The Mail-Journal, Volume 7, Number 9, Milford, Kosciusko County, 1 April 1970 — Page 1

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VOLUME 7

A * I 'nJ"T > uF * * /JF ~ ___JE * Harold Kline Raises Point At Area 1 Annexation Meeting

Annexation Meeting Draws Crowd, Debate

Syracuse annexation efforts appeared to be in for a bad time, according tp> sentiments expressed at the first of three public meetings to air joint efforts of the Syracuse-Wawasee chamber of commerce and the town board of trustees to annex certain contiguous territories to the town of Syracuse. - Accordingly, approximately 100 persons turned out last Wednesday night at the Syracuse scout cabin for the public hearing that concerned itself with so called area 1, located on the northeast section of town: Fast Growing Area Steve Hearn, chairman of the chamber’s. committee on an nexation, opened the meeting with a background statement that had brought the subject of annexation to the fore in the Syracuse community. He said Syracuse is "landlocked'’ and needs expansion. He said Kosciusko county was one of the 11 fastest-growing counties in the state of Indiana and much of this expected growth would come to the northeastern part erf the county. ‘‘We must be ready for it when it comes,” he stated He cited annexation as “the only way to go” for a community with growth possibilities. He was followed by Harry VanHemert. the area’s building commissioner and tax assessor, who said he had been to the court house and looked up tax assessment records of a number of persons living in area 1. He pointed out that, according to his calculations, a number of these people would be paying less taxes under annexation, if they figured in certain savings such as garbage collection, street lights, insurance, sewage treatment facilities, and others He met with considerable objections on this point from a number of persons in the audience. VanHemert cited Syracuse lake as a dead like, similar to Papakeechie lake, stating it was high time sewage services were brought to the home owners of the lake to save it. He also said Turkey Creek township would benefit from a 37.3 per cent increase in its evaluation this coming year Insurance Savings John R. Walker, chamber of commerce president, said residents would save 12 per cent on their insurance premium under annexation, but under questioning he said this savings would be realized only when city water came to the annexed area and providing a fire hydrant is within 1,000 feet of a given residence. Joe Shewmon. Republican candidate for Turkey Creek township trustee, said he was unalterably opposed to annexation on the grounds that the added services would not sufiContinued on page S, sec. 1»

Letters To The Editor On Page Eight Section 1

Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL (Est. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE - WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

Cost Os Relocating Road 30 Set At $6.5 Million

Reith-Riley Construction Company and Canonic Construction Company of South Haven. Mich., received the bid to relocate highway 30 at Warsaw. The bid was accepted Thursday by the state highway commission. The distance involved is 4 802 miles with the bids totaling $6,575.M6.i1. The project is from county road 150 W. northwest of Warsaw, east

Mail Stoppage Points To Need For Reform

By FRANK A. and DONALD D. WHITE AMERICANS BREATHE easier since the day when the U. S. mail all but stopped. What happened in the tense, anxious fraught hours, points to a need of reform of our mail system. Since days when Benjamin Franklin helped start the postal system it has been a weird political monopoly. Each year our postal system goes deeper in red. It is a source of perpetual complaint. Clarence A. Jackson, who made a name for himself in the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce and as a businessman, sometime ago asked us a pertinent question. Pointing to die inefficient and costly postal system. Jackson asked why not give private industry a chance to run our postal system. Each succeeding President names his national chairman or some one of importance to his election as the Postmaster General. Ex*perience in handling mail is not a pre-reqpisite to this political appointment. In the recent mail stoppage we found considerable sympathy for the letter carriers and other postal employes. No fewer than 3.000 postal employes in New York city were on welfare. The postal crisis drives home how much our society is intertwined. Mail stoppage left notes due banks unpaid on time; Social Security and other pension checks undelivered; wedding announcements piled up and general business paralyzed. It was unrealistic to believe untrained army personnel can adequately deliver mail. We are certainly dependent upon services to exist. Were railroads to go out of existence, and they fight for survival, 80 per cent of the power in the VSA would go off as would a similar amount of our lights. Remember the shocking cost of the New York power blackout. It even resulted in birth of hundreds of additional babies, some illegitimate.

sand southeast for 4.082 miles to the east city limits of Warsaw. This project includes three bridges. A twin continuous reinforced concrete slab 3 spans on relocated US 30 over the Tippecanoe river. a continuous composite plate girder 2 spans on relocated US 30 over slate road 15 and a twin continuous concrete girder three spans on relocated US 30 over Deeds Creek.

