Oscar the Grouch, the strange, true story of The Beast of ‘Busco by Michael Summers is the front page feature of a recent Fort Wayne Reader, an independent newspaper in Allen County.

Next year Churubusco will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the hunt for Oscar as well as the Turtle Days Festival, both of which took place in 1949.

Oscar makes news in the Fort Wayne Reader

Summers* writes …

Sure, ballparks are all well and good, but for civic leaders and city boosters seeking other creative means to draw tourists to our fair city, slow the brain drain, and put Fort Wayne on the proverbial map, I have two words for you: Lake Monster.

…  Look what it’s done for Loch Ness, a Scottish backwater that is famous throughout the world and rakes in an estimated 25 million pounds in tourism annually all due to the beastie lurking in its lake - a beastie that, despite the eyes of thousands of tourists and a small fortune in sonar equipment, has never really been seen.

But Loch Ness is an extreme example. For a more modest example of the Lake Monster effect, one need look no further from home than Churubusco, the tiny town just a few miles Northish of us. Perhaps the annual draw from the community’s Turtle Days festival each summer falls short of $25 million, but, you know, I’m sure it’s something, and they owe it all to “Oscar.”

For more of this story go to Fort Wayne Reader …

(*used with permission of Michael Summers.)

The Jorgensen Family YMCA is hosting a shopping trip to Chicago, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 22.

A charter bus will drop off visitors in the heart of Chicago. Spend the day Christmas shopping, touring museums or just browsing with a friend. Participants under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. This popular holiday trip is filling up quickly so don’t delay!

The pick up/drop off location is the Jorgensen Family YMCA, 10313 Aboite Center Rd, located in Indian Trails Park. The bus will leave at approximately 6:45 a.m. and will returned at approximately 10 p.m.

Cost is $40 for members, $80 for non-members.

Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago during the Thanksgiving weekend holiday lighting ceremony.

To sign up, stop by the Jorgensen Family YMCA Membership desk, or call Nikki Surbaugh, Youth and Family Program Director at the Jorgensen Family YMCA, at (260) 432-8953 or email nikki_surbaugh@fwymca.org.

Water Tower Place Mall on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago

The website is great!! I’m deployed in Iraq right now and I check it every chance I get.

Helps me get a little taste of home while I’m away.

Thanks and keep up the great work!

Justin Berghoff

Ed. note: We got the OK from Justin - a graduate of Churubusco High School - to publish his email address. He would enjoy hearing from anyone back home, he said. Email him at jberghoff@gimail.af.mil.

Dan Hile, Churubusco High School choir and music director, spends a considerable amount of time at school sponsoring and directing students in various activities, including the now-showing musical, Les Miserables.

That was one of the reasons cited for naming him Smith-Green Community Schools Teacher of the Month for November. Hile was recognized at the Nov. 2 school board meeting.

Dan Hile

CHS principal Austin Couch said over the past several years he has witnessed Hile’s music programs grow rapidly. But most importantly, Couch said, what he has witnessed is the excitement and love for music than Hile instills in his students.

“He has been able to reach a few students that may have had a history of apathy and has turned them into excited and enthusiastic young men and women,” Couch said.

“(Dan Hile) is not only a fantastic teacher, but also a positive role model for Churubusco’s student body,” Couch said.

Spotlight on Success - NE 12

At that same board meeting, the Spotlight on Success award was given to 12 high school students who make up the capella group, NE 12.

Honored as outstanding students were Brenan Herendeen, Cassandra Petrie, Meghan Huelsenbeck, Jeff Royer, Jana Lewellyn, Chelsea Roth, Alayna Skinner, Taylor Sordelet, Brandon Green, Alex McDowell, Zane Sade and Randy Speaker.

NE 12 - From left, Chelsea Roth, Alex McDowell, Cassandra Petrie, Jeff Royer, Alayna Skinner, Brandon Green, Ronnie Speaker, Meghan Huelsenbeck, Zane Sade, Jana Lewellyn, Brenan Herendeen, Taylor Sordelet.

“Getting through the day is a daunting task for many students,” Couch said. “However, this group of individuals dedicate themselves day after day and night after night with rehearsals and performances. They sacrifice their personal time to maintain their studies as well.”

The students are all members of New Era and are currently starring in Les Miserables which will play again this Saturday and Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively, in the high school auditorium. Tickets are $8 and are available at the door.

