The Mail-Journal, Volume 8, Number 35, Milford, Kosciusko County, 29 September 1971 — Page 1

Phones: 658-4111 & 457-3666

VOLUME 8

Friday Crash Claims Lives Os Area Couple

A crash involving four vehicles on U.S. 6 about four and one-half miles east of Nappanee Friday evening claimed the life of George M. Harvey 11. 20. of 525 South Lake street, Syracuse, and his passenger, Miss Linda J. Byler, 18. r 1 New Paris. Injured in the accident were a passenger in a school bus. 14-year-old Robin Chokey of 652 East Centennial street, Nappanee, and a LaPorte couple. The wreck involved two autos, a school bus from the Wa-Nee Community schools and a semi tractor-trailer rig. It occurred in a no passing tone and scattered debris for more than 500 feet. Both the Syracuse area young people were killed instantly in the crash which left only the engine and parts of Harvey's Chevy 11, on the highway. The semi, school bus and 1968 Chevrolet Impala driven by a LaPorte man, plunged down a steep enbankment along the highway’s north side, in a desperate attempt to avoid the wreck. Miss Byler, a former resident south of Syracuse, and daughter of the Glen Bylers, would have been 19 years of age on Saturday. A student at Purdue university, she was enroute to her home with young Harvey, who would have celebrated his 21st birthday on Monday, a-student at Ball State. According to state police reports, the Harvey car was eastbound on the state road and had passed three Wa-Nee Community school busses, also eastbound, enroute to a football game, and a truck and had returned safely to his own lane of traffic when his auto appeared to fishtail out of control, swerved back into the westbound lane and collided head-on with the semi The Impala driven by James Russell and the school bus collided seconds later in attempting to avoid the wreckage, both ending in a head-on position in a ditch and cornfield area on the westbound side (north ) of the

1 * M| jk si|B MATT WELSH IN WARSAW — Matthew E. Welsh, former ladiaaa Governor sad an annonnced Democratic candidate for his party's nomination for that office a second time, was in Warsaw Monday night where he spoke to several hundred party faithfuls at a barbeque chicken dinner. Welsh scored the administration of Governor Edgar Whitcomb, calling it spiteful, vindictive and divided, resulting in a deadlock where nothing constructive has been done. He to shown here with Democratic candidates for Warsaw city offices. In the front row from left are Dorothy Todd, candidates for councilman. Welsh, state Democratic chairman Gordon St. Angelo. Warsaw mayoral candidate Jack Somme. and Martha Dunham, candidate for city clerk-treasurer. In the rear are from left Richard McElroy , candidate for councilman-al-large; Herb Dye. candidate for councilman , and Mike Ragan, candidate for councilman.

'Buildinq A Legend' Is Friday's Homecominq Theme At Wawasee High

Wawasee high school's fourth annual Homecoming program will be held at the school on * Friday. Octi. The theme for this year's activities is “Building A Legend." Several events have • been planned for the

The j t, —sAftj

Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL (E*t. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE • WAWASEE JOURNAL (Ett. 1907)

LINDA BYLER highway. Oil and gasoline from the Harvey auto covered the road necessitating area firemen to stand by. Traffic was held up for more than three hours The accident occurrred around 6:20 p.m. and was investigated by state and county officers. Injured The school bus student, a passenger in the bus driven by Buell Hoffer. 52. r 1 Etna Green, was taken to Elkhart hospital by ambulance for emergency treatment for a laceration to the nose. Hoffer, driving the lead bus carrying North Wood high and Wa-Nee corporation students to a game at Manchester, and other occupants of the bus, were shaken but uninjured. The busses all returned home following the mishap and did not make their trip to the game. The semi, driven by Kenneth Farewell, 64, Harvey, 111., did not overturn after plunging down the ditch enbankment following the collision with the Harvey car, and Farewell was not injured. The truck, one of the Spector line, contained general freight. Russell, driver of the Impala, his wife, Marilyn, and a friend, David Rice, 24. also of LaPorte sustained injuries. Rice was (Cont'd On Page 10, Sec. 1)

Homecoming which is being sponsored by the senior class. A parade consisting of the Wawasee high school marching band, floats representing classes and clubs and the candidates for the Homecoming Queen will take

GEORGE M. HARVEYD Vehicle Is Totaled In Accident Wayne L. Sholtey, 29, of r 3 Syracuse, sustained injuries Saturday night two miles south of Dewart Lake as his vehicle ran off the road. Sholtey was making an effort toavoid collision with an oncoming vehicle which did not stop according to the Syracuse man. The northbound Sholtey vehicle turned over after running from road CR 300 E and hitting several obstacles before coming to rest in a cornfield at the Max Toms on r 2 Leesburg. The accident occurred around 11:30 p.m. Sholtey was admitted to Murphy Medical Center at Warsaw for multiple lacerations and abrasions and released on Sunday. Damage to the vehicle was set at 11,800 and 8150 to a cornfield and utility pole. Deputy sheriff Ron Robinson investigated.

