by Emily Armentrout

emily@thepaperofwabash.com

Kurt Rothman, owner of Wabash’s Subway, located on Cass St. near US 24, recently opened a second Subway restaurant location on the south side of Wabash, next to Penguin Point.

“It was time for us to expand out this way, and this location became available,” Rothman told The Paper. “We’re the fresh and healthy alternative to other fast food.”

Rothman owns 15 Subways around Indiana. His Subway locations have been a family business for over 25 years. “It was just a business opportunity,” said Rothman.

“This location is convenient. It seemed like there was a need for our business on this side of town,” explained area supervisor, Teresa Sargent.

Southside Subway is open during the week from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. and is open on the weekends from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. The new location is also currently taking applications. Subway serves breakfast and also caters events.

“We’re glad to be a part of this community and we look forward to serving this community for years to come,” added Rothman.
 

by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

On Monday, Oct. 6, four school board candidates for the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County met at Bachelor Creek Church of Christ at 7 p.m. for a public forum, hosted by Citizens Committed to the Constitution (C3).

The five-member board has two seats open for the Nov. 4 election. Currently, there is a board member from each of the northwest, northeast, and south districts. The board can have, at most, two members from the same district, which effectively breaks this year’s election into two separate races. Only one candidate from each district can be elected.

Incumbent and current MSD School Board President Matt Driscoll faces challenger Brad Fleck for the northeast district seat. Todd Dazey and Jeff Snyder face off for the open seat in the northwest district, currently held by Ryan Rosen, who is not seeking re-election.

The candidates were asked to sit in alphabetical order, placing the northeast candidates between the northwest candidates.

While not technically a debate, the forum allowed candidates to voice their opinions as they responded to questions from moderator Laura Cole and select members of the audience.

The candidate forum began, inexplicably, with a five-minute YouTube clip of “Robin Williams as the American Flag.” Pastor and C3 member Timothy Morbitzer led attendees in The Pledge of Allegiance and prayer, and collection buckets were passed to benefit C3. Each candidate then gave a two-minute introduction.

Matt Driscoll is a Wabash County native and graduate of Northfield High School. He has four children; three graduated from Northfield, and the fourth is still enrolled. Driscoll has a degree in agricultural education from Purdue University and he is currently serving as school board president. He operates a family farm with his brother outside Urbana. His interest in serving on the board came out of his desire to be involved in his children’s education, and said it was “one of the most enlightening things I’ve ever done.”

by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Wabash voters will have a rare opportunity to attend a debate between United States House of Representatives candidates, as the Congresswoman from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District Jackie Walorski, a republican, will debate challenger Joe Bock a democrat, at the Winchester Senior Center. The Wabash County Chamber of Commerce and Wabash County Farm Bureau are sponsoring the debate.

Congresswoman Walorski was elected to Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012. Born in South Bend, Walorski has a Bachelor of Arts from Taylor University. Her first job out of college was as a reporter for a South Bend television news station. She married her husband, Dean, in 1995. He works as a school teacher and jazz musician.  

Walorski has served on the House Armed Services Committee, House Budget Committee, and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Speaker of the House John Boehner recently named her to serve on the House & Senate Veterans’ Affairs Conference Committee. She has been a proponent for veterans and VA reform, as well as a strong supporter of the Violence Against Women Act.

Joe Bock is a professor at Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, where he trains students in humanitarian ethics and the use of information and communication technologies to promote global health. He has been a consultant to the World Bank on conflict resolution designed to enable economic development. Joe has served on the leadership team at the American Refugee Committee and was a Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services.

Joe has lived in South Bend for seven years. Before going to college, he worked as a hired hand on a farm and was a professional firefighter. He has served on the Safety and Security Committee of the South Bend Community School Corporation.  His wife, Sue, is a Kindergarten teacher in South Bend.

The Wabash County Christmas Spirit is still taking registrations through Nov. 1, for the 2014 Christmas season. Their mission is to receive all of Wabash County’s gifts – their time, energy, and charity – repackage it, and distribute it as hope to all of those families in need in Wabash County. By this gift of hope, Wabash County Christmas Spirit wishes to build neighborly love throughout the community and to maintain Christmas spirit all year long. 

If your family is in need of assistance with the purchase of gifts this holiday season for children, ages newborn through high school, please visit WabashCountyChristmasSpirit.com. Please note if you are registered for multiple programs you will be removed from our list in order to help another child. You can register online or by picking up a form at one of the following locations:

Wabash County Chamber of Commerce, North Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Wabash County YMCA, Lighthouse Missions, Bowen Center, F.I.S.H., Wabash Christian Church, Christ United Methodist Church, First Farmers Bank & Trust, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, The Access, Living Well in Wabash County, and Mutual Bank.

