Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 135, Number 31, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 4 August 2016 — Page 4
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Advance News • Thursday, August 4, 2016
Wrestling with the Olympic committee
The Greeks had a word for it. Wrestling. There's a little scrap of papyrus, five and a half by seven inches, found in the Egyptian
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desert. It's from a second century wrestling instruction manual. There are holes here and there, and thought I'm not the best translator, as near as I can tell, this is what it says: "Throw back your challenger and wrestle...with your right hand...toss, roll and suddenly throw into a different position and wrestle...toss...your foot...the hand, squeeze and wrestle...with your right then change positions...by the beard...and with the other alongside the middle of the head with the right, wrestle around and with your hand bend it back. Cross and wrestle. Bend him backwards with your right which you bend back and surprise him around the ribs and throw your honorable opponent. Throw off your honorable opponent, shifting his hand. Wrestle! Be quick. Use both hands. Wrestle. Throw your foot. Squeeze him. Bend him back. Bend his fingers upward and his... throw against..." You get the idea. Now here's what I want you to keep in mind. When this was written, wrestling had already been an Olympic sport - for 900 years! I share this because while you're watching the Olympics the next few weeks its worth remembering the powers that be eliminated wrestling as an Olympic sport in 2013 —only to have to reinstitute it a few months after a huge outcry.At the time some of the commentators on ESPN pointed out that wrestling had been part of the Olympics since 1896. Ah, actually, wrestling has been part of the Olympics since 706 BC. That works out to around 2833 years. Ancient wrestling was a lot like the modem sport. No kicking or hitting, no eye-gouging or biting was permitted all of those were reserved for another sport called the Pankratos which was a lot like mixed martial arts. There was two minor differences from modem high school wrestling: First, infractions could lead to an immediate whipping! Second, you were allowed to bend your opponent's fingers backwards! Okay, three differences. Wrestlers battled in the altogether. There were legendary wrestlers back then -- Milo of Croton triumphed at five straight Olympics, from 532 to 516. He once won a tournament because all his opponents forfeited. And it was said of Nicophon, nicknamed the Milesian Giant, after he won in 8 BC, "Not even Olympian Zeus watched without trembling." Now my wife Jennie and I are not wrestling fanatics. We weren't even very good wrestling parents. Our youngest; Jacob, won his varsity letter because the other heavyweight at his high school heard a snapping noise in his neck and spent the rest of the year wearing a big cone like dogs wear after an operation. We'd be cheering and hollering, but inwardly our hope was for the other guy to just pin our son in five seconds and get it over with. All the same, I admire wrestling as a sport. There is nothing more fundamental than a one-on-one matchup in which nothing takes the place of strength, leverage, strategy, endurance, and smarts. So I'm glad they came to their senses. Olympics is running and jumping and throwing and flinging and wrassling. There are no ancient Greek statues of some guy in shorts playing badminton. Nor is there a papyrus scrap of instructions for curling, neither. Frank Ramirez is the Senior Pastor of the Union Center Church of the Brethren.
