The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 21, Milford, Kosciusko County, 8 June 1983 — Page 1

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VOLUME 20

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MILFORDHIGHSCHOOL, CLASS OF 1933 —The members of the Joy (Biller) Rumfelt Mishler, Almeda (Coy) Widner, Marybelle class of 1933, Milford High School, who were present at the Saturday (Lentz) Sharp, and Helen (Baumgartner) Funk. night alumni banquet are shown here. Front row from left, are Standing from left are Farrell Cain. Delbert L. Fox and Heine Florence (Buhrt) Nemeth, Edith Baumgartner, Lucille (Bare) Hines. Zimmerman.

Honor 50-year Milford grads ..

By ARCH BAUMGARTNER The 59th annual Milford High School alumni banquet was held in the gym of the new junior high school Saturday night, with a respectable crowd of “old grads” in attendance. As estimated 150 attended, whereas, a reading of the minutes of last year’s gathering revealed 362 attended that meeting. It was the last such meeting in the old high school gym. Honored this year were the class of 1933, which marked its 50 years since graduation, and the class of 1958, its 25th year anniversary. Delbert L. Fox, a Nappanee businessman and president of the class of 1933, recognized members of his class, as did Fred Weisser, president of the class of 1958.

flgflF i iWI a Bk.* k ' ■*¥■■■ ? j Btßi W,. .- f 5 • ■ flf ■ fl fl V ■mBP ■■y < ■’*' . Sit fl fl % T' JiiLs ■ WH flu » cflfl • ■ fl K -»flfl - fl ' - -fl ■ S' fl • -fl <• •*fl 'WK Bfl .flW* "fl. jfl IL/ BE? ’’***'" SL.' -—■ fl a■ _ fl fl PB®** • '*;* ..< .< GROUND BREAKING SERVICE — Milford’s First Brethren Church held a ground breaking service following the Sunday morning worship service in anticipation of a new educational and fellowship center. Glen B. Bixler, church moderator, takes a shovel full of dirt at the site of the future center. The center will be located across the street from the church, at the site of the former C.S. Myers Ford buildings. (Photo by Gary Lewis)

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

There were 10 members of the class of 1933 present with 25 members in the class, Fox noted, and there were nine of his class deceased. Weisser took the occasion to reflect on incidents he recalled during his class’s high school years. He said the class of 1958 had 25 members, of which seven were present. One is deceased. Business Meeting Alan Coy, member of the class of 1965, was president of the governing committee and ably handled the business meeting. The committee was expanded by three members to broaden its interest in the association. Connie (Fox) Miller, class of 1964, read the minutes of the previous such meeting and Max Duncan, class of 1962, read the

treasurer’s report. Ron Baumgartner, also of the class of 1962, told the group an updated mailing list is being compiled, to be put on a business machine where addresses could be updated. He asked anyone who failed to receive a card or who knew of anyone who was not notified of the meeting, to send correct mailing information to P.O. Box 188, Milford. Baumgartner also recognized graduates who have died during the past year, in a special necrology service with a moment of silent prayer. Program Donna Pollen, music teacher in the Milford Elementary School, presented her fifth grade Special Choir which presented a number of catchy songs. The young musi-