This photo was taken in the school commons shortly before the students traveled to Fort Wayne to Sweetwater recording studio. The students’ performance was taped and will be aired on Fort Wayne television channels WPTA-21 and WISE-33 during the Indiana News Center’s “Sounds of the Season” series.

Spotlight on Success

Isabelle Turner

Isabelle Turner is shown with CES principal Nicole Singer at the Nov. 17 school board meeting, where Turner was given the Spotlight on Success award.

At the Nov. 17 school board meeting, Isabelle Turner, was recognized and presented the Spotlight on Success award for her achievements at Churubusco Elementary School, where she attends fourth grade.

Isabelle, daughter of Rachel Skinner, is responsible , helpful to other students and gives 100 percent to her schoolwork,” said CES principal, Nicole Singer.

“She is talented in art, gets her work done on time and is involved in DaVinci’s Art Club and Soundmasters (music group)” Singer said of Turner.

(Photos by Brenda Sade and Viv Sade for buscovoice.com)

The Friends of the Churubusco Public Library will host the 9th annual Christmas Walk Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23 from 2-6 p.m.

Five houses and one church are included on this year’s walk. A closing ceremony with door prizes to be awarded Sunday at the library, 116 N. Mulberry Street, at 6 p.m. Winners do not need to be present to win.

Area churches will be providing cookies in the library as well as the eagerly-anticipated petit fours made by Stephanie Krider. Refreshments will be available at the library Saturday and Sunday from 2-6 p.m.

Santa Claus will be at the library during the Christmas Walk on both days from 2-2:30 p.m. and from 5-6 p.m. Children are invited to stop by and get their photo with Santa.

For more information call the library at 693-6466.

The six Christmas Walk sites are as follows (All summaries are written by the individual home owners and Green Center Church officials.):

The Lillmars home

Larry and Ava Lillmars
6952 E. 150 N.
Columbia City IN 46725

The home of Larry and Ava Lillmars and family is located south of Churubusco, three miles west of Eel River Golf Course. The red, tumbled brick home was built in 1998 and rests on seven acres with a peaceful scenic view.

There are many memories being created in their family household and especially during the Christmas season. You will enjoy the traditional and Swedish decorations along with the special collection of nutcrackers and smokers all bringing the rooms to life. In addition to the special themes in the house, you will want to see the downstairs workshop room, giving way this season to “Santa’s Workshop”.

The Lillmars welcome you to their home and hope the Churubusco Public Library’s 9th Annual Christmas Walk will enhance the joy of your holiday spirit.
Harold Norman
813 Clearview Drive
Churubusco, IN 46723

Books, videos, and recordings are what you will notice as you tour the home of Harold Norman.

The Norman home

The Christmas trees in each room are decorated in various color themes - such as gold, red, and blue.

A collection of ceramic houses is displayed in most rooms. Many nativity sets are on display, as well. There also is a collection of nutcrackers.

Note: Parking during the Christmas Walk will be available at the Good News Baptist Church across the road.

Bob and Janice Parquet
6134 N 650 E
Churubusco, Indiana 46723

During the energy crisis in the 1970’s, Bob and Janice Parquet had plans for a 2-story home, but in the winter of 1976, when the wind chill factor was well below zero and their root cellar was 38 degrees, they switched gears and designed and built an earth-covered house. They had to get a special variance from the zoning board to build this unconventional home. The Parquets designed the home, but Masolite Corporation engineered the structural requirements.

The Parquet home

The footers and side walls were designed more in line with commercial construction and the back wall was designed as a free standing retaining wall.

By using prestressed double T concrete panels, it was not necessary to have a supporting wall running through the center of the home. Natural light filters through the windows on the exposed wall. An indoor greenhouse at the back of the house creates more light. For the three feet of dirt that was placed on the roof, the prestressed, double T concrete panels were designed to hold around 250 lb. per square foot. The roof panels and front wall were installed with a crane. By having dirt on three sides and the roof of the house, it was very energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

In 1983, Bob Parquet was transferred to the Toledo area by Dana Corporation, so they moved his parents into the house. His parents lived in the home until their deaths in 1999. In 2002 the Parquets decided to remove the dirt from the roof and add a second story. The roof became the floor of the second story.

