Jan. 3, 1966 -- Effective with the new year, schools in Clay, Lake and Plain townships have been consolidated with the Warsaw Community School system.

However, until next September, when the high school students from the three townships will be transported by school buses to Warsaw Freshman High and Warsaw Senior High School, their schools will operate as they are now.

According to Superintendent Carl Burt, no definite decision has been reached about the seventh- and eighth-grade students from the new consolidating townships. A study is now being made, and within a few months it is expected that a decision will be reached concerning the two junior high grades.

Jan. 19, 1966 -- Capt. Roger E. Brockhoff, Tippecanoe Lake, Rt. 1, Leesburg, a career Air Force officer, has returned from Vietnam, where he completed 100 combat missions in the Southeast Asia theater. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Brockhoff of Tippecanoe Lake.

Capt. Brockhoff, who is now 30 years old, enlisted at age 18 and has logged a total of 2,500 jet flying hours, 200 hours of which were in active combat under fire. His last base was at Saigon.

Feb. 3, 1966 -- Kosciusko County's draft board thus far had no orders for a large increase in draftees. For the past several months the number of draftees sent from this county has averaged from 19 to 22, according to draft board officials.

During the past three months, 44 young men have been sent to the U.S. Army for induction and three to the U.S. Marine Corps.

It was learned that most inductees from the county are 20-year-olds or older.

Feb. 4, 1966 -- Jerry Lee Helvey, a 32-year-old resident of Rt. 1, Leesburg, (Sechrist Lake), last night was named the "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" at the Warsaw Jaycees Distinguished Service Award Banquet.

March 2, 1966 -- Plans for a $1.5 million dollar expansion program that will add four new buildings, an athletic filed and an addition to the present classroom building over the next five years (1966-70) were disclosed today by Grace College President Herman A. Hoyt.

Dr. Hoyt said that the college's Board of Trustees, which is now in session, approved the development program, which will enable the college to increase its enrollment over the next five years from the present 380 to 650.

March 5, 1966 -- In a joint meeting this week with the City Airport Board of Wabash, members of the Warsaw Airport Board approved plans for both the Warsaw and Wabash airports to be managed by Warsaw Aviation Inc.

Malcolm (Mike) Light, chairman of the board, stated that Eldridge Sheetz, of Warsaw Aviation Inc., and manager of the Warsaw Municipal Airport, has enough personnel to service both airports.

With increased volume of business, Warsaw Aviation Inc. could acquire additional planes and larger ones, which could be used in offering better service in both airports, Light said.

March 9, 1966 -- After 23 years of service as a devoted educator in the Warsaw community, School Superintendent Carl W. Burt submitted his resignation effective July 1 at a regular board meeting held Tuesday evening.

April 1, 1966 -- A 17-year-old girl gallantly led her nine brothers and sisters from a crowded bedroom but a 7-year-old brother perished in the blaze as flames swept through the Jessie Whitaker home near Silver Lake late last night.

The victim, Jessie Duane Whitaker Jr., a second-grade pupil at Silver Lake, died of asphyxiation, according to county coroner Dr. Joe Bill Mishler.

Pauline, who had been left in charge of the 10 children while her parents were working, smelled smoke, aroused the children and led them outside. Jessie, however, did not respond to her call. When Pauline attempted to get back into the structure to save the lad, flames fanned by a brisk wind drove her back, according to a statement given to Deputy Sheriff Roger Fellows.

April 5, 1966 -- The Whitko School Board announced its decision last night to proceed with a one-school unit which is to be built on the 150-acre Thomson site located in Cleveland Township, Whitley County.

At the board meeting Monday night in the high school gymnasium here, the board voted 3-2 favoring the Thomson site and authorized a topographical survey be started at once on the site. There were an estimated 650 Whitko school patrons present for the meeting to hear what decision the board had made on a request to reconsider having only one school and to have high schools located at Pierceton and South Whitley.

April 8, 1966 -- Kosciusko County can well be proud of one of the first U.S. fighting Marines to return home on leave after his active participation in the last seven major battles in the Da Nang area in Vietnam. His longest period serving in battle was 45 days in "Operation Double Eagle."

Corp. Richard (Dick) Gilbert, during his 30-day visit, is being given the royal carpet treatment by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Gilbert, of Boys City Drive, Winona Lake. He has just completed a 14-month tour of duty with the Third Marine Division, the last nine months in the Da Nang area.

Dick, a 1964 Warsaw High School graduate, is reveling in pure luxury at the moment.

April 12, 1966 -- The city plan commission Monday night adopted a resolution recommending that the city council approve plans for a $1.2 million shopping center on the Frank Saemann property, located at the intersection of Rozella Ford Road and CR 100S.

April 21, 1966 -- A huge aluminum-looking "flying saucer" standing on four "legs" about 8 feet high, spread about 12 feet apart, with the saucer itself about 12 feet across and 10 feet tall, was reportedly seen by 19-year-old Dennie Baker, about 2 miles northwest of Etna Green.

Young Baker, who lives on County Line Road, said he saw the huge, frightening object which looked like two large saucers inverted, with a 2-foot space between the "saucers" Tuesday afternoon after spotting a huge light in the sky at 1:20 a.m. Monday.

April 27, 1966 -- An adoption of a master plan and zoning ordinance prepared by the Winona Lake Plan Commission was unanimously approved Tuesday evening at a public hearing of the commission at Winona Lake Town Hall.

May 5, 1966 -- Nine "piggyback" cars of an Erie-Lackewanna Railroad freight train were derailed about 3 a.m. today at the south edge of Akron near Ind. 19, causing an estimated damage of $1 million.

Sheriff Willard L. Clark of Fulton County said there were no injuries but a potential danger existed in the area from spilled acid, which was evidently in transit. Clark warned residents and spectators to stay away from the area. The type of acid and the amount spilled in the wreckage is not known this morning.

May 11, 1966 -- Dr. Wilmer K. Bugher will become superintendent of the Warsaw Community Schools on July 1, it was announced today.

May 17, 1966 -- The family of Private First Class Roger D. Manns, of Akron, who died in Vietnam May 11, was notified on Monday of the arrival of the body in Oakland, Calif.

The time of the arrival of the body of the young soldier is indefinite and the Sheetz Funeral Home here will be notified.

Private Manns, 17, drowned accidentally in a river in Vietnam while washing a military vehicle, according to a telegram received by the family from Major General J.C. Lambert.

Private Manns had been in Vietnam just six days when the accident occurred.

May 21, 1966 -- Taking part in the coronation march at last night's Warsaw Junior-Senior Prom were senior king Mike Niles and queen Ivy White. They were elected by members of the senior class.

May 31, 1966 -- James Culver, 17, a junior at the North Webster High School, has received a trophy for participation in the Indiana State water skiing tournament. The trophy was sent to him by the state club for first place in boy's trick water skiing competition. The tournament was held in Indianapolis last fall. Jim is a member of the Webster Lake Ski-Bees.

June 11, 1966 -- Pierceton's Centennial Celebration is June 14-18. The public's invited.

June 27, 1966 -- Kosciusko County's "Miss Sesquicentennial" and a state Sesquicentennial Princess, Miss Sharon Mauzy, became the 1966 "Queen of the Lakes" Saturday evening at the end of judging in the non-air-conditioned North Webster School gymnasium.

July 25, 1966 -- Rebuilding began this morning on the Milford Farm Bureau Co-op Elevator, which was destroyed in a $120,000 fire Saturday.

July 25, 1966 -- Warsaw High School's varsity cheerleaders display trophies and ribbons they won at the recent United States Cheerleading camp at Lake Geneva, Wis. In the team competition, Warsaw placed first among more than 300 students from schools in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Cheerleaders include Nancy Gable, Susan Gresso, Missy Mosbaugh, Peggy Steele, Pat Cox and Robin Rasor.

July 26, 1966 -- Police combed the countryside for an armed man today after finding his nude young bride and her 17-year-old sister massacred at their quaint Tippecanoe Lake cottage Monday.

They were the only children of a prominent Dunkirk, Ind., family.

Autopsy reports given county coroner Dr. Joe Mishler at noon Tuesday indicated that both women were strangled before being stabbed and beaten. Official cause of death will be listed as asphyxiation by strangulation. The elder girl was stabbed repeatedly after death and the younger was beaten about the head after strangulation.

Wanted for investigation of homicide is Stephen Bruce Wolf, 30, who came to the Tippecanoe Lake area, nine miles northeast of Warsaw, 1-1/2 years ago from his Marion birthplace.

July 28, 1966 -- A shot in each temple as officers closed in near West Palm Beach, Fla., ended the nationwide search this morning for 30-year-old Stephen Bruce Wolf.

The 300-pound newlywed husband was the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, Marilee, 22, and his sister-in-law, Gayle Lynn, 17, at 3 o'clock last Monday morning in a Lake Tippecanoe cottage.

Aug. 22, 1966 -- Farmer's State Bank of North Webster celebrates this summer 50 years of banking services.

The bank began operation on Aug. 9, 1916, with 51 stockholders and $25,000 worth of capital.

Aug. 30, 1966 -- A group of parents protesting the "no transfer" policy of the Tippecanoe Valley School Board this year appeared with their children at the Atwood Grade School this morning in an attempt to register their youngsters in the Warsaw Community School system.

Edwin Blue, Atwood principal, spoke to each parent individually to explain why the children could not be enrolled at the school.

Board members of the TVSC adopted a policy at their December 1965 meeting to approve no transfers with the exception of those required by law and to those students from the corporation at that time enrolled in Warsaw Community High School.

Aug. 31, 1966 -- The Whitko School Board has two mountainous problems to solve. One is finding a new school superintendent. And starting from the beginning, again, the selection of a new site for a central high school for the Whitko School Corp.

Board members received a setback on building the new central high school when they learned from a report made by the Pittsburg Testing Laboratories of Indianapolis that the soil is unsuitable for such a building on the Ben Thomas site of 150 acres, Cleveland Township.

Sept. 10, 1966 -- Ambushed by Viet Cong, wounded and in a hospital at Pleiku, Vietnam, Sgt. Ira R. Schilling wrote a letter to his stepfather, Clarence Mullins, of Warsaw, dated Sept. 1 regarding the ambush and his injuries.

Schilling wrote that he was hit in the neck and arm but he is OK.

Sept. 15, 1966 -- Lawrence J. (Larry) Castaldi and Mrs. Ethan (Georgia Loveday) Kaufman today took their places among a distinguished list of "Man and Woman of the Year" award winners in Warsaw following their selection last night at the 55th annual Chamber of Commerce banquet at the Elks Lodge.

Sept. 15, 1966 -- A former outstanding basketball player for Claypool High School, Pfc. Coye Conley, received a wound to his left arm on Sept. 6 during Operation Hastings in Vietnam, according to word received by Sgt. William Coret, U.S. Marine recruiter.

Conley, the son of Mrs. Hayhazie Swinehart, Rt. 1, Claypool, is said to have been treated by the medical unit and returned to duty. He is attached to India Company, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines.

Oct. 19, 1966 -- Announcement was made today of promotions and changes in the General Office Staff of United Telephone Co. of Indiana Inc. at Warsaw by W.H. Theurer, vice president of operations.

Miss Mary Jane Kessler, of Wooster Road, Warsaw, has accepted the newly-created position of Traveling Cashier with the Commercial Department under the direction of George L. White, general commercial manager.

James R. Craig, 25, of 1813 Hepler Drive, Warsaw, has assumed the duties of Marketing Supervisor also under White.

James E. Bowers, 22, of 325 N. Parker St., Warsaw, was appointed to the post of assistant traffic engineer with the General Traffic Department under John M. White, general traffic manager.

Oct. 22, 1966 -- Construction is now in progress on the $1.75 million Timbercrest Retirement Home, located on a 25-acre plot of land three-fourths of a mile north of Manchester College in North Manchester.

Nov. 7, 1966 -- Sgt. Robert E. Taylor, 21, foster son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard H. Simpson, 1403 Ranch Road, Warsaw, was killed in action in Vietnam on Nov. 5, it was learned today.

The young man, who attended Warsaw High School prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Army in April 1963, died during a combat operation when engaged by a hostile force. His death is the first from Kosciusko County in the Vietnam war.

Nov. 8, 1966 -- Whitko School Board officials voted to proceed with the purchase of the controversial Thomson site for a new high school.

Nov. 10, 1966 -- Petitions requesting the withdrawal of Pierceton and the remainder of Washington Township from the Whitko School Corp. and a merger with the Warsaw Community School system are being circulated from door to door during the next few days.

Nov. 21, 1966 -- LaMoine E. Grow has been reported missing in action in Vietnam, according to word received here by his wife, Janet, of East Merrywood Trailer Court.

LaMoine is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur M. Grow, Rt. 2, Claypool.

Nov. 29, 1966 -- Petitions signed by Monroe Township citizens favoring withdrawal from the Whitko Community School Corp. and a merger with the Warsaw Community School Corp. will be presented to the Whitko board Dec. 5.

This decision was reached at a meeting of Monroe Township residents at Monroe School Monday night.

Dec. 5, 1966 -- Carl W. Burt, 65, prominent educator and former superintendent of the Warsaw Community Schools, of 324 S. High St., died at 7:40 a.m. today at the Murphy Medical Center. He had been a patient in the hospital since Nov. 28.

Dec. 6, 1966 -- Monroe Township's petition for withdrawal from the Whitko School Corp. was presented to the Whitko board at a meeting Monday night. These persons are requesting a merger with the Warsaw Community School system. A formal letter with petitions signed by 907 Washington Township residents, also requesting withdrawal from that school system and joining Warsaw schools, was also filed with the board.

Dec. 23, 1966 -- Mrs. Dale Strang, Rt. 1, Etna Green, received word that her son, Cpl. Willard Gene Nelson, was wounded Dec. 14 in Vietnam, where he has been serving with the First Maine Division since April 16.

He is now in Air Base Hospital in the Phillipine Islands.

Jan. 18, 1967-- Plans for the prepared $3 million Wawasee High School were given final approval Tuesday evening by the Board of School Trustees of the Lakeland Community School Corp. Specifications and plans will be released to interested bidders Jan. 23.

Jan. 19, 1967 -- Sgt. Ira Robert Schilling, U.S. Army, recently was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in September in Vietnam.

Jan. 25, 1967 -- Preliminary plans for a $3.5 million high school drawn specifically for the long-disputed Thomson site were approved by the Whitko Community School Board Tuesday evening.

Feb. 1, 1967 -- Some couples can boast of a family of 16 children, but very few can say they have four sons who have served in Vietnam.

Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Stidams, of Rt. 1, North Webster, have both, including 10 sons and six daughters. Their children range in age from 2 to 28 and even though there are nine youngsters at home, Mrs. Stidams finds time to work at a factory in Syracuse. Her husband is also employed in Syracuse.

Two of the four sons are now serving with the Armed Forces in Vietnam.

Feb. 7, 1967 -- Bids on construction of a new Triton Junior-Senior High School building at an estimated cost of $2.5 million will be opened at a meeting of the holding company at the superintendentÕs office in Etna Green at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Feb. 10, 1967 -- Disclosure yesterday by the Times-Union that positive tuberculosis reactions among school children were running as high as 39 percent at Claypool, 29 percent at Silver Lake and 22 percent in Adams at Warsaw has touched off what should develop into the most comprehensive search for adult TB carriers ever conducted in Kosciusko County.

The overall TB positive rate in Kosciusko County schools has risen in three years from an insignificant 0.6 of 1 percent to a substantial 3.7 percent.

Feb. 23, 1967 -- Because George Washington established the Order of The Purple Heart, Lt. Col. William B. Scruggs, of the Culver Military Academy, chose Wednesday, Washington's birthday, to present posthumously the Purple Heart medal to the foster parents -- Mr. and Mrs. Bernard H. Simpson -- of Kosciusko County's first soldier to be killed in action in Vietnam -- Sgt. Robert E. Taylor, 21, who was killed in action in Vietnam Nov. 5.

March 6, 1967 -- U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Klifford Kreicker, 23, of Warsaw, has been seriously wounded by .30 caliber machine gun fire while on a March 1 mission over South Vietnam.

According to word received here late Sunday night by telephone, Kreicker was hit only in the arm and is now en route to Bethesda Naval Medical Center near Washington, D.C.

March 21, 1967 -- Information regarding Pfc. Jeffry R. Morgan, who received injuries to his left hand and right arm from hostile mortar fire in recent action in Vietnam, has been received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Morgan, Rt. 3, Warsaw.

March 30, 1967 -- A serene Jean Lucas heard a jury of 11 men and one woman completely vindicate her in record time late Thursday, then broke into a brilliant smile.

Miss Lucas, the 46-year-old spinster who had been secretary to the late superintendent Carl Burt for 18 years, had stood charged wth theft of extra-curricular Warsaw Community School funds, by indictment of the Kosciusko County Grand Jury based on an audit of the funds by the State Board of Accounts.

The jury elected a foreman, voted a unanimous not guilty verdict and returned to the courtroom within 15 minutes.

April 1, 1967 -- The option on the controversial Thomson school site which expired Friday was not renewed by the Whitko School Board.

Whitko Superintendent Nelson Eaton said the board had not discussed or taken any action on renewing the option.

April 4, 1967 -- Warsaw Community Schools' elementary rental book fund is literally broke, facing a total current and past due indebtedness of $37,375.30, it was revealed to board members last night, meeting in regular session.

As of March 31 this year, cash balance in the fund totaled $233.66.

Superintendent Dr. Wilmer Bugher told board members that in an effort to pay off the deficit, he had authorized an average of 23 percent increase in rental fees of books to all pupils.

April 4, 1967 -- County commissioners Monday signed a contract for the purchase of 44 acres of land on Old Road 30 at CR 300E to house the county highway department facilities.

April 4, 1967 -- Whitko Community School Board trustees Monday night voted 4 to 1 to retain the controversial 150-acre Thomson site for the building of a central high school.

April 18, 1967 -- Warsaw school board members last night took several "steps" towards avowed goals of one junior high school and smaller class sizes on the elementary level.

On a motion by Matt Dalton, the board voted to close the Adams Elementary School now located in the junior high school building. The decision was also to transfer 93 junior high school students from Leesburg to Warsaw.

The changes will be made effective with the beginning of the school term next September.

In another step, the board voted on a motion by Dale Tucker to make the Silver Lake and Claypool schools a single administrative unit. At the present time there is a full-time principal at Claypool and a principal who teaches half-time at Silver Lake.

April 19, 1967 -- In one of the most tense, explosive meetings of the Whitko Community School Board Tuesday night, the option for the highly disputed Thomson site for a new high school was renewed for another year.

The Thomson site of 150 acres is in Cleveland Township, Whitley County, on CR 900W, six miles southeast of Pierceton.

May 2, 1967 -- Members of the Warsaw Community School Board last night clamped the lid on any further public investigation of indebtedness in the corporation's extracurricular fund when they voted down a motion by vice president H. Dale Tucker, calling for a probe by the prosecuting attorney's office.

The motion urged a full-scale investigation by the prosecutor's office. The motion also stated that the prosecutor's office should be assisted in its probe by a reputable accounting firm to be selected by the school board.

May 3, 1967 -- Former Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges, the perennial candidate, won a sweeping victory Tuesday in the Republican primary over the first woman candidate for mayor in Warsaw history, Mrs. Finley (Norma) Gilworth.

The final tally gave Hodges 1,237 to 648 for Mrs. Gilworth, a plurarity of 589. Mrs. Gilworth is the present city clerk-treasurer.

May 16, 1967 -- Annexation of 130 acres of land for industrial use west of Warsaw to the limits of the R.R. Donnelley Co. property was approved Monday night by the city council. The land starts near the city disposal plant between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Old Winona interurban right of way and extends about 1-1/4 miles west to the Donnelley property.