place promptly at 6:45 p.m. The parade will proceed from the south school parking lot west to the high school football field and pass around the track. At 7:30 p.m. the Wawasee Warrior football team will meet the Fairfield Falcons in the

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1971

Spurgeons Buy Pulaski County Journal, Winamac A former publisher of the Syracuse-Wawasee Journal, one of the predecessors of The MailJournal, has purchased a paper in northwestern Indiana. Wiley W. (Bill) Spurgeon, of r 1 and Muncie, has acquired the Pulaski County Journal at Winamac from Calvin Sunderland, who has published it since July, 1970. Previously the paper was published by the Gorrell family of Winamac for some 80 years. Spurgeon is presently executive vice president and secretary of Muncie Gear Works, Inc. He has been active in community affairs here and in Muncie, and he and his wife, Sunny, edited the “Save The Lakes’’ paper distributed this summer to area residents by the Wawasee and Syracuse Lake Property Owners Associations. Spurgeon said he would relinquish his duties as vice president of Muncie Gear to have adequate time to spend with the Winamac propety, but would remain as secretary and as a director of the manufacturing firm. His newspaper experience includes supervisory editorships of daily papers in Muncie, Minneapolis, Boise, Ida., and Wichita, Kan., from 1955 to 1967. He was editor of The Journal here 1954-56, and again in 1960-61. The Pulaski County Journal has weekly circulation of approximately 4,800.

Community Improvement Fund At Halfway Mark

Twenty persons interested in the growth and development of Syracuse turned out for the first public information meeting at the board room of the State Bank of Syracuse last night. In an informal meeting chaired by Robert L. Jones, president of the Syracuse bank and chairman of the committee charged with forming the Syracuse Development Corporation, it was learned that 29 contributors have coughed up a total of $19,150 toward the $40,000 goal set by the committee. 3MS Day Cut-Off Jones told the group his committee is aiming for a cut-off date of from 90 to 60 days when all money should be in, in order that his committee can make a serious proposal to the Small Business Administration for a loan for community development under its 502 program. Jones gave the group background information, including his correspondence with Third District congressman John Brademas and U.S. senators R. Vance Hartke and Birch Bayh, in an effort to contact the Small Business Administration. Since his first correspondence, he has

Lakeland Evening Bridge-A-Rama Has Kick-Off

The Lakeland Evening Bridge-A-Rama held a kick-off meeting last week at the South Shore golf club with 33 members participating.

homecoming football game. Queen At halftime of the football game, the 1971 Homecoming Queen will be crowned. Candidates for this year's crown are seniors Karen Allen, Teresa Beer, Kathi Lamle and Connie

Boy Rides Into Path Os Auto A 1969 Oldsmobile driven by Larry A. DeWitt, 37, r 3 Syracuse, bumped a bicycle ridden by James Gregory Weaver, 301 Carter Road, Goshen, around 7:27 Tuesday night when the youth rode into the path of his car and he was unable to avoid the collision. Weaver, 12, was treated for contusions and abrasions of the arms and legs. City police reported DeWitt was southbound on Main street at 30 miles per hour and the Weaver youth was cm the west side of the road crossing Main north of Carter avenue prior to the mishap. The boy waited for a northbound car and then rode into the path of the DeWitt car. Punt, Pass, Kick Set For Saturday Wawasee high school football coach Don Storey said this week that registration for the annual Punt, Pass A Kick event will continue through Friday of this week for boys of the area eight through 13 years and is free. The big event is set for Saturday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m. at the Wawasee high school athletic field with 1:30 Sunday afternoon, Oct. 3, as rain date. First, second and third place trophies will be given in each age Fined For Speeding Gary L. Schlabach, 16, 300 North Huntington street, Syracuse, paid a total of $33 and lost his license to drive for 30 days when appearing in Goshen city court Saturday for speeding 93 miles per hour on U.S. 6 about one-half mile east of CR 43.

had a number of letters from the Indianapolis SBA office. It was pointed out by Jones, that while a cut-off date will be set, anyone interested in the program for Syracuse community development can participate at the regular rate of SSO per share after cut-off time. While he said he could not speak for the corporation that will take over for ins committee eventually, he felt an open-end policy would bea good one, where interested persons could always invest in the corporation's plans for development. Pickwick Block Many fronts for community development were discussed at last night's meeting, but it was noted that the Pickwick Block refurbishing was a top priority item. It is the Pickwick Block and its deplorable burned-out condition following the New Year’s Day fire that brought the committee and the eventual development corporation into being. When and how the Pickwick Block is rebuilt remains a prime concern of the new development corporation. Jones told the group the cor-

Plans for the year were made and schedules were given out. Among the plans discussed was the Christmas party to be held in December.