It is a great home for family gatherings. Christmas decorations you will see are traditional. The decorations have been collected over the years. There is a wreath that is decorated with Bob’s grandparents’ fragile ornaments. Lenora Ellen Geiger (Janice Parquet’s mother) made the tree skirts and the wall hanging for the large naivety. Other Christmas wall hangings made and designed by Mrs. Geiger will be on display.
Bonnie and Tom Swihart
14023 McDuffee Road
Churubusco, IN

The Swihart home

Located south of Churubusco off Highway 33, our house became our “Country Retreat” in the fall of 1991. Both Tom and Bonnie grew up on farms in LaGrange County.

Bonnie lived on a dairy farm and Tom’s farm had sheep and hogs. Upon college graduation, Tom accepted a teaching position with Fort Wayne Community Schools. The couple officially became “City Folk.” For twenty-one years they lived in the traffic and hustle and bustle of Fort Wayne. But the country in them never went away. When they found this house all the details came together for them to buy it. Ever since, they’ve enjoyed being in the country.

Bonnie and Tom have two daughters and sons-in-law and have been blessed with five grandchildren. One of their highlights is seeing the grandchildren enjoying the outdoors at their house and fishing and swimming in the pond.

The couple enjoys modernizing their home by taking on various projects. Tom claims to be a handyman of sorts and Bonnie really enjoys decorating. The summer of 2007 they took on their biggest adventure by adding a three-seasons room on the west side of their house. The extra view that it gives them of the neighborhood is much appreciated.

Christmas has always been a favorite time of the year for Bonnie and she really enjoys the lights and trimmings of getting the house ready for the season. Wishing you a very Blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Venture out to McDuffee Road and visit the house in the woods with the Swiharts.
Nick and Debra Uecker
5100 S 100 E-57
Churubusco, IN

The Uecker home

The Uecker family has lived in their home in Green Township, Noble County, since October 1996. The home was designed and built by Nick Uecker with the help of family and friends.

Their love of wildlife, and the hunting and fishing hobbies of the male members of the family, are evident in the home’s decor. Deb has used part of her Precious Moments collection in decorating the music room. Many of the Uecker’s other Christmas decorations have been received as gifts or made by their children throughout the years.

Part of their Christmas traditions include making cookies and candy to give to family and friends. Spending time with extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are also an important part of their Christmas celebration.

The Ueckers look forward to their participation in the Christmas Walk as a way of expressing their Christmas wishes to the entire community this year.

Green Center United Methodist Church

Green Center United Methodist Church
2861 S. 300 E.
Albion, Indiana

In 1907, shortly after a Sunday School was started at the old Green Center schoolhouse, revival services raised about $1,800 through subscription to build a church. Land for the church was donated by William and Fanny Shambaugh. Allen Bortner and Leslie Moore helped plan and erect the building. Much of the lumber came from the farm of Frank Stanley and was cut at a sawmill operated by Burt Herron, located one-half mile west.

Green Center United Brethren Church was dedicated by the Rev. H. H. Fout in the summer of 1909. The church was on a circuit with other churches until 1940 when members decided to withdraw from the circuit and rely on pastors from the surrounding area to conduct services. With no regular pastor the community gradually lost interest and the church closed in 1943.

In 1945 the church was remodeled and reopened and the Rev. Louis Strong was appointed pastor. During this time the church services were often recorded and later broadcast on radio station WKJG. Sometimes Rev. Strong and a group from the church went to the station and did live broadcasts.
The church later became the Evangelical United Brethren Church, which then merged with the Methodist Church in 1969. Physical changes also took place as several remodeling projects were undertaken, culminating in the latest addition of a handicapped accessible fellowship area, kitchen, bathrooms, and office, and enlarged Sanctuary.

Although there have been name changes, pastor changes, and membership changes the church has continued to work for God in the Green Center community and beyond. Our mission continues to be “Win Souls for Christ” as we grow, prosper and spread the word of God to the community and the world.
Be sure to enjoy our annual display of poinsettias around the altar at the front of the sanctuary.

Barbara A. Childs, 82, wife of Charles E. Childs and long-time Gaston businesswoman, died at 4:40 a. m. on Friday, November 14, 2008, at Muncie Health & Rehabilitation Center in Muncie.  She had been in declining health after suffering a stroke over six years ago, and had been a patient there for over five years.

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Nicole M. Johnson, age 23,  a resident of Churubusco, Indiana died early Tuesday morning November 11, 2008 following a traffic accident on US 33 south of the city. Nicole was born December 13, 1984 in Fort Wayne, Indiana a daughter of Bruce L. and Terri K. (Schlund) Johnson. She was a graduate of Churubusco High School with the class of 2003. She had been employed in Fort Wayne by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for 3 years and also Logan’s Roadhouse for 2 years.