May 19, 1967 -- An injunction suit against the Whitko School Board and the State Board of Tax Commissioners was filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court Thursday afternoon by three members of the Citizens for Better Education of Pierceton. The suit was filed for a hearing to restrain the school board from using $45,000 to purchase a school site and to restrain the State Board of Tax Commissioners from continuing its approval of the additional appropriation of $45,000.

May 22, 1967 -- Mr. and Mrs. William Foreman, Rt. 1, Warsaw, received word Saturday night that their son, Sgt. E-5 James Lee Foreman, 21, had been killed in action Thursday. He was believed to have been one of 22 soldiers killed when the Fourth Infantry Division was overrun by Communist troops. He was a 1964 WCHS graduate.

June 1, 1967 -- Backed by 2,000 petitioners, a "Citizen's Committee for School Board Action" last night issued a call for all taxpayers to attend next Monday night's Warsaw Community School Board meeting and to urge an open investigation by the prosecuting attorney of the existing deficits in extra-curricular school funds.

June 6, 1967 -- Warsaw's Community School Board last night voted unanimously on a motion by Trustee Matthew Dalton to go all-out in an investigation of the purported shortages in the system's extracurricular funds.

Dalton's motion was seconded by Vice President Dale Tucker, whose similar motion of the previous May 1 meeting was defeated by a vote of 4-2.

June 26, 1967 -- North Webster's 22nd annual week-long Mermaid Festival was brought to a colorful climax Sunday afternoon with a more than two-hour long parade of floats, bands and a thrilling water ski exhibition on Webster Lake by the "Ski Bees" - a North Webster ski club, 1966 state champions.

Twenty-year-old Sherry Bockman bested a field of 21 beauteous contenders for 1967's "Queen of the Lakes" title. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Bockman and the first resident title winner in the 22 years North Webster has hosted the event.

July 11, 1967 -- Whitko Community School Board members last night voted to finalize purchase for $45,000 of the highly controversial Thomson site for construction of a new multi-million-dollar high school, against threat of possible injunction proceedings by dissident citizens.

In other significant action, Maurice Scott, the board secretary, was ousted from his post in reorganization proceedings. Scott was replaced by Robert Steller. Scott has been an outspoken critic of the board's decision to purchase the Thomson site. He also has charged the four other board members with taking action on public business outside public meetings.

July 21, 1967 -- It was revealed Thursday night at a Whitko meeting that the disputed Thomson farm site has been purchased. The site for a new high school is in Whitley County on CR 900W, six miles southeast of Pierceton.

July 24, 1967 -- Who attempted to take the lives of 37-year-old Linda (Mrs. John) Noble and her handsome, 8-year-old son, Brett, Saturday by wiring 14 sticks (7 pounds) of dynamite to the ignition of her automobile?

State police today were running down several leads, they say, in efforts to unravel the mystery.

The statuesque and attractive brunette, a popular Pierceton figure, is a receptionist for the Whitley Products plant three, where she has been employed for 13 years.

July 27, 1967 -- Mr. and Mrs. William Foreman of Rt. 1, Warsaw, received the Purple Heart for their son, Sgt. E-5 James Lee Foreman, who was killed in Vietnam last May 18, in a solemn ceremony in the Warsaw American Legion Hall yesterday afternoon.

The Foremans also received a gold star lapel button each, consisting of a gold star on a purple background, bordered in gold and surrounded by gold laurel leaves.

July 31, 1967 -- A former Syracuse man numbers among a group of four skilled mountain climbers still missing today as air and ground search parties continued rescue efforts off snow-shrouded Mt. McKinley near Anchorage, Alaska.

Hopes that Jerry Clark, son of the late Dr. Fred Clark, a longtime practicing physician in Syracuse, and his three remaining companions were still alive appeared to be fading as rescuers pressed their search. A wind-swept snow storm on Mt. McKinley today smothered most of the hopes. The storm was expected to last up to 72 hours.

Aug. 5, 1967 -- "There is no hope anyone is alive."

Art Hayes, chief ranger at Mt. McKinley National Park, thus brought to a close today the saga of former Syracuse resident Jerry Clark, 31, and five other men who scaled the 20,320-foot mountain, only to be lost as near-tornado winds swept the icy slopes of the highest mountain in North America.

Aug. 23, 1967 -- The embattled Whitko School Board faced the public last night for the first time since release of a State Board of Accounts audit of school funds showed overpayments and irregularities during the previous tenure of former superintendent Delbert L. Hatton.

During a confused and oft-times hot session, the present board indicated that no actions would be filed by the board as a result of the audit. However, it was indicated that any citizens who wished could file a civil suit for recovery of any money that could be proven refundable.

Aug. 24, 1967 -- The personal appearance of Dr. Alva J. McClain, founding president of Grace Theological Seminary, highlighted a commemorative service recently in the Winona Lake auditorium celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of the school.

Aug. 31, 1967 -- Kosciusko County residents today are facing the greatest real and personal property tax load in history.

New record-breaking budget proposals range in rates from a low of $5.46 in Franklin and Seward townships to a high of $10.71 in Pierceton. The heavy increases in all of the county's 33 taxing units are due principally to skyrocketing public school costs.

Sept. 12, 1967 -- Most Navy yeomen spend more time behind a typewriter than they do at the breech of a combat weapon, but Yeoman Second Class Jackie D. Stump, son of Eva McClintic of Milford, has been decorated twice for acts of heroism in combat.

He is also one of the few (if not only) yeomen to ever hold a command.

Sept. 12, 1967 -- Zimmer, established in 1927, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Founded by Mr. J.O. Zimmer and several associates, the company strongly stressed sales and service, and these two factors still dominate in the company today.

Altogether, there are approximately 4,000 product line items. Zimmer employees total 264 in both the office and plant.

Sept. 12, 1967 -- Maple Leaf Farms Inc., today the nation's second largest producer and processor of ducklings, is between Milford and Leesburg, near Dewart Lake.

Maple Leaf Farms was started in 1958 by Don Wentzel and Miles Igo. In the first year of operations, 300,000 ducklings were produced for markets in the Midwest. This 10th year of operations will produce 1.5 million ducklings, or 20 percent of total national ducklings production.

Sept. 18, 1967 -- Lance Cpl. Billy Ray Salyer, 19, of Silver Lake, died Sept. 13 of wounds received in Vietnam.

The official notification of his death said he sustained fragmentation wounds to the body from hostile mortar fire while in a defensive position. This occurred in the vicinity of Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam.

Cpl. Salyer, the son of Earl and Marie Poe Salyer, of Silver Lake, enlisted in the Marine Corps. Aug. 26, 1966, and had been in Vietnam since March 7 of this year. On July 28, he was wounded in the left leg while on duty and was hospitalized for a few days.

Sept. 19, 1967 -- An Air Force officer from Warsaw has been listed missing in action over Vietnam.

Lt. William Nellans, whose wife lives at 505 N. Grant St., is the officer reported missing.

Nellans is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ellery Nellans, Rt. 5, Warsaw. He reportedly is a photo-reconnaissance plane pilot.

Sept. 21, 1967 -- Two of this community's outstanding citizens -- Dr. J.R. Baum and Mrs. William (Ruth) Sonke -- today proudly and deservingly carry the titles of "Man and Woman of the Year" in Warsaw after being so recognized Wednesday night at the 56th annual dinner meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce.

Sept. 29, 1967 -- Warsaw and Kosciusko County will soon have the second most powerful FM broadcasting station in Indiana when WRSW-FM increases its effective radiated power to 100,000 watts, it was announced today by station manager Fred Gresso.

Oct. 4, 1967 -- Private utility companies have just won a landmark Indiana State Supreme Court decision over REMCs and the federal government in a case stemming from a jurisdictional dispute in the city of Warsaw.

The original dispute was between the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and the Kosciusko County Rural Electrification Membership Corp., over which utility would serve the newly annexed Rolling Hills addition at the north edge of Warsaw.

The argument broadened to include the city of Warsaw, a number of other private utilities, other REMCs and the federal government when REMC appealed a decision of Judge Gene B. Lee in favor of NIPSCO.

REMC had attempted to deny the jurisdiction of the county court because the federal government held a mortgage on REMC and in effect was contending the case should be in federal court.

In yesterday's decision the Supreme Court said the United States does not have to be named a defendant in proceedings brought by utilities serving the municipalities when municipalities annex territory served by rural co-ops.

Oct. 13, 1967 -- More than 125 volunteer firemen waged a four-hour-long battle last night to bring under control a blaze that razed the three-story, half-block-long Moose Lodge building, destroyed four street-floor businesses and for a time threatened other large sections of the downtown area.

Accumulated losses, including destruction of the 93-year-old building and all contents, was estimated at between $500,000 and $750,000.

Oct. 18, 1967 -- Spec. 4 Charles L. Baney, 20, whose parents live at 313 S. Union St., Warsaw, was killed Sunday in Vietnam, where he was serving with the U.S. Army.

Word was received Tuesday by Mr. and Mrs. Marion Baney that their son had been killed in a helicopter crash at Con Thien. He was the fourth Indiana serviceman to lose his life in Vietnam within the past few days.

Oct. 20, 1967 -- Warsaw's Murphy Medical Center will be seven years ahead of hospital survey bed needs when present construction is completed in early 1968, according to a brief filed with the State Board of Health today by Mrs. Hazel Murphy, president and administrator.

The brief was sent to Dr. A.C. Offutt, state health commissioner, for presentation to the eight-man executive board of the state board of health at their meeting early in November.

It was in answer to a request made by the state advisory hospital and health planning council to change the board's previous determination of hospital bed needs in order that an organization called The Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. could become eligible for federal aid.

W. Matthew Dalton, president of the Community Hospital Inc., and Dr. Robert Dormire, Warsaw physician, appeared before the state body Oct. 5 and urged the state to change its recommendation, which as of now calls for no federal funds, nor any additional beds other than those now under construction by Murphy.

Oct. 28, 1967 -- A young Warsaw father, who returned only three months ago from active military service in Vietnam, and his parents were killed in a mutilating car-truck collision at a city street intersection early today.

Dead at the scene of the wreck at Center and Detroit streets at 2:56 a.m. were the parents, Earl Boyd Johnson, 42, 502 Oldfather St., and Blanche Johnson, 44. The pair was pinned in the wreckage of the auto. County coroner Dr. Joe Bill Mishler attributed the deaths to skull fracture and brain damage.

The son and the driver of the car, Earl Junior (Jack) Johnson III, 23, also of 502 Oldfather St., was pried from the twisted wreckage by emergency workers and taken to the Murphy Medical Center, where he died at 3:40 a.m.

Nov. 1, 1967 -- The second highest medal the nation can bestow was awarded posthumously this afternoon to Sgt. James Lee Foreman, 21, of Warsaw. Sgt. Foreman is the first Indiana serviceman killed in action in Vietnam to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. The DSC is outranked only by the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Nov. 4, 1967 -- Prosecuting attorney Allan Rasor late yesterday told Democrat mayoral candidate Jack Summe that he would bring charges of assault and battery against 58-year-old Paul E. (Mike) Hodges, local building contractor, and Earl C. Evans, of 37 Fairlane Drive, a barber.

The case, expected to be heard before the bench of Judge Lee, is the outgrowth of an alleged assault by the two men on the person of 11-year-old Jack Summe Jr., sixth-grade son of the Democrat candidate for mayor in next TuesdayÕs city election. Hodges is Summe's Republican opponent.

Nov. 8, 1967 -- Warsaw contractor Paul E. (Mike) Hodges today was looking forward to a third term as mayor of Warsaw after coasting to an easy victory Tuesday, along with all others on the GOP ticket in the city election.

A disappointingly small turnout of voters -- 2,816 out of a registered 4,823 or 58.4 percent -- gave the 58-year-old Hodges 1,724 votes (61.2 percent) to 1,092 for his Democrat opponent, Jack L. Summe, 47.

Nov. 9, 1967 -- Articles of incorporation have been filed for a citizens' group which has been organized to plan and build a new modern hospital facility to serve Kosciusko County, president Matthew Dalton announced today.

Known as Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., the organization is a non-profit corporation created by leading citizens of Kosciusko County communities.

Other corporate officers include Lawrence Castaldi, first vice president; Hugh Gotzes, second vice president; George Lenke, treasurer; and Graham Kreicker, secretary.

Dec. 11, 1967 -- Word has been received that Lance Cpl. Raleigh Sandlin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Morris K. Sandlin, Rt. 2, Silver Lake, has been wounded in action in Vietnam.

He reportedly received fragmentation wounds to both hands by enemy mortar fire in the vicinity of Quang Tri. He has been moved to the hospital at DaNang.

Dec. 15, 1967 -- Doug Smith, 21, stationed with the U.S. Army in Vietnam has been wounded in action, according to word received here by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Smith.

According to the notice sent to the Smiths, Doug was hit in his right hand on Dec. 8 and underwent surgery for the injury Dec. 10. He is in the 3rd Field Hospital at Tan Son Nhut near Saigon. He has been in Vietnam since the first of September.

Jan. 23, 1968 -- Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gochenour, of Bourbon, have received word that their son, Terry, 21, serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, was wounded Jan. 13.

Terry was hit in the ankle and has been in a hospital in Japan since being wounded.

A 1965 Triton High School graduate, Terry entered the Army Aug. 9, 1966, and went to Vietnam July 23, 1967.

Jan. 24, 1968 -- Classes have been suspended until Monday at the Beaver Dam Junior High School in southwestern Kosciusko County following a fire last night that destroyed the gymnasium and industrial shop section of the school.

All that remains today of the 39-year-old gym is the skeleton brick walls. However, the main classroom section of the building sustained only minor damage from smoke and fire.

Feb. 1, 1968 -- Prominent Negro leader Dr. Martin Luther King addressed the students during a convocation today in the auditorium at 11 a.m. A. Blair Helman, president of Manchester College, accompanied King from Baer Field in Fort Wayne to the college. Security personnel had anticipated student demonstrations when the civil rights leader arrived, but a downpour of rain curtailed any planned activity by protest groups.

Feb. 2, 1968 -- Declaring massive non-violence as the Negro's most potent weapon for social justice, that violence creates more problems than it solves, Dr. Martin Luther King Thursday called for legislation to improve housing, education and more jobs for the Negro.

King, speaking to students at Manchester College yesterday, said, "As long as justice is postponed, we will always face the danger of these long, hot, violent summers." He assailed whites for creating the conditions which "have brought despair and anger to the Negro community."

King said that in the state of Mississippi, more than 64 Negroes and civil rights workers have been killed in the past several years and 58 churches there had been burned.

"More than 40 percent of Negroes in our country find themselves living in substandard housing, with wall-to-wall rats and roaches," said King.

He charged that Negro students in cities are attending inadequate overcrowded schools.

The United States is spending $500 to kill each Viet Cong, but only $53 a year for each person in the anti-poverty program, he stated.

Feb. 20, 1968 -- A resolution recommending that Water Utilities Inc. flouridate Warsaw's water supply was passed unanimously by the city council Monday night.

The council chamber was filled to capacity by dentists, physicians and other interested persons of the city, all speaking in favor of fluoridating Warsaw's water supply.

Feb. 20, 1968 -- Serviceman Randy (John) Tuttle, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Tuttle, of Rt. 2, Pierceton, is expected to be returned to the states within a few days from a U.S. Air Force base hospital in Japan. Tuttle, who was wounded in Vietnam, has a broken upper jaw.

Young Tuttle is well known in the Pierceton area and a 1967 graduate of Larwill High School.

Feb. 24, 1968 -- S.N. Joe LaRue, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald LaRue, Etna Green, is in criticial condition in a South Vietnam army hospital with injuries suffered in combat action.

His parents received word from the Navy Department that he is unconscious. He is paralyzed on his right side and has multiple metal fragments in his head. He is in the U.S. Army 24th evacuation hospital at Long Vinh.

When wounded, Seaman LaRue was serving as a gunner on a PBR boat patrolling waters in the Mekong Delta region.

A 1966 graduate of Triton High School, he entered the Navy in September 1966. He has been in Vietnam since last Dec. 1.

March 12, 1968 -- All hope that their 22-year-old son might be alive was quashed Monday when Mr. and Mrs. James W. Ellis, Rt. 4, Syracuse, were notified officially of his death in Vietnam on Feb. 29.

Official identification of Spec. 4 Robert Wayne Ellis was received by Sgt. Harry Miller and Lt. Michael Chase at the U.S. Army Reserve hadquarters in Fort Wayne yesterday. They came to the Ellis home immediately to inform the family of young Miller's death of burns suffered when mortar and rockets struck his helicopter as it was attempting a take-off. He was killed at Chu Chi, near Saigon.

March 12, 1968 -- The town board of Winona Lake last night adopted a resolution permitting fluoridation of the town's water supply.

The action follows a similar resolution passed recently by the Warsaw City Council. With both Winona Lake and Warsaw approving, the way is cleared for Water Utilities Inc., which furnishes water to the two communities, to start fluoridation of the supply.

March 13, 1968 -- A Kosciusko Circuit Court jury late last night convicted local barber Earl C. Evans of assault and battery in the "roughing up" of an 11-year-old boy last Oct. 31, but could not agree on the guilt or innocence of Warsaw Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for approximately six hours and 20 minutes before returning to the courtroom at 10:30 p.m. to announce its verdicts.

March 20, 1968 -- A 21-year-old Syracuse infantryman has died of wounds received in Vietnam action, according to word received Tuesday afternoon by his wife.

Pfc. Kenneth Eugene Willard Jr., 21, husband of Sandra (Hocker) Willard, and son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Willard Sr., all of Syracuse, died March 18 of wounds received March 12.

According to the family, Willard was stationed about six miles from Saigon when word was last received from him.

March 27, 1968 -- Sp. 4 Larry Eugene Workman, 23, only child of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Workman, Rt. 2, Pierceton, was killed in action in Vietnam March 25. U.S. Army representatives from Fort Wayne brought news of their son's death to the parents at about noon Tuesday.

The Workmans had received a letter from their son Tuesday morning saying he was located near the Cambodian border at Loc Kag. He told his parents, "Don't worry about me. We have 1,000 Vietnamese backing us up and we are where we are safe."

Workman entered the U.S. Army on March 6, 1967. He was sent to Vietnam July 26, 1967.

April 9, 1968 -- Fourteen-year-old Kenneth Detwiler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Detwiler of 103 Ra-Mar Drive, Warsaw, spelled his way to the All-County Spelling Championship this morning in the studios of radio stations WRSW AM-FM.

Detwiler defeated Steve Coverstone, 12, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Coverstone of North Webster.

April 15, 1968 -- Veteran of 11 months of jungle fighting in Vietnam, 23-year-old Warren A. Stephens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Stephens, CR 250S, must typify the true returned seasoned veteran. He thought everything he did while battling the enemy was all in a day's work, not associating any particular acts as "acts of heroism."

In a simple but impressive ceremony at the Warsaw American Legion Home Saturday afternoon, former Sp. 4 Stephens was honored by the Army with three medals, the Bronze Star for heroism, the Army Commendation Medal for heroism and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, for wounds received in two military operations in Vietnam.

April 17, 1968 -- Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Smith, Box 61, Syracuse, received word Sunday that their son, Pfc. Rodney Smith, U.S. Army, has been wounded in action in Vietnam.

Smith received a metal fragment wound in the left side of his neck on April 11 as a result of hostile artillery action. His wounds are not regarded as serious, but he has been hospitalized in Vietnam.

May 2, 1968 -- Philip W. Eherenman, 37, of Plymouth, has been appointed director of instrumental music for the Warsaw Community Schools effective June 3, it was announced today by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Wilmer K. Bugher.

May 14, 1968 -- Mrs. Vicki Lackey, 419 W. Porter St., Warsaw, was notified Monday of the death of her husband, Pfc. Phillip Lackey, 19, in Vietnam May 9.