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County Road Seven 1 By Frank Ramirez
Opinion
Summertime brings magic, mystery
Reflecting back on summers of the past I am comforted and entertained by a young child who loved to toddle through the grass and play in the sand pile at my grandparents' home in Argos... die second grader who thought I had hit the bigtime of summer events because I was finally old enough to take part in 4-H...the preteen who spent her summers at the Nappanee Municipal Pool ...the teenager
who spent weekends tubing across the waters of three different lakes in Syracuse... and the adult mother who so looked forward to sharing her love of the water with her sons. Nothing can compare to the feeling of love and safety I had while enjoying that warm sunshine as I played in die sand pile—or on the rubber tire swing. It was a time of innocence, exploration and love. The moments when my mother or grandparents would take my hand into theirs and walk me down the dirt lane to "the crick" were extra special times, and proved that I was "a big girl". I am ever so thankful for those times which were based on all four siblings (my mother's generation) gathering their families at my grandparents' house each summer weekend to weed and tend to a giant garden and fruit trees before dining together and "visiting" in my grandparents' home. When I was old enough to take part in 4-H my mother — who had ventured all the way to state competition with her sewing treasures created during her years in the program — was quick to explain it all to me. It seemed like a whole new world. I was excited that I was old enough to learn how to sew. I was fascinated that people would want to see the fruits of my labors. The exhilaration of thinking it was such an astounding accomplishment that people would want to see me in the clothes I fashioned quickly formed a knot in my stomach as I learned that I would have to walk on a stage in front of people —not just wear my clothes to school, church or the grocery store. Mom worked tirelessly to teach me how to sew—and explain why we were ripping out the same seam for the 10th time (I guess it took awhile longer than she expected for me to perfect sewing in a straight line). Mom also worked to build my excitement for the fashion show portion of my 4-H adventure, and was right there to give me that last reassurance to "just go out there and show them how proud you are of this skirt you made." I never made it to state like mom did. I only stayed with 4-H for about three years. I quickly discovered that outside of knowing how to sew shut holes in a sock—and sew on buttons—l really didn't see a need for all those needles and thread. I didn't have my mother's love for operating a sewing machine. And, if truth be told, I much preferred visiting the fair, admiring all the entries and riding the rides over countless hours stitching, removing and re-doing seams and such. Still after experiencing the hard work involved I did develop a deeper appreciation for all that is put into creating 4-H projects worthy of ribbons and attracting people from far and wide.
All those years ago
100 YEARS AGO AUGUST 4, 1916 Life in the Indiana Women's Prison may not be one round of pleasure, but Mrs. Lydia Hartma prefers it to living at home with her husband. That is what she told Governor Ralston, so he revoked her parole granted last week. Mrs. Hartman was sent to the prison last month from Nappanee after having been convicted in the Elkhart circuit court on a statutory charge. On the plea that her domestic troubles had been adjusted and that she was badly needed at home to care for her family, the governor granted the parole. Mrs. Hartman said that she will never go back to her husband and would rather stay in prison. The street combination letter and package boxes have been placed by Postmaster Murray. These are of the latest style of make furnished by the department. One is located at Freese's creamery, one on North Main Street near the school grounds, one in the vicinity of the Coppes Bros. & Zook office, and the fourth one comer of West Market and Nappanee streets. These will later be supplied with a record of time when the mails will be collected by the carriers twice each day. There are to be six other boxes placed when supplied in addition to these combination boxes. Letters and parcels deposited in these boxes must be properly stamped as the carriers cannot accept money for postage. 75 YEARS AGO AUGUST 7, 1941 Everything is now in readiness for the moving of the stock of merchandise of the Boston store to its new quarters in the Lehman building four doors north of its old quarters. The store is closed today for moving and tomorrow will be open for business at 110 South Main Street. This in no way will be formal opening, plans for that being laid for next week but the store will be open for business to those in the market for ladie's ready-to-wear, dry goods, notions, shoes, hosiery, etc., in fact on all lines formerly carried and on some new lines besides. A color combination of blue and white was used for painting and the place presents a wonderful appearance, all that is needed to make this one of the best looking stores in this section of the state. David Pry was fine $1 and costs in the local Justice court for passing another car on a hill which obscured his vision. Eugene Barkus was arrested Saturday evening and fined $1 and costs for driving across the sidewalk at the Legion Home and narrowly missing some pedestrians.
