The following are the agendas for the Executive Session and Regular School Board Meeting taking place March 15:

– Executive Session –

Monday, March 15, 2010

                6:00 p.m.

The Board of School Trustees will meet for the following purpose(s) in accordance with IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b):

2. For discussion of strategy with respect to any of the following:

• B. Initiation of litigation or litigation that is either pending or has been threatened specifically in writing;

–Regular Meeting–

Monday, March 15, 2010

              7:00 p.m.

1. Call to Order and Welcome of Visitors – Mrs. Young

2. Pledge of Allegiance & Spotlight on Success – Mr. Couch & Stuart Hilsmier

3. Moment of Meditation – Mrs. Young

4. Student Representatives to Board of School Trustees – Mr. Couch

6. Action on Consent Agenda – Mrs. Young

A. Minutes, Executive Session and Regular Meeting, March 1, 2010

B. Claims

7. Comments from Visitors

A. Community

B. Administrators

C. Board

D. Correspondence to the Board

8. Personnel

A. Resignations (Softball Assistant Lay Coach)

B. Retirements

C. Terminations

D. Reclassification (Junior/Senior HS Administrative Support Positions)

E. Leave Requests (Mrs. Pat Naragon)

F. New Hires (Additional Spring Coaches)

9. Business

A. Action: Approval of Professional Leaves

B. Action: Approval of Conflict of Interest Form

C. Action: Non-Renewal of Technology Integration Specialist Position

D. Action: Appointment of Corporation Treasurer, Extracurricular Treasurer

E. Action: Approval of Resolution to Transfer Rainy Day Fund

F. Action: Correction to Retirement Buy-Out, Mrs. Becker

G. Action: Approval of Bio-Medical Sciences Agreement

H. Report: Student-Parent Handbooks/Initial Review from Administration

I. Report: 2010-2011 Staffing and Enrollment Projections

J. Report: State Board of Accounts Audit, 7-1-07 to 6-30-09

K. Other

10. Future Agenda Items or Meetings

A. No Board of School Trustees Meeting – April 5

B. Approve Bus Bids – April 19

C. Projected Summer School Programs – April 19

D. Initial Report: 2010-2011 Student Fees – April 19

E. Approve Student Handbooks – April 19

F. Board Visitation of Churubusco Schools – May 3, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM

G. Future Agenda Requests – Board Members

11. Adjournment – Mrs. Young

Next Regular Board Meeting – Monday, April 19, 2010, at 7:00 p.m.

Thomas “Tom” L. Fletcher, Nov. 23, 1952 – Jan. 13, 2010

Today, on Sunday, January 17, 2010, many of Tom Fletcher’s friends and family members normally would be playing poker and sharing good conversation and comraderie from noon until early evening – sometimes late evening.

But today, instead, we gather for Tom’s funeral.

Today, we mourn.

* * *

Tom Fletcher

Thomas “Tom” L. Fletcher was born on November 23, 1952 in Fort Wayne, to Jasper S. “Pete” and Mary T. (Gadomski) Fletcher. The family resided in Churubusco.

Tom grew up with two brothers, Jerry and Dan, and four sisters, Cindy, Cathy, Dee Dee and Missy. His family has a lot of fond memories of the Fletcher siblings – fishing, playing games, swimming, wrestling, hanging out – in general, just enjoying each other’s company. From the time he was a toddler, Tom was ornery, but good-natured, according to his siblings.

In high school, Tom and his then girlfriend and future wife, Cheryl, sometimes skipped school together.  They would go to a friend’s house where they participated in Hookey Ping Pong. Tom would write the absence excuse for the two of them and then turn them into the principal’s office. The principal at that time, Jake Delegrange, one day noticed that the handwriting and notebook paper were exactly the same. He  carefully placed the ragged edges of both notes together and they fit perfectly.

Busted!

Tom and Cheryl both got three extra days off from school – as Tom later told the story.

The Fletchers were well-known to most people in Churubusco mostly because, it seemed there there were just a whole lot of ‘em. The Fletcher boys were close in age, looked alike and were often mistaken for one another.

Tom  graduated from Churubusco High School in 1972, enlisted in the Marine Corps and was promptly sent to serve in Vietnam. He never talked about his war experiences, only to say that he never wanted to experience it again. When the Marine Corps recruiter approached Tom at the end of his enlistment period and tried to encourage him to reenlist, Tom was jovial, but unflinching.

“No,” he told them. “I’m done. I’m going home … to Churubusco, Indiana.”

Tom sometimes liked to act gruff and he barked a lot, but everyone could see right through it – there was no bite at all – Tom’s heart was bigger than life.

Mary said she fixed her son dinner every night and every night without fail – even if it was a baloney sandwich – Tom would finish eating, get up, push his chair back up to the table and thank his mother for the great meal.

* * *

Tom was kicked more than a few times in life – yet he never became bitter.

There was never a person in need – family, friends, co-workers or even strangers – who came to Tom that he did not offer his help and hospitality. If Tom had only five dollars in his wallet, he would undoubtedly hand it over to anyone in need – no questions asked.

