The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 17, Milford, Kosciusko County, 11 May 1983 — Page 4

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., May 11,1983

Editorials Congratulations band members Congratulations are due the members of the Wawasee High School Symphonic Band who returned home Sunday afternoon with second place honors received in national competition. The band members had traveled to Washington, D. C., to compete inthe National Heritage Festival of Music at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in nearby Winchester, Va., last week. While members were disappointed they did not receive first place, we are proud of their second place rating. Competition at the national level is stiff and the students should be justly proud of their award. Happy? No matter how humble their circumstances, nor how difficult their tasks and work, some enjoy life immensely. Others, living in luxury with little work or responsibility, are miserable. How does one explain it? - - ' Part of the explanation is obviously that money doesn’t mean automatic happiness. Another part is that the happiest people are people who work. The happiest are those who enjoy their work. Another part is that happiness is a state of mind, a philosophy of life, a relative thing. It can’t be bought. This explains why many simple people, usually with Christian values, live happy lives in modest surroundings. Many are lacking life’s luxuries. They are not the unlucky ones. On death There are many dissertations on death, most writers proclaiming death is as natural as birth. But infants have no anticipation of birth, while every thinking individual has premonitions of death. Naturally, there are many who fear the process of dying, even it unconcerned about death itself. To those who believe in immortality, death is but the portal of another life. In it, some expect to receive awards. Others expect glorification because of the life they have led, and some look somewhat hopefully to punishment that shall be visited upon others. That includes the thought of some of earth’s rascals burning on hot coals, the devil and his pitchfork enlivening the process. Surely all this is a bit more varied than birth. The thunderstorm The thunderstorm season is approaching. These storms contain highly destructive winds which usually do not touch the ground. Heavy electrical charges do strike the ground, and claim many lives each year. Summer weather is generally thought to be less dangerous and many assume thunderstorms are mostly noise and fury. However, lightning from thunderstorms in late spring and early summer kill more people than does lightning at all other times of the year combined. There are rules one should follow if caught in a thunderstorm, according to the Weather Bureau, i If indoors, one should stay there and avoid contact with electrical equipment, the telephone and plumbing fixtures. If outdoors, one should stop work on metal fences, tractors, especially those pulling metal implements, avoid tall trees, poles and solitary fixtures, and seek shelter in low areas away from water, or in buildings. There is a last, grim word of advice. Sometimes one can actually feel the first electrical charge of approaching lightning. Hair stands on end or the skin tingles. If you feel these danger signs, the Weather Bureau says, drop to the ground immediately. This is an omen of a nearby, massive electrical charge. Your church is still open every Sunday, if you hadn’t noticed. No matter how big a scoundrel a man may seem, always remember that, to someone, he’s a pretty good guy. What others say — Work now, play later There has always been an assumption that the primary purpose of public education is to teach those basic skills which are necessary to function on a daily basis in our society. As part of the educational experience, most Americans also value extracurricular activities. The social interaction with peers is considered an asset to the learning process for those young people who play on teams, join school clubs or take part in plays and concerts. Extracurricular activity, however, is not a right. It is a privilege. We pay to educate, not to entertain. We are entitled to expect certain levels of academic performance before we permit students to spend their time on school-sponsored, nonacademic pursuits. Recently, a school district in Los Angeles adopted a very strict rule on participation in extracurricular activities. NO failing grades and a C average. The immediate results were devastating. The school play was called off. The choir didn’t have its full complement of voices. The baseball team had to forfeit a game. I agree with those who consider extracurricular activities important, but I don’t believe that tax dollars should support such activities when basic educational standards are not being met. Current Howard County school policy on academic eligibility to take part in extracurricular activities requires that a student not be failing or deficient in two subjects. If the student is taking six courses, he or she must have a grade of D or better in five of them. If the student is taking just five courses, that means passing grades in four of them, and so on. The county’s policy is clearly inadequate, it treats education frivolously and in effect, places a priority on nonacademic activities. Why in the world should we permit someone who has four D’s and an F to spend 20 hours a week playing ball or rehearsing for a performance? How well prepared for the real world will such a person be after graduation? It’s time to follow the lead of some other school districts and start expecting and demanding more of our young people in the classroom. That, after all, is what our educational process is really all about. — S. ZEKE ORLINSKY, COLUMBIA (OHIO) FLYER

’ 9 bL » •MM WHS band earns second place honors. Unsung hero — \a ■ B JERRY BYRD Byrd has been Syracuse fireman since 1971

