Julie Echard, organizer of the the Wabash County Fair Queen Contest told The Paper of Wabash County that this year’s contest will be on Wednesday, July 8, at 7 p.m. in the Ford Theater at the Honeywell Center. 

This year, there are 26 contestants that are vying to be the 59th Wabash County Fair Queen. 

The evening will also include recognition of the 37 4-Hers that are completing their 10th year in 4-H and the announcement of the next inductee into the Wabash County 4-H Hall of Fame. 

The contest will be televised via WebTV and may also be on Facebook Live through the Wabash County Fair Queen Pageant page. 

Like many events this year, the contest will be slightly different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday May 15, The Wabash County 4-H Fair Council received recommendations on how to continue with the 4-H fair while following the guidelines set by the CDC to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Based on this information, Council members Jessi Huston and Jeff Michel released the following statement.

“Wabash County 4-H Council and our livestock superintendents met to take into consideration the requirements given to us. With careful consideration the 4-H Council has voted to continue planning and preparing for an in-person fair. We are still in discussion and the early planning stages of how we will proceed. Please be patient with us as we continue to work through our plans.

“In order to be in compliance with the Purdue University’s 4-H Fair Exhibition Social Distancing Requirements and Considerations (attached), there will be changes to the daily show schedules, a move to a “show and go” format along with closed judging for non-livestock projects. Please see the above link for more details.

The 18th annual Wabash Cannonball Chili for Charity Chili Cook-off will not take place this year, at least in its traditional form.

Cook-off committee members met on Tuesday, June 16, and opted to cancel this year’s event.

“The traditional cook-off is not going to happen,” committee chair Todd Titus told The Paper of Wabash County. “We are looking at doing something with the event to keep the spirit of the event alive, doing some fundraising. We have some ideas about where the funds would go.”

Formal announcements of what format the cook-off will take is still a few weeks off.

“There will be opportunities for people to cook chili that include all the elements of the traditional cook-offs, it just won’t be happening at Paradise Spring with the usual crowd,” Titus said.

The committee, he said, “was pretty much all in agreement that it just wasn’t a good idea” to have the cook-off this year.”

“If you look at what the CDC and health officials recommend – essential distancing, frequent handwashing, wearing facemasks – none of that can happen at the Chili Cook-off,” Titus said. “Then you throw in the other elements with 80 to 90 teams cooking in an unregulated environment, many people handling ingredients, serving from one hand to someone else’s hand into their mouth, it’s just not a good thing to do.”

NORTH MANCHESTER -- Two Manchester Community Schools teachers will be cut due to Reduction in Force (RIF) and Manchester Intermediate School in Laketon will stay as-is and not be repurposed. Six other open certified positions will also not be replaced.

Those cost-cutting measures, along with savings that have already been in place such as transportation, maintenance, utilities and insurance will save the corporation $879,941.

The MCS Board of Trustees approved a revised financial savings plan that was presented by Superintendent Dr. Teresa Gremaux and Business Manager Jeremy Markham at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 16.

After the board granted an extension to a cost-cutting plan that was presented in a Special Meeting Wednesday, June 3, after school administrators and the Manchester Teachers Association were unable to come to a decision on where cuts were to be made, the Board ultimately voted 3-2-1 to approve the new plan.

The approved plan means MCS is facing eight RIFs that includes six current open positions and two current certified positions (teachers), as well as the seven Board members taking a self-imposed 10 percent pay cut.

Junior Leaders, a facet of 4-H is a program for 4-H members in grades 7-12 which focuses on the development of leadership skills, as well as service learning and fellowship.

During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Junior Leader members have seen the effects of the virus in many ways.

“We have not been able to go out and serve our community like in the past years,” Blake Huston, president of the Wabash County Junior Leaders, told The Paper of Wabash County. “We would have had monthly meeting and services projects. However, we are having zoom meetings and planning the rest of the year out. Hopefully, we will be able to have a great rest of the year, with service projects, fun, and educational meeting.”

NORTH MANCHESTER -- The Manchester Community Schools Board of Trustees met for a special meeting Wednesday evening, June 3, to discuss the financial situation of the school district. 

Within the report by MCS Business Manager Jeremy Markham, the district is facing a potential $1 million cut in funding for the 2020-21 school year that could result in school building consolidation and Reduction in Force (RIF), meaning potential loss of staff, including teachers.

The biggest reason for the loss of funding is the anticipation of MCS losing approximately 65 students for the 2020-21 school year.

The consolidation of school resources would include Manchester Elementary School to house students grades PreK-5 (640 students), Manchester Junior High (current Manchester Administration Office building) to house grades 6-7 (245) and Manchester Junior-Senior High School building to house grades 8-12 (609).

Wabash County will have a new coroner in January.

Republican challenger Ken Brown defeated Republican incumbent Suzie Lewis in the June 2 Primary Election.

The election, generally held in May, was pushed back by Gov. Eric Holcomb because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of COVID-19, there were just two voting centers in the county, one in Wabash and the other in North Manchester.

In the coroner’s race, the lone contested race on the county level, Brown received 1,942 votes, or 56.47 percent, to Lewis’ 1,497.

All the other county races were uncontested.

On Monday, June 1, Wabash City School Board met virtually and broadcast their meeting on YouTube for the public to view.

During the meeting on Monday, the board:

Accepted donations in the amounts of: $250 from Michael Grey to the Pete Rish Memorial, $25 from the Class of 1972 to the Pete Rish Memorial, $50 from Tony and Jeanie Cooper to the Pete Rish Memorial, $50 from Kiwanis Club to the Pete Rish Memorial, $25 from Kelly’s Ice Cream to the WHS SADD/Post Prom fund, $100 from Ford Meter Box to the WHS SADD/Post Prom fund.

Approved the resolution to transfer $400,000 from the rainy-day fund to the operations fund.

Approved the following plans and staff for summer school 2020:

Summer school for O.J. Neighbours will be from June 1 - July 31, 2020 and last 4 hours a day.