The Mail-Journal, Volume 27, Number 43, Milford, Kosciusko County, 7 December 1988 — Page 4

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., December 7,1988

Editoria

Bliss is amiss when it comes to AIDS Whoever said “Ignorance is bliss’’ was amiss when it comes to dealing with matters where knowledge is essential — such as the AIDS saga The person who penned those words never experienced the unrest Kokomo’s Ryan White had to endure after being shunned from his school because of a condition he had no control over. Hoping to avoid such circumstances in the Wawasee School Corporation, a band of students, teachers, parents, medical professionals, concerned citizens, and administrators were appointed by the latter group to form an AIDS Advisory Council. That council will address the public at a meeting tonight (Wednesday) in Room 130 of Wawasee High School. Slated to begin at 7 p.m., the purpose of the meeting is to give input to the council regarding community concerns and direction for curriculum development. Parents and all community members should attend the meeting to avoid further Ryan White stories. It’s important to realize that AIDS is not easily transmitted and that those with the disease are victims, not threats. Hoping to gather input from the public on how it thinks students should be taught about the disease and ideas about curriculum content, the council also realizes it will plant the seeds for the thinking of future parents. Those students in the Wawasee School Corporation should become AIDS-educated adults as a result of the council’s efforts. Sexual promiscuity will be brought to the forefront, but if that s what it takes to prevent future Ryan White stories, so be it. The council needs the public’s input, it needs to know how the public wants to deal with the problem of AIDS in the schools — attend tonight and make ignorance of AIDS a thing of the past. The needy It’s the custom in many parts of the country for newspapers to call attention to the plight of the community’s needy at Christmas time. This is a worthwhile undertaking; and it is appropriate to make a special effort at Christmas, to see especially that every child is remembered in some way. It’s true, as some point out, that the needy deserve attention year-round. But there’s also nothing wrong with a special effort at Christmas, one that perhaps cannot be duplicated every week of the year. If there are nearby families in distress, if there are children likely to have little to be happy about Christmas morning, those with the means can make their Christmas a more satisfying one by doing something about it. Parties, good food and expensive presents are less important. On Christmas With Thanksgiving behind us, thoughts of Christmas are uppermost in the minds of most people. Christmas is less than a month away and it’s time to make plans for the year’s major holiday. In the United States Christmas has become a commercial bonanza — and an ordeal to millions of mothers. It’s, thankfully, a magic time for the nation’s youngsters, primarily because of the Santa Claus legend. This is the time — well ahead of the holiday — to plan the family’s activity so that the true spirit of Christmas will predominate this year. Being courteous may require a little extra time but in the long run it often saves time. What others say - Adaptability — key to success Speaking to the 103rd National Newspaper Association Convention in his city, San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, 41, discussed demographics and their realities for the future success of America. “It’s so important. But few people understand its significance,” he told the audience. Cisneros was discussing the aging of the population and a higher percentage of blacks, Asians and Hispanics in the country. Projections show by 1990 there will be more 65-year-olds in the United States than there are teenagers. The median age of Americans will continue to rise, he added, because the largest group of people — the baby boomers — are already in their 40s Cisneros said this large voting block becomes more conservative with age, and people become income-insecure. People say no more taxes, no more bond issues. “How are we to make people secure enough to keep the growth going?” he asks “It’s a new demographic reality. You may say that’s just the cities. It’s not just the cities. It’s a force sweeping across the country,” Cisneros said. He pointed out that a recent Rand Corp. study shows that by the year 2000,48 percent of California will be Hispanic, Asian and black. The same ethnic groups will make up 60 percent of Los Angeles County, and 92 percent of all Californians will live in a county that is at least 30 percent Hispanic, Asian and black. This isn’t happening just in California, but in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. Cisneros said, “It’s not something to be afraid of, but something to prepare for . . . these predictions are mathematically as predictable as an actuarial table.” His solution to survival for Americans — as demographics change and we risk creating a permanent underclass which can’t break out of the poverty cycle — is good schools, better-paid teachers and a better educational system. He considers education as important as our national defense against the Russians. He said, “Education always, in the final analysis, is our best defense.” Statistics show the top 20 percent of Americans make 42 percent of the national income, while the bottom 20 percent make just 4.7 percent — the smallest amount in the last 24 years. It is his belief that the bridge between the technically literate and illiterate can’t be bridged anymore with GEDs and compensatory education. He asked, “There’ll be jobs, but what will they pay?” With conservative times continuing, the mayor does not foresee great sums of federal money, and problems such as homelessness, child care, drug abuse and AIDS will need increasing support from state and local governments. These are problems on the local level and those in charge must take on the responsibility for what is bound to happen. We believe his philosophy can be compared to what needs to be done in Carroll County — not just on what he talked about — but especially in industrial development which is something the county must have if it is going to survive economically. Those who look ahead and plan ahead are the ones who will be and contmue as the survivors in this great nation of ours. — CARROLL COUNTY COMET

