Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 130, Number 3, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 18 January 2007 — Page 1

Advance inc ws

Embrace the Pace

BASEBALL CHIU SUPPER The North Wood baseball team will sponsor its 30th annual chili supper on Friday, Jan. 19 before the Goshen-NorthWood varsity basketball game. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for students, and preschool children eat free. Tickets will be available from North Wood baseball players or at the door. Serving time is sto 7p.m. in the North Wood cafeteria. AVIATION COMMISSION The City of Nappanee Aviation Commission meeting regularly scheduled for Tuesday Jan. 16 has been moved to Tuesday Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in the meeting room in the terminal building at the Nappanee Municipal Airport. MEETING CHANGE The Nappanee Redevelopment Commission has set their meeting date for 2007 for. the fourth Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Nappanee Center, 302 W. Market St. CLASS OF 1945 The Nappanee High School Class of 1945 will meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25 at Traditions Restaurant. RELAY FOR UFE American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Elkhart/Goshen will be holding a kick-off Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Concord Mall community room from 6:30 to 8 p.m. If you have never been a part of Relay and want to learn more, you are also welcome. We look forward to meeting you and answering your questions about Relay For Life. For more information or to RSVP contact Joyce Columbo, Community Representative, American Cancer Society at 866-522-2111. See AROUND, page A 7 Contact Us Advance News 158 W Market St. PO. Box 230 Nappanee, IN 46550 Office Hours: 10 a m. to 3 p.m. Tbesday and Thursday 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday Phone: 574-773-3127 (news) 1-800-933-0356 (ads) Fax: 574-773-3512 • \ rv 'M" ■ --e E-mail advanoetfiycc.net

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Wa-Nee bids Houser farewell

By Moody McFarland rrlllnr CalTOf NAPPANEE After six years, North Wood's director of bands Barry Houser will end his time with Wa-Nee on a good note. On Monday, Jan. 9, Wa-Nee superintendent Joe Sabo read aloud to the school board Houser's letter of resignation. According to Sabo, many at North Wood and throughout Wa-Nee will be sorry to see Houser go. "He's been a great asset to our commuity," said Sabo. "He had a vision for our program and he fulfilled that vision." Houser plans to move to Chicago, where he will study to earn his master's degree in conducting at the University

Wakarusa Dime Store celebrates 100th year

By Mandy McFarland Editor WAKARUSA - In 1906, Moses "Mosey" Wolfberg and his son Louis opened Wakarusa's own general store: M. Wolfberg & Son. The store is known today as the Wakarusa Dime store. A century later, the tradition is still going strong. On Thursday, Jan. 11 the Dime Store celebrated its 100th birthday. In celebration, husband and wife co-owners Deb and Mac McNally unveiled the newest flavor of their famous Jumbo Jelly Beans: red licorice. It is a tradition for the Dime Store to introduce a new flavor at the beginning of each year. According to Deb McNally, the first flavor to be introduced to the Dime Store was black licorice in 1967. Given this, the McNallys felt it made sense that the store's 100th anniversary flavor be red licorice. "It was kind of a no-brain-er," Deb McNally commented. The jelly beans are a feature unique to the Dime Store. That is because they come

Nappanee welcomes Downie

By Mandy McFarland Editor NAPPANEE year and a new location for Downie Chrysler Jeep Dodge. The car dealership made the move from Wakarusa to Nappanee earlier this winter when it became aparent that they would be needing more space. "We had outgrown our location and we' needed a new facility," said sales consultant Adam Collins. "This became available because Nappanee Ford was closing." "We were using the town parking lot; our new car lot; we rented a used car lot," added owner Chris Downie. "It just kind of made sense to buy this building." The dealership is now located at 2450 North Main Street, in the former Nappanee Ford building. The original plan was to put up a new building. However, according to Downie, purchasing the old Nappanee Ford building presented a better deal. Half a million dollars bet-