Were electric service suspended in our home, we would have no drinking water, heat, lights, cooking. laundry, or sewage disposal. Efforts to revamp the postal 'system by naming a commission, backed by the President and present Postmaster General, bogged down in Congress. Perhaps an indignant public will induce long overdue reform of our politics ridden postal service. The direction of public thought to our postal dilemma focuses thought on how far we have come in postal service, even with all its hangups. On June 20. 1860, a slender, tanned youth, strode into the post office at Saint Joseph. Mo., and came out with aq leather mail pouch. He swungjpto the saddle and rode westwaref-tn a gallop. He stopped only to change horses and the new Pony Express was born. Riders, day and night, passed on the mail bag. They rode across the great Plains, Rockies, deserts, and the High Sierras. On June 28. a rider brought the dusty mail pouch from Saint Joseph into Sacramento, Calif. The mail had come 2,000 miles. Today, air mail letters make it across the continent in a single overnight flight. A 6c postage stamp carries first class mail of one ounce to almost inaccessible spots the width and breadth of our groat nation. For 10c letters are winged across oceans to most countries of the world. Yes, we have come a long way from Pony Express to Air Mail But we have far yet to go to perfect our mail service. Speculation of who would succeed Chet Huntley of the HuntleyBrinkley NBC news network is over. It was a hazardous decision for NBC to make regarding its big money-maker production that is said to be viewed by 17 million Americans. The selection inspires confidence David Brinkley, who has been the partner of Huntley for (Continued From Page 8, Sec. 1>

WEDNESDAY’, APR. 1, 1970

Ask Possession Os Parksite

Estep Heirs File Suit Against Town Os Milford

A law suit has been filed in Kosciusko superior court by heirs of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cleo W. Estep against the tswn of Milford and Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Barnes of Milford. The plaintiffs are Janet Fisher, Joe 0. Estep, Francis E. Watkins and Eugene C. Estep, all of the MilfordSyracuse area.

a law suit has been filed in Kosciusko superior court by heirs of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cleo W. Estep against the town of Milford and Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Barnes of Milford The plaintiffs are Janet Fisher, Joe O. Estep. Francis E. Watkins and Eugene C. Estep, all of the Milford-Syracuse area. The suit was filed on March 25 by Lee F. Mellinger, attorney for the plaintiffs. Mellinger, of 414 west High street, Elkhart, is the son-in-law of Mrs. Fisher. The suit alleges the plaintiffs are the sole surviving heirs of Cleo W. and Elinor Estep and that both Mr. and Mrs. Estep are deceased. Waubee Lakeside Park It continues that on May 15, 1936, the Esteps and the defendants Carlyle D. and Bernice Barnes deeded the real estate now known as Waubee Lakeside park to the town of Milford Junction and it was to be used for certain specified purposes in the deed which they listed as exhibit A and is to revert to grantors’ heirs upon breach of said conditions. The suit states the defendant, the town of Milford Junction, has violated the terms of said deed. It states the plaintiffs and the defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, are owners of the real estate. The defendant, the town of Milford Junction, claims an interest in said property adverse to the rights of plaintiffs which claim is without right and is unfounded. The plaintiffs claim they are entitled to the immediate possession of the real estate along with Mr. and Mrs. Barnes and the town holds possession without right and has unlawfully kept them out of possession of said real estate. It further stated in the suit that the town of Milford Junction has made profits from said real estate but plaintiffs have no way of determining the amount thereof The plaintiffs have, according to paragraph three of the suit, an undivided half interest therein and desire their interests therein partitioned and set off to them in severalty. Warranty Deed A copy of the warranty deed, listed as exhibit A, is attached and states the town paid $325 for the real estate now called Waubee Lakeside park. It is dated May 15. 1936. It reads in part, “This deed is executed subject to the following conditions: There is to be no leasing or subletting of contracts for buildings or grounds, and there is to be no sale of foods, soft drinks or confections and only a pavilion for shelter to be constructed and the real estate is to be used for a fish hatchery, battling beach and park.” From the Morgue From the morgue of the Milford Mail we found the following article on the park. The paper was dated May 21. 1936 “Transactions were closed last week whereby approximately 11 acres bordering on Waubee Lake became property of the town of Milford, the tract being purchased by the Milford Conservation club and deeded to the town.

