Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 134, Number 27, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 5 July 2012 — Page 1

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VINTAGE GAME SET FOR JULY 13 NAPPANEE The Nappanee Embracers will again play the Bonneyville Millers in the annual Vintage Baseball game as they "Embrace the Pace" of Nappanee. Game day is Friday, July 13 at 6:30 p.m. The location for die game is at the empty lot beside Ascot on State Road 19. JUNIOR OLYMPICS SET FOR JULY 4 NAPPANEE The annual Junior Olympics hosted by the Nappanee Rotary Qub will take place Wednesday, July 4. Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Stauffer Park Little League diamond. The events begin at 9 a.m. and include standing long jump, softball throw, 50-yard and 100-yard dashes and an obstacle course. Cost is $5 entry per child ages 6 through 12. TOWN-WIDE SALES SET FOR JULY 7 WAKARUSA Wakarusa will hold its 24th annual town-wide grudge sales Saturday, July 7 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. MARKET AT COPPES NAPPANEE The area Farmer's Market is open outside Coppes Commons Saturdays horn 8 a.m. to noon until the first weekend in October. The concept of a farmer's market is to highlight locals selling items they've made or grown themselves rather than subcontractors or sec-ond-party general vendors. To learn more contact Andrews by calling 574-773-0002 or via email at landrews@coppescommons. com. REUNION IN JULY NAPPANEE Alumni are organizing a "Scarlet Guard Marching Band" reunion. Currently the reunion is planned for July 21 at Dal-Mar Catering Banquet Hall, 159 E. Lincoln Street, Nappanee. To learn more email northwoodscarletguard@gmail. com. NAPPANEE ALUMNI MEETS AUG. 18 NAPPANEE The Nappanee High School Alumni will have its reunion Aug. 18 with social hours from 4 to 6 p.m. and dinner following promptly at 6 p.m. at Dal-Mar Banquet Hall in Nappanee. Anyone who was missed on the mailing list still has time to make reservations the deadline to do so is See Around, Page 2

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Flower field becomes local inspiration

By Angel Perkins Editor NAPPANEE —One man's flowering field has been getting «lot of attention lately though it began years ago simply for nis own pleasure. Almost finished with its blooming exhibitions, the field may be seen at 69606 Co. Rd. 9 Nappanee between County Roads 48 and 46 if the weeds don't takeover. "I love the prairies and went to college in Kansas where there are a lot of wildflowers and grasses," said property owner Larry Andrews. "I really liked

Night creatures visit library

By Angel Perkins Editor WAKARUSA A handful of creatures of the night traveled from South Bend to meet some 30 area children at the Wakarusa Public Library. They didn't get there own their own, crawling and creeping however. Keeping with the nighttime focus of the children's summer reading program theme "Dream Big," Matt Bowers, children's director at the library for the last 12 years, invited staff from the Potawatomi Zoo to introduce some nocturnal animals to young locals. "This is the third time we've had the zoo here," he said. "We try not to have the same program every year but we incorporate the animals with the different themes." Also on display for the children to get to know were book tides direcdy related to all things night. Potawatomi Zoo volunteers Don Blaha and Cynthia Downer unveiled each zoo resident they had brought and carried them around the room for each library visitor to see up close some the children were even invited to touch (the African Hedgehog, Royal Ball Python and Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches), but the

Kgh school purchase wins Best of Show

WAKARUSA - Dave Sloan wasn't sure he had a chance among the 123 cars registered at the 10th Annual Town of Wakarusa Car and Motorcycle Show but was thrilled to take home the S2OO prize. The 1969 Chevelle he showed was the first car he purchased while in high school. One would never know this car was involved in a very bad fire in July of 2007 as Sloan, along with the help of others, created the beautiful car that it is today. "I would like to say a special thanks to Automotive Unlimited Eric Barth, Brian Bohde Interiors, Performance Technologies Jim Mikels, The Town of Wakarusa and JfcN Stone who sponsored Best of

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them and wanted to have that for myself." He said he and his late wife Joan planted the first fidd which later, was overcome by nature. "It did well at first but then the weeds kind of took it over," Andrews explained, "so I plowed it all up, like a farmer does, last fall and planted it again. I really wanted to have my own See Field, Page 5 Photo by Angel Perkins This flowering field in Nappanee has become an inspiration to area residents.