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Madalene A. Gaff, 93, a former resident of rural Churubusco and widow of Carl E. Gaff, died at 2:25 a. m. on Saturday, November 8, 2008, at the Provena Sacred Hearth Home in Avilla.  She had been in failing health for a number of years, and had been a resident there for the past six years.

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Max G. Gross, 81, a resident of rural Churubusco in Allen County, fell asleep in the arms of Jesus at 12:35 a. m. on Saturday, November 8, 2008, at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.  He had been in declining health, and had been seriously ill for the past five weeks.

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Harriet E. Fisher, 85, a resident of Churubusco and widow of Charles B. Fisher, died at 7:00 a. m. on Thursday, November 6, 2008, at Miller’s Merry Manor in Columbia City.  She had been a patient there for the past month.

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The Churubusco/Smith Twp. Fire Department will be hosting a fire prevention program starring The Kasey Program - an exciting and educational program that teaches children fire and life safety skills.

Churubusco Fire Department members and The Kasey Program will be at the Churubusco Elementary School Thursday, Nov. 13, from 1–2 p.m. and will be presenting a check with funds donated by local organizations to help the program.

Kasey is a black Labrador retriever who has been trained to demonstrate life saving skills. Kasey and her partner, firefighter/paramedic Jeff Owens, travel the country bringing their life saving message to all that will listen.

Owens, a firefighter/paramedic for more than 20 years, developed the program in 1994 and has watched the program grow from less than 100 programs annually, teaching less than 3,000 people, to now scheduling approximately 400 programs and reaching more than 400,000 people annually.

The Kasey Program is sponsored by Koorsen Fire and Security, with their corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. Koorsen Fire and Security has built its business on providing safe environments to work and live in and wants to be a major player in protecting young people from injuries that are preventable.

During the program Kasey will demonstrate to the students how to:

• Stop, drop and roll;
• Feel a door to see if it’s hot before opening it;
• Knowing two ways out of every room;
• Telling an adult when finding matches and lighters;
• Crawling under smoke to escape;
• Call 9-1-1 during an emergency, and;
• Designate a meeting place outside the students’ home.

LILLIAN “JOY” M. BIESIADA, 79, went home to her Lord Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008, dying at Lutheran Hospital. Born Nov. 13, 1928, in Fort Wayne, she was the oldest child of Thomas and Edith (Roehling) Hayden. She was happiest when surrounded by her family. She used her computer and the internet daily to stay in touch and was dedicated to her faith in God. “Lillian was well loved and will be deeply missed.” She was a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, Daughters of Isabella and the Seton Society. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Thomas; sons, Michael (Jeanine) of Fort Wayne, Thomas (Rosa) of San Diego, Calif., David of Churubusco, and Lawrence (Sonia) of Westland, Mich; and daughters, Lois Wehrle of Fort Wayne and Joyanne (Duane) Barnett of Pleasant Lake; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and siblings, Lois Mills of Terre Haute and Thomas Hayden of Fairfield Glade, Tenn. She was preceded in death by her sons, Edward and Joseph. Mass of Christian Burial is 11:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 10700 Aboite Center Road, with calling one hour prior. Calling also from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at D.O. McComb & Sons Covington Knolls Funeral Home, 8325 Covington Road, with Vigil at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Burial in Catholic Cemetery. Memorials to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.

NILA JEAN PAULUS, 43, of Fort Wayne, died Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008, 9:37 p.m., at Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis. Surviving are her husband, Larry C. Paulus of Fort Wayne; daughters, Joanna Christine Paulus and Rachel Julia Paulus, both at home; son, Nathaniel Luke Paulus at home; daughter, Sarah Florence Paulus at home; parents, Delbert and Carolyn Conrad of Hoagland; brothers, Roger (Michelle) Conrad of Churubusco and Andrew (Mindy) Conrad of Fort Wayne; and maternal grandmother, Vernice Moore of Fort Wayne. Service is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, with visitation from 10 a.m. until service time. Visitation also from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday at Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home, Decatur.

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The Smith-Green School Board appointed Adam Skiles as acting superintendent at their meeting Monday night.

