The Mail-Journal, Volume 17, Number 47, Milford, Kosciusko County, 10 December 1980 — Page 1

Phones: 658-4111 & 457-3666

VOLUME 17

i ZPK i *k Z r I BfX. k - I ■ Air $ 1 < <• IN MEMORY OF LILLIAN KANTNER — Mr. and Mrs. George McConnell of Goshen, < £ representing the Saint Joe Valley Rockhound Club, donates five books to the Milford Junior High in •;• •;' memory of their late friend Lillian Kantner. An avid earth science hobbyist. Miss Kantner taught at £ :•: the Milford school for 35 years. :•! Pictured above are Marion Acton. Milford Junior High principal; Mr. and Mrs. Georg? Me- £ £ Connell; and science teacher Rich Bender. (Photo by Terri Chilcote) £

[Goshen couple donates books j [in Lillian Kantner s memory

Mr. and Mrs. George McConnell of Goshen, representing the Saint Joe Valley Rockhound ;j Club, donated five books pecember 3 to the •: Milford Junior High library in memory of their :• late friend Lillian Kantner who died October 30. Miss Kantner taught English and Latin at •: the Milford school for 35 years. She also taught < for seven years at the Leesburg school. She > retired in 1961 and resided at 1325 Greencroft •: Drive in Goshen until her death. An avid earth science hobbyist, she was a < charter member of the Saint Joe Valley < Rockhound Club and senior advisor and sponsor •: of the Junior Members of the Elkhart Mineral •: Society. She won several trophies and ribbons for her fossil displays at club shows over the years. The books donated are entitled “A Field

L iIMWi 19111 III' Mt 1 . || l *.Jb _ - L ■! I— HI W EXPRESSING THE LCEA’S POINT OF VIEW... ~~ «■■—» _ «■ mu. EXPRESSING THE ADMINISTRATION’S POINT OF VIEW

Elie lUailSJournal »■ t,-Jif

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

Guide to Rocks and Minerals, fourth edition” by Frederick H. Pough; “The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals” by Charles W. Chesterman; “The £ Larousse Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils" $ by W. R. Hamilton, A. R. Woolley and A. C. x Bishop; “Mount Saint Helens, the Volcano £ Explodes!” by Leonard Palmer and KOIN-TV £ Newsroom Six; and “The Fossil Book” by x Carroll Lane Fenton and Mildred Adams Fenton, x The members of the Saint Joe Valley £ Rockhound Club feel that by presenting the books to the Milford Junior High in Miss Kant- £: ner’s memory “she will still bb helping the £ children she loved so much." The club will also donate a display of Miss £: Kantner’s personal collection of minerals and £: fossils to the school at a later date.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10,1980

j 21 days remain for j teacher settlement

g By KIM HIEBER With only 21 days remaining £• settle the teachers’ contract :•: dispute before the present conX- tract ends December 31. both the ■X teachers and Lakeland School :$ Board negotiating team mem- £ bers are anxious to reach a >< decision., >•: Lakeland Community Educators Association X; representative Phil Metcalf states, “We’re running ads in the £ local newspapers to imform the £■ public. We want to bring the case • £ to them. There are a lot out there :£ who are unaware and don’t know £ the facts and the remaining days :£ are rapidly coming to an end.’’ :< Metcalf and LCEA member X : Lera Reinholt agree that the x advertisements are getting $■ responses. They feel the average x person is becoming aware of the X problem and are glad to know the facts while becoming informed. £ This past Saturday, Dec. 6, a £ one and one half hour meeting £' was held following the teachers’ £ previous request. The instructors wanted to present their opinions :< while giving reasons for their actions. Eleven from the teahcers negotiating team, including $ Metcalf, Reinholt and Director Bob Rosinski $ present with school board members Bill Little and Phil Payne. Also present on the school >:• board team was George Gilbert, Robert Hamman and Henry Smith. “Now that the school board $ meeting was last evening, we’re X waiting until after the negotiating X meeting scheduled for this Thursday, Dec. 11, to decide on :•! our actions from there,’’ explains Metcalf. “No actions may be X necessary or they may intensify, it just depends on what happens X during these days.” ■:* Negotiations between the two X sides could continue through Christmas vacation. Although, •; according to Lakeland School Board Business Manager George Gilbert, they’re hopeful that a !•: settlement will be reached < anytime now. ' The Lakeland School Board is ■ continuing to offer an 11.6 per cent increase. The teachers