According to Army officers from Fort Wayne, Pfc. Lackey was in bed in his barracks in Saigon when the Viet Cong attacked that city. A shell struck the barracks, killing him instantly.

Pfc. Lackey was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Lackey, Rt. 4, Warsaw. He was a member of the 701st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, Co. C, U.S. Army. He attended Warsaw Community High School and later enlisted in the Army.

May 15, 1968 -- Lance Cpl. Timmy Davis, who had been serving with the First Marine Division in Vietnam, was critically wounded May 13 when he stepped on an enemy mine while on duty in Qua Nang Province.

A letter telegram from military authorities said Cpl. Davis is in the U.S. Naval Hospital at Da Nang and both of his legs were amputated. He also sustained wounds in the groin and both arms.

Davis, who graduated from South Whitley High School in 1967, enlisted in the Marines Aug. 2, 1967, with four friends.

May 17, 1968 -- The city of Warsaw is now ready to purchase, and Meyer and Rosa Levin are now ready to sell, the long-disputed piece of property -- three-quarters of an acre -- at the southeast corner of Center Lake which would round out the Warsaw Municipal Park.

Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges said this morning a tentative price of $110,000 was agreed upon at a meeting that stretched well into the night between attorneys, owners and city officials.

The tentative agreement with actual details to be worked out later, culminates nearly 20 years of effort on the part of the city to acquire the Levin Junk Yard, which is in the heart of the park system.

The business is now operated by Howard Levin, son of the two owners who have had the property for more than 50 years. The ground in question runs 406 feet from Center Lake to Detroit Street, 102 feet along Detroit Street and widens as it approaches the lake.

May 24, 1968 -- Hazel J. Murphy, president of Murphy Medical Center Inc., announced today the purchase of the Lester Denney property for future expansion immediately west of the present hospital.

Mrs. Murphy said, "We are pleased that Mr. Denney has made his property available to the hospital. This now completes our full block of frontage along Winona Avenue from Buffalo Street to Lake Street."

June 1, 1968 -- It was a psychedelic night!

Psychedelic musicians, psychedelic decorative theme all through the high school commons, halls and gymnasium, and let's hope those gorgeous junior-senior gals, who could outshine Hollywood's loveliest and their handsome escorts, are resting through a psychedelic sleep today! That is, after the grandest sight of the year at Warsaw Senior High School -- the annual junior-senior prom!

The highlight of the evening's festivities came at 11 p.m., when the prom king and queen were crowned -- Missy Mosbaugh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Mosbaugh of East Center Street; and Timm Bledsoe, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Bledsoe of North Detroit Street.

June 11, 1968 -- Two Warsaw city police officers have been placed on probation for six months, one for participating in an all-night "unbecoming" party and the other for attempting to protect him.

Superintendent of Police Howard "Sam" Holbrook emphasized, however, that the probations were mostly for technical, not moral, violation of police standards.

Penalized Monday by the Warsaw Board of Works after a departmental investigation were Patrolman Jerry Hatfield, who joined the force in July 1967, and Patrolman Aden Moore, who became a city officer Sept. 1, 1966.

June 11, 1968 -- The much sought-after Silver Horseshoe that county schools have fought over for 21 years has finally found a permanent home with the Kosciusko County Historical Society. Claud Stahl, president of the society, accepted the "shoe" from Akron High School Principal Lyle Edinburn. Akron was the last school to possess the trophy when it was decided by county officials to retire the horseshoe due to the consolidation of Milford, North Webster and Syracuse.

June 18, 1968 -- A petition requesting a $2 million county bond issue for the purpose of partially financing a new hospital in Kosciusko County was tabled yesterday in a divided vote by the Board of Commissioners, and a fact-finding committee was created with orders to report back to the commissioners by April 30, 1969.

Commissioners Fredrick Gilliam and Harvey Anglin voted in favor of creating the fact-finding committee and tabling the request for county funds. Commissioner Ray Ferverda voted against the motion.

Previously, a motion by Ferverda that the bond issue be granted died for lack of a second.

June 18, 1968 -- Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. board members last night approved an organization plan for the system whereby all sixth- and seventh-grade students will attend the Talma school. Both the Mentone and Akron schools will house kindergarten through fifth grade and eighth through 12th grades.

July 9, 1968 -- A young Rt. 2 Pierceton farmer was killed and two Warsaw girls escaped death but were burned by lightning bolts when thunderstorms swept through this area Monday afternoon.

Killed instantly by a bolt of lightning at 12:15 p.m. was Leon M. Brown, 28, the father of two. Authorities said Brown was struck as he drove his tractor and hay baler toward a barn on the Dr. Howard Liebengood farm on Division Road in Whitley County near the Whitley-Kosciukso County line.

Approximately one hour later, Cheryl Clampitt, 12-year-old daughter of the Chester Clampitts, Rt. 5, Warsaw, and Evelyn Kaim, 14, daughter of Mrs. Pauline Kaim, 657 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, were burned and temporarily stunned when lightning struck a tree under which they had take refuge at Center Lake beach.

July 11, 1968 -- Announcement was made last night that negotiations are under way for Grace College and Theological Seminary to acquire and utilize the facilities of the Winona Lake Christian Assembly on a year-round basis.

The move was initated at a meeting of the executive board of the assembly in Chicago June 6 and has been under consideration since then by the advisory committees of Grace College and Seminary. At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the college and seminary July 9, approval was given to the move.

Final action is expected by the Assembly board at its annual meeting in the Winona Hotel Aug. 23.

July 12, 1968 -Little Tina Marie Hartbarger, the first baby born at the new fourth floor maternity wing at Murphy Medical Center, greets the world with a baby's usual yawn. She is the daughter of Mrs. William (Irene Rose) Hartbarger, Rt. 4, Warsaw, and was born Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

July 16, 1968 -- Members of the city council Monday took initial steps to annex a parcel of land to the city that will include the new Lakes Village Shopping Center, United Telephone Co. and other property along U.S. 30 east of the city.

July 17, 1968 -- County officials, gravely concerned with the far-reaching impact and dangers of marijuana, moved swiftly today to destroy the heavy concentration of the weed in the northwestern portion of Kosciusko County.

Spraying crews moved into the area this morning to begin spraying roadsides and county highway rights of way. However, Sheriff David Andrews issued an urgent appeal to all landowners in the area to eradicate the dangerous weed from their private property.

July 24, 1968 -- A former resident of Atwood has been awarded a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service in Vietnam.

He is Master Sgt. Hollis E. Bradbury, of Abilene, Texas, who now is stationed at Grissom Air Force Base, Bunker Hill.

Bradbury received the medal for action while he was in charge of the administration section of the 55th Civil Engineering Squadron at Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam.

Aug. 21, 1968 -- Extensive plans for remodeling and additional building to expand the facilities of Wagon Wheel Restaurant and Playhouse into a civic cultural center are in the planning stage with the formation of a corporation. The corporation will be known as Wagon Wheel Restaurant and Playhouse Inc.

Three civic-minded businessmen, along with the present owner, Herbert Petrie, form the corporation -- Charles Bertsch, Blaine Mikesell and Lawrence Castaldi.

The major project being planned for building within the next few years is a deluxe large motel, with plenty of space that would attract conventions to Warsaw. The motel is to be built just northeast of the present restaurant, where the new U.S. 30 bypass will curve to the north.

Aug. 22, 1968 -- Opening of school means a trip to the barber for Mike Brower, senior from North Webster, and removal of the long sideburns. One of the regulations of the Wawasee High School at Syracuse is the length of sideburns boys can wear.

Aug. 28, 1968 -- Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Clay, Rt. 2, Pierceton, have received a telegram from Kenneth G. Wickham, Major General, U.S. Army, that their son, Sp/4 James D. Clay, was slightly wounded in Vietnam Aug. 23 when a base camp came under hostile mortar attack.

The telegram stated that he had received a metal fragment wound to the head and is now hospitalized in Vietnam. It was reported that his wound was not serious. His wife, Della Faye, and son live at 752 W. Walnut St., Nappanee.

Sept. 6, 1968 -- Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Mathes, of Akron, have received word of the awarding of the Bronze Star Medal to their son, Sgt. E5 Kenneth P. Mathes, in Vietnam.

Sgt. Mathes entered the U.S. Army Jan. 4, 1968, at his hometown, Erwin, Tenn.

Sept. 10, 1968 -- The derailment of a Norfolk and Western freight train in South Whitley early today caused the temporary evacuation of residents when it was feared that the train carried poisonous chemicals and high explosives.

The 34-car derailment at 2:10 a.m. in the main section of town brought police and firemen to the scene.

Sept. 19, 1968 -- James and Ruth (Rodeheaver) Thomas today hold a unique distinction. They were named "Man and Woman of 1968" last night at the 57th annual dinner meeting of the Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, becoming the first husband-wife team selected in the same year since the awards were instigated in 1959.

Approximately 250 persons attending the event at Petrie's Wagon Wheel Restaurant gave the beloved Winona Lake couple a standing ovation when their names were revealed at the end of a citation read by outgoing Chamber president Ray Steenhausen.

Sept. 19, 1968 -- Last night's annual Chamber of Commerce dinner saw the creation of the Greater Warsaw Community Foundation, a vehicle through which gifts of all kinds could be received and beneficial disbursements made for charitable or community improvement purposes.

Sept. 25, 1968 -- Five youths were arrested by Captain of Police Eugene Brumfield on charges of disorderly conduct Tuesday after a cross burning incident Monday night.

Arrested were William Fredrick Long, 18, of 1911 Rosemont Drive, Warsaw; Gerald Richard Landrum, 21, Winona Lake; David Grant Cox, 18, of 209 Wedrick Drive, Warsaw; Harle F. Cordill, 18, of 201 N. Roosevelt St., Warsaw; and Roger Williams, Pierceton.

The arrests stemmed from an incident where a cross was being burned on the lawn of a home on East Main Street Monday night. The youths will appear in City Court Friday night.

Sept. 28, 1968 -- An apparently planned practical joke by three teenage schoolmates is suspected as causing the deaths of a young newlywed couple in their honeymoon cottage at Hill Lake, 10 miles southwest of Warsaw, between Claypool and Silver Lake.

Dead of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by fumes from a gas furnace are Michael Hughes, 20, Rt. 1, Silver Lake, and his 19-year-old bride of one week, Susan (Brown) Hughes.

The couple was found dead in their cottage at noon Friday. County Coroner Dr. Joe Bill Mishler, of Pierceton, said the carbon monoxide fumes filled the cottage because someone had stopped up an outside vent pipe by wiring a rag over it.

The Hughes were married one week ago today in the Pentecostal Church at Silver Lake.

Oct. 1, 1968 -- Winona Christian Assembly will continue as a center for interdenominational religious and education meetings now tht operation of its facilities has been assumed by Grace College and Seminary, it was announced yesterday at an organizational meeting at which officers for the assembly were named.

Dr. Herman A. Hoyt, president of Grace College and Seminary, was elected president of the Winona Christian Assembly Corp. and chairman of its board of directors yesterday.

Oct. 9, 1968 -- A parade and crowning of the 1968 Homecoming Queen will highlight the first homecoming in the history of the new Wawasee High School near here Saturday.

Oct. 26, 1968 -- A 22-year-old Kosciusko County career soldier has been killed in a fiery plane crash in Vietnam, according to word received by relatives here Friday evening.

Spec. 4 Michael Allen Randall Sr., husband of the former Diana Heckaman, Rt. 1, Silver Lake, and son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Randall, of Palestine, was reported by the War Department as killed in action.

Oct. 30, 1968 -- George L. Fisher, 67, beloved "coach" to countless hundreds of Warsaw High School alumni and Kosciusko County state representative in the Indiana Legislature for eight years, died in his sleep last night at Roanoke, Va., where he and his wife, Miriam, were visiting.

Coach Fisher came to Warsaw in 1927 as head football, basketball and track mentor. Hundreds of athletes earned their "W" letters and sweaters under his guidance during the ensuing 26 years. He gave up basketball coaching in 1942, when Wendell Walker took over his post but continued at the helm of football and track teams. Fisher was coach of the 1936 and '37 Warsaw basketball teams that advanced to the state semi-final tournaments in Muncie. No Warsaw team has been that far since 1937.

Nov. 12, 1968 -- Dr. Alva J. McClain, founder and president emeritus of Grace College and Seminary at Winona Lake, died Monday in Waterloo, Iowa.

Known widely as an educator, author, theologian and student of the Bible, Dr. McClain was 80 years of age. His death came at 3:15 a.m. at Friendship Village Retirement Home in Waterloo.

Nov. 13, 1968 -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nov. 14-16 are the dates set for the Grand Opening of the completely new modern building to house Gambles Inc., giving a new life to Warsaw's business district on East Market Street.

Gambles' bright new structure replaces the unsightly debris caused by the Oct. 13, 1967, most disastrous fire in Warsaw's history, when the three-story, half-block-long Moose Lodge building and a building owned by William Chinworth were reduced to rubble. Three firms in the Chinworth building -- Miller's Men's and Boys' Wear, Lowery Sewing Center and Fribley Market -- were included in the destructive fire, which left the half block an eyesore for many months.

Nov. 19, 1968 -- Superintendent of Police Howard "Sam" Holbrook was "asked" in a letter from Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges late this morning to submit his resignation, effective immediately.

Nov. 20, 1968 -- Solution to a long-standing public controversy waged between physicians and the administrative staff of the Murphy Medical Center may be near with recommendation last night by members of an all-county lay study group to establish a tax exempt, not-for-profit voluntary acute hospital operation for Kosciusko County.

Group chairman John Snell, Warsaw, today said that its finding and recommendations are expected to be forwarded yet this week to the county commissioners.

Nov. 25, 1968 -- Haakon King Larsen, 60, former North Webster resident and originator of the Mermaid Festival who moved to Arizona in 1963, died Sunday at Glendale, Ariz.

He moved in 1932 to North Webster, where he founded the Mid-Lakes Shopping Center.

Nov. 27, 1968 -- Federal, state and local law enforcement officers are combing northern Indiana and adjoining states for two thugs who held a young Atwood bank official and his family hostage late Tuesday while robbing the Atwood branch of the Etna Bank of approximately $4,500.

Larry Hoffer and his family were accosted at their home on Hoffman Lake about 8:45 p.m. All six members of the family were bound and gagged by the two armed robbers who appeared at the home as Hoffer and his two sons arrived there after attending a Boy Scout meeting.

Hoffer was forced to drive his auto to the bank accompanied by the two thieves and his eldest son, Brett, age 9.

While Hoffer and the one bandit went into the bank, the other stayed in the car with the son, holding him at gunpoint.

After the money was taken from tellers' drawers and a walk-in combination safe, the four drove back to the Hoffer home, where Hoffer and Brett were tied up with a sweeper cord while the burglars left the scene.

Dec. 4, 1968 -- Kosciusko County's board of commissioners accepted and unanimously approved a 10-point program submitted by a citizens' study group that has been searching for a solution to the long-standing community hospital controversy.

The three commissioners voted to implement the program as soon as possible.

The program recommends establishing a tax-exempt voluntary community hospital corporation approved as such by the Internal Revenue Service and dedicated to owning and operating an accredited hospital facility.

That its board of governing directors be composed of people sufficiently interested in community health and welfare who are all chosen to represent all geographic areas in our county. That the corporate structure of the Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. be used as a vehicle to accomplish this. And that the board of directors as constituted now will be replaced with new members from all areas of the county and city.

Dec. 7, 1968 -- "R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. is a classic example of the type of industry the state of Indiana needs. If I can attract, in the next four years, just one company like Donnelley's to Indiana, I've done my job."

These were the sentiments expressed by Richard E. Folz, lieutenant governor-elect of Indiana, in a speech at the "Decade of Dedication" luncheon commemorating Donnelley's 10th year as a member of the Warsaw community.

Dec. 9, 1968 -- A new post office for Warsaw has been approved by the Post Office Department, according to Third District Congressman John Brademas of South Bend.

Specifications for the new facility call for substantial increases in exterior and interior space. Plans for the new building set the interior at 16,500 square feet compared to the present 9,273 square feet; 1,300 square feet of platform and 27,000 square feet of parking and maneuvering area in the new facility compared with 216 and 4,996 square feet respectively, in the present post office.

The present building, which is government owned, was built in 1931. It is at the southwest corner of Lake and Market streets.

Dec. 18, 1968 -- The 30-year-old Warsaw District of the Methodist Church goes out of existence with the organization of the new United Methodist Church in Indiana.

The new church was formed by joining the Evangelicial United Brethren denomination and the former Methodist Church.

Churches of the old Warsaw district will be part of the two new districts, Elkhart and Huntington. The dividing line in the county is U.S. 30.

Dec. 20, 1968 -- Don Acton and Sue Smythe were crowned king and queen of the Mentone Homecoming at the Mentone gymnasium during the recent Mentone-Pierceton basketball game. Don is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Marion Acton, and Sue is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leon Smythe.

Jan. 16, 1969 -- All manufacturing operations at Playtime Products Inc. will terminate April 1, according to an announcement made to employees by Leonard E. Greenberg, president of Coleco Industries Inc., Hartford, Conn. Coleco purchased and took over operation of the local manufacturing firm on Jan. 3, 1966. The plant is on North Detroit Street.

Jan. 18, 1969 -- Relatives of Sgt. Dennis M. Fairchild, 20, of Akron, have been informed that he is missing in action in Vietnam. He was last seen while on a combat operation and has been in Vietnam six months.

Jan. 20, 1969 -- Funeral services will be conducted here Tuesday for former Warsaw High School basketball standout David R. (Dave) Johnson, 23, son of WCHS basketball coach and Mrs. Ralph (Boag) Johnson, who was killed Saturday night in a single-car crash in Adrian, Mich.

The young athlete died when his car crashed into a tree along a city street in Adrian. where he was a high school social studies instructor. He was married to the former Kerry Anglin and they were the parents of one child, Heather, who is 2 years old.

Jan. 21, 1969 -- Army Sgt. Dennis M. Fairchild, 20, of Akron, was killed in Vietnam while on a rescue patrol mission.

The death was reported to relatives by the Defense Department Monday. Earlier, he had been reported missing in action.

Fairchild, who entered the Army last March and had been in Vietnam since August, was the 834th Hoosier killed in the war.

Jan. 21, 1969 -- Resolutions approving the creation of a Superior Court in Kosciusko County were unanimously adopted by members of the county council, county commissioners and city council in meetings Monday.

Jan. 24, 1969 -- Word has been received here that Spec. 4 Dennis E. Gest, 19, son of Mrs. Jack Alshouse, Rt. 1, North Webster, and Harold Gest, of Burr Oak, Mich., died Jan. 22, from wounds received in combat in Vietnam the previous day.

A large red, white and blue sign heralding, "Welcome Home, Dennis," still stands in the yard of his mother and stepfather as the family had made preparations for his return home early this week on a 35-day leave.

Jan. 29, 1969 -- A group of citizens has formed a "Citizens For Fair Play" organization to protest the Kosciusko County commissioners' anticipated near-future approval of a county bond issue to help finance a new not-for-profit hospital here, the Times-Union learned today.

The committee calls for a countywide referendum to determine public sentiment regarding the use of tax money in the hospital facility.

Feb. 3, 1969 -- Pfc. David Everett Brookins, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Brookins, of Leesburg, died Jan. 31 of wounds sustained during action in Vietnam, only six weeks after his arrival there for active duty.

The Brookins were informed that Pfc. Brookins died of wounds received while on combat operation when hit by fragments from a booby trap.

Feb. 4, 1969 -- Leesburg is now without a town board, without a town marshal and without an attorney. The town is without police protection and the clerk-treasurer may sign no further claims for the town until a new town board is constituted.

A heated discussion took place following the reading of a letter from board member Harold J. Irvine, who tendered his resignation and accused the other two board members, Richard Klopenstein and Frank Rader, of irregularities in town board business. Both Klopenstein and Rader closed the meeting early, handing in their written letters of resignation to the clerk-treasurer, Esta Yocum.