And that’s not counting the times he unwillingly gave it away at the poker table.

His generous heart was doubly so for his family, of whom he was very proud. It was obvious whenever he spoke of his mother, his sisters and brothers, his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Tom’s passions included playing cards, gambling, ‘Busco High School football and the Indianapolis Colts.

One of Tom’s best friends, Bob Sade, said they grew up together and he has a lot of “Bob and Tom” stories, but he can’t tell them, as he is not quite sure if the statute of limitations has expired.

Tom would talk while playing cards with his friends and family – mostly about how every time he had a hand full of aces, and bet the max, someone – usually Pierre – would be holding a royal flush. Tom would get fed up when he was losing, take a long walk, come back, rejoin the game and say, “I can’t believe I lost with four aces. I’m back to lose some more money that I don’t have. Pierre, isn’t it time for you to go home?”

The group talked about many things while playing poker, unless the Colts were playing, and then no idle chatter was allowed. Otherwise the conversation covered the gamut: politics on a global scale – the Colts – family – politics on a local scale – Busco Eagles’ football – getting older – complaining of numerous body ailments because of getting older – the Colts – family – Busco Eagles’ football – corporate corruption, crime and greed – the Colts …

Once, when the conversation focused on public officials in general – Tom immediately brought up his costly water bill and said he wish he knew someone on the Churubusco Town Council that had the guts to lower the rates, all the while looking meaningfully in the direction of another player, who was a member of the council.

About three years ago, Tom mentioned something that he thought should be done at the Churubusco Park. Tom was quickly persuaded to join the park board, where there happened to be an opening.

And, just like that, he became a public official and the target of the group’s political banter and razzing. Tom always joked that it was not so much about being a public servant but more about “all the graft.”

But it soon became very obvious that Tom Fletcher turned out to be a great selection … maybe one of the best ever.

He rarely – if ever – missed a meeting. He was full of ideas, but more than that, he was often seen working hands-on in the park right alongside Rick Krider, the park superintendent, on a project that he wanted to see completed.

So, officials did what they always do with anyone willing to serve and do it so magnanimously – (At this point, Tom would raise an eyebrow and ask, ‘How long you been waiting to work that word in?’) – they asked Tom to be on another board. He became a member of the Turtle Days Association Board of Directors and that group too, was blown away – and outdone – by Tom’s enthusiasm and work ethic.

For the first time in many years, the Turtle Days Festival made a profit and it was no coincidence that it was the same year Tom became a board member and Master Ticket Salesman Extraordinaire. The raffle ticket sale is one of the main fundraisers of the festival, and wherever anyone looked, there was Tom Fletcher carrying a stack of tickets and hawking them to the crowd. He sold thousands of tickets – all on his own.

Last year, board members were all sitting around the table, mulling over who should be named grand marshal of Turtle Days. It was the 60th anniversary of The Hunt for Oscar, and several local names were thrown into the hat, but none of them seemed like a good fit.

Tom said matter-of-factly, “Surely, you know who should be Grand Marshal?” And, when no one replied, he shouted, “Oscar!”

The others all looked at each other, stupefied. Not one of them had thought of the most logical name of all. It was a “duh” moment, and Tom could not help the wry smile that formed at the corner of his mouth.

Tom started the Turtle Days Annual Horseshoe & Cornhole Tournament, which grew rapidly in popularity in just two years. Now, it has become the Tom Fletcher Memorial Horseshoe & Cornhole Tournament.

His family has lost a beloved family member. Turtle Days has lost a great board member. The town and the park have lost a great advocate and a person willing to work hard to make the community a better place. His workplace has lost a great employee. The rest of us have lost a great friend.

Everyone who got to know Tom, could not help but smile. Tom’s grin was infectious. It was impossible not to like him.

As his brother Dan said when Tom was in the hospital, given little chance for recovery, “He’s not just my brother, he’s my best friend.”

And that’s the legacy he leaves, a hard-working man with a heart of gold that would have – and did – sacrificed everything for his family. And in the end, that’s all that really matters – the love of family and friends.

Tom was rich in both.

Add your memories of Tom below or go to Sheets & Childs to read others’ comments.

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. (March 11, 2010) – The Churubusco Park splash pad will remain in the recommended spot suggested by the Park Board and Splash Pad committee earlier this year, after the majority of the Churubusco Council decided to stay with an earlier vote to go along with the original site recommendation.

John Hart objected to the proposed site, saying he was in favor of an alternate site, citing safety issues.

Churubusco Council member Vivian Sade had asked park officials two weeks ago to take a second look at the proposed site for the new splash pad in Churubusco Community Park.

The proposed site – Site 1 – is located where the T-ball diamond is currently situated (park officials have said they will move the T-ball diamond) – between diamonds 2, 3  and 4.

Sade said she thought the site was “crammed into the middle of a lot of other activities – ball diamonds and a playground,” and said she thought it would be too congested.

