of Charles Richard and Eva Belle Smith Coplen met Sunday, Aug. 9, in the Rochester City Park for the annual family reunion.  There were 57 family members present.

          Attending from Rochester were Gladys Coplen, Retha Oliver, Mark, Pat, Dave and Amy Kistler, Wayne and Virginia Mikesell, from Akron were Marietta Coplen, Cora Coplen, Maurice and Erma Coplen, Charles and Toni Coplen, George and June Brown, Ed and Kim Martin, Kenny and Kelly Koser; from Talma were Agnes and Vernon Harshman, from Argos were Herman and Carmen Alderfer; from Macy were Brenda Malott and Todd and Mike.

          Others attending were from Plymouth, Fort Wayne, Hebron, Logansport, Kokomo, Indianapolis, Martinsville, Petersburg and Antwerp, Ohio.

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park

The Sentinel,   August   13,  1981

          The families of Monroe Morris and Amanda Whittenberger Morris met for the annual family reunion at the Akron Park Sunday, Aug. 9.

          Steve and Vickie Sutton, president and secretary respectively, conducted the business meeting.  Roll call was answered by 69 persons.  The new president and secretary are Mike and Peggy Morris of Gilead, Mark and Kathy Gast are the newly elected vice-president and assistant secretary.

          Those present from this area were Roy, Becky and Jason Morris, Mae and Colleen Morris; Mike and Peggy Morris, all of Macy; Matt and JoLynn Gast of Burket, Ind.; Mark and Kathy Gast and Bryce, Bob and Betty Tombaugh, Claypool; Mary Ruth Morris, Jenny and Ryan Gast, Tom and Susanne Gast, Al and Kate Jennens, Ellis and Treva Klein, Sara Jane Sutton, Steve and Vicki Sutton and Wendy and Jarrod, all of Akron.

          Other family members attending were from Lapaz, South Bemd. Niles, Mich.; Ipava, Ill.; Michigan City, Fort Wayne, Auburn, Peru and Roann.

ONSTOTT REUN

Backyard Picnic

The Sentinel,   August   13,  1981

          Mr. & Mrs. Jim Onstott and daughters Jessica and Carrie, hosted a family backyard picnic on Friday, Aug. 7, for Mrs. Harry Onstott, Helen Onstott Slisher, George Slisher and daughters, Rebecca and Sarah, and Florence Onstott Scott, all of Rochester.

          Other guests were from New Jersey and Illinois, who then left Saturday, Aug. 8, to return home after a week’s celebration and vacation in Rochester.

DAY REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   14,  1981

          The Henry Day family reunion was conducted at the Rochester City Park Sunday, Aug. 9 with 31 family members present.

          Attending from the area were Ruth and Shel Tabler and family, Mary Coplen and family, Don Coplen and family and Marcia Tabler, all of Rochester, and Fred Crispen and family of Macy.

          Others attending were from Star City, Logansport, Gas City, Peru, Cassopolis, Mich., and Georgia.

GLASSBURN REUN

Maconaquah Park, Peru

The Sentinel,   August   17,  1981

          The 63rd annual Glassburn family reunion was conducted Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Maconaquah Park in Peru with 45 persons present.

          The prize for having the largest family went to Allen Glassburn of Rt. 4, Rochester, with 7 members in attendance.  He also was re-elected as president and secretary-treasurer for the 1982 reunion.

CAREY REUN

Center Lake, Warsaw

The Sentinel,   August   21,  1981

          The Robert E. Clemans Sr., family of Rochester and Millicent Carey Slone of Warsaw hosted the Carey family reunion at Center Lake, Warsaw

          Pearl Carey Joyce, Bourbon, celebrated her 81st birthday and Misty Vining, Claypool, was honored for being the youngest member in attendance.  She is four weeks old.

          Attending from the area were Robert E. Clemans Jr., and

family, Mr. & Mrs. Philip Bressler and Justin and Jennifer Green and family, all of Rochester; Hattie Carey Woods, Burket; Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Flory and Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Flory and family, Ralph and Donna Jean Fretz, and Paul and Robby Fretz, all of Tippecanoe; Mr. & Mrs. Forrest Vining, Claypool; Mr. & Mrs. Keith Stouder, Etna Green; Linda Carey Shepherd, Judy Hoge and Wendy, Shawn and Knevits

Xan Hoge, all of Silver Lake.

          Others were from Zionsville, Warsaw, Leesburg, Lakeville, Pierceton and Winona Lake.

BUNNELL REUN

(Where?)

The Sentinel,   August   27,  1981

          Nine of 13 children of the late Mr. & Mrs. John Bunnell were present for their 50th family reunion.

          Those present from Rochester were:   Kate Eytcheson, Jerry Bunnell, Larry and Darlene Simpson and Craig, Jodi and Terri, Mark and Kendra Shambarger, Leona and Carl Koons, Marilyn and Don Garvison, Doug and Nila Garvison, Russ and Sherry Rogers, Mary Olinger, Ken Baker, Jeff and Patty Olinger, Mark and Bonnie Olinger, Don and Marsha Koons and Pam and Ty, Jim Mathias, Ellen and Dick Newell, Peg and Al Fishburn, Diana and Mike Perdue and Christy.

          Others attending were from Traverse City, Mich.; Hobart, California, Chicago, Logansport, Lake Station, Portage, Merrillville, and Albuquerque, N.M.

          A social hour followed the meeting.

ROCH NOW THIRD CLASS

Was Fifth Class

The Sentinel,   September  1,  1981

          Rochester became a third class city today under new guidelines established by the Indiana General Assembly.

          Under the old classification, Rochester was a fifth class city.  The new ratings allow only three classes of cities, plus another classification for towns.  For a town to be a city, it must have a minimum of 2,000 inhabitants.

          With the new classification, the only effect on Rochester would be a possible adjustment in the number of members of the City Council.

          The choice is now delegated to the city to have either five districts and two at large council members or retain the current four districts and one at-large member of the council.

          The general feeling among current Council members is to maintain the status quo.  The decision, however, doesn’t have to be made until Sept. 1, 1982, at whick time the city must undertake the chore of redistricting, over their minutes of all the meetings of the Fulton Board of County Commissioners and codify all the ordinances that have been passed through the years.

          One of the effects of the law is that local units of government will collect the fees obtained from the enforcement of local ordinances.  In simple terms - if you are stopped for running a stop sign, the money collected in court for the violation goes directly to the local government whose ordinance was violated.

          In the past, all monies collected from local ordinances went to the state and the money was distributed from a state coffer.

          The effect of this rule is to provide the local government with additional funds to maintain its space.   One possible one is for upkeep of streets and roads.

          Along with the return of fines to the local unit, the state also has lifted he maximum penalty of an ordinance from $500 to $2,500.  Although this gives officials a hefty club to swing, it is doubtful that the power will be abused in the assessment of penalties.

          Several other changes will take place slowly in the operation of city governments, with more power going to the mayor in the appointments of heads of departments that are created by the state.

          In the past, most boards were to elect their own chairmen, but under Home Rule, the mayor will appoint the head, subject to the approval of that board.  Some of the boards included are Park Department, Plan Commission, Economic Development Commission and Aviation Department.

          Home Rule also requires that just one attorney be hired to represent the city and that no other attorney be hired to represent a unit of government without the first attorny’s consent.

          (As we grow things do not get less complicated. -WCT)

THOMPSON-DUNLAP

REUN - Jefferies Home

The Sentinel,   September 2,  1981

          After about 30 to 35 years, a Thompson-Dunlap family reunion was conducted Sunday, Aug., 30, at the lake home of Florence and Lloyd Jefferies with 28 people attending.

          Officers were elected.  They are:   Jefferies, president; Elsie Turner, secretary-treasurer, and Susan Paschen, Maurine Kreig, Lois Wagoner and Ed Jefferies, historical committee.

          The second Sunday of August was chosen for the annual meeting date at the Jefferies’ home.

          Those attending from the area were Lois Wagoner, Fulton; usan Pachen and Shane VanDuyne, Twelve Mile; Fern Master, Kewanna; Ben and Madlyn Fort, Florence and Lloyd Jefferies, Ernie and Rosanne Jefferies and children, Ed Jefferies, Harvey and Elsie Turner, all of Rochester.

          Others attending were from Monticello, Elkhart, North Judson and Mishawaka.

          People who are descendants of the Thompson or Dunlaps are asked to contact Elsie Turner at 223-2061 or Rt. 4, Rochester, so that your name can be added to the mailing list.

RAILROAD

Didn’t Come for Free

The Sentinel,   September 4,  1981

BY WILLIAM FREYBERG

          Once upon a time, five thriving railroad companies sent passengers and freight the length and breadth of Fulton County, linking our area to population centers and industrial markets many miles away.

          Unlike “the best things of life,” however, rail transportation did not come for free.  People who think that inducements by a local government to attract a business or industry are something relatively new need only to read the history books to find out otherwise.

          The appearance of railroads in Fulton County, starting in 1868 and ending in 1912, cost local taxpayers a total of $178,120 - no small amount in those days.

          The impetus for obtaining rail transportation came from the need for the speedy and reliable means of disposing of farm commodities that only a railroad could provide.  Therefore, the Fulton Board of County Commissioners ordered on Dec. 6, 1864 that $50,000 be donated from public funds to the first company that would build a railroad from Peru to Plymouth by way of Rochester.

          The ante was raised to $60,000 in conversations with the Indianapolis, Rochester and Chicago Rail Road Co., which agreed to build the line.  Before construction was completed in 1868, the cost to Fulton County had risen to $80,000.

          Shortly after construction was completed, the name of the company was changed to Indianapolis, Peru and Chicago.  Over the years, the line was owned by the Wabash Railroad, the Lake Erie and Western, the New York Central and the Nickle Plate before being purchased by the current owner, the Norfolk and Western Railway.

          The N&W continues to operate in good financial health today.

          The county’s second railroad came in 1882 when the Chicago and Atlantic put down east-west tracks through the center and northern parts of the county upon the invitation of five townships.

          Construction was preceded by petitions, then elections in each township at which the residents voted in favor of donating through their taxes the following amounts -$9,240 from Richland Township, $5,200 from Aubbenaubbee, $8,900 from Union, $32,600 from Rochester and $11,500 from Henry.

          Residents of Union and Richland townships saved their money, however, because the road, which underwent several operations on Dec. 31, 1979 didn’t go through those two townships.

          Union Township residents did shell out $9,280, however, for the Terre Haute and Logansport Railroad to include the township on its line between Logansport and South Bend.  Petitions for Wayne Township to contribute $9,723 were defeated by special election.

          The line was completed in 1885 and went north-south through Wayne, Union and Aubbeenaubbee townships.  No mention is made in the history books of Aubbeenaubbee Township residents donating to the cause.

          The line became a part of the Vandalia system, then was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., which later became Penn Central.  On July 28, 1978, Penn Central abandoned the line because of bankruptcy and disposition of the right of way now is in process.

          The fourth nd last steam railroad through Fulton County was built by the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie in 1902, helped by contributions of $17,500 from Union Township and $11,500 from Liberty Township.

          Now part of the Chessie System (Chesapeake and Ohio), the line runs through Fulton and Kewanna of Fulton County.

          In the early 1900s, another form of rail transportation sprang forth - electric railroads, called interurbans or traction.  One of them came to Fulton County when residents of Henry Township put up $10,000 to get the Winona Interurban Co., to build a line through that township between Goshen on the north and (Peru) on the south, (with connections reaching Indianapolis, among other cities.)

          At an election of township residents, it was voted to donate $25,000, but other residents obtained a restraining order against the amount and the sum later was set at $10,000.  The line in Henry Township, through Akron, was completed in 1912.

          There were attempts to get other electric railroad lines through Fulton County, but none of there succeeded.

          Eventually, the interurban went the way of buggy whips and button shoes, leaving the county with its four steam railroads until these, too, met financial difficulties that now have left the county with just the N&W and the C&O spanning the entire county. -William Freyberg.

GOTTSCHALK REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   September 10,  1981

          The 51st reunion of the John Gottschalk family was conducted at the Rochester City Park Sunday, Aug. 30, with 45 people attending.

          After the carry-in luncheon, a hort business meeting wa conducted.  Officers will remain the same for the coming year.  They are William Gottschalk, Kokomo, president; Noah William Gottschalk, Roanoke, vice-president, and Mary Ruth Keim, Rochester, secretary-treasurer.

          The 1982 reunion will be the last Sunday in August at the City Park.  The eldst attending was Pearl Hiland, 95, from Peabody Home in North Manchester.  The youngst was Amanda Sue Finks, 9 months, Logansport.  Elnora Lind, Miramar, Fla., traveled the farthest.

          Those attending from the area were Fred and Helen Gottschalk, Josephine Tuley, Charles, Janet, Barbara and Theodore Tuley, Geneva Davis, Fred and Mary Ruth Keim, all of Rochester; and Vachael and Ruth Walters, Kewanna.

          Others attending were from Kokomo, Logansport, Lucerne, Peru, Delphi, South Whitley, Columbia City and Albion.

Fulton County Electronics

pur Joe Keller

The Sentinel,   September  16,  1981

          The 10-year-old television and appliance business known as Fulton County Electronics will become Superior Appliance and TV Center under the new ownership of Joe Keller of South Bend.

          Larry Rynearson, who established the firm with Jack Hill in January 1971 and later purchased Hill’s interest in the business, has sold the firm effective June 1.  Rynearson will remain as the serviceman under the new ownership.

          The manager of the store will be Don Ecker Jr. of Plymouth.

- - - -   The store is on Indiana 25 North, just north of Indiana 14.

ROCHESTER SENTINEL

Marc Jump Moves to Fla.

The Sentinel,   September  19,  1981

          Marc Jump, news editor of The Rochester Sentinel since Aug. 27, 1979 and sports editor for two years before that, will leave The Sentinel next Saturday for a job in Florida, editor William Freyberg announced today.

          Jump and his wife, the former Vickie Crissinger, will move to Ocala, where he will become an assistant editor of The Star-Banner daily and Sunday newspaper.

          Effective Monday, Sept. 28, Alan Burch will move from The Sentinel’s sports editor’s desk to the position of news editor to replace Jump.  Burch joined The Sentinel as sports editor on Aug. 27, 1979 when Jump became news editor.

          A successor to Burch as sports editor is being sought, said Freyberg.

          The changes in the newsroom will bring added responsibilities in general coverage for Susie Sims, LifeStyle editor and court news reporter, and for Laura Moore, photographer.   Miss Moore will take on the position of chief photographer which Jump held in addition to his news editor’s position.

WELCOME WAGON

To Reorganize

The Sentinel,   October 1,  1981

          Persons new in the community, as well as people wishing to meet new people, are invited to the reorganizational meeting of the Welcome Wagon Club.

          The meeting will be Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Public Service Indiana Building, Sixth and Madison streets.  More information may be obtained by contacting the Welcome Wagon hostess, Helen Thompson, at 223-3473.

          The club folded in January of this year after many years of active service.

AUTHORS

In Fulton County

The Sentinel,   October 1,  1981

          There are 41 authors from Fulton County listed in the index of the new book, Indiana Authors and Their Books.  The 475-page book was compiled by Donald Thompson, librarian at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, under a grant from Lilly Endowment.  Copies of the

book have been sent to all libraries in Indiana and throughout the nation.

          A copy also was sent to the Fulton County Historical Society because of its help in gathering information for the book.  The Akron and Rochester libraries also submitted authors’ biographical sketches.

          Thirty-one of the authors in the index have biographies and lists of published books in this book, which is volume three of a series.  Ten of the Fulton County authors were listed in volumes one or two

          Those in vollume three include Waldo Adams, Phyllis Onstott Arona, Flossie Enyart Bailey, Henry A. Barnhart, Velma Bright, Isaac Washington Brown, Ina Whittenberger Brundige, Halbert Bybee, Bernard Clayton, Hershel Clemans, Eugene DeWeese, Floyd Gray, Bruce Hess, Alan McPherson, Sue Berninger McPherson, Leslie DeVerl Maclintyre, Anne Hughston Meeker, W.V.S. Norris, Douglas Oldham, Harry Onstott, Herbert Riggle, Minnie Shellhamer Riggle, Mary Stanton Shafer, Ann Kindig Sheetz, Charles Daniel Smith, Clarence Sprague, Charles Spohn, Harold Van Trump, James A. Walters, Shirley Ogle Willard and Robert Zimmerman.

          Fulton County authors who were included in the previous volumes include Thomas Aylesworth, Ethel Barret Cook, John Hand, Marie Cutshall Hand, Cecil Kuhn, Cincinnatus Hinner “Joaquin” Miller, Pauline Brown Oldham, Ruth Tracy Richardson, Jean Cragun Tombaugh and John Troutman.

          The book notes that Indiana has an unusually large number of authors ranking close behind New York.  There is an old saying that “there’s something in the drinking water” that causes Hoosiers to become authors.  The book also notes that it could be the inclement weather, both the long winters and the hot humid summers, that cause Hoosiers to stay indoors and dream, which is most conducive to writing.

ROCHESTER SENTINEL

Sports Editor Joins Sentinel

The Sentinel,   October 12,  1981

          Brian Wantuch, a 1981 journalism graduate of Ball State university, became sports editor of The Rochester Sentinel today, Editor William Freyberg announced.

          Wantuch succeeds Alan Burch, who now is news editor.

          The changes were occasioned by the resignation of former news editor Marc Jump, who accepted a position in the news department of The Star-Banner daily and Sunday newspaper in Ocala, Fla.

          Wantuch, 21, is a 1977 graduate of South Bend Riley High

School.  At Ball State, he was a member of Delta Chi social fraternity and allso worked with the Delaware United Way fund campaigns.

          At the Sentinel, he joins a news staff of Freyberg, Burch,   Lifestyles editor Susie Sims and photographer Laura Moore.

MAR-LO RESTAURANT

Re-opens As Ron’s Place

The Sentinel,   November   7,  1981

          The former Mar-Lo restaurant in Kewanna will reopen Monday under the ownership of Ron Norris, Peru, and under the new name of Ron’s Place.

          Norris managed the officer’s club kitchen at Grissom Air Force Base and the kitchen at the Holiday Inn in Logansport after retiring in May 1974 following 20 years in the Navy. - - - -

OLD WOODLAWN HOSP

County Seeking Title

The Sentinel,   November   17,  1981

          Demolition of the old Woodlawn Hospital to make way for a new Fulton County Library may begin as soon as the county gains title to the property, the Fulton Board of County Commissioners resolved Monday.

          The resolution, passed 3-0, allows for demolition to begin “in the event the county receives title” to the property.

          County Attorney Ted Wagoner told the commissioners that the resolution would speed up the demolition process by allowing it to begin before title to the land is transferred to the Board of Trustees of the Library.

          The county is not guaranteed that it will receive title to the land, but if it does, the new resolution allows for demolition to begin by Sampsel and Son before the weather gets too bad.  The Library Board awarded Sampsel and Son the demolition contract for $19,900.

          The Fulton County Council authorized the commissioners to spend $35,000 toward the purchase of the site at Seventh and Pontiac streets on Oct. 14.  The commissioners and the Library Board agreed on Oct. 29 to terms of the purchase.

          The transfer of title to the land from the county to the Library Board would have to take place at a later date, but the resolution would allow for demolition to begin as soon as the county receives title.

- - - -

OLD WOODLAWN HOSP

Salvage of Usefuls Begins

The Sentinel,   December   2,  1981

          Salvage of usable items from the old Woodlawn Hospital building is underway by the demolition contractor, Sampsel and Son of Rochester.

          Doug Sampsel, who will direct removal of the old building to make way for construction of a new Fulton County Library structure, said today that while he is retaining some of the salvage for his own use, much of it is being offered for sale before actual demolition of the building begins.

          Included in the material available are doors, windows, electrical wiring and fixtres, plumbing fixtures, two elevators, two furnace boilers and storage tanks and cast-iron radiators.  Bricks also will be offered in truckload quantities.  Sampsel can be contacted at the site daily by persons interested in salvage items.

          As soon as all salvage has been removed, demolition can begin.  Sampsel said the start of this work will be dependent upon weather conditions and availability of county and city trucks which are to assist in removal of debris.

          A public ceremony to initiate the start of demolition is being planned by Sampsel in recognition of the public support given to the project.  The entire cost of the demolition, $19,900, was contributed by local residents, businesses and organizations.

OLD WOODLAWN HOSP

Demolition Starts Saturday

The Sentinel,   December   4,  1981

          It won’t be a bottle of champagne across the bow, but it will be a wrecking ball into the front wall when the demolition of old Woodlawn Hospital begins officially at 2 p.m. Saturday.

          Carlene Snipes of Rochester, chosen by lot from among people and organizations that donated the $19,900 cost of demolition, will move the lever of the crane that will send the wrecking ball into the 46-year-old building for the first time.

          With the public’s participation in the project thus recognized, the actual demolition is expected to begin within the next three weeks, said Doug Sampsel, general contractor for razing of the building.

          The general public is invited to the ceremony at Seventh and Pontiac streets, where demolition of the structure will make way for a new Fulton County Library building after the property is given over to the Library by the Fulton Board of County Commissioners.

ROCH TEL CO

Hugh Barnhart Quits Board

The Sentinel,   December   14,  1981

          Hugh A. Barnhart of Lake Manitou has ended his membership on the Board of Directors of the Rochester Telephone Co. at his request, and Ron Smith of Rochester has been selected to fill the vacancy.

          The action took place during a Board of Directors meeting Friday afternoon, according to an announcement by Alan B. Terrell, president.

          Barnhart, who remains chairman-emeritus of the board, joined the Board of Directors when he was named president of the company April 17, 1934, succeeding his father, Henry, who was one of the firm’s founders.  He was president until Feb. 19, 1968, and was chairman of the board from that date until March 19, 1978 when he became chairman-emeritus.

          The board adopted a resolution thanking Barnhart for his 47-year career with the company, and naming him a lifetime honorary member of the board.

          Smith is associated with Smith, Sawyer and Smith Insurance agency of Rochester and is immediate past-president of the Chamber of Commerce.

          Also during Friday’s meeting, the Board of Directors approved the company’s 1982 budget.  A total of $422,000 was tabbed for capital improvements, primarily to expand facilities to meet requests for single-party service.  An operating budget of $1.4 million also was approved.

ROUCH INS AGENCY

Smith, Sawyer & Smith Merge

The Sentinel,   December   22,  1981

          The Rouch Insurance Agency, 110 E. Eighth St., established more than 65 years ago, will merge with the Smith, Sawyer and Smith Insurance Agency, 124 E. Eighth St., on Jan. 1, according to an announcement by the two firms.

          The four insurance companies which have been represented by the Rouch agency thus will be represented by the Smith agency, which presently represents six insurance companies.

          One of the firms represented by the Rouch agency is the Rochester Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., which is in its 87th year in the same office quarters as the Rouch agency.  That insurance company will continue to be headquartered at 110 E. Eighth St., with

Annabelle Clary and Ray Smiley as operating officers.

          Also, the Rochester Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., will continue to be represented by insurance agencies in Fulton, White, Starke and Pulaski counties, as well as by the Smith agency. - - - -

FIRST FEDERAL S & L

Richard A. Brash, V.Pres

The Sentinel,   January   2,  1982

          The promotion of Richard A. Brash to vice-president of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Fulton County was announced today by Richard E. Belcher, president.

          Brash is manager of First Federal’s branch at Winamac, the only one since its founding in 1973, and previously held the title of assistant vice-president.

          He has directed the growth of the Winamac office from zero deposits in 1973 to a current total of just under $20 million and has seen the Winamac facility grow from the orginal mobile ofice to a new structure opened in 1979.

          Brash is a former resident of Rochester and gradate of RHS.  He and his wife, the former Susan Betz of this city, reside in the Smeltzer Addition to Winamac with their three daughters, Jennifer, Julie and Jill.

          The new vice-president is a member of the First United Methodist Church, Kiwanis club and is a director of the Winamac Chamber of Commerce.  Mrs. Brash is a teacher at Winamac Community High School.

COMMUNITY TAX SVC

Robert McCart, Owner

The Sentinel,   January   2,  1982

          Robert McCart, local public accountant, announced the opening of a new business for the preparation of income tax returns which will be known as Community Tax Service, located at 900 Main St.

          Also, June M. McCart said that she will no longer be connected with the local H&R Block office after Jan. 1, 1982.  However, she will assist her husband in his new business and she stressed that they will be at the same address as before and that the personnel, service and guarantee will be the same.

          Mr. & Mrs. McCart have been in the income tax preparation business here for over 15 years and their full staff is trained in the new tax laws enacted under the Economic Recovery Act and how they affect the taxpayer, McCart said.

H&R BLOCK

Reopened Today

The Sentinel,   January   4,  1982

          The H&R Block tax service reopened today at 802 Main Street, the former quarters of the AVCO Financial Services business, with Paula Garcia of South Bend as the new office manager.- - - -

          Mrs. Garcia is a former Rochester resident who attended Rochester Middle School and Rochester High School before moving to Indianapolis and graduating from Eliza Hendricks High School, a private school.

          She has been with H&R Block for five years as an office manager in South Bend.

          She and her husband, Pablo (Paul), will continue to reside in South Bend with their two-year old son, Pablo Jr., with Mrs. Garcia commuting to work here. - - - -

BLUE PRODUCTS CO.

Pur, Jim & Connie Walley

The Sentinel,   January   14,  1982

          The Blue Products Co., Inc., 317 E. Eighth St., a Rochester business for more than 40 years, has been sold by Charles G. {Garry) Daniels to Jim and Connie Walley of Rochester.

          The Walleys, who took over ownership Monday and will have their son Chris working with them, will change the official name of the firm to the way it is known by most people - Blue Products.

          Blue Products deals in general cleaning supplies for household, industrial, commercial and institutional use.  It also offers a retail line of cleaning supplies and equipment.

          The Walleys also own another Rochester business, Brown Cleaning Service, which will continue in operation.  It specializes in regular cleaning of stores and offices.

          Blue Products was founded in the 1930s in Cleveland, O., by two college students when they developed one of the first all-purpose cleaning powders and colored it blue.  They called it “Blue Top.” The two men came up with a variety of other types of cleaning powders, always coloring them blue, and sold them throughout the United States through resident salesmen.

          After one of the founders died, the company was purchased by its Rochester salesman, the late Earle Miller who later became director of the Fulton County Welfare Department.

          Miller brought the business to Rochester in 1941.  It was purchased by Dea Fultz, who resides at 117 E. 10Th St., in 1954.  He

owned it until 1966, when it was purchased by Daniels.

          Both Miller and Fultz continued to mix the line of cleaning detergents developed by the Blue Products firm.  Some time before selling to Daniels, Fultz disccontinued the practice because new government regulations made it too complicated.  He concentrated instead on distributing cleaning supplies and equipmemt from other manufacturers.

