Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 127, Number 44, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 28 October 2004 — Page 1

Advice,. News

Vol. 127 Issue 44

Inside This Issue • Hastings/Caris Schools REMEMBERED • Black Crunch MOVE ON TO SECOND ROUND sectionals • North Wood GIRLS’SOCCER REVIEW

Me FLU SHOTS Flu shots will be available through the Goshen Health System for seniors at Elder Haus, Thursday, Oct. 28 from 1 to 2 p.m. Only 50 shots are available, so call 773-2424 to reserve a spot. TREE PLANTING The Wakarusa Park Advisory Board is having its annual tree planting at the Wakarusa Memorial Park on Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. Residents are invited to help. Hot dogs and chips will be served following the planting. LOCAL BOOK Local writer and author Amy Wenger has announced that she is now taking orders for signed copies of her latest book, "Around Nappanee Hometowns of the Heritage Trail." The book, distributed by Arcadia Publishing, is a 128page written and pictorial history detailing the communities of Nappanee, Wakarusa, Locke, Southwest, New Paris, Foraker and Jimtown. She will personally deliver signed copies to those who live locally, and she offers free shipping to folks who live a greater distance away. The book retails for S2O. For more information, Wenger can be reached at (574) 862-1897, or via e-mail at [email protected]. LICENSE BRANCH The Nappanee License Branch, located at 219 W. Market St. has new hours. It is now open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 8:30 to 12:30 p.m. It is closed Monday. MASON MEETING All Nappanee and Bremen Free Masons are encouraged to attend the Bremen Lodge #414 meeting Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. Continued on Page A 4

Contact Us Advance News 158 W. Market St. P.O. Box 230 Nappanee, IN 46550 Office Hours: 9 am. to 12 p.m. Tuesday through Friday Phone: . 574-773-3127 (news) 1-800-933-0356 (ads) Fax: 574-773-3512 E-mail: [email protected]

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTOS/STEPHANIE MIDOAUGH An ornamental clock now stands outside the Wakarusa Town Hall, surrounded by new landscaping. A new ramp has also been added on North Elkhart Street to make the downtown ADA compliant. During the revitalization project, the downtown water main was replaced, while storm drainage improvements were made and overhead wires were removed. Cosmetically, the project added brick-patterned, stamped-concrete sidewalks and crosswalks, ornamental lamposts and stoplight posts, and a new mini-park was added in the old barbershop lot north of the Town Hall. A mural will be added to the building on the north side of the lot next year. Landscaping and 15 trees were also added throughout the downtown area, while “traffic-calming" landscape nodes now redch out six feet from the curb in each direction as visitors enter town. The nodes will designate the downtown area as a retail center and help slow traffic.

The downtown project is finished!

Wakarusa ribbon cutting scheduled for Oct. 29 By Stephanie Middaugh Editor WAKARUSA After six months of constant construction, a few headaches and a large amount of anticipation, Wakarusa’s downtown now has a complete face lift. And the good news is that the town’s downtown revitalization project is done on time and below budget. According to Wakarusa Town Manager Tom Roeder, 99 percent of the work will be finished by the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Town Hall to commemorate the completion of the project. He said there may be a few things to clean up and a little cement work yet to be done, but the remainder of the project will be “substantially completed.” The last of the concrete was poured on Monday for the crosswalks, and the hope is that it cures in time for the ceremony.

Registrations skyrocket

Polling times, places listed By Stephanie Middaugh Editor ELKHART According to Shelley Basham, Elkhart County Clerk’s Office, voter registrations have skyrocketed in Elkhart County for the 2004 election. Just since the primary in May, 6,000 new people have registered to vote. During the primary, approximately 94,000 people were registered to vote in Elkhart County. For this election, almost 100,000 people are registered to vote. Basham reports, that unlike other years, the increase in registrations is seen in all age groups. The biggest increase was seen in members of the military. According to Basham, “Several key issues in this election have increased the number of voter registrations across the board." She said the presidential race, gubernatorial race, the war and prescription drug concerns all contributed to the increase in voter registrations. General voting information All registered voters in the WaNee community are encouraged to vote their choices in next Tuesday’s election. All polling locations in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Those unable to vote on Tuesday, can submit an absentee ballot until Monday, Nov. 1 at noon at the Elkhart County Courts Building, 315 S. Second St. in Elkhart or the County Office Building, 117 N. Second St. in Goshen. Those buildings will be open

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from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday for absentee voting, and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Monday, the final day before the election, absentee voting will be allowed at those sights from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Anyone disabled or who requires assistance to vote, must submit their request by noon on Nov. can be down by calling the Elkhart County Clerk’s Office at (574) 5356469. The following locations are polling locations for the Wa-Nee community. Polling locations for Elkhart County •Locke 68 First Brethren Church, 1600 N. Main St., Nappanee •Locke 69 Woodview Elementary School, 800 Woodview Dr., Nappanee •Union 70 Church of the Brethren, 301 Mack Drive, Nappanee •Union 71 United Methodist Church, 301 E. Market St., Nappanee •Union 72 Woodview Elementary School, 800 Woodview Dr., Nappanee •Harrison 84 Harrison Township Fire Station, 53501 CR 13, Goshen •Olive 91 Wakarusa Public Library, 124 N. Elkhart St., Wakarusa •Locke 168 Nappanee City Hall, 300 W. Lincoln, Nappanee Polling locations for Kosciusko County •Jefferson County Line Assembly of God, 300 Haney Dr., Nappanee •Scott Mount Tabor Hill, 8424 N. 800 W.. Etna Green 2004 Candidates Continued on Page A 8

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which is likely, considering the nice weather expected this week. If not, Waterford Street might be closed until Saturday, but all the concrete work will be completed. Merchants happy And Wakarusa Hardware owner, Kenny Twa could not be happier. Twa’s business is located on South Elkhart Street, the first leg of the construction project. Businesses on that leg experienced the longest delays and the most time without sidewalks, but Twa still thinks the project was well worth it. “Now that you see the finished project, the delays were well worth it,” he said. “People still made it here (to the hardware store) during construction and our business remained steady,” he added. “We just made the whole process fun. You had to remain lighthearted to make it through the construction.” Although Brooks Construction was criticized by some in the community in the beginning, Twa had no problems with any of the contractors. “If you ever had any questions or concerns, they answered them immediately," he said. “The end product is turning out

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTOS/STEPHANIE MIDDAUGH Fall’s Splendor! ABOVE Elizabeth Turpin, Kathy Witmer and Veronica Witmer all enjoy a perfect fall day late last week at the Wakarusa town park. BELOW Downie Chrysler Jeep Dodge In Wakarusa decorates for fall.

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great,” he concluded. Mac McNally, Wakarusa Dime Store owner couldn't agree more. He said that Brooks Construction kept all the business owners “in the loop of when and why" they were doing something. McNally does acknowledge that the first leg of the project went the slowest, but the crews had "a lot of learning to do." "Their progress sped up incredibly on each leg of the project," he said. The construction crews divided the downtown area into four legs, completing one leg at a time to prevent complete closure of the Wakarusa business district. The south leg (South Elkhart Street) was completed first, followed by North Elkhart Street. East Waterford Street and finally West Waterford Street. Throughout the process, McNally said that Brooks did a good job of providing wood planks for the downtow n business' customers to walk on during the construction. Like Twa, McNally did not see a big decrease in business during the project. See Wakarusa on Page A 3

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