Even thought the 3-member council voted for the other boards’ recommendation of the splash park site in January, John Hart later raised concerns about the site, saying after he investigated it, there were serious safety issues. Sade later agreed with him and asked the park to take a second look at the site.

Lucas Koger, a graduate architect for Vintage Archonics of Fort Wayne and a Churubusco High School graduate,  said he was in favor of the original site – Site 1 – and said that building the park at Site 2 (northeast, where the soccer field is currently located) would create additional utilities expansion expense. He said the safety issue would be addressed through higher fencing around the ball diamonds and a net between two large utility poles near Diamond 4.

Hart said Site 1 was much too small, and imposed serious safety concerns – mainly because of runaway balls from the surrounding ball diamonds – for the children and parents who would be visiting the splash pad.

Council president Frank Kessler and Park director Rick Krider said they were in favor of the park board and splash pad committee’s current recommendation of Site 1.

Sade said she was going to stick with her previous approval of the park and splash boards’ proposed site and would not rescind her vote. “I personally don’t like this site – I think it will be much more congested that anyone realizes,” Sade said. “But if the park board and splash park board have revisited the issue and feel comfortable with their  recommendation, then I will not rescind my vote.”

Hart made a motion to reject the recommendation of Site 1 and said he was in favor of Site 2, but the motion died for lack of a second.

The splash park will be built at the original proposed site between Diamond 2 and 4 – where the T-ball diamond is currently located, and should be open by July.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

A new Churubusco Police car definitely catches attention when officers are out cruising and patrolling the town.

The 2010 Dodge Charger was purchased at the beginning of the year via a government awarded bid from Fletcher Chrysler in Franklin, Ind., and went into service around the first of March.

If you’re old enough to remember the boxy squad cars of yesteryear, then you definitely remember seeing the first squad car that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. This addition to the fleet is no different and raised some eyebrows and questions about the car.

One of the reasons the Charger was purchased was because the Ford Crown Victoria – that much of the public has become accustomed to seeing as a police car – will no longer be produced in 2011. Price was also a consideration – the Crown Vic would have been $22,000 without any options, while the Charger price came in at $21,200 with some options.

The most critical option was the the extra air bag system installed in the car, according to Town Marshal Chad Fulkerson.

“Obviously we have to drive at high rates of speed sometimes and I want to make sure extra safety features were installed in the car in the event of an accident to protect my officers.” Fulkerson said.

“Some people may or may not like the black rims on the car, but that was a cost saving measure, as well,” Fulkerson said. Many of the other options are simply aesthetic and not the thrills and frills one might believe are an “option,” he added.

Ronald McDonald helped kick off the weekend festivities at Churubusco’s McDonald’s restaurant, in honor of  new owners, Dick and Judy Littlefield. Buscovoice was there to catch some of the all-day festivities.

James Michael Hageman, age 57, of Columbia City, IN passed away at 1:55 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2010 at his residence after a battle with cancer.

Born on August 17, 1952 in Fort Wayne, IN, he was the son of Richard J. and Wanda M. (Graves) Hageman. He was born and raised in Fort Wayne, IN moving to Whitley County, IN in 1989. He graduated from Bishop Luers High School with the Class of 1970. He attended ITT Technical College receiving a certificate as an Electrical Technician in 1971 and completed Emergency Medical Technician training at Ivy Tech Community College in 1976. On August 11, 1989, he married Joyce Partsch in Fort Wayne, IN. He worked at GTE/Verizon for 35 years as an installer/maintainer retiring in 2007. Then after retirement he worked at Geiger Developing. He was a member of St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church.

Survivors include his wife, Joyce Hageman of Columbia City; 1 step-daughter, Sharon (Jackie) Monk of Churubusco, IN; 2 daughters, Andrea (Noah) Ladig of Avilla, IN; Michelle (Ben) Lawrence of Fort Wayne, IN; 1 son, Chris Hageman of Columbia City; 1 step-son, Jake (Kelly) Partsch of Markle, IN; 1 brother, Rick (Cheryl) Hageman of Milton, TN; 1 sister, Linda (Tim) Bell of Cummings, GA; mother, Wanda M. Hageman of Fort Wayne; and 9 grandchildren.

More…

Edward Frank McClure, age 78, of Columbia City passed away at 1:40 p.m. Monday, March 8, 2010 at his home.