          For about 25 years, Blue Products was located at 130 E. Eighth St., on the northwest corner of Eighth and Madison streets.  The company moved to its present location Jan. 2, 1981.

LEITERS FORD BANK

Promotions Announced

The Sentinel,   February   6,  1982

          The Leiters Ford State Bank has announced promotions of four men, Lindy Breeden now is assistant loan officer and security officer of the Rochester office; Allen Chesser now is executive vice-president at the Rochester office; Stan Reinholt now is senior vice-president at the Leiters Ford office and Steve McColley now is loan officer and branch manager of the Kewanna office.

WELCOME WAGON

Begins Again

The Sentinel,   February   8,  1982

          The Welcome Wagon Club conducted its first official meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 2, after having disbanded for a short period.

          Officers elected were Maxine Linderer, chairman, Liz Jenkins, program director, Ruth Jansing, secretary-treasurer, and Linda Fulk, hostess.  Kathy Alkire and Chris Faylor were also present.

          The group was organized and activities were planned for the year.  Some of the upcoming events include a presentation on coping with stress and a fashion show. - - - -

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Kenny Jagger, Special Guest

The Sentinel,   February   10,  1982

          Rochester native Kenneth Ray “Kenny” Jagger, who will be a special guest at the Rochester Chamber of Commerce annual membership meeting next week, has obtained prominence for his piano and organ artistry throughout the nation.

          His fame has spread because of his association as an entertainer with the Sheraton and Albert Pick hotel chains.

          He has become well-known in Indiana through his performances in Indianapolis, including a just-completed five years in the lounge and dining room of the Columbia Club.

          He also had his own musical show for several years on Indianapolis television Channel 6.

          A member of the Rochester High School class of 1937, Jagger played at the Rathskeller Lounge of the former Colonial Hotel and Terrace Gardens on the north shore of Lake Manitou when that hotel attracted some of the biggest names in the dance band world.

          At the Chamber meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 17 in the Manitou Moose Lodge, Jagger will play a medley of songs and relate some of his experiencs as a musician.

          Afterwards he will play for some two hours of dancing and listening. - - - -

HOUSER SUPERMARKET

Pur. Wade Bussert

The Sentinel,   February   19,  1982

          Wade Bussert became the new owner of Houser Supermarket, in Kewanna, this week and has changed the name of the store at Main and Smith streets to Wade’s Supermarket.

          Bussert has been employed at the store for eight years while it was owned by Kenny and Iva Mae Houser.  The Housers bought the store in 1973.

          Bussert is a 1976 graduate of Kewanna High School.  He is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Luther Bussert, Kewanna. No major changes are planned at the store and Wade will retain much the same staff as the Housers.  A grand opening date will be set later.

FISHER VACUUM

Sales & Service

The Sentinel,   February   26,  1982

          Hammond natives Ed Hill and Sam Rosknich have purchased the Fisher Vacuum Sales and Service store at Indiana 14 and 25, at the south edge of Rochester, and have changed its name to Discount Vacuum Sales and Service.

          Hill and Rosknich have been in the vacuum cleaner sales and service business for 10 years and also own a store in Lafayette and a direct in-home sales business in Peru.  They sold a vacuum store in Hammond recently and wil[ move to Rochester in the coming weeks.

          The store will sell and service new, used and rebuilt sweepers of

all makes and models, Hill said.

RACING ENGINE BUILDER

Earl Gaerte

The Sentinel,   March   25,  1982

          If you go to Earl Gaerte’s shop behind his home at 615 Monroe St., you wouldn’t think from the outside that he is an award winning nationally famous engine builder for the “outlaw” racing circuit.  But when you go inside and see Gaerte and his 10-man crew working, you realize that he is what he says he is, “the king in sprint car racing.”

          Since the outlaw circuit, an unlimited class in all areas except wheelbase and wing size, cars with Gaerte’s engines have won the circuit’s overall point standings championship every year.

          Steve Kinser, in a car sponsored by Gaerte, won the championship the first three years and a car driven by Sammy Swindell won last year.  Swindell is leading rhis year’s circuit with a newly developed fuel injection system by Gaerte in the engine.

          Gaerte is involved in all types of racing engines from Indianapolis to tractors.  Two cars with his engines attempted to qualify for last year’s Indianapolis 500, Gaerte’s first at the brickyard, and one of the cars made the field.  This year, two or three cars will be at Indy with his new fuel injection system, which Gaerte says is “working well.”

          The master builder is also involved in dirt mile cars.  A vehicle driven by Larry Rice won the point standings championship last year along with the Hoosier 100 race.  Gaerte engines also have been in two national championship vehicles in tractor pulling and also won the sprint car all-star division last year with Lee Osborn driving.

          While building engines for all types of racing, Gaerte’s main business is with the outlaw circuit.  Out oif the 200-250 engines he will build this year Gaerte expects to build 170 for the sprint circuit, four to five for Indianapolis, 30 for tractor pulling and the rest for dirt late models.

          Gaerte said that last year was his best season for engine performance.  Gaerte engines captured the outlaw, all-star, USAC “Silver Crown” dirt mile and several local championships.    Drivers Swindell, Kinser and Osborn also set over 60 track records across the country.

          Gaerte engines were recently featured in “Stock Car Racing” magazine and he said that the national publicity is helping business.  “We’re going full tilt now” said Gaerte.  “We have a pretty good following and most of our customers are repeat customers.”

          When Gaerte started his shop, he spent the first year selling parts.  In 1969, his first year of building, Gaerte developed only six

engines, but his following developed and now he is cranking out over 200 engines a year.

          He expects a better season this year than last year and he sees sprint car racing continuing to grow because of cash outlay and prize money.  “It’s a way of living and the return on the dollar is great enough for it to grow,” said Gaerte.

          While one of his engines costs around $11,000 Gaerte said that a circuit winner and leader can earn from $180,000 to $200,00 a year and go through the season on seven engines.

          It may sound like a lot of money (the cost of an engine) but they’re racing for big money,” said Gaerte.   He also said that with the prize money comes travel, tires and other expenses, “so they’re not getting rich but they’re making a living.”

          He gives much credit to his workers who put in eight hours of work every day.  “I have some awfully good help.  We work real close together,” Gaerte said.

          Gaerte and his crew are busy from February to October each year.  “They (the racing circuit) start in Florida in February and end in Ohio in October,” Gaerte said.  “Between time we rest, unless we go to Australia for its racing season.”

          Gaerte is currently selling and shipping engines to Australia and will travel Down Under this fall to conduct engine seminars.  He will also hold four-day, 40-hour seminars this winter in Rochester.  His first seminar last year attracted people from all over the United States and Canada.

          He believes that basing in Rochester gives him a central location to the sprint racing circuit.  “Seventy percent of our type of racing is in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvanie, so we are basically in the center” Gaerte is planning to expand with another shop and there is a possibility of three racing teams being based in Rochester during the season.

          Recently named the Hoosier Auto Racing Fan Club Engine Builder of the Year, Gaerte is confident of his engins and his name in racing circles.  “We’re the king in sprint cars,” he said.  “People in the business know who we are.”

          If not, they should learn in a hurry.

KROGER BUILDING

Two Businesses Move In

The Sentinel,   April   1,  1982

          Don Overmyer’s Barber Shop and Delta Commodities became the first businesses to occupy quarters in the old Kroger building on

Main Street Wednesday.

          The building - which will be the new headquarters of the Leiters Ford State Bank - is now open to the public and will be occupied by at least five other businesses in the next two months.

          The Fulton County License Branch will open in the remodeled building on Friday and will be followed by Kehoe and Burke Attorneys, the Athletic Annex sporting goods store and a branch office of Helt Realty, as well as the bank.  Opening dates have not been reported.

JOHNSON OUTBOARD MOTOR

Warren Conover Helped Develop

The Sentinel,   April   2,  1982

Editor’s Note:   The subject of this story, Warren Conover, is the last survivor of the group of men who formed the Johnson Outboard Motor Co.  The other men were the brothers Harry, Louis, Julius and Clarence Johnson.

          For many years, Conover and Harry Johnson lived side-by-side along the north bank of the Tippecanoe River near Leiters Ford after both retired from Johnson Motors in 1934.

          The writer of this story is Lloyd R. Moseng, a retired faculty member at Culver Military Academy who became acquainted with Conover and then intrigued by the many facets of Conover’ life.

          In submitting the story to The Sentinel, Moseng noted that Conover “hated to leave Fulton County but found it necessary to slow down a bit since he had reached the ripe age of 91.”

          The Johnson Brothers and Conover were the subjects of a feature story that appeared in The Sentinel April 9, 1960.

BY LLOYD R. MOSENG

          The 20th Century might well be called the Age of Science and discovery.  In this century we have seen great progress in the automotive industry; aird travel has been developed to the point where man has broken the sound barrier; nuclear energy has grown to frightening proportions; and man has actually walked on the moon.

          But along with these spectacular accomplishments, we tend to lose sight of the many improvements that have made life better and more pleasant.  Here is a story of a man who has contributed to some of the less specacular advances.

          Warren Mason Conover was born in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1890 of stable middle-class parents.  His father was in the construction business and as a hobby he indlged in harness racing.  In those days

Terre Haute was a bustling industrial and railroad center.  It was not a large city (65,000) but it had the advantages of industrialism, good transportation and easy access to the rural life.

          To this atmosphere Warren grew up and attended the local schools.  He was a good student but dropped out of school in his second year of high school.  He had two consuming interests - mechanical improvements and a love of nature.  He spent much of his spare time hunting, fishing and boating and thus became a self-made naturalist.

          In his early days his closest friends were the Johnson brothers - Louis, Harry, Julius and Clarence.  They shared an avid interest in things mechanical and were constantly trying to make improvements in various kinds of mechanical devices.  In 1910 they actually built a monoplane, the very first successful monoplane built in America.

          Just as they were getting ready to build several 12-cylinder 180 horsepower, lightweight engines, a tornado struck Terre Haute, wiping out many homes and buildings.  The Johnson factory was completely wrecked, together with all of their patterns and equipment.  Fortunately, the monoplane was stored at the Johnson home and continued to fly for several years thereafter.

          This put an end to the monoplane business, but they had other plans and needed a building in which to put them into production.

          On Nov. 15, 1910 Warren married Lutie Johnson, the sister of the Johnson boys, and moved to a small farm (40 acres) near Terre Haute that belonged to his father.  Even though the farm was small he, at least, made a good living.  He was so successful that his father gave him the farm.

          In 1918 he left the farm to join the Johnson brothers in their latest venture.  They had developed a motor-driven bicycle called the Johnson Motor Wheel for which they hoped to develop a market.  It became Warren’s assignment to demonstrate the bicycle and find dealerships.  They found a fair market for the cycle, having built 17,000 bicycle motors at their new location in South Bend.

          Even before the tornado they had been building outboard motors for boats that Warren had been testing on the Wabash River and it was in South Bend that Johnson Outboard Motors were first manufactured on a commercial basis.  Again it became Warren’s job to demonstrate the motor and set up dealerships.

          To prove the quality of their product they had to enter boat races in competition with others who were building outboard motors.  They did exceptionally well in thse races but after observing other motors and their performance thy went bacl to the drawing board to

make their motor even better.

          Opportunity knocked again and in 1927 they found it advisable to move into a new factory at Waukegan, Ill.  Up to this time Warren had been primarily involved in the testing program but now he and three of the Johnson brothers set up a little corporation for research and invention and licensed the Johnson Company to build the motors on a royalty basis.  It was here that he made a number of improvements and inventions.

          In spite of his busy schedule he found time to take an active interest in scouting.  His son, Clay, became an Eagle Scout.  Like many voluntary organizations, the North Shore Council had financial trouble.  Warren was prevailed upon to take over the leadership of the North Shore Boy Scout Council with the definite hope that he could get them solvent again.  He demonstrated that he had talents other than in mechanical pursuits.  At the end of his term in 1930 the Council was on a sound footing with money in the bank plus two newly-organized sea scout troops.

          In 1924 he and Clarence Johnson were on a boating trip on the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers.  As they passed a beautiful natural setting on the Tippecanoe Warren announced, “Some day I am going to own this property.” This sounded like a pipe dream but true to his word he contacted the owner of the farm and bought it in 1934, a farm of over 200 acres.  Even though he was a rather young man (45 years old) he retired from Johnson’s to go back to farming.

          In addition to making the farm pay he remodeled the farm house built in about 1860 and made many other improvements.  Several years later he built a house on the very spot he had chosen while on the boat trip in 1924.  He designed the house, and with the help of some common laborers he built the house from lumber that he cut on his own farm, had it sawed at a nearby lumber mill, and milled every piece of it to his own specifications.  A few years ago he sold six black walnut trees got more than he paid for the farm originally.

          After leaving Johnson Outboards he has been consulted by them on changes and improvements.

          His son, Clay, after graduating from Purdue joined the firm in 1933.  He rose to the position of vice-president and general manager on the Johnson Division of Outboard Marie.

          A daughter, Helen, studied art and design and was a successful designer in Chicago until she decided to build a home in a part of Warren’s woods.

          His wife, Lutie, died in 1961 and later he married a family friend, Ann Mohr Milse.  Recently he sold the home he built on the

Tippecanoe and they are living in Rockport, Ind., in a home that belonged to Ann.

          Now he can look out of the living room window and watch the traffic on the mighty Ohio River and think of his grandchildren and his 10 great-grandchildren, two of whom will graduate from universities this year.  And he can contemplate on the full life he has lived for nearly a century.

COLLINS COUNTRY CHARM

Restaurant

The Sentinel,   April   7,  1982

          Harrold and Lois Collins, who have operated a grocery store in Rochester for 16 years, are changing with the times as competition from large super-markets has made the small family store almost extinct.

          They now have a small restaurant in their newly-named Collins Country Charm store at 507 East Ninth St.

          Opened in February, the sit-down dining area offers a sandwich menu, Collins Country Charm chicken, and a salad bar with home-made soup that is prepared daily.  The dining area is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

          The grocery store itself continues to observe its regular hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and continues to serve coffee and pastries during those hours.

          The store also had added a drive-up window on the east side of the building at which customers can pick up phoned-in food orders.

          Additionally, the store now offers full-service catering for most any event of most any size.

          The Collinses began their grocery store career when they purchased the Burger Dairy Store at 216 East Ninth St. in the summer of 1966 and remodeled the building, formerly occupied by Sutter’s Dairy.

          Ten years later, the couple constructed the present Collins building and movd the dairy sore there.  Last year, the Collinses ended their association with Burger Dairy and changed the store’s name to Collins Dairy Store.

          With the addition of the restaurant and chicken meals, the store’s name was changed once again to Collins Country Charm.

MARLO RESTAURANT

Ron’s Place, Kewanna

The Sentinel,   April   9,  1982

          Ron’s Place (formerly the Marlo Restaurant) in Kewanna will reopen for business under new management as J&N’s Restaurant Monday.  John C. (Jay) and Nada Herrold are the new managers of the restaurant. - - - -

SPURGEON DEPT STORE

Mgr., Jim Yogerst

The Sentinel,   April   21,  1982

          Jim Yogerst, 28, Beaver Dam, Wis., became manager of the Spurgeon’s Department Store in Rochester Tuesday and his predecessor, Alan Mullins, received a special going-away present from the Chamber of Commerce. - - - -

          Yogerst comes to Rochester from management of the Beaver Dam, Wis., Spurgeon’s store.  He has been with the firm since 1977 when he started as assistant manager at Alma, Mich.   He was assistant manager in Goshen and manager at Albert Lee, Wis., before becoming manager at Beaver Dam.

          He is a 1972 graduate of West Bend (Wis.) High School and a 1976 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at White Water, where he majored in marketing and management and rceived a general business degree.  He is unmarried.

          Mullins, who joined Spurgeon’s eight years ago, has been the only manager of the Rochester store since it opened May 4, 1978.  He also served at stores in Paris, Ill., and Prairie du Chien and Portage, Wis.

          His wife, Priscilla, is dirctor of the WIC (Women, Infant, Children) office in the Rochester Civic Center.

          The couple’s five-year-old son, Matt, is in kindergarten at Columbia School.

KEWANNA HIGH SCHOOL.

Grades 7 Through 12 Ends

The Sentinel,   May   13,  1982

          The final chapter of an 18-year battle to keep Kewanna High School in operation was written Wednesday when it was announced at an Indiana Commission on General Education hearing in Indianapolis that grades 7 through 12 of Union Township Schools would be closed at the end of the current school year.

          The on-going battle has involved governors, legislators, judges

and state education officials and it split most township residents into pro-school and close-the-school factions.

          The origin of the fight may have been a 1959 law passed by the General Assembly which mandated reorganization of the state’s smaller school systems.

          Township officials considered consolidating with either Rochester or Pulaski County schools in 1964, but residents were strongly in favor of continuing the school system which was formed in 1899.

          Union Township residents appealed to then-Gov. Roger Branigin in 1965 to block a bill before the Legislature which would make reorganization mandatory in 1966.  Lobbying in the state legislature in the mid 60s, the concerned residents consistently won permission to maintain their school system.

          A plan to remodel the elementary portion of the school (built in ????,, and ??  ????) a recreation facility was approved by township residents in 1974, but the Indiana Commission on General Education blocked the building project because the school had not complied with reorganization requirements.

          In 1975, then-Gov., Otis Bowen - once a student at Kewanna - vetoed legislation which would have permitted the state to withhold funds from schools which did not reorganize.  Bowen wrote to Raymond Hinderlider, then the township trustee, “I shall not be a party to the forced reorganization of a school system against the wishes of a majority of the patrons of that school.”

          Later that year, the education commission voted to decertify Union Township schools.  The decertification was set aside in Miami Circuit Court a year later and the commission accented (as valid) Kewanna High School diplomas and credits durng the school’s year of decertified status.      Through yearly inspections, Kewanna maintained certification with the state until last April when its certification was revoked after inspectors charged teachers were instructing courses outside of their certified areas.

          School officials began asking for reinspection as early as last June, but the inspection didn’t come until January, and the inspection report was not heard by the education commssion until Wednesday.

          The inspection report had little bearing on the decision to close the school.  Union Township voters rejected a referendum in the May 4 primary which would have allowed property taxes to be increased to operate the school’s secondary program.  The referendum was defeated 497-335 - vastly different from the “yes” vote a similar referendum received in February 1976 when that measure carried 531-234.

          Following the announcement of the school’s closing and the commission’s announced decision on certifying the elementary school, Superintendent Charles Bernhardt read a prepared statement of comments on the commission and the Department of Public Instruction’s handling of the school’s affairs over the past seven years.  He charged DPI rules were unfairly imposed on the school while they were allowed to be violated at other schools.  He said that:

          - Teachers in other Indiana schools are instructing courses outside their area of certification.

          - the reason for Kewanna High School’s decertification last spring.

          - Eight school systems are operating without an elementary principal and a total of 156 schools in the state violate DPI requirements for administrators.  Last spring, Union Township was ordered to hire an elementary principal before its elementary program would receive certification.

          - Many schools offer courses not recognized by title by the DPI.  This was an issue during the 1975 decertification proceedings.  Bernhardt said that most schools have some courses not recognized by title by the DPI.

          - That repeated inspectons have been performed at Kewanna while Porter County Schools were inspected this year for the first time since 1966.  He added that the inspection process is an interruption to the educational process.

          - That in 1976 the DPI prevented Kewanna from being involved in a case study by the Center for Community Change.  The Center would have studied Kewanna’s situation and made recommendations, but was blocked from obtaining vital information, its director stated.

          - That Regnier failed to contact him on deficiencies found during the inspection report as he had agreed to do.

          - And that by delaying a decision on the inspection report until after the primary election, the commission made certification a political issue.          Superintendent of Public Instruction Harold H. Negley responded that some of Dr. Bernhardt’s statements were “absolutely correct” and that Union Township schools had become part of a bigger movement or philosophy which said that bigger schools are better.

          Negley said, however, that regular inspections had been conducted at Porter County Schools and he said that the introduction of politics into local school matters was never more acute than at Kewanna.  “There’s been a great deal of politics played up there and it has gotten rather rough at times.”

NYONA LAKE

Has Two New Businesses

The Sentinel,   May   20,  1982

          Visitors to and residents of Nyona Lake may get some cool relief this summer at the Lily Pad Ice Cream Shop which opened Monday on the east side of the bridge on County Road 650 South.

          Raymond Norris is the owner of the new business, which is managed by his son, Tim See.  The shop features sandwiches, ice cream novelties and pizza with outdoor dining overlooking the lake.  Its namesake, Lily Pads, are from the same recipe as elephant ears which are sold each year at the Round Barn Festival and 4-H Fair.

- - - -   The new business is next to another new business for the lake community.  Terry and Carol Foreman have opened a bait shop, mini grocery and real estate office just west of the Lily Pad Ice Cream Shop.

          Foreman’s Bait and Tackle opened in mid-January. - - - -

          The Foremans’ business will be open year-round while the ice cream shop will be seasonal.

RIB-STEAK BARN

Opens Monday

The Sentinel,   May   22,  1982

          Although not all work is completed and the grand openng will come later, the Country Rib and Steak Barn will open for business Monday on the east side of Indana 25 South, behnd Danners 3-D Store, owners Charles Merry of Rochester and Ray Maggard of Peru announced today. - - - -

INDIANA METAL

Val Pemberton Returns

The Sentinel,   May   24,  1982

          Val Pemberton, general manager of Torx Products (Indiana Metal) Camcar Division of Textron Inc., on Old U.S. 31 North from January 1967 to March 1975, has returned as general manager of the plant.

          He replaces Jim Clarkson, who has transferred to Camcar’s general sales operations in Rockford, Ill.   Clarkson became general manager here in August 1979, replacing Joe Sisti upon the latter’s promotion to director of engineering at Camcar’s corporate headquarters in Rockford.

          Pemberton left the Torx general managership upon his promotion to group vice-president for Camcar with offices in Rocford.

          He and his wife Joyce and five children resided at 1402 Main St.

when they lived in Rochester.   Pemberton was particularly active in community affairs during his eight years here.  A former president of the Chamber of Commerce, he was one of the people instrumental in the formation of the Fulton County United Way, successor to the United Community Givers.

          Pemberton and his wife are looking for housing in Rochester.

DANNERS INC.

Max & Mark Danner

The Sentinel,   June   4,  1982

          Max Danner has been named Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Danner has been selected as President and Chief Operating Officer of Danner’s Inc.  The announcement was made at the annual shareholders and directors meeting in Indianapolis Wednesday.

          Max Danner has been Company Chairman and President since 1962.  Mark Danner has been with Danners for eighteen years, most recently serving as Executive Vice-President.

          Danners, Inc., based in Indianapolis, currently operates thirty-five 3D Discount Stores, twenty-three Variety Stores and nineteen Cambridge Inn and Trolley Stop Cafeterias throughout Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.  Sales for the 1981 fiscal year were over $143 milliom.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Out of Business

The Sentinel,   June   24,  1982

          The Gingerbread House, 800 Main St., closed its doors Saturday according to Rachel Templeton, owner.

          Mrs. Templeton said that one rack of clothes that was left for sale is now at the Sewing Center, 710 Main St.

          The Gingerbread House opened in December 1979 after Cato’s went out of business at that site.

          Another business is planning to move into the vacated store and its formal announcement is forthcoming, Mrs. Templeton said.

CULVER-ARGOS PAPER

Pur. Bill & Kim Mitchell

The Sentinel,   June   26,  1982

          Dave and Linda Tranter, owners of The Culver Citizen and The Argos Tribune for the past five years, have announced the sale of the joint publication to Bill and Kim Mitchell of Milford, Ill.

          The official transfer of ownership takes place with the July 1 issue of the local weekly papers.

          The offices and phone numbers in both Argos and Culver will be maintained with the layout and mechanicals of the newspapers being handled at the Culver office, 116 North Main St.

          Mitchell has been employed for the last eight years with the Milford Herald-News and was production supervisor there.

QUALITY INNS

Barry L. Conrad, President

The Sentinel,   July   8,  1982

          Barry L. Conrad, former resident of Rochester, has been named president and chief executive officer of Quality Inns Inc., which owns and operates hotels in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

          Conrad is a 1959 graduate of Rochester high school and the son of Mr. & Mrs. Earl Thompson, formerly of this city who now reside in Adelphi, Md.

          Conrad joins Quality Inns from the Hyatt Corp., having served that firm as manager of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago.  Hr has had a long career in the hotel management field.  From 1974 until 1981 he was with the Horizon Corp., and became managing director of its 25,000 acre complex in Houston.

          He also worked eight years for the Hotel Corporation of America, owner of Sonesta Hotels, as vice-president and general manager of properties in Washington, Boston, Houston and Nassau.

          Conrad also becomes member of the board of directors in his new position with Quality Inns.  He attended the University of Maryland and will reside with his wife, Patricia, and three children in Silver Springs, Md., the location of the national headquarters of Quality Inns.

WILLIAMS REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   July   14,  1982

          The 50th annual Williams family reunion was conducted Sunday, July 11, at the Rochester City Park with 39 members present from Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Fort Wayne, Fulton, Rochester, South Bend and Wabash.

          After the carry-in dinner, a brief business session was conducted with Jim Williams, Rochester, and Rosemary Williams, Fulton, being retained as president and secretary, respectively.

          The remainder of the afternoon was spent socializing.

HIRSCH DEPT STORE

Reopens Saturday

The Sentinel,   July   16,  1982

          The P.N. Hirsch department store at 808 Main St., gutted by fire last May 1, will reopen Saturday morning, manager Michael D. Wilson announced today. - - - -

GREGORY REUN

Place Not Given

The Sentinel,   July   21,  1982

          The Gregory family reunion was conducted on June 20.  Those attending from Rochester were Mr. & Mrs. Danny Gregory, Dawn and Daniel; Liz and Jaime Clemens; Ron Mathias; Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Croussore; Lydia Croussore Mr. & Mrs. Gary Hayes, Wendy and Vickie; Mr. & Mrs. Donald Foerg; Jack Press; Anna Miller and Chelle and Ricky.

          Others attending from the area were Mr. & Mrs. Harry Gregory and Deborah, Argos; Mr. & Mrs. Joe Gregory and Chris and Traci, Akron; Mr. & Mrs. David Gregory and Rick and Shawn and Darla Davidson and Krista and Kelly, Logansport.

          Others attending were from Bremen, South Bend, Mishawaka, Florida and Texas.

          Prizes were given to Herb Marburger, Bremen; oldest person; Cathy Gregory, San Antonio, Texas, who came the farthest; Harry Gregory, Argos, least hair; Randy Gregory, South Bend, youngest father; Brooke Hill, Florida, youngest child, and Rose Marburger, Bremen, most descendants.

