Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 130, Number 1, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 4 January 2007 — Page 7

REVIEW, continued

April 27 RECORD CROWD AT FEST By Anthony Godson Compared to last year's frigid Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival, this year's version was much more visitorfriendly. "The beautiful weather brought in record-number crowds," Wakarusa Chamber of Commerce Secretary Doris Biller said about the 37th annual festival last weekend. May 4 DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE ON HERITAGE CENTER By Anthony Godson As discussions continue on whether or not a Heritage Center will be coming to Nappanee, money continues to be the main topic. At Monday night's meeting of the Nappanee Common Council, board members elected to have two appraisals done on the John Hartman House, 306 W. Market St., which is owned by Amish Acres founder Dick Pletcher. The asking price for the building is around $400,000, but because of requirements by law, if neither appraisal reaches that price, the city can only pay the price of the highest appraisal.

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May 11 23 OUT OF 24 ISN'T TOO BAD The North Wood Panthers boys track team won its fifth consecutive Class B Kelly Relays meet on Friday night, claiming its 23rd such distinction in the past 24 years. Here the upbeat athletes celebrated their 95-92 win over the second place Fairfield Falcons. May 25 HIGH SCHOOL FINDS ITS NEW PRINCIPAL By Anthony Godson After two months of searching, North Wood High School has found its replacement for the retiring Louis Bonacorsi. At Monday night's meeting of the Wa-Nee School Board of School Trustees, David Maugel was appointed as the high school principal. Seniors have last go-round June 1 NEVER GO AGAINST THE FAMILY Leading up to his final day at North Wood High School, students and staff honored Louis Bonacorsi in a different way. Each member of the staff wore a shirt saying, "You will never lose your family. Never. Love, the family." a line from "The Godfather."

Community

June 8 DOWNTOWN PROJECT RUNS INTO A SNAG By Anthony Godson The beautification of downtown Nappanee was supposed to begin this summer, but now the downtown's facelift may be put off a little while longer. After receiving a federal grant through the Transportation Enhancement the Nappanee Redevelopment Commission decided to use the approximate $1.6 million to upgrade the downtown area. After working with the engineering firm Land Plan Group, the commission put the bids out for the project, but on two separate occasions, the bids came in way over budget. June 15 OUTING BENEFITS NORTHWOOD STUDENTS By Anthony Godson Brant "Butch" Nine may be gone, but the City of Nappanee consistently makes it known that he is not forgotten. While working as a Nappanee Police Officer, Nine was shot, and killed, while responding to an attempted robbery at E. Newcomer & Son Jewelers on Nov. 3, 1988. Since that time, Nappanee has remembered the failed officer by holding a

memorial service for him on Nov. 3 of each year. Along with that, a special golf outing has also been held in his honor year-after-year. June 22 KIDS MAKING A SPLASH By Mandy McFarland Wakarusa kids seeking relief from the hot summer sun need look no further than nearby Memorial Park. Finally, after 18 months of work, the park's new Splash Pad is complete and ready for action. The Splash Pad offers a fun, unique way to cool off when summer's heat begins to take its toll. June 29 BOARD ELECTS TO HIRE NEW SUPERVISOR By Anthony Godson The relocating of elementary students and the hiring of a new Wa-Nee Transportation Supervisor were among the actions facing the Wa-Nee Board of School Trustees on Monday night. July 6 BIDS HIGH, BUT PROJECT MOVES AHEAD By Anthony Godson Construction on Wa-Nee Elementary Schools is still slated to begin this month, but with increased prices for

Advance News • Thursday, January 4, 2007 •

the project, the school board's comfort level seemed to shrink a bit last week. July 13 ATHLETIC HANDBOOK GETS TWEAKED By Anthony Godson During a meeting in which a lot of annual issues were settled, the discussion about the North Wood High School Athletic Handbook received the most attention by the school board this week. After North Wood cheerleaders did not receive championship football rings following the football team's state championship this year, the board looked to avoid such controversy in the future. MCWORK BEGINS UPTOWN Construction to update the Nappanee McDonald’s began this past week, with many people stopping to check out the action. Work is expected to continue until September. July 20 PACE IS EMBRACED IN NAPPANEE By Mandy McFarland Over the weekend, the city of Nappanee invited families to set aside the hurried pace everyday modem life and experience a more laid-back stride. On Saturday July 15 the city of Nappanee held its first annual Embrace the Pace Day celebration in honor of y the DAT PHOTO 2006 was an interesting year for Coach Steve Neff, who was named Teacher of the Year by the Wakarusa Chamber of Commerce, named to the 2006 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and on Friday night, he won his 500th win with a 62-25 win over Concord at The Pit. Photo: Neff took time to take a photo with current and former players and coaches.

city's new branding, which states, "Embrace the Pace." July 27 CITY TO GO AHEAD WITH PURCHASE By Anthony Godson After 15 months of talk, action has finally taken place on the proposed Nappanee Welcome Center and Heritage Center. During a special session of Nappanee Common Council on Monday afternoon, a 4-1 vote approved placing a down payment on the building at 306 W. Market Street. "By no way is this the hardest thing I've had to do," Mayor Larry Thompson said about achieving the goal of possessing a building to place Nappanee's heritage in. "The work with Central School has exceeded this by 100 times." Aug. 3 DOWNTOWN PROJECT IS BACK ON By Anthony Godson The trip to improving Nappanee's downtown took another turn recently, with the project now expected to begin within the next two months. "We are about to feign a contract with Rieth-Riley," Nappanee Redevelopment Executive Director Larry Andrews said last week. "We're told they can start in six weeks, which puts it close to the Apple Festival." Aug. 10 NAPPANEE SEES SIGNS OF CHANGE By Mandy McFarland Signs of change are everywhere as Nappanee continues its beautification project. However, according to Larry Andrews, head of the Chamber of Commerce and the Redevelopment committee, one thing could stand in the way of NappanW achieving its goal billboards. At a retail meeting held at See REVIEW, page 8

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