by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

As you travel around the county, you may have noticed thin yellow signs with a bike and an arrow going up in many new locations. On Thursday, July 17, the last of 102 signs was fastened to its post outside Lagro to complete the 104-mile Wabash County Bike Trail.

Years ago, the county mapped the route for a bike trail based on features that cyclists look for in a route. The current route begins and ends at Paradise Spring Historical Park, taking cyclists along low-traffic roads past 17 historic points of interest from Lafontaine and Somerset to Roann and North Manchester. It also links Salamonie and Mississinewa reservoirs.

“When riders come into a new area to ride, they’re looking for certain types of pieces to a quality ride,” said Christine Flohr, executive director of tourism at the Wabash County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “One, is some hills and scenery, but they also want it to be unique and specific to that ride, and that’s what makes this unique. It is designed specifically to tell a part of our history and a part of our story.”

by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

In November, Wabash native Jessica Weiss will be making big waves in the world of crowdfunding and prepaid cards with the release of the WeCare Card, a project she’s been working on for more than three years. The card will, for the first time, combine the two industries, allowing for donation-based crowdfunding campaigns to upload money raised directly to a prepaid Mastercard product.

Jessica, who worked as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit for nearly 20 years, has long seen the struggles many families have as they try to balance urgent medical needs with everyday life. Primary among these struggles is, all too often, financial hardship. These struggles hit home when Jessica’s husband, Brad, was diagnosed with a brain aneurism in 2009.

“When word got out that Brad was sick, a lot of the community, family, friends, churches rallied, and we got all kinds of gift cards, greeting cards, home-cooked meals,” Jessica recalled. “I mean, the love and support from Wabash was amazing.”

by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

Last fall, Gary Henderson and his friends discovered a way to do something they love – smoking meat on a barbeque – while supporting a local non-profit – the LIFE Center. After hauling their smokers to the parking lot of the Wabash County Historical Museum and cooking through the night, they managed to serve nearly 800 people and present the LIFE Center with $6,300.

With this success, Henderson and his fellow smokers decided to make it an annual event. This year, there will be a few changes. For one, the event has been moved to Paradise Spring Historical Park, which is a bit more scenic and spacious than the parking lot. The timing has also been tweaked a bit.

When we reach adulthood, our priorities and responsibilities should change. We are at a stage of our lives where we need to be self-reliant, not depending on our parents, grandparents or others to take care of us. Being an adult brings the responsibilities of taking care of the children we have helped bring into this world. Their needs should take priority over our wants. As responsible adults, we need to provide for our families, unless we have a physical or mental disability or age prevents us from doing so.

Every person who lives in Wabash has the opportunity to receive free food from the following locations after they have exhausted their food stamps and WIC. For those who just don’t have quite enough funds to purchase food for the month the following is a list of service organizations, times and dates, that will help with food and cooking classes. Also, there are various churches throughout the county, which give food vouchers or gift cards to purchase food.

*Helping Hands of Wabash County, Inc., 20 E. Canal St., Wabash

Food pantry: First Monday of the month, except on holidays, then the following Monday, 9:30-10:30 a.m. You must live in Wabash County and provide proof of residence.

Hot meals program: Everyone is welcome during the last two full weeks of the month, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, then serving dates are one week earlier. Serving time is 5-6 p.m. Delivery is available for those who can’t get out due to disabilities. The contact number is 260-563-8775.

Grissom’s runway re-opened at 7:30 a.m. July 16, and it didn’t take long for the unit’s jets to start making their way home.

The first KC-135R Stratotankers began arriving at 10:30 a.m. following relocation to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio on June 1 for a $3.2 million project that added expansion joints in the runway.

"Thanks to the hard work of the entire construction team the runway project was completed on time," said Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander. "We are extremely excited to welcome our KC-135s back to Grissom as we resume normal operations.”

While the unit’s tankers were heading home, another aircraft arrived earlier for a temporary visit.

The first aircraft to use the newly renovated runway was a Boeing 757 arriving for painting at a local business.

The growing season is finally in full bloom. Local and regional farmers market vendors are busting at the seams with fresh produce and in need of an extra outlet to sell their harvest.  Enter the Wabash Marketplace Wednesday Night Farmers Market. 

The Wednesday Night Farmers Market will start this coming up Wednesday, July 23 and go for eight consecutive Wednesdays through Sept. 24. The Market will be from 5-8 p.m. each Wednesday and will be located in the East Parking Lot of the Wabash County Historical Museum. 

In addition, the Wabash Marketplace Saturday Farmers Market will continue to operate every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon until Saturday, Oct. 18.

Producers who suffered eligible 2012 and 2013 livestock, honeybee or farm-raised fish losses have until Aug. 1 to submit a notice of loss and application for payment under the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP).

ELAP provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish that have losses due to disease, adverse weather, or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires. ELAP assistance is provided for losses not covered by the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). Producers who suffered eligible livestock, honeybee or farm-raised fish losses during 2012 and 2013 program years must submit a notice of loss and application for payment to their local FSA office by Aug. 1. For 2014 program year losses, the notice of loss and an application for payment must be submitted by Nov. 1.

  For more information, producers can review the ELAP Fact Sheet on the Farm Bill webpage.  Wabash County producers can call 260-563-3145 or stop by the office at 599 Bryan Ave. in Wabash.

by Brian Hamilton

Editor’s Note: Brian Hamilton is a 1990 graduate of Northfield High School and current editor of The Union newspaper in Grass Valley, Calif, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 13,000. Brian’s first experience in the newspaper industry was working as a correspondent for the Wabash Plain Dealer at the age of 17. After graduating from Ball State University, he found his first full-time reporting job at the Ellwood Call-Leader. He’s been with The Union for 13 years.
Brian took note of the changes being made in Wabash during a recent trip back to his hometown. Upon returning to Grass Valley, he wrote this opinion column, which was published in The Union in early July. With Brian’s permission, we are taking this opportunity to share his thoughts with the Wabash community.

At first blush, my hometown and the community we’ve now called home for more than a decade didn’t seem to have all that much in common.
Grass Valley, for example, is nestled in the natural beauty of the Sierra foothills, Wabash, Ind., on the other hand, is surrounded by miles and miles – and miles – of corn and soybean fields that spread as far as the eye can see, all across the state of Indiana.
When it snows, Grass Valley has the Sierra ski slopes on which to play, while Wabash County residents find sport in simply keeping their cars from sliding off the road and into drift-filled ditches.
Then, of course, Indiana has long been known politically as a “red” state, while California has clearly been one of a more blue hue.