FAMILY GIFT SHOPPE

Owner, Arlene Hounshell

The Sentinel,   July   27,  1982

          The Family Gift Shoppe, 1315 Main St., has opened at the former site of Don’s Hair Cutting and offers an assortment of gifts for the entire family.

          The business is owned by Arlene Hounshell and managed by Penny and Debbie Hounshell. - - - -

ROBERTSON TRNSFMR CO

Moves to New Building

The Sentinel,   August   2,  1982

          Robertson Transformer Co., Inc., moved into its new building today after some preliminary moving Saturday afternoon.- - - -

          Robertson’s, which manufactures ballasts and transformers for fluorescent light fixtures, opened in temporary quarters in the former Indiana Molding Co., building on Wentsel Street across from the McMahan-O’Connor Construction Co yards a year ago.

          Site preparation for the 22,500 square-foot building on the northeast corner of Indiana 25 and the Old Fort Wayne Road began last November.

          Hedquartered in Blue Island, Ill., Robertson Transformer is a family-owned corporation with its president, Robert Clark, and his wife Nancy as principal owners.

ZARTMAN REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   5,  1982

          The 60th annual Zartman family reunion was conducted at the Rochester City Park Sunday, Aug. 1, with 66 people attending.

          A white elephant auction was part of the entertainment as well as the singing of a special family song.  Elction of officers was conducted with the following elected:  Lawrence Zartman, Kewanna, president; Victor Zartman, Rochester, vice-president, and Betty Zartman Yelder, Coldwater, Mich., secretary-treasurer.

          Craig Billman and son, Greg, of Hollywood, Fla., traveled the farthest to attend the reunion.  Sam Dawald, Urbana, was honored for being the oldest person present; Nicholas David Zartman, Ortonville, Mich., youngest person, Voris and Edna Zartman, Rochester, longest married couple, David and Yvonne Zartman, Ortonville, Mich., most recently married couple.

          Local people attending were Raymond and Marge Zartman and daughter, Lisa; Victor and Kathleen Zartman and son, Mike Douglas; Voris and Edna Zartman and Bernice Shelton.

          Persons also attending were from Claypool, Columbia City, Granger, Kewanna, Lakeville, Mentone, Plymouth, Walkerton, Florida, Illinois and Michigan.

HARMON REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   10,  1982

          The 60th annual Harmon family reunion was conducted July 25 at the Rochester City Park with 32 people present from Rochester, Akron, Gilead, Elkhart, South Bend and Peru.    A basket dinner was served at noon.  Treva Klein and Marjorie Maglecic are officers.

          It was voted to gather together and wait on family members to go to church and then have the reunion and dinner.  The next reunion will be the fourth Sunday of July.

COPLEN REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   11,  1982

          The Coplen family descendants conducted its annual family reunion Sunday, Aug. 8, in the Rochester City Park.  There were 82 family members present who represented three lines of descent.

          Those attending from the area were Gladys Coplen, Mary and Pat Kistler and family, Wayne and Virginia Mikesell, Bob and Martha Peterson and family, and Braden Chandler, Rochester, Marietta Coplen, Cora Coplen, Maurice and Erma Coplen, Mr. & Mrs. Dale Coplen, George and June Brown, Ed and Kim Martin, Kenny and Kelly Koser, Akron; Vernon and Agnes Harshman, Talma; and Wendell and Elaine Good, Herman and Carmen Alderfer, Argos.

          Others attending were from Plymouth, Warsaw, Kokomo, Logansport, Indianapolis, Greenwood, Greentown, Petersburg, Hebron, Martinsville, Antwerp, Ohio, Joliet, Ill., Chicago, Ill., and Harlingen, Texas.

HUFFMAN REUN

Plank Hill Park Twelve Mile

The Sentinel,   August   11,  1982

          Don and Pauline Huffman Scales, Grass Creek, were surprised with a 40th wedding anniversary celebration during the annual Huffman family reunon conducted Sunday at the Plank Hill Park in Twelve Mile.  About 45 people attended the reunion.

          People attending from the area were Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Scales and family, Mr. & Mrs. Gene Koontz and famiy, Mr. & Mrs. Vic Heiden and family, Mr. & Mrs. Tom Garner and family, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Moyer and Amy, Traci Wynberry, and Helen Huffman.

          Others attending were from Marion, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Logansport.

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park

The Sentinel,   August   14,  1982

          The Monroe and Amanda Whittenberger Morris family reunion was conducted Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Akron Park.  Mike Morris presided at the business meeting.

          Mark and Kathy Gast were chosen as president and secretry, respectively, for the 1983 reunion.  Bob and Ruby Morris were recognized as the oldest couple present.

          Attending from the area were Mr. & Mrs. Ellis Klein, Jennifer Gast and Ryan; Thomas Gast, Sarah Jane Sutton, Mr. & Mrs. Al Jennens and Mr. & Mrs. Jim Spangle and Joshua and Amy, all of Akron; Mae Morris, Colleen Morris and Mr. & Mrs. Mike Morris, Macy; Marie Kerlin and Chad and Amanda Alexander, Silver Lake; Mr. & Mrs. Mark Gast and Bryce, Claypool, and Mr. & Mrs. Matt Gast, Burket.

          Oters attending were from Roann, Laotto, Michigan City, Crawfordsville, North Manchester, Fort Wayne, Peru, Auburn, West Lafayette, South Bend, Lapaz, and Camden, Mich.

ANTIQUE BOUTIQUE

Refinishing Shop

The Sentinel,   August   26 ,  1982

          Custom refinishing of antique furniture is the specialty of the recently-opened Antique Boutique Refnishing shop, 923 E. Ninth St., the shop’s owner Dale Welty said.

          Welty has many antiques on display in the shop, but is only refinishing furniture at the present time.  He said he plans to get involved in the antique sales business later.

          The shop is at the east end of the building which houses Berkway Supermarket.  Welty said the store was originally a shoe shop, but was an antique shop for many years.  The most recent occupant of the shop was by The Shooter’s Spot.  That business moved to 415 Main Street in July. - - - -

GOTTSCHALK REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   31,  1982

          The John Gottschalk family descendants met Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Rochester City Park for the 52nd annual family reunion.  There were 43 family members attending.

          It was decided that the officers will remain the same.  They

are:   William Gottschalk, president; Noah Gottschalk, vice-president, and Mary Ruth Keim, secretary-treasurer.

          Robert and Lisa Gottschalk Carella, El Paso, Texas, traveled the farthest.  Pearl Hiland, North Manchester, was the oldst person attending and Amanda Sue Finks, Zionsville, was the youngest.

          Those attending from this area were Fred and Helen Gottschalk, Laura Schindler, Geneva Davis, Josephine Tuley, Barbara Tuley, Steve and Carol Gottschalk and family, and Fred and Mary Ruth Keim, all of Rochester; Vachel and Ruth Walters, Kewanna, and Bud and Betty Foster, Nyona Lake.

          Others attending were from Peru, Logansport, Kokomo, Knox, Lagro, South Whitley, Albion, Roanoke, Zionsville and Miramer, Fla.

ACCOUNTING FIRM

Changes Its Name

The Sentinel,   September   3,  1982

          The local office of accounting firm Holdeman Chiddister & Co. is changing its name back to a more familiar one.

          The new title is Hoehne Hoehne and Co., managing partner David Hoehne announced today.  The firm has been affiliated with the Holdeman group of Elkhart for two years but is reverting to a wholly Rochester-based operation, Hoehne said.

          Hoehne said the new structure will allow his staff of 12 to “focus a lot more on local buinesses.” - - - -

CPA EXAMINATION

Four Pass

The Sentinel,   September   16 ,  1982

          Betty Click, Paula R. Higgins, Larry D. Callahan and Blain L. Heckaman were among 300 individuals who successfully completed the Certified Public Accountant examination held recently in Indianapolis.

          Click is the daughter of Mrs. Margaret Nellans of Rochester.  She is a gaduate of Richland Center High School and was an honor graduate from the Internal Business College.  She is the assistant treasurer for Advance Mixer, Inc., in Fort Wayne where she resides.

          Higgins is the daughter of Willard and Betty Higgins, of Rochester.  She is an internal auditor for RCA in Indianapolis where she resides.

          Callahan is the son of Dave and Joanne Callahan of Rochester.  He is a graduate of Rochester Community High School and received his BA degree from Alma College.   He is a controller with Winamac

Beverages and resides in Rochester.

          Heckaman received his BS degree in accounting from Ball State University.  He is a senior accountant with Holdeman, Chiddister & Co. in Rochester where he resides.

HALL OF FAME

Made By Hugh A. Barnhart

The Sentinel,   October   12,  1982

          Hugh A. Barnhart of Rochester today was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association in recognition of a long and distinguished career in the telephone industry.

          The ceremony took place at a luncheon meeting in Los Angeles during the annual convention of the United States Independent Telephone Associaion.   Barnhart, who observed his 90th birthday in July, was unable to attend and the award was accepted on his behalf by Alan B. Terrell, president of the Rochester Telephone Company.

          Also entering the Hall of Fame at the meeting was the late Loren Berry, founder of the L.M. Berry Co. that originated and continues the Yellow Pages business sections of telephone directories throughout the nation.  The two men were close friends during their telephone careers.

          Hall of fame selection is a significant honor in the telephone industry, for only 56 persons have been so chosen since its inception in 1925.  All are recognized for “exhibtiting the individual thought, initiative and enterprise that founded and built the independent telephone communication industry.”

          Barnhart became president of the Rochester Telephone Company in 1934 upon the death of his father, Henry, who had been one of the firm’s founders in 1896.   He was president and chairman of the board for the next 42 years.  During that time, he presided over the modernization and growth of the utility and also gained state and national prominence among telephone industry leaders.

          He was president in 1958-59 of the United States Independent Telephone Association, also serving the USITA as an executive committee member and for 17 years as a director.   In 1971 he was honored with the industry’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medallion.   In 1959 he was named to the Indiana Telephone Association as “Telephone Man of the Year.”

          He remained as a director of the local telephone company until December, 1981.

          While pursuing his interest in the telephone industry, Barnhart followed a parallel career as publisher of The Rochester Sentinel, a

position which he yielded in 1962.   He also was active in Indiana Democratic politics and served on separate occasions as director of the Indiana Highway Commission, Indiana Excise Department and Indiana Conservation Department.

          He and his wife, Martha, reside on the southeast shore of Lake Manitou.

PAXTON’S MUSIC STORE

Charles & Melanie Paxton

The Sentinel,   October   28,  1982

          Just about everything relating to musical instruments is now available in Rochester at Paxton’s Music Store, 111 W. Eighth St.

          Store owners, Charles and Melanie Paxton opened their shop in September offering musical instruments, accessories to play them, service, repairs and even lessons. - - - -

VanDUYNE REUN

Roch. Civic Center

The Sentinel,   November   30,  1982

          A total of 71 attended their annual gathering of the late Frank and Grace VanDuyne Family at the Civic Center, Rochester, on Thanksgiving Day.

          The host and hostess of thie annual event were Robert and Mary Jane VanDuyne.

          At 12:30 p.m. all joined hands and Rev. Carl Rose gave the Thanksgiving prayer.  Following the meal the group was entertained for an hour by William Powell of Rochester, a magician.

          Fred VanDuyne distributed to all families present, booklets of the genealogy of the VanDuyne family, and also a family calendar, that he had prepared, containing the names and birthdays of all members of the family.  He reported there are 148 living members.

          Those present were:   Bill Braman, Matthew and Andrea from Burlington, Wis.; Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth VanDuyne and Christina, Melinda and Kenton from Shipshewanna; Mr. & Mrs. Dennis VanDuyne from Warsaw; Mr. & Mrs. Tim VanDuyne and Terry from Argos; Mr. & Mrs. Fredrick VanDuyne and Kevin and Linda from Argos; Mr. & Mrs. Michael VanDuyne and Christopher from Bremen; Mr. & Mrs. Randy Masterson from Hoagland; Mr. & Mrs. Donald VanDuyne from Kewanna; Mr. & Mrs. Bill Fisher from Kewanna; Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Macy and Kimberly, Julie and Jennifer from Plymouth; and their foreign exchange student Viodine Fernando from Sri Lanka.

          Also present were Mr. & Mrs. Harry Joe Macy and Rebecca and

Rachel from Muncie; Mr. & Mrs.Elson Holread and Dianne from Plymouth; Mr. & Mrs. Robert Goudy and Jack and Pam from Portage; Mr. & Mrs. Carl Rose and Matthew, Christie Jonathan and Jason from Lowell.

          Those attending from Rochester were:   Mary Zimmerman; Mr. & Mrs. Calvin Braman; Marjorie Phillips; Bernice Shelton, Scott Werner, Teri Adamson and Sherri Braman; Mr. & Mrs. Eric Surface and Kyle; Mr. & Mrs. Russell Taylor and Rhen; Mr. & Mrs. David Ginther and Michelle, Shannon & Erica, Mr. & Mrs. Robert VanDuyne and Fred R. VanDuyne..

PLUMMER & CO INC

Opens Rochester Office

The Sentinel,   December   6,  1982

          Ray E. Plummer, president of Plummer & Co., Inc., has announced the appointment of Dennis R. Horoho as manager of the firm’s newly-opened Rochster office.

          The accounting firm, with headquarters in Warsaw, offers a variety of services, including farm, personal and estate planning.  It is located in Suite 101 of the Leiters Ford State Bank building on Main Street.

          Horoho, a certified public accountant, has six years of experience with Ernst and Whinney, a large firm located in South Bend.  He has also been a corporate controller and has experience in mergers and acquisttions.

          A native of North Manchester and graduate of Manchester College, he and his wife Vicky will be moving to Rochester shortly.  They have three children.

          Karin L. Bailey has joined the firm as receptionist and bookkeeper.  She resides with her parents in Rochester. - - - -

COUNTRY CONNECTION

Items With a Country Flavor

The Sentinel,   December   7,  1982

          Decorative and functional items with a country flavor available at one of Rochester’s newest businesses, Country Connection, 712-B Main St.

          Country Connection is located beneath Baileys’ Hardware, 712-714 Main St., and adjacent to the See Basement Barber Shop.

          Pat Eber manages the new business for owners Marion and Carolyn Birky of Kouts.   The store features hand-crafted wooden

products, wall hangings, kerosene lamps, straw dolls, dried flowers and for the next several weeks - Christmas tree ornaments.

          The wooden products are built by the Birkys in their shop at Kouts.  Most are replicas of furnishings from the past and the Birkys build items to the specifications of customers.  Mrs. Eber also contributes to the merchandise with her dried flowers and other crafts.

          - - - - The Birkys have another store in Kouts and are planning to open a third store soon in Angola.

          The store opened Nov. 27 in the refurnished former location of the Manitou Beauty Shop.  - - - -

DEATON BUYS AKRON

Funeral Homes

The Sentinel,   March   7,  1983

          George and Jean Ann (walters) Deaton, for 18 years the operators of Deaton Funeral Home in Bourbon, will soon own both the Sheetz and Haupert funeral homes in Akron.

          The Deatons have purchased the Sheetz operation and are in the process of closing the deal on the Haupert business, Deaton said.  Tom Haupert is recovering from surgery in Indianapolis and the final transaction awaits his recovery.

          Both Mr. and Mrs. Deaton graduated from Akron High School.  Tey are planning to move to Akron as soon as school is out.   Their youngest daughter, Jane, is 12.  Their oldfest daughter, Julie, will live at and run the home in Bourbon with her husband Terry Clemens.  The Deatons’ son Jeff is studying at Huntington College.

          Deaton managed a funeral home in North Webster before moving to Bourbon.  He is the son of former Akron school administrator Granville Deaon.  His mother is Wauneta Deaton, Albion.

          Mrs. Deaton is the daughter of the late Harold and Irene Walters.

          Kirk Robinson, now with the Sheetz operation, will remain with the Deaton business, Deaton said.

          The names of the homes may change in the future, Deaton said.

FIRST NATL BANK

Philip Thompson, Leaves

The Sentinel,   April   1,  1983

          Philip E. Thompson, vice-president and auditor of the First National Bank of Rochester, announced today he is leaving the bank to become a sales associate with Gottschalk Realty.

          His departure will come shortly before his 20th anniversay at First National.  The 42-year-old Thompson plans to establish an

auctioneering business in connection with his real estate sales activity.

          “I’ve basically been at one kind of school (auctioneering or real estate) or another since last August,” Thompson said.

          The Lions Club officer and Rochester City Council member said he is looking forward to spending more time with people.  “It seemed like every time I moved up, I moved a little farther away from the public, and I’m a real people person,” he said.

          David Hastings, First National Bank president, said today that “dirctors, officers and employees of the bank wish to thank Mr. Thompson for 20 years of dedicated service to the bank and we wish him well in his new endeavor.

          Thompson, a past presdent of the local Jaycees, is also a member of the Moose Lodge, Elks Lodge and the Masonic Temple.  He was appointed to the City Council in December 1981, to finish the term of Tom Marrs.   He has elected not to seek the office when his term expires this year.

          He expects his banking background to come in handy in his new position.  “I worked with mortgage loans at the bank for 10 or 12 years,” he said, “so I’m not a complete stranger to that field.”

          Thompson lives at 1523 Jefferson St., with his wife Pat and son Brad.  Son Brent also lives in Rochester; son Barry lives in West Palm Beach, Fla.

KEWANNA ELEMENTARY

School To Be Closed

The Sentinel,   April   21,  1983

          Kewanna Elementary School will be closed at the end of the current term and pupils will attend Caston, Rochester or Eastern Pulaski School Corp. (Winamac), Union Township Trustee Ron Shrader announced today.

          However, an afternoon kindergarten program will be provided at Kewanna durng the 1983-84 year.

          Kindergarten thus will be the only schooling provided in Kewanna because the high school and junior high were closed at the end of the 1982-83 school year due to the high cost of maintaining the schools.- - - -

FIRST FED S&L

Richard Belcher, Named

The Sentinel,   May   19  1983

          NOMINATED - Richard E. Belcher, president of Rochester’s First Federal Savings & Loan Association, has been nominated to

serve as second vice chairman of the Savings & Loan League of Indiana.  His election is scheduled May 24, during the League’s annual meeting in French Lick.

REJUVENATION

Replaced by Bourff Furniture

The Sentinel,   May   25,  1983

          Bourff New and Used Furniture opened today at 917 E. Ninth St., in quarters formerly occupied by the Rejuvenation No. 2 physical fitness center for women.

          Carol Critxzer of Rochester, co-owner of Rejuvenation with Barb Smith of Rochester, told The Sentinel today that the business will be moved to the former Forest Farms Western Store buildng at 168 Fulton Ave.

          Kenneth Bourff, owner of the furniture business, said his wares are priced in the “intermediate range.” Used appliances also will be for sale, he said. - - - - Carol Ness, Rochester, is the store manager.

          Bourff also owns and operates a new and used furniture store in the Lakeview Shopping Center at Warsaw.  He has been in business at Warsaw for four yearss and has 27 years of experience in the furniture and appliance business, he said.  - - - -

          Rejuvenation No. 2 opened in the Ninth Street location last February.  Ms. Critzer said it was decided to move to the Fulton Avenue building, owned by Mrs. Smith, at this time because summer is a slow time for physical fitness firms.

          On Fulton Avenue, there will be both the women’s center and The Body Shop, a physical fitness center for males, Mrs. Critzer said, and both will open in September.

          Mrs. Critzer and Mrs. Smith also have a women’s physical fitness center in Plymouth, called Rejuvenation No. 4, which opened last month.

FIRST NATL BANK

Jerry L. Parker, Auditor

The Sentinel,   June   3,  1983

          AUDITOR - Jerry L. Parker, Rt 1, Leesburg, is the new auditor at the First National Bank of Rochester, replacing Philip E. Thompson, who resigned in April.   A 1981 graduate of Tippecanoe Valley High School, Parker rceived an associate degree in accounting from International Business College in Fort Wayne last November.

KEWANNA GETS NEW DR.

Dr. Dominador Martin, Jr.

The Sentinel,   June   8,  1983

          When the new doctor for Kewanna is introduced to the community during “open house” Sunday, it will signal the end of a 21-month effort to bring a general prectitioner to town.

          Dr. Dominador Martin, Jr., a native of the Philippines, will meet his new constituency in the Kewanna Town Hall from 2 to 4 p.m.   He will open his practice in the former office of the late Dr. K.K. Kraning on Tuesday, July 5.

          Martin received his medical degree from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.  From 1973-77, he had one year of rotating internship and three years of family practice residency at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago.

          In 1977, he became the family practitioner with a group of physicians offering a variety of doctor’s services in Chicago.  He is leaving that group to move his practice to Kewanna.

          Martin and his wife Linda, a registered nurse, have four children, Eddie, 13; Eric, 12, Irvin, 6, and Nicole, 11 months.  He is a member of the St. Isaac Jogue Catholic Church in Hinsdale, Ill., a Chicago suburb.  The family will move to Fulton County when housing is found.

          The search for a successor to Kraning, who had served the Kewanna community for 47 years, began in September 1981 when Kraning informed Robert Kelsey, Woodlawn Hospital executive director, that he wished to sell his office and practice and retire.

          Kelsey says that the hospital board of directors “felt the responsibility to assist the community in locating a physician.   Dr. Kraning had tried on his own to secure a doctor for Kewanna, but had been unsuccessful.

          The hospital board signed a contract in September 1981 to purchase the office and practice of Kraning, and hired a company to recruit a physician.  For tax purposes, the transaction did not become final until Jan. 1, 1982.

          At the time, Kelsey said that it was becoming commonplace for hospitals to purchase the real estate and physicians’ practice in an effort to attract doctors.  He noted that doctor recruitment had become competitive and that several hospitals in surrounding areas already owned practices in hopes of attracting physicians.

          In 1982, the recruitment firm hired by Woodlawn arranged for Dr. David King of Canada to replace Kraning and he signed a conract agreeing to move to Kewanna.  Then King remarried and his wife

declined to leave Canada, so the contract was nullified.

          Numerous physicians were interviewed and shown the Kewanna and Fulton County area in succeeding months.  At length, an agreement was reached with Martin, who is a friend of another family practitioner in the county, Dr. Jaime Ramos.

          Kelsey said today that Martin is interested in establishing a full medical practice, including obstetrics, minor surgery and emergency medicine.  He will join the Woodlawn Hospital Medical staff in order to care for hospitalized patients.

          “Once Dr. Martin gets on his feet financially, the office will be for sale to him,” Kelsey added.

MAIL POUCH PAINTER

Signing Off

The Sentinel,   June   23,  1983

          MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - There’s no successor for the last Mail Pouch Tobacco sign painter who still decorates barns.

          Harley E. Warrick has adorned barns with the “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” slogan for 37 years.  Bur he doesn’t have an apprentice to keep the craft alive when he decides to retire.

          Warrick, 58, said he’s had about 15 assistants over the years, none of whom stayed with the job.

          “They don’t like to get up at 3 in the morning to drive three hours to Indiana and then work 10 to 12 hours,” Warrick said.  “You have to like it.”

          The Belmont, Ohio, resident took a liking to the job when he painted his first barn as a World War 11 veteran in 1948.  He estimates he’s painted 17,000 barns in the intervening years.

          “I doubt if there’s anybody in the country that’s put more paint on with a brush than I have,” he said.  “Ohio, Pennsulvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan.   They kept ‘em around steel mills, coal mines, lumber camps - where the working man is.”

          Warrick got his job after volunteering to help a Mail Pouch painting crew.  They put him on one of four two-man painting crews, traveling around to paint barns six days a week.

          “I don’t know what else I’d do,” he said.  “Like I told the kids, find a job you’d do for nothing, and find some durned fool who’ll pay you to do it.  You have to like it, or you couldn’t hack it.”

          The camkpaign to cut down on roadside billboards in the 1960s took a toll on barn painting as well, Warrick said.  The practice has slowly fallen from popularity and he has been Mail Pouch’s only painter for the last 11 or 12 years.

          Warrick, a father of four, has cut back his work week to five days, and is enjoying a bit of fame as the last Mail Pouch painter.  He’s been featured in newspaper and magazine stories over the years, and has appeared on television.

          There also have been requests from art graduates who wanted to work with Warrick, but he insists his work isn’t art.

          “It’s a craft,” he said.  “An art degree doesn’t help you wading in mud up to your knees and working 10 or 12 hours a day.”

          The painting hasn’t been limited to barns, Warrick said.  He’s painted the logo on recreation room walls, on the sides of an elephant, and in the building that housed the U.S. Exhibit for the 1968 World’s Fair.

          “You get some strange requests,” he said.  “You name it, it’s been painted on it.”

          It would take four to five years to train an apprentice to carry on the job, Warrick said.   He’s not sure wlast (sic) of them,” if he can’t paint barns anymore.

          “I’m the last of them,” he sallt’s (sic) fading oued (sic) to have eight of us . . .Little by little, it’s fading out,” sh and spreadnot (sic) sure when he’ll retire from foting (sic) a paint brush and spreading his bit of Americana.

          “I don’t know, as long as I can do it,” he said.  “When I can’t do a day’s work, I’ll quit.:

CHAMBERLAINS BAR

Pur, Tullis & Stockberger

The Sentinel,   July   8  1983

          Some paperwork has not been completed, but the owners of Chamberlain’s Bar and Lounge, 128 E. Eighth St., are preparing to turn the business over to new owners on July 18.

          Bud Tullis and Dean Stockberger are the prospective new owners of the tavern which includes an apartment above the business.  Tullis said today that the name of the bar and most of its operaton will not be changed under the new owners.  “We’ll try to keep the same prices at least for a while,” he added.

          The new owners have each been residents of the Rochester community for over 25 years.   Tullis, who has been a bartender at the local American Legion post for the past 12 years, said he and Stockberger had been looking for a tavern to buy for several years.

          George Prathaftakis, manager of Chamberlain’s for owners Micki Skidmore, Sonny Stricben and Prathaftakis’ wife Gene, said the bar will have a “Sadest Day Party” on Saturday, July 16, the final day

the bar will be open before changing hands.

          Tullis said a grand opening will be scheduled later.

          The present owners purchased the bar in January 1978 from the estate of Laura Chamberlain.

OVERMYER HARDWARE

Pur, Larry Kuhn

The Sentinel,   July 11,  1983

          Larry Kuhn, manager of Overmyer Hardware on Main Street since 1975, has purchased the business, it was announced today.

          Kuhn bought the long-standing business from Marvin Overmyer, who said he plans to “devote more time to other interests.”

          Kuhn said he expects to make relative minor changes, perhaps in expanded offerings of electrical and plumbing equipment, but that plans are not yet firm.   “It will still be basically hardware,” he said.

          There has been a hardware business at the 626 Main St. Address since the 1930s, Overmyer said.