Born on December 16, 1931 in Fort Wayne he was the son of Thomas F. and Helen L. (Couts) McClure. As a young child he lived in Ohio and Wolf Lake, moving to a farm in Thorncreek Township and lastly at his Tri-Lakes, Karen Kove home for many years. He attended Wolf Lake High School through the 12th grade. On March 12, 1950 he married Patsy Marie Gray in Lagrange. He first worked at Essex Wire, Ligonier, G.E. Fort Wayne, and retired from Dana, Fort Wayne, as a leadman in the axle line department. After his retirement he assisted local farmers and operated Ed’s Lawn Mowing Service. An avid Cubs fan, he also enjoyed fishing, golfing, mowing and general farming.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Patsy Marie McClure of Columbia City; 2 daughters, Pam (Steve) Loe and Linda (Art Miller) Coulter both of Columbia City; 1 son, Bruce E. (Brenda) McClure of Milford; 3 granddaughters, Brandie (Kevin) Kreps of Columbia City, Cara (Aaron) Likens of Wolcottville and Megan (Bryan) Lee of Fort Wayne; 4 great grandchildren, Jordan Coulter of Churubusco, Dakota and Jaegar Kreps of Columbia City and Vincent Likens of Wolcottville; 3 sisters, Deloris (Bob) Chiddister of Ligonier, Elline (Ruben) Weiner of Ithica, NY and Lynn (Tom) Beard of Sonoma, WI; 1 brother, David (Cindy) McClure of Wolf Lake. He was preceded in death by his parents, 1 grandson, Scott Coulter, 2 brothers, Fred and Mike McClure, 1 sister, Jeanne Clark and 1 son-in-law, Mike Coulter. “A special thanks to those closest to Ed who supported him on his journey.
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Check out our latest additon to the Winter Fun Foto Contest at right.

Can you top this entry? Send your Winter Fun fotos to Editor@buscovoice.com and win prizes! Hurry – deadline is March 31.

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – The Churubusco Turtle Days Festival Committee has grown so large that they had to find new meeting quarters! A great problem to have, according to President Kirk Gray.

Churubusco Turtle Days Festival will be held June 16-19 and will go out with a bang – a big bang!

The festival committee is busy raising money to produce the greatest fireworks ever on Saturday night at the close of the festival. Last year’s fireworks were great, but this year’s will be even better, Gray said.

“We plan to do a bigger and better show, although last year’s was fantastic by all accounts,” Gray said. “This year, we will have speakers in the park so that the people watching the fireworks will be able to listen to the music (to which the fireworks are choreographed). It’s really a fireworks show set to music.”

The theme for this year’s Turtle Days Festival is “Oscar celebrates the Wild Wild West,” so grab your guns and horses and Old West saloon attire and get ready for some fun.

In addition to the annual parade at 6 p.m. on Saturday night – the route is still up for debate – the last night of the festival – watch for these exciting events as well:

• Beer Tent (new location)
• Car, Truck & Bike Show
• Garden Tractor Pull
• Skeet Shoot
• BBQ Cookoff
• Live Entertainment Nightly
• Fireworks
• Carnival & Midway Every Night 5-10 in the Park
• Skateboard Competition
• Horseshoe and Cornhole Tournaments
• Turtle Races
• Kid’s Day in the Park
• Food and Craft Vendors
• Chamber of Commerce Merchant’s Tent & More!

There will be a Tom Fletcher Turtle Days Memorial Golf Tourney and Texas hold ‘Em Tourney May 8 at Eel River Golf Course beginning at 2 p.m. The poker tournament will be held at the Eel River Clubhouse after the outing at 6 p.m.

Watch this Web site for more details.

For more information or to register for any event go to the Turtle Days Web site or contact one of the committee chairs listed below:

• Kirk Gray, president – 260-452-8903

Sponsorship, Vendors

• Robin Ramsey, vice president – 260-433-6250

Parade, Poker Run, Vendors

• Tracey Bultemeier, secretary – 260-705-8950

Fireworks, Royalty Competition, Scholarships. Entertainment, Tournaments

• Vince McEntee, treasurer – 260-438-2034

Vendors, Facilities, Entertainment

• Greg Barkley  – 260-229-0006

Entertainment, Parade

• Mark Bianski – 260-610-0928

Tournaments, Horseshoe/Cornhole

• Brian Graham – 260-693-2473

Marching Bands

• Holly Guiff – 260-446-1247

Tournaments

• Don Hiatt – 260-415-1886

Special Events

• Rick Krider – 260-433-6213

Facilities

• Elisha Norris 260-615-4499

Gaming

• Viv Sade 260-241-7737

Publicity, Skateboard Contest

• Mike Smith – 260-750-0102

Facilities

• Christi Wood – 260-402-6794

Sponsorship, Skateboard Contest

• Diane Blessing – 260-704-1408

Car, Truck, Bike Show

• Jeff Bonar and
• Shelly Hansen – 260-348-0308

Poker Run

• Julie McCartney – 260-693-8189

Crafts

For Sale – 45 inch x 45 inch glass top table with 4 chairs.

There is a chip in the table, you can see it in the pictures.

$100 obo

Call (260)705-7916 or email jstahlhut@logikos.com

Herbert Earle Stampe, 99 of Columbia City, died at 5:09 p.m. Saturday March 6, 2010 at The Oaks, Columbia City.

He was born March 31, 1910 in Clinton County, Iowa a son of Peter Johannas and Fredericka Sophia (Hanssen) Stampe. His formative years were spent in Preston, Iowa where he graduated from High School in 1927. He then attended Browns College of Commerce in Clinton, Iowa.