Prior to the resignations of Klopenstein and Rader, the newly appointed town marshal, Frederick Kammerer, who has served two weeks in the post, announced his resignation and left the meeting.

Feb. 4, 1969 -- It looks like one high school for the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. even though a referendum vote in May 1968 favored two.

School superintendent Robert Forbes has been informed in letters from the State Department of Public Instruction that the corporation has been denied permission to construct two buildings, one in Akron and one in Mentone.

Feb. 8, 1969 -- Leesburg, a community without an official governing body for five days, Friday evening began functioning again with a town board, town marshal and town attorney.

At a special meeting called at the Leesburg Town Hall at 6 p.m. Friday, town board members Richard Klopenstein and Frank Rader and town marshal Frederick Kammerer withdrew their resignations retroactive to Feb. 3, the date they submitted them.

After the board was officially in session, the two board members voted to accept the resignation of Harold J. Irvine, and named Donald Tarner as the third member of the board. They then officially appointed Stanley Pequignot, of the Rockhill, Vanderveer, Kennedy and Pinnick law firm, as town attorney.

Feb. 8, 1969 -- City officials have taken the first major step in expanding the corporate limits of Warsaw by embarking on a wide-range annexation program.

Meeting in special sesson Friday, the city council unanimously adopted six annexation ordinances for first and second readings. The third reading of the ordinances will come Feb. 17.

The six ordinances cover areas to the west, north, east, northeast, southwest and south of the present city limits.

Feb. 20, 1969 -- Mrs. Rex A. (Linda) Yarian, of Syracuse, has received word that her husband, Spec. 4 Rex A. Yarian, has been awarded the Army Commendation Medal for heroism in Vietnam. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Yarian of Mentone.

Spec. Yarian received the award for heroism in action against enemy forces in Vietnam Aug. 18, 1968.

March 11, 1969 -- Pvt. Louis E. Harris, 20, of Rt. 1, who had been in the service less than two weeks, died of meningitis Sunday at Fort Knox, Ky., it was revealed late Monday by the Army.

Army officials said it was the first death attributed to meningitis at Fort Knox since March 1968. He had just begun his basic training.

Born Nov. 17, 1948, to Mr. and Mrs. Voyle Harris Jr., Rt. 1, Pierceton, he had been a lifetime resident of the Pierceton area. He was an employee of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. at Warsaw prior to entering the service.

March 13, 1969 -- Lt. Dean R. Orn, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Orn, 256 Park Drive, was killed in action Tuesday morning in Vietnam, where he was serving with the U.S. Army field artillery, C Company, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry. The word was received by the parents from the Army on Wednesday.

He was born Jan. 17, 1946, at Goshen and was a 1964 Nappanee High School graduate. He attended Purdue University, where he majored in psychology. Orn enlisted in October 1965.

March 17, 1969 -- A new wing for the education of increased numbers of retarded children in Kosciusko County will be constructed at the Cardinal Learning Center on North Bay Drive in Warsaw, it was announced today.

James Mitchell, president of the board of directors of the Council for the Retarded of Kosciusko County, said the addition would make it possible for 52 additional retarded children to receive varying degrees of training and education.

March 18, 1969 -- The husband of a Milford woman is reported missing in Vietnam in a helicopter crash, it was learned by the family Sunday night.

Edwin Stoller, of Fort Wayne, the husband of the former Cynthia Beer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Levi Beer, of Rt. 1, Milford, was inducted into the U.S. Army in September 1968 and has been in Vietnam six weeks.

Stoller and his wife were married in July 1968. She is currently residing with her parents in Milford, but was spending several days in Fort Wayne with her mother-in-law when notified that her husband was missing. Stoller is the only son of Mrs. George Stoller.

March 21, 1969 -- U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh has requested an investigation by Army Surgeon Gen. Leonard D. Heaton into the deaths of two Hoosier soldiers, including Pvt. Louis E. Harris, of Pierceton, as well as the leg amputation of still another Indiana serviceman.

Pvt. Harris died of meningitis at Fort Knox, Ky., March 9 after less than two weeks in basic training.

The matter was brought to Bayh's attention by five soldier friends of Pvt. Harris at Fort Knox.

The soldiers charged that the death of Harris was due to gross negligence and inadequate medical attention. The Fort Knox recruits are seeking to file Army charges against a sergeant and two lieutenants they believed could have taken more effective action.

March 21, 1969 -- Mrs. Jack (Wilma) Alshouse, Rt. 1, North Webster, has been informed that her son, Spec. 4 Dennis E. Gest, 19, who died Jan. 21 in Vietnam from battle wounds, will be awarded posthumously six medals. One, the Air Medal, is comparable to one of the highest infantry medals for heroism.

A letter from Kenneth G. Wickham, Major General, U.S. Army, from Washington D.C., to Mrs. Alshouse, reads: "I have the honor to inform you that your son has been awarded posthumously the Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal (First Oak Leaf Cluster), Purple Heart and the Good Conduct Medal.

"Prior to death, Dennis had been awarded the Army Commendation Medal for heroism, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, Sharpshooter Badge with machine gun and rifle bars and the Marksman Badge with automatic rifle bar."

March 26, 1969 -- Confirmation of the death of Spec. 4 Edwin Lee Stoller, 20, of Fort Wayne, husband of the former Cynthia Beer, of Milford, was received by the young wife when two military representatives from Notre Dame University brought the news to her at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Levi Beer, at Milford, Tuesday evening. Stoller died March 15, 1969, in the aircraft crash.

March 28, 1969 -- Lance Cpl. Max Irvin Baer, 27, a 1959 Syracuse High School graduate, a Goshen Marine, was killed in action in Vietnam near the Cambodian border March 20, according to word received here Wednesday by his widow, the former Charlene Hummel. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Baer, 1105 S. 13th St., Goshen.

Mrs. Baer was informed that her husband died of one gunshot wound while in the field during a shot skirmish near the Cambodian border on patrol from Khe Sanh, an outpost abandoned several months by the Marines but reoccupied in the past few days. An armed forces chaplain was with Cpl. Baer and talked with him before he died, she was told.

March 28, 1969 -- The Silver Beaver, Boys Scouts' highest award, was presented Thursday night to W. Edward Creighton, of Atwood, of the Pioneer Trails Council, at the annual recognition dinner at Howe Military Academy.

Creighton, a partner in the Creighton Brothers poultry industry, began his Scouting service as assistant scoutmaster for Troop 59 of Atwood until he joined the College Scouting Reserve. After returning to Atwood, he has served as scoutmaster since 1962 to the present time.

March 31, 1969 -- Remonstrance suits have been filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court against all six annexation ordinances passed by the city of Warsaw recently.

The suits were filed at approximately 11:55 a.m. Saturday at the county clerk's office by attorney George Bowser, five minutes before closing time. Saturday was the final day in which the legal remonstrances to the annexation could be filed.

April 2, 1969 -- County commissioners Harvey Anglin and Maurice Dorsey have taken a proverbial slap at the Warsaw City Council in calling for the resignation of Lawrence Castaldi from the newly formed community hospital board.

The confrontation between the commissioners and city council came Tuesday and rekindled the blaze under the long-standing hospital issue. The commissioners' move to oust Castaldi from the community hospital board apparently could cause a slight hitch in the group's efforts to establish a community hospital facility here as recommended by the commissioners' own appointed fact-finding body.

April 5, 1969 -- Lawrence Castaldi will remain as a member of the newly formed Kosciusko Community Hospital board.

County commissioners Harvey Anglin and Maurice Dorsey agreed to withdraw their objections to Castaldi's appointment during a meeting Friday.

Following yesterday's session, Anglin and Dorsey told the Times-Union they meant no malice toward Castaldi, whose resignation they had sought in last Tuesday's board meeting. Their only objection to Castaldi's appointment had been based on the technical ground of "legal" residency.

April 5, 1969 -- Pfc. Max Allen Johnson, 21, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Johnson, Solon Springs, Wis., formerly of South Whitley, died March 21 while engaged in hand-to-hand combat in Vietnam.

Johnson was born Jan. 28, 1948, at North Manchester and was a 1967 Manchester High School graduate. He was sent to Vietnam in October of last year. He was reported missing in action March 21 and was later reported killed.

April 5, 1969 -- Sgt. Chester S. Zorn II, husband of Peggy (Stump) Zorn, of North Webster, has been slightly wounded in action in Vietnam March 30.

He was injured by fragments in combat operations when a booby trap placed by hostile forces detonated. Zorn suffered wounds to his chest, abdomen, pelvis and both thighs.

April 7, 1969 -- A group of some 100 area women and children staged a "march" on the courthouse and county commissioners' meeting today, demanding that the commissioners and county council proceed with the utmost speed to provide a community tax-exempt hospital.

The march, described as orderly and peaceful, formed on North Indiana Street near Center Lake and proceeded into the courthouse and the commissionersÕ room. Some members of the group carried signs stating, "Mothers March For Community Hospital" and "No More Delays. No More Stalling. Please."

April 9, 1969 -- Mrs. W. Hobart (Esther) Creighton, Crystal Lake Road, well-known for her community work for a number of years, has been named Indiana Mother of the Year for 1969.

Her selection brings the total of "Indiana Mother of the Year" to six women living in Warsaw and surrounding area.

April 16, 1969 -- Whitko's school board Tuesday night in a special meeting signed a "mutual" cancellation contract with Richard P. Miller, Elkhart architect, who has already been paid the sum of $85,000 for his plans for a new high school.

The contract calls for the payment of $1,897 for the architect's services since Dec. 16, 1968.

This leaves the highly controversial problem of a new high school, which has caused friction in the school corporation for several years, back to a complete beginning or starting again from scratch.

April 16, 1969 -- "If a Man Answers," the first drama production at Wawasee High School, will be presented April 18-19 at 8 p.m. in the auditorium.

April 18, 1969 -- Dedication of the new $3,070,149 Triton Junior-Senior High School, on the east side of Bourbon, will be held Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Deane E. Walker of Plymouth will deliver the dedicatory address.

April 19, 1969 -- Pierceton's Junior High School eighth-grader, Belinda Bryant, 13, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wendall Bryant, this morning captured the county spelling championship. She competed against Lisa Ann Rager, 11, Warsaw McKinley School sixth-grader.

April 19, 1969 -- Warsaw playgoers will have an opportunity April 22-23, at 8 p.m. to witness the presentation of one of the all-time Broadway hits and dramatic successes when "The Diary of Anne Frank" will be staged as the annual senior class play. It will be presented at the Warsaw High School auditorium, under the direction of Mrs. Herbert (Mildred) Petrie, head of the school's speech department, and Miss Connie Stavropulos, high school speech teacher.

As in the past, Petrie, the casts' director, has double casts to provide dramatic experience for all members of her two senior speech classes who are interested in good theater.

Tuesday night's cast includes Bonnie Harris as Anne Frank; Missy Thomas will take the part of Anne Frank Wednesday night.

April 22, 1969 -- In a temper-packed meeting of the Whitko Community School Board Monday night, with about 200 school patrons filling the administration room, Jackson Township patrons requested to be released from the corporation to become part of the Manchester Community Schools.

April 23, 1969 -- Use of marijuana by students of the Warsaw Community Schools is no longer a rumor but a reality.

This was revealed during a panel discussion held before the Warsaw Communications Group at Jefferson Elementary School in Winona Lake last night.

During her opening remarks, Shirley Steele, school home visitor for the Warsaw schools, said that two years ago there were rumors that marijuana was present in the Warsaw schools. She stated that "this is no longer a rumor, but a reality."

Worried parents have called the schools saying they found pills in their child's purse and in other places in the child's room, she pointed out. She cited several instances to back up her statement that the drug problem is present in the community.

May 6, 1969 -- Swearing-in ceremonies were held at the courthouse today for Kosciusko County's new Superior Court judge and new prosecuting attorney.

Allan A. Rasor, 43, of 831 E. Center St., Warsaw, former prosecuting attorney, was formally sworn in as judge of the newly established Kosciusko Superior Court.

Syracuse attorney R. Steven Hearn, 31, was installed as the new prosecuting attorney. The ceremonies were conducted by Circuit Court Judge Gene B. Lee.

May 6, 1969 -- Even though about 80 percent of the Jackson Township school patrons have reportedly signed a petition to be removed from the Whitko School Corp. and be annexed into the Manchester school system, the possibility of this happening seems almost nil.

In a telephone conversation with Manchester Superintendent V.A. Simmons this morning, the Times-Union learned that the Manchester school board decided that until its junior high school is built and an addition built to the senior high school, which will take at least two years, the board cannot possibly consider annexing Jackson Township.

May 14, 1969 -- For the first time in the history of Warsaw High School, there will be no guest speaker to deliver the commencement address to the graduating seniors of Warsaw High School this year, according to an announcement today by Principal William Davis.

In addition to the salutatory and valedictory addresses, three graduating seniors will address the graduates, their families and friends.

The three seniors selected to speak instead of the usual guest commencement speaker are Melody Cripe, Tim Martin and Jan Wiggins.

May 17, 1969 -- Word has been received here that Marine Pfc. Donald R. Haywood, 20, a former Warsaw resident, was killed in Vietnam May 7. Details are unknown at this time. Pfc. Haywood entered the Marine Corps May 8, 1968.

May 20, 1969 -- Spec. 4 Jerry D. Thomas, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Forrest D. Thomas, Rt. 2, Syracuse, was killed in combat in Vietnam, according to Defense Department notification to his family.

His death occurred last week but details were not learned immediately.

Spec. Thomas was one of two Hoosiers reported by the Defense Department as killed in action. Indiana's Vietnam combat toll climbed to 940 with the report of the two deaths.

May 27, 1969 -- Members of the Kosciusko County Council voted 6-1 Monday afternoon to give preliminary approval to the issuance of a $2 million county bond issue to aid in construction costs of a not-for-profit community hospital proposed by Kosciusko County Hospital Inc.

June 4, 1969 -- A Syracuse junior high school student, Connie Christner, 14, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rollin Christner, Syracuse, has been selected from outstanding junior high school musicians throughout the United States to be a member of the 90-piece Junior High School Band of America. Connie will be in the saxophone section of the band.

June 7, 1969 -- "Mary Jane" is not a girl. It is an ephemism for marijuana, the drug most commonly sold and smoked by Kosciusko County teenagers and college students. It is not only imported, but grown here and therefore has attracted an undesirable element from outside the county that has compounded the problem.

Marijuana comes from Indian hemp. Years ago it was grown commercially in Kosciusko County and the remnants linger in a weaker variety than the Mexican cannabis -- which is preferred by confirmed "pot" users.

Sheriff David Andrews and state police arrested some 20 "outsiders" last summer who came into this county to harvest the drug. At the same time attention was being diverted to these outsiders, a local ring had started using first the Kosciusko County variety, then the stronger Mexican "grass," graduating to LSD.

June 10, 1969 -- An investigation into social studies teaching techniques in both junior and senior high schools is expected to be launched soon by members of the Warsaw Community School Board, president H. Dale Tucker announced today.

"Trustees over the past several years have been recipients of too many complaints by parents that certain teachers in history and applied economy and such allied courses have been wrongly indoctrinating pupils in governmental philosophies which directly oppose the principles upon which this nation was founded," Tucker added.

"Our board plans to take immediate action in looking into such complaints and I intend to form an investigating committee from board members to root out the facts," Tucker said.

June 11, 1969 -- Local officials were overwhelmed Tuesday night by the tremendous response and interest in the dangerous drug meeting held at Warsaw Community High School. They were prepared for 700 people in the auditorium; however 1,780 interested citizens showed up, filled the auditorium and caused half the meeting to be moved to the high school gymnasium.

The Times-Union had purchased 1,000 books on narcotics and dangerous drugs to be given free to persons attending the meeting. The 1,000 were gone by 7 p.m., although the meeting was not scheduled to start until 7:30 p.m.

Drug displays under police guard were shown in the high school commons between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

June 20, 1969 -- A petition for a temporary injunction against the Whitko Community School Board and Whitko superintendent Frank Knight in disposing of the Thomson farm senior high school site was filed by a group of 18 Whitko taxpayers in Whitley Circuit Court Thursday afternoon.

June 21, 1969 -- Dr. Billy Graham, Youth for Christ's first staff evangelist, will speak on opening night of its 25th anniversary convention, June 30 at Winona Lake.

The two-week YFC conference, which annually attracts more than 5,000 teenagers from across the United States and Canada, gets under way at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Billy Sunday Tabernacle.

June 27, 1969 -- By a 3-2 vote, the Whitko School Board last night closed Larwill High School and consolidated it with Pierceton, transferred Pierceton pupils in grades four through eight to Larwill and closed the Monroe Elementary School.

June 27, 1969 -- Funeral services for Pfc. Jerry M. Borkholder, 20, who was killed by mortar fire in Vietnam June 21, will be conducted at 2 p.m. June 30 at Bethel Church of the Brethren.

Borkholder, a 1967 graduate of Nappanee High School, was employed at the Oser Leasing Co., Nappanee, prior to entering the service Jan. 9, 1969.

July 9, 1969 -- The Bronze Star Medal was recently awarded in Vietnam to Master Sgt. Richard L. Finkenbiner, son of Esther Wallace, Winona Lake.

July 14, 1969 -- Petitions bearing the signatures of approximately 2,300 persons have been filed with County Auditor Lawrence Butts in a remonstrance against the $2 million bond issue voted by the county commissioners and council to aid in the construction of a new community hospital facility.

July 17, 1969 -- Efforts to block a $2 million county bond issue to aid in the construction of a new community hospital have apparently failed, clearing the way for Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. to proceed with plans to construct the new facility.

The opposing group had only 1,882 valid signers. The number of valid signatures needed to officially block the bond issue for at least one year was 2,029.

Aug. 20, 1969 -- An appeal by the Tippecanoe Valley School Board to have two high schools in the corporation was denied in Indianapolis Tuesday.

The ruling was handed down by the General Commission of the Board of Education of the State of Indiana after an TVSC appeal had been under study for the past month.

This means that the state group is sticking by its original recommendation of having only one high school centrally located.

Sept. 5, 1969 -- Mr. and Mrs. Newton Wallen, of Pierceton, were informed by military personnel Thursday of the death of their son, Pfc. Ernie L. Wallen, 20, near Da Nang, Vietnam. A gunner, he died in battle Aug. 30 at 10 a.m.

Pfc. Wallen entered the service Feb. 4, 1969, and left Fort Lewis, Wash., July 4 for Vietnam.

Sept. 6, 1969 -- For the 1969-70 school year, the Warsaw Community School system employed 32 new instructors, including Jeffrey Plank, John Musgrave, Janet R. Kirkpatrick and Robert W. Bishop.

Sept. 11, 1969 -- Climax of intensive investigation and application of the glare of public disclosure by the Times-Union into teenage drug abuse comes Sept. 19, when the Congress of the United States holds the first congressional hearing in history in Warsaw.

The House of Representatives Select Education Subcommittee, whose chairman is Rep. John Brademas of Indiana's Third District, will hold a public hearing in the Warsaw Community High School at 2:15 p.m. on the Drug Abuse Education Act of 1969.

Sept. 11, 1969 -- Underground newspapers are expected to hit Kosciusko County schools at the beginning of this term. Last year, SDS and SDA (radical student groups) literature was found in possession of one WCHS youngster hooked on drugs. Declaration was that radical movements, through underground "newspapers," would move from colleges down into high schools. This week, a scurrilous sheet called "Hydrogen Revolution" was passed out at Wawasee High School. It was an anti-establishment affair, mimeographed outside school, but distributed by students. Wawasee authorities promise prompt action if students are caught distributing any more, but similar publications are expected to break out in other schools as subversive anti-establishment agitation begins in high schools.

Sept. 18, 1969 -- Greater Warsaw today added the names of Robert Brennan and Mrs. Howard (Saralee) Levin to its distinguished list of "Man and Woman of the Year" award recipients.