Court news

County Court The following persons have paid fines and costs in Kosciusko County Court, Judge James Jarrett presiding: Speeding — Tami M. Flowers, 26, Syracuse, $65; Amy A. Reese, 17, Milford, $80; Daniel L. Spangler, 33, North Webster, S6O; June M. Bills, 29, Milford, $65. No Seatbelt — James E. Clayton, 74, North Webster, S2O. Failure To Yield — Patrick T. Kintigh, 38, Syracuse, S6O. Expired License Plates — Anna L. Heche, 47, North Webster, S6O; Claude R. Reahard, 28, North Webster, S6O; Lewis G. Pelis, 22, North Webster, S6O; Deborah L. Schalow, 27, North Webster, S6O. No License In Possession — Elmer Foster, 25, North Webster, S6O. No Registration Plate — James A. Kinney, 23, Syracuse, S6O. Marriage Licenses The following couples have applied for marriage licenses in the office of Kosciusko County Clerk Jeanne Weirick: Crum-Garrison Timothy Troy Crum, 24, Palm Beach, Florida, and Shelby Kay Garrison, 24, r 4 box 209, Syracuse. The following couples have applied for marriage licenses in Elkhart County Court, Goshen Division: Pfefferle-Hoffer John Linden Pfefferle, 22, 154 Industrial Dr., Nappanee and Michele Lee Hoffer, 21, 800 E. Greenhaus, Apt. 48, Syracuse Shear-Conrad Timothy Alan Shear, 27, r 2 box 574, Syracuse and Jamie Lorßay Conrad, 21,162015 r 4, Goshen Marriage Dissolutions The following couples have filed for marriage dissolutions in the Kosciusko Superior and Cir-

Driver charged for leaving accident scene

Doug A. Page, 18, r 6 box 158, Syracuse, was charged for leaving the scene of an accident and having false or fictitious registration following a one-vehicle accident Sunday, Nov. 27, on SR 13 south of Waco Drive, Syracuse. The accident occurred at 2:53 a.m. Page complained of pain tp.v the knee area following the acci- ” dent. Kosciusko County Police report Page was traveling south on SR 13 when the 1979 Chrysler Volare he was driving went off the west side of the road, hit a culvert and continued on, hitting a sign and post at Anchor Inn Bed and Breakfast. Page then allegedly left the scene. Damage to the vehicle, registered to Sara Zollinger, r 6, Syracuse, was estimated up to $2,500 and up to SI,OOO to the sign and post at the Anchor Inn Bed and Breakfast. Damage was estimated up to $2,500 to a 1985 Chevrolet driven by Earl E. Stutzman, 58, P.O. Box 158, North Webster, after it struck a deer on Old Road 30, east of CR 350 N, Sunday, Nov. 27, at 5:30p.m.