On April 15, 1933, he was united in marriage to Mary Juanita Woll. They made their home in Iowa. In 1943 they moved to Indiana.

During WWII in was employed by Studebaker, Fort Wayne as an accounting clerk. In 1945, he went to work for Fibre Form, Columbia City and also began farming on acreage he purchased in Richland and Smith Twp. In 1950, he went to work for Terratrac which later became part of J.I. Case and they move through various assignments in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. He retired in 1972 returning to Columbia City.

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March 16, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

The Churubusco Rotarians are sponsoring the 17^th annual Community and Scholarship Auction to raise money for scholarships for seniors at Smith-Green Community School and the Churubusco community on Tuesday, March 16.

The fun and festivities start at 6:00 p.m. at the high school cafeteria with a free will donation buffet supper.  The auction immediately follows.  Previous auctions have been very successful and Rotarians are looking forward to another rewarding year.  Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

Some old favorites are back such as the plane ride over Indiana with Jack Green, massages from Biddle Chiropractic, the Purdue football outing, subscriptions to the Churubusco News, and handmade rag rugs.  New items this year include a hot air balloon ride, a handcrafted quilt by Mary Myers,  the famous JA broom rack from the 1970s, a rocking chair crafted by Roger Barnhart, and a Matt Painter autographed basketball.   Below is a full list of items thus far.

Anyone with items still to donate may contact Richard Zollinger at 260-248-2851 or 693-2177.

Churubusco Rotary Auction

Roger Barnhart*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Handcrafted rocking chair

Chuck* & Barb Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Quilt

Chuck* & Barb Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . Quilt rack

Chuck* & Barb Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bear bench made by Chuck

Chuck Jones* . . . . . . . . ..  .. . . . .Famous award winning Junior Achievement broom rack from the 1970s

Churubusco Watch & Jewelry/Jim & Ceil Parker. . . .14k white gold diamond tennis bracelet (.14ct total wgt)

Churubusco Watch & Jewelry/Jim & Ceil Parker.. . . . . Citizen lady’s 2 tone quartz wristwatch with Svarorski crystals

Churubusco Watch & Jewelry/Jim & Ceil Parker. . . Citizen men’s yellow quartz watch

Sycamore Hills Golf Club/Golf Pro Tim Frazier. . . .Threesome of golf at Sycamore Hills with Pro Tim Frazier

G & K Golf Kars. . . . . Signed Purdue Basketball by Coach Matt Painter

Rob* & Jill Mar and Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . .Purdue football outing including 2 game tickets, parking pass & tailgating before and after the game

BRC Rubber & Plastics . . . .Weekend use of moonwalk

BRC Rubber & Plastics . . . .Weekend use of moonwalk

K & K Video and Books/Karen Hill. . . . . 52 free rentals

K & K Video and Books/Karen Hill. . . . . 52 free rentals

Whitley County Community Foundation. . . Heffelfinger Water Color

Richard Tuck. . . . Pottery

C & A Tool/Rob Marr*. . . .Roto Tiller

Terry Beeler. . .Scale model steamer launch

Mark* Coonrod/Star Insurance. . . .Garden dump cart

Aquatek Water Treatment. . . .5 bags of 80 lb. solar salt

Ball Furniture/Pat Ball**. . .$100 gift certificate

Parkers Outlet Center. . . . Carhartt jacket

Ultrazone Family Entertainment. . . . . .Certificate for 1 weekday laser tag party for 6

Ultrazone Family Entertainment. . . . .gift certificates buy 1 game get 2^nd game free

Culligan/Columbia City. . . 5-40 # bag of choice of salt

Culligan/Columbia City. . . 5-40 # bag of choice of salt

Culligan/Columbia City. . . 5-40 # bag of choice of salt

Culligan/Columbia City. . .case of bottled water

Culligan/Columbia City. . .case of bottled water

Hayden Honda. . .t-shirt and $20 gift card

Paintball Plex. . . .. Six $20 gift certificates

Papa Murphy’s. . . .four one topping large pizzas

LaOtto Meats. . . .$20 gift card

Jack Green*. . . .One hour flight over Indiana (example—Rochester for breakfast before return flight)

Don Johnson Lawn Service. . .one yard mowing

Jones Greenhouse. . . . 14” dragon wing begonia moss basket

DQ Grill & Chill/Orange Julius. . . Five eight inch ice cream cakes

Teghtmeyer Ace Hardware, Inc.. . . . . . .. . . Makita 10.8 v cordless Driver Drill with 65 pc bit set

Huntertown Volunteer Fire Company.. . . five house # plates (Department will place address on)

Peg Perego USA. . . Battery powered John Deere Utility Tractor

Embassy Theatre. . . . Four tickets to the May 9 Buddy Nolan Memorial Organ Concert featuring Mark Herman

Brady’s Auto Service, Inc.. . . . . .$25 gift card

Churubusco News. . . . .Four Busco subscriptions

Sybaris Clubs (Indianapolis). . . .$75 gift certificates towards an overnight getaway