Board president Tanya Young was appointed to assist Skiles as the second signatory for documents that must be signed while the board begins its search for a new superintendent. Carol Kaiser resigned as superintendent Nov. 1.

Adam Skiles

The board is in the process of trying to find an interim superintendent to serve during the search and interview process.

Skiles also was appointed as a voting member of SEBT, the school insurance trust that Smith-Green is a part of.

In other school board business:

* Set June 5, 2009 as the graduation date for the senior class.

* Appointed the following winter coaches:

Girls basketball (all lay coaches) - Head coach, Jeff Sheehan; varsity assistant, Jim Fry; JV coach, Denny Beucler; eighth grade, Kregg Jones and Greg Blake; seventh grade, pending; sixth grade, Amanda Dice and Heather Lortie.

Boys basketball (all lay coaches except Brackmann) - Head coach, Michael McBride; assistant, Jody Herendeen; JV coach, Aaron Cripe, JV assistant, Justin Snyder; eighth, Andy Norris; seventh, Tim Herendeen; sixth, Phillip Brackmann.

Wrestling (all lay coaches except Riesen) - Head coach, Sam Reisen, assistant, Randy Driebelbis; second assistant (a paid position if the team has more than 25 wrestlers), Rick Hamilton; volunteers, Jake Riesen and Larry Thompson; middle school head coach, Joel Barrett; middle school assistant, Brad Knapp and Daymon Schinbeckler.

Cheerleading (all lay coaches) - Co-head coaches, Dawn Norris and Ashton Amber; middle school, Toni Poynter.

* Agreed to spend $12,755 to replace tables and chairs in the Media Center.

* Accepted a donation of tires from Shermon Gayheart that will be used to replace the tires on the band/choir trailer.

* A total of $384,677 was approved in claims, including $242,537 in payroll.

Watch this site for a special Teacher of the Month award as well as students who were featured on the November Spotlight on Success.

(Warning: This is the Web! Full of vile and disgusting stuff. Turn back now if you are offended by the words ass, politician, uterus,Tijuana, titmouse, betcha, Republican, cabbagehead, betcha ass or Democrat.)

The day after john McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, my brother asked me why I was not running for vice president.

After all, he said:

By Viv Sade

1) I have more local government experience (three terms on a town council),

2) I have just as many skeletons in the closet. You betcha. (wink)

3) I too, think Iran and Iraq are the same country.

4) I was once, for a few months, an unwed pregnant teenager.

5) I have just as much foreign policy diplomacy experience if we can count that drunken overnight trip to Tijuana, Mexico in 1971, - which by the way, was unrelated to #4 - but, most importantly …

6) Can I skin an elk?

Sure, I have been known to blow off some mommy stress and shoot up some s$#! with an assault rifle, but who has not?

Well, geesh, that got me to thinking, I am a staunch Obama supporter, but hey, it’s hard staying afloat on this Obama island in Red Whitley County.

Should I rethink my vote? After all - as one female acquaintance of mine pointed out - Palin and I both have uteruses.

Is uteruses a word?

So, now I’m expected to vote for uteruses? Doesn’t that mean if I vote for a man, I’m voting for —-s?

Does that mean there are people in America actually voting genitalia over qualifications?

Shouldn’t we all be very, very scared?

Although, I do have four kids, a pair of wireless glasses, and tend to wear my hair in a messy updo that looks like a busy soccer mom, a la Palin. I’m not a busy soccer mom - I’m a lazy and poor mom.

Got the messy updo - now where do I find a pair of those black suede boots?

The difference is Palin doesn’t have time to go to the hairdresser -whereas I don’t have the money. Which throws me back in the Obama Camp, where - if he wins - Obama has promised to take Paris Hilton’s cash and redistribute it to me and my hairdresser and buy me a new do and my hairdresser a new curing iron. We can’t wait.

This debacle of an election and politics of fear have made Americans crazy.

Winston Churchill had this to say about elections: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

Jerry Seinfeld had this to say: “People - they’re the worst.”

Both were correct.

We’ve got everyday people - intelligent people - who go all wacko every four years during a presidential election.

A woman told me in confidence the other day that if I don’t vote for a particular candidate, … blah, blah, blah … well, I’m not sure what she said - I quit listening after she said something about angry stemcells collecting weapons of mass destruction - but this is what I heard: “a throng of same-sex Socialist aliens armed with assault rifles will move into my upstairs where they will drill for oil and take over our lives, taxing our underwear, double-taxing naughty underwear, forcing us to buy worthless stock with our unemployment checks and making us drink processed fossil fuels until the ice caps melt and we all drown in a sea of disgraced Republicans, demoralized Democrats, skinned Alaskan elk, discarded SUVs and dying, but still arrogant oil barons …”

Or something like that.