FULTON CO. AVIATION

Ted J. Cox, Chief Pilot

The Sentinel,   August   8,  1983

          Ted J. Cox, son of Ted R. and Mary Anne Cox, Akron, has been hired by Burton Mechanical Contractors as chief pilot of charter operations and instruction for Fulton County Aviation.

          He replaces Lester Larson, who is moving to California.

          The 1969 graduate of Akron High School served with the Army Special Forces, managed the Rensselaer Airport, instructed and flew for Niemeyer Aviation in Kentland, and flew for Funk and Sons, Inc., Rensselaer.  He graduated from Purdue in 1979.

          Cox will fly charter and instruct at the Fulton County Airport.  He will fly two airplanes, a six-seater, twin-engine Beech Baron, and a four seater, single engine Grumman Traveler.

          As Cox is from Fulton County, he said “It’s nice to be back.  I’ve always liked it here.”

          The Fulton County Airport is county-owned.  It is run by a board of directors, comprising of Bryce Burton, Dr. Lyle B. Davis, Gene Thompson and Jim Smith.  It is leased by Burton Mechanical Contractors, which hires and manages personnel.

E.J. SHENANIGANS

Opens at former Rib & Steak

The Sentinel,   August   11,  1983

          Rochester’s newest restaurant and lounge, E.J. Shenanigans, opened late this morning on Indiana 25 South in the building formerly occupied by the Country Rib and Steak Barn.

          Opened by Edwin Lucas and Janice Cooper, the business is a full-line restaurant featuring businessmen’s lunches.

          It also has a three-way alcoholic beverage license which was granted after the location was annexed by the city last January and de-annexed in Jully so that the liquor license could be obtained.

          As part of the city, the restaurant could not obtain a liquor license because of state-imposed limits on number of permits in the city.  When Lucas vowed not to open without the license, the area was de-annexed and the license was granted.

          Lucas said the license was needed “strictly to go with the food.” He said the restaurant will not sell carry-out liquor and its lounge will not have “live” entertainment of any kind.

          The building, constructed as a restaurant and opened in May 1982, has been remodeled extensively inside and out.

WILSON COAL & GRAIN

From Small to Big

The Sentinel,   August   15,  1983

          When Russell Wilson went into business at the age of 18, Wilson Coal and Grain had just three workers, no trucks and much of its business was linked to the sale of coal from the company’s Ninth Street plant.

          Fifty years later, Wilson is semi-retired from a firm with 64 employees, 44 trucks and five plants.  And while coal is no longer sold, Wilson products are sold throughout the northern United States and some grain is exported.

          Wilson’s celebrated its 50th birthday Saturday with a hog roast for its many customers and workers and tours of its local facilities.  Through its various involvements, corn which a Fulton County farmer delivers to Wilson’s may wind up in another country, in livestock feed, in corn meal, bird-seed or even in tortilla chips.

          Wilson says change has been gradual over the half century and he attributes the company’s growth to “having good men around me.”

          A year after the company was formed, mixing and grinding equipment was added for custom mixing of feed at the Ninth Street

plant.  In 1937, an elevator on Seventh Street was purchased and two years later, Anchor Mill on Fourth Street was added to the company’s facilities.

          Another Mill was used as a flour mill when purchased, but the flour busness wasn’t profitable so production was switched to corn grinding in 1940.

          The company continued to grow with the addition of an elevator at Lakeville in 1943, the building of the Lucas Street plant in 1957, the acquisition of an elevator at Bremen in 1968 and construction of a train loading station west of Rochester in 1981.

          In 1982, Wilson offices were moved to Eighth Street to what previously was known as “Carr’s Corner” and in the works for the coming year is construction of storage space for the bird seed plant.

          Half of Wilson’s employees work at the corn products plant on Fourth Street.  Some 3,000 tons of flour is packaged and 7.000 tons of corn meal s ground and packaged each year.  The plant is often operated 24 hours a day and its products are distributed throughout Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

          Winter is the busy time for the bird seed plant and business often is tied to the severity of the winter.  The harder the winter, the more bird seed is purchased.  Milo from the Lincoln, Neb., area and millett and sunflower seeds from the Dakotas are mechanically mixed at the Seventh Street plant and bagged at the rate of 33 five-pound or 17 10-pound bags per minute.

          On Lucas Street, grain grown mostly in Fulton County is purchased.  Some is transported to the train loading station on Monticello Road and some stays on the grounds and is included in livestock feed, seed, fertilizer, and chemicals also are sold to area farmers from the Lucas Street plant.

          The elevator business has undergone some of the most dramatic changes over the years, with increased yields and mechanization.  Wilson said that at first, all corn purchased was still on the ears, and a crew from Wilson’s would be sent to the farm with a portable sheller.  Now, the company deals only with shelled corn.

          During that period when corn was shelled by Wilson crews, Wilson recalled Gresham Bearss estimating he had 18,000 bushels for sale.  “When it was all shelled, he was only off by 13 bushels.  I’ll never foget that,” Wilson said.

FULTON CO LIBRARY

Bids on Furnishing

The Sentinel,   August   23,  1983

          The Fulton County Library Board of Trustees will open bids at

4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8, on furnishings for the new library being constructed at Seventh and Pontiac sreeets.

          The bid opening will be in the present library at Eighth and Jefferson streets.

          Bids are being received on carpeting, shelving, reading and study area tables and chairs, office desks and chairs, and community room chairs.

          A considerable amount of the present library’s furnishings are being refinished by Dave Gottschalk of Rochester, including shelving, chairs and large reading tables.  The Friends of the Library organization is paying for this. - - - -

ROCH SEARS STORE

Pur, Ken & Judy Roe

The Sentinel,   August   25,  1983

          Ken and Judy Roe, Nyona Lake, will take over the operations from Jean Goodman.  The sale of the store assets and Sears contract was approved last week by Sears, Roe said.

          Mrs. Roe has been employed at the store for 15 years and will be the new manager.  Mrs. Goodman will retire after working as merchant-owner since April 1982 and as manager prior to then. - - - -

GLASSBURN REUN

Ma-Con-A-Quah Park

The Sentinel,   August   26,  1983

          Thirty-three persons attended the 65th annual Glassburn reunion Aug. 21 at the Ma-Con-A-Quah Park in Peru.

          The following prizes were awarded:    Longest married, Orville and Enid Glassburn of Marion; Newlyweds: Allen and Hannah Glassburn of Delong; Oldest woman and man: Lucy and Arthur Wissinger of Denver; Youngest person: Robert A. James of Knox; Largest family: Roselyn B. James of Knox; Farthest traveled: Dortha Neidinger of Niles, Mich.

          Allen and Hannah Glassburn were re-elected to their 10th years as president and secretary-treasurer, respectively.

MIKESELL REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   September   1,  1983

          Mrs. Clarence Mikesell and Mrs. Louise Mikesell were the oldest of the 40 persons who attended a Mikesell reunion at the Rochester City Park on Sunday afternoon.

          Esther Bledsoe was elected president of the Mikesell group, and Lawrence Mikesell was elected secretary.

          The next reunion will be at the park, the last Sunday in August, 1984.

CONLEY REUN

Forest Conley Home

The Sentinel,   September   1,  1983

          The first Conley reunion was held in Lucasville, Ohio, Aug. 20 at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Forest Conley and their son Edie.

          Attending the reunion from Rochester were Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Conley, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Conley and children, Jeff, Kevin and JoEllen, and Wade Conley.

          Also attending were Mrs. John Ault and Cris and Kim, Plymouth; Mrs. Brenda Raines and Machell and Kris, Muncie; Mr. & Mrs. Bernie Conley, Hinckley, Ill.; Mr. & Mrs. Danny J. Conley and Tabatha Raeann, Fort Knox, Ky.  Mr. & Mrs. Orvil Cooper and Jim, Jackson, Ohio; Mr. & Mrs. Frank Phillips and Trixie and Melnie, Sciotoville, Ohio; Mrs. Julie Conley and Katherine and Angie, and Byron Puckett and Ronnie and Joe and Mr. & Mrs. Mike Conley and children, all of Portsmouth, Ohio; Mr. & Mrs. Bill Conley and Wilma, Janet and Robin, Salyersville, Ky.

          The 1984 Conley reunion will be in Rochester on Aug. 18.

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park

The Sentinel,   September   2,  1983

          A total of 78 persons, including two from Florida, attended the annual Monroe Morris family reunion Aug. 14 at the Akron Park.

          Following a carry-in dinner, President Mark Gast conducted a meeting.   Paul and Darcy Bell were elected president and secretary-treasurer, respectively.   Charlie and Melissa Alexander were elected vice-president and assistant secretary-treasurer    Kate Jennens and Norma Krom said they have linked the family to the Mayflower.

EWING GROCERY

More Than 50 Years

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By JOAN EWING and KATIE McCARTER

          Our dad, Joe Ewing, operated a grocery store on the site of the present First Federal at 301 E. Ninth Street, for more than 50 years.

          We still remember the sights and smells of that bygone era that would appeal to a child.   In the back room of the store there was a big barrel of vinegar and a large tank of kerosene that would be used to fill the customer’s jugs.  The pungent smells linger n memory.

          In the counters in the front there were large drawers of different assortments of dried beans and sweet dried fruits.   In the middle aisle was a large display rack of glassed-in fancy cookies which were always a delight for a quick snack.   At the front of the store was a wide assortment of penny candy which was also very enticing to little fingers.

          A large round cheese from Armour’s here in Rochester was one of the items in the meat department.   Large jars of pickles, herring, etc., stood on top of the meat counter.   All the meat was cut to order by our dad.   Rochester’s first electrical commerciall refrigeration was installed in this store to keep the meat and milk fresh.

          During World War 11 in the 1940s, we pasted endless ration stamps in books to be sent to the government.  Meat stamps were red and other food items were blue.

          In the center of the store was a large decorative grate over the furnace where people would gather to get warm on cold mornings.

          Saturday was the big shopping day when all the farm people came to town.   The store stayed open until 9 p.m. on that day.  Preparing for the big day we spent Friday evenings putting potatoes in paper bags because they were delivered from the wholesaler in large burlap bags.

          Many customers phoned in their grocery orders which were put in metal boxes to be delivered by truck.   Harvey Clary Sr., ownd the delivery service and Leonard Gaumer was one of his helpers.   One of the high school boys on the delivery truck was Carson McGuire.

          All fruits and vegetables were delivered to the store in large crates, and all were displayed in bulk.  In the front window next to the produce oranges were piled in pyramids.  A whole stack of fresh bananas hung by the window.

          Calculators were nonexistent then, so the clerks figured all the prices in their hads.    We were always amazed that our Dad could remember the prices of everything in the store

          Helping Mother and Dad in the store were Freddie Perschbacher and later our uncle Delbert Ewing.   High school boys who worked were Gale Barter (now of New York City), Bud Babcock (Culver) and Bob Rouch (Florida).

          After being in the grocery business for 50 years through the Depression and two World Wars, Dad decided it was time to go into some other business, so he became manager of the B and B Store on Main Street.   In the early ‘60s, Dick Belcher purchased the grocery building for the First Federal business.

          Although those faraway times will never return because of all the changes that our society has undergone in the last few years, we shall always remember the grocery business as it used to be with certain feelings of nostalgia and pride.

I REMEMBER!   I REMEMBER!

The Period Around 1895 On

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By MRS. GAIL (Burch) EVANS

Claremont California

          The period around 1895 on, I remember!   I remember!

          The balloon ascension in the yard of the first courthouse.

          A group of us children ran down to watch the brave man in his effort to get it aloft.  I think we were all diseplined later for courting danger.

          The next big earth shattering event - the noon freight - would be pale by contrast were it happening today.

          That day a phone call came in our town from Fulton saying “Look out as an automobile is going to pass through Rochester.”

          We lods ran like rabbits and stood on the sidewalk in front of the Courthouse (the present one).

          It came chugging along and we al; ran bacl as ot was too new, at least we thought, to be guided safely.

          Ninety-four and a quarter years is a long time to remember events which happened in the most beautiful little town in the world, as I remember.

          These memories not for anyone under 90 years old.

          School friends - Laura Shore, Guy Barr, Chas Rees, Deam Barmjart. ::Lester Allman, Florence Levi, Pauline Michael, Rosie Marsh, Pearl Warner, Minnie Orr, Lyman Gould, Harry Louderback.

          Teachers, Nana McGraw, first grade; John Montgomery, sixth grade, and Roy Jones, eighth grade.

          If you chose to ride around on a summer afternoon in your

carriage with the fringe on top you would be admonished by reading the big, white letters which said “Vote for Grover Cleveland” on the big, red barns.

          Fishermen would be bringing in their catches of glistening sunfish to be placed in big, iced tin pans to be sold at market the next day.

          Noftsger’s Grove would be filled with camp meetings, and one night each week band concerts would entice you to linger, eat ice cream and forget tomorrow.  The music was so sweet.

          Stores I recall:   My father, Arnold Burch’s Meat Market, Uncle Lafe Conner’s Meat Market, Chas. Taylor’s Meat Market; Sol Allman’s Men’s Clothing, Alex Ruh’s Drug store, Dawsons Drug Store, Levi Dry Goods Store, Wile’s Dry Goods, Ross Book Store, McMahan’s Grocery, Henry Warner’s Blacksmth Shop, Emerick’s Millnary, and Mr. Keith’s Drug Store, south side.

          You could ride to the lake in the “hack” driven by Mr. Mow.  Cost five cents.

          When a death occurred a “crepe” was hung on the front door.

          I worked as secretary for attorney Arthur Metzler, who shared an office with Dell Kessler, insurance sales, and Mr. Hostetler, abstracts.  Later, I worked for Judge Isaiah Conner, a distant cousin.

THE HAPPIEST DAYS

Spent Here

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By GUNHILD ARROWSMITH

Damariscotta, Mains

          The happiest days of my life were when we came to Rochester, Indiana, in 1944.   Emmett Tranbarger and I were married in the First Baptist Church.

          What Happy Memories we have of our home there on Highway 25 South.  Then 10 years later we built our new home at the Mt. Olive corner.

          I worked at the Courthouse for seven years, first in the highway ofice, then for the Department of Public Welfare.

          Then I went to work at The Rochester Sentinel as Society Editor.  What wonderful years, what great people.  Hugh Barnhart, Jack Overmyer, Bill Freyberg.   Bob Newcomer was the photographer.

          The girls I remember were Ruth Fiedler, Florence Burns, Opal Anderson and Mary Howard.  I still correspond with Ruth Fiedler, and I try to visit Rochester once a year.

          My heart and thoughts are with my wonderful friends in my

Home Town.  I will never forget you.

          I now spend six months in Boynton Beach, Florida, and in Damariscotta, Maine

NEW FARMER

Depression Days

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By MRS. RUSSEL McINTYRE

          My happy memories of the early ‘30s.

          In the early ‘30s we were in a depression.  We had been married about eight years and had two little boys.

          My husband, who had a great job, was now laid off and could not find work.  My husband decided he could farm, so we rented an 80-acre farm.  I had never lived on a farm and I was scared to death of animals and chickens.

          We took our belongings, a few small funds and started farming.  We bought 50 laying hens to help buy food to put on the table.  We got nine cents a dozen for eggs.

          My husband’s mother got a few setting hens and hatched some baby chicks which she gave to us.  I got a big surprise when I gathered the eggs.  This old hen would peck me and I’d scream until you could hear me all over the farm.

          Then my little baby chicks began to die.  Someone told me they had lice and I should rub lard under the old hens’ wings.  I tried to do the job, but the old hen pecked me and ran me off.  I was so scared my neighbor came to my rescue and greased them.

          Our old automobile had a bad tire and we couldn’t go very far from home.  On a Saturday night, we would go to town to do our weekly shopping, meet our old friends and neighbors and visit.  We would give the boys five cents apiece spending money.

          To draw crowds to town merchants would have drawings giving merchandise to people.  If your name was called, you were lucky.

          This Saturday night a tire shop was giving a free inner tube to the one who guessed closest how many strokes it took to inflate a rubber tire tube pumping air with a hand tire pump.  We sure could use that tube, so my husband wrote down a figure hoping to win.  The manager told me to guess.  I thought for a while.  I made a wild guess.  I can only remember it was over a thousand strokes.  My husband said, “Are you crazy?” That sure embarrassed me.  I heard a lot of laughs.  I went on my way visiting with friends.

          The 9 o’clock drawing came.   Over a loud speaker my name was called.  I couldn’t believe it.  I felt numb.  I went and received “the

new inner tube” we needed so much.  I thanked the man and I thanked the Lord.  To me it was like a Christmas tree to a little child.

SENTINEL STAFFER

33 Years of Changes

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By RUTH FIEDLER, Rochester

          I was reared on a farm near Sheridan, Ind.  My parents saw that we had all the comforts that were possible for them.

          In 1916 my Dad bought his first automobile - an Empire.  What a thrill for us children.  It also was a thrill for me to learn to drive.

          I graduated from high school, then took a year and a half of nurse’s training.  I married Dan Fiedler in 1920.

          The changes in our lives are hard to describe.  We lost an infant son, then another, who served in the Air Force in 1945.  Our other son, Victor, came home from World War 11 in 1946 and has been a joy to us.

          For the last 33 years we have lived in Rochester.  Dan worked for the Fansler Lumber Co. until his death in 1961.  In 1953 I started with the Rochester Sentinel as proofreader.  After two or three months Mr. Overmyer asked if I woiuld like to help Russel Parker set up a new system of records, etc.., in the advertising department.  I was with that department for the next 20 years.

          How things in the office changed.   At first we were all in one large room.  Then, as things progressed, and Mr. Barnhart and Mr. Overmyer bought the rooms on the west, the place was remodeled.  Each cepartment was given a place of its own, more or less.  Then each year an added touch.   We went from flatbed press to offset.  The composing room experienced a complete change, also.   It all made The Rochester Sentinel a place of which, I am sure, Jack and Marge Overmyer are very proud, not only of the building and its contents, but the clientele as well.

          I shall always have pleasant memories of my first and last years with The Sentinel crew.

          The changes in Rochester are so many.   I remember the Sherbondy popcorn wagon on the (SW) corner (Main and 8th.-, Morris Grocery, A&P Supermarket and when the banks started to remodel.

          The Manitou (Heights housing) addition by Art and Dorothy Fansler grew by leaps and bounds.  The lake properties started remodeling and, all in all, Rochester became a city of Friendship and Pride.

KU KLUX KLAN

Bigotry Comes to Rochester

The Sentinel,   September   16,  1983

By FRED McCLURG, Rochester

          (Editor’s note:   Fred McClurg, once prosecuting attorney here, spoke to local Democrats about his experiences with the Klan.  This story is adapted from that 1976 speech.  Mr. McClurg died earlier this year.)

          The word “Klux” is a pronunciation of a Greek word meaning Circle, an emblem on the nightgowns worn by the original Klan.

          The origin and existence of the Klan with incidents related to it would fill a large volume.   The origin of the “Hooded Knights” or “Hooded Hoodlums” (one of the many titles given it by writers) occurred on Christmas Eve at Pulaski, Tenn., when six persons (probably juveniles) donned white robes and masks and played pranks on newly emancipated blacks by playng on their fear of ghosts.   So it was the purpose of that small band to “scare” the blacks.

          But the real and serious purpose of the next generation two years later in 1867 was not only “scare” the black, but to “punish” him and sometimes lynch not only blacks, but white “ carpetbaggers” coming down from the North to organize the new black voting power.

          Public sentiment forced the Klan to go underground in the 1870s and almost disintegrate and apparently disappear.  Then in 1915 the Ku Klux Klan was revived.   It was this revived order which brought about one of the most bizarre and near incredible eras in Indiana and Fulton County.

          At its height in the 1920s it was reported by authentic sources that Indiana and Fulton County had the largest Klan membership in proporton to population of any state and of any county in Indiana.

          Why it attracted to its membership so many people is still a mystery.  Its theme was plainly organized intolerance in spite of the cloak of “nobility” it assumed by adopting the Sacred Cross as its banner and the Chrostoam hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” as its theme song.   That made that beautiful hymn so unpopular that many people refused to play it, sing it or even listen to it.

          But realizing that to exist, it had to have some rallying cry.   It preached antagonism to the black race, the Catholic religion, “foreigners” and even labor unions - none of which justified any hostility or special attention in Fulton County.   There was only one black in the city at that time, a one-armed man named “Bob Black,” and in the city only about three adult Catholics, Mr. & Mrs. Dovichi and Mrs. Val Zimmerman.

          So, what brought about its strength in the state and county?   Mainly the “cause” of Prohibition in addition to being hostile to the groups mentioned above it now became the “noble” enemy of lizuor.  Fulton County was “dry” (against liquor and saloons) having been definitely classified as such by a county option vote some years before when it was reported that there were 13 saloons (six of them on Main street) in Rochester.

          Thus, its large number of members included many prominent citizens (no women, although eventually there were women’s auxilliaries) in the city and county.   Such devotees of the “dry” classification were evidently willing to accept an unwarranted hostility aganst blacks, against Catholics, against labor unions, which were just beghinning to increase in members, and against foreigners, which everyone was if ancesry were traced far enough.   So the Klan was the favorite of the “drys.”

          As to the opponents of liquor they allowed themselves to become as intolerant as the Klan and some became “viciously” intolerant in their anti-liquor beliefs.  Even the long respected WCTU, which was organized to preach “temperance.” in drinking became an uncompromising “abolition” society.

          So, on its face, it was un-American in character and assumed authorty to punish (non-members mostly) for drunkeness and even husbands and wives who were reputed to have overstepped the bounds of conjugal faithfulness.   Reports were heard that some men were taken to the woods and horse-whipped by Klansmen (always disguised by their nightgowns and pillow cases on such occasions).

          At the time it was at the height of its numbers in the ‘20s, gossip was prevalent as to who belonged to it.   No one, as I recall, would admit that they were members.  This was indeed strange, considering that the KKK widely proclaimed its “noble” purposes.

          Now that half a century has passed, there are very few persons who can relate with any degree of accuracy all the events growing out of the Klan’s activities in Fulton County, and particularly its participation in and effect on political offices in the county.  It can be said, however, that while strong indications were present that the Klan was active in supporting certain candidates for county offices, it showed no partiality with regard to political parties as some reputed Klansmen were elected by both parties.

          The Fulton County Klan’s headquarters was the old Robbins residence - a two-story large brick building at the northwest corner of Seventh and Jefferson streets (now a parking lot across from the Methodist Church).  The Klan bought the building and occupied it

for a few years until the Klan more or less disbanded under pressure from both the law and the citizens.

          In 1944 the Internal Revenue Service sued the Klan for $600,000 in income tax.  The income was not the income from dues, but from the sale of sheets and pillow cases, the cost of which was reputed to be several dollars, the profit being split up between local “Kleagles,” and state and national “Grand Dragons,”   The national head of the Klan at this time was Hiram Evans and the national headquarters was Atlanta.   Evans was reputed to have made millions from the sales of the “uniforms.”

          In 1940 the school authorities bought the Klan quarters for a “school canteen.”   The high school students were given the task of cleaning out the place and found many records (according to what was told to me by a man in town who graduated from hish school about that time).   Among the records was a roster of Fulton County members.   The fact that the Klan officials would leave such records laying around woiuld indicate that it had disbanded and was no longer active.

          The Klan evidently wisely decided that if it were to have any political power it would have to associate itself with either the Democrat or Republian party in the state.  As mentioned before there was no evidence of its having done this in Fulton County, but in the state it was a different matter.

          It did, either by word or deed, attach itslf to the Republican Party and was credited with electing a governor (Jackson) and many state officials.  One was a candidate for the State Supreme Court, who was elected by a one-vote margin.

          That the Republican Party was the recipient of the Klan’s help was evident in 1933 when some Democrats wanted to take part in asking for parole for D.C. Stephenson, the Indiana “Grand Dragon,” who had been imprisoned on a murder charge by the efforts of Republican Sen. Watson and Federal Judge Slick Earl Peters of Fort Wayne was the Democrat State Chairman at that time and when he heard of the proposed favor to Stephenson, he promptly stopped any such action by saying, “The Indiana Democratic Party is not going to let the Klan snake crawl into its back yard to die.

          One of the most bizarre sights ever seen in this city was a Klan torchlight parade in the ‘20s.  At that time Rochester still had the hanging street lights which provided only dim light in the street.

          The parade had been advertised in advance; therefore, the crowd was tremendous along both sides of Main street.  It was reported that there were 2,000 Klansmen in the parade and that it was more than a

mile long.  There was no music by band or otherwise (apparently they left behind the himn book with “The Old Rugged Cross” in it)   There was no noise.  It was one of the quietest parades ever seen with nothing but the tread of the marchers being heard.   The measured and steady beat of the footsteps became fascinating as music would have been.

          There were many Stars and Stripes flags in the parade - one about every 200 feet.   The Klansmen, many of whom were hardly more than thugs who had been attracted by the “ghostly” uniform to become members, tried to enforce a salute to every flag as it passed the onlookers - who were crowded out into the street so thick that the column of two abreast almost brushed some of them.

          But there were many veterans of World War 1 there and they had been taught that there should be only ONE flag in a parade and that one would be in the lead.  Other flags following were illegal.   The result was many flags and scuffles by “patriotic” Klansmen who stepped out of the parade ranks to pick fights with the ex-soldiers.   The Klansmen soon gave up on that idea as they found immediate accommodation for a fight by the veterans.

          One incident reportedly involved the county school superintendent at that time.   He had parked his car with himself, wife and daughter in it at the intersection of Ninth and Main Streets.   Some Klansmen stepped out of the line of march and started to jerk the superintendent’s hat off.   The superintendent grabbed an iron wrench at his side and felled the would-be hat grabber.   Other Klansmen stepped out of the line and picked up their fallen companion and carried him toward the Courthouse lawn.

          But it was one of the most fascinating parades I have ever seen, with the possible exception of a parade of Illinois Knight Templars in Chicago about 1924 or ‘25.   There were 7,000 of them parading by dimlight of torches and “very lights” (a military signal light which exploded in the sky in different colors and which lit up Soldier’s Field with its hanging lights, each of which lasted several minutes.)

          But in the Knight Templar parade, there wasn’t the atmosphere of defiance of law and society that surrounded those marching “ghosts” in the Rochester KKK parade.   But while there was great admiration for the Knight Templars there was only a hushed tolerance for the KKK’s.

          Judge Reuben R. Carr (a Republican{ was elected judge in 1920 and ran for re-election in 1928.  Further indication that the Klan wasn’t necessarily accepted by either political party was the fact that Carr hated the Klan.

          I ran for prosecuting attorney the same election, and I informed the Klan by comment to probable members that I didn’t want their vote.  So did Carr.  He even started what he termed “The Constitutional Clan.”   Selden J. Brown and I had a lot of fun kidding him about it telling him that it was just as despotic and unconstitutional as the Klan itself.