Sept. 20, 1969 -- Witnesses appearing Friday before the first congressional hearing in history to be held in Warsaw were almost unanimous in their opinion that the Drug Education Bill of 1969 should be aimed like a rifle toward problem young people as well as the broad anti-drug educational program as proposed.

Oct. 1, 1969 -- Jan Essenburg, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Essenburg, North Bay Drive, Warsaw, is the first cadet in Virginia history to be involved in making Institute level academic decisions.

Cadet Essenburg, the president of the Class of 1971 at Virginia Military Institute, was recently appointed to a precedent-setting Academic Policy Planning Committee.

Oct. 13, 1969 -- Warsaw Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges has launched a one-man campaign to alleviate the serious traffic problem at the entrance to the new Lakes Village Shopping Center on U.S. 30 east of the city.

Rebuffed in his efforts to get a positive response from state officials, Hodges retaliated Saturday with two signs at the shopping center, warning motorists to beware of the serious traffic hazard caused by the entrance and exit at the shopping center.

The signs state, "Please Be Careful, It's a hell of a mess,." Mike Hodges, mayor, and the other takes a slap at Gov. Edgar Whitcomb, "In my opinion the Governor has responsibilities other than being a babysitter for the city of Seymour, and the confines of Marion County."

Oct. 17, 1969 -- The Indiana Appellate Court Thursday ruled that a Winona Lake religious publishing house is exempt from property taxation because it is a subsidiary of a not-for-profit religious body.

The state court upheld Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Gene B. Lee in the case of the Kosciusko County Board of Tax Review and the State Board of Tax Commissioners versus the Free Methodist Church of North American and the Free Methodist Publishing House, of Winona Lake.

Oct. 28, 1969 -- In a ceremony at the American Legion Home here Monday afternoon, Mrs. Phillip L. Lackey, of 419 W. Porter St., was presented the Military Merit Medal and Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Palm awarded posthumously to her husband. Pfc. Lackey was killed May 9 when a Viet Cong shell hit his barracks in Saigon.

Nov. 7, 1969 -- One-day-old, 10-pound Matthew Emerson Beeson can't comprehend that his birth was the occasion marking the 10,000th baby born at Murphy Medical Center. His mother, Mrs. Ronald Beeson, Rt. 1, Etna Green, formerly Susan Moser, was a former hospital employee.

Nov. 10, 1969 -- Police are sifting clues today in the gruesome murder by strangulation of a young Dewart Lake divorcee, whose scantily-clad and partially decomposed body was found by neighbors Sunday.

The body of Lillie Mae Ritchie, 29, was found in a small quonset-type cottage on CR 1000N at the north edge of Dewart Lake at 11:15 a.m. Sunday.

Investigators said the young woman was lying on her bed with a rolled bedspread tied tightly around her neck with a double knot.

Nov. 21, 1969 -- Very rarely does any firm intentionally spend money without improving its product even to the smallest degree.

Locally, however, Dalton Foundries Inc. has appropriated funds exceeding $1 million for the purchase and installation of new air pollution control equipment. The firm also sent company representatives to numerous community gatherings for the purpose of explaining the problem of pollution and what Dalton's is doing to combat it.

Nov. 25, 1969 -- The owners of farms that have been in their families for a century or more to a certain degree live closer to the past.

If they also live in the home that was occupied by their ancestors, that sense of affinity with the past is even greater. And if that home contains many of the furnishings used by their ancestors, that rapport is magnified.

Such is the case in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur McSherry on CR 600W in Seward Township. They live in the family residence that has housed four generations of McSherrys.

Nov. 28, 1969 -- A bitter, decade-long community hospital administrative-medical staff controversy took what appeared another step toward amiable settlement today.

Five members of the Kosciusko Community Hospital board, including its president, Lawrence Castaldi, were accorded directorships on the hospital's Samuel C. Murphy Memorial Foundation.

The five seats granted KCH representation constitute one-third of the 15-man foundation board membership.

In further conciliatory measures, Castaldi and a second KCH board member, Robert D. Maish, were voted permanent seats on the Murphy Memorial Foundation.

Dec. 6, 1969 -- A recent recipient of the Bronze Star Medal for heroism is Spec. 5 Daniel Joe Hoffer, husband of Mrs. Marta Hoffer, Westhaven Estates, Rt. 5, Warsaw.

Hoffer distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous action Sept. 5, 1969, while serving as a medical aidman with Company D, 1st battalion (Airmobile), 7th Cavalry during a combat mission in the Republic of Vietnam.

Dec. 8, 1969 -- Byron Tinkey and Debbie Groninger were selected as King and Queen, respectively, at the Akron High School Homecoming Saturday night. Byron is the 17-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Tinkey, Rt. 2, Akron. Debbie is a 17-year-old senior, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Groninger.

Dec. 10, 1969 -- Directors of Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. have passed a resolution accepting five board seats on the newly formed Samuel C. Murphy Memorial Foundation -- providing that certain changes are made in the Murphy corporation bylaws.

The resolution was passed by 17 members of the KCH board in a meeting Tuesday at the Cardinal Learning Center.

Dec. 16, 1969 -- A man identified by the FBI as Jeffery McComsey, 22, is being held by police at Starke, Fla., and is being questioned by local authorities in connection with the slaying of a young Dewart Lake divorcee Nov. 5.

Dec. 24, 1969 -- The John (Jack) P. Burns family, 1702 E. Sheridan St., Warsaw, is celebrating the greatest gift this Christmas it could receive -- a son!

Lt. Michael Thomas Burns, 25, missing in action since July 5, 1968, over North Vietnam, is among 131 prisoners of war reported alive last night.

Mr. and Mrs. Burns have had no news of their son, Michael, since the terse Defense Department message July 5, 1968, "missing in action." Lt. Burns was shot down over North Vietnam on that date while flying with Lt. Col. Carl B. Crumpler, Jacksonville, Fla.

Jan. 21, 1970 -- A six-man Kosciusko County grand jury has returned an indictment charging Jeffrey Wayne McComsey, 21, of Lancaster, Pa., with first degree murder in the death of Lillie Mae Ritchie, 29, of Dewart Lake, on Nov. 6, 1969.

Feb. 2, 1970 -- In a ceremony at the American Legion Home in Pierceton Sunday afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Newton P. Wallen, Rt. 2, Pierceton were presented awards posthumously that their son, Pfc. Ernie L. Wallen, had earned while serving in Vietnam. The decorations included the Bronze Star Medal with 1st Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Feb. 9, 1970 -- A 21-year-old 1967 graduate of Triton High School, Spec. 4 Stanley T. King, was killed last Friday in a helicopter crash 30 miles north of Seoul, Korea, relatives were informed on Saturday.

King, a member of the 7th Aviation Battalion, U.S. 7th Infantry Division, is survived by his wife, Phyllis Horsell King, now residing with her parents on Rt. 1, Tippecanoe, and his parents, Deloice and Joyce Caldwell King, Bourbon.

Feb. 26, 1970 -- Annexation ordinances that include approximately 440 acres and more than double the town's population were passed unanimously Wednesday evening by the Town Board of Syracuse at a special meeting.

The 1960 census showed the Syracuse population at 1,595. Officials believe that it is much nearer 2,000 at the present time and they estimate a population after annexation at about 4,000.

Feb. 27, 1970 -- Mayor Paul E. (Mike) Hodges and pretty wife Sheila are now back home from Washington, D.C., where they and the mayors of five other towns bearing the name of "Warsaw" were honored guests Wednesday evening of the Polish Embassy.

The event was staged by Ambassador and Mrs. Jerry Michalowski to commemorate the 700th year of Warsaw, the Polish capital.

March 12, 1970 -- Sgt. Danny J. Boggs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Boggs of Warsaw, and husband of the former Linda Swonger, Rt. 1, Larwill, was the recent recipient of two Bronze Star Medals with "V" device and the Air Medal.

Boggs distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous action Dec. 7, 1969, while serving as machine gunner in the Republic of Vietnam. When the company came under an intense ground attack, Boggs immediately began placing a heavy volume of supressive fire on the enemy positions. When his machine gun malfunctioned, leaving the safety of his bunker and using a flashlight to see, he dislodged the rounds and continued to fire at the enemy.

Also, in another valorous action Dec. 17, 1969, Boggs was awarded the second Bronze Star for heroism while serving as a machine gunner during a ground reconnaissance mission in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam.

March 17, 1970 -- The long-standing feud between the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. and the State Department of Public Instruction over one high school versus two high schools has ended.

By a 3-2 margin, the TVSC school board voted to establish one high school in Mentone beginning Sept. 1, 1970. This will include grades 10-12. At the present time, high schools are operated at Akron and Mentone.

March 19, 1970 -- A 20-year-old South Whitley serviceman who left for duty in Vietnam six weeks ago was killed Monday night, relatives have been informed by the Defense Department.

Dead is Army Pvt. Avery M. (Tracy) Nye II. He was raised by his grandmother, Mrs. Lulu Wilson of South Whitley, and was a 1968 South Whitley High School graduate.

His mother, Mrs. Pauline Johnson, of Laredo, Texas, was informed Tuesday evening that her son was killed when he stepped on a booby trap while walking guard at a prisoner of war camp.

He was sent to Vietnam Feb. 3, 1970.

April 6, 1970 -- Relatives of Pfc. Willard C. DeBolt, 20, learned Saturday afternoon that he had been killed in combat operation in Vietnam March 31.

Pfc. DeBolt was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George DeBolt, of Rt. 1, Warsaw, and husband of Dena.

April 8, 1970 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. has severed all negotiations with the Samuel C. Murphy Memorial Foundation and is proceeding with dispatch for the erection of a new hospital for this community.

The decision reached by the KCH board meeting at the Cardinal Learning Center here last night followed a breakdown in the four-month-long talks between the two groups in an effort to integrate the boards for the operation of a community medical facility.

April 9, 1970 -- A 21-year-old ex-Navyman from Lancaster, Pa., Jeffrey Wayne McComsey, today pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 6, 1969, strangulation slaying of a young Dewart Lake divorcee, Lillie Mae Ritchie, 29.

April 11, 1970 -- A surprise finish saw 10-year-old Linda Rager win one of the shortest Kosciusko County Spelling Bees in history Saturday in the studios of radio stations WRSW AM-FM as her 12-year-old sister Lisa went out in the third round.

Linda is in fifth grade at McKinley School in Warsaw.

April 15, 1970 -- One junior high school for all seventh- and eighth-grade students beginning September was voted by the Warsaw School Board during a lengthy regular meeting Tuesday evening.

At the present time, seventh- and eighth-grade students attend junior high in Warsaw and in Claypool.

This means transferring about 110 students from Clay and Lake townships to the junior high on Main Street in Warsaw next September.

April 22, 1970 -- Students and older citizens alike joined today in a concerted local effort to clean roadsides, parks and other properties in a move to eliminate man's most pressing problem -- pollution.

The actions locally today and in the past few days are all a part of the nationwide attempt to improve man's environment.

Today has been officially proclaimed as "Earth Day," with activities planned all over the country.

May 1, 1970 -- Chris Schenkel, ABC-TV sportscaster, will be the guest speaker for the second annual Wawasee High School athletic banquet May 20 at 6:30 p.m.

The banquet is sponsored by the Lions clubs of North Webster, Milford and Syracuse along with the athletic department at WHS. All boys who participated in any of the nine sports at the schools, coaches and cheerleaders will be guests.

May 1, 1970 -- In a quarter-million dollar transaction, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Thomas have transferred their Westminster Hotel property, Winona Lake, to the Free Methodist Church of North America.

May 5, 1970 -- Elizabeth Jones, 97, the oldest voter in Scott Township, and possibly Kosciusko County, was out early this morning to cast her ballot. Mrs. Jones has voted in every election since women received the vote 50 years ago. She lives alone in the family home at Millwood and was assisted at the polls by her son, Henry Jones, who lives nearby.

May 7, 1970 -- The telephone building at Center and Indiana streets in downtown Warsaw is coming down.

Workmen from the L.I. Griffin & Sons Inc. of Fort Wayne were busy dismantling the structure today. United Telephone Co. officials decided to demolish the building because of its age and condition. The 44- by 132-foot building will be replaced with a new structure on the site. Based on preliminary drawings, the cost of the new three-story structure is expected to reach approximately $800,000.

May 9, 1970 -- Mrs. Jack (Winifred) Cluen, of 26 Fairlane Drive, last night was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Warsaw Community School Board.

She is the first woman to be appointed to the board in recent school history. This is effective May 24, 1970, and extends through June 30, 1971.

May 13, 1970 -- A swimming program for the Warsaw Community High School was approved by the local school board at a regular meeting Tuesday evening.

The board voted to provide the facilities and the athletic department to provide the operational expenses.

June 25, 1970 -- Of 4,018 Selective Service Boards in the nation, members of the Kosciusko County Board became the first to resign en-masse today as result of the recent Supreme Court decision liberalizing the definition of a conscientious objector. As of now, there is no "draft board" in Kosciusko County, each member having signed a letter of resignation to state director Col. Wayne Rhodes, mailed late yesterday.

The local Selective Service office, 518 S. Buffalo St., will remain open, however, with executive secretary Francis Hicks and clerk Helen Elliott on duty.

July 11, 1970 -- Residents of Etna Green and Tippecanoe last night protested a plan of the Triton School Corp. board of trustees to abandon the elementary schools in each of the two towns.

Their disapproval was voiced in a meeting called by the school board and held in Triton High School cafeteria. More than 200 persons attended the meeting, which was presided over by Donald Rettinger, school board president.

July 21, 1970 -- A new judging pavilion and several new exhibit categories await Kosciusko County Fair patrons this year.

Plans now are being finalized for the 54th fair to be held Aug. 3-8 at the fairgrounds in Warsaw.

Improvements costing at least $23,000 have been made at the fairgrounds since the last fair. Most expensive was the new livestock judging pavilion, which replaces the large tent that was set up annually for the 4-H and open livestock shows.

July 23, 1970 -- A Winona Lake resident who celebrated her 21st birthday Thursday saved the lives of a mother duck and her 3-day-old ducklings when she noted they were saturated with oil.

Sue Howard, of 215 Lakeside Drive, summoned State Rep. Thames Mauzy, who said today he will continue his efforts to stop the pollution of Winona Lake. Mauzy has been concerned about the lake for several years and has been working closely with state and local conservation personnel in studying the situation.

Mauzy was disturbed when he went to Winona Lake and talked with Sue and her brother and sisters, Tom, Sally and Mary, about the number of 3-day-old ducklings covered with oil and unable to swim.

July 24, 1970 -- James L. Breading 30, of 420 W. Kincaide St., has been appointed as the fourth new member of Kosciusko CountyÕs draft board by Col. Wayne E. Rhodes, state Selective Service director.

Breading, a 1958 graduate of Warsaw High School, spent four years with the U.S. Navy and since the end of his service, in 1966, he has been associated with his father, Robert Breading, in the electrical business.

Other members of the new draft board, appointed to take the place of the former draft board, which resigned recently, include Arleen Koors, Warsaw; Chester Zorn, of Pierceton; and George L. Welsh, of Mentone.

July 25, 1970 -- The president of the Continental Telephone Co., a 1938 Warsaw High School graduate, was killed instantly in a violent explosion, which demolished his car in a parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Mo., Friday.

Forty-nine-year-old Phillip J. Lucier of St. Louis, was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lucier of Winona Lake. The elder Lucier became president of United Telephone Co. when its headquarters were moved from Indianapolis to Warsaw.

The explosion ripped Lucier's 1966 Cadillac as he turned on the ignition, shredding the front seat of the car and tearing a hole 18 inches in diameter in the floor of the car in front of the driver's seat. The windshield and rear window in the auto also were shattered.

Aug. 19, 1970 -- State police announced a program Tuesday to extend the "scorched earth" war on wild marijuana to Kosciusko, Newton and Lake counties.

Don Frantz, Kosciusko County extension agent, said a great deal had already been done by local farmers to eradicate the notorious "patch" in northern Kosciusko County, though several areas needed further work.

Aug. 19, 1970 -- A hearing will be held in the U.S. District Court in South Bend Sept. 4 on the validity of the 1970-71 proposed dress code for Wawasee High School.

A suit has been instigated by Chester Carpenter, father of Greg Carpenter, a 17-year-old junior who was suspended from WHS presumably for failure to shorten his sideburns or hair. Greg was suspended for three days.

Aug. 31, 1970 -- Rallying Ku Klux Klansmen gathered in Warsaw's Bixler Park Saturday evening after the invitation of a Chapman Lake farm owner was rescinded. William M. Chaney, Greenfield, grand dragon of the Indiana KKK, explained that the farm owner had feared retaliation by local blacks and refused to allow the rally on his property seven miles north of Warsaw.

According to Chaney, climax of the rally at the Chapman Lake site would have been burning a 35-foot cross.

Sept. 2, 1970 -- A Warsaw man, Mark Alvin Wilson, 26, serving a life sentence for the Feb. 5, 1963, bludgeon murder of a Winona Lake widow, has escaped from the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City, police reported today.

Prison officials said Wilson had been missing from a work detail at the state prison farm since 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Sept. 4, 1970 -- Mark A. Wilson, 26, of Warsaw, who escaped from the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City late Tuesday, was to be returned there today after surrendering to officers at Calumet City, Ill., last night.

Sept. 5, 1970 -- Wawasee High School has been restrained from enforcing that part of the dress code which relates to a boy's hair.

The ruling stemmed from a suit instigated by Chester Carpenter, father of Greg Carpenter, a student at WHS, who did not comply with the 1970-71 dress code by reason of his hair. Also, his parents refused to sign a deviation clause.

At a hearing held in U.S. District Court here Friday, Judge Robert T. Grant requested Thomas Singer, attorney for Carpenter, to prepare an order to submit to the court that would enjoin the defendants from enforcing the dress code as related to Greg Carpenter.

Sept. 9, 1970 -- An appeal of a ruling last week of Federal Court Judge Robert Grant in South Bend regarding the deviation procedure for the wearing of long hair by boys of Wawasee High School was announced today by the Lakeland school board. The board is making the appeal in an effort to "uphold its belief in parental control."

Sept. 10, 1970 -- Kosciusko County's three commissioners ruled today that the county courthouse offices would stay open on Saturday mornings because of an obligation to the public.

The commissioners, meeting in joint session with the county council, said they opposed the Saturday closing as proposed by the council in lieu of raises for courthouse deputies.

Sept. 24, 1970 -- "Inspirations to youth" probably best describes Louis H. Breading and Miss Margaret Ann Voirol, crowned 1970 "Man and Woman of the Year" last night at the 59th annual dinner meeting of the Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce.

Oct. 1, 1970 -- An accused Warsaw draft dodger, John Lewis Adams, was acquitted this week in U.S. District Court at Fort Wayne on a directed verdict issued by Federal Judge Jesse E. Eschbach.

The judge refused to allow the case to go to a jury of eight women and four men, noting that "nothing presented by the government contradicted defense evidence."

Adams, a 23-year-old former student of the I.U.-Purdue extension in Fort Wayne, was served a draft notice from the Warsaw Selective Service Board No. 41 on Feb. 17, 1969. According to evidence, he was ordered to report for induction at the local draft board on March 3, but failed to do so.

Oct. 27, 1970 -- Among the new teachers in the Warsaw School system are Eugene F. Gossman, Fred Homburg, Mrs. David (Judy K.) Whaley, Mrs. Rose Marie Martin, Ronald K. Hutcherson, David Howett, David A. Chastain and Philip Krieg.

Nov. 10, 1970 -- An odd jobs man from the Syracuse-Albion area was shot through the chest last night by Chief Deputy Sheriff Roger Fellows as he held golf professional Donald Byrd and Deputy Sheriff Ronald Robinson at gunpoint.