Numerous persons

booked at jail

The following persons were booked on various charges in the Kosciusko County Jail during the past week: John Price Bartman, 19, r 5 box 975, Syracuse, was arrested on a charge of illegal possession/consumption and released on $175 bond. Angela Diann Gulley, 24, r 1 box 52, North Webster, was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license. She was released on $350 bond. Patrick Truman McDonald, 18, r 3 box 556, Syracuse, was arrested on a charge of illegal possession/consumption and released on $175 bond. Christena Marguerite Hern, 21, r 2 box 243, Milford, was arrested on a charge of illegal consumption and released on $175 bond. Joseph Lawrence Burr, 22, 718 Pittsburg, Syracuse, was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated and released on $350 bond. Scot Alan McDowell, 19, r 2 box 269, Syracuse, was arrested on a charge of illegal possession/consumption and released on $175 bond. Todd Rever Bornman, 20, 101 Dolen, Syracuse, was charged with illegal possession/consumption and released on $175 bond. Inexpensive paper A suggestion for making inexpensive, but special, wrapping paper for this year’s holiday gift wrapping: Buy a big roll of inexpensive shelf paper (not the plastic-coated type). Stick on Christmas seals or decorate with magic markers or bid Christmas card cut-outs can be attached.

cuit Courts: Fink — Charles R. Fink, PO Box 642, Syracuse, and Dixie L. Fink, PO Box 642, Syracuse. The couple was married May 16,1970, and separated Nov. 16, 1988. There is one minor child. Superior Court The following petitions have been filed in Kosciusko Superior Court, Judge Robert Burner Presiding: Complaint On Notes First National Bank of Warsaw versus Verl Baker, 301 Fourth Street, Milford. Petitioner seeks: Count I — $1,078.81; Count II — $3,893.27; Count 111 — $749.97, plus attorney fees, interest and costs on all counts. County Court Goshen Division: The following fines have been levied and paid in Elkhart County Court, Goshen Division: Speeding — Jeffrey A. Haab, 17, Syracuse, $67; Bruce M. Rautson, 18, Syracuse, $67; Jerry F. Roberts, 23, Syracuse, $56; Marilyn K. Michael, 44, Syracuse, $63 Disregarding automatic signal — James S. Crowe, 32, Milford, dismissed by the deputy prosecuting attorney Resisting law enforcement, fleeing — Larry M. McCreary, 21, North Webster, S2OO plus costs, defendant sentenced to one year jail, suspended on condition defendant be placed on nonreporting probation for one year. New Claims Goshen Division: The following new claim has been filed in Elkhart County Court, Goshen Division: Rainy Days Guttering, SR 13 PO Box 464, Syracuse vs Richard Miller, d/b/a Richard Miller Aluminum Service, 18092 Lawn Court, Goshen. Plaintiff seeks $1,368.41 plus interest and costs.

No one was injured in a twovehicle accident Monday, Nov. 28, at SR 13 and Himes Street, North Webster. The accident occurred at 9:32 a.m. and was due to the slippery road conditions. Cynthia E. Despot, 26, P.O. Box 75, North Webster, lost control of her 1980 Ford and entered the northbound lane of SR 13 where her vehicle clipped the rear of a northbound truck driven by Christopher A. Pruitt, 21, r 1 box 1241, Pierceton. Pruitt was driving a 1988 International truck owned by Lake Tippecanoe Siding Corp., P.O. Box 291, North Webster, and damage was estimated at under S2OO. Damage to Despot’s Ford was estimated up to $2,500. Janice L. Buhrt, 38, r 1 box 818, Leesburg, was involved in a onevehicle accident Friday, Nov. 25, at 2:10 p.m. after she took her eyes off the road for a moment causing her vehicle to go off the roadway and hit a mailbox owned by Delbert Galloway, r 2, Leesburg. Damage was estimated up to SI,OOO to Buhrt’s 1987 GMC Van and up to S2OO to the mailbox.

James Frances Mittica, 39, P.O. box 93, Leesburg, was arrested on a charge of possession/dealing marijuana. Clarence Nicholas Hatcher, 25, r 1 box 56-2, Leesburg, was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana and released on $350 bond. Dale Carl Wilson, 20, 630 E. Baltimore, Syracuse, was sentenced to one year GTC for a class A misdemeanor. The following persons were booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on various charges: Vickie Sue Lemberg, 32, r 2 box 23, Syracuse, was charged with battery and disorderly conduct. She was released on $250 bond. William Lee Kruger, 53, r 1 box 305, North Webster, was charged with driving while suspended and released on $250 bond. THE MAIL-JOURNAL (U.S.P.S. 3258-4000) 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 44507 and at additional entry offices. Subscription: $17.50 per year in Kosciusko County; *23.50 outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of ad dress forms to The Mail-Journal, P.O. Box 188, Milford, Indiana 46542