“When I get to the point when I can't put on an air mask, get a hose and go in to fight a fire, I'll quit,’’ stated Jerry Byrd who has been a Syracuse Fireman since January 27, 1971. Byrd moved to Syracuse shortly after he was out of the U.S. Army and was working in the area when he decided to join the department. “I talked to some of the guys and they gave me an application. 1 applied for it. I figure I might as well help people.” He was an emergency medical technician for a number of years and served as a crew leader. “I’ve always had an overwhelming urge to help people. When they started, the ambulance had three EMT’s working. I started working the third trick and taking classes at night, then going to work.” Byrd resigned from the EMT duties sometime ago. He stated it was because it was getting hard for him because there were three crews so you were on every third day and you had to become recertified. “1 felt I didn’t have as much time as I could spend with the ambulance. 1 regret getting off but there was a bunch of younger people who wanted on. 1 still help out once in a while, but I’m not certified.” He remembers one of the worst fires in Syracuse, next to the Pickwick block burning, the Oakwood fire. “We were out there the longest,” remembered Byrd who added about 10 buildings burned by the time the event was over. “The worst fires are the ones when people are in the homes.” As an EMT he remembers a wreck in which two persons were killed and three injured. One call that bothered him the most was when a man drove to the station with an ill child. Byrd stated he and another EMT worked on the child for 15-20 minutes with the parents watching, but still lost the child. “Any time a kid gets hurt, it bothers me,” remarked Byrd who added just shortly before the incident he and his wife had lost one of their children. Despite all the bad memories Byrd likes being a firemen because “I like helping people.

All firemen will tell you, it s a cheap high. You know your there to help. When the buzzer goes off your adrenalin runs high and you do things you wouldn’t do if you could think about it. I guess I like danger.” Knowing that he had the ability to help people was what he liked about being an EMT. “It’s nice to be called on by people for help. It shows they have confidence in you.” He added it has bettered his family by him being a fireman and EMT. “I’m more safety conscious than before. They’ve picked up some from me.” “I’ve been in the emergency room three times. Your wife and kids have to be supportive of it, there needs to be a lot of understanding from your family at times.” Byrd was secretary of the department for three years but felt as an officer he could not fight a fire like he wanted to. “As an officer you are there to supervise.” He and his wife, Glenda, have two children, Gina, 12; and Wes, six. He is a Staff Sgt., for the Army National Guard in Warsaw. He started working for the guard in September 1981. and has served a total of six years active duty for the army. . Byrd has lived all his life in Syracuse, with the exception of one year in Goshen and the two years he served in the U .S. Army.

THE MAIL-JOURNAL IUSPS 325 8-10: Published by The Mail Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office at Syracuse, Indiana 44567. Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main Street, Syracuse, Indiana 46547 and at additional entry offices. Subscription: sl4 per year in Kosciusko County, $14.50 outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of address forms to The Mail Journal, P.O. Box 188, Milford, Indiana 46542.

"CRUZIN AROUND 'CUSE"

FISH APPEAR to be biting everywhere. Last week in another column of this newspaper, we ran a photo of Bobby Richardson of Milford who caught two 12-pound Northern Pike in Waubee Lake. Now comes 17-year-old Guy Cox. a Wawasee High sophomore and son of Arley and Dulcie Cox of 601 North Indiana Avenue, with a 10-pound. twenty-five inch brown speckled Trout. Guy made the catch a week ago Sunday in Solomon Creek, in Elkhart County, about four miles north of Syracuse. In his words, it was “within five minutes of my favorite fishing hole somewhere between CR SO and 146.“ So thrilled with the big catch was Guy that he took the fish to Columbia City to have it mounted by a taxidermist. On the previous Wednesday he caught two 17-inch bass at the Turkey Creek dam in Syracuse. THE SENTENCING by Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge James C. Jarrette of 15 persons to a fine and jail sentence should ring loud and clear in the ears of anyone who isn’t mighty careful about his driving under the influence of alcohol. Judge Jarrette’s “get tough” policy is in keeping with a nation-wide crackdown on drunk drivers, the cause of some 25.000 deaths on the highways each year. Judge Jarrette called the sentencing “the most difficult decision 1 ever had to make as a judge.” Twelve of the 15 were sentenced to six days in jail, which will be reduced to three with good behavior. Two were booked for 10 day jail sentences, with one year of probation, and one repeated offender was sentenced to one year at the Indiana State Farm. Most in the group was fined 1252 and had their licenses suspended for 60 days. One man had his license suspended for six months, and another for two years. Additional fines for the repeated offenders amounted to a total of $352 for one. and $316 for two others. MRS. R. C. (SUSIE) Tytler, long time resident of r 4 (Waco Drive, Lake Wawasee), is up in arms about speeders on the narrow strip of road that goes past her place. She is calling attention to this in our Letters to the Editor column this week. Susie herself was the victim of a speeding vehicle on SR 13 some time ago, in a case unrelated to her letter, but that accident, too. points up speeders who fail to have their cars under control. There is a 20 mph speed limit on Waco Drive, as there is on other short roads around the lake, and the violations of this speed limit are flagrant, Susie and others contend. The case of a speeding car running over a small kitten sparked Susie’s ire and gave rise to her Letter. Others have suggested to this column that more police patrol around the lakes is needed to bring speeders to justice. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, was a red letter day for Diana (Mrs. Mark) Leamon of r 1 Syracuse and her twin sister, Donna Warble of Goshen. Reason: It was their 30th birthday, observed with cake, things like that. Diana is a longtime NIPSCo office employee and works with the Syracuse Travel Agency in Wawasee Village. AND SPEAKING of the local travel agency, it closed its doors here on Friday and moved its office to 804 East Beardsley Avenue, Elkhart, and will operate under the name of Elkhart Travel Specialists. At that location Teri Caskey will be office manager and handle leisure travel accounts, while Donna Warble and Tim Berry will handle travel commercial accounts. Margaret Freeman, long time employee of the agency here, will work out of the agency’s Warsaw office. The company is part of a northcentral Indiana chain of travel agencies, which has had marked success. IT’S THAT time of year again — when it’s nice out and people are letting their dogs run loose. We heard a loud complaint from the Highland View area, on the south end of Lake Wawasee. One case was reported there where two women were trapped in a fishing boat and were not allowed on shore by a less than friendly