In serious condition this morning in Goshen General Hospital is 43-year-old Leonard Eppert, with a revolver wound to the right chest. Eppert's son, 17-year-old Leonard Allen Eppert, is held in the Kosciusko County Jail as a material witness.

Nov. 17, 1970 -- Authorities are investigating the possibility of arson following a quarter-million-dollar blaze that gutted the posh Petro's Restaurant at the north edge of Warsaw on Ind. 15 early today.

Investigators speculate the fire could have been started as a cover-up for a possible burglary; however, this had not been confirmed by late this morning.

Nov. 19, 1970 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. has apparently won its battle with Murphy Medical Center Inc. over federal Hill-Burton funds, and construction of a new community hospital has moved a step closer to reality.

The Advisory Hospital and Health Facilities Planning Council of the State Board of Health Wednesday gave the top state funding priority to construction of a new community hospital at Warsaw. The council also approved the KCH application for $1,740,630 in federal funds for the new medical facility.

The final step, however, will come Dec. 2, when the executive board of the State Board of Health will act officially on the council's recommendation.

Nov. 19, 1970 -- Tech. Sgt. Frank R. Kepler, husband of Jeanette (Purdy) Kepler, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his meritorious service as Weapons Branch Chief, 460th Avionica Maintenance Squadron, Republic of Vietnam, while engaged in ground operations against an opposing armed force from July 12, 1969, to July 11, 1970.

Sgt. Kepler and his wife are the parents of two sons, Harry E., 13, and Michael S., who is 12. The serviceman is the son of Harry E. Kepler of 508 W. Center St., Warsaw. He also is a Warsaw High School 1950 graduate.

Nov. 23, 1970 -- The Cardinal Center Handbell Choir of Warsaw is fast becoming famous. The group has been invited to be on the program for the 1971 annual meeting of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped in Washington, D.C.

In a letter to Howard L. Wilson, executive director of the Cardinal Industrial Workshop and Learning Center here, Harold Russell, committee chairman, stated that the performance would be at the international ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel April 15. More than 800 people from all the states are expected to attend.

Dec. 23, 1970 -- A Syracuse soldier home on Christmas leave and his female companion, a former Lake Wawasee Flotilla Queen, were killed early today in a car-truck crash on U.S. 6, one mile northwest of Syracuse.

Killed instantly in the 12:45 a.m. crash at the intersection of U.S. 6 and the Huntington Road just inside Elkhart County were Jameson Schrader Mauzy, 22, Rt. 1, Syracuse, the driver, and a passenger, Carla K. Singrey, 19, Rt. 2, Syracuse.

Jan. 2, 1971 -- Flames erupting in the early morning New Year's dawn swept through the Pickwick block in downtown Syracuse, destroying everything in the quarter-block area except the Pickwick Theater and the S&N Plumbing and Heating Shop. Early estimates of damage will exceed $300,000.

Completely burned were the Jaycees Clubrooms, The Pickwick Lounge, The First Charter Finance Office and the large two-floor W.R. Thomas Variety Store. The theater building received severe heat, smoke and water damage as did the plumbing shop and a room formerly occupied by Doc's Shoe Repair Shop.

Jan. 11, 1971 -- The Bronze Star medal with Oak Leaf Cluster was presented posthumously to Cpl. Willard C. Debolt in private ceremonies held recently in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Gaff, 115 N. Union St., Warsaw.

The presentation was made to the deceased soldier's wife, Mrs. Deanna (Gaff) Debolt.

Jan. 19, 1971 -- Long-term negotiations by the city for purchase of the Levin Scrap Yard at Center Lake Park have run aground and the matter may wind up in court condemnation proceedings.

The city council voted Monday to offer the owners of the property slightly more than $60,000 -- an amount listed by a professional appraiser from Fort Wayne approximately one year ago. If the offer is rejected, the city will then proceed with condemnation proceedings, the council said.

Negotiations between the city and the Levins have been going on for more than one year and the city has been attempting to purchase the property as part of the park system for more than 10 years with no concrete results.

The price set by the owners for the land (approximately 0.7 of an acre) has been $110,000. During the negotiations, the owners agreed to accept $85,925 for the property plus interest to be paid over a 10-year-period.

Feb. 17, 1971 -- Members of the Warsaw Community School Board made a major decision in the area of building needs last night when they voted 5-2 to transfer the ninth-graders to the senior high school that now houses grades 10-12. A tentative target date for completion of the transfer would be September 1972.

The motion also directed the administration to submit an application for federal funds to renovate the Freshman High School on West Main Street into a vocational school if such funds are available.

Feb. 24, 1971 -- Sgt. Lyle Elton Smith, 24, was killed last Friday in the Khe Sanh area of South Vietnam, according to a Defense Department message received Tuesday by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frankie Smith of Rt. 1, South Whitley. The message said death was due to hostile enemy fire, probably while on patrol duty. No other details were given.

Feb. 27, 1971 -- Fifty-one years in the printing trade came to a close recently for Charles Barringer, a veteran Times-Union compositor.

Barry, as he is known to everyone, on Jan. 1 completed 31 years and two weeks employment in the composing room of the Times-Union. Prior to that period he had worked for the Warsaw Union.

Barry's newspaper career actually started when he was 9 years old. At that age, he began carrying papers for the Union. Within a couple years, he was serving as a printer's "devil," cleaning up the shop on weekends.

March 2, 1971 -- County commissioners have entered into a tentative agreement to purchase the Zimmerman building on the east side of North Buffalo Street to alleviate crowded conditions in the courthouse.

The building, formerly owned by Al Zimmerman, was completely remodeled several years ago and contains eight air- conditioned offices. It is directly east of the main entrance to the courthouse.

Commissioners have agreed on a purchase price of $26,000 for the 22- by 132-foot building, which is adjacent to the Readmore newstand. The structure is presently owned by Logansport Savings & Loan.

The commissioners hope to move the county welfare department into the new building, which will make the welfare rooms in the basement of the courthouse available for other offices.

March 3, 1971 -- A 23-year-old Syracuse soldier, Robert Penick Jr., is coming home Friday, and the sleepless nights, the days that grew into months of worry, are now over for the parents of a twice-wounded Vietnam hero.

March 11, 1971 -- A seething family disagreement boiled into a flaming tragedy late Wednesday when a young Warsaw man was killed by a shotgun blast. His 15-year-old stepson is being held in connection with the slaying.

The victim, Dale Alfred Bragg, 31, of 124 W. Prairie St., died of massive hemorrhaging from a shotgun wound in the back.

His body was found in the parking lot at Murphy Medical Center, approximately a block from his home.

Bragg walked toward the hospital to apparently seek medical help after the shooting but collapsed and died less than 100 yards from the medical facility.

His stepson, James Allen Dill, a sophomore at Warsaw Community High School, was taken into custody shortly after the 10:15 p.m. shooting and is being held in the county jail on a preliminary charge of murder.

March 20, 1971 -- One of the most misunderstood organziations in this area is the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission, formed two years ago.

Many persons are antagonistic to the commission because they believe the board was formed to curtail their personal freedom.

To clear up misconceptions about the commission, an interview was conducted with Jim Baker, the plan commission director, on the purpose of the commission, how it operates, what it expects to accomplish and what it has accomplished to date.

Baker was first asked what the purpose was of the planning commission.

Baker answered, "The prime purpose of the plan commission is to organize the community so that it can absorb the increased population growth and the accompanying increased economic growth, which we know the community is going to have, and still be able to keep our environment intact."

March 25, 1971 -- A Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. citizens committee has asked school board members to abandon the idea of maintaining two high schools in the corporation or be held "personally liable."

The latest development in the long corporation dispute over the one high school versus the two high school concept comes on the heels of a meeting March 15, when the TVSC board voted 4-1 to attempt to win state approval for the maintenance of high schools at Akron and Mentone.

The State Department of Public Instruction denied the corporation permission to construct additions to both Akron and Mentone high schools in 1969.

State officials further recommended that the corporation immediately initiate plans for construction of a centralized facility to accommodate all students in grades 9-12 in the corporation.

March 30, 1971 -- The Kosciusko County Selective Service Board office at 518 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, is being closed as part of a nationwide move to make economies and cut personnel.

The office here is being consolidated with four other boards to be located at Site 7 at Rochester. These include Plymouth, Winamac, Logansport and Rochester. Consolidations throughout the state will begin April 26.

James Breading, chairman of the Kosciusko Board, said today he did not believe the new consolidation of board would be beneficial to registrants. He said instead he thought it would be an inconvenience and more costly.

April 3, 1971 -- Sun Metal Products Inc. opened its 25th year of operations with an open house for its employees, friends and relatives.

The main plant on Ind. 15N was open, as well as Plant No. 2 on the Fox Farm Road. Several manufacturing operations were shown and refreshments were served.

Sun Metal started its first production line Jan. 21, 1946.

April 6, 1971 -- Officers of the Kosciusko County Humane Commission revealed yesterday the loss of an estimated $20,000 worth of registered Guernsey cattle due to neglect and starvation.

Chief of Police Eugene Brumfield, who is president of the Humane Commission, and Humane Officer Wilson "Nate" Konkle, said approximately 54 cattle out of a herd of 95 on a farm owned by Dr. James Leffel, of Indianapolis, starved to death when a tenant on the farm apparently abandoned the cattle without feed.

In addition to the cattle, a number of hogs starved in a hog house. Approximately six survived by eating the remainder as they died.

April 10, 1971 -- When Lisa Rager dropped the letter "u" from the word "discursive," she also dropped the Kosciusko County and area spelling championship to her younger sister, Linda Sue, for the second consecutive year this morning.

The final spelldown between the two sisters went 75 rounds before it was decided in Linda Sue's favor.

The two girls are daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rager, 925 E. Clark St. Linda Sue is in sixth grade at McKinley school. Lisa is in the eighth grade at Warsaw Junior High.

April 27, 1971 -- Every amateur photographer shares a dream -- of someday capturing THE picture.

Some realize it, as did James R. Howard, of Syracuse.

Howard, who resides at Washington Street in Syracuse, was among the winners in the 1970 International Newspaper Snapshot Awards contest, which attracted 235,000 entries from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The subject in Howard's photo is Amy Reed, daughter of attorney and Mrs. Robert Reed of Syracuse. The snapshot, taken with a 35 mm Nikon camera, is on display at the Chicago Photo Exposition.

May 12, 1971 -- An effort is being made by the attorney for an alleged drug pusher to secure access to Times-Union drug files. A subpoena has been issued for Times-Union Editorial Editor William Mollenhour to appear in Kosciusko Superior Court at 2 p.m. today with the files.

It was requested through the clerk of Superior Court by Attorney Eugene Chipman of Plymouth, representing defendant Barry Metzger, 17, of 1302 E. Center St., Warsaw, who was arrested by state and local police April 22 and is currently charged with the sale of a narcotic drug.

May 15, 1971 -- Judge Allan Rasor in Kosciusko Superior Court late Friday upheld the Indiana statute which protects newspapers from disclosing the source of their information by issuing a protective order preventing disclosure of the contents of the Times-Union drug files.

However, individual newsmen still remain in jeopardy of contempt of court as the case then took a bizarre twist when attorney Eugene Chipman, of Plymouth, prompty served another subpoena on Times-Union Editorial Editor William Mollenhour to appear in Superior Court again next Friday for "oral" examination.

May 22, 1971 -- Information contained in the Times-Union drug files will remain confidential -- at least for the time being -- following a ruling by Judge Allan A. Rasor in Kosciusko Superior Court Friday.

Judge Rasor struck down a last-ditch effort by Plymouth Attorney Eugene Chipman to secure information from the drug files in an "oral examination" of Times-Union Editorial Editor William K. Mollenhour.

May 25, 1971 -- Officers of Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. today presented a petition to the county commissioners requesting the creation of a Hospital Authority for Kosciusko County as provided by a law enacted by the recent General Assembly.

June 1, 1971 -- A hospital authority has been created for Kosciusko County that could pave the way for the solution of the long-standing hospital controversy in this community.

The resolution creating the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko County was prepared by county commissioners last week and formally adopted in a meeting at the courthouse today.

June 16, 1971 -- The city of Warsaw will proceed with plans to instigate court condemnation proceedings for the acquistion of the Levin property at the north edge of the city adjacent to Center Lake Park, the board of works voted Tuesday.

The board authorized city attorney Richard W. Sand to go ahead with the filing of the condemnation suit in Kosciusko Circuit or Superior Court.

The board of works held a public hearing on the condemnation at its meeting June 1 but took the matter under advisement after Myer and Rosa Levin, Howard Levin and their attorney, Phillip J. Harris, filed a formal remonstrance against the condemnation proceedings.

Harris contended that the board of works did not have the authority to condemn land, that the city did not have funds available to pay the damages that might be assessed in a court condemnation and that the city could not show that it had been unable to reach agreement with the Levins for the purchase of the property.

June 17, 1971 -- Dedication and open house for the new Atwood Community Building will be held Friday at 8 p.m.

The building, built by the Atwood Community Building Corp., was conceived and spearheaded in large part by the Atwood Lions Club to provide a public meeting place following consolidation of the local school system.

Volunteer labor by Lions Club members and local residents as well as donations by Creighton Bros., Clunette Elevator and many other local merchants and interested persons provided the backing to get the project under way.

June 22, 1971 -- In a special meeting Monday night, the Triton School Corp. board voted 4-3 to close the Etna Green Elementary School and transfer pupils to Bourbon Grade School this fall.

While the Etna Green school closing had been rumored for some time, the move came as a complete surprise in a previously unannounced meeting.

The move follows a pattern set earlier this year when the school board closed the Tippecanoe Elementary School and moved those pupils to Bourbon.

June 24, 1971 -- General membership of the Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce has approved bylaw changes that will consolidate all divisions into one broad-based organization to provide more effective leadership in community affairs.

The change merges into one organization the general chamber, the industrial and retail merchants divisions. Also adopted by voice vote were bylaw changes that establish a new membership fee schedule and permit the employment of an executive vice president to direct the activities of the chamber.

June 30, 1971 -- "Every girl will be able to be a cheerleader at Prep this fall," said Father Charles Kunkel, director of admissions, as he announced that Wawasee Preparatory High School is going co-ed this September.

The private boys' high school, situated on the east shores of Lake Wawasee, will open its doors to girls for the first time in 33 years.

Administrators at Wawasee Prep believe boarding schools that do not go co-ed "could very possible be considered an oddity 10 years from now."

July 9, 1971 -- The city of Warsaw has filed formal condemnation proceedings in Kosciusko Superior Court seeking the Levin property adjacent to Center Lake Park for an expansion of the city park system.

July 12, 1971 -- Telegrams were received today by Mr. and Mrs. Devon Davis, Rt. 1, Milford, informing them that their son, Louie Davis, was hospitalized July 8 with serious injuries following a land mine explosion in an aircraft landing zone in South Vietnam.

Davis has since been evacuated to Camp Zama, Japan, where he will remain until being returned to the United States.

Davis was a 1969 Wawasee High School graduate and enlisted in the Armed Forces March 24, 1970.

July 29, 1971 -- A plan to sell Murphy Medical Center and recommended expansion of facilities to 120 beds was proposed to members of the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko County last night in a meeting with Murphy representatives.

Robert Berryman, administrator of the medical center, said the hospital was offered for sale to the county in April of this year "and that offer still stands."

Aug. 3, 1971 -- While seeking recognition as the participating organization, representatives of Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. have asked this county's hospital authority for a $5 million revenue bond issue to assist in the construction of a new 113-bed medical facility.

Aug. 9, 1971 -- The last of the old lake hotels on Lake Wawasee, depicting an era rich in local color, will soon be replaced by a third condominium to complete the Bay Point complex.

The old Johnson Hotel and all remaining contents will be sold at a public auction, which will get under way at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 14. Successful bidder on the hotel building will have nearly one year to remove it from its present site on the southeastern tip of Lake Wawasee, according to auctioneer Leonard Greer of the Star Sales Co., Greer Auction Division.

Aug. 18, 1971 -- Members of the County Board of Commissioners and Council today were officially released of their respective commitments to grant a $2 million general obligation bond issue to assist in construction of a new not-for-profit hospital facility here.

Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. President Lawrence J. Castaldi pointed out that the bond issue no longer played a part in KCH's financing plans to build a new hospital since the General Assembly enacted legislation that permitted the establishment of local "hospital authorities" empowered to issue revenue bonds for such purposes.

Aug. 19, 1971 -- Robert A. Berryman, administrator of the Murphy Medical Center, today charged Lawrence J. Castaldi, president of Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., with disseminating false and erroneous public statements via the press in efforts to mislead the public and to scuttle a proposed sale of the Murphy Medical Center hospital complex to the county.

Aug. 21, 1971 -- Flames engulfed the old Winona Inn Hotel after firemen set fire to the building at 7:15 this morning. A famous landmark at Winona Lake, the inn served as a first-class hotel for nearly 60 years. It was built in 1900 on grounds that use to house horse barns in the 1880s for the race track on the island. Owners of the building, the Winona Christian Assembly, decided to have the building burned to make space for a parking lot.

Aug. 25, 1971 -- A prominent Warsaw man, Donald H. Lessig Sr., 73, was killed and two other persons injured in a collision shortly before 7 p.m. yesterday on Ind. 15, 3-1/2 miles north of Warsaw, between two cars and a wrecker towing a semi-tractor.

Lessig, one of northern Indiana's most reputable architects and engineers, was killed instantly in the crash. A resident of 616 N. Lake St., he was the founder of D.H. Lessig Engineers Inc., with offices in the upper story of the Times Building.

He had designed and worked on numerous public works, airport and school building programs throughout Indiana, including many major structures in the Warsaw area. He was a past president of the Indiana Society of Engineers.

Aug. 28, 1971 -- J. Alan Morgan, president of Zimmer Manufacturing Co. in Warsaw, and Gavin K. MacBain, chairman of the board of Bristol-Myers Co., today announced an agreement in principle has been reached for Bristol-Myers to acquire the Zimmer firm in a tax-free reorganization.

Under the proposed agreement, Zimmer shareholders would receive 1,279,751 shares of Bristol-Myers' common stock on the New York Stock Exchange; this represents a purchase price of approximately $80 million.

Sept. 1, 1971 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, has been given the green light to proceed with plans to construct a new 113-bed community hospital following formal action of the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko County last night.

The Authority, meeting in the commissioners' room at the courthouse, designated KCH as the participating hospital for this county and moved to implement the KCH plan for construction of the $6.5 million facility.

In formally recognizing KCH and accepting its construction proposal, the five-member authority rejected a proposal from Murphy Medical Center to purchase that existing facility for $3.5 million and to construct an addition to the present complex. The addition would increase its size to approximately 120 beds at a total expenditure of $6.7 million, which included the assumption of the existing mortgage of about $187,000.

Sept. 9, 1971 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. has won approval of the Indiana State Board of Health in its long battle for recognition and approval of federal Hill-Burton funds for the construction of a new community hospital.

The nine-member State Board of Health executive committee ruled Wednesday that KCH should be the recipient of any Hill-Burton funds available for 1970-71. While the exact amount of money appropriated for new hospital construction in the state is not immediately known, it is thought to be approximately $300,000.

Sept. 23, 1971 -- Donald E. Frantz, Kosciusko County agricultural and area extension agent, and Mrs. Howard (June) Wilson, director of the Cardinal Learning Center's talented Handbell Choir, today joined an illustrious list of "Man and Woman of the Year" award winners selected annually by the Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce.

They were honored last night at the Chamber's 60th (diamond) anniversary dinner meeting, attended by more than 250 men and women at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant.

Sept. 29, 1971 -- School board members of Warsaw Community Schools approved preliminary drawings of a $600,000 addition of approximately 13,700 square feet to the senior high school when they met Tuesday in special session.