“The town board of trustees will make application immediately for a federal project under which they propose to build a municipal bathing beach, two fish rearing ponds, a roadway leading from the park o the highway and to improve the grounds in general for a public park. “The rearing ponds when completed will be under the supervision of the local conservation club. “It is hoped that the project will be granted in time so that a large portion of the work can be completed this summer.” The funds never came to .Milford and the beach went with only few, if any, improvements until March 21, 1949. when the Columbian Reading Circle’s 23 members decided to enter a contest sponsored by the General Federation of Women’s clubs with the cooperation of the Kroger Company. It was a woman's club community improvement program project and the women of Milford had chosen the park at the lake as their project. The town board was quick to give its approval. That summer the land which was to become known as the Lakeside park was a beehive of activity as the entire community turned out to back the Columbians and improve the park. Hundreds of bathers and picnicers flocked to the beach during the summer of 1949 to enjoy the facilities even though work there was far from completion. Many of those people return each year to enjoy the park while others find it for the first time each year. An article in their book, now property of the Milford public library, states, “A popular attraction at Milford’s new Lakeside park is the snack Wagon’ being run by Ellen Cunningham and Joe Sunthimer,* Jr., who are finding this a pleasant and lucrative way of spending their summer vacation. Both are students at Ball State Teachers’ college at Muncie.” The book also tells of planting shrubs and flowers, building the old bath house, erecting the shelter house and of securing the fire places and the picnic tables for the park. Since that time an eat stand has been located at the park almost every summer with the town board authorizing the erection of a building and ground-breaking ceremonies held in December of 1968. The building is a 20 x 40 bath house and concession stand built at the cost of $7,000 and was used for the first time last summer. It was built to improve the facilities at the park with the operator of the concession stand being deputized to keep order and responsible for the beach. Members of the Milford town board are Carl Duncan. Dr. T. A. Miller, and Gerald Martin. Mrs. Herbert (Edith I.) Baumgartner is clerk-treasurer. Sgt. Andrew Gilbert Home On 10-Day Leave bgt. Andrew (Andy) Gilbert arrived home Friday for a 10-day leave. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Gilbert of Syracuse and currently stationed at Corpus Christi. Texas.

house and

Hold Syracuse Youth In Bomb Scare Calls

The disposition of a 13-year-old Syracuse youth is being debated by Kosciusko county authorities following his apprehension last Tuesday in connection with the two bomb scare calls at Lakeland schools. The youth was apprehended when Syracuse and county police joined hands with telephone workmen to trace calls as they were being made to Wawasee high school, authorities stated. At the present time the offender is in the custody of his parents, and juvenile authorities are debating the best means of handling the case. Two Bomb Scares Just after 10 a.m. last Monday, Mrs. Maurice Dorsey, in charge of the cafeteria at the Syracuse junior high school, received a call, stating there were bombs “in both buildings’’ at the Syracuse school. She said it sounded like a young lady’s voice. The 900-odd students of the junior high school and elementary school were quickly REMC Building To Be Home Os An Art Show The REMC building at 523 south Buffalo street in Warsaw will be the location for the annual Lakeland Art Association spring art exhibit. The snow will open on April 18 at 1 p.m. with an informal tea featuring a discussion of the art work on display by the judges. Judging the art works will be Edward Harding, a well known South Bend artist who has been an instructor at the University of Michigan and the Bremen and South Bend art centers. He has exhibited in the Michiana area and is a member of the national printmakers society. Also judging will be Edward Herrmann, who has exhibited in many national watercolor shows. Mr. Herrmann has taught at the South Bend, Bremen and Niles Art Centers. The exhibit will be open to the public every day except Sunday from 12 noon to 9 p.m. through April 24. Included in will be categories for many types of art work including oil and acrylic, watercolor, weaving, printmaking, photography and three dimensional works. Os course, all work is original and no copies or class work will be accepted Entries will be accepted on April 17 from 12 noon to 8 p.m. A limit of five works will be accepted from each artist. Non-members will be required to pay a fee per entry. STORY HOUR SATURDAY Mrs. Oscar Bjella has announced there will be a story hour from 11 to 12 noon Saturday in the children’s department of the Syracuse Public Library. This is open to children of all ages.