          It was a joint Judicial District in 1928 (same judge and prosecutor for Fulton and Marshall Counties).   Carr and I both won, me a Democrat and Carr a Republican.   One noticeable thing aboiut my victory was that I carried Fulton County by 410 and Marshall Coiunty by 301, a total of 711, significant in a dice game!!

FULTON METAL MFG CO

Mgr., Earl Snelling

The Sentinel,   September   17,  1983

          The addition of Earl Snelling as plant manager of Fulton Metal Manufacturing Co., Inc., has been announced by president Terry Long.

          Snelling, his wife Suzanne and son Wayne have moved to Rochester from Cassopolis, Mch.   He brings with him more than 20 years of experience in metal fabrication, stampings, welding and construction trades, Long said.

          In making the announcement, Long noted that Fulton Metal has diversified into two new areas:   waste water treatment fabrication and industrial dust collection and mist control.

          He also reported improvements in the market after a six-month dowturn.  Long expects improvement through the fourth quarter and into 1984.

T,M. MORRIS MFG CO

Pur Leavell Bldg For Factory

The Sentinel,   October  14,  1983

          A Logansport manufacturing company has opened a new plant at the former lumber yard in Fulton.

          T.M. Morris Manufacturing Co., Inc., purchased the Leavell property in Fulton last July and has had the main building renovated into a factory.   The company’s first Fulton employees began work Oct. 5 and company president Thomas M. Morris Sr., said more employees will be added as soon as new equipment is received.   All employees will be hired from the Fulton area.   Morris declined to reveal how many workers are on the job.

          The Logansport based company was formed in 1965.  It manufacures electrical sub-assemblies and assemblies for the

automotive industry and other industrial fields.

          The company is headquartered at 707 Burlington Ave., Logansport, with officers Morris, Thomas M. Morris, Jr., vice-president and Margaret L. Morris, secretary-treasurer.

          Roy Rentschler Construction Co., Fulton, renovated the factory. Morris said the work of the Fulton Town Board and other people in Fulton was appreciated.

NEW ORLEANS

In Argos, Indiana

The Sentinel,   October   24,  1983

By WILLIAM FREYBERG

Editor, The Sentinjel

          They sat in the Argos funeral parlor to pay their last respects to Harry Bash.   But there was no organ music.  Instead, the raspy voice of Louis Armstrong wailed.

          “Well, I went down to the St. James Infirmary, to see my baby there.  She was stretched out on a long white table - so clean, so cold, so bare.”

          Later, to the backdrop of the haunting voice of Mahala Jackson, Francis LaTurner delivered the eulogy, telling about Harry’s deep love of oldtime jazz music and of his request for a New Orleans type funeral when the time came.

          More music followed - “Beal Street Blues” and Duke Ellington’s “Solitude;”   It took only a little imagination to believe that Harry Bash, whose body reposed in the casket at the front of the room, was somehow hearing for the last time the music that had been so much a part of his 67 years.

          When the mourners left the Grossman Funeral Home Sunday afternoon, they found two black horses hitched to a black carriage, waiting for the coffin.

          As the funeral procession departed on foot for the cemetery, it was led by the Roger Kronk Band of South Bend playing Dixieland dirges, such as “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.”

          Some 35 people followed the bearse - children and old people among them.  People lined the sidewalks and stood in front of their homes to watch the group during the 1-1/2 mile walk to Maple Grove Cemetery.

          The sky was overcast, but it did not rain.   The temperature was about 50 degrees.

          After a short, simple ceremony at the graveside, the walkers retraced their steps along the country roads and the town streets.   But

this time, the band’s music was uptempo with such selections as “Oh, Didn’t He Ramble” and “When the Saints.”

          The group went to the America Legion Hall where, having paid proper respects to Harry Bash, the people celebrated his life on earth with remembrances and lively music.

          Harry’s life was best summed up in the memorial card which was read by son Lee of Buffalo, N.Y., during the funeral service.

          “Anybody who spoke with Harry Bash for even five minutes quickly recognized his intense love and knowledge of jazz.   He was a rare breed of man.   Neither a performer nor a composer, he nevertheless commanded the respect and friendship of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman and many other Jazz greats through his profound interest while he inspired many young musicians to share his enthusiasm for jazz.

          Quite simply, the life of the music flowed through his veins and the spirit of jazz was embodied in his attitude.   Perhaps the only thing he enjoyed more than listening to his favorite recordings was sharing that experience with others.”

          His other son, Tarry of Argos, recalled on the walk back from the cemetery that Harry frequently came to Lake Manitou near Rochester to see the big-name bands that appeared at the Colonial and Fairview hotels.

          He went anywhere he could find jazz music and took his sons with him.   Both Lee and Tarry became accomplished musicians with the same love of jazz that their father had.

          Although radically different from the traditional service, the funeral for Harry Bash was fitting..

T-SHIRT STORE

Pur. Dave & Doris Cooper

The Sentinel,   November   1,  1983

          The specialty T-shirt store at 822 Main St., had its second change in ownership this year Monday when Dave and Doris Cooper, Mentone, took over operation of the store from Sara and Jasper Dulin.

          What was Erma’s Shirt Tales until May and Sara’s Shirt Tales until the past weekend is now simply Shirt Tales.  The name may be changed again in the future when Mrs. Cooper adds a line of craft items to the business, she said.

          The Coopers operated Cooper’s Department Store in Mentone until last Christmas Eve when the long standing family-owned store was closed.  Store hours and the product line at Shirt Tales will not be changed initially, Mrs. Cooper said.

SONOCO

D.R, Crutchfield, Mgr.

The Sentinel,   November   10,  1983

          D.R. “Dave” Crutchfield, a former resident of Rochester, is the manager of a new spiral tube-making facility opened in West Chicago, Ill., by Sonoco Products Co., Hartsville, S.C.   Sonoco also has a plant in Akron.

          The company now operates more than 35 spiral tube plants around the country, as well as nearly 70 other facilities from coast to coast.

          Crutchfield, who has been with Sonoco since November 1976, previously was plant superintendent at Munroe Falls, Ohio.  Prior to that, he was the industrial engineering manager for the midwest region.

BLUMENTHAL’S

Clothing Shop, to Close

The Sentinel,   November   14,  1983

          Blumenthal’s, which opened here 44 years ago as a bargain and variety store and became a Rochester home for women’s high fashions, will go out of business, manager Jordon Blumenthal announced today.

          The building at 708 Main St., will be put up for sale or lease.  “I hope that a business similar to ours will locate there,” Blumenthal said.

          Blumenthal’s parents, Max and Sadie, opened the store on April 22, 1939 after moving here from Chicago where they were involved in ready-to-wear clothing and shoe stores.

          “After more than 50 years in the business, they are ready for fulltime retirement,” said their son.  :”They will continue to reside in Rochester and spend their winters in Florida.”

          The younger Blumenthal said he also will mantain his Rochester residence and will return to the screen writing career he left on a “temporary” basis to join the store in 1950.

          A few years after opening the store, the Blumenthals eliminated the bargain and shoe departments and concentrated on name-brand, ready-to-wear clohing for women and children.

          They began traveling to New York City to see and buy the latest fshions.   In 1948, they contracted with what is called a resident buying office in New York.  Such firms have staffs of expert buyers who reprsent hundreds of stores throughout the country and give mass buying power to individual stores.

          Blumenthal’s continues to maintain daily contact with its resident buying office to stay abreast of women’s fashions.

          “Jo” Blumenthal, a star on Rochester High School’s basketball teams of the 1940s, attended the University of Southern California and received a degree in cinema.  He was a screen writer until 1950, when he went on a New York buying trip with his parents and ended up joining the family business, where he has remained.

          In 1964, the store was completely remodeled inside and out to its present appearance.  One of the features was installing a new sidewalk with electrc devices for immediate removal of snow and ice which still is unique for Rochester.

KEWANNA MED. CLINIC

Opened By Dr. Helen Grant

The Sentinel,   December   16,  1983

          The third time was the charm in obtaining a phyician for Kewanna.

          Dr. Helen Hurdis Grant opened the Kewanna Medical Clinic today in the remodeled offices formerly occupied by the late Dr. K.K. Kraning.

          Grant is the third general practitioner scheduled to locate in Kewanna since Kraning announced in September 1981 his desire to retire, but is the first one to actually do so.

          A graduate of North Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University School of Medicine, Grant received her Texas medical license in 1981 and also holds an Indiana license.

          She practiced medicine at the Indian Health Service in South Dakota, and since last January has been an emergency room physician for the Emergency Medical Management System in Fort Worth, Texas.

          Grant and her husband Kenneth reside in Rochester with daughter Carolyn, 9, and son Jamie, 5.   They will move next week to the Kewanna area.  They have another daughter, Michele, 17, residing in Texas.

          The Kewanna Progressive Association will host an open house for the Grants from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31, at the Kewanna Clinic, which has been remodeled, painted and carpeted by Woodlawn Hospital.

          The hospital board purchased the clinic and Kraning’s practice Jan. 1, 1982 and hired a company to recruit a physician.   A Canadian doctor signed a contract to take the practice in 1981 but changed his mind.   A native of the Philippines with licenses in New York and Texas was scheduled to open the clinic last July 5 but could not obtain an Indiana license.

          Kewanna was recommended to the Grants by an employment

agency and they visited the town, Woodlawn Hospital and Rochester with members of the Kewanna Progressive Association and Rochester Chamber of Commerce,

          We asked for snow, four seasons, woods, lakes, fishing and hunting, little farms, and a small, friendly town,” said Grant.  “We found them all.”

          Grant will provide a full medical practice including emergency medical services and her special areas of expertise - pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology.   She has joined the hospital medical staff to care for hospitalized patients.

          Her husband will assist her in the office.

ANGELA’S CAROUSEL

Owned, Bob & Angela Pearson

The Sentinel,   February   13,  1984

          Angela’s Carousel, a full service flower and gift shop, is set for an early March opening at the former location of Athletic Annex in the Leiters Ford State Bank Building, 913 Main St.

          Owners Bob and Angela Pearson, Huntington, have been working inside the shop preparing inventories of silk flower arrangements, gifts and candy with an eye toward opening March 1.  Pearson said the store also will feature fresh flowers.

          It will be the third Angela’s Carousel for the Pearsons, with previous openings in Rensselaer and Huntington.   Mrs. Pearson has been a floral designer for over 20 years.  She is a graduate of American Floral and Art Institute, Chicago, and has worked as a designer at Michael’s Flowers and Gifts, Nashville, Ind., and presently is at Four Seasons Flowers, Fort Wayne.

          The shop will specialize in Christmas stock during the holiday season and in wedding arrangements and gifts.   Mrs. Pearson will operate the business and commute from Huntington until the present school term is over.

LIBRARY, NEW BLDG

Opening Monday

The Sentinel,   March   27,   1984

          Fulton County will get its public library back - in a spanking new building - next Monday morning.

          The opening will come just 17 days after the library at Eighth and Jefferson streets closed to begin the two-block move to its new home at Seventh and Pontiac streets.

          The transition took less time than Head Librarian Clair Zehner

had dared hope.   She credited “some fantastic volunteer helpers along with a marvelous staff” for the speed of the move.

          Receiving special praise for their efforts were volunteers Luroy Bick, Terry and Marvin Anderson, Troy Leonard, Frances Costa, Helen Thompson, Earl Lynn, Douglas Morton, Carolyn Coffman of Macy, Mrs. Pete Terpstra Sr., Jim Wheeler, Wendell Bearss, Gary Laird and Jim and Jan Scott.

          The library will observe the same hours as in the past - 9 a.m., to 8;30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m., to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

          There will be no special activities when the new building opens to the public for the first time at 9 a.m. Monday, but there will be a dedication ceremony sometime in May, Mrs. Zehner said.

          Not everything will be in its place when the library opens, but the main things will be where they should be, Mrs. Zehner said.

The new library has 17,000 square feet, compared to 4,000 in the old one.

          The more than 40,000 books were on the shelves Monday afternoon.  But some 25,000 magazines, about 2,500 phonograph records, many cassette tapes, 50 or more 16 mm films, and numerous newspapers still were to be put where they belong.

          Much of the library furniture had been set up by Monday, but tables, chairs, filing cabinets and other pieces of equipment still were to be arranged.

Some 25,000 magazines, 2,500 records, many cassette tapes, 50 films and numerous newspapers need placing.

          Library patrons will find that a bright, cheery, roomy, one-floor facility has replaced the 77-year-old structure that was built with Carnegie Foundation funds in 1907 to house up to 10,000 books.

          They won’t find crumbling cement steps, a narrow interior stairway to a basement, crowded bookstacks or inadequate reading areas.

          The new library, which resembles a four-leaf clover without a stem, has 17,000 square feet of space compared to the 4,000 in the old one.  There are main entrances-exits off both seventh and Pontiac streets.

          A large circulation counter occupies the center of the building.   Radiating from it are four special areas.

          The southwest portion of the building is devoted to the children’s area (which was in the basement of the old building), with a young adults section next to it.

          The area for adults is in the northeast corner with a reference area to the west and an Indiana Room opening off the latter.   Mrs.

Zehner is particularly proud of the leaded beveled glass window that has been placed in the west wall of the Indiana Room, where books and reference materials about the state will be concentrated.

          “Maybe more people will see it there,” she said.  It came from above the Jefferson Street entrance in the old building, where it was put when the structure was built.

          Special back lighting in a variety of colors will make the window even more noticeable.

          A community meeting room with chairs, tables, kitchenette area and screen for movies and films occupies the southeast corner of the building.   It has two separate entrances-exits and it can be closed off from the rest of the building for use after closing hours.

          There are restrooms in the lobby area of the community room.

          In the northwest portion of the building are offices for the librarian and financial secretary, a staff lounge, storage areas for periodicals and audio visual materials, and a receiving area.

TRUITT SHOES

Going Out of Business

The Sentinel,   March   31,   1984

          Truitt Shoes at 726 Main St., - where a shoe store has operated for over 40 years - will go out of business, owner John Karn announced today.

          Karn said that windows of the store will be papered over at the close of business this evening and that a going-out-of-business sale will start Thursday.

          He said that he, his wife Sharon and their daughter Gretchen Lynne, 7, will move to Springfield, Mo., where he will attend Central Bible College to study for the ministry.

          Karn said that he has been negotiating with prospective buyers of the business and hopes that an announcement can be made soon.

          Truitt Shoes was founded by the late Robert E. Truitt, who purchased the Miller-Jones Shoe Store at that location on Aug. 25, 1961.   Miller-Jones had operated a shoe business there since the early 1940s.  Truitt and his wife, Dorothy, operated the store until Mr. Truitt’s final illness.   He died May 13, 1982.   John and Sharon Truitt Karn had purchased the store in June, 1982.

LIBRARY, NEWER-BIGGER

Opens for Business

The Sentinel,   April   2,   1984

          Six Rochester residents, one from Kewanna and another from Talma were the first customers of the Fulton County Library when it opened its new building at 9 a.m. Today.

          Mike Bisch, 13, and brother Mark, 11 - sons of Mr. & Mrs. Ed Bisch, 1024 Jackson Blvd - were the first of the first, being greeted by Head Librarian Claire Zehner as she unlocked the south doors.

          Waiting with the brothers for the library to open had been Brent Long, 14, son of Mr. & Mrs. Terry Long, Rt. 4, Rochester; Carl Landskron, also 14, son of Mr. & Mrs. Carl Landskron, 328 W. Ninth St.; Mike Copeland, 9, and brother Mark, 11, sons of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Copeland, 1316 Monroe St., and Kenny Swafford, 22, Kewanna.

          Swafford said he drove to Rochester to look for some book he could not find at the Kewanna Union Township Library.   He has a reciprocal borrowing card under the cooperative program of the two libraries.

          Mrs. Jack Parks of Talma was the first customer at the circulation desk as she returned a paper bag full of books she had taken out just before the old library closed March 16 for the move to the new building.

          Staffers Betty Becker and Karen Coby checked in the books.

          “I feel kind of sad when I look at the old building,” Mrs. Zehner said this morning, “but I’m really proud of our new one and I hope everyone likes it as much as we do.”

LIBRARY BUILDING

Dedication June 3

The Sentinel,   April   5,   1984

          Dedication of the new Fulton County Library has been set for Sunday, June 3, Librarian Claire Zehner said today.   A public open house for inspection of the new facility will follow the dedication ceremonies.

          The new library, which replaces a 77-year-old building was opened for the first time Monday at its Pontiac and Seventh streets location.

          The public greeted the opening with enthusiasm.   Mrs. Zehner said that 1,272 books were checked out the first day, the largest number for a single day in the library’s 81-year history.  In addition 62 new patrons were issued library borrowing cards.

          The new library replaces the old at Eighth and Jefferson streets, which has been transferred to county ownership.  It will be remodeled to provide additional space for county government offices.

          Meanwhile library personnel still are getting acquainted with their new building, which provides over four times the floor space of the old.   All materials are in place in the new structure except for periodicals, which await the refinishing of shelving.

          The library is open from 9 a.m., to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m., to 5 p.m., on Saturday.   It is closed Sundays.

D&M FLOOR COVERING

Opening at 114 E. 8th St.

The Sentinel,   May   4,   1984

          A family-owned business from Cass County filled a vacant Rochester business property Friday with the opening of D&M Floor Covering Center Inc., at 114 E. Eighth St.

          The store is the second for the corporation, which will keep its headquarters and warehouse at Indiana 16 and 17.   Sales and installation of carpets, linoleum and the floorings are the corporation’s specialties.

          Don and Marian Sullivan, their son Merle and daughters Carolyn Colvin and Alice Lynch have been in the carpet business in Cass County since 1975.   The Sullivan men do all the installation of materials sold from the Cass County store, but plan to have John Agnew of Kewann install carpet sold from the Rochester store. - - - -

KEWANNA ELEM SCHOOL

Closes Today

The Sentinel,   May   24,   1984

KEWANNA, IND. (AP) -

          Today was the last for Kewanna Elementary School.

          Beginning next fall, Kewanna Elementary’s remaining pupils will attend classes in the Caston School Corporation, Rochester Community Schools or Eastern Pulaski Community Schools.

          Union Township Trustee Florence Earp announced the Kewanna school closing April 17.   In her post as township trustee, Mrs. Earp alone had the authority to decide the fate of a chool operated by the township.   The decision was based on a study that recokmmended closing the school, she said. - - - -

JOHN’S HOBBIES

(John B. Tombaugh, owner)

Rt. 3 - Box 300, Wagoner Park

219-542-4728

The Sentinel,   May   30,   1984

          May Winner of 1st Place Prize, Ron Imel, Winning a $7.00 Credit toward The Purchase of Any Model in The Store & a T-Shirt With John’s Hobbies on The Front.

          Stop out or give me a call.   Find out how you can be eligible to win in the contest of either plastic or wood, show or operational.

ROCHESTER SENTINEL

Keith Keim Joins Staff

The Sentinel,   May   31,   1984

          Rochester native, Keith Keim, 28, has joined The Sentinel staff as news reporter and photographer.

          A 1974 graduate of Rochester High School, Keim comes to The Sentinel from The Knox Leader, where he had worked since completing his journalism degree at Franklin College.

          He replaces Alan Burch, who resigned after five years with The Sentinel, to join Wagoner and Son Concrete of Rochester.

          Local Boy Scouts might remember Keim’s active role in scouting.  As a member of local Troop 219, he earned the rank of Eagle.

          Keim is living temporarily with his parents, Fred and Mary Ruth Keim, 1210 Jackson Blvd.

McGUIRE PRACTICE

Pur by Dr. Pampel

The Sentinel,   June   7,   1984

          Dr. Larry Pampel, Rochester dentist, has purchased the practice of the late Dr. Carson McGuire, it was announced today.

          All of Dr. McGuire’s patient records and x-rays are being moved to Dr. Pampel’s office at 1329 Main St.   Dr. McGuire’s office at 818 Man St., will not be used.

          Questions should be directed to Dr. Pampel’s Rochester office, 223-3121, or the Akron office, 893-4545.

TRUITT SHOE STORE

Pur Bob & Jeff Walker

The Sentinel,   June   15,   1984

          A tradition of having a shoe store at 726 Main St., will continue, according to John Karn, who has sold the former Truitt Shoes to two-term Columbia City Mayor Bob Walker and his son Jeff Walker.

          The transaction was completed Thursday when Karn turned over the keys to the Walkers.   Karn has held a going-out-of-business sale since the end of March in preparation for a move to Springfield, Mo., where he will attend Central Bible College to study for the ministry.

          The shoe store will be known as Walker’s Shoes.  The elder Walker said he plans to open July 5, with a grand opening sometime later.

          The Walkers own Weick Shoe Store in Columbia City where Bob began his career in the shoe business 41 years ago.   In 1972 he purchased the Weick Shoe Store.

          Jeff Walker will manage the store here and will commute daily.  Cindy Border will remain as clerk.

          Bob said he plans to add “three or four lines” of shoes to the store in the future.

          “We’re really happy to come here.   Rochester came highly recommended,” Bob said.

          Karn said he plans to leave for Missouri in August with his wife, Sharon and their daughter Gretchen Lynne.

          Truitt Shoes was founded by the late Robert E. Truitt, who purchased the Miller-Jones Shoe Store at that location on Aug. 35. 1961.   Truitt and his wife Dorothy, operated the store until Truitt’s final illness.  He died May 13, 1982.   John and Sharon Truitt Karn purchased the store in June 1982.

PLUMMER, HAINES & CO

CPA Donald E. Keefer, Manager

The Sentinel,   June   16,   1984

          He fills a vacancy created by the resignation of Craig E. Weeks, effective May 31, when the name of the firm was changed to its present designation.   Weeks resigned as an officer and director on March 24 due to affiliation with another company.

          Keefer, who took his new position Monday, has moved to Rochester with his wife, Esther, and three children.

          A certified public accountant, Keefer has some 10 years of experience in public accounting and 11 years with Northern Indiana

Fuel and Light Co., and R&R Enterprises as a private accountant.  He also was a supervisor with Coopers and Lybrand, one of the “Big 8” accounting firms from 1978-82 until he sold his practice to join one of his larger audit clients.

          Keefer has done accounting for public utilities, manufacturers, retailers, grain companies, title and abstract firms and not-for-profit corporations as well as for individuals.

MacLAIN REUN

Irv Brown Residence

The Sentinel,   June   26,   1984

          Several members of the Cal and Rosa MacLain family met at the home of Irv and Emily Brown, Plymouth, for a family reunion.

          Of the 180 family members who live in the area, 67 were present and were reacquainted over a carry-in lunch.

          Those attending from Plymouth were Rae Stutzman, Karen Age and David. Michael MacLain, Sam, Debbie, Chad and Lindy Berger, and Mary Bules and Angela.   From Bremen: Brenda Watson, Larry, Karen, Keith, J.C. and Tommy Clevenger, Mrs. Mattie Rainey, Jim Sutton and friend and Bob and Sandy Sutton attended from Kewanna.

          From Leiters Ford were Harold Junior, Cora Sutton and Doug and Kim, Art and Lind Reinholt and Jim Bob were of Monterey; Garry, Sherrie, Nick, Sarah and Ross Stutzman were of Warsaw; Kathy and Jack Waltz of South Bend also attended.

          Attending from Rochester were Jack and Anne Waltz, Rita Waltz and Lee, John, Marilyn, Linn and Lori Fry, Russ, Helen and Ryan Bredinger, and Bob, Rose and Rachelle Wagoner; Dwight Shewman of Akron, and Cecil, Jessie, Mary and Cindy Hines of Royal Center.   Also attending were Loren and Roxie Fry of Fulton.

          Members from out of state were Joni and Gladys Stutzman of Galveston, Texas;   Toni, Jarica, Stacy and Justin Hyndman of Brazoria, Texas, and Jack, Shirley and Ted Shubal of Oak Park, Ill.

GREGORY REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   June   27,   1984

          The annual Gregory family reunion was at the Rochester City Park.

          Sixty-one family members and guests were reacquainted with some passing the time pitching horse shoes and playing cards.

          Attending from Rochester were Mr. & Mrs. Danny Gregory. Dawm amd Daniel’ Mr. & Mrs.  Donald Foerg; Anna Miller and Jack

Press; Mr. & Mrs. Rick Miller, Chelle, Traci and Ricky; Mr. & Mrs.  Ron Mathias and Jaime; Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Croussore and Lydia and Mr. & Mrs. Gary Hayes, Wendy and Vickie.

          From Logansport were Mr. & Mrs. Norman Gregory, Mr. & Mrs. Gene Powlen, Kelly and Kris, Carol and Brooke Hill and Mr. & Mrs. David Gregory.

          Attending from Bremen were Mr. & Mrs. Robert Gregory and Ricky Miller, Lillian Miller and Doug Hummel, Devane Taylor and Greg Alber and Mr. & Mrs. Herb Marburger.

          From South Bend were Mr. & Mrs. Randy Spencer and Joshua, Mr. & Mrs. Bill Fabyan, Mr. & Mrs. Dean Gregory, Richard Spencer and James W. Spencer Jr.

          From Argos were Bill Holler and Debbie Gregory, Mrs. Harry Gregory and Harold Clevenger and Charlotte Tomalaviez.

          Also attending for the first time in several years were Mr. & Mrs. D.I. Fry, San Antonio, Texas.

VANLUE REUN

Jim Pitt Home

The Sentinel,   July   11,   1984

          Forty relatives of the Vanlue family met during the weekend of June 30 for a reunion at the home of Jim and Jean Pitt, Aitkin, Minn.

          Family members traveled from Missouri, Ohio, Alaska, Virginia, Minnesota and Indiana.

          Those who attended from this area were Mr. & Mrs. Chloris Barkman and Mr. & Mrs. Jim Barkman and sons, all of Rochster; Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Miller, Palestine; Mr. & Mrs. Hubert Vanlue and David, Indianapolis; Mr. & Mrs. Ron Vanlue and family of Fort Wayne, and Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Fuller and family of Springfield, Ohio.

          The 80th birthday of Anna Vanlue Vandegrift, a former Rochster resident, also was celebrated at the family gathering.

          The Barkmans and Fullers met Bob and Kate Burwell in Duluth, Minn., July 2 for lunch and sightseeing during the afternoon.   Also a trip was made to Mackinac Island.

STINSON-WYLIE REUN

Plymouth Park

The Sentinel,   August   4,   1984

          The 28th annual Stinson-Wylie reunion was July 22 at the Plymouth Park at Plymouth.

          Harold L. Reese gave grace before the carry-in dinner.  After the meal, President Amos Foor conducted a short business meeting.

Minutes of last year’s reunion were read by Mary Bowen.