WEDNESDAY. JUNE 8.1M3

cians proved a real hit. Marguerite (Beer) Hoerr, class of 1944, gave a history of many of the Milford High School graduates who have moved on, noting, for one thing, the excellence in music that has always been a hallmark at Milford High School through the late Maude L. McLaughlin, Lloyd B. Eherenmanand later by Joseph Judkins. “We feel we are carrying on this tradition at Wawasee High she said. She noted Duane (“Skip”) and Barb Graff as coming the farthest to the Saturday night affair — 325 miles, from Nicholasville, Ky., and that Edna (Haab) Polk, class of- 1918, was the oldest graduate present. She also paid tribute to graduates who had returned to teach school at Milford. Two were present: Gwendolyn (Orn) Dewart, class of 1935, and Berniece (Hollar) Dwyer, class of 1936. Three Haney brothers, all former teachers, but not in the Milford school, were present: Kenneth, class of 1923; Fred, class of 1924; and Paul, class of 1932. Members of the class of 1924, the class that began the alumni association gatherings, have proved a mainstay to the continuation of the meetings, and is well represented each year. This year those present from that class included Ted Godschalk, Edna (Hartleb) Godschalk, Mabie Haverstock, Fred Haney and Ted Baumgartner. Leesburg man's car strikes another Donald D. Wallace, 70, Leesburg, was involved in a twocar collision on East Center Street, Warsaw, Monday afternoon, May 30. Mary Sue Penner, 38, r 8 Warsaw, was waiting for traffic to proceed west on East Center St., just west of Sherman Street, when Wallace’s auto struck the Penner auto in the rear. Damage was estimated up to SI,OOO to each auto. Windows broken in net of vandalism - Suzanne K. Hewitt, 72784 CR 29 Syracuse, reported to, Elkhart County Police, there were two windows broken in a chicken coop on her property. The vandalism, which occurred recently, involved two, two by four foot windows, valued at SSO.

Officer Swartz to re-acquaint police, citizens By GARY LEWIS Newly-appointed Syracuse town marshal Warren Swartz will be busy in the next several weeks re-acquainting his five full-time officers with the citizens of Syracuse. His is just part of a plan Swartz hopes will increase the town’s appreciation of its police force enabling his department to be more effective at its job. “I hope to change some images and some things around here,” said Swartz, as he sat behind his desk fresh from a morning of paperwork. Swartz has been busy trying to locate particular files and throwing away outdated information. “We re going to look and act like policemen," Swartz explained. Looking and acting like a police officer in Syracuse requires the ability to accomplish various tasks. This multi-purpose police work is going to be new to Swartz, a 25-year veteran for the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department. A former lieutenant with the department, Swartz worked as a <Continuea on page 2)

Syracuse Town Board hears ideas, proposals on town hall

By DEB FOX Syracuse Town Board members listened to four architects and engineers present what services their firms could offer and answer questions, Monday evening in an informal meeting held on the proposed new town hall. All four companys kept within the 30 minute time limit. Another meeting was called for Monday, June 13, at 7 p.m. to hear four more companys. Carl Myrick, board president, remarked another two meetings will need to be called, with four firms at each meeting, to complete a list which was made up. Firms present Monday were: James Associates, architects and engineers, Fort Wayne; Aecon, Inc., consultant engineering firm, Fort Wayne; Designmasters, Inc., LaGrange; and Leroy Troyer and Associates, Goshen. Myrick commented, “We don’t know what we need for a budget figure. We want someone to tell us.” One firm representative stated he could offer a drawing of the building desired, at an hourly cost to the town, but this amount would be credited if the firm was hired. Janies Associates James Associates, was represented by Jerry Firestone, principal in charge of projects and a former Syracuse resident; and Dave Murphy, project architect. A slide presentation on the company and how the firm would work with the town was presented. The Fort Wayne firm was started in 1949 and has offices in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Lafayette. Firestone stated James Associates is very diversified and a “full service organization” providing customers with programming, site analysis, energy conservation analysis, architectural design, engineer, construction documents and administrative management. “We’re not making the decisions, you people are making the decisions,” remarked Firestone, who added James Associates will “tailor the building to you.” Firestone commented the town board needed to look at the people within the various firms before making a decision on hiring someone for the job. “The people

; ; / I j I ■«a . ■ i* TODD PURCHASES OLD FACTORY — F. 1. Saemann and Tom Smith of F.I. Saemann Real Estate are turning over the keys to the old Syracuse Enterprises Building on Syracuse Lake to Realtor Joe Todd, center. Todd is developing a 30-unit condominium on the lake front tract (after razing the old factory building) with 14 units being started this summer. Plans and specifications are complete and are available for inspection at the Todd Realty office on SR 13S Syracuse.

make the different. I think to have people you feel good about is very important.” Among the questions asked Firestone was the time table involved in planning a 7,500 to 8,000 square foot building. He replied that because the town has previously gone through the process, a lot of the preliminary work, is completed and the board is close to knowing what it wants. “An outside guess, two to three months, to get the drawings approved by the state and have possible bidding. It depends on how fast we understand what the town wants.” “I’ll personally have a personal interest in the project,” remarked Firestone, who said he worked at the rubber plant at one time. “I’ll do all I can.”