evacuated while a swarm of officers and school officials made a thorough search of the building. No bomb was found. Then, Monday afternoon just as afternoon classes were about to end. a youth called the Office and talked to Mrs. Arlene Dellinger, office secretary, stating there were bombs in the Wawasee high school building. It was learned later that the youth made at least five bomb scare calls at Wawasee high school Monday afternoon. Mrs. Dellinger said he appeared to try to disguise his voice. WHS principal Henry Smith put into effect an orderly plan worked out earlier by the school board to building, but to have teachers make a search of their respective areas and to report any untoward incidents to the principal’s office. School officials and local authorities w’ere able to keep the 13-year-old youth on the telephone long enough for telephone workmen to tap his line and made a definitive trace of the wierd call. MILFORD CUBS ENJOY SKATING PARTY SATURDAY Milford cub scout pack 47 met Saturday. March 28, and enjoyed a skating party in place of the usual monthly pack meeting. A good time and several laughs were enjoyed by all. Everyone is looking forward to next month also, when the boys plan to hold a fair in place of the monthly meeting. Those participating were dens I, 11, 111 and Webeloes. Parents, leaders and guests were also present. Receives Fine And Suspended Sentence John Charles Davidsen, 18, r 2 Milford, appeared before judge Edward J. Meyers, Jr. in Whitley ' circuit court at Columbia City on a theft charge Monday. Davidsen received a suspended one year term at the Indiana state farm, was fined SIOO and placed on one year’s probation. The probation is to be transferred to Kosciusko county probation officer Paul Grimme. The Milford youth was arrested by Kosciusko county sheriff’s deputies on February 19 and charged in connection with a robbery at the Pizza King restaurant in Columbia City the day before. Also involved in the robbery was Steven May, 21, of r 1 Milford. May appeared before judge Meyers earlier in the month and was given a 60-day term at the state farm and a fine of SIOO. Marshall Estep Dismissed From Hospital Saturday Marshal Estep of r 2 Milford was dismissed from Parkview hospital Saturday.

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NUMBER 9

Brademas To Speak At MAD Group Breakfast

Congressman John Brademas of South Bend will make his first stop Thursday at Milford where he will appear at a breakfast at the Masonic lodge hall to speak to approximately 35 members of the Milford Area Development Council (MAD). He will spend the day in,Kosciusko county while congress is in recess. He is expected to arrive in Milford at 8 a.m. and talk privately to the organization’s steering committee, and following the breakfast by Eastern Star ladies, he will talk to the group, followed by a question and answer session. MAD president Chuck Myers stated this morning that an effort has been made to invite interested persons to the breakfast but some may have been overlooked. He emphasized that anyone interested in hearing the congressman talk on local civic problems should plan to attend. The MAD Council was formed • foq, the purpose of presenting a united approach to community problems, and il already has committees at work making studies and formulating recommendations for community action. It hopes to work as an active right arm of the Milford town board. Other Stops Congressman Brademas plans to be at Syracuse at 9:45 to 10:45, with the rest of his schedule following: North Webster — 11:00-11:30 Pierceton — 11:45-12:15 Sidney — 12:30-1 Silver Lake — 1:30-2 Claypool - 2:15-2:45 Burket — 3-3:30 . Mentone — 4-1:30 Etna Green — 5-5:30 Warsaw - 7:30-8:30 Serves As Mayor And City Manager, Gets Key John Cripe of Eau Gallie, Fla., was among the 23 young men participating in DeMolay Week oh? servance last week at Melbourne, Fla. Head of the Eau Gallie Clair B. Lay chapter of DeMolay for boys, John’s chapter joined with neighboring Melbourne for a week of activities including administrative duties at city hall. John served one day in the office of mayor and city manager. He also received the key to the city and it now adorns the wall of the Florida room ii his home. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Cripe, former Syracuse residents. EASTER EGG CONTEST SET FOR APRIL 4 Members of the Wawasee Area Jaycees will hold their Easter egg contest Saturday, April 4, at the Syracuse city park at 1 p.m. Youngsters from pre-schoolers through 12 years of age are invited to attend and vie for the prizes that will be offered. The hunt was scheduled for last Saturday but was cancelled due to the bad weather.