The Butchers - daughter Tabitha, son Josh, grandson Grayson, father Glenn and mother Sheila stand in the Bass and Bucks showroom. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Over the last 20 years, Glenn and Sheila Butcher and their children, Tabitha and Josh, have seen many changes in the family business, Bass and Bucks.

The business opened in 1999 in Lagro.

“We started in Lagro, at what is now Zoomer’s, but was Pefley’s Farm Equipment,” Josh said, sitting behind a desk in one of the business’ showrooms. “Before that it was Sloan’s Sport Center.

“We originally started there, just selling bait and archery equipment.”

About a year later, the business moved to Southwood Avenue, behind Crystal Glass & Exteriors. In 2004, it moved to its present location, 4890 W. Millcreek Pike.

“There’s not much we could do in town and being on that landlocked property we were at,” Josh said. “Having 182 acres out here is a bit nicer.”
 

Manchester High School's Konrad Borgmann and Kedrick Metzger pitch an idea they and fellow teammate Ozzy Kahn developed to alert a homeowner that their water softener is running low on salt via wireles connections during the High School Pitch competition at the Honeywell Center's Ford Theater on April 16. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Lillian Herrmann and her business, Millie & Mable, topped a field of 16 high school entrepreneurs on Tuesday at the High School Pitch Competition.

Students from around the county pitched business ideas to a panel of five judges who, in the end, picked the top four to receive various awards.

Second place went to Shop Fresh, while third went to Student Services. Fourth place was Bizzy Beez.

“I’m very excited,” Herrmann, a Manchester High School freshman, said following the award ceremony.

This was the second major victory for Herrmann and her business. In March she won the Innovate WithIN regional competition, hosted by the Indiana Economic Develoopment Corp, Indiana Department of Education and Ball State University. She went on to compete in the state finals on April 4 in Indianapolis.
 

Students from Yamate Gaukin High School in Yokohama, Japan, test out some equipment at the Wabash County YMCA. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Students from the Yamate Gaukin Jr.-Sr. High School in Yokohama, Japan, spent Wednesday touring various sites in the City of Wabash.

The students are here as part of an International Exchange Program between their school and Wabash City Schools.

The tour left the Welcome Center and made its first stop at Wabash City Hall where they each received a gift package from Mayor Scott Long.

The students also got to sit in the mayor's spot in the Wabash City Council chamber where they took turns rapping the gavel.

They also stopped in the mayor's office where he showed off a few things to them.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

County Highway Superintendent John Martin presented for the Wabash County Commissioners a recommendation to accept Detroit Salt Company’s salt bid for the 2019-20 season.

The bid is for $95.58 per ton for 1,600 tons of salt.

The Commissioners approved the salt bid.
 

Showing off their Kathy Swan awards are (from left) Rachel Stapleton, D'Allen Brown, Riley King and Kayla Fisher. Photo by Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash City Schools Board of Trustees handed out the middle school version of its Kathy Swan Awards in in the Wabash Middle School cafeteria Monday, April 15.

Swan was a longtime teacher at Wabash City School who was tragically taken in a plane crash in the fall of 2005.
The awards were started in 2006.

“Because of Kathy’s dedication to Wabash City Schools and the kids we serve, and her heart for kids, we wanted to do something to keep her spirit alive,” Superintendent Jason Callahan said. “So we came up with this award.

“Now, this award is very special,” Callahan added. “A lot of awards, scholarships are things you apply for, you know, are aware of, and seek out. The Kathy Swan Award is not that type of award. The Kathy Swan Award is one where students are nominated by those who know them best – their teachers. They are nominated because of the spirit of Kathy. They are great kids who work hard and fly under the radar. But they are very dedicated to their studies and their school.”
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

An Aug. 13-14 trial date has been set for a  former Vernon Health and Rehabilitation employee who is facing theft charges for allegedly taking  $8,000 from the facility.

The employee, Shannon Gidley, 40, Wabash, entered a not guilty plea in Wabash Circuit Court to the charge of theft, a Level 6 felony. Gidley was fired from the facility on Jan. 8 and was formally charged on March 29.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Wabash Police Detective John Krhin:

Vernon Manor Executive Director Robin Shull advised police that she and Gidley were the only two employees to had the combination and access to the safe.

Shull said that Gidley allegedly had receipts totaling $1,403.60 taken from the residents’ accounts, and that the residents had not received the money. She also told police that Gidley was in charge of the facility’s petty cash fund, and that $400 was allegedly missing from it, as well as $250 from a second petty cash fund.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Metro North Elementary’s Little Norse program has achieved a Level 3 Paths to Quality rating, it was revealed at the Tuesday, April 9, MSD of Wabash County school board meeting.

District officials explained that Paths to Quality is Indiana’s rating scale for early education experiences and early child care centers.

Parents are able to use this rating system to make informed decisions regarding their children’s education and early childhood experiences.

“Metro North Elementary School’s Little Norse Preschool is the first elementary preschool in Wabash County to earn this distinction,”Principal Janette Moore said. “Our goal is to achieve a Level 4 rating, national accreditation. A rating of Level 3 recognizes our knowledge and skills for planning appropriate activities and opportunities that lead children toward school readiness, and the significant investment in our professional development of our staff, as well as our family and community involvement at Metro North and within our Little Norse programming.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The recently mailed Wabash County property tax bills have an error on them, Wabash County Treasurer LuAnn Layman told The Paper of Wabash County on Friday.

“We’ve been informed from the (Indianapolis-based) printing company that due to a programming error that the spring receipt mirrors the fall receipt above it,” she said.  “We are aware of this discrepancy and are sorry for this inconvenience.  The fall payment coupon and receipt are correct.”

The spring payment is generally higher than the fall payment, she said, because such things as the solid waste fee, delinquencies and penalties interest. Those figures were included on one part of the bill, but omitted on another.