Vol. 41, No. 14
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
Firm to buy Wells Fargo of Wabash County Inc. June 20, 2018
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
By The Paper staff
Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 52 Wells Fargo Bank branches in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, including the Wabash branch. The sale will provide Flagstar Bank with approximately $2.3 billion in deposits and $130 million in loans, along with certain related assets. Flagstar will pay an effective deposit premium of approximately 7 percent based on bal-
Youth take part in theatre program
ances as of Dec. 31, 2017. Management expects the transaction will be moderately accretive to 2019 earnings per share. “We’re excited to welcome the Wells Fargo employees and customers to Flagstar Bank,” said Alessandro DiNello, president and chief executive officer of Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. “Wells Fargo’s primary goal throughout the negotiation of this transaction has been to make sure its customers and employees experience a seamless transition to Flagstar, and we will ensure that hap-
pens. We are confident customers will like Flagstar’s big bank line-up of quality products and services delivered with the high-touch personal service of a community bank. Flagstar has a long tradition of supporting its communities and fully expects to continue its commitment to good corporate citizenship and community reinvestment in our expanded market area. “Being able to increase our presence in the Midwest market–a geography we know well and find very attractive–is a
By David Brinson news@thepaperofwabash.com
During the first weeks of June, Wabash County students (first through 12th grade) rehearse three separate musicals simultaneously throughout the Honeywell Center. It’s noisy. It’s frantic. It’s just a little messy. But ask any of the show’s directors, and they’ll admit that theater is often all those things. The Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Summer Theatre Camp lasts multiple weeks of practice and ends with the children putting on a big show in front of their family. With nearly 120 participants, the program takes up every available corner of the Honeywell Center. Educating and entertaining the community since 1984, VPA had been struggling to stay afloat until the Honeywell Foundation recently took the helm. “Honeywell decided this was a program that should stay in the community for as long as possible, so we stepped in and took over the program in 2013,” Director of Education and Outreach, Teresa Galley, said. Galley noted there are parents in the audience who were also in VPA, now watching their children perform. She believes the benefits of the program travel with these performers, long after they leave the stage. “Theatre teaches them how to think in the moment, to be comfortable in front of a crowd, to use speaking skills. Plus, all those musical skills,” Galley said. “Music is an (continued on page 4)
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terrific opportunity for us. This transaction significantly expands our banking footprint, more than doubling our customer base. We’re also excited about the opportunity to meaningfully transform the bank’s balance sheet, while benefiting from funding that’s both more efficient and less sensitive to rising interest rates. This acquisition strengthens our funding platform and enhances franchise value.” The 52-branch purchase is for 33 loca-
Rustic Barn is now open for business By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
VPA wraps up summer art camp A pair of youngsters work on their art projects at the Visual and Performing Arts summer art camp. Photo by David Brinson
By David Brinson news@thepaperofwabash.com
The Honeywell Foundation’s Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) summer art camp has officially wrapped up another year. The results can best be seen in the pieces of work the children take home with them. “One day, the kids had easels set up in the (Charley Creek) Gardens and you had to paint just what you see. So, we have 21 images of the same thing,” Teresa Galley, Honeywell’s Director of Education and Outreach, said. “But they are 21 totally different pictures.” The VPA summer art pro-
gram is a two-week course at the beginning of each summer which allows children, kindergarten to 12th grade, from across Wabash County, to meet one another and express themselves in creative ways. Ericka Tyson, Southwood Elementary teacher and program instructor, had 30 kindergarteners and first-graders building marble run contraptions. In an attempt to integrate art with other subjects, such as science and math, the children were growing plants in flower pots they had painted themselves. For the older grades, Galley (continued on page 4)
Deb Conner has a lot of memories from her childhood about her grandparents’ dairy barn. Today, she’s trying to help others create memories, not of watching the dairy cows be milked. Rather, the memories she’s helping to create are of the most important day in a couple’s life. Conner and her husband, Steve, have converted the dairy barn into a reception hall named the Rustic Barn at Hopewell. Work began last summer and as of Saturday, June 16, two wedding receptions have taken place there. Many more are planned later this year, with nearly every weekend in September and October already booked. Conner said she and a variety of work crews, the majority of which were local, put in hundreds of hours of work to get the barn in the condition it is in
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Rustic Barn to host open house
By The Paper staff
The Rustic Barn at Hopewell will host an open house from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, July 8. Owner Deb Conner said she would like to invite the community to see the new venue, noting that she has seen numerous cars driving by slowly during construction to get a glimpse at what is happening. She also said she would like to invite other weddingrelated vendors to set up booths during the open house. The Rustic Barn at Hopewell is located at 2238 N 500 E.
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A look at one of the dressing rooms at The Rustic Barn at Hopewell. Photo by Joseph Slacian