Looks of awe and excitement flooded the faces of elementary students at O.J. Neighbours Elementary School on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 31 as they entered the school to find police officers, fire fighters, and Elroy the Elk greeting them with hugs, ribbons, stickers and bookmarks.

The purpose of this special morning greeting for the students was to raise awareness about drugs, encourage them to make good decisions, and to feel comfortable around law enforcement and let them know that they are there to help.

This year marked the second year that the Wabash Elks No. 471 put together this event.

Spearheading the plans was Susie Keffaber, Wabash Elks Drug Awareness chair.

“This week is Red Ribbon week, so we just want to raise extra drug awareness in the community,” she told The Paper of Wabash County.

About a dozen people were on hand Friday afternoon when officials from the Wabash County Historical Museum unveiled its new, permanent exhibit: “Faces of Change.”

The exhibit, located on the museum’s second floor, features 18 local individuals who have influenced change in rural America. It is sponsored by Midwest Eye Consultants in partnership with Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The museum was awarded a grant to host a local program exploring themes from a traveling Smithsonian exhibit called “Crossroads: A Change in Rural America.” The grant allowed officials to design a local program based on the Smithsonian theme.

“We were able to design a program based on change in rural America, and we were able to put a Wabash County spin on it,” Museum President and CEO Mitch Figert said during the ceremony.

When compiling the exhibit, he said, museum officials wanted to incorporate residents from throughout Wabash County.

“We wanted people that influenced change throughout Wabash County and in a variety of ways,” Figert said. “They’re not all deceased. Some of these people are still influencing change today.”

Since 1991, Helping Hands of Wabash County has been working hard to serve the people of Wabash.

This volunteer organization has many different services to offer the less fortunate in the community such as a thrift store, meal services, food pantry, coats for kids, free haircuts and a gardening program, along with other services.

Currently, Helping Hands in conducting it’s Coats for Kids program.

Coats for Kids is done each fall and serves an average of 200 people a year. Children who qualify receive five pairs of underwear, five pairs of socks, a hat, gloves and a coat. All of those items are bought new with funds raised by the Helping Hands thrift store. All people who work within Helping Hands are unpaid volunteers which helps to supplement these funds.
In order for children to qualify for this generous gift, they must attend school within Wabash County and be between two years old to a high school senior.

To sign up for this service, a form, found at the front desk of Helping Hands thrift store needs to be filled out and turned in along with proof of registration at a Wabash County school.

For those attending Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood’s eighth performance at the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater, there’s no need to worry.

They promise the show, on Friday, Nov. 8, will be totally different than their first seven visits to the Center. That’s because, they proudly boast, no two shows are alike.

“We’re bringing audience members up, and we’re getting different suggestions and new suggestions every single night,” 

Sherwood told The Paper of Wabash County in a recent telephone interview. “We’re asking for them in a myriad of ways so that we don’t get the same suggestion twice.

“What we’ve been doing for the last few years, is we have these generic cards that have weird ways of asking for all sorts of different things. We shuffle them up and have an audience member randomly pick one. So it’s like a one in 15 chance that we’ll be even asking the same question for the same game twice. And then, the way the card is worded that it’s so obtuse that it’s almost one in a hundred that you’re ever going to get the same suggestion from the audience. So, it’s literally one in a thousand, on any particular game, that we would ever get the same suggestion twice.”

The Quilt of Honor quilters are seeking the names and addresses of veterans to invite to the Veterans Luncheon which will be Friday, Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Bachelor Creek Church of Christ.
During this luncheon, veterans will be provided a meal and then recognized and thanked by receiving a quilt made by the Quilt of Honor quilters. Veterans that have already received a quilt in past years are still very much welcomed and will receive a different gift to show appreciation for their sacrifice.

With the trial of Alyssa Shepherd completed, officials at the MAXSTRONG Foundation will turn attention to fighting to continue strengthening the state’s school bus stop laws.

The Foundation – named for twin brothers Mason and Xavier Ingle and their older sister, Alivia Stahl – is dedicated to improving safety for all children that ride buses around Indiana. The three siblings were killed and a fourth, Maverik Lowe, was critically injured, on Oct. 30, 2018, after being struck by Shepherd’s vehicle as they were crossing State Road 25 to board the school bus.

Shepherd was found guilty in Fulton County Superior Court of three counts of felony reckless homicide, as well as one count of criminal recklessness and one count of driving around a school bus with the stop arm extended. Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 18.

During the last legislative session, Foundation officials worked with legislators to develop a tougher law for drivers who go around school buses when they are loading and unloading school children.

The new law went into effect on July 1. Under the measure, it requires same-side pickups and drop offs of children to prevent them from having to cross busy roads or highways to get on or off buses. It also increases penalties for violators who ignore a stopped bus.

However, MAXSTRONG officials don’t believe the measure goes far enough, and they plan to work with lawmakers to add more teeth to the law.

The Veteran’s Organization of Wabash County will conduct Veteran’s Day services on Monday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the Wabash County Courthouse.

These services are open to the public and will take place in the following order:

Invocation by American Legion Post #15 Chaplin, Don Cole.

National Anthem sung by Mrs. Robert (Jo) Wade.

Remarks by Wabash Mayor, Scott Long.

Remarks by Jerry Alexander, representative for Senator Mike Braun.

Remarks by Brian Spaulding, representative for congresswoman Jackie Walorski.

Laying of wreaths by the Ladies Auxiliaries.

On Monday, Oct. 28, a ribbon cutting took place at Downtown Nutrition, a new shop in downtown Wabash was recently opened by Lindsay Heck, a 2003 graduate of Wabash High School.

Downtown Nutrition has a goal to promote a healthier lifestyle by introducing Wabash to a shop that offers healthy shakes, energizing teas, aloe, and suggestions for workout guides.

“We offer free consultations by appointment for wellness profiles to help meet our customer’s health and wellness goals,” Heck told The Paper of Wabash County.

Not only does the shop offer free consultations, but it also gives away a complimentary tea and aloe with the purchase of a shake.

There was a line of customers eager to try a new flavor or shake or tea, before Heck had to stop serving for a few minutes to cut the ribbon.