Plans for a joint effort to address Wabash County’s population decline was unveiled Wednesday, Feb. 12, during the third annual State of the Communities breakfast.

The effort, called Imagine One85, is a result of the work with community stakeholders and outside consultants to determine the factors that have led to the county’s population decline and ways to reverse the trend and encourage growth.

The project will involve formulating a comprehensive strategic plan that includes officials from Wabash County and all of its municipalities.

The Metropolitan School District of Wabash County board met on Tuesday, Feb. 11. During this meeting the board accepted a donation of $9,750 to the Northfield FFA from the Dan Haupert family.

Haupert was a local farmer who tragically passed away during a grain bin entrapment earlier this year. He  loved farming and was a former FFA president.

Many members of the Haupert family were present at the meeting, including his son, Ryan Haupert, and his granddaughter, Meredith, who was wearing her grandfather’s FFA jacket from when he was in High School. 

Two teachers from the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sol in Brazil are visiting Wabash County and living with and learning from local teachers who will then make the trip to Brazil in June.

The Paper of Wabash County sat down with Mark Nevil and his exchange teacher, Odilnei Vieira, and Tammy Farlow and her exchange teacher, Denise Stroschön to learn about the experiences they have had while participating in this program.

The number of students served by the Wabash Blessings in a Backpack organization has grown substantially this school year.

The increase, according to Megan Henderson, Wabash County Program Coordinator, is because the local program started serving students at the Wabash Middle School.

Blessings in a Backpack is a non-profit organization that feeds school children in the United States who currently are fed during the week on the federally funded Free and Reduced Meal Program and are at risk of going hungry on the weekends.

“Every single pre-K through sixth grade student who is food insecure and qualifies for free and reduced school lunch, every single student in Wabash County is now eligible to receive food,” Henderson told The Paper of Wabash County.

The Wabash program serves students in the Wabash City Schools and MSD of Wabash County districts. North Manchester has its own Blessings program to serve Manchester Community Schools.

Last year, the Anytime Fitness of Wabash closed unexpectedly, but is now open again under new ownership.

Bridgette Harmon and Jeremy Gouvan have worked hard to better the fitness center so that they can help community members reach their fitness goals.

The couple has rearranged the fitness equipment and made some open spaces bigger to allow for more use.

“Every piece of equipment has been moved at least three times,” said Harman with a laugh.

Wabash City Schools board met on Tuesday, Feb. 4 rather than the normal meeting time of Monday. The next meeting will also be held on a Tuesday, Feb. 18.

During this meeting, the board:

Approved the recommendation for Isaac Ray to fill the six-week temporary position as ISD teacher beginning Monday, Jan. 26 at an hourly rate of $13 for 40 hours per week.

The LIFE Center of Wabash has been helping families in Wabash County for over a decade by making sure that every family, no matter the dynamic, has the resources needed to survive and thrive.

The LIFE Center if a non-profit organization that runs solely on donations from individuals, churches and other organizations who choose to help. They receive no funding from the government. The organization is Christ-centered and promotes the value of life, from fertilization to natural-death.

The organization provides free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, diapers, formula, clothing, and much more to ensure that no mothers, expecting mothers, or children go through life without the things they need to be successful.

The Early Childhood class at Heartland Career Center is hosting a diaper drive for the LIFE Center of Wabash which is a corporation that provides resources for mothers and children in need.

For Early Childhood students Erica Bennet and Addie Parzych, doing this diaper drive for their community service project was a no brainer.

“We just want to help out in the community,” said Parzych, a junior from Wabash High School. “The average baby uses 2,500 diapers in a year and that gets expensive, and we know a lot of people can’t afford them.”