Vol. 41, No. 34
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
of Wabash County Inc. November 7, 2018
www.thepaperofwabash.com Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
Local schools stress safety at bus stops By Josh Sigler jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com
Lions Club District Governor James Reeves (right) speaks during the ribbon cutting ceremony while Rick Morris, Roann Covered Bridge Lions Club president, looks on.
Roann Lions cut ribbon on caboose project By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com ROANN – Representatives from the Roann Covered Bridge Lions Club and the Roann Heritage Group were among those on hand Saturday afternoon as the ribbon was cut to dedicate a caboose on display just north of the Roann Paw Paw Township Library. The caboose, once fully restored, will allow the library to use it during its summer reading program, as well as at various other events throughout the year. The caboose, Nickel Plate No.1142, was donated to the Lions Club by Dick Siders, who used it for many years as an office for his business in Disko. Siders said he owned the caboose for about 30 or 35 years. Roann Lions President Rick Morris and Lions member Keith Ford were among those who spoke at the ceremony. Morris explained how the group received the caboose and the work that went in to getting it to the state that it currently is in. He also thanked a number of community residents and area businesses for their efforts in making the project come to fruition. “This project has been a long time in the making,” Morris said. “We started over two years ago, I believe, talking about maybe bringing 1142 into town. It takes a while to get your ducks all lined up in a row. It’s not 100 percent yet, but it’s a lot closer than we were even a month ago.” He said when work began, it was snowing and that volunteers were extremely cold while doing the work.”
Dick Siders (center) cuts the ribbon during a ceremony in front of a caboose he donated to the Roann Covered Bridge Lions Club and the Roann Heritage Group. Looking on during the Saturday afternoon ceremony are (front, from left) Ellie Draper, Roann Heritage group representative, Roann Lions Club president Rick Morris, Lions District Gov. James Reeves, Lions Club member Keith Ford; Kathie Grandstaff, Roann Heritage Group representative; Roann Clerk-Treasurer Bob Ferguson, Jo Ellen Nelson and Jerry Nelson, Roann Heritage Group representatives. Morris and Nelson also are members of the Roann Town Board. Photos by Joseph Slacian “But the outside is restored and its sitting on the tracks,” Morris said. Ford said about 400 man hours were put into getting the caboose into the shape it is in now. “The beams were rotten on the bottom and the top, both,” Ford said. “We had to replace all the siding and build new beams for the bottom. It has steel rods that connect the top and bottom and they criss-cross and hold the structure together so that when it is going down the road, it can flex back and forth. “We’re probably not even halfway (to completion). Morris said work will continue on the interior of the caboose. “We want to restore it to as close of the original state as we can,” he said. The caboose was built in 1908 and is one of the last 25 wooden cabooses manufactured. Cabooses became steel sided after that.
While they have hundreds of hours in the project, the two said for the most part they enjoyed the work. “At times it got frustrating,” Morris joked, “but, yeah, we enjoyed it.” About 20 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, including James Reeves, the Lions District Governor. “This is a prime example of what happens when a local Lions Club in the town of Roann comes together with the town itself, and comes up with a joint project,” he said. “If it wasn’t for Lions, a lot of people wouldn’t have the things they have today.” In its heyday, there were six daily trains that went through Roann, Morris said. Excursion trains went through on Sundays. “That’s a lot for one little town.”
An unthinkable tragedy took place in rural Fulton County on Oct. 30. Three children, siblings Xzavier Ingle, 6, Mason Ingle, 6 and Alivia Stahl. 9, were struck and killed while trying to get on the bus at 7:15 a.m. that day. The investigation revealed that Alyssa Shepherd, 24, Rochester, disregarded the bus’ stop sign and the continued her line to travel, striking four children in all. Maverik Lowe, 11, was flown via Samaritan Helicopter to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne from injuries sustained in the crash, including multiple broken bones. This type of tragedy could happen anywhere. Local administrators report that automobiles disregard bus stop signs almost on a weekly basis. The three siblings in Rochester were among five youngsters nationwide killed last week in bus stop accidents. “School safety and student safety is our No. 1 priority of ours and our transportation department,” Wabash City Schools Superintendent Jason Callahan said. “A lot of it comes back to communication and training. Our transportation director (Samantha Harshman) works with bus drivers on routes and routinely visits routes. If we ever have incidences of a car running a stop arm, we report it immediately to the authorities. We do that through radios. Communication is pretty fluid when it comes to bus drivers.” Wabash has had incidences of fender benders and other kinds of bus accidents. The radios are key, Callahan said. “We do a bus evacuation practice and work with our school resource officer to walk through those scenarios,” Callahan said. “I would say it’s that training and ongoing evaluation. We have about five crossing guards in the community that will go to multiple (continued on page 4)
Ceremony planned for Veteran’s Day By The Paper staff
Wabash County’s annual Veteran’s Day ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Wabash County Courthouse. Don Cole, chaplain for the Wabash American Legion Post No.15, will present the invocation, followed by Mrs. Robert Wade performing the national anthem. Wabash County Commissioner Brian Haupert will present remarks, followed by Wabash County Veteran Service Officer Sam Daugherty reading remarks from Mayor Scott Long, Sen. Joe Donnelly and U.S. Rep Jackie Walorski. The ladies auxiliaries from the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars will lay wreaths. VFW Post 286 Commander Scott Hendry and American Legion Post 15 Commander Steve Conner will give remarks. The VFW Rifle Team will present a gun salute, followed by the lowering of the American flag and the playing of Taps by Bonnie Truss. VFW Chaplain Mike Teal will give the benediction to close the ceremony.