The Mail-Journal, Volume 23, Number 36, Milford, Kosciusko County, 3 September 1986 — Page 1

Milford 658-4111 & Syracuse 457-3666

VOLUME 23

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Save all animals —

Fire destroys three buildings on Leon Tucker form Wednesday

Leon Tucker, the r 1 Milford farmer and cattle breeder whose barns burned to the ground in a mysterious fire last Wednesday afternoon, said early this week that he hopes to have a loss figure sometime this week. He said the insurance adjusters were scheduled to arrive at his’ farm, located on the MilfordSyracuse Road, yet this week to fix a figure on the fire loss. The fire was such as to bring the Milford, Syracuse, Leesburg and New Paris fire fighting units to the 157-acre Tucker farm at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. And while vigilant firemen were unable to save the two barns and long shed, they were able to save other outbuildings and the Tucker home. A strong north wind carried the mounting flames and smoke southward, away from the house, the siding on the house still grew increasingly hot and was a concern of firemen. Firemen continued to run tankers to Milford and Syracuse to replenish the large canvass reservoir from which water was pumped. Save Cattle The two barns measured 40x60 and 40x50 and the shed was 24x130, Tucker stated, and they were completely ‘ demolished. Something like 9.000 or 10,000 bales of hay and straw went up in flames. Tucker’s father-in-law and owner of the farm, Raymond Pinkerton, said, “You work all •summer putting up that hay and straw, and it all goes up in smoke in a couple hours.” It was thought a number of small calves were lost in the fire, when those working the fire were unable to get them out of the - barn. But a head-count on Thursday morning proved this not to be the case. The Tuckers had about 65 calves on the premises, readying them for the 4-H sale Saturday at the Silver Lake Sale Barn, and they first feared the loss of about 14 of them in the fire. They were able to make the Saturday sale on schedule The Tuckers have over 100 head of cattle on their property, and they make a beautiful Veterans Affairs office to close Veterans Affairs Officer Eldon W Ward reports the VA office at the courthouse in Warsaw will be closed for vacation from Sept. 8 until Sept. 22. For information people are to use toe toll free 800 number 800-382-4540.

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pastoral sight for motorists who regularly travel the MilfordSyracuse Road. The actual loss, outside the buildings and hay and straw, amounted to some small tools, Pinkerton said, crediting firemen and others in getting all else out of the barns. Tucker farms the fields of the farm with the part time help of two of his sons, Brian and Stephen He and his wife, the

Local Lutherans note church merger with much interest

By ESTHER DUNNING Local Lutherans noted with interest the overwhelming vote last Friday at concurrent conventions to merge three denominations of the Lutherarj/ Church on a national level. The three groups voting to be merged are the Lutheran Church in America, meeting in Milwaukee; the American Lutheran Church, meeting in Minneapolis; and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, meeting in Chicago. The new church will be called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and it will come into being Jan. 1, 1988. Its formation continues a long process of merger and ethnic melding of Vandalism to three school buses reported Three school buses, in the fenced-in enclosure known as the “bull pen” at Wawasee High School, were vandalised sometime over the Labor Day weekend, according to Fred Green, bus mechanic. The culprits entered the enclosure at the southwest corner, and the vandalism was not found until Monday morning, by Green. He said the hoods of two buses were up, giving him a clue that something wais amiss. He said the fuel lines were twisted off two buses, an air cleaner was missing, along with two fire extinguishers and a fire axe. The spark plug wires were taken off one bus, and the headlight lenses were broken out of one bus. The buses were unable to make their Monday morning runs. Damage was listed at about S4OO, Green said. The school corporation has 37 buses in its fleet with about five kept in the bus garage/auto shop bull pen.

Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL(E»(. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE-W AW ASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

former Dorothy Pinkerton, have farmed the place since 1953 when he got out of the service Pinkerton said lightning struck the barn a day earlier during a storm, but added there can be no certainty that this had anything to do with the fire. Tucker and son Craig were working in the barn when they heard a crackle overhead and the lights went out, followed by some fire falling from the second floor

Lutheran groups, which grew out of German and Scandinavian immigrations to this country The new church will number nearly 5.3 million members Local Lutherans will not be affected too much by this merger since most of the congregations began using the new “Lutheran Book of Worship” a number of years ago in preparation for just this type of merger. Some minor constitutional changes and some possible geographic realignments may affect local churches. There will no doubt be changes in church leadership on the national and local synodical levels. Bishop James Crumley Jr., head of the Lutheran Church in America, and the presiding bishops of the two other merging bodies said the church would have a larger voice in Washington on social issues, would speak more effectively for the nation’s Lutherans in reaching theological agreements with other faiths and would be in a stronger position to establish churches in the United States and abroad. Homestead * award to two area farms Arthur W. and Bessie E. Marquart Blosser of Nappanee (Kosciusko County) and Gerald and Ruth Crowl, Sr., Warsaw, are among 36 Indiana farm families who have been invited to the main floor of the State Capitol in Indianapolis to receive their Hoosier Homestead Award on Friday, Sept. 5, at 9 am. The Hoosier Homestead Award Ceremony, an ongoing program administered by the Indiana Department of Commerce, division of agriculture, recognizes those farms which have been owned by the same family for 100 years or more. The Marquart Blosser farm dates to 1853 and the Crowl farm dates to 1837.

WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 3.1986

It was then they knew there was a fire in the barn To Rebuild Tucker and Pinkerton both said they have insurance against such a loss.) adding that they will surely rebuild Don Rumfelt moved some heavy equipment on the site almost immediately after the firje to clear away the debris, and on Labor Day he removed what remained of the old foundations in order to plan some sort of rebuilding “We probably won’t rebuild the same type of barn. Tucker said, adding that modern barns are built differently. No one knew for sure how old the old barns were Tucker said he has a lot of hay in other nearby barns he owns, and a lot of rolled hay in the fields In that regard, he has enough hay to feed his remaining farm animals

Syracuse GOP nominates Hughes, AAyrick for town board

It took 44 Syracuse registered Republicans just six minutes to complete its caucus convention) at Syracuse Town Hall last Thursday night. ’ and-’nominate two candidates for the town board James Hughes, incumbent board member in Ward 1, was nominated for re-election on a motion by Charlene Knispel and seconded by Forrest (“Bud ) Smith And Carl Myrick, incumbent board member in Ward 2. was nominated for re-election on

: -CK" v’ t fAf A CAUCUS WINNERS — James Hughes, left, and Carl Myrick, are flanked by Betty Dust. Syracuse city Republican chairman, following last Thursday night's GOP caucus at the Syracuse Town Hall. Hughes was nominated for re-election to the Syracuse town board from Ward 1, and Myrick was nominated for re-election from Ward 2.

Astonished Webster board tables dispatching vote

By DEB PATTERSON Staff Writer Astonishment was what the North Webster Town Board members felt last evening when no citizens flowed at a special meeting to voice their opinions about the town terminating police dispatching. The special meeting was called to answer a letter from Tippecanoe Township Trustee Richard Mitchell asking the town to accept an original proposal concerning the dispatching budget in which the town and township would pay one-half each. $32,000, for the dispatching budget and the town pay ‘the township $12,600 for the fire and emergency medical service budget. The township requested a reply by September 4. The board s amazement came when members anticipated a number 'of citizens present to voice Qfhnions. Myron Clark, board president, stated he felt, of his own accord, either the meeting was not publicized well enough or through some matter they had no citizens there to support or object to the town’s decision. "I feel while we try to meet with Mitchell’s deadline, we defer any decision until our regular September meeting. ’’ , Sid Markley and Robert James

Table proposal to bury 1,200 gallon dry well

* A proposal providing for the installation of a 1,200 gallon drywell at the southeast corner of the Campbell's IGA lot, near West Street, was tabled by the Milford Town Board at a meeting last night (Tuesday). The store’s owner, Phil Campbell, offered to pay for the material for the dry well, asking that the town provide the labor, considering it would be on town property. Jean Treesh. president, asked thSt the proposal be included in the minutes of the next meeting, giving her time to contact actingutilities superintendent Randy Veach about the labor involved and giving Campbell time to obtain specifications from Phend & Brown. Inc., which is app'ying blacktop in the area.

a motion by Alice Johnston and seconded by- Mary Jane Isbell There was no opposition candidate in either case. Susan Myrick, city Republican secretary, read a platform which was adopted on a motion by Loren Longenbaugh ed by John Kroh. Ron Sharp made a motion that was approved, that the secretarycast the vote for each nominated candidate with the Syracuse clerk-treasurer. Betty Dust, chairman of the

agreed with Clark stating maybe the people don’t care. The town wants to give citizens the opportunity to be heard at the September 10 meeting. Clark asked that Eve Payne, clerktreasurer, notify Mitchell promptly of the board’s decision. Disagreement The town’s decision to seek an alternative to the current police dispatching was made August 25 following several correspondence between the town and township on the 1987 dispatching contract. Agreement was reached by both parties that one-half of the dispatching budget of $64,000 would be paid by both the town and township along with day to day supervision of the dispatching operation would be the responsibility of Sue Mitchell. Disagreement came over the town’s portion of the fire and EMS budget The town board members stated, in a, letter dated June 26, their portion of this budget “shall not exceed $12,600’’ and a reply to the proposal was sought by the board’s July 9 meeting. The township replied by letter, dated July 7, that unless it heard differently, the township trustee and his board would plan to attend the July 9 meeting between (Continued on page 2)

The board also examined bids from computer companies interested in supplying the town with its hardware and software for a new utility billing system The bids will be forwarded to the town’s computer consultant Kenneth Murray, who represents the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, with the board acting on his advise Treesh also made a motion retroactive to August 25 that park board members be required to be town residents, upon the advise of town attorney Bill Leemon. Town board member Darrell Orn seconded the motion, setting the stipulation in place The board will meet again at a regular monthly meeting Monday, Sept 8, at 6:30 p m. in the Milford Town Hall.