Steve* & Debbie Darnell. . . . .Vera Bradley Riviera Blue Cargo sling purse and matching cosmetic purse

Albright’s Quality Meats. . . .$25 gift certificate

Whitley County Historical Society. . . .one year membership which includes the quarterly bulletin

Memory Lane. . . . $25 gift certificate

Biddle Chiropractic, P.C. . . . . . . .Four one hour massages

Crazy Pinz. . . . .Four one hour lane rental

Holiday World Splashin’ Safari. . . . . . . . . Two general admission tickets

All Occasions Cakery. . . .1/4 sheet cake

New Harmony Inn. . . . . One night stay

The Post & Mail . . . .  . .One year subscription

Hinen Printing/Jeff Hinen**. . . . . .Deluxe PC cleaning kit

Hinen Printing/Jeff Hinen**. . . . . . . Web Office pro keyboard

Rob* & Jill Marr. . . . .Colts collection (helmet magnet, youth football, hat, microraschel throw)

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . . Two juvenile beach chairs with umbrellas

Rustic Hutch . . . .$25 gift certificate

PBS Channel 39  . . . .Six Weeks to an Ultra Mind book, workbook, and CDs

ProFed Credit Union. . . . . . .Basket of Pro Fed Logo items

Gloria Linsley. . . .Knot tied lap quilt

Keystone Aggregates Inc.. . . . . .$100 gift certificate towards landscape gravel or any aggregate material

Bev Zollinger. . . . . .Handpainted bird houses

Kernel Colada’s Snack Shack. . . .Gourmet popcorn gift bakset

Northeastern REMC. . .. .Energy efficient basket

Cohen Orthodontics. . . . . Sonicare Toothbrugh

Frazier House Bed & Breakfast. . . . Spa Basket

Mardell Rhodes. . . .Two rag rugs

First Sales LLC. . . . .Barnes Sump Pump

Gotcha Covered. . . . One adult hooded sweatshirt with Busco design

Gotcha Covered. . . .One youth hooded sweatshirt with Busco design

Cathy Petrie. . . .Brick for the Eagle Garden Walkway

Pro System. . . . basket

Papa John’s Pizza/Columbia City. . . . .Ten large pizzas

CES PTO. . . Eagles stadium blanket

Premier Limo. . . .One hour limo ride

Noble Hawk Golf Links. . . Twosome for 18 hole green fees

Felger Peat Moss. . . .gift certificate

Eagle Glen Golf Course. . . golf passes

Greg* & Julie Veerkamp. . . .Wolfgang Puck Cookware

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . . Barely buoyant Balloon hot air ride

General Credit Union. . . Gift bag

Jack & Mary Myers. . . 1 galloon dill pickles

Jack & Mary Myers. . . .3 hanging baskets of Wave petunias

Jack & Mary Myers. . . Full size quilt (RickRack) made by Mary

Whitley County 4-H Inc.. . . .Family pass for grand stand events

Whitley County 4-H Inc. .. . . Family pass for grand stand events

Whitley County Family YMCA. . . .Family membership

Whitley County Family YMCA.  . workout towel, gym bag

Rosewood Carriages. . . .Carriage ride

Cathy Oberholtzer*. . . . DVD/CD Case with DVD & CDs

Joe & Trudy Dickason.  . .Handcrafted Wooden Bottle Stopper

Joe & Trudy Dickason. . . .Handcrafted “Bloodwood” Desk Set ;  cigar pen, letter opener, magnifier

Farmers & Merchants. . . . .2009 US Mint Proof Set

The Watering Can. . . .one floral arrangement a month for a year

The Watering Can. . . large wreath

Salesman & Sons Trucking Inc. . . .. one triaxle load of top dirt

Salesman & Sons Trucking Inc. . . . .one triaxle load of driveway stone

Churubusco Subway/Pam Shanahan. . . . . Subway Party Platter (serves up to 20)

Busco Ag Plus. .  .bird seed

Busco Ag Plus. . .snow melt

Busco Ag Plus.  .. dog biscuits

Busoc Ag Plus. . .mouse control

Eagle Do It Best/JR Ford. . . . .perfect garden tool

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . . .lube, oil, and filter

Evans Toyota. . .tape measure, pen, pencil

Fort Wayne Tin Caps. . . .exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Parkview Field (up to 10 guests)

Eel River Golf Course. . . Odyssey white hot putter

Eel River Golf Course. . . One foursome 9 holes golf with carts

Eel River Golf Course. . . One foursome 18 hours golf with carts

Kriders Meat Processing Inc./Columbia City. . . .Smoked ham

Precision Sharpening. .  ..$50 gift certificate towards purchase or rental

Bubbles & Barks/Johnston’s Dog Grooming. . . .$25 gift certificate

Bubbles & Barks/Johnston’s Dog Grooming. . . .$25 gift certificate

Magic Wand. . . $50 gift certificate

Gonink Web Design. . . .Free web site

Star Bank/Debbie Lee*, Churubusco Branch Manager. . . Two p rime tickets to the Indianapolis 500