Plank. Christine Caywood, the 1970 Homecoming Queen, will be on hand to crown the new queen. Trophies will be presented to the best floats during the halftime of the game. Awards will be made in the following categories : Best class float, best chib or

SS,MO WALNUT LOG — Ulis large walnut log, which is just one half of a single tree taken from the Lavon Symensma woods last week, is estimated to be worth 15.000, according to Bill Mack of Dale Mack A Sons of Alexandria, Ind. That makes the single tree from which this log was taken worth SIO,OM, Mack said. It was the best tree of the 36 taken from the woods. Ek 'X. mA Sr n ' -Million SHIPPING WALNUT LOGS — Dick Mack, of Dale Mack A Son, Alexandria, Ind., to shown loading a valuable walnut log on a truck in the Symensma woods Saturday, to be taken to a railroad / siding for shipment to Toledo where it will be put aboard ship for transport to Frankfurt, Germany, to the Kling Veneer Werk. Thirty-six trees were sold for $55,742.

Sent To Germany Veneer Works —

36 Trees On Symensma Farm Sold For $ 55,742

Thirty-six trees — 34 of them walnut and two white oak — sold last week for die sum of $55,742, one of the highest prices ever paid for trees in this area. The trees were located on a tract of land of less than one acre in the 40-acre woods of the farm known as the Lavon Symensma farm, located on the SyracuseMilford road just west of Syracuse. The walnut trees were judged to be over 100 years old and the white oak trees were over 300 years old. They were sold by Milford veterinarian Dr. Albert Gervas

poration will be a profit-oriented organization whose goal is to promote the town’s business community. It’s first goal, certainly, would be to rebuild the uptown blocks. He said his committee has a purchase-option on the entire Pickwick Block, except for the theater. He said the corporation should consider refashioning the Syracuse uptown area in an architectural and esthetic way. He told the group stockholders should have an interest in the community, and a profit on their investment should be a secondary concern. Tenant Interest Mr. Jones said SBA will give a 25-year loan of from 5 to 6 per cent interest, and that they are (Continued On Page 10)

Prize winners for the evening were Mrs. Jay Brouwer, Mrs. James Kirkwood, Jay Brouwer, Mrs. Joe Gray, Frank Rehrer and Mrs. Blanche Thornburg.

organization float, most appropriate to the theme, most original. Henry L. Smith and Donn D. Kesler, administrators of the school, will present these awards. A homecoming dance, featuring December’s Children,

Schafer to the firm of Dale Mack & Son of Alexandria, Ind., who in turn sold them to the Kling Veneer Werk of Frankfurt, Germany. The trees were cut last week, and on Saturday they were hauled by large trucks to a rail siding at the Sturm & Dillard Co. gravel pit. They completely filled three gondola cars on the siding. Bill Mack, representing the Alexandria firm, said the trees would be shipped by rail this week to Toledo, Ohio, from which point they would go by boat to Frankfurt, Germany. Mack said the trees were the

Big Barn Opens In Downtown Milford With Auction Oct. 2

The Big Barn is opening in downtown Milford on Saturday, Oct. 2, with a public auction set to begin at 7 p.m. in the half block building which formerly housed Fuller’s General Store. A total of 300 seats have been installed with the auction featuring consignments of new and used merchandise. An annex, located in the builiding, will be open daily and will feature new and used furniture, dishes and small appliances. A second auction will be held as soon as arrangements can be made with weekly auctions being planned. O. A. Lambert, the singing auctioneer, is well known in the Lakeland area. He graduated from the Reisch Auctioneering college in Mason City, lowa, last year and is licensed and bonded

will be held for Wawasee high school students and their guests following the homecoming game from 9:45 until midnight. The dance is sponsored by the senior class. Wawasee graduates may attend the dance without being

NUMBER 35

finest stand of walnut trees on such a small tract of land he had ever seen. One tree measured 46 feet to its first limb, and was valued at approximately SIO,OOO, according to Bill Mack. Albert Kalkolf, representing the Frankfurt firm, flew to Syracuse to examine the trees personally before arranging shipment to his Frankfurt plant. Dr. Schafer bought the 176-acre Symensma farm on August 9 and accepted sealed bids for the trees on August 23, with the Alexandria firm being high bidder. The farm sold for a record SIIO,OOO.

in the state of Indiana. His wife, Donna, serves as clerk. Dick Widup serves as ring man for the Lambert's auctions. / O. A. has done radio workand has sung gospel music all over the area for years. He is currently putting this talent to work in the auctioneering field. Lambert stated the Big Barn is the largest auction house of its type in northern Indiana. He also states there is plenty of free parking in the area around the Barn. NAMED ADMINISTRATRIX IN FATHER'S ESTATE Ivone Pinkerman, Goshen, has been appointed administratrix of her late father, Willard F. Charlton's estate, which has been appraised at $51,798.51. Other heirs are two sons?- Douglas Charlton, r 3 Syracuse, jnd Edward Charlton, Leesburg.

registered in the school guest book. High school students may invite students from other schools or past graduates providing they register these guests on the Wawasee high school guest register M hours prior to the dance.