Syracuse city committee, was in charge of the meeting, and she introduced the full committee membership, as follows: Charlene Knispel, vice chairman; Susan Myrick. secretary; Forrest ("Bud ”) Srhith, treasurer; and Carl and Roxanne Hadley. Mary Lou Smith and Loren Knispel. She welcomed those present and thanked them for turning out for the meeting, calling it one of the best turn outs she had ever witnessed.

Beck,Jordan> Troup —

■ / i HNHb /4i - bHHb CHARLES E. BECK

Three more file for school board posts (EDITOR’S NOTE: Interest in the two vacancies on the Wawasee School Board increased this week, with Friday. Sept. 5. being the final day for candidates to file for the board. So far. four candidates have filed: Last week Courtney A. Blue of Syracuse filed from District 2 and on Friday William O Troup of Waubee Lake filed from District 3. Also late last week. Curtis E. Jordan, r 1 Box 605-5. Leesburg, filed for the District 1 seat. On Tuesday of this week. Charles E. Beck of Lake Wawasee filed from District 2. There was speculation that David Carey of North Webster would file for re-election, but as of Wednesday morning of this week, he, has not. Both Henry Smith of District 2 and Marguerite Hoerr of District 3 have chosen not to seek reelection. >

Charles E. Beck, r 2 Box 300 Syracuse (Lake Wawasee), filed his candidacy for the Wawasee Community School Corporation board of trustees, on Tuesday of this week with the Kosciusko County clerk s office. He is a candidate from District 2 < Turkey Creek Township) seeking the seat being vacated byHenry Smith. Beck is married to the former Elizabeth Simpson of Ligonier, and is the son of Calvin Beck, retired teacher and coach for 40-odd years, most of them with the Syracuse school system. Cal had his beginnings in teaching in area one-room schools. Beck’s mother, the late Izel Beck, passed away recently. Elizabeth Beck, candidate Beck’s wife, taught elementaryschool in Syracuse, Ligonier and South Whitley for over 35 years. Beck is a Syracuse High School graduate with the class of 1933 where he excelled in basketball. He graduated from Manchester College in 1937 and received a master’s degree in education at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1954. He began his teaching and coaching at Roann from 1939 to 1942, then taught and coached at South Whitley High School one year 1942-43 before going into the U.S. Navy where he served in the South Pacific Theater of Action from 1943 to 1946, leaving the service with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Following his service. Beck returned to South Whitley as teacher/coach from 1946 to 1957, going from there to Ligonier High School from 1957-67, the last three years as principal. His last teaching stint was with Fort Wayne Elmhurst High School from 1967-76. He said he feels his teaching experience qualifies him to lend considerable expertise to the job of serving on the school board.

Approval of EDE rates pleases NIPSCO

“We are pleased that the Public Service Commission of Indiana has approved economic development electric rates for Northern Indiana Public Service Company,” Edmund A. Schroer, NIPSCO chairman and chief executive officer, said Wednesday, Aug. 27. “These rates can be beneficial to the economic health of the area we serve, as they provide us with a mechanism to help create more jobs in our service area and to increase industrial production," Schroer said. “Coupled with our already low natural gas rates, these new electric rates could help make our service area even more attractive to companies seeking to locate here or those considering expansion of facilities already situated here,” he said. ' The new economic develop-

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NUMBER 36

WILLIAM O. TROCP

William O. Troup, a resident of r 1 Milford (Waubee Lake), filed his candidacy for the Wawasee Community School Corporation board of trustees, on Friday with the Kosciusko County clerk’s office. Troup, known more familiarly by his friends as "Bill”, is a candidate from District 3 (Van Buren Township and the east half of Jefferson Township). He has long shown an interest in school affairs, and has been a familiar figure at regular board meetings. Candidate Troup has been a lineman for Northern Indiana Public Service Company for the past 17 years, and is past president of the Waubee Lake Association. He is a Milford High School graduate with the class of 1962. • He is married to the former Ann Price of Milford, and they have four children: Angie (Mrs; Harold) Higginbotham of Milford; Cris (Mrs. Terry) McDaniel of Syracuse; Tim. a junior at Wawasee High School; and Kim. a first grader in the Milford Elementary School; and four grandchildren. Troup is also a member of the Milford Apostolic Christian Church. ■ i . Curtis E. Jordan Curtis E. Jordan, a resident of r 1 Leesburg, Box 605-5, has filed his candidacy for the Wawasee Community School Corporation board of trustees from District 1, which includes all of Tip l pecanoe Township (North Webster). Jordan has provided The MailJournal with no photo of himself, and nothing further could be learned other than he is retired from the United Telephone Co. of Indiana and is president-elect of the Lakeland Kiwanis Club.

ment rates provide discounts up to 40 percent on new or additional requirements by eligible customers, with reduced discounts in succeeding years The capacity available under the new rates will be limited to a total of 250 megawatts. If NIPSCO wants to sell more power than the 250 megawatts under the new rates, the utility must prove to the commission that it will not result in the need to build new generating facilities. The rates are temporary and will be phased out over five years. Schroer said that rates to other customers would not be increased as a result of the new industrial rates. "Although we cannot predict to what extent our customers, new or existing, will utilize the new rates, revenue from the new business will more than cover the incremental cost of providing the service.