Pit Stop Pizza. . . .one large pizza a month for a year

Cobblestone Golf Course. .. . . four green fee passes

Jill Bontrager. . . .matted painting of a brick house

Girl Scout Troop 10850. . . .Twenty-four boxes of Girl Scout cookies

Nancy Becker*. . .St. Patrick’s Day Luck of the Irish arrangement with lottery tickets

Sheets & Childs’ Funeral Home/Greg & Jeannine Childs. . . (5) $25 DeBrands Fine Chocolates gift certificates

Trudy & Joe Dickason. . . Handcrafted turned “ash” bowls

Matthew Shambaugh*. . .7” LCD digital photo frame

Matthew Shambaugh*. . .game basket

Columbia House Interiors/Columbia City. . .$50 gift certificate, expires 60 days from 3/3/10

Greg* & Julie Veerkamp. . . .Igloo cooler

Shambaugh & Son. . . Channelock ratcheting wrench set

Shambaugh & Son. . .3 pk Wolverine leather work gloves

Mark & Patty Veerkamp. . .32” Magnavox HD LCD TV

Perry’s Country Store. . .Churubusco hooded sweatshirt

Shear Creations. . . gift bag of product

Shear Creations. . .gift bag of product

Ju Jada Handbags/Lisa Fensler.  .  .Ju Jada handbag

Ju Jada Handbags/Lisa Fensler. . . Ju Jada handbag

Andy’s Car Wash. . . car wash tickets

Hilton Fort Wayne. . .overnight stay with breakfast for two

CHS Fine Arts Department. . . Four tickets to spring musical, “Guys & Dolls”

CHS Athletic Department. . .two family sports passes

CHS Football team. . . .signed helmet

CHS Football team . .. sweatshirt

CHS Football team. . .t-shirt

CHS Basketball team. . .sweatshirt

CHS Basketball team. . .t-shirt

CHS Track team. . . sweatshirt

CHS Track team. . .t-shirt

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . .Dr. Seuss read & play basket

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . .Dr. Seuss read & play basket

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . . Longaberger spring bowl basket

Dick* & Cindy Zollinger. . . play dough basket

Chuck Jones*. ..  JA 1982-1983 project Oscar card game played like Old Maid with history of Churubusco

Candice** & Barry Yeakle. . .pint of Yeakle brand pure maple syrup

Candice** & Barry Yeakle. . .pint of Yeakle brand pure maple syrup

Julie Mast/Longaberger consultant, CES media specialist.  .gardening bag including Longaberger pottery pot and seed packets

Julie Mast. . .tatted cross made by Julie

Hair Solutions/Amy Crabill. . .basket of hair products and certificate for haircut and style

Amy Crabill. . . jewelry item

Hit the Floor Dance Studio/Churubusco/Amber Upton. . .one month of dance lessons

McDonalds. . .  donation

Parker Insurance. . .  donation

Churubusco Family Dentistry. . .  donation

Don & Patty Amber. .  donation

Dr. and Mrs. Russell Gilliom. . .

Steel Dynamics Structural & Rail Division. . . . donation

*Churubusco Rotarian

**Rotarian in surrounding community

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – Several members of the Turtle Days Festival Board of Directors were present at Wednesday night’s council meeting to recommend that the Town approve a new parade route beginning this year on Saturday, June 19, the last day of the 4-day festival.

Two year’s ago, the parade route was moved from its long-time route on South Main Street (from Mahle parking lot north to the school parking lot) to North Main Street (Churubusco United Methodist Church parking lot south to the school parking lot).

Turtle Days Festival Board President Kirk Gray presented the 3-member council with a recent petition from Main Street residents.

Forty-five residents signed the petition, Gray said.

“Three voted for option 2 – going back to the old route on South Main Street,” Gray said. “Only one favored the current route on North Main Street, and a whopping 41 favored extending the parade route from South Main Street (the old Dana/Mahle building-now C & A Tool), north all the way along Main Street to the United Methodist Church at 750 North Main Street.”

Council member John Hart, who was Town Marshal at the time the new route was approved two years ago, said he is against extending the parade route to include all of Main Street. “There’s a definite safety hazard, and we would need additional manpower (law officers) to stand by and direct and re-direct traffic at the detour points,” Hart said. “Then there’s the question of getting emergency vehicles out and into town in the event of an emergency.”

He presented the festival board members with a map showing the routes traffic would be diverted to if all of Main Street (U.S. 33) and Whitley Street (SR 205) within the town limits were to be closed for 2 hours. “Motorists would have to go out of their way for miles and many of them, especially in Allen County on those gravel roads, get lost,” Hart said

Churubusco Town Marshal Chad Fulkerson said he was sure he could find enough sheriff reserve officers to help direct traffic and man the needed posts during the parade.

“They’ve just hired 24 new reserves, I’m sure we can find enough officers,” Fulkerson said.

Fulkerson agreed to research the options and give a report at the next council meeting to Hart, Frank Kessler and Vivian Sade. The council will make a decision after hearing Fulkerson’s recommendation.