          Helen Reese read two letters.   One was from 90-year-old Bernice Stinson Gould of Altadena, Calif., the last living member of the five Stinson sisters.  Everyone signed a card to send to her.  The other letter was from 97-year-old Ella Stinson of Rochester who was visiting her daughter in Carbondale, Ill., and was unable to attend the reunion.

          Walter Brown gave a reading entitled, “Memories of Pop’s Pocketknife.”   The poem “Life Begins at 80” was read in honor of George Patterson, Sr., who celebrated his 91st birthday July 24.   The youngest member present was five-month-old Camille Brown.

          Amos Foor was re-elected as president for 1985, and Wanita Foor was re-elected as secretary and treasurer.  All voted to have the reunion at the same site next July 28.

          Those attending were Bob and Mildred Bosler, South Bend; Edward, Birdie, Almie, Heather and Haley Foor; Amos and Wanita Foor, all of Athens; Jim and Jean Bowen and nieces Tina and Tammy, Michigan City; Eldon, Jeanean, Missi, Kelli and Christopher Rager, North Manchester; Ben and Muriel Sloelting of Seymore; Robert Eastburg of Seymour; Robert Eastburg, Vernon Hills. Ill.; Jim and Joyce Wenino and Steve and Lisa Wenino, Plymouth; Walter, Sherry, Julie, Skip and Camie Brown, Brownsburg; George and Marion Patterson, Hammond; and Walter and Mary Bowen and Harold and Hellen Reese, all of Rochester.

PERDUE REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   4,   1984

          The Perdue reunion was July 29 at the Rochester City Park.

          The carry-in dinner was attended by about 80 guests from Roland, Ark.; Lowell, Valparaiso, Shelby, Goshen, Delphi, Logansport, North Manchester, South Bend, Culver, Plymouth and Rochester.

          The oldest guest present was Lottie Perdue of South Bend.

          The reunion next year will be at the Rochester City Park on the last Sunday in July.

HARMON REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   August   4,   1984

          The 62nd annual Harmon reunion was July 22 at the Rochester City Park with 20 members present for the basket dinner at noon.

          It was decided to meet every year on the fourth Sunday in July.  The present officers were voted to continue their offices.

          Relatives were present from Gilead, Silver Lake, Elkhart, Mishawaka, Peru and Rochester.

ESTHER BILLINGS

Retires After 52 Years

The Sentinel,   August   8,   1984

By DEANA GOTTSCHALK

Lifestyles Editor, The Sentinel

          After spending the greater part of 52 years writing news in Akron, Terre Haute and Indianapolis, Esther Billings has called it quits.

          For the last two months, she has been reading the news.

          “Come and visit me some time,” she says.  “But give me a little advance notice so I can pick up all these newspapers.  We subscribe to a lot of them.”

          The former Fulton County resident now living in Montezuma with husband Claude, retired as editor of the “Federation Forum” column of the Indianapolis Star in May.

          Those who know Mrs. Billings might not agree with her when she says she retired because she’s lazy.

          “I’m lazy about writing, and that’s why I retired,” Mrs. Billings, 75, said.  “There’s more to it than putting one word after another and ending with a period.  Writing is a veery hard thing to do.”

          As editor of the Forum, she needed more than writing skills.  She needed a great deal of knowledge of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.

          Claude and Esther Billings owned the Akron News from 1932-62, when they sold it to Loren and Ann Sheetz.

          The Billingses returned to their hometown of Montezuma to be near relatives.

          Esther Billings was an advertising feature writer for the Terre Haute Tribune-Star from 1975-76.  Claude Billings has worked for the Indianapolis Star, the Terre Haute Star and as faculty sponsor of The Statesman, Indiana State University’s campus newspaper.

          Both have received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Montezuma High School, and were instrumental in development of the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival.

          Mrs. Billings says her work with clubs has been as important as her news career.

          “During our 30 years with the Akron News,” she said, “we became involved with the community as editors should.”

          Mrs. Billings never had children, but the first club she joined in Akron previously had been open only to mothers.   The Akron

Mother’s Study Club was to become the Akron Women’s Club.

          Since then, she has played a leading role in various organizations on county, district and state levels.

          “Once you’re involved with a club, other organizations look for you,” she said.

          In the GFWC, she has served as president of Fulton and Parke counties; the 5th and 13th districts, which include Parke and Fulton counties, respectively; the Indiana Federation of Clubs from 1972-74, and was chairman of the GFWC Communications Division from 1974-76/

          The GFWC motto is “Unity in diversity; unity in volunteer service.”

          “That’s what I like,” she said.  “Diversity.  All Federation members, from homemakers to business women in all professions, work together for the betterment of the community.”

          When Mrs. Billings was IFC president, her “right hand man” was longtime friend Allene Biddinger of Rochester, who says:

          “Esther gives not only her time, but of herself willingly - a great gift when you have such potential for others.”

O’DELL REUN

Centennial Park

The Sentinel,   August   18,   1984

          At the Centennial Park at Plymouth, 147 members of the O’Dell family gathered together for their 43rd reunion.  It was the 25th year at the same location.

          Mrs. Sam O’Dell, 91, Dallas, Texas, was the oldest member present.  She also had traveled the farthest distance with her daughter, Mrs. James (Pat O’Dell) Vorhis.  The youngest member was Ryan Twiss, 5-month-old son of Tim and Diana Williams Twiss of Northport, N.Y.

          Ed O’Dell distributed copies of the family tree, which he had made.  Gary O’Dell, president, conducted the auction.  Ice creakm cups were served.

          The reunion next year will be Aug. 11 at Centennial Park

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park

The Sentinel,   August   18,   1984

          The Monroe Morris family reunion was Aug 12 at the Akron Park.

          Forty-nine people attended from South Bend, Lafayette, Macy,

Roann, Silver Lake, Peru, Gilead and Burket.

          Robert Morris, the only living member of the Monroe Morris family, was present.  He will be 82 in September.

          Officers were elected for 1985.  They are:   Charles and Melissa Alexander, president, and secretary, respectively, and Steve and Vicki Sutton, vice=president and assistant secretary, respectively.

DR. J.D. WEILHAMMER

Joins Dr. James Fritts

The Sentinel,   September   8,   1984

          Dr. James D. Weilhammer has joined Dr. James Fritts in the practice of family dentistry at Fritts’ office on Indiana 25 North.

          Weilhammer is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, and a 1966 graduate of the I.U. School of dentistry.  He was an intern in oral surgery at Cincinnati General Hospital.

          For the past 17 years, Weilhammer has practiced family and hospital dentistry.

          He is a charter member of the board of directors of the Indiana Academy of General Dentistry and has served as president of the West Central Dental Society of Indiana.

          Weilhammer and his wife, Bea, are the parents of five children.

DAVE’S VILLAGE GTLM

Moving to 701 Main St.

The Sentinel,   September 25,   1984

          Dave’s Village Gentleman next week will begin a move northward on Main St., that, when completed will double its floor space.

          Dave Damron, owner of the men’s and women’s clothing store at 727 Main St., said today that the business will occupy the corner of the building vacated by Casual Flair and Footwear Ltd. - - - -

SILVERNAILS

Opens at 900 Main St.

The Sentinel,   October 16,   1984

          Silver-N-Roe’s Ceramics and Gifts, a ceramic shop, is open at 900 Main Street.

          Roegena Silvernail is the owner and she operates the business along with her husband, Paul, former operator of Silverbird Ceramics in the 600 block of Main Street.

          A grand opening is planned for Oct. 29.   Silver N-Roe’s Ceramics and Gifts offers greenware Bisque products, Duncan paints

and does finished pieces, Silvernail said.

          It also does firing and has new molds, especially for Christmas items arriving daily.

          Ceramics classes are taught on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. To noon and on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m.

          We teach how to do techniques and it is work at your own pace, she said.

          Special classes on a variety of ceramic related topics will be held, Silvernail said.

          The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

BRIDGE DEDICATION

Ind. 17 near Delong

The Sentinel,   October 16,   1984

          The public I invited to the dedicationj ceremonies for the new bridge over the Tippecanoe River on Old Indiana 17 near Delong.  The event is set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

          The former one-lane, wooden bridge, 97 years-old, was replaced with a three-span, precast concrete I-beam structure that can carry two lanes of traffic.

CPA OFFICE

Opened by R.R. Roberts

The Sentinel,   October  23,   1984

          A certified public accountant from Warsaw has begun practice in the office of J.L. Widman, Inc., south of Rochester.

          Robert R. Roberts offers services including financial statements, tax retuns, auditing, management advisory services and computer services. - - - -

          J.L. Widman Inc., an income tax practice, and Robert’s office are on County Road 500 South, a mile west of Indiana 25.

          Roberts also operates a CPA firm in Warsaw, at 309 S. Buffalo St., next to Strayer Insurance. - - - -

          Roberts is a graduate of Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala., where he earned a degree in commerce while majoring in accounting.  He has three years experience with Cherry, Bekaert & Holland in Mobile and two years with his own firm.  He also served as vice-president of finance for Trane Co., which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

          He is a member of the adjunct faculty of Goshen College, serving as lecturer in the business and economics department.  Roberts

and his wife Lucy have four children and his family also farms and raises livestock.

FIRST NATL, FULTON

Stan Reinholt, Mgr

The Sentinel,   November   26,   1984

          Upon the resignation of Gary Wallace, Stan Reinholt has assumed the duties of branch manager at the Fulton branch of the First National Bank of Rochester.

          Reinholt is an assistant vice-president of the bank and has been in the loan department since June 1983.   Before coming to First National, Reinholt had eight yeas banking experience during which he held branch manager positions.

          Reinholt is a Fulton County native, having graduated from Aubbeenaubbee High School, and resides at Rt. 1, Culver, with his wife, Betty, and two children, Ryan and Beth Ann.

KROGER STORE

David Beam, Mgr.

The Sentinel,   December   1,   1984

          David Beam, 33, is the new manager of the Rochester Kroger store.

          He is from New Castle, where he graduated from New Castle Chrysler High School.  Beam, began his career with Kroger in New Castle, as a carry-out boy some 17 years ago. - - - -

          For the last three years Beam was one of four managers at a Kroger Sav-On store in Columbus.  The Columbus store is larger than the one here, Beam said.  While there, he was manager of the grocery and drug section of the 56,000-square-foot store.

          Beam and his wife Gaye and his step-daughter Christy, 15, live in the eastern part of Hancock county near New Palestine.  He commuted to the Columbus store from his home.

          “We plan to move here before school Is out,” he said, and added, “It’s very nice to be back in a smaller community.”- - - - -

          Beam has two children living in Florida, Sean, 15, and Natalie, 13.

          He replaces Steve Johnson, who said today he has not determined his future plans but expects to stay in Rochester.

AKRON CABLE FRANCHISE

Goes To Mike Stephen

The Sentinel,   December   1,   1984

          Mike Stephen, Akron, has received a franchise to provide Akron residents with cable television service.

          The Akron Town Board on Nov. 20 unanimously agreed to grant Stephen the franchise and at the same time it canceled a contract wih another firm to provide the service.

          Telenational Communications, Tulso, Okla., was granted the franchise July 19, 1983.  The town board canceled that contract because the firm had not complied with dates for beginning constrction., Akron clerk-treasurer Sarah Jane Sutton said.

          Stephen will initially operate the business, Valley Cablevision, from Stephen’s Garage, 204 West Rochester Street, according to Sutton.

BERKWAY GROCERY

Pur Jack Townend

The Sentinel,   December   8,   1984

          Rochester’s Berkway grocery on East Ninth Street will close for good Sunday.

          When it opens again - it is hoped before Christmas - the oldest supermarket in Fulton County will have a new name and new owners.

          Jack Townsend, former manager of the Wilt’s Ninth Street grocery is buying the Berkway operation from owner Roger Hancock Townsend, a 15-year veteran of the grocery business, and Hancock plans to close the deal Sunday.k   The new name: Townsend’s IGA Foodliner. - - - -

          The store was founded by Myron Berkheiser and Conde Holloway on Dec. 11, 1947.   At that time there were only three or four homes in the Manitou Heights subdivision.

          It was the community’s first supermarket.

          Berkheiser left the business in 1972’   Holloway sold it to Roger Hancock in 1980.

WILT’S 9th ST.

Steve Fellers, Mgr.

The Sentinel,   December   13,   1984

          Steve Fellers, assistant manager of the Wilt’s Food Center on East Ninth Street for almost eight years, has shed the first word of his title.

          As the new manager, he replaces Jack Townsend who has

purchased the Berkway supermarket.  Succeeding Fellers as assistant manager is Gary Easterday, transferred from a similar position at the Wilts store on Main Street. - - - -

          A 32-year-old native of Fulton County, Fellers has more than 14 years of service with Wilt’s.  He was a part-time stockboy from 1968-73, was assistant manager at the Main Street store for 1-1/2 years from 1975-77, and became assistant manager at the Ninth Street store in March 1977.

          He is the son of Charles and Gloria Fellers, who reside next to him on Wabash Road just south of East 18th Street.   He lived in Akron with his parents from birth until 1967 when the family moved to Rochester.   He is a 1970 graduate of Rochester High School. - - - -

VALLEY TELEVISION

Moved to 112 W. Eighth

The Sentinel,   January   31,   1985

          Valley Television, owned by Jack Hill of Rochester, has moved to 112 W. Eighth St., from a building in back of Hill’s home.

          In business here since 1980, Hill services all brands of television, radio and stereo sets and has some reconditioned tv sets for sale at times. - - - -

RAKER’S PORTHOLE

Adds Complete Wedding Svc.

The Sentinel,   February   7,   1985

          Complete wedding service is now being offered by Raker’s Porthole Botique.

          A separate area of the shop has been remodeled for the service and it will be called Raker’s Porthole Bridal Botique.

          Staffing the area are Geneva Raker and her daughter-in-law, Donna Raker, who are partners in the business. - - - -

QUALITY QUICK LUBE

Selling Used Cars & Trucks

The Sentinel,   February   9,   1985

          Quality Quick Lube is now selling used cars and trucks, according to co-owner and operator Mike Hornstein.

          Hornstein and his wife Gwen own and operate the service business that specializes in 10-minute oil changes and lube jobs. - - - -

          Hornstein plans to keep an inventory of about 10 vehicles.

          Quality Quick Lube, 431 Main St., also offers a complete vehicle cleaning service. - - - -

LAUNDRY REOPENS

Named Kenmar Suds Station

The Sentinel,   March   1,   1985

          Martha Ann and Kenneth Cook of Kewanna have reopened the automatic laundry at Kewanna undeer the name of Kenmar Suds Station.  - - - -

FULTON CO LIBRARIAN

Dead After Short Illness

The Sentinel,   March   8,   1985

          Claire M. Zehner, Fulton County head librarian, died at 1 p.m. Thursday in South Bend Memorial Hospital following a short illness.  A resident of Monterey, she was 71 years old.

          Mrs. Zehner was head librarian of the Monterey-Tippecanoe Townsip Library for 20 years before becoming head librarian at the Fulton County Library on Sept. 1, 1969.

          She directed a continual expansion of the library’s materials, equipment and services that eventually made the 1907 library building at Eighth and Jefferson streets inadequate to the community’s needs.

          Mrs. Zeiner was the driving force behind construction of the present library building at Seventh and Pontiac sreets that opened on April 2, 1984.

          She was born Nov. 10, 1913 in Monterey to Frank and Mary Keller Keitzer and was a lifetime resident of Monterey.  She was married March 5, 1934 in Monterey to Anthony J. Zeiner who died in 1966.

          She was a graduate of Ancilla College and had attended Indiana University at South Bend.  She was a member of St. Anne’s Catholic Church, the Rosary-Sodality, the Indiana Library Association and the American Library Association; the Small and Medium Libraries Group, the Wabash Valley Area Library Services Authority and was on the board of directors of the Indiana Film Circuit.

          Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Peter (Marilyn) McCasland, Elkhart; Mrs. William (Phyllis) McKinney,, Anderson; and Michele Zehner, Monterey; a son, Charles A., Monterey, and eight grandchildren. - - - -

          Burial will be in the St. Anne’s Cemetery. - - - -

ANTIQUE BOUTIQUE

Pur Peg Durkes & Dau

The Sentinel,   March   18,   1985

          Peg Durkes and daughter Patti Costello of Rochester have purchased the Antique Boutique from Dale Welty and have renamed it Antique Attic.  The store is at 923 E. Ninth St. - - - -

GROSSMAN FNRL HOME

Pur Junior & Joyce Good

The Sentinel,   March   21,   1985

          The Grossman Funeral Home in Argos, has been purchased by Junior and Joyce Good, owners of Foster and Good Funeral Homes in Rochester and Akron.

          The transaction was announced today by the Goods and Ruth Grossman.  They said that Mrs. Grossman and Kenneth Powell will continue with the Argos funeral home.

          Grossman’s is the third oldest funeral home in Indiana.   It was founded in 1860 by A.B. Wickizer.  His nephew, Otto Grossman, joined the business in 1897 and later that year purchased sole ownership and changed the name to Grossman Funeral Home.

          In 1931, Otto’s nephew, Holice Grossman, joined the business.  His wife Ruth began at the funeral home in 1938 and obtained her state funeral director’s license in 1949.

          Robert Grossman, son of Holice and Ruth, became associated with the funeral home in 1966 and was with the firm until his death earlier this year.  Holice Grossman preceded in death.

          Powell began his employment with Grossman’s in 1947 and has been fulltime since 1974.

          Junior Good began his funeral home career here with the Foster Funeral Home in 1957.   He became a partner with Mrs. Ora Foster in 1957,  and the name of the business was changed to Foster and Good then.   The Goods became sole owners in 1962.

          Last year the Goods opened their funeral home at Akron.

CONVENIENCE STORE

Steve Johnson, Owner

The Sentinel,   April   3,   1985

          Steve Johnson of Rochester will open a grocery store and self-service gasoline station at Sixth and Main streets next month, he announced today.

          Steve’s Quick Shop will be the name of the convenience store on the southeast corner of the intersection, formerly occupied by a

Mobil gas station.   Sunoco brand gasoline will be sold.

          A former manager of the Rochester Kroger supermarket, Johnson has 20 years of experience in the grocery field.   He said he will have a full line of grocery items, dairy products and luncheon meats.

          Also, coffee, rolls, sandwiches and cold soft drinks will be available and there will be a table and chairs for eating at the store.

- - - -

HUTBURGER IS BACK

pur Harold & Sandra Brown

The Sentinel,   April   4,   1985

          After being closed for some time, the Hamburger Hut, 614 Main St., is open with new owners.

          Owners Harold and Sandra Brown of Akron have spent three months refurbishing the restaurant, with a new ceiling, and tile and wiring.

          Harold Brown, Jr., will operate the business weekdays as cook and waiter.- - - -

          On weekends, the Hut is operated by Mr. & Mrs. Brown.   Mrs. Brown was a waitress and cook in the 1960s at the Evergreen Cafe.

HAIR LINES

Owners, Haney & Brown

The Sentinel,   April   12,   1985

          Hair Lines, 708 E. Ninth St., had a grand opening from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today to signal its entrance to the Rochester business community.

          Kathi Haney and Agnes Brown operate the business which offers a variety of name brand products.

          The business is considered a budget salon Haney said.   “We offer the same type of services and products as other hair care businesses, but at a lower price,” she said. - - - -

          Brown owned and operated the Style Inn at 1415 Main Street about 19 years ago. - - - -

MESECAR INS. AGENCY

Opens Monday

The Sentinel,   April   19,   1985

          Rochester will have a new insurance firm beginning at 9 a.m. Monday when Dave Mesecar opens the doors of the Mesecar Insurance Agency.

(90

          A 20-year veteran of the insurance industry, Mesecar has managed the American States Insurance claims office here for 12 years.   He plans a wide range of offerings through the agency including auto, homeowner, commercial, life, group medical and farm insurance.

          The new office will be in the same building in which Mesecar worked for American States - 321 E. Eighth. - - - -

          Mesecar’s new affiliation will be with Farmers Insurance Group. - - - -  Mesecar will be aided by his wife Betty.  They live at 1305 Rochester Blvd. with their son Patrick,    Son Michael and daughter Shawn are no longer at home. - - -

DOCTOR IN LEITERS

Medical Center

The Sentinel,   May   3,  1985

          Dr. Helen H. Grant, Kewanna physician, has opened an office in the Leiters Ford Medical Center.   She will see patients by appointment only, but the office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. - - - -

SPECIAL MAN

Builds This Kind of Boat

The Sentinel,   May   8,  1985

By W.S. WILSON

Managing Editor, The Sentinel

          Ben Severns has dreamed, like all men have dreamed.

          More than that, he has done, like very few men have done.

          His dream is a 43-foot fully-rigged labor of love and precision.  It is made of breezes, busted knuckles and patient persistence.

          He made it with his own hands.   It has two masts and four sails. It weighs 20,000 pounds.

          You and I might look at it, resting there near its big stout shed, and see a boat.   Severns sees more.

          “This is a challenge,” says the lively 62-year-old.  “This is a challenge for myself.  All my other challenges were for someone else.  This is for me.”

          It is not a boat.   It is a vessel.   It is a heavy-displacement Tahiti Ketch made of among other things, a Cedar hull, White Oak rib, 7,000 2-1/2-inch stainless steel No.12 screws, 15 cases of planking sealant and Sitka spruce masts.

          He named it Benelly, a blend of his name and that of his wife Elly.

          He filled the cabin with every gimbal, gadget, beveled hidey-hole and storage snuggy he could imagine.  Ben Severns is a man of broad, deep imagination.  He imagined a challenge in woodcraft that would make a shop teachers’ convention swoon.

          And then he met his challenge.

          The Benelly ia almost finished.  Now in his Athens backyard and being fitted with rigging, it has long attracted the nosey gawkers one would expect to surround such a display of craft.

          A week or two from today Severns plans to remove the rigging and truck his dream to St. Joseph, Mich., for a month of shaking down.  Then he will sail it to Buffalo, New York, via the Great Lakes.

          From there he plans to float it down the Hudson River, which will carry him past New York City to the Atlantic, a sea he crossed 14 times on a destroyer escort in World War 11 but has scarcely seen since.

          He and his wife plan to spend a little time on the East Coast, perhaps.   But they want to make it to Key West by Christmas.  They have a son there.

          After that it’s a matter of wherever the wind blows.   Mrs. Severns would like to see Hawaii.   The Secverens are very free indeed.  They are retired, healthy and have a boat capable of sailing around the world.

          “People ask how long did it take to build this boat,” said the lifetime area resident.  “It’s taken me 62 years to build this boat.  You take all the things you ever learned to do and then you fill in what you don’t know.”

          He paid $10 for the plans, which “were fine as far as they went,” he said.   The plans told him where he had to go.   Getting there was up to him.

          They went so far as to tell him how long and tall he might make the cabin, but they told him nothing whatsoever about what to put inside.   He made it long enough to place end to end a galley, two bunks and a very small lavatory.  He made it tall enough to accommodate people taller than his 5 feet eight inches.   It can handle people 6 feet, 5 inches tall.

          The plans told him what size to make every third rib.  He figured out the rest of the ribs, some of which he steam-bent and some of which he cut to fit.   The plans told him how the hull planks should be shaped.  He cooked up a machine that routed and mortised each of the cedar planks in a single pass.

          In addition to the shed he made from two buildings salvaged from the 1974 tornado.  Severns employed the experience gained

during the 23 years as a senior manufacturing engineer at the Singer plant in Winamac.

          “I tried to squeeze out 10 hours a week to work on it, as an average,” Severens said.  Thus scheduled, construction lasted a decade, something like 5,000 hours - a couple of hours at a time.

          “Maybe more,” he says.

          During that 5,000 hours, Severns concocted a cabin with more movable parts than a hinge factory.   There are upwards of 75 movable doors, drawers and panels in the compartment.

          To enter the cabin, one walks down steps.   The bottom step is a Teak cover to one of two battery covers.   To take a look at the batteries, one lifts the seat of the chart table.   That uncovers part of the battery box lid.  Removing shelves are behind and below the stairs.   The stairs can be locked up to the cabin ceiling to provide access to the Volvo diesel engine.

          Accordingly, every spot of the four bunk cabin seems to make way for something beside or behind.   Said one visitor after her cabin tour, “Isn’t there anything in here that doesn’t move?”

          Severns did a lot of movng to attain the solid curves of the hull.  He took a big White Oak tree from John Hott’s farm and let it cure.   He cut it down to 11-inch by 7-inch timbers.   He mortised the 11 keel timbers, one of which is 24 feet long, to fit his gentle bend.

          He poured 5,000 pounds of melted lead into a keel mold.   Meticulously, he “lofted” the curves, scribing them, onto plywood templates to get the proper line.

          “You have a natural curve,” he points out.   “You don’t have sharp bends.

          Natural curves begat natural grace.

          “All the frame is White Oak,” Severns said.  “White Oak is the best building lumber for framing.   First you do as much research as you do work.  You choose the woods that will stand up to the environment.

          Other wood in the Benelly includes:

          Southern White Cedar for the hull planking, chosen because it withstands water;   Honduran Mahogany for the trim because it takes well to varnish and lasts a very long time;   Douglas Fir marine grade plywood bereft of holes, had ply and annointed with good glue; Teal becaise it doesn’t become slippery when wet.

          On the inside, a removable double drop leaf table of Wild Cherry amid fine, fine oak.  The tiller is ash.

          Four small cabin skylights are prisms.   They came from Scotland.

          Not long ago while he was conducting a tour of the boat, a man came to look.

          “I’m a neighbor,” said the man.   “I just came to see.”

          The craftsman cheerfully declined, saying he was busy.  “Okay,” said the man.  “When you go, I’d like to go with you.”

          Severns returned to the depths of the cabin.   “A neighbor, the guy says.  I don’t know that guy.   Everybody is a neighbor when it comes to this thing.”

          One doesn’t discern a hint of contempt or frustraton when he says that.   Rather, a fait note of pride, Severns knows he has built something very special.

          He sits on the forward bunk and muses.  “How many people get out of school and then figure they have learned everything,” he asks.  “They quit, when actually your schooling only prepares you to learn.  How many people take pride in their work?”

          Ben Severns is a high school drop out.  He “got cross-ways with a teacher,” and flunked a math class and went to trade school.   He became an engineer by dint of hard work and brains.

          On this day he stuck his foot out to tap a small ladder connecting the bunks to the foredeck.

          “I spent a whole day on that ladder,” he says.   The ladder has three rungs of six or so inches in length.  It would have taken far, far less time to build.  Ben Severns’ ladder fits absolutely.  In itself, it is a fine piece of woodwork.  As a part of the Benelly as a whole it is simply another speck, a coat on the grain of sand that has become a pearl.

          “This isn’t a big job,: he says.  “It is a whole lot of little jobs.”