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Serving Nappanee & Wakarusa

of Illinois. He will also serve as assistant to the university's marching band director and will take on the positon of director of the basketball band. In addition, he will work as a teaching assistant in the music education department, where he will oversee student teachers. "This is an opportunity that's really hard to pass up," he said. Houser first arrived at NortWood High School six years ago. His vision was to take a good thing and make it better. "When I first saw the band, they were in the end zone of the football field," he said. His first order of business was to move the band into the stands. According to Houser,

from an undisclosed location. "We keep that a secret," said McNally. "It just kind of keeps it more special that way." Today, the Dime Store offers over 14 varieties of jumbo jelly beans, available in one-pound bags. "We're always interested in doing new things," said McNally. Last year's new flavor was blueberry. While the flavor was popular, according to McNally it did not catch on quite as strongly as other flavors introduced in the past. As a result, the flavor is no longer available. However, other flavors have grown in popularity to the extent that the McNallys have found new and creative ways to display, package and sell them. For example, the Dime Store recently began offering 5-pound bulk bags of each of their flavors. "That's for your true jelly bean lover," McNally commented. Each season also has its unique jelly bean combination. The current mixture is "Love Potion," in honor of

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/M ANDY MCFARLAND Gavin Robert Downie, 4, joins his grandfather, Chris Downie, behind the wheel of a Dodge Super Bee, one of only 3,000 cars like it in existence and one of two on display at Downie Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Nappanee.

ter, that is. In addition, the new location is approximately 8,000 square feet larger than the plans for the new building. Unfortunately, a deal like this does not come without its problems. "The roof leaked over the

this almost instantly raised interest with the fans. He also got the band more involved during football games, putting them in the spotlight at halftime and forever altering the face of the North Wood band program. "I really hope that tradition will continue with the athletic teams," said Houser. During Houser's time with North Wood, the number of performance ensembles grew to eight, including Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band I, Jazz Band 11, Percussion Ensemble, Pep Band, Winter Guard and the Red Regiment, North Wood's marching band. The number of students involved in the band grew from 43 to 110. Approximately 400 students

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/MANDY MCFARLAND Nestled among flavors like vanilla coconut, orange and multi-flavor jelly stones, the new red licorice 100th anniversary flavor is ready for cusotmers to give it a try.

Valentine’s Day. "Love Potion" consists of red cherry and white vanilla coconut jelly beans. It was this mix that popu-

show room, we had to power wash the shop and we had to paint Chrysler gray over the Ford blue," said Downie. Branding was then placed on all of the walls, depicting the types of vehicles customers will expect to find at See DOWNIE, page A 2

in sixth through 12th grades became involved in North Wood's music program at its highest point. They have performed in a number of local and national events, including the Indianapolis 500, the 2002 Target Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago, Walt Disney World, the 2004 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. and many others. The wind ensemble has appeared in the 2004 Indiana Music Educator's Association State Convention in Indianapolis and has played with the internationallyacclaimed Dallas Brass. The Jazz band had the opportunity to open for Maynard Ferguson. The Red Regiment has numerous successes under

larized vanilla coconut, which McNally. It consists of cinnais now available as a separate mon and black licorice, flavor. "A lot of people use it for Panther Chow is another c o iDTun*v *o favorite, according to See BIRTHDAY, page A 3

Downtown project is moving along By Moody McFarland Editor NAPPANEE Since last summer, major changes have taken place in Nappanee's downtown area, specifically at the intersection of Maket Street (U.S. 6) and Main Street (S.R. 19). In August of 2006, phase pne of the downtown beautification project began. The old sections of sidewalk at the corners of Market and Main were tom up and the curbs were taken out and replaced. Places were left were new planters will go this spring. Old fashioned lamp posts have been installed to add a touch of nostalgia, reminding residents and visitarsjiJike of the pace that Nappanee aspires to embrace. The lights, which were ordered in August of 2006, were originally scheduled to arrive before Thanksgiving, just in time to be installed before Christmas. However, after falling further and further behind schedule, they did not arrive until just a few weeks ago. Despite cold weather and rain, the lights have been installed and are in working order. Each 18-foot pole features two banner arms and a flag holder. A committee has been formed to determine what will be displayed on the poles. Phase two of the project is scheduled to begin this summer. Improvements will be made to the sidewalks running east and west of Main Street along Market Street. Once this is complete, new bicycle racks will be installed, though the definite locations have not yet been determined. Street superintendent Wayne Scheumann anticipates what the improvements will do for Nappanee's downtown area. See PROJECT, page A 2

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Barry Houser PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.NORTHWOODBANDS.COM their belts, including an inviSee HOUSER, page A 2