Senior citizens dinner at Milford

The Milford Senior Citizens and the Milford Kiwanis Club will be joining together again this year to hold a community senior citizens Christmas dinner on Sunday. The event will take place in the Milford Elementary School beginning at 1 p.m. with all senior citizens invited. The noon meal is a carry-in with those attending asked to take table service and a favorite dish. The Kiwanis club will

Large crowd shows support ' for Lakeland school teachers

By KIM HIEBER The majority of the audience at last night’s Lakeland Community School Board meeting supported the teachers and displayed | handwritten large white tags declaring “I support Lakeland Teachers.” Over 175 people gathered in the Wawasee High School auditorium where five men representing the teachers negotiating team spoke and the school board responded to questions. Unlike other school board meetings, board president Billy • G. Little began the meeting with visitors questions, saving standard school board business for later so the audience would not have to sit waiting for negotiating business. Lakeland Community Educators’ Association President and Syracuse Elementary teacher Lera Reinholt began the meeting by stating the number

continue to disagree with the board’s recommendation. “The 11.6 per cent increase is over the new year on,a blended schedule. This is 11.6 per cent new dollars that the corporation must come up with over the present salary. An overall average state increase is 9.3 per cent and the teachers propose a 9.5 per cent increase. With fringe benefits that include more, making an increase to 11.6 per cent,” said Gilbert. The impasse continues in the areas of grievance, voluntary extra duty pay, insurance and salary. The teachers would also like to eliminate the calendar year contract and begin a school year contract. “We’re hopeful they will have something Thursday night,” says Mrs. Reinholt. “The board seemed to be listening Saturday as everyone expressed their feelings. No decisions were made but it was informative:” When a state appointed factfinder arrived during mid-April, a conclusion was hoped for. Unfortunately, some areas of contention continue with movement not progressing since the faty-i'inding report. “The board met in an executive session after last night’s school meeting to discuss personnel. According to every indication the negotiating team is doing what the board suggests and to the best of my knowledge the board agrees with actions being taken," comments Superintendent of Schools Don Arnold. “The board tells the negotiating team, it’s not the other way around.” It’s against the law in the State of Indiana for teachers to strike. Because of this, the state has not established rules on what is to be done with students if teachers strike. “We don’t want to pre-guess or pre-judge the situation,” explains Arnold. “We don’t want to damage anything. This is a very crucial time and we’d like to resolve things before Christmas vacation. , According to George Gilbert both sides continue to listen. “We’re hoping for a settlement soon and I’m sure the teachers are too.”

furnish the meat and drink Entertainment will be provided by the choir of the Christian Church. Santa Claus has promised to take a few minutes from his busy schedule to give all in attendance a treat and to assist in the giving away of the door prizes. Senior citizens needing transportation should contact Robert Auer.

one problem of the Lakeland Community School Board is budget priorities. From the five-man independent team Vern Zurcher stated the problem is a lack of trust between the teachers and the corporation board members. “Both sides think they’re right and are not budging in their positions which means negotiating is getting nowhere,” commented Zurcher. The school board seemed unable to answer many negotiating teacher team questions. One question before the board was where the school general fund operating money comes from. The board esitmated that 60 per cent of the school monies are through the state and approximately 40 per cent from local taxes. The board . did not answer where extra curricular monies come from for extra-duty pay. | “The money has to be there to

W ' i IJi imf I. IB k - A 118 * HLIII A i \ HONOR PAUL LEVERNIER — Paul Levernier’s fellow Rotary Club members honored him this week by naming him a Paul Harris Fellow . Shown above from left are Levernier with other such club recipients; Varner Chance (1978); Bill Cable (1976); Levernier; club president James E. Plummer, who made the presentation: and Ken Harkless (1979).

Paul Levernier named a Paul Harris Fellow

By ARCH BAUMGARTNER Paul Levernier, a lifelong resident .of the Syracuse and Lake Wawasee community, was honored at a special program at the St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church Monday night when he was made a Paul Harris Fellow by his fellow Rotary Club members, a single honor of Rotary International, so named in honor of the founder of Rotary International. Levernier has been a member of the Syracuse-Wawasee Rotary Club for 29 years, having served as the club’s president and as secretary for 12 years. 90% of UW goal reached Bob Beam, 1980 United Way Campaign chairman for Kosciusko County, has announced the official close of the fund drive for this year. Through the gifts of donors from all areas of the county, 90 per cent of the goal, or $350,000, has been reached. A few areas have not yet reported and it is hoped that the total will be higher. Beam expressed his appreciation to the division chairmen, captains, key people and volunteers for their generous efforts for the United Way Agencies.