          “When I was a kid, if you wanted a toy, you made it.  If you wanted a sled, you made it.  I remember one time I wanted a bobsled.  I took the steering out oif an old Model T and some rails off an old grain bin that was out there rusting and I made a bobsled and we rode it all over the Big Hills.’

          “A lot of the toys you got more fun out of making than you did playing with them.”

          ELLY THOUGHT SHE’D TRAVEL BUT NOT LIKE THIS.

          Elly Severns has been married to a ketch since 1974.

          Her husband, Ben, has spent so much time building the Benelly that she has come to say brightly, “You are a boat widow, that’s what it is.”

          Mrs. Severns retired from Hart Schaffner & Marx in January.  Like her husband Ben, she is free to do just about anything she wants.

          She would like to go to Hawaii and so will sail there sometime

 next year, provided it seems to be the thing to do at the time.

          Mrs. Severns says she never doubted the boat would be completed.   “When he makes up his mind, that he’s going to do something, you can plan on it being done,” she said.

          Ben wouldn’t let her help much.   “He didn’t want anything in his way,” she said.   “He had it in his mind how he wanted that done.”

          Although she planned to travel upon retiring, she didn’t expect to spend much time blithely cruising the tropical globe.

          “I though years ago that when we retired, we’d get a Winnebago or something and drive across the country and visit each state or something,” she smiles.   “He said ‘I’ll take you to Hawaii, and it wonj’t cost you anything.  The wind is free.’”

          Mrs. Severns has made a contribution to the Benelly.  In addition to lending a hand occasionally, to steady a part for her husband, she is helping stock the galley.

          “I’ve been canning beef,” she said.  “We’ll probably get tired of eating fish.

          “We might have to break down and eat lobster,” quips her husband.

          Like her husband, Mrs. Severns is not about to say, “We’re going to sail around the world.”   Though they have volumes of study behind them, they figure there are a few more in front of them - to say nothing of experience to be gained - before they can call themselves deep water sailors.   Says she: “We plan to stay pretty close to shore for a while until we know what we are doing.

DAWSON REUN

Dawson Farm

The Sentinel,   June   4,  1985

          The family of John and Marie Dawson gathered for a family reunion over Memorial Day weekend.

          The family attended the wedding of Bert Kibbler and Suzy Goin May 25 in Champaigne, Ill.  About 100 relatives, friends and neighbors attended a hog roast at the Dawson Farm on Memorial Day.

          Those present were Mr. & Mrs. Marshall, Roger Allman, Laura Gunther and her mother, Ruth Gunther, all of West Lafayette; Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Allman, Heather and Holly, Indianapolis, Paul Allman, Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Scott Allman, Boulder, Colo.; Mr. & Mrs. Al Kibbler, Excelsior, Minn.; Mr. & Mrs. Don Morris and his moter, Mrs. Marty Morris, Lancaster, Pa.; Mr. & Mrs. Ward Kibbler, Aloha, Ore.; Mr. & Mrs. Ken Downing, Laura, David and Nancy Ann, Redondo

Beach, Calif.; and Ruth Dawson, Leucadia, Calif.

DUGOUT BAR-GRILL

Pur Ron & Joy Holloway

The Sentinel,   June   17,  1985

          Ownership of the Dugout bar and grill;; at 604 Main St., will change on July 1, from Ed and Beverly Fansler to Ron and Joy Holloway.

          Holloway, who will operate and manage the business, said the Dugout will open at 9 a.m. under the new ownership, two hours earlier than now.  He said he will add baked potatoes with various toppings to the menu of sandwiches, light lunches, salads, nacos and snacks. - - - -

          A lifetime Rochester resident, Holloway was manager of the former Colonial Gardens restaurant at Lake Manitou and was public relations director for the Young Beer Distributing Co.. of Kokomo.

          He is a member of Grace United Methodist Church and the Elks (former exalted ruler), American Legion, Moose and Masonic lodges of Rochester and the Scottish Rite.

          His wife is employed at the Wilt’s Main Street supermarket.

          The Fanslers purchased the business, then known as Manitou Bar and Grill, in 1981 from Joe and Dorothy Conaway who had owned and operated it for 27 years.   Fansler said his future plans are indefinite.

FULTON CO. LIBRARY

Esther Lu Lasher, Director

The Sentinel,   June   28,  1985

          Esther Lu Lasher, assistant director of the Greenwood Public Library since 1977, will become director of the Fulton County Library on Aug. 1.

          Lu, as she is called, will succeed Claire M. Zehner, head librarian for 16 years who died March 7.

          Mrs. Lasher, a widow, was music librarin at Butler Unicversity from 1968-72.   From 1972 until going to Greenwood, she was cataloger at the Indiana State Library, using on-line computer for cataloging the general collection of materials.

          She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Denver University, a degree from Eastern Baptist Seminary at Philadelphia, and did post graduate study at Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary.

          Mrs. Lasher is a member of the Indiana Library Association, the

Indiana Library Trustees Association, Sigma Alpha Iota music honorary, Phi Sigma Iota Romance Language honorary, the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Indiana Symphony Society, and

the Faith Fellowship Baptist Church and the Toastmaster’s Club at Greenwood.

          Her hobbies include handicrafts, needlecrafts and sewing, reading, violin, bowling and spectator sports.

FULTON CO LIBRARY

Bookmobile Discontinued

The Sentinel,   July   2,  1985

          Cost of operation and changing habits of patrons has led the Fulton County Library Board to discontinue Bookmobile services to rural areas according to board president Donald Groenleer.

          “The board felt that the money and the staff could better be utilized in other Library services,”he said, noting that operating costs of the Bookmobile have been about $22,500 annually in recent years.

          Fulton County’s Bookmobile services, believed to have been the first in Indiana, began in 1922 - 18 years after the Library opened.   The last trip was made at the end of May.

          The present unit, the fourth one, is a 1975 model that cost $22,441.70.   It is for sale with advertisements having been placed in Focus, a statewide publication of the Indiana State Library.

          Groenleer said that use of the Bookmobile has been decreasing steadily.   He said the Library Board also noted that many of the people using the unit also were using the main Library in Rochester or its branches in Fulton and Leiters Ford.

          He said that homebound people still can receive Library services upon request.   “We have a large volunteer organization (the Friends of the Library) and staff members who can take materials to and from the homes of people where necessary,” he said.

          People along the Bookmobile routes were informed of the planned discontinance and there was very little negative reaction, Groenleer said.

          The two Bookmobile staffers have been retained.   One filled a vacancy at the Fulton Branch created by resignation.   The other is at the main Library, where increasing use of services caused the need for an additional employee.

          Materials formerly carried on the Bookmobile have been placed in the three library buildings to supplement stock or replace worn items.

NEW SURGEON

Dr. Mirza M. Ahmad

The Sentinel,   July   6,  1985

          Rochester has a new surgeon.

          Dr. Mirza M. Ahmad, 37, set up shop this week at 818 Main St., the former office of Dr. Carson McGuire.  He plans a practice of general surgery and has had extensive training in vascalar and thoracic surgery.

          Dr. Ahmad received his M.D. Degree in Multan, Pakistan in 1971.   He received his surgical trainiing in a five-year residency program at St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, Md., from 1977 to 1983.  During 1983 he served as the chief surgical resident for the St. Agnes training program.

          After completing his residency, he remained on the surgical staff at St. Agnes, where he was a teacher of medical students and surgical residents.  He also managed the surgical intensive care unit there and supervised the surgical nurse practitioners at St. Joseph Hospital.

          Dr. Ahmad comes highly recommended from Dr. John A. Singer, who is the director of surgical education at St. Agnes, and from Dr. William Macon, head of the St. Joseph Hospital surgery department.

          “Dr. Ahmad is highly qualified and highly regarded as an individual, as a clinician and technically as a surgeon and I sincerely hate to see him leave the Baltimore area,”  Dr. Macon said.

          Dr. Ahmad presented a scholarly paper at the Southeastern Surgical Congress in 1982.   It was entitled “Gangrene of the Gallbladder” and published in The American Surgeon in March, 1983.

          The addition to Woodlawn Hospital’s staff represents the second surgeon in Rochester, the other being Dr. P.D. Aluning, Local physicians had stated in the past that one surgeon is not enough because when Dr. Aluning is out of town, patients must wait or travel themselves.

          Dr. Ahmad’s expertise as a vascular surgeon represents a broadening of services available at Woodlawn, according to Dr. Ken Hoff.   Dr. Ahmad is certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery.

          Dr. Ahmad and his wife are living at Colonial Bay Condominiums.   They have two children, aged 6 and 3.

          He plans evening office hours.   His telephone number is 223-8337.

ROCHESTER TEXACO

Now A Convenience Store

The Sentinel,   July   17  1985

          Rochester Texaco on Indiana 25 South across from the Rochester Plaza is now a full-service convenience store, according to manager Caroline Stephen.

          “It’s really more than a convenience store.   It has a lot more items,” Stephen said.   “We’re not conveniently priced, we’re competitively priced.”

          A change in the store’s name is being planned, mainly because its fuel supplier, Texaco, is closing its Lawrenceville, Ill., refinery and won’t be selling to Indiana.   Shell products will replace the Texaco line.

          To accommodate the convenience store, the building is being remodeled.  Inside remodeling is almost complete and all types of grocery items are being sold.   A deli is planned for later.

          Outside remodeling for the future includes stone and pebble siding and new gas pumps.

          Rochester Texaco will be open 24 hours a day in the future.

          - - - - The business is owned by Donald P. Crawford, Delphi, who operates Crawford Petroleum Inc., which has some 30 service stations in Northern Indiana.

          Mel Miller will continue to work at the store, along with Betty Holloway of Fulton.- - - -

          Stephen also works parttime as a broker for Dave Helt Realty.

BABE’S PIZZA

Frank & Babe VanEs

The Sentinel,   July   25  1985

          Babe’s Pizza, 917 E. Ninth St., is a family owned and operated business offering all kinds of pizzas and sandwiches.

          The business is owned by Frank and Babe VanEs, Star City, and is operated by them and their sons Chuck, Eli and Tom, and daughter Frances.

          VanEs and his wife owned and operated Babe’s Pizza Lounge, 17th and Erie streets, Loganspot, for 12 years prior to opening Babe’s Pizza here in the former location of Carol’s New and Used Furniture.

          - - - - Frank VanEs has 25 years of pizza making experience.   He began his career in 1960 in Illinois. - - - -

ONLY LEGAL LOTTERY

Fulton County Already Had

The Sentinel,   July   26  1985

By WILLIAM FREYBERG

Editor, The Sentinjel

          The Associated Press carried a story the other day about the Warrick county sheriff being sent into the streets of Boonville to round up potential jurors for a murder trial.

          The judge explained that state law allows the drafting of juror prospects if the original panel is exhausted.

          For a number of Fulton County people, that wasn’t news.  The same thing has happened here more than once.

          The Sentinel took note of one such incident more than 10 years ago.  In January of 1973, six local people were herded into Fulton Circuit Court by then-sheriff Homer Carr after then-Judge Wendell Tombaugh sent him out to collect some potential jurors.

          Three of them ended up in the jury box for a land condemnation case.   One of them works in the courthouse now - county treasurer Evelyn Braman.

          Long lists of potential jurors are drawn by lot every three months for both county and circuit courts in Fulton County.   For each trial, a certain number of names are drawn from the master list, once again by lot.

          In 1973, Tombaugh called this process “the only legal lottery in Indiana.”

BOOKS & CAKES STORE

Paul & Agnes Hartz

The Sentinel,   July   31  1985

          The Paper Back Rack and Cake Supplies is the unusual name of a business to be opened in Rochester Friday.

          Under ownership of Paul and Agnes Hartz, Rt. 4, Rochester, and the operation of Mrs. Hartz, the store will have used paper-back books for trade and sale, and special cake baking items for rent.

          It will be located on the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets in a building most recently occupied by a Volkswagen repair shop.   Before that, thre was a Hoosier Pete service station there. - - - -

          Mrs. Hartz is a former director of the Alphabet Box Day Care Center.   Her husband has been a lineman for the Fulton County REMC For 14 years,

HARMON REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   July   31  1985

          The 63rd Harmon reunion was Sunday in the Rochester City Park.   Twenty-nine people attended the basket dinner.

          Larry Klein said a prayer before the noon meal.  There were reports from the secretary and treasurer.

          The group plans to meet again next year.

FULTON METAL & MFG CO

Pur Delta Tool & Mfg.

The Sentinel,   August   1  1985

          Delta Tool & Mfg. 730 Indiana Ave., owned by four local men, has purchased Fulton Metal Manufacturing on Wabash Road, Delta president George Jackson announced today,

          Owners of Delta besides Jackson are Steve Whistler, Ron Mathias and Dan Hartman.

          Jackson said the purchase was made under permission of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in South Bend, where Fulton Metal had filed for Chapter 11 protection.

          Jackson began there as a foreman in 1971, and in 1978 he and two other men purchased the company.   In 1981 he sold his stock and joined Whistler, Mathias and Hartmn in establishing Delta Tools.

          Whistler was at Fulton Metal for about six years as engineer and draftsman.   Last fall he began working at Delta Tool.

          Hartman was purchasing agent at Fulton Metal for about five years, resigning last July 12.

          Mathias has been with Fulton Metal for 13 years and currently is leadman there.

          Jackson said Delta Tool will move its equipment to the Fulton Metal site late this month and that both Delta Tool and Fulton Metal operations will be headqartered there.

          Fulton Metal makes parts for nmerous companies, including Rochester’s Torx plant.   It also does welding.

          Fulton Metal employs 11 fulltime people while Delta has five fulltime employees.

          Jackson said Fulton Metal hopes to increase its workforce to

18-20 fulltime employees by the end of this year.

JONAH CLUB

Akron’s Famous

The Sentinel,   August   2  1985

By WILLIAM FREYBERG

The Sentinel Editor

          The notice in The Sentinel the other day about a reunion of former Famous Akron Jonah clubbers set the memory cells to jangling.

          There was a time when hardly a summer weekend passed without a fish fry in Fulton County or nearby area by the club.

          An organization wanting a Jonah Club fish fry had to schedule well in advance, and numerous groups had annual events with the club preparing the main meal.

          There were two reasons for the popularity of Jonah Club fish fries:

          1.  The fish were out of this world.

          2.  The sponsoring organization always made lots of money.

______

          The Famous Akron Jonah Club was started in the early 1930s by several married couples living in Akron.   Its membership came to embrace all areas of the county, and its fame spread way past the county’s boundaries.

          The club fried fish only for worthwhile, non-profit organizations and for special causes.   It charged only for the cost of ingredients, then accepted “what ever you think is right” as a donation from the organization.

          Hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to charitable efforts can be attributed to the Jonah Club during its some 40 years of existence.

          Not only did the sponsoring group raise money, but the club sometimes voted to return not only a group’s donation, but twice that amount when the good cause had a special significance.

          Members of the club were hard-workers during a fish fry, but they had a sense of humor, as provided by the titles of some of the offices in the club.   There was a Kingfish, Skillet Man, Foghorn Blower, Anchor Lifter, Bone Picker, Fish Scaler, Bait Digger and Wrinkle Chaser.

          Females of the club were called mermaids.

          The club always tried to make sure that local requests for its services were honored, and the crowds were big no matter how often a Jonah Club fish fry was conducted in the county.

          Regular dates also were filled each year in Indianapolis, South

Bend, Elkhart, Young America and Attica.   Requests from Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio had to be turned down every year because of lack of time.

______

          The esteem in which the Famous Akron Jonah Club was held was demonstrated in 1959 when Fulton County staged “Charlie Halleck Day” to honor its longtime representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

          The special guest was then vice president Richard M. Nixon.

          The organizers decided that an Akron Jonah Club Fish Fry would be appropriate for feeding the thousands of people expected.

          It is estimated that more than 13,000 people saw Nixon and Halleck during that day - Oct. 4 - as they rode in a caravan down main Street to the courthouse, then out to what then was the Rochester High School athletic field at Brown and Wabash avenues.

          Some 9,000 of them congregated at the athletic field to hear Nixon and Halleck make speeches, and to eat fish.   Nixon took his turn in line, and later said, “An Indiana fish fry can’t be beat.   I will have kind words for the Jonah Club whenever the subject comes up from now on.”

_____

          The Jonah Club suffered the same fate that many other volunteer groups experience.   Members died or moved away, and were not replaced by younger people.   It disbanded about five years ago.

          But one of the members, Ernie Hiatt of Rochester, bought the equpment and puts on a “Jonah Club Style” fish fry now and then.

          And on Saturday, Aug. 10, he will sponser a reunion of former members at his farm home.   He’ll provide and fry the fish.   There’ll be plenty of local people wishing they qualified to attend and get one more taste of that famous Famous Akron Jonah Club fish.

STREBE REUN

Unicoi State Park, Georgia

The Sentinel,   August   8  1985

          Descendants of Edward and Ida Davis Strebe were reunited July 26 at the Unicoi State Park in Georgia.

          The Strebes had lived in the Fulton and Macy communities.

          Those who attended the reunion from Indiana were Hester Strebe Zimmerman, Sue Zartman, Susan Oliver and Kacie and Gary

and Kris Zartman and Megan, Andrew and Molly, Rochester; J.H. and Bonnie Montgomery, Macy; Michael and Deb Lee and Jason, Plymouth; and Phil and Cheryl Oliver and Lindsay and Kyle, Mexico.

          Also attending were Lester and Louise Strebe Rhodes, Luella Strebe Gray, Helen Strebe Shriver, Floyd Gray Jr., Diane Ruszat, David and Lynn VanDusen Jordan and Matthew and Joshua, sll of Florida; Dan and Joanne Clemans Sassaman and Brian and Suzanne, Donnie and Donna Dodelin and Cliff, June Clemans, Don and Carole Cox, Jayne and Nancy Jackson and Justin and Blair and Craig Smith, all of Georgia.

          Also, Dorothy Clemans Austin, Pennsylvania; Jayme Williamson, Ohio; Tom and June VanDusen Smith and Chris, Louisiana, Ed and Marlene Zimmerman and Stacy, Colorado; Clifford and Hazel Strebe, Gary and Pam Strebe and Mindy and Paul, Tennessee; and Stanley Rhodes, New York.

VANLUE REUN

K. Fuller, Springfield, Oh.

The Sentinel,   August   14  1985

          Descendants of James and Tincy Vanlue attended the reunion at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Fuller and family, Springfield, Ohio.

          Fifty-three people were present Saturday and 42 attended the reunion on Sunday.

          Those from Indiana who were present were:   Mr. & Mrs. Jim Barkman and sons, Mr. & Mrs. C.R. Barkman and Mr. & Mrs. Bob Metzger and family, all of Rochester; Mr. & Mrs. Hubert Vanlue and son, Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Vanlue, Jr., and family, and Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Wallace, Indianapolis; Mr. & Mrs. John Boggess and sons, Lafayette; Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie VanLue and family, Fort Wayne; and Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Miller and Mr. & Mrs. Richard Minglin, Warsaw.

          Also, Anna Vandegrift, Quartzsite, Ariz.; Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Broncyzk, Gilbert, Minn.; Mr. & Mrs. Jack Hayes, Norfolk, Va.; Mr. & Mrs. Jim Pitt, Aitkin, Minn.; Mrs.  Harris Nelson, Columbia, Mo.; and Mr. & Mrs. Fuller and family.

          Allene Biddinger, Rochester, and Mr. & Mrs. Harold Emmons, Tipp City, Ohio, were Sunday afternoon callers.

          Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Broncyzk and Anna Vandegrift have returned to Gilbert, Minn., after spending a few days with Mr. & Mrs. C.R. Barkman, and Kevin and Rolyn Fuller have returned to Springfield after spending a few days with the Barkmans.

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park

The Sentinel,   August   20  1985

          The annual Monroe Morris family reunion was Aug. 11 at the Akron Park.

          A carry-in dinner was served to 68 members and guests, followed by a business meeting conducted by President Melissa Alexander.

          Robert Morris, the youngest and only surviving member of the Monroe Morris children, and his wife were there.   He will be 83 years old in September.   The youngest member present was their four-month-old great-granddaughter, Stefanie Squint.

          Several members were there who had not attended the reunions for many years and they introduced their families.

          Those present represented several areas of Indiana:   South Bend, Lapaz, Portland, Fort Wayne, Crawfordsville, Wabash, Macy, Burket, Roann, Peru, Gilead, Silver Lake, Claypool and Akron.

          The reunion next year will be on the second Sunday of August at the same place.

GLASSBURN REUN

Mcquanah Park, Peru

The Sentinel,   August   22  1985

          Fifty-one members of the Glassburn family attended the 67th annual reunion Sunday at Mcquanah Park, Peru.

          Five generations were represented by Sylvia Glassburn Sipe, her daughter Betty McNeely, granddaughter Tana Haynes, great-granddaughter Tammy Morris and great-great-grandson, Danny Morris, all of Peru.

          Three families had traveled from Michigan: Phyllis Lausch, Berrien Springs; Dortha Neidlinger, Niles, and Mr. & Mrs. Robert White, Bridgeman.

          Prizes were awarded to the following:   oldest woman, Sylvia Sipe; oldest man, Orville Glassburn, Marion; longest married, Arthur and Madonna Dills, Marion; newlyweds, Allen T. and Lydia Glassburn 11, Delong; Largest family, Phoebe Bowers, Peru; youngest child, twins, Nicolas and Heather Bowers, Peru; most grandchildren present, Hellen Webb, Peru with 11 grandchildren, and the couple from farthest away, Mr. & Mrs. Robert White, Bridgeman, Mich.

          Allen Glassburn, Delong, was re-elected as president and treasurer for next year.

FULTON CO NEW JAIL

Visited by 1,500 Citizens

The Sentinel,   August   26  1985

          An open house and dedication ceremony Sunday afternoon at the new Fulton County Jail attracted state legislators and an estimated 1,500 people who came to inspect and approve of the $1.9 million plus facility.

          About 100 people stood in front of the jail in the 500 block of Madison Street and were welcomed by Fulton Board of County Commissioners president Everett Smith.   In a brief history of Fulton County jails, Smith said the jail that’s been used for the last 91 years cost $19,935.   “To get the cost of the new jail you can either add a couple of zeros or multiply by 100,” Smith said.

          “By building the new jail it’s hoped that law enforcement in Fulton County will be more efficient and in the long run it will save tax dollars,” Smith noted.  “It’s been a long drawn out process and has taken longer than thought at the start, but we hope it will fulfill the needs of the county for a long time to come,” Smith said.

          Before introducing Rochester Mayor Don Cook, Smith recognized current commissioners, past commissioners including Fred Brown and Kline Blacketor, current Fulton County Council members and past council members including Eldrith Cook, Leroy W. Rouch, Roy G. Rudd and David Clauson.

          Cook recognized current Rochester City Council members and past members Betty Martens, Phil Thompson and Joan Atkinson.   He also recognized state Sen. Bill Justice (R-Logansport), Rep. Ray Mussleman (R-Mexico), and Rep. Ed Cook (D-Plymouth).   Rep. Cook, speaking on behalf of the legislators at the ceremony, said “This venture between city and county government in the long run will save money for Fulton County.  Both agencies from county and city government should be commended.”.

          Prior to a ribbon cutting ceremony that concluded the dedication portion of the ceremony, John C. Feck, state director, Public Works Division, Indiana Department of Administration, spoke:

          “It takes a great deal of cooperation to get projects like this done and that is evidenced here in Fulton County.  The sharing of community functions is a concern that should happen more often than it does,” Fleck said.

          The Rev. Teal Younce, First Christian Church, gave the invocation during the dedication ceremony.

COOK BROS FURN INC

Inventory Liquidation Sale

The Sentinel,   September   4  1985

          Cook Brothers Furniture Inc., which has stores in Rochester and Plymouth, will conduct an inventory liquidation sale “so we can keep the doors open,” according to Rochester store manager Greg Cook.

          The company informed “valued customers” by special mailing Tuesday that it will have a “forced sale” because a bank note must be paid in a matter of days.

          Greg Cook said there is no intention to go out of business.

          Cook Brothers, owned and operated by four brothers, started its Plymouth store in 1949 and its Rochester store in 1959.   Mayor Don Cook supervises the Rochester store, which is managed by his son, State Rep. Ed Cook.  Dick Cook and Fred Cook work the Plymouth store.

RILEY REUN

Nina Spurlock Residence

The Sentinel,   September   4  1985

          The Riley family reunion was Sunday at the home of Nina Spurlock, north of Athens.

          Fifty-three relatives attended from Peru, Warsaw, Lafayette, Greenfield, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, South Bend, Akron, Rochester and Stevensville, Mich.

COOP MOVES

Hardesty Expands

The Sentinel,   September   5  1985

          The Coop has flown - - - but only a few doors north.

          Doris and Dave Cooper moved their specialty T-shirt and fabric craft business this week from 822 Main St., to the former Ward Catalogue Store at 808 Main St.

          The larger quarters give them more space for their craft items, which include instructional books, ribbons, lace and calico fabric.

          The Coopers, who previously owned Cooper’s Department Store in Mentone, bought the T-shirt business from Erma and Bob Matin Oct. 30, 1983 when it was called Erma’s Shirt Tales, and renamed it The Coop.

          In February 1984, they purchased the Martins’ T-shirt store in Warsaw and renamed it The Coop Shirt Tales.

‘        Hardesty Printing, 824 Main St., now is expanding into Coop’s former quarters next door to provide additional office space.   Frank

Hardesty opened his print shop on Main Street in 1975 after starting out in The Sentinel building in 1974.

LOWERY-BATTY REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   September   5  1985

          The third annual Lowery-Batty reunion was Sunday at the Rochester City Park.

          Among the 56 family members present were Mr. & Mrs. Donald Hettinger, Lady Smith, Wis.; Mr. & Mrs. Walter Sparks, Monticello; Mr. & Mrs. Harold Rexstrew, New Carlisle, Mr. & Mrs. Keith Smith, Kokomo, Eunice Rans and Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Ernsperger, Shelly, Tracy, Kay and Matthew Jr., all of South Bend; David Rexstrew, North Liberty; Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Rans, Jacob and Jessica, Canton, Mich.; Mr. & Mrs. Mike Smith, Tricia, Melissa, Kerry, Becky and Ryan, Candon, and Dick Funk, Royal Center.

          Also, Mr. & Mrs. Steve Sheetz and Teresa, Galveston; Barbara Flachman, Mikell, Shane and Monica and Evelyn Poe, John, Jodie, Julie and Jennifer, all of Peru, snd Doris Stahl, Kevin, Trudy and Wendy, Connie Baker, Christy, Andy and Rodger; Harold Kukn, Mark Liggett, Lorna Holloway and Della,Opal Colby and Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Lowery, all of Rochester.