"CRUZIN AROUND CUSE

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Wiley (Bill) Spurgeon has been a summer resident of Lake Wawasee for 51 years. For 16 of those years he has served as president of the Wawasee Property Owners and has spearheaded the WPO in a 10-year push for 911 in the Syracuse-Wawasee community, which is finally to be realized sometime next year. From 1955-1961, Bill was editor and publisher of the Syracuse-Wawasee Journal (which joined with The Milford Mail later to,, become the paper you are now reading. As executive editor for the past 10 years of The Muncie Star and The Muncie Evening Press, Bill has had many opportunities to pursue in depth his interests in theater, railroads, newspapers, Wawasee and history. He is the author of “The Illustrated History of Muncie and Delaware County,” published several years ago to commemorate Delaware County’s sesquicentennial.) By BILL SPURGEON ▼▼T ORD THAT the town of \\l Syracuse is modernizing its Vlf telephone communications system tells me we’ve come a long way since the days of the police light. The police light? I remember it well, and I’m not in the old geezer category yet. My first recall of the police light is from the mid-19405, when there were perhaps 1,400 people in corporate Syracuse and law enforcement was provided by two town marshals, each of whom worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. On the seventh day they took turns resting, so what you had was a policeman on duty at all times except from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; then there was one on call. In the mid-1940s these jobs were held by Bert Cripe (days) andC.J. (Peck) Kline (nights). There was no police car (Syracuse’s first was a 1947 Hudson). Messrs. Cripe and Kline did their rounds on foot. And their duties also included monitoring the pumping equipment in the town water works, keeping an eye on the rarelyoccupied two-cell jail at the rear of the building, making sure the sewage treatment plant along Turkey Creek was functioning, and serving as first-responders to any fire alarm in town, driving the pumper there in many instances and more often than not getting first water on the blaze while the volunteers rallied from their homes or places of business. The pay was adequate if not generous, a princely $25 a week. That’s $25 for a basic 78-hour week. But remember, we’re talking the 19405, and the federal minimum wage (which obviously did not apply) was only 40 cents an hour. The marshals’ pay was closer to 32 cents an hour, and the night men (after Peck Kline, we had Donald LeCount, Oda Raring, Nelson Byland before the 12-hour shifts were abolished in the early 19505) often supplemented their income by tending heating systems in uptown buildings in the winter. Now, the police light. Let’s say you’re a Syracuse resident of the ’4os and you wish the .services of the marshal. You call the telephone operator (just lift the receiver; dials came along in 1958) and when she answers, tell her what you need. She rings the phones in the town complex on West Main Street and turns on the police light, a single 15-watt red light over the front door of the telephone exchange (which was where The MailJournal office is now located). The marshal responds, either by answering the telephone call at the jail/water works, or by going to the telephone office in person and asking the operator, “what’s up?” If the call were to a location far from the business district (Syracuse then quit at Chicago Street to the south), the marshal might borrow a car. Once, after a robbery, Marshal Cripe commandeered a car and chased the robber south on SR 13 almost to Pierceton. If I remember correctly, he made an apprehension. Syracuse police have had radio communications since 1957, and beginning in 1962 there have been fulltime dispatchers on duty in the town complex (now moved to South Huntington Street). The reason the phone system there is being modernized is to accommodate the hundreds of calls received monthly on the police, fire and information phones, not only from Syracuse but from throughout the Syracuse phone exchange territory (which includes most of Turkey Creek Township, a slice of Van Buren and Tippecanoe townships, and in Elkhart County, a good bit of Benton Township). The new system will give better internal communications in town offices, including the police department which now, incidentally, has several fulltime members including a chief (the town marshal) and a detective, and which for years has had two and perhaps three fullyequipped cars (it always irks me to see the newspaper refer to “The Syracuse police car”). We have come a long way since the police light. ANOTHER LOCAL institution now gone is that of justice of the peace. These local courts provided a service to numerous communities in that they handled minor misdemeanors, traffic cases and some small claims matters. Now these are all processed in the consolidated county court system, which means if you get a ticket for not having your boat registered or for running a stop signal, you must