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Photo by Angel Perkins From left, Shekinah Warnken, 10, and pal Makalyn Hill, 6, react to their initial, up close and personal meeting with Lucas the Royal Ball Python from the Potawatomi Zoo. Later both girls conquered their fears and proved the snake and Twix the hedgehog weren’t so bad after all by petting them and giggling about it.

European Fire Salamander was one curious creature the children weren't allowed to be as intimate with. Kelly Ulrich, the zoo's Education Curator for the past eight years explained, "The toxins emitted through his skin's pores are to protect him from nis enemies." Because she knew the children's interests might further be piqued simply because they couldn't touch the reptile, she described what it felt like: "a balloon covered in soap." "Their skin is so sensitive that scientists test reptiles like him to see what the envi-

Show," Sloan said. Twenty-two awards overall and 40 door prizes were handed out during the five-hour show held on Wakarusa's colorful, flowerlined streets. Food, contests and prizes stood out at this annual show. A Nelson's chicken dinner provided by the Wakarusa lion's Club, Cook's ice cream cones and the Holdeman Mennonite Youth Group bake sale provided a variety of favorite foods for the event. Brady Shively won the Tire Changing Contest and Devon Becker the Creeper Contest Dave Fox represented the shows Major Sponsor, NAPA/Jenkins Automotive, and helped with organizing See Show, Page 5

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ronment around them is like," Ulrich explained. She also told those present that the species got its name because they were discovered in Europe and would often be spotted running out of campfires as they made their homes inside woodpiles and logs. Throughout the program Ulrich snared facts about the habitats, eating, sleeping and defensive habits of each of the animals and cautioned those present that "anything with a mouth can bite." See Visit, Page 4

Photo provided Dave Sloan earned a trophy and S2OO for Best Of Show at the 10th Annual Town of Wakarusa Car and Motorcycle Show.

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Books, resources aren’t lost on Wa-Nee students By Amy Wenger Correspondent NAPPANEE As the digital age continues to transform and revolutionize the world around us, it can seem somewhat quaint and rather reassuring that young people can occasionally find time to unplug and become lost in the treasures of books. That is precisely the trend that appears to be setting in at North Wood High School, as described in a report to the Wa-Nee Board of School Trustees presented during the June 25 session. Statistics provided by Heather Bontrager, library media specialist for North Wood High School, showed a significant increase in all aspects of usage during the course of the 201112 school year. "We saw a dramatic increase in the number of books being checked out by students this school year," Bontrager stated in her documentation. "Student usage of databases for research increased as more teachers required students to use Inspire or CQ Researcher," she further noted. "The media center offered instruction and ongoing help with effective searching using these databases." According to the calculations of the media center staff, the total number of materials checked out rose from 8,254 in the 2010-11 school year to 11,004 in the recently-concluded academic year, for an increase of 30 percent. Items classified as fiction climbed from 4,471 to 6,441, upwards of 40 percent. The use of the Inter Library Loan program allowed for the numbers to skyrocket from 71 to 188, a ratio of a 60 percent increase. "Finding resources for students with lower reading levels to use to complete the biographical research paper was one of the services we were able to provide through the use of Inter Library Loan," Bontrager explained. The number of classes in the media center also inched upward, from 440 to 462. "We collaborated with many teachers, as well as the public library, to ensure that students had the appropriate resources for all of their many projects and assignments," Bontrager noted. She also conducted two training sessions with teachers and staff on how to maximize the Smartßoard in the various classrooms. Special incentives and contests were held during the year to spark interest and motivate students to See Students, Page 5

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