BRADWAY RENTAL

Pur Mike & Jo Thompson

The Sentinel,   September   6  1985

          Mike and Jo Thompon now are owner-operators of the former Bradway Rental and Service business which they have renamed T&T Rent All.

          Both are local people.   Mike is the son of Maxine and the late Ralph Thompson of Rochester.   Jo is the daughter of Juanita and Ed King of Rochester.

          For five years until purchasing the Bradway business effective Sunday, Thompson was employed by Airmarking of Rochester.

          Thompson said the company will retain the present rental items, and will add to it in accordance with customer wishes.  T&T also will continue its Wheelhorse tractor sales and the rental of U-Haul trailers.

          In the winter, T&T will offer a snow removal service.  Next spring, yard dethatching and cleanup service will be added.- - - -

          Robert Bradway, a native of Akron, established the rental firm on Indiana 14 across from the Fulton County Airport grounds in April 1978.  He has retired following open heart surgery.

DAIRY QUEEN

Planned East of Woodlawn

The Sentinel,   September   6  1985

          A prototype Dairy Queen with glass atrium, a gazebo and an antique motif is planned for a site east of Woodlawn Hospital.

          Al Collins, president of Venture Properties Inc., said today he hopes the brick structure will be completed by the end of November.  Venture Properties Inc., a Plymouth-based corporation comprised of nine people including Collins, is responsible for the bulding projects.

- - - -

GOTTSCHALK REUN

Roch City Park

The Sentinel,   September   6  1985

          The John Gottschalk family reunion was Aug. 25 at the Rochester City Park.

          Thirty-one relatives attended the 55th reunion.   The first reunion, Sept. 14, 1930 at the City Park, had 65 members present.

          After a carry-in dinner, President William Gottschalk, Kokomo, conducted the business meeting.   Mary Ruth Keim, Rochester, read the secretary-treasurer report.

          Vice-President Noiah William Gottschalk, Roanoke, told of the book, “Gottschalks, The Descendants of Jacob Friedrich Gottschalk Sr. and his wife Anna Marie Schnurle.”   James S. Hook, Decatur, is compilig the book which will be purchased later this year.   The first volume, Generations One through Four, costs $12 plus $1.75 for postage and handling.   The second volume, Generations Five through Eight, will be published in 1986.

          Laura Schindler, Rochester Nursing Home, was the oldest member attending, and 4-year-old Amanda Sue Finks, Logansport, and Leah Gottschalk, Delphi, were the youngest.

          Officers for next year will remain the same.   The 1986 reunion will be Aug. 24 at the City Park.

TOMBAUGH’S REPLICA

Brings WW 2 Carier to Life

The Sentinel,   September   19  1985

By KEITH KEIM

Staff Writer, The Sentinjel

          John Tombaugh’s scale replica of an early World War 11 transport carrier is every model builder’s dream.

          For the past two years and eight months, Tombaugh, 43, has been building a 1/48th scale, nine-foot-long, 126-pound dry model of

the USS Copahee CVE 12.

          On Friday he will leave his Wagner Park home on the Tippecanoe River in southern Richland Township for Albuquerque, N.M., where he will attend the ninth annual reunion of the crew of the Copahee and her squadron Sept. 24, 25 and 2t6.   Traveling with Tombaugh will be converted snowmobile trailer containing his model of the Copahee.

          “This is the biggest reunion they have ever had, partly due to the fact I’m bringing the model out,” he sad of what a Copahee crew member has told him.

          On the final day of the three-day reunion, the Copahee model will be launched for cruising at a lake in the Albuquerque area.

          “I’ll have knocking knees,” Tombaugh said of the launching ceremony of the radio-controlled ship that gets its power from two 12 volt batteries and one six volt battery.

          “I’m going to turn the controls over to one of its former commanders and say, ‘See if she handles like she used to,’ “ he said.

          When the Copahee model isn’t in the water, it will be on display in the hospitality suite of the motel where Tombaugh will be staying.

          Tombaugh has been made an honorary member of the crew of the Copahee.

          Tombaugh, who has been building models since childhood, decided to build a model of the Copahee while reading a back issue of Sea Classics magazine which contained an article about the World War 11 ship.

          “It hit me like a spankerboom runing free in a gale,” he said.

          “By January 1983 I was at a loss for an efficient type of diorama, short of using a gymnasium, that could show a variety oif my collection,” Tombaugh said for selecting the Copahee as a modeling project.

          “Everything I had built I could use, even those models that were literally in the trash,” said Tombaugh, who was never in the Navy.

          A month later he ordered a fiberglass hull.

          Since receiving the hull he has invested about $2,500 and 2,500 hours on the project.

          Except for help provided by the chief quartermaster of the Copahee, who served as Tombaugh’s “eyes and ears,” the model was built from pictures and sketches.

          Most items on the model are built from scratch, including 20- and 40-millimeter and five inch guns.   He used wire and discarded plastic to fashion them.   The guns can be manually set at different angles but they also will move back and forth by command of the

radio control operator.

          The flight deck is layered with 720 pieces of walnut strips.   Birch plywood was used on a below-surface storage deck, which houses nine airplanes, men and equipment.

          An antenna on the conning tower constantly rotates near a 48-star United States flag.   An admiral poses on the flying bridge and signal flags are on the yard arms.   The bridge has been built five times because it hasn’t been the way the meticulous Tombaugh wants it.

          Airplane models, six in all, on the flight deck of the Copahee model don’t just sit still.

          With the use of the onboard computer, Tombaugh has set up a series of events lasting several minutes.  Propellers turn and lights flash.  Liqud smoke, imitating steam, rises from the bow so pilots know which way the wind is blowing before they take off.   One plane even has engine trouble and tries to start four times before its propeller runs smoothly.

          The Copahee was known as a mini carrier or postage stamp carrier because of its size.   It would take two Copahees to equal the size in length of the USS Enterprise or four to equal the size of a modern day nuclear carrier.

GILEAD DAIRY FARMER

Builds Race Engines

The Sentinel,   October   2  1985

          GILEAD, Ind. (AP) - A small rural village without a stoplight and gas station is hardly the place one woould expect to find a world-class engine builder.

          But Dick Kercher has made Gilead into a must stop in the super-elite class of high-powered automobile racing.

          The Miami County dairy farmer has turned his motor-building business, Kercher Precision Engines, into a name synonymous with power performance and speed.

          Tucked behind his two-story home on the crest of a slight rise just outside Gilead is a garage unlike any other for miles around.

          Chock full with lathes, precision instruments, exacting tools, a bevy of engine parts and bodies, the garage is a centrifuge of design for the former u.s. Navy man.

          With a 160 acre farm and 32 dairy cows, Kercher’s time to work in such an intense industry would seem impossible to come by.  Not so for Kercher, who has parlayed his hobby into a time-consuming venture.

          We burn the midnight candle a lot,” says Kercher of his five-

man operation - six if one includes his wife Brenda, whom he met while racing stock cars.   But the cows set the schedule.

          “Someday, we hope not to keep doing that,” he says.

          When Kercher first began his engine interest, he wold work a time frame of 70 percent for the cows and 30 percent for the engines.   Eight years later, it’s the other way around.

          “But we‘re still talking a lot of 80- to 90- hour weeks, at least,” said Kercher.

          His original start in the motor biz began after years of racing go-karts, stock cars, drag racers and engine building for other designers, including Nichols Engineering in Griffith, Ind.   After that stint, Kercher decided he wanted to do things for himself.

          “With years of on-the-job training, of being there and doing it and with Nichols folding, I decided it was time to get out on my own,” he said.

          His father, Lemoyne Kercher, had retired from farming in 1977, so he was a little apprehensive about plunging into another business.  “But since Kercher has cut a happy medium of work, work and family life - - -

          Kercher Precision Engines does all its own work.   The engines it rebuilds are for a gamut of autos running from the gasoline-powered grinders to specially designed non-sanctioned high performance carbureted motors.

          Last year, a Kercher-designed engine - a 162-cubic inch super-modified alcohol-injected power plant - driven by Michigan-based professional driver-race car builder Randy Sweet, set a world mark for the 12-mile on an oval in Winchester, Ind.   The mark has since been lowered on a track in Pensacola, Fla., to 14;01 seconds for a 128 plus m.p.h. speed.

          Both feats were done more for publicity purposes than anything else.

          He paid me to build the motor,” said Kercher.   “The feat helped to stimulate my business some.

          “I’ve been doing this stuff for so many years, I’ve gone more on my reputation.   I don’t advertise much at all.”

          A good thing, perhaps, considering Kercher wonders at times why he continues on in something where accolades and recognition come hard.

          “I really don’t know,” he says.   “I guess it’s like disease.  You’re obsessed with it and can’t get it out of your mind.

          “When you can go run stock cars at 205 miles per hour, I guess you don’t care about ging 60 miles per hour.” he says of why he

bulds high-performance power plants instead of the everyday street variety.

          Kercher admits the amount of travel required wears him down, and it bothers him to be away from his family which includes 11-year-old Tonya and 6-year-old Richard, Jr.

          “Sometimes it gets to be too much pressure,” he says.  “I’ts something we don’t get out of until we get out all the work.

          “In the past, with all the traveling I’ve had to do, sometimes we couldn’t milk the cows on time.”

          But Brenda says the jobs somehow get done in light of the late-to-bed, early-to-rise lifestyle she and her husband have learned to live with.

          “It’s a life for us of no Holiday Inns or McDonald’s for most part,” she says.  “But, our visitors like to come watch us milk the cows.”

          With high performance prices ranging anywhere from $275 to $16,000 and up, the profit margin would seem to be high.   “But that’s noit particularly so becase (almost) everything we make over and above our costs, we put back into the business,” says Brenda.

          “That’s why we milk cows,” says Kercher.  “It’s a high dollar operation where there is always more parts and machinery to buy and beaucoup (much) money needed to do it.   That’s why I continue to build, though, to make more money.

COUNTRY CLASSICS

Furniture Store Opens

The Sentinel,   November   1  1985

          What better place to show furniture for sale than a real house?

          That’s the situation with the appropriately named Country Classics which opened today in a two-story house at 535 E. Ninth St., across from the Sunshine Cleaning Center.

          Owned by Lynette and Jerry Wilson of Lake Manitou, the business offers Early American furniture in all solid woods - oak and cherry.

          Most of the pieces are hand-made by Amish, although other country craftsmen’s work is avaailable.  There is no upholstered furniture.

          For the most part, each room in the two-story house is furnished by for-sale items apppropriate to the room - living room, parlor, dining room, kitchen, bedroom.   There’s even an infant’s room with rocking crib.

          A special item is a Kennedy rocking chair which will be given as

a grand opening prize on Dec. 18.

          The house has been completely restored by the Wilsons.   Highly-pulished hardwood floors add to the Early American decor.- - -

- - - -  Freda Miller manages the store Monday through Friday, with the Wilsons there on weekends while continuing their full-time jobs.   Also helping on weekends are Rex Utter and Chris Lease.   Randy Utter is the bookkeeper.

OUR TIMES

But The Blood Just Kept Coming

The Sentinel,   November   4  1985

By Dr. HUGH F. JOHNSTON, Madison Wis.

Copied By W.S. WILSON of The Sentinel

          You might want to show the following passage to a smoker you love.

          It was written for the Journal of the American Medical Association by Hugh F. Johnston, a physician in Madison, Wis.   The doctor begins his piece by recalling a semester’s worth of medical school seminars on the subject of death and how a medical man should approach same.  He remembered “that satisfying feeling of having reasonably mastered another subject.”

          A year later he met Mr. G., a regular sort of fellow who had smoked for 30 years and was now coughing up blood.

          There wasn’t much that could be done.   Mr. G. already had been through the usual line-up of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, “Yet, as usual, the tumor in his lung continued to grow,” writes Dr. Johnston.

          “He spent the first two days in the hospital spitting up in bed gasping for air, coughing up big bits of blood-tinged sputum.  We all tried to comfort him as much as possible and he was very appreciative.  But he knew the end was coming soon and sometimes during a coughing fit, he would choke badly and I could see terror in his eyes.”

          The patient had trouble even getting out the two-syllable response of “not good” when asked how he was doing.

          “On the third day of hospitalization a nurse burst into the chart room yelling for us to come quickly because Mr. G. was in trouble.

          “We ran to his bed and found him sitting up with a wash basin in his lap already half full of dark slithery clots.   He was struggling terribly - drowning in his own blood.   His face was deep purple and his eyes bulged out in stark terror.   As the bleeding became worse, so did the struggle.  There was less and less real breathing but more awful choking.   Violently he would attempt to take a breath only to have it

cut short by choking and coughing.

          “Great quantities of blood bubbled out through his mouth and nose, ran down his chin, and dribbled into his lap.   He would then cough explosively, spattering us with blood.

          “The sound was horrifying, like someone screaming under water.   Meanwhile, the nurse and I were trying to help as best we could.   I tried to keep the oxygen mask close yet emptied of blood; she tried to help him clear the biggest pieces from his mouth and throat.   The intern was frantically working the phone trying to get some help.

          “But it was hopeless; the blood just kept coming and the scene became more macabre.   A beard of stringy blood clots swung heavily from the man’s chin and nose.  Between coughing spells he rocked back and forth, gasping ‘Oh please, oh please.’

          “Suddenly it was quiet; it must have been a big clot.  His mouth was open and his chest was heaving but no air was moving.  He looked at each of us in turn, pleading with his eyes.

          “We pounded him on the back but nothing helped.   Still, he kept straining desperately to breathe, opening and closing his mouth like some strange, soundless imitation of a fish.  During what seemed like an eternity he silently struggled.

          “Finally his eyelids began to sag and we gently eased him back in the bed.   He continued to make feeble respiratory attempts as he turned bluish gray.   Then he had a seizure and lay there, twitching and quivering with the bed making little squeaks as if to keep time.   It was a long time before that too finally stopped.

          “No one moved.   The nurse looked stupidly blank, covered with blood.   The intern was still holding the phone weeping.   I thought about my class on death and dying.   They hadn’t considered a terrfied, helpless old man lying a horrible, gory, painful death.  The books, the papers, the discussion groups - all seemed irrelevent and far away.  But close at hand was fear, sadness and futility.”

          You might want to make sure that favorite smoker reads this twice.   Make sure he or she remembers it , too.   When the lighter flicks, remind him or her of Dr. Johnston, a wash basin, and a string beard of death.    - - - - W.S.Wilson.

BALDWIN SUNDRIES

Pur Steve Smeltser

The Sentinel,   November   11,  1985

          Steve Smelser has purchased the Baldwin Sundries drug store/coffee shop from Dick and Florence Baldwin, who operated the business for six years.

          A native of Marion, Smelser moved to Kewanna from Virginia, where he worked for AT&T.

GRANNY’S

At Guido’s Restaurant

The Sentinel,   November   22,  1985

          Granny’s has come to Guido’s Restaurant and Lounge.

          Walter Hough (pronounced Huff), is the new manager of Guido’s on Indiana 25 North, and he brings with him many of his menu items and recipes from Granny’s Kitchens in Monticello, where he has worked for the past two years as manager and part owner.

          Hough, 43, formerly of Kokomo, said Granny’s menu items and recipes have been 12 years in the making.   “It’s a very winning menu,” the former 11-year veteran of the Howard County Sheriff’s Department said.

          “With my professional experience and background in the arts of culinary delight, I have full intentions of making Guido’s the best,” Hough said.   He has eight years experience in the restaurant business.

          - - - -    Hough’s son, Michael Hough, is manager of the lounge.  Daily special drinks and prices are offered and a champaigne day is being planned for near the Christmas holidays.

          Hough replaces former manager Steve Thompson.  - - - -

INDEX

ACCOUNTING FIRM

Changes Its Name  42

AKRON CABLE FRANCHISE

Goes To Mike Stephen  86

AKRON-MENTONE NEWS

Pur Richard McKee  4

ANGELA’S CAROUSEL

Owned, Bob & Angela Pearson  71

ANTIQUE BOUTIQUE

Pur Peg Durkes & Dau  89

Refinishing Shop  41

AUTHORS

In Fulton County  17

AVCO FINANCIAL SVCS

Closes Rochester Office  4

BABE’S PIZZA

Frank & Babe VanEs  99

BALDWIN SUNDRIES

Pur Steve Smeltser  116

BERKWAY GROCERY

Pur Jack Townend  86

BLUE PRODUCTS CO

Pur, Jim & Connie Walley  23

BLUMENTHAL’S

Clothing Shop, to Close  69

BOOKS & CAKES STORE

Paul & Agnes Hartz  100

BRADWAY RENTAL

Pur Mike & Jo Thompson  108

BRIDGE DEDICATION

Ind. 17 near Delong  84

BROOKER REUN

Roch City Park  8

BUNNELL REUN

(Where?)  12

CAREY REUN

Center Lake, Warsaw  11

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Kenny Jagger, Special Guest  24

Moved to Main Street  6

CHAMBERLAINS BAR

Pur, Tullis & Stockberger  51

CHAS FEAR & SONS

Becomes Two Firms  3

COLLINS COUNTRY CHARM

Restaurant  31

COMMUNITY TAX SVC

Robert McCart, Owner  22

CONLEY REUN

Forest Conley Home  56

CONVENIENCE STORE

Steve Johnson, Owner  89

COOK BROS FURN INC

Inventory Liquidation Sale  107

COOKSEY FURNITURE

Pur Bill Murphy  2

COOP MOVES

Hardesty Expands  107

COPLEN REUN

Roch City Park  10, 40

COUNTRY CLASSICS

Furniture Store Opens  113

COUNTRY CONNECTION

Items With a Country Flavor  45

CPA EXAMINATION

Four Pass  42

CPA OFFICE

Opened by R.R. Roberts  84

CULVER-ARGOS PAPER

Pur. Bill & Kim Mitchell  36

D&M FLOOR COVERING

Opening at 114 E. 8th St  75

DAIRY QUEEN

Planned East of Woodlawn  109

DANNERS INC.

Max & Mark Danner  36

DAVE’S VILLAGE GTLM

Moving to 701 Main St.  83

DAWSON REUN

Dawson Farm  95

DAY REUN

Roch City Park  11

DEATON BUYS AKRON

Funeral Homes  46

DOCTOR IN LEITERS

Medical Center  91

DR. J.D. WEILHAMMER

Joins Dr. James Fritts  83

DUGOUT BAR-GRILL

Pur Ron & Joy Holloway  96

E.J. SHENANIGANS

Opens at former Rib & Steak  53

ESTHER BILLINGS

Retires After 52 Years  81

EWING GROCERY

More Than 50 Years  57

F & M BANK

Macy-Nyona Lake Branch  2

FAMILY GIFT SHOPPE

Owner, Arlene Hounshell  38

FIRST FED S&L

Richard Belcher, Named  47

FIRST FEDERAL S & L

Richard A. Brash, V.Pres  22

FIRST NATL BANK

Jerry L. Parker, Audito  48

Philip Thompson, Leaves  46

FIRST NATL, FULTON

Stan Reinholt, Mgr  85

FISHER VACUUM

Sales & Service  25

FULTON CO LIBRARIAN

Dead After Short Illness  88

FULTON CO LIBRARY

Bids on Furnishing  55

Bookmobile Discontinued  97

FULTON CO NEW JAIL

Visited by 1,500 Citizens  106

FULTON CO. AVIATION

Ted J. Cox, Chief Pilot  52

FULTON CO. LIBRARY

Esther Lu Lasher, Directo  96

Fulton County Electronics

pur Joe Keller  16

FULTON METAL & MFG CO

Pur Delta Tool & Mfg  101

FULTON METAL MFG CO

Mgr., Earl Snelling  66

GILEAD DAIRY FARMER

Builds Race Engines  111

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Out of Business  36

GLASSBURN REUN

Ma-Con-A-Quah Park  55

Maconaquah Park, Peru  11

Mcquanah Park, Peru  105

GOTTSCHALK REUN

Roch City Park  16, 41, 109

GRANNY’S

At Guido’s Restaurant  116

GREGORY REUN

Place Not Given  38

Roch City Park  78

GROSSMAN FNRL HOME

Pur Junior & Joyce Good  89

H&R BLOCK

Reopened Today  23

HAIR LINES

Owners, Haney & Brown  90

HALL OF FAME

Made By Hugh A. Barnhart  43

HARMON REUN

Roch City Park  40, 80, 101

HIRSCH DEPT STORE

Reopens Saturday  38

HOUSER SUPERMARKET

Pur. Wade Bussert  25

HUFFMAN REUN

Plank Hill Park Twelve Mile  40

HUTBURGER IS BACK

pur Harold & Sandra Brown  90

I REMEMBER!   I REMEMBER!

The Period Around 1895 On  58

INDIANA METAL

Val Pemberton Returns  35

JOHNSON OUTBOARD MOTOR

Warren Conover Helped Develop  28

JOHN’S HOBBIES

Rt. 3 - Box 300, Wagoner Park  76

JONAH CLUB

Akron’s Famous  102

KEWANNA ELEM SCHOOL

Closes Today  75

KEWANNA ELEMENTARY

School To Be Closed  47

KEWANNA GETS NEW DR.

Dr. Dominador Martin, Jr.  49

KEWANNA HIGH SCHOOL.

Grades 7 Through 12 Ends  32

KEWANNA MED. CLINIC

Opened By Dr. Helen Grant  70

KLINE’S TV-APPLIANCE

Opening Monday  5

KROGER BUILDING

Two Businesses Move In  27

KROGER STORE

David Beam, Mgr.  85

KU KLUX KLAN

Bigotry Comes to Rochester  62

KUMLER REUN

Roch City Park  6

LAUNDRY REOPENS

Named Kenmar Suds Station  88

LEAVELL REUN

Jerry Leavell Home  7

LEITERS FORD BANK

Promotions Announced  24

LIBRARY BUILDING

Dedication June 3  74

LIBRARY, NEW BLDG

Opening Monday  71

LIBRARY, NEWER-BIGGER

Opens for Business  74

LOWERY-BATTY REUN

Roch City Park  108

MacLAIN REUN

Irv Brown Residence  78

MAIL POUCH PAINTER

Signing Off  50

MANITOU BAR & GRILL

Pur Ed Fansler  1

MAR-LO RESTAURANT

Re-opens As Ron’s Place  19

MARLO RESTAURANT

Now Ron’s Place, Opens  32

McGUIRE PRACTICE

Pur by Dr. Pampel  76

MESECAR INS. AGENCY

Opens Monday  90

MIKESELL REUN

Roch City Park  56

MORRIS REUN

Akron Park  10, 41, 56, 82, 105

NEW FARMER

Depression Days  60

NEW ORLEANS

In Argos, Indiana  67

NEW SURGEON

Dr. Mirza M. Ahmad  98

NYONA LAKE

Has Two New Businesses  35

OLD WOODLAWN HOSP

County Seeking Title  19

Demolition Starts Saturday  20

Salvage of Usefuls Begins  20

ONLY LEGAL LOTTERY

Fulton County Already Had  100

ONSTOTT REUN

Backyard Picnic  11

Msds. Harry & George Onstott  9

OUR TIMES

But The Blood Just Kept Coming  114

OVERMYER HARDWARE

Pur, Larry Kuhn  52

OVERMYER REUN

Monterey Meth Church  8

O’DELL REUN

Centennial Park  82

PARADISE PLAZA

Now Is Station House  6

PAXTON’S MUSIC STORE

Charles & Melanie Paxton  44

PERDUE REUN

Roch City Park  80

PETERSON-WAGGONER

Partnership Formed  4

PLUMMER & CO INC

Opens Rochester Office  45

PLUMMER, HAINES & CO

CPA Donald E. Keefer, Manager  77

QUALITY INNS

Barry L. Conrad, President  37

QUALITY QUICK LUBE

Selling Used Cars & Trucks  87

RACING ENGINE BUILDER

Earl Gaerte  26

RAILROAD

Didn’t Come for Free  14

RAKER’S PORTHOLE

Adds Complete Wedding Svc  87

REJUVENATION

Replaced by Bourff Furniture  48

RIB-STEAK BARN

Opens Monday  35

RILEY REUN

Nina Spurlock Residence  107

ROBERTSON TRNSFMR CO

Moves to New Building  38-39

ROCH NOW THIRD CLASS

Was Fifth Class  12

ROCH SEARS STORE

Pur, Ken & Judy Roe  55

ROCH TEL CO

Hugh Barnhart Quits Board  21

ROCHESTER SENTINEL

Keith Keim Joins Staff  76

Marc Jump Moves to Fla.  17

Sports Editor Joins Sentinel  18

ROCHESTER TEXACO

Now A Convenience Store  99

ROUCH INS AGENCY

Smith, Sawyer & Smith Merge  21

SENTINEL STAFFER

33 Years of Changes  61

SILVERNAILS

Opens at 900 Main St.  83

SONOCO

D.R, Crutchfield, Mgr  69

SPECIAL MAN

Builds This Kind of Boat  91

SPURGEON DEPT STORE

Mgr., Jim Yogerst  32

STINSON-WYLIE REUN

Plymouth Park  79

STREBE REUN

Unicoi State Park, Georgia  103

T-SHIRT STORE

Pur. Dave & Doris Cooper  68

T,M. MORRIS MFG CO

Pur Leavell Bldg For Factory  66

THE HAPPIEST DAYS

Spent Here  59

THE INN SPOT

Opening Soon at Talma  1

THOMPSON REUN

Geme Thompson Home  7

THOMPSON-DUNLAP

REUN - Jefferies Home  13

TOMBAUGH’S REPLICA

Brings WW 2 Carier to Life  109

TRUITT SHOE STORE

Pur Bob & Jeff Walker  77

TRUITT SHOES

Going Out of Business  73

TULEY-WELCH

Opens Law Office  5

VALLEY TELEVISION

Moved to 112 W. Eighth  87

VAN DUYNE REUN

Roch. Civic Center  44

VAN LUE REUN

James Barkman Home  9

VANLUE REUN

Jim Pitt Home  79

K. Fuller, Springfield, Oh.  104

WELCOME WAGON

Begins Again  24

To Reorganize  17

WILLIAMS REUN

Roch City Park  8, 37

WILSON COAL & GRAIN

From Small to Big  53

WILT’S 9th ST.

Steve Fellers, Mgr  86

WOODLAWN HOSPITAL

To Rebuy Old Woodlawn  4

ZARTMAN REUN

Roch City Park  39

FULTON COUNTY INDIANA

HISTORICAL TRIVIA

1981-1985

ROCHESTER SENTINEL

Special Thanks to Jack K. Overmyer for suggesting the title.

Wendell C. Tombaugh

TOMBAUGH HOUSE

700 Pontiac Street

Rochester, Indiana 46975

2011

This book, and all other Tombaugh books, are available at no charge on

//www.fulco.lib.in.us/      (Fulton County Public Library website)