WL - B JflH r ; I fl I ‘ I I SANDUSKY PORTLAND CEMENT CO. PLANT — This old photo of the Sandusky Portland Cement Co. plant, located on Medusa Street on the south edge of Syracuse, will ring a nostalgic note with many old residents of the community. It is postmarked April 18.1810. and is from the collection of Jerry Zehr. P.O. Box 218 Topeka. Ind. The plant was a busy place in its heyday and a chief local employer. Its company-owned train, with its standard gauge track, ran around Syracuse Lake, Lake Wawasee and around Waubee Lake in Van Buren Township.

canine. Another says, “the area has gone to the dogs.” LOOK FOR the impending wedding of a Front Street resident, to take place in Kentucky yet during the month of May. By request, the announcement of the event must await further developments. A SPECIAL re-organizational meeting of members of the Syracuse Scout Cabin board of directors is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, the 17th, according to an announcement this week. Purpose of the meeting: Aside from actual reorganization, a trust fund is being considered to perpetuate the financing to care for the West Henry Street property. The S-W Rotary Club, sponsors of Boy Scout Troop No. 728, at its Tuesday noon luncheon contributed $1,700 to the cabin’s new trust fund, which monies are the result of a recent club project. Bob Troutman, a Rotary member who has a personal history of working with scouts in Fort Wayne and elsewhere, has taken on the assignment of heading up the committee as temporary chairman. Troutman said this week the cabin is badly in need of repairs, including insulation, window repairs and certain roof repairs. BHH v .J IFw JAY P. LARRY H. PEFFLEY CLAYBAUGH THE NORTHERN Indiana Public Service is announcing the “official” retirement of Jay Peffley and Larry Claybaugh this week. Note: Articles on the two well known men’s retirement appeared in these columns some time ago.) Peffley actually retired February 28 as manager of the utility’s Syracuse office following 44 years service which began in 1939 as a clerk before advancing to district engineer and engineer. The Peffleys plan to continue to live on East Shore Drive. Syracuse Lake. When Larry Claybaugh retired April 1 he had been with the company just 13 days less than 36 years. He was an electric crew supervisor at the time of his retirement, working out of their Goshen office, having joined the company in 1947 as a groundman before advancing to lineman and eventually crew supervisor. Larry and his wife Pat plan to continue to live at 213 East Henry Street. Syracuse. WITH A theme of “Summer Daze,” the Enchanted Hills Playhouse Theater Guild is busily setting the scene at Wawasee High School’s auditorium for their annual style show. Syracuse stores and a Nappanee store will provide colorful clothing for the special event which is scheduled for Thursday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. The 1983 EHPlayhouse troup will entertain during “halftime” and refreshments will be served immediately following the final curtain of the show. Tickets may be purchased from any Guild member. INTEREST IN adult exercises just doesn’t seem to wane, to hear Donna Johnson tell it. She has been conducting adult women’s exercise classes at the Lakeland Youth Center for seven years (now in her eighth), and attendance is keeping up real well. Classes are Monday and Wednesday mornings and evenings, and this Monday, as an example of interest therein, there were 37 who showed up for Donna’s body-bruisin’ exercises. Along the same line, family swim at the big high school pool, once a week, was concluded Monday night. At a cost of 50 cents per person, the pro(Continued on pages>