On Oct. 7, at approximately 9:46 p.m., officers from the Wabash County Sheriff’s Department responded to a personal injury crash on County Road 700 West, just north of County Road 400 North.

Officers determined that a 1999 GMC Sonoma pick-up truck driven by Nicholas M. Fisher, 34, rural Wabash County, was northbound on County Road 700 W, just north of County Road 400 N, and for an unknown reason, left the roadway and struck a utility pole. Mr. Fisher was pronounced dead at the scene by the Wabash County Coroner’s office. Mr. Fisher was not wearing a seatbelt, and speed is believed to have played a factor in the crash.

This crash remains under investigation. Assisting at the scene was the Roann Volunteer Fire Department, the Wabash City Fire Department, Wabash County EMA, Wabash County Coroner’s office, and the Wabash City Police Department.

Northfield and Southwood Jr./Sr. High Schools will be conducting parent/teacher conferences on Thursday, Oct. 16, from 3:30–7:15 p.m. Teachers will take 30-minute dinner breaks on a rotating basis starting at 5 p.m. If you cannot make the available time frame, MSD strongly encourages you to contact the teacher(s) and set up an appointment that is mutually convenient.

The format this year is as follows: teachers will be in the gymnasium and will be available on a first come, first served basis.  MSD asks that you enter the building via the east doors leading to the gymnasium. 

Report cards will be available to be picked up by parents during the conference times.  If you do not pick up your child’s report card, MSD will send it home with him/her on Tuesday, Oct. 21.

If you have questions, please call 260-563-8050.

By Shaun Tilghman

Jon Rosen has worked for Halderman Farm Management Service, Inc. in Wabash for 15 years, and the North Manchester resident is now offering those services a little closer to home, after recently opening his own office downtown at 227 E. Main Street.

“I live in North Manchester, so if I have something urgent that needs to be done it’s a lot more convenient for me to have an office closer to home,” said Rosen. “It’s also more convenient for some of the people I work with, especially those right here in North Manchester. I cover northeastern Indiana, so in addition to my clients in Wabash County, I also serve clients in Huntington, Kosciusko, Whitley, Marshall, Allen, Noble, DeKalb, Steuben, Lagrange, and Elkhart counties.”

Rosen went on to say that the new location would allow him to be more involved when it comes to his family, especially in terms of his children’s school activities. His wife, Beth, is an RTi teacher at Manchester Elementary School. Their daughter Kennedy is a freshman at Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School, their son Dyson is a sixth-grader at Manchester Intermediate School, and their son Tucker is two years old.

Family is obviously important to Rosen, who was raised on a farm in Urbana and continues to farm with his cousin, his uncle, and his father. The Halderman companies have been family-owned since Howard H. and Marie Halderman founded Halderman Farm Management Service, Inc. in their Wabash home in 1930.

For the 23rd consecutive year, the Wabash Rotary Club hosted a benefit golf outing on September 17th to kick-off Wabash County United Fund’s annual fundraising campaign.  This year’s proceeds generated a $10,000 award to the organization.  Accepting on behalf of the United Fund was Steve Johnson, Executive Director.  Johnson stated, “The strong support of the annual campaign kick-off from the Wabash Rotary Club and from the community resulted in another successful event.”

Rotary members Dave Dorais, Brad Farlow, Art Jasen and Tom Frank worked closely with Johnson during the planning and execution of the event.   “We wanted the proceeds from the golf outing to exceed last year’s event, and that’s what happened,” shared Dave Dorais, Wabash Rotary committee chair for the outing. “The committee works hard, works well together, and has a great time organizing this event for a good cause in our community.”

Ninety-six golfers took to the tee boxes to enjoy the perfect weather conditions.  The event took place at the Honeywell Golf Course with lunch donated by Miller’s Merry Manor.  This year’s hole-in-one sponsors were Dorais Chevrolet, Buick, GMC Dealer, Brandt’s Harley- Davidson and INGUARD. 

Taking team honors was the Bob Land Team (Bob Land, Chris Reynolds, Gary Koerner and Randy Brown). Second place was won by the Rea Logan & Company Team (Linda Rea, Randy Miller, Steve VanVoorhis, and Wayne Denger).  Third place went to the REMC Team (Rob Pearson, Bruce Goslee, Roger Cromer, and Jarrod McKee).  Golfers who won Closest to the Hole honors included Randy Brown (1); Parker Beauchamp (3); Pat Mitchell (4); Dan Diedrich (5); Bruce Trump (6); Wayne Denger (7, 8, 12); Roger Cromer (9); Ryan Lewis (10); Randy Wilson (11), Pam Reynolds (13); Tyler Niccum (14); Adam Stakeman (15); Lynn Huddleston (16); Randy Brown (17) and Chris Reynolds (18).  Lynn Huddleston had the Longest Drive in the Fairway on Hole #2.