Howard White of James Associates, an architectural firm retained by the board, presented the firm's proposal for the new industrial education addition that will house four areas including shops for metal working, electricity and electronics, woodworking, building and trades and power mechanics. A graphic shop will be developed from existing industrial education areas in the school.

Oct. 6, 1971 -- A state biologist said today a band of pollution that has killed thousands upon thousands of fish in the Tippecanoe River along a stretch from Warsaw to beyond Rochester is no longer a threat.

John Winters of the State Health Department said the polluted strip has decreased enough in strength that it no longer is killing any fish.

The pollution was first noticed last Thursday and a state conservation officer, Richard Eurit, said it resulted when 127,000 gallons of chicken droppings were pumped from a damaged holding tank onto a field near Warsaw 500 feet from the river. The poultry farm was not identified.

Winters said the fishkill extended about 50 miles downstream from Warsaw. The slug of effluent cut off the supply of oxygen for fish.

Oct. 7, 1971 -- Warsaw Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges was honored Wednesday at the annual Fort Wayne Regional Red Cross Blood Program Committee meeting in the Sheraton Motor Motel in Fort Wayne.

The mayor received a plaque recognizing him as one of the first blood donors in this county when the Bloodmobile made its initial visit here Feb. 28, 1951. It was pointed out that the mayor still supports the local Red Cross blood program.

Oct. 20, 1971 -- Robert Carter, of the Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board today identified Tinkey Farms Inc. as the chicken farm near Warsaw allegedly responsible for the deaths of more than 70,000 fish along a 50-mile stretch of the Tippecanoe River downstream from Warsaw, following a report to the state board yesterday.

Carter said investigation is continuing into the fishkill, and action is expected to be taken by the State Attorney General's office for damages from the kill when the probe is completed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Oct. 28, 1971 -- Murphy Medical Center Inc. and the Samuel C. Murphy Memorial Foundation Inc. have filed an appeal in Kosciusko Superior Court asking that a recent ruling handed down by the State Board of Health favoring the rival Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. regarding federal Hill-Burton funds be set aside.

The complaint, filed by Attorney William S. Hall of Indianapolis late Wednesday afternoon, contends the determination of the state board was erroneous and should be set aside because it recognizes KCH as the one general hospital in this county and in effect will force Murphy Medical Center out of business.

Nov. 2, 1971 -- A formal agreement was executed Monday to merge Zimmer Manufacturing Co., of Warsaw, into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Co., it was announced today by J. Alan Morgan, president of Zimmer, and Gavin K. MacBain, Bristol-Myers chairman.

Dec. 3, 1971 -- An advisory committee of the Indiana State Board of Health has recommended distribution of $4.6 million in federal Hill-Burton hospital construction funds but took no action on a $1.5 million request submitted by Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., Warsaw.

The recommendations will go to the executive committee of the State Board of Health for final action early next year.

Dec. 8, 1971 -- Plans for a public countywide $1.5 million fund drive starting next February to assist in the construction of a new hospital were outlined at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant here last night by Lawrence Castaldi, president of Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc.

Castaldi simultaneously announced that Robert D. Maish, Rt. 2, Leesburg, president of Little Crow Milling Co., of Warsaw, would act as general chairman of the fund drive -- termed the Founders' Fund Campaign for Kosciusko Community Hospital.

J. Alan Morgan, Rt. 2, Leesburg, and president of Zimmer Manufacturing Co., Warsaw, was named as the vice chairman of the fund campaign.

Dec. 14, 1971 -- Mrs. Hazel J. Murphy has filed a $13.5 million suit for damages, charging that her hospital, Murphy Medical Center, has been placed in jeopardy due to the interference of others. Defendants are Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko County, eight physicians and 12 members and former members of KCH.

Filed in Superior Court, it is believed to be the largest damage suit ever filed in Kosciusko County.

Murphy has another legal case pending in Wabash Circuit Court at Wabash against the Indiana State Board of Health and KCH over the awarding of federal Hill-Burton funds to KCH.

Dec. 28, 1971 -- Kosciusko County Commissioners Fred Gilliam and Maurice Dorsey Monday appointed Maurice Beer, Rt. 2, Milford, as Van Buren Township trustee, to complete the unexpired term of the late John Davidsen.

Davidsen had resigned the post early in December with the effective resignation date on Jan. 1, 1972, after serving 11 years as the township's trustee. He died Saturday of an apparent heart attack.

Jan. 25, 1972 -- A group representing the Environmental Protection Agency, headed by Hoosier William D. Ruckelshaus, is touring Kosciusko County today in a Midwest study to determine if there is a relationship between confined animal feeding operations and water pollution.

Jan. 31, 1972 -- A newly married couple spent their wedding night separated in the Kosciusko County jail along with 22 other persons, mostly teenagers, who were all arrested in a raid at Angler's Cove early Sunday morning.

Numerous complaints of underage drinking triggered the 1 a.m. raid conducted by 15 law officers of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and the Syracuse Police Department led by Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Roger Fellows.

Feb. 2, 1972 -- Special Judge John Beauchamp, of Wabash, late this morning ruled in favor of the city and found the annexation of the Country Club Drive area south of Warsaw should take place.

After the city passed an ordinance July 20, 1970, to annex the territory, persons residing in the area filed a remonstrance suit attempting to block the annexation.

The judge also ruled in favor of the city in another case, which was filed by owners of personal property in the area east of Warsaw including the United Telephone Co. property.

Feb. 22, 1972 -- Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. board members revealed when they met Monday night in the superintendent's office that the Indiana Department of Public Instruction has given site approval for two new proposed high schools in Akron and Mentone estimated to cost $4,326,800.

But the state's OK came with the condition that the two high schools be built simultaneously.

Feb. 24, 1972 -- A suit has been filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court by the Stream Pollution Control Board of the State of Indiana seeking a mandatory and permanent injunction against the town of Silver Lake in connection with its sewage treatment facilities.

The complaint states that on May 18, 1971, the Stream Pollution Control Board issued an order to Silver Lake ordering it to cease and desist from discharging inadequately treated sewage into the body of water known as Silver Lake and ordered that construction of pollution abatement facilities be started by Jan. 1, 1972.

The state says the town continues to discharge inadequately treated sewage into Silver Lake after issuance of the order.

March 2, 1972 -- Randall G. Yeager, 70, of 38 Fairlane Drive, Warsaw, a member of the City Council and prominent insurance executive, died at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Holy Cross Hospital at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was spending the winter.

Death was due to complications following surgery. He was admitted to the hospital one week ago.

March 9, 1972 -- Mrs. Hazel J. Murphy has won an initial round in her multi-million dollar damage suit brought last December against Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc., 12 of its directors or former directors and eight local physicians.

Special Judge Marvin McLaughlin of Knox ruled Wednesday afternoon that the action brought by Mrs. Murphy was not a "public lawsuit" and further that KCH was not a legally constituted corporate entity when the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko named it as its agent and directed it to construct a new hospital.

Judge McLaughlin's decision cleared the way for Mrs. Murphy to seek a change of venue of the suit from this county. The judge also denied the defendants' motion to force Murphy Medical Center to post a bond in the case since he determined it was not a public lawsuit.

March 13, 1972 -- Slightly more than one year after ground was broken in South Whitley at the Whitko High School site, classes were being held in the 127,515-square-foot building constructed and fully equipped for a total of $2,662,532.68.

Sunday afternoon, Whitko School Board members, members of the school building corporation, high school administrators and school district patrons participated in formal dedication ceremonies for the school.

Delivering the keynote address to more than 2,000 Whitko School Corp. taxpayers and officials, U.S. Sen. Birch E. Bayh, D-Ind., stressed that American high schools must be able to provide the quality of education to qualify the nation's young persons for employment.

March 16, 1972 -- Fifteen officers in four squad cars converged on a house at Winona Lake Wednesday afternoon to arrest three brothers wanted on federal warrants for interstate transportation of stolen firearms.

Kermit Hall, 23; Mearle Dean Hall, 27; and Danny Hall, 18, all of 1508 Chestnut St., Winona Lake, were taken to county jail and booked on fugitive warrants issued from Warsaw City Court with bond set at $5,000 each.

March 20, 1972 -- Congratulating the Whitko School Corp. on its accomplishments, Dr. Otis R. Bowen, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, addressed a capacity crowd Sunday afternoon during dedication ceremonies for Pierceton Elementary and middle schools in the Pierceton gymnasium.

March 21, 1972 -- Mr. and Mrs. Ted Skeans, 615 E. Fort Wayne St., Warsaw, have received official information that their son, Spec. 4 Jerry G. Skeans, has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in connection with ground operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Skeans distinguished himself by exceptional valor while participating in a recovery operation in support of Operation Lam Son 719 on March 22-23, 1971, in the Republic of Vietnam between Lang Vei and the Laotian border.

March 22, 1972 -- Wawasee High School will present the play, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the auditorium at Wawasee. This is the first musical to be produced at the high school.

Some of the characters are played by two students, one for the day performance and another for the evening performance. The cast is: Larry Stidham and Don Thomas as Charlie Brown; Linda Lundquist and Tami Gallahan as Lucy; Sue Blue and Kathy Steffen as Patty; Mike Grotz as Schroeder; Mark Lacas as Linus; and Mike Harris and Kirk Prickett as Snoopy.

April 14, 1972 -- The Board of Directors of the Council for the Retarded of Kosciusko County Inc. reached a milestone in construction progress on Cardinal Learning Center when it voted to approve drawings that propose to add three new wings to the existing North Bay Drive building.

The working drawings were presented to the board by W. James McCleary, architect-engineer for Cardinal Center. McCleary was instructed by the board to proceed with the mechanics of having the plans further approved by the State Department of Public Health and the Federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

April 15, 1972 -- Syracuse sixth-grader Libby Alberts, 11, captured this year's area spelling bee championship with the correct spelling of the word "resurgent" in the record-breaking 163rd round in competition heard live this morning over Radio Stations WRSW AM-FM.

April 18, 1972 -- Following a controversial discussion with teachers over salary schedules, the Whitko School Board at last night's meeting moved to notify Merle Holden that his contract had been recommended for termination at the end of this school year.

Holden, a social studies and physical education teacher at the South Whitley Middle School, also serves as athletic director and coaches track and cross country. He is currently president of the Whitko Classroom Teachers Association. Holden is also a Democrat candidate for state representative from District 17, which includes Kosciusko County and Henry and Newcastle townships in Fulton County. He said he would ask for a hearing on the dismissal.

April 28, 1972 -- The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago Thursday ruled that a Wawasee High School dress code was unconstitutional and deprived the students of a right to wear their hair as long as they want.

The ruling upheld the earlier findings by U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Grant of South Bend in a case filed by Chester Carpenter on behalf of his son, Greg Carpenter, in 1970.

May 3, 1972 -- County Treasurer Kathryn M. Teel, of Mentone, withstood an early challenge from her chief deputy and won the Republican nomination for the office by 795 votes in the four-way race that highlighted the primary election Tuesday.

The treasurer's contest was the only one for county office and the lack of interest resulted in an extremely light turn-out at the polls in Kosciusko County.

Final figures indicate that only 46.1 percent of the county's 26,757 eligible voters cast ballots. This compares with a 30.3 voter response in the 1970 primary election. In the comparable 1968 presidential primary, 53.1 percent of those registered went to the polls.

May 4, 1972 -- David Wayne Haines, M.D., has assumed the post of Kosciusko County Health Officer, replacing George M. Haymond, M.D., who resigned effective May 1.

Dr. Haines, 29, moved to Warsaw to begin a general practice of medicine in association with doctors Roland S. Snider and William C. Parke at 600 E. Winona Ave. in mid-December 1971.

The health officer is a part-time position and pays an annual salary of $4,800.

May 8, 1972 -- Charging bias, prejudice and conflict of interest, two area men have filed lawsuits against the Hospital Authority of Kosciusko County seeking removal of the five directors.

Five separate complaints were filed in Kosciusko Superior Court Saturday against authority members Jerry Helvey, Sechrist Lake, Rt. 1, Leesburg, president; Dr. William C. Parke, 1216 Country Club Drive, Warsaw; Mrs. David (Carole Sue) Delp, Rt. 1, Warsaw; Loren Miller, Rt. 2, Warsaw; and Byron (Cork) Doran, Burket.

A sixth action was filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court against the authority as a board, asking for judicial review and a ruling declaring null and void the authority's action naming Kosciusko County Hospital as the participating hospital for this community.

The legal complaints were brought by Eldridge Sheetz, Rt. 3, Warsaw; and Loren Kruger, North Webster.

May 8, 1972 -- A large group of patrons of the Wa-Nee Community School Corp. got its first official look at the new facilities found at NorthWood High School, Sunday, during dedication and open house ceremonies.

May 9, 1972 -- Shifting gears in a post-election session Monday night, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board of Trustees reversed all previous plans to build two new high schools and voted 4 to 1 to apply for state approval to construct one new high school.

The board policy change calls for the centralized high school to be located within one mile of a center point between Akron and Mentone, sites of the two existing TVSC high schools.

May 12, 1972 -- On May 14, 1872, three men with $60,000 established the Lake City Bank of Warsaw. Begun as a private bank, the 100-year-old financial institution now has assets of nearly $43 million.

Exchanging approximately $3 million daily with its patrons, the Lake City Bank will hold a week of centennial celebrations from May 15, through May 20 in the main Warsaw office and branches in Winona Lake and Silver Lake.

The only bank in Warsaw to survive the Depression years, the Lake City Bank was founded by James McMurray, president; J.H. Lewis, vice president; and J.B. McMurray, cashier. Located in banking rooms on the south side of the courthouse square in Warsaw, the three founders advertised their establishment in The Northern Indianian, forerunner of The Times-Union.

May 15, 1972 -- Ron Mudd and Linda Jontz were crowned king and queen of the Warsaw Community High School Junior-Senior Prom Saturday night. Both are seniors.

May 19, 1972 -- A special program was held recently at the regular PTA meeting at Washington School, South Union Street, honoring one of the teachers who is retiring after this school year.

Mrs. Helen (Gilliam) Schade, of 308 N. Washington St., retired after teaching the fourth grade for 48 years. Forty of those years were spent in the same room at Center Ward, which is now the Junior High building.

May 22, 1972 -- The largest single gift ever received in the history of Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary was announced this morning by Dr. Herman A. Hoyt, president of Grace Schools. The gift, pledged over four years totaling $100,000 was given by Mrs. Betty (Zimmer) Morgan of Warsaw, daughter of the founder of Zimmer Manufacturing Co., the late Justin Zimmer.

In a letter of presentation, Morgan stated she was making the gift "because of the dynamic influence of Grace College in our community and because of the high caliber of students at Grace."

May 23, 1972 -- United Telephone Co. of Indiana Inc. announces the grand opening of its new Main Dial Office Building, at the corner of Main and Indiana streets in Warsaw.

Open house will be held May 25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and May 26, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The new building houses district and commercial offices, as well as switching equipment to serve the rapidly growing communications service needs of the Warsaw area.

May 26, 1972 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital held the first organizational meeting of its women's auxiliary Thursday evening in the Holiday Inn here.

June 15, 1972 -- Warsaw attorney and Indiana University Trustee John D. Widaman II, 55, and his wife Marjorie, 52, were listed among 82 passengers aboard a Cathay Pacific Airlines Convar 880 jetliner (flight CX700) that crashed at 1:30 a.m. today in the central highlands of South Vietnam, 230 miles north of Saigon.

Mr. and Mrs. Widaman left Warsaw May 29 on a world tour in connection with his duties as the university trustee.

U.S. military pilots reported today that the jetliner apparently exploded at 26,000 feet over mountain terrain.

June 16, 1972 -- Indiana's newest luxury campground will open near Pierceton Saturday.

Under franchise with Jellystone Park Campgrounds Ltd. of Wisconsin, and with permission of Hanna Barbera Productions Inc., Yogi Bear, Ranger Smith, Boo Boo and Cindy Bear will welcome campers to the new park.

A grand opening and open house is planned June 17 at Jellystone Park. Ranger Smith is really Keith Horn, a Warsaw businessman.

June 21, 1972 -- The Kosciusko Community Hospital Founders' Fund drive has gone "over the top" in its public campaign to raise a minimum of $1.5 million for the new 113-bed community hospital.

In a victory dinner last night at the Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, it was announced that the drive had reached $1,820,180 -- with more to come -- making it the largest successful fund-raising drive in the history of Kosciusko County.

June 23, 1972 -- Groundbreaking ceremonies were held here Wednesday for the new Royal Palace of the Realm of Recreation, which will house the Counting House Bank, the Camelot Hall and the King Arthur Royal Court Sports Palace.

In attendance at the noon ceremony were Homer Shoop, president of the Counting House Bank; James Greiner, North Webster town board president; bank officials; construction personnel and guests.

The bank will be on Camelot Square in the center of the community, which bills itself as a 20th century Camelot of the Realm of Recreation. In keeping with the town's 10-year program on the King Arthur theme, the building will resemble a two-story medieval castle with turrets and battlements.

July 22, 1972 -- A Burket man suffered critical injuries early today when a car operated by Kosciusko County's deputy prosecuting attorney slammed into the Flowing Well on Ind. 13 where he was standing.

Authorities said Delbert Dean Wallace, 38, Burket, had stopped his car alongside Ind. 13 2-1/2 miles south of North Webster at 1:12 a.m. today to get a drink of water. They added an auto operated by Deputy Prosecutor Bruce M. Frey, 29, of Syracuse, who apparently was confused by the headlights of the parked vehicle, drove into the Flowing Well where Wallace was standing.

Wallace, a composing room employee of the Times-Union, was taken to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne following emergency treatment at Murphy Medical Center.

July 29, 1972 -- Carrying signs saying, "It's a shame some people can't see past our hair" and crying, "We want a new public rink," about 40 local youths protested a short hair policy at the Wheel Skating Rink on Winona Lake Friday night.

Among the demonstrators carrying picket signs and an American flag and marching in a circle at the entrance to the rink were members of a roller skating club who are unhappy at recent decisions of Wheel operator Paul Chappell.

July 31, 1972 -- Seven was the lucky number for the North Webster Ski Bees over the weekend as the local waterski club captured the state waterski championship team title for the seventh year in a row.

Nosing past the WaWa Skiers by only 2-2/3 points, the Ski Bees won the coveted team trophy with a total of 361-2/3 points.

Warsaw's Center Lake was cleared of boat traffic for the 1972 Rollie Williams Memorial Indiana Water Ski Championships as 178 entrants met here for the annual event.

Sanctioned by the American Water Ski Association and the Indiana State Water Ski Association, the meet was sponsored by the WaWa Skiers, an active ski club based at Lake Wawasee.

Aug. 4, 1972 -- "So long truckers ... happy driving on new bypass," proclaimed a sign in downtown Warsaw today and it pretty well expressed the sentiments of all residents following formal opening of the new U.S. 30 bypass.

Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb and other state and local dignitaries were on hand for the formal ribbon-cutting ceremonies at 11 a.m. opening a 10.38-mile stretch of the new highway -- the final segment of four-lane pavement linking two of the state's larger cities -- Fort Wayne and Gary.

The program was held on top of the new overpass above Ind. 15, 2-1/2 miles north of the city.

Aug. 29, 1972 -- Warsaw's landfill operations have again come under fire from the Indiana State Board of Health, which has issued an order for the city to halt the use of its present facilities at the edge of the Boggs Industrial Park.

For the past six months the state has told the city that its landfill is not suitable. But city officials, maintaining that most of the city's recreational areas have been provided by landfills and land re-claiming operations, have strived to meet demands imposed by the State Board of Health without any measure of success. Now the state has ordered the landfill closed.

Sept. 12, 1972 -- An annexation ordinance more than doubling the town's size was unanimously approved Monday night by the town board.