All this has raised some serious questions that everyone needs to ask before going to the polls Tuesday.

Maybe not quite as many skeletons in the closet as Palin, but there was that one night with the King.

Questions like:

Am I voting for the candidate of my choice or the choice of my candidate?

Or the choice of my candidate’s choice?

And is my choice the candidate of choice?

Or even the choicest candidate?

Does my candidate have a uterus or … Yikes! … something else?

Where can I get a pair of those kick-@$$ black suede boots Palin wears on the campaign trail?
Or, will Barack take the boots from Gloria Vanderbilt’s feet and give them to me if he wins?

Is Cindy McCain a freshly-manufactured Stepford Wife?

Is Barack Obama’s father really Darth Vader?

Did Sarah Palin name her children - Piper, Track, Willow, Trig and Bristol - while still under the influence of birth-giving, mind-enhancing Demerol?

If elected vice president, I would give everyone one meeellion dollars.

If she has more, will they be named Ceilingtile, Betcha, Obgyn (pronounced like R2D2), Cellulite or Wink?

If McCain and Joe the Plumber are traveling in Air Force One from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, Calif., how many hours until Joe loses his 15 minutes of fame?

If Delaware separates from the Continental shelf and floats into the Atlantic because of some unknown fault line, will Joe Biden still have his gig as senator?

Did Obama really stack wooden blocks with a Turkish toddler terrorist when they were both two-years-old and attending the Hawaiian Preschool for Future Leaders?

It’s getting so ridiculous on Capitol Hill that the only vote that would bring some kind of relief is Jack Kevorkian for White House physician.

But as a lifetime member of Hope-A-Holics Anonymous, I’m not giving up on the system just yet. I’m tough and have been through tougher times.

And, I’m pretty sure I could skin an elk.

The question is, why would I want to?

Jacqueline June “Jackie” Gotz, age 79, of Columbia City, IN passed away at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at the Peabody Retirement Community, North Manchester, IN where she moved when her health failed a couple years ago. Born on June 29, 1929 in West Frankfort, Franklin County, IL she was the daughter of Joseph S. and Theresa Verna (Frick) Spires. During her childhood, she moved from West Frankfort, Illinois to Pontiac, Michigan and graduated from Pontiac Senior High School with the Class of 1947. She attended Pacific Bible College, Portland, OR through her junior year, transferring to Phillips University, Enid OK. On August 23, 1952, she married Reverend Russel B. Gotz, at the Sellwood Park Church of God, Portland, OR. While living in Enid, OK, her husband served as student pastor of a small church in West Liberty and she gave birth to 2 children, Jon Robert in 1953 and Teresa Jean in 1957. In 1955, she earned her Religious Education and Bible degree.

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Vivian L. Shambaugh, age 90, of Churubusco, IN passed away at 4:45 pm Friday, October 31, 2008 at The Oaks, Columbia City, IN. Born on June 26, 1918 in Churubusco, IN, she was the daughter of Frank and Leona (Hawn) Sheldon. She was a lifetime resident of Churubusco, IN and graduated from Churubusco High School with the Class of 1936. On March 21, 1942, she married Harold L. Shambaugh at Pastor Marion Shroyer’s Parsonage, Columbia City, IN.

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The month of November brings forth the season of thanks at the Whitley County Family YMCA with a full week dedicated toward thankfulness.

In appreciation of YMCA members and the community, several events have been planned at the facility during the week of November 3-9. Anyone wishing to join during the ‘Festival of Thanks’ will have their joiner fee waived. For more of this story, go to our Whitley News Network partner talkofthetownwc.com …

Radio station Star 88.3’s tenth Annual Adoption Celebration will be Sunday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m.

The event is hosted by Parkview Family YMCA, 10001 Dawsons Creek Blvd., Fort Wayne.

Special guest will be national comedian and ventriloquist, David Pendleton.

This is a free event open to the public to help celebrate adoptive families and individuals considering adoption.

A love offering will be taken to benefit the Lutheran Social Services adoption agency.

There will be many agencies present with adoption information.

For more information go to www.fwymca.org or www.star883.com.