go to Warsaw (if the charge is from Kosciusko County) to appear. Numerous people have served as Turkey Creek Township justice of the peace, the most recent being insurance man Christian Koher (now deceased). Some of his predecessors included Robert McCullough (a retired B&O railroader who lived south of town), Fred Nolan (who was a meatcutter by trade) and Simon Bell, a southside Syracuse resident who may have been admitted to the bar many years ago. I believe these three men are also long gone, too. Some towns (and cities) have started up town or city courts, to do much of what the JPs used to do. They’ve found it convenient for their citizens as well as a source of municipal income. I don’t know if Syracuse has ever considered it or not, but with the distance between here and Warsaw, it might be worth looking at. —o— NUMBERING OF each and every dwelling and business according to where it is located is progressing in Kosciusko County. The word is that the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission will retain the pier numbering system for Lake Wawasee, because people (including emergency responders) often need to find locations from the .lake, rather than from a road. But houses will be assigned street or roatk addresses, too, and that brings an opportunity. The opportunity is to assign names to some rural streets and roads that do not now have them, and to fix the names of some of these that have been misnamed over the years. For example, there are two Warner Roads near Wawasee — one south, one north. That won’t work in the uniform numbering system. But the north one — which begins at the Elkhart County line road, passes to the east of Bonar Lake and then winds up behind the Spink Condominiums — was actually, for years, called Bishop Road. It was built in the 19£0s at the urging and cajoling of Charles Bishop, then operator of the Wawasee Marine Supply Co., an early boat and engine sales and service business. It replaced a road that ran closer to the lake and jogged a lot. So why not give that road its name back? Pickwick Road — which leaves Syracuse at the Syracuse-Wawasee channel — once led to Pickwick Park, the residential area north of Kale Island. The name has gradually been applied to the road north along the former Chinese Gardens (they were once Japanese Gardens, but we had a major falling out with Japan that started 47 years ago today). The road along the CSX (B&O) tracks east past the Wawasee Boat Co. is now also often called Pickwick Road. It was originally Cornelius Road, for Asher Cornelius, early 20th century Syracuse lawyer. Why not go back to that? There are other nameless roads that could have appropriate names gleaned from their location, names that could make it easy for the firemen or pofice or EMTs to find people. We’ll be hearing from the county planners on this. They have expressed a willingness to work with local people on local problems. f -oAND BY the way, Syracuse, why change the name of Huntington Street? It’s been that for more than a century. What about getting the sign at Main Street corrected? That’s a job for the town, not the county planners; they leave towns alone. —o— IT’S ALWAYS a challenge to write a Cruisin’ column. This is my first in several years. As executive editor of The Muncie Star and Muncie Evening Press, I write perhaps 175 columns a year for those two daily papers. That goes to show you that there is a never-ending supply of material. Or that I’m verbose. Or maybe both. —o— FINALLY, I’D be remiss if I did not say something about Joe Bender. I first met him in the late 19405, when J.B. and Cele Cox had the Syracuse-Wawasee Journal (a Mail-Journal predecessor) and the office was in the 1947 Pickwick Block, just south of the alley north of Main Street. The paper was printed four pages at a time, -on a clanky old Whitlock drum press, from type composed on an ancient Intertype machine. The paper was always eight pages; four were printed Wednesday night and four Thursday morning. And Joe Bender, a printer at the Farmer’s Exchange in New Paris, came to Syracuse twice a week to assist in the final composition and to run the press. He never had much to say, but he did his work well, standing on a platform with one foot on the clutch and using his left hand to feed the sheets of newsprint into the press. There was usually a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Joe later worked for papers in Colorado and Kansas, and I last saw him a few years ago when he was working at The Goshen News. A quiet, gentleman, Joe Bender died a few months ago at age 72. His obituary was in the News, but I don’t think it was picked up here, probably because those who might recall him are now mostly gone. But I remember, and it’s appropriate that I use this column to tell him goodbye. -WS AS CHRISTMAS draws closer, more and more decorations are appearing at homes and businesses around Syracuse. This home at 437 (Continued on page 5)