Following completion of all legal formalities outlined by William Garrard, town attorney, the new corporate boundaries of the town will be as follows: Commencing at the intersection of the Penn Central Railroad's east right-of-way line and the center line of CR 1150N, proceeding west on and along the center line of CR 1150N to its intersection with the west right-of-way line of Ind. 15; then north to a point which is the center line of CR 1300N if the road were extended due west; then east on the center line of CR 1300N if extended to its intersection with the east right-of-way line of Old Ind. 15; then south on the east right of way line of CR 1250N; then east to a point in line with the east line of Schafer Street; then south on the east line of Schafer Street and the extension of such line to the center of Turkey Creek; then westerly along the center line of Turkey Creek to the point where it intersects the east right-of-way line of the Penn Central Railroad; then south along the east right-of-way line of the railraod to the place of beginning.

Sept. 14, 1972 -- Ray W. Monteith, vice president of the Kosciusko County United Fund, and Mrs. Herbert (Ruth) McCleary, first and only woman ever elected to the Kosciusko County Council, received Warsaw's highest honor Wednesday night when they were named Man and Woman of the Year for 1972 by the Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce.

Sept. 19, 1972 -- Ordinances covering minimum standards for housing and a building code for the city of Warsaw were adopted unanimously by the city council in its meeting last night.

The new ordinances will become effective Oct. 1.

Oct. 7, 1972 -- The fragile bubble of plans for construction of a singular high school in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. just might burst in a special board meeting Monday night.

A September ruling by the Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board is being enforced for the first time with the proposed TVSC high school between Akron and Mentone.

The pollution control board edict forces all new schools constructed after September to run pipelines from the town or city nearest the construction site to the school to carry sanitary sewage to a treatment plant and water to the students.

TVSC board members had planned to drill their own well on the site and construct their own septic system in line with requirements set by the State Board of Health.

Now health board officials in Indianapolis say five miles of sanitary sewer and water mains must connect the proposed school with the sewage and water systems in Akron. Mentone has no sewage treatment plant.

Oct. 13, 1972 -- The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a petition by eight Warsaw property owners who charge an Indiana statute unconstitutional.

On March 29, 1969, the city of Warsaw passed an ordinance which endeavored to annex land east of the city. A remonstrance was filed against the annexation, but Special Judge Harold D. Stump of Auburn, in Kosciusko Circuit Court, ruled that the remonstrators owned personal property rather than real estate.

An Indiana statute bars owners of only personal property from effectively remonstrating against land annexations by city governments. The remonstrators took the case to the Indiana Supreme Court, which upheld the local Circuit Court decision that the remonstrance of the eight owners of personal property was invalid under state law.

The appeal was then made to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oct. 14, 1972 -- Paul Eckert and Paul Kealey hold the first division trophy won by the Warsaw Tiger Band last Saturday during the Northern Indiana schools marching bands contest, held at Warsaw Community High School. There were 28 schools participating. Eckert, a senior at Warsaw, is the drum major for the Tigers' band, and Kealey, a junior, is the assistant drum major.

Nov. 3, 1972 -- Kosciusko Community Hospital Inc. has cleared another hurdle in its long battle for federal Hill-Burton funds to assist with the construction of a new hospital following a favorable ruling in Wabash Circuit Court this week.

Judge John W. Beauchamp has ordered that a 1971 ruling of the Indiana State Board of Health awarding KCH $300,000 in Hill-Burton funds be upheld.

Nov. 27, 1972 -- Rick Alan Rapp, 19-year-old, Rt. 2, Milford youth who studied swine blood lines and experimented with feed rations to get more marketable hogs, today was named one of six national winners in the 4-H swine program at the 51st National 4-H Congress in Chicago.

He received a $700 educational scholarship at the Congress, which opened Sunday and continues through Thursday.

Nov. 27, 1972 -- Kosciusko County Commissioner Glenn N. Lowman, 55, Rt. 2, Akron, died of cancer in Murphy Medical Center at 12:35 p.m. Sunday following an illness of less than two months.

Lowman, serving his first term as commissioner from the southern district, was president of the board of county commissioners. He entered the hospital Oct. 4 for tests after becoming ill following a two-day meeting of the county commissioners. He underwent major abdominal surgery Oct. 9 and was dismissed from the hospital Oct. 22. He re-entered the hospital Nov. 4 and has remained there since that time, undergoing a second operation last week.

Nov. 29, 1972 -- Manchester College has long prided itself on training its graduates for service -- teachers, ministers, missionaries, social workers make up a sizable portion of its alumni.

This spring the college will be sending a new kind of service-oriented individual into the world when it graduates its first students with majors in a new environmental studies program.

Turning out its first "environmental" majors is hardly the half of it, though. For in the future at Manchester is an Environmental Studies Institute, a national advisory board for the college on environmental issues, an off-campus environmental education center where students and teachers from the college and elementary and secondary schools could get practical training in a laboratory setting, annual pollution or ecology-related workshops and conferences, an "environmental job placement" service, an internship program and a wide range of studies and experimental work.

Dec. 1, 1972 -- A Beaver Dam man, Gerald D. Smalley, 39, was named Southern District County Commissioner today to fill the unexpired term of the late Glenn N. Lowman, who died Nov. 26.

Dec. 9, 1972 -- A special tabloid section -- "Spotlight" Ð featuring a full week's listing of television and radio programs, plus movie theater schedules, makes its debut in today's Times-Union. You can look forward to it every Saturday.

Dec. 23, 1972 -- This Christmas time is different than any other John (Jack) P. Burns and family have spent. They're quietly optimistic that sometime during this festive season a Vietnam peace can be achieved. If that happens, the treasured pictures of their son may yet be replaced by the rapid return of "the real thing."

While Lt. Michael T. Burns' pictures rest in their special spots at his parents' home, 1702 E. Sheridan St., Warsaw, Mike remains a prisoner of the Viet Cong at an unidentified spot in North Vietnam.

Jan. 30, 1972 -- Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. students may name their new high school following a Monday night school board move to accept as many as three different names for board consideration Feb. 19.

Dr. John McKee, school board secretary, suggested the board turn the naming business over to the students since TVSC patrons in his district were complaining about the previously selected name of Tippecanoe Valley High School.

Dr. McKee did not elaborate on what the patrons wanted to change about the name.

Feb. 2, 1973 -- Kosciusko County election workers may pack up their ballot-counting troubles in the proverbial kit bag and smile all the way to the computer the next time voters go to the polls here.

County commissioners Maurice Dorsey, Fredrick Gilliam and Gerald Smalley agreed Thursday that purchasing a portable, inexpensive type of polling machine might be an excellent way for the county to spend part of the $76,000 in revenue sharing funds it expects to receive this year.

The devices the commissioners are studying employ computer type cards that are punched by the voter with a small metal stylus at the precinct polls. Ballots are arranged in book fashion with a metal binder that allows the voter to punch a hole in the computer card corresponding to the candidate or amendment of his choice.

Feb. 16, 1973 -- In an effort to eliminate potential danger spots on the new U.S. 30 bypass, the Indiana State Highway Commission plans to illuminate several intersections and possibly install traffic control devices.

The action was taken by the commission during a meeting in Indianapolis Thursday and announced simultanously by David Wagoner, secretary of the commission, and State Representative Thames Mauzy of Warsaw.

The response by the highway commission is an apparent attempt to correct several problems on the bypass that have been the targets of criticism by the local populace.

Wagoner and Clinton Venable, chief of the division of traffic for the highway department, reported the commission approved the installation of overhead illumination at the U.S. 30 and Ind. 15 overpass; at the intersection of U.S. 30 and East Center Street near the Holiday Inn; and at the entrance to the Lakes Village Shopping Center on U.S. 30.

March 10, 1973 -- Gov. Otis Bowen helped bring Grace College's Dimensions in Democracy Week to a close last night at the Winona Lake Auditorium. Formerly known as Americans for America Week, the week was renamed to reflect the school's silver anniversary year theme. The theme for the evening was Dimensions in American Pride.

March 12, 1973 -- The John (Jack) P. Burns family, 1702 E. Sheridan St., Warsaw, received official notification at 7:30 a.m. today that their son, Air Force Capt. Michael Thomas Burns, 28, will be included in the next release of prisoners of war slated for Wednesday.

March 19, 1973 -- The long wait finally ended.

Sunday night at 6 p.m. former POW Capt. Michael T. Burns was reunited with his family, the John (Jack) Burns of 1702 E. Sheridan St., Warsaw, in an emotional encounter at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

March 26, 1973 -- Leo Pike, standing by the headstone of "Rip Razor," 1873-1973, was the officiating minister at the burial of razors and cosmetics during a public ceremony Saturday on "boot hill" near the water tower in Claypool. As the "Rev. Pike" eulogized the departed with somber nasal tones, he remarked to those who had suffered loss not to be sad at the parting. Pike said, "It will ease the pain somewhat for the men to remember the years past when the razor caressed their faces." To the women, Pike said, "Your loss of cosmetics will be a burden for you to carry. But remember, your husbands will still love you because beauty is more than cosmetic deep." There was a good turnout for the burial, all in fun, as Claypool townspeople prepare for their July Centennial celebration.

March 29, 1973 -- For months Warsaw citizens have sympathized in silence with the Jack Burns' as the family awaited the return of its prisoner of war son. Last night the city joyously greeted its newly adopted son, Capt. Michael T. Burns, for the first time.

More than 1,000 persons, most waving small American flags, gathered outside City Hall at dusk for the 30-minute homecoming ceremony.

April 4, 1973 -- Slightly more than 1 percent of Kosciusko County's resident population attended public hearings last month on a comprehensive development plan prepared by the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission. Hand counts revealed that nearly 75 percent attending the hearings favored adopting the plan.

Culminating more than three years of research, meetings and conferences, the comprehensive plan followed paths drawn by Indiana statute when presented to the public at special hearings conducted by the plan commission.

Now it is up to the township trustees, town boards, city council and county commissioners to adopt or reject the master plan.

April 4, 1973 -- Five years ago, Wawasee Preparatory School on nearby Lake Wawasee was an all-white boarding school for boys.

Then, on the evening of April 4, 1968, students and faculty members were shocked when television programs they were watching were interrupted to announce that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.

The Rev. Richard John, then prior of the Crosier priests and brothers at Wawasee who operated the school, invited students and faculty to join him in the school chapel to pray for the slain black leader.

During the service, Father John challenged the Wawasee students to come up with a scholarship for a black student as their Christian response to Dr. King's death.

"Every institution in this country must do its part to help resolve the No. 1 problem in this country -- racism," Father John said. "We must not allow our school to be used as a retreat for those white parents who want their school to avoid school integration."

Within days, Wawasee students raised $600 for a scholarship and the first black student enrolled in the fall of 1968. Since then, Wawasee Prep has solicited other funds to establish scholarships for minority students, and today 25 percent of the school's 110 students are black.

The biggest contribution to the scholarship program has come from the Lilly Endowment Fund of Indianapolis, which has donated $65,000 annually for several years for general operating purposes.

April 14, 1973 -- Kosciusko County Councilman Ray O. Eckert, 65, of Rt. 1, Mentone, died of an apparent heart attack Friday afternoon. He and his wife, Arma, were shopping at the TSC Store, East Center Street, when he was stricken. He was taken by ambulance to Murphy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 4:50 p.m.

Mr. Eckert, a Republican, was serving his third year of his first term as a councilman-at-large. He was elected in 1970.

April 14, 1973 -- Thirteen-year-old Craig Koble, Syracuse eighth-grader, has to be a firm believer in the old adage "if at first you don't suceed, try, try again."

Craig, who came within a whisker of winning the Kosciusko County area spelling crown a year ago in a marathon contest, captured the title today in the studios of Radio Stations WRSW AM-FM.

Koble is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carroll Koble, of Syracuse.

April 24, 1973 -- Putting their chances for re-election in 1974 on computer punch cards, Kosciusko County Council members Monday approved a $40,000 revenue-sharing funds appropriation to purchase portable voting devices.

April 26, 1973 -- Members of the Kosciusko County Board of Health have unanimously voiced their support and favor of educational programs in the county's public schools on sex and venereal disease.

Support of educational programs Wednesday followed a suggestion by Dr. Charles A. Hollar, board member, that the health board take positive and public action to combat the spread of venereal disease in the county.

Dr. David Haines, county health officer, told the board that next to the common cold, gonorrhea is the second most contagious infectious disease in the United States today.

May 3, 1973 -- There may be two sides to the coin of local option income taxes, but members of the Kosciusko County Council generally agree there is no real option for them.

"The state has us over a barrel," says councilman C.L. (Tim) Rovenstine. "It looks now as though I'll favor the local option tax. If we're going to have any money to run the county, I think we'll have to accept the tax."

The optional income tax, passed by the 1973 Indiana General Assembly as part of Gov. Otis Bowen's tax restructuring package, allows county councils to determine whether or not to assess county residents an additional one-half, three-fourths or 1 percent on their adjusted gross income taxes collected annually by the State Department of Revenue.

According to information prepared by the Indiana Farm Bureau Co-op, all of the optional income tax collected from residents in the county adopting the tax would be returned to the county to be used for property tax relief and as additional revenue to operate local government.

What takes the option out of the possible tax, council members say, is the fact that the Bowen tax plan freezes all property tax levies at their current mark for at least five years.

May 3, 1973 -- A group of merchants attending the Wednesday night North Webster town board meeting requested 24-hour police protection and a "beefed-up" department.

The request came following a rash of recent break-ins and fires in the community.

May 15, 1973 -- An unbuilt high school combining Akron and Mentone students in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. was tagged with the official name of Tippecanoe Valley High School Monday night by school board members.

Earlier in the year board secretary Dr. John McKee had asked that TVSC students be polled to select three possible names for the new high school. Tippecanoe Valley, Valley and Valley Central were the choices from which board members could have chosen, but Dr. McKee objected to the "lack of imagination" on the part of the students.

May 21, 1973 -- Carol Steele and Ben Detterman are the 1973 prom "king and queen" of Warsaw Community High School.

May 21, 1973 -- Lifetime Mentone resident Wayne Tombaugh, aged in his early 60s, replaces the late Ray O. Eckert as councilman-at-large following county council voting today at the courthouse.

May 23, 1973 -- Flames that licked away six Warsaw electrical contractor licensing examinations have kindled suspicions of yet another government cover-up.

Monday night members of the Warsaw Common Council learned during a public meeting that members of the city's electrical contractor licensing board, James Breading, Philip Dennie, Donald Shireman and Eddie Hatfield, had destroyed by fire four examinations they gave to themselves for licenses. A total of six examination papers and results were destroyed.

May 25, 1973 -- Ind. 15 will be re-routed out of the Warsaw downtown area this summer and the city will take over maintenance of Old U.S. 30 through the city, it was decided during a meeting of city officials with State Highway Commission representatives in Fort Wayne Thursday.

Lee Rush, Fort Wayne State Highway district engineer, told Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges and other city officials that the state would re-route Ind. 15 on Detroit Street and Winona Avenue, taking it away from Market Street and Buffalo Street in the downtown area.

May 30, 1973 -- Disregarding two hours of arguments from county citizens and their fellow councilmen, four members of the Kosciusko County Council Tuesday enacted a local income tax of one-half of 1 percent effective July 1.

Indiana Department of Revenue figures show the half percent tax, to be collected annually with the Indiana gross adjusted income tax, should raise about $600,000, half of which must be used to further reduce local property taxes.

May 31, 1973 -- Divided on whether or not to impose a local income tax on Kosciusko County starting on July 1, members of the county council unanimously agreed during their special meeting Tuesday to oppose granting Sunday sales permits for alcoholic beverage retailers.

May 31, 1973 -- The boundaries of Winona Lake were enlarged by approximately 1,000 acres by action of the town board at a special meeting last night.

William Bibler presented a petition to be annexed along with a similar petition by the officers of Chicago Boys Club. The area extends southward to CR 225.

June 5, 1973 -- All members of Warsaw's contractor licensing boards have quit in a disagreement with city officials over the relaxing of testing and licensing procedures.

All members of the various licensing boards have submitted their resignations effective yesterday morning at 8 a.m. A copy of the mass resignation announcement was received at The Times-Union by certified mail late Monday afternoon.

In a special meeting last Friday, Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges and councilmen voted to relax various testing and licensing procedures under the building code ordinance in the wake of a court suit filed by Mentone electrical contractor Gerald Romine.

June 6, 1973 -- Citing "pressure from the county -- pressure from county government" as the primary reason for action Tuesday of the Kosciusko County Alcoholic Beverage Board, John Shively, board president, announced the ABC decision to deny applications for Sunday liquor sales permits.

Shively promised at a May ABC board meeting the board would deny Sunday sales permits if objections were raised by local government with jurisdiction over the restaurant applicants. Resolutions were adopted by the county council, county commissioners, common council of Warsaw, a number of religious organizations and various chapters of the Women's Christian Temperance Union objecting to approval by the local board of Sunday liquor sales permits.

June 8, 1973 -- Land and businesses east of Warsaw along the U.S. 30 bypass were annexed during a special meeting of the city council last night.

The annexation covered an area on both sides of U.S. 30 starting at the Lakes Village Shopping Center at the intersection of the bypass and Old Road 30 and extending east to and including the L.M. Berry and Co. property.

June 15, 1973 -- Shaken by mounting public resentment of the Kosciusko County Council's May 29 4-to-3 decision to impose a local income tax on wage earners, county Republicans have called an emergency meeting June 22 for party officials.

Smoke signals from "burned" County GOP Chairman Edwin Pratt, Winona Lake, indicated today the gathering will light a fire under wayward council members Merle Wertenberger, Washington Township; C.L. (Tim) Rovenstine, Atwood; Mrs. Ruth McCleary, Warsaw; and Wayne Tombaugh, Mentone.

Kindling the heat from Republican leadership is the quartet's decision to adopt the local half percent income tax in the face of vocal opposition during the May meeting. County council members opposing the tax were Charles Menzie, Pierceton; Norman DeGood, Warsaw; and Ralph Oyler, Syracuse.

June 23, 1973 -- A week of Republican hope that Kosciusko County could be spared a half percent local income withholding tax ended at 10:50 a.m. today, when members of the all-GOP Kosciusko County Council held their positions on the tax firing line.

After nearly two hours of discussion among themselves and with Farm Bureau proponents of the option tax, council members failed to formally propose a course of action or inaction on the income tax issue. Calling for a motion, presumably to master a council vote either for or against rescinding the tax, council president Merl Wertenberger accepted councilwoman Ruth McCleary's motion to adjourn.

June 27, 1973 -- Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz and wife, Suzy, were greeted by Warsaw Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges and his wife Sheila when the Munich swim star arrived at the local Holiday Inn late Tuesday night. This morning Spitz appeared in a public ceremony at Camelot Square in North Webster. This afternoon, he was inducted into the Palace of Sports at a dinner at the Tippecanoe Lake Country Club attended by approximately 250 persons.

July 11, 1973 -- Their plans to add to the Warsaw Junior High School shafted by 55 feet of supporting pilings in swampy subsoil, five members of the Warsaw school board agreed last night to junk plans for junior high additions and explore construction of a new $3 million middle school.

July 20, 1973 -- Area youngsters have two new pieces of equipment to entertain themselves with this summer -- twisting slides. Two were installed recently by the department of parks of the city of Warsaw. One is at Center Lake, the other at the Richardson-DuBois Park on East Market Street.

City workers also are installing additional children's equipment at the Richardson-DuBois location this week, known as the "700 series." Included will be parallel bars, monkey bars, slide and swing.

July 28, 1973 -- At 6 p.m. Sunday two Warsaw Community High School seniors will break a world's record.

Dan Yoder, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Yoder, and Dan Robinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Robinson, plan to continue "teetering" until noon Aug. 3, when they will have surpassed the existing record of 486 by 114 hours. By continuing the extra five days, they hope to keep the record for a while and put extra pressure on anyone trying to surpass it.

Continued in Part 3

Warsaw Times-Union July 3, 2004

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