Wide range of feelings from Wawasee grads

By DOUG WALKER Wawasee High School has been in existence for over 15 years now, and virtually every graduate of the school reflects on his or her stay in high school in a different way. An informal study into how a half dozen Wawasee High School graduates felt about the quality of education they received there showed a wide range of feelings, expectations and philosophies. Two North Webster men who spent over a decade together in both the North Webster schools and Wawasee High School before graduating in 1979 are Mark Wagoner and Mike Ray. Though their paths separated after leaving high school (Wagoner is now an industrial worker in Warsaw and the father of two; Ray recently completed four years of study at Ball State University and will join a Fort Wayne accounting firm in the fall), their reflections on their high school experiences were very similar when they reunited recently Ray felt the high school should have placed more emphasis on career planning during his years there, explaining that more

Aecon, Inc. William Reed, represented Aecon, Inc., Fort Wayne, a consultant engineering firm. Reed remarked he was in the area last week and noticed a difference in elevation at the proposed construction site. He remarked this may be a cost factor because there was a lot of concrete to be removed. Reed gave a guesstimate that with the type of building the town would like to build, a simple straight forward, wood frame, maintenance free building, would cost roughly $350,000. If Aecon is selected, Reed stated the firm would like to have one individual to be the laision between the firm and board. Myrick remarked that any decisions would have to be made at a public board meeting,

career information was made available to him while at North Webster Junior High School than at Wawasee. Wagoner felt the high school should have geared its program to better adapt students to the increasing use of computers and high technology. “Computers were the thing to learn, and they just weren’t there at the time,” he said. “In this day and age, education has to be geared to high technology.” Ray said the high school program should be made more challenging for those planning to go on to college. “I thought the program was inadequate in some respects,” he.said. “It’s possible that high school students aren’t mature enough to make the decisions concerning classes that will affect the rest of their lives. 1 feel more complex English and math classes should be mandatory. In some cases they were available, but you didn’t have to take them.” Wagoner and Ray each felt that Wawasee had its share of outstanding, fair and poor teachers. “As far as teaching goes, most of the teachers were good,” said

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not just by contacting several board members and getting a consensus. Another point Reed made was the way Aecon felt about the project. “We are working for you people, we are not going to be occupying the building, we do take pride in what we do, and want it done right.” Designmasters Mark Jones, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jones, Syracuse, was the representative of Designmasters, LaGrange, along with David Wilson, engineer for the firm. Designmasters have done work in the area including Harris Funeral Home, Fish Hatchery Bank and several private homes around the lake. (Continued on page 2)

Wagoner. “Others weren’t so good.” “I didn’t feel this way at the time, but looking back now, 1 feel that some of the teachers I had were nice people, but incompetent,” said Ray. Both Wagoner, a four-year participant in the school’s basketball program, and Ray expressed opinions that too much emphasis was placed on sports during their stay in high school. “This might be off base, since it happened after we left, but what about the new P.E. facility?” asked Wagoner. “Why couldn’t that money have been spent on something more relevant, like more computers?” Ray called the P.E. facilities “an obvious misappropriation.” “High school sports are great, but what is the school really there for?” Wagoner and Ray both said the high school should spend more time stressing subjects related to what they called “real hfe.” “It was probably my fault, but looking back on it, I just had no idea what it was all about,” Wagoner said. “Real life was not what I expected.” (Continued on page 2)