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Merlie’s Musings By Merrie Chapman
lessons in my earlier years but now I was old enough to go to the city pool each weekday afternoon. Every morning I got up and there was a list of chores needing done before I had permission to set out on my aquatic journey. I was still young enough to know that each and every one of them had to be finished before I stepped foot out that door because I knew in my heart that mom would know if even one thing wasn't finished before I left. She had eyes in the walls it seemed. It's easy to chuckle at that now, and at how convinced I was that mom absolutely knew every detail of my day even when absent. But I both happy and amused that I was able to portray that to my sons when they were that age. Straight out of sixth grade I had reached another new level. I had finished my first year in junior high. There was hope that NOT ALL boys had cooties. And in my rush to get to the pool each day it seemed to be alright that one or two things on my chore list wouldn't be finished until I returned home from the pool. Again it's easy to smile about now, but I can say with humor that it didn't seem so inconsequential when my sons went through that stage. I was 25-years-old when the Lord blessed me with our boys, and I was overflowing with excitement to introduce them to all things—especially the water! We visited Dewart Lake each weekend, every summer. They had baby life vests on as we held them in shallow waters up to our knees. We took them on rides in the paddle boat. They had children's pools on shore. We took them in the speed boat and the pontoon. Allen couldn't wait for them to be old enough to learn how to ski, and I couldn't wait to teach them about tubing behind the boat. Then it all happened, and as centuries of parents before us discovered, our dreams are not always the dreams of our children. Just as 1 hadn't absorbed my mother's passion for sewing, our boys had no interest in learning to water ski. Their father watched in disappointment as they tried on several occasions then chose not to do it ever again. They did ride on the tube for years to come—and still do—but their passions became knee boarding and wakeboarding. Ah, the energy and excitement of youth! In looking back 1 muse over the wonderful things summers have brought to me during each stage of my life. My hope and prayer for my family, friends and all others who are reading this, is that each day this summer you will find something that brings you joy. May you develop activities and traditions for your children. May we all see the wonder and magic of our summer days, and long to re-explore them as each winter sets in, and each spring approaches. ~ Blessings~
50 YEARS AGO AUGUST 4, 1966 If we had been given our way, the Wa-Nee School Board would have built a junior high school in Nappanee and would have made Nappanee High School the only school in the district. But we didn't get our way, because our wishes were definitely selfish and didn't take into account what was best for the whole district. Now Nelson Grills has been retained to fight the adopted plan of the Wa-Nee Board. The Citizens Committee will obviously have to spend some money to retain this gentleman, so they had better investigate what they are buying. Mr. Grills made his 40 page proposal by picking up extraneous material and compiling it. Its weight is impressive, but its contents are dubious. When he finally does get to talking about Wa-Nee's specific problem, there are a few misstatements (overestimating the rapid growth of the Wakarusa area," but, more important, he reaches no realistic conclusion. In attacking the very idea of school reorganization, he is fighting something which is a foregone conclusion. Neither he or the Citizen's Committee is going to be able to do much about the fact that Wa-Nee is organized. Mr. Theodore Good, coordinator for the Village Art Festival, has said that applications are coming in at an increasing rate. The festival is taking place in front of the Pletcher Furniture Village and The House Across the Street. The response from Nappanee has been particularly good, and further local entrants are expected in both the young people's division and the general competition. Entries have been received from as far as Alabama, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois. 25 YEARS AGO AUGUST 7, 1991 It was standing room only in the meeting room of the Nappanee Municipal Center on Thursday. Homeowners in the Hartman-Madison Historic District turned out to express their displeasure with the Historic Preservation Society at its afternoon session. The preservation society and Mayor Robert Callander were presented with a petition signed by many homeowners, to get the times of the meetings changed from the normal 4 p.m. time. The mayor distributed a sheet to those present, listing the benefits of living in the district. He reminded residents that no area in Nappanee had received new curbs and new gutters except for the historic district. The mayor also said the brick streets had been repaired, although sections still had some waves in them. The mayor thanproposedacommitteeto address their questions, asking
Looking back I see that my fifth grade year was a significant year of growth as I matured to a new level beyond elementary school ways of thinking. The summer that followed is when I learned that I belonged in the water. I had taken swimming
for 60 days to work through the concerns. He added he knew the committee would not be able to satisfy 100 percent of the homeowners. Restoration of the old bams and the old home, formerly owned by John Duerksen and his son, is planned by by Nappanee with the aid of the Historic Preservation Commission. One possibility is suggested for the old bams is to renovate them for use as an office complex and maintenance facility for the parks department.