The "Church Basement Ladies" return to Honeywell Center on Tuesday, March 5. Photo provided

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Autumn O’Ryan is no stranger to the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater.

Now in her seventh tour of a “Church Basement Ladies” production, she will return with the troupe to Honeywell on Tuesday, March 7, for two performances of “The Church Basement Ladies: Rise Up O Men.”

In the latest production, the men of the church invade the church basement, and much chaos ensues.

“This takes place in June and July of 1964, and everybody’s getting ready for the Jubilee Festival,” O’Ryan told The Paper of Wabash County in a telephone interview. “The men come in, there’s the pastor, of course. We always have the pastor. But this time we have Carl the handyman and Elroy, who is married to Karen.

“As Autumn O’Ryan, it’s delightful to have the men in the kitchen. But my character (Vivian Snustad) is not too happy. She’s the matriarch of the kitchen. She doesn’t deal well with change as it is, and they you add men to her kitchen … it’s not good.”
 

Members of the Mission Stitches team include (from left) Nancy Moore, Linda Helfin, Janice Azbell, Nancy Myers, Mary Zellers, Lela Dale and Linda Bechtol. Photo by Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Mission Stitches is made up of a group of ladies that meet at Church of Christ at Treaty or at Mary Zellers’ house, and make pillowcase dresses, boys’ shorts and receiving blankets for equatorial mission locations.

The group meets and cuts out the items, then makes packets for the sewing, so that the ladies can take them home and sew on their own time.

The garments are sent with missions teams wherever they are going, including places in South America, Africa and Haiti.
“We are getting ready to send a pack of blankets, hats and baby socks with a Huntington University group of nurses that’s going on spring break,” Zellers said.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash Circuit Court Judge Robert McCallen III accepted a plea agreement for Corey Kelch, one of two individuals involved in the April 2018 robbery and murder of a LaFontaine man.

McCallen, during a nearly two-hour, often emotional hearing on Monday afternoon, Feb. 18, sentenced Kelch allowed under the statute, 30 years for robbery.

Kelch and the late Kaleb Marin were suspects in the April 25, 2018, robbery and shooting death of Jordan Richards in Richards’ LaFontaine home. Marin died four days later in a car accident not too far away from the murder scene.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

A plea agreement with former Wabash County Coroner Carol (Whitesell) Nose was withdrawn on Monday, Feb. 18, in Wabash Circuit Court.

A new trial date on the matter will be sent.

Nose is charged with official misconduct for allegedly failing to turn over numerous files to the current coroner.
 

By The Paper Staff

The 2019 Wabash Kindergarten Round-up has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 20 at the Honeywell Center lobby from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Please enter through the circle drive on the northwest corner.

The Round-up is or children turning five by Aug. 1, 2019, and is for Emmanuel Christian, Metro North, O.J. Neighbours, Southwood and St. Bernard schools.
 

By The Paper staff

Beginning this week, The Paper of Wabash County will be delivered via the U.S. Postal Service to households in Wabash County.

The decision to stop delivery by carriers was a difficult one to make, but The Paper officials believe having the newspaper delivered by the Post Office will guarantee all households will receive a copy of the newspaper each week.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash County Commissioners approved the acceptance of a bid for the County Road 1100 North construction project at the Monday, Feb. 11 meeting.

County Highway Superintendent John Martin recommended that the commissioners accept the low bidder for the project, revealed at last week’s meeting, Phend and Brown, Leesburg, for $1,287,982.28.

$1 million of that amount will come in the form of a Community Crossings Grant, Martin noted.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash Board of Parks and Recreation will consider a request to refurbish the Wabash City Park softball diamond when it meets on March 13.

The board, at its Feb. 13 meeting, heard from Dave Judy and Steve Flynn, members of the Wabash Fastpitch Committee which is interested in upgrading the diamond.

“We would like to do some changes to it,” Judy told the board. “We’d like to add a drainage system to it. Right now, when it rains all the dirt and everything goes straight down … into the creek. It’s just been a problem for years and years.”
The committee also would like to resurface the infield, add new dugouts, repair the fence and remove parts of the bleachers.