by Kalie Ammons

kalie@thepaperofwabash.com

Throughout the state, several colleges and universities have decided to publicly oppose HJR-6, an Indiana amendment proposing to permanently make same-sex marriages illegal, including Indiana University, Eli Lilly, DePauw University and Wabash College. After a petition to join these colleges signed by students, faculty and staff at MU was presented to the University, the school chose to stay neutral.

This lead to students and faculty from the United Sexualities and Peace Studies clubs to organize a sit-in to express their feelings on HJR-6.

Darcy Robins, president of United Sexualities, and Becca Creath, Peace Studies Coordinator, teamed up to organize a sit-in for last Tuesday in front of The Union, the University’s most popular dining area.

“We had a brainstorming table that had a large piece of paper on it that people could write their ideas of how to make Manchester more inclusive for everyone,” Robins told The Paper. “People, students, staff, alumni, whoever was there, were asked to write down any ideas.”

The list of ideas will be emailed to the University with the hope that some will be put in place.

Students who rejected HJR-6 were also invited to sign a large banner that had HJR-6 sitting in a red circle with a line through it.

The Community Foundation of Wabash County and Kathleen Daywalt, wife of the late John Wesley Daywalt, are pleased to announce the creation of the John W. Daywalt Scholarship Endowment in the Community Foundation of Wabash County. 

Kathleen Daywalt established the John W. Daywalt Scholarship Endowment to memorialize John. The endowment will provide scholarships to Wabash High School graduates who have been accepted into one of the three Indiana Colleges of Pharmacy, specifically Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Science, Manchester University College of Pharmacy or Purdue University College of Pharmacy. 

The scholarship award will be made to the College of Pharmacy and commence upon acceptance and matriculation into the Doctor of Pharmacy program.  The scholarship shall not be provided for pre-pharmacy undergraduate course work.  The scholarship is renewable up to three years, contingent upon academic standing. Eligible candidates will have satisfactorily completed the requisite undergraduate pre-pharmacy course work and will pursue on a full-time basis a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) degree. Eligible candidates shall have maintained in high school a minimum grade point average of 3.25 on a 4-point scale, or equivalent. Selection criteria shall be demonstrated financial need, academic performance and work ethic.

Consumers across the country say they’ll rally behind one of the most important shopping days on the calendar for small businesses – Small Business Saturday. A day created to address one of small business owners’ most pressing needs – more customers.

According to the second annual Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, awareness of Small Business Saturday among U.S. consumers shot up to 44 percent compared to 34 percent during the same period a year ago. In addition, 77 percent of those aware of the day say that they plan to “shop small” this year. This translates to tens of millions of American consumers who say they plan to patronize a small business on Nov. 30, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The forecasted increase in shopping activity should come as welcome news to retailers facing the shortest holiday shopping since 2002.

by Ashley Flynn

ashley@thepaperofwabash.com

Living Well in Wabash County CoA, Inc, will be purchasing two new replacement buses sometime late next year thanks to unused funds from a previous American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant.

The announcement comes after Living Well CEO Beverly Ferry received a phone call from INDOT notifying that 100 percent of the money requested would come from this grant instead of from the 2014 5311 Capital Grant and 20 percent matching grant from the county that Living Well originally requested.

“This came as a complete surprise to the local public transportation system and eliminates the need to find the funds to pay the 20 percent matching funds,” said Ferry in a press release.

Wabash Area Community Theater and the Honeywell Center will present two opportunities to participate in the Madrigal Dinner in early December.  Guests can choose to attend on Friday, Dec. 6 or Saturday, Dec. 7 with both events beginning at 6:30 p.m.  To assure reserved seating, guests are encouraged to make reservations by Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Guests will begin congregating in the main lobby where they will be assigned to a specific English shire for seating in the grand hall (Legacy Hall) for the dinner.  Shires represented will be Cornwall, Yorkshire, Dorset, Cheshire, Surrey, Kent, Devon, and Suffolk. 

While assembling in the lobby, guests will be greeted by the lord and lady singers representing their shire and entertained by a brass ensemble, Father Christmas, the magician, fortuneteller, jester and wench. The court singers will sing, followed by the Lord Chamberlain and Town Crier announcing the beginning of the festivities as the Lord and Lady of the manor (Ham Sadler and Beth Perkins) are introduced.

Beefeater guards then escort the royalty to the grand hall where they will preside over the evening's festivities. Guests are then escorted to the hall by the page for their shire and their hosting singers. Upon arrival, their senses will be transported back to another era as the hall is decorated and pageantry represents an English manor in the year 1475.

The Economic Development Group of Wabash County, Inc. (EDG) announced significant improvement in per capita income in Wabash County as the labor force continues to grow. 

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis indicates that per capita income levels for Wabash County increased by 6.6 percent during 2012.  Growth in the Wabash County per capita income substantially exceeded the levels of growth in the State of Indiana (4.9 percent) and the U.S. (3.4 percent).  This marks the third consecutive year that growth in the Wabash County per capita income has out-performed the state and the U.S.  In 2002 the Wabash County per capita income was 90 percent of the State.  With this report as of the end of 2012, the Wabash County per capita income now sits at 97 percent of the State. 

The Wabash County Historical Museum is excited to announce their first annual Christmas at the Museum celebration! On Thursday, Dec. 12 from 5-8 p.m., guests will enjoy live entertainment, hors d'oeuvres, hot chocolate, and a cash bar. "We wanted to give the community a chance to celebrate another great year at the museum, and we thought that the holidays were the perfect opportunity for that," said Mitch Figert, Executive Director.

Both floors of the 20,000 square foot facility are decorated for the holidays, with historical holiday facts mixed in with the tinsel.  Lamp posts sponsored by local businesses and individuals weave history and holiday together, the switchboard gals have decorated with cards from their customers and gifts from old local shops Beitman and Wolf and Dick's Men's Wear wait for lucky recipients under one of the Christmas trees.

by Eric Stearley

eric@thepaperofwabash.com

In a modern, technology-driven society, it’s easy to view technology as a force pulling us away from our past, away from a traditional way of life. Food comes from the grocery instead of the garden. Horses are pets more than transportation. Payphones are all but obsolete. Even movie rental is becoming a thing of the past. In one corner of Wabash County, however, technology is connecting people to principles of the past as it propels them into the future. Perhaps the most unusual part is that this story about technology connecting us with history starts with a beautiful, yellow sunflower.

If you drove on State Road 13 south of Somerset this fall, you may have noticed fields of sunflowers to the west. The sunflowers were grown by Darin Hadley. Hadley grew up around farming. His grandfather was a farmer in Allen County, where his father still tills the soil. Though Hadley works primarily as an agriculture banker for PNC, he continues the farming tradition in Wabash County, growing soybeans and wheat while raising pigs and cattle. This year, Hadley began growing something new; he planted 18 acres of sunflowers.

Sunflowers are useful for many things – birdseed, seasonal decorations, and a crunchy salad topping – but none of these uses inspired Hadley to grow the giant flowers. Where most people would scan the horizon and see a field full of flowers, Hadley sees a field full of fuel; more specifically, he sees a field containing the biodiesel that will power his entire farming operation for the next year.