give it, it just depends on priorities,” stated Superintendent of Schools Don H. Arnold. “The In School Suspension program that is now federally funded will not be refunded. Because of this it will either have to be eliminated or come from the general fund. Maybe we offer too many services to the community. The summer activities are paid for but perhaps the expense will now have to be extended to the parents like other corporations.” With school board tempers high when the teachers team asked for budget cuts so teaching salaries could be raised, the school board responded with increasing class size and eliminating some teachers, reducing school equipment, books and audiovisual equipment. Zurcher compared the Lakeland School System to that of the Valparaiso Corporation in students and administration size. (Continued on page 2)

Honored Tuesday He was also honored Tuesday noon at the service Hub’s regular luncheon meetinjKat the Kale Island Beacon. At the Monday night meeting, and again at the Tuesday meeting. Levernier was presented with a handsome Paul Harris Fellow Award Certificate, an attractive pin and medallion. The presentation on each occasion was made by club president James E. Plummer. To become a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest honor of Rotary International, one’s local club must have put SI,OOO into The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, a fund that contributes heavily to the world-wide benevolence of Rotary International. . Other Paul Harris Fellows The Syracuse-Wawasee Rotary Club began its program of naming Paul Harris Fellows in 1975 when the late Harry Nicolai was given the honor. Others follow: 1976 — Bill Cable and James Kirkwood 1978 — Varner Chance 1979 — Nelson Miles and Ken Harkless At the Monday night meeting at the St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, recipient Levernier expressed “complete surprise,’’ but at the Tuesday Rotary meeting, more composed, he confided he shoud have “suspected something” when his daughter, Mrs. Larry (Shirley) Halbach and her young son Tim, of Columbus, Ohio, appeared for the program. He first thought he would be presented some sort of “fishing award.” he said. Other members of the Levernier family present besides Paul’s wife Pauline were daughter Sharon of Syracuse, and Mr. Levernier’s brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Mary Helene Levernier of Milford. Other Activities Mr. Levernier has a long history of service to the Syracuse community. He is a past president of the Rotary Club, past president of the SyracuseWawasee Planning Commission, a three-term past president of the local Parent-Teachers’ Association, a term and a half on the Lakeland Youth Center board of directors, a member of the Grace Lutheran Church, a member of Lodge No. 484, F. & A. M., Syracuse, a 32nd Degree Mason, and for 23 years co-owner of Custom Crest Car Products, Inc., located in Wawasee Village. The club enjoyed a color film at its luncheon meeting entitled Foundation For Peace in which it stressed the world-wide Health, Hunger and Humanity program of Rotary International. Guests at that meeting were Leo Seltenright of Goshen, James McCleary and Ed Sandman, both of Warsaw. >

NUMBER 48

Fellow Rotarians pay tribute to Paul Levernier By JIM LeGRO ’ Monday evening seventy-one members and friends of the Syracuse-Wawasee Rotary Club gathered at St. Andrew’s Unit Methodist Church for its annual Christmas Party. The purpose, besides enjoying the fellowship and a good meal prepared by St. Andrew’s United Mehtodist Women, was to honor two of its members, Paul Levernier and Bill Cutter. The theme of the evening was “Christmas at Sea” and Paul and Bill were recognized for their fishing skills, especially because annually they treat their fellow Rotarians to a fish fry. In honor of the occasion, Bill Cable presented plaques of appreciation to Paul and Bill, and Varner Chance composed a song that was sung by the Choralaires. The musical tribute, entitled “The Happy Hoosier Boat", was sung to an original tune. The “Happy Hoosier” is Paul’s boat. President James Plummer added his words of appreciation and introduced Paul and Bill’s family and friends, including eight special guests from two area Kiwanis Clubs, who had gathered to give support to the honored pair. Then President Plummer surprised Paul by giving him the highest, honor bestowed by Rotary International: the Paul Harris Fellow. This award was made possible by a SI,OOO donation by members of the local Rotary Club on behalf of Paul to the Rotary Peace Foundation, a foundation dedicated to improving the welfare of humanity around the world. After the award Paul expressed his surprise, pleasure and appreciation for the unexpected honor. The evening was highlighted by a poetic tribute entitled “Readings from the Ship’s Log” by Father David Hyndman and decorations featuring several. hundred sea shells and coral from a collection owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gray. Then the Choralaires presented a Christmas Concert with some concluding sing along carols under the direction of Varner Chance. With Paul during the awards ceremony were his wife, Pauline, his brother and his wife, Dan and Mary Helene Levernier, from Milford, his daughter, Sharon Levernier from Syracuse, his daughter, Mrs. Shirley Holback and grandson, Timothy Holback. both from Columbus, Ohio. Paul’s neighbors, Bill and Barbara Tully, also were present for the evening.