The council meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 17 at the Town Hall.

Got an opinion on where the parade route should be – North Main Street? South Main Street? All of Main Street? Post your comments below.

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. (March 7, 2010) – Churubusco Council member Vivian Sade asked park officials Wednesday to take a second look at the proposed site for the new splash pad in Churubusco Community Park.

“I know we already voted to go along with the Park’s recommendation for the splash pad, and I apologize,” Sade said. “But I took a walk and looked at the proposed site – it was not in the spot where I had envisioned it – and personally, I think it’s in a bad spot. It’s too small and crammed in the middle of three ball diamonds, among fencing that is much too short to stop any stray balls.”

During the last two council meetings, member John Hart had stated his opposition to the chosen site, after a January meeting where all three council members said they would go along with park officials’ recommendations.

The proposed site is located where the T-ball diamond is currently situated (park officials have said they will move the T-ball diamond) – between diamonds 2 and 4.

Hart said the area was much too small, and imposed serious safety concerns for the children and parents who would be visiting the splash pad.

Council president Frank Kessler said he was in favor of the park board and splash pad committee’s current recommendation.

Park director Rick Krider said he wanted everyone to be satisfied with the spot, and set a meeting for Friday, March 5, to meet with park and splash pad officials.

Sade told Krider she was not so concerned with the danger of stray balls as she was with the size of the proposed site. Sade said she thought the number of visitors visiting the splash park was underestimated.

“I’ve talked to two park employees in nearby towns who say the response is overwhelming,” Said said. “Morshe Park (Columbia City) built their splash pad far away from all of the ball diamosds and both employees told me they get hundreds of visitors on a summer day – and double that if it is hot.”

The Council will hold a special meeting with members of the park and the splash committee Thursday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall and make a final decision. The meeting is open to the public.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Kids today live in a different world where they socialize, post photographs, videos, chat with friends, friends of friends and yes some times strangers. Millions of kids are doing it everyday and for the majority of them they’re doing just fine, but it certainly is not a danger-free zone.

We’d like to give you a top 10 list of things that can help keep your children safe online while still enjoying this great thing called the Internet.

Block Explicit Sites

By far and away this is one of the hardest things to control for any parent because the ‘typical’ browsers in use today lack the controls needed to safeguard children against seeing the wrong content.

For instance, your child might have a homework project that requires them to write about the White House. The majority of people are probably going to type in www.whitehouse.com and expect to see just that – the White House. But in reality the correct address is www.whitehouse.gov and thankfully the .com website was recently shut down because it was filled with pornographic images and explicit material.

Our suggestion?

Download a child-friendly content-filtering Web browser, such as Crayon Crawler, KidRocket KidSafe, or Noah’s Web. Noah’s Web comes with three browsers: one for children ages 4 to 12, one for teens, and one for parents.

Monitor Instant Messages

If there is one thing kids love as much as texting, it’s instant messaging, either in online chat rooms or via IM tools such as ICQ or Yahoo! Messenger.

Start by telling your kids to never chat with someone they do not know. A chat room is far more dangerous for kids than an instant messenger because it’s filled with different kinds of people from all walks of life. Both good and bad.

Instant messengers on the other hand are a bit more safe because kids add friends whom they already know, but it’s still important to monitor their activity.

One way to control how much a person knows about your child is their profile. Keep it as nondescript as possible. Hobbies and interests are okay, but age, location and sex are not.

Stop Spam

Spam is no good for anyone on matter their age or gender, but objectionable spam can easily get into your child’s email with links to pornographic sites.

We highly recommend downloading Mozilla’s free Thunderbird email client. It works much in the same way that Outlook Express does, but has a fantastic spam filtering tool to keep your kids as safe as possible.

Safety Suites

To get almost everything above, you might want to try out child specific safety programs such as CyberPatrol or NetNanny. Both offer a wealth of protection features, time controls, and activity monitoring.

Quick Tip: Try before you buy. Both of these programs offer a free trial version and you might find that one has features more to your liking than the other. Which can save you some money in the long run.

Each of these tools are just that – a tool and we cannot guarantee with 100% accuracy that it will keep our children safe, but one sure bet is for parents and guardians to stay involved with our children and remind them that the Internet is fun, but they need to use caution when they’re online.

In June of 2006 the word ‘Google’ was added as a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary and although some dictionaries had already added the word, the OED is considered the authority of the English language.

But Google is more than just a word or a search engine. It is a massive corporation filled with a vast array of tools and products you can use – often times absolutely free of charge.

Using The Search Engine

More often times than not users will go to the search engine and type in a phrase they’re searching for and start clicking on links, which is all well and good, but there are tools built into the system that can help eliminate some of those worthless links you’re going to stumble across from time to time.

Let’s start off with the simple phrase of “how to grow a tree” and see what we get. In 0.31 seconds there are over 37 million results we can choose from which makes it almost impossible to decide where to start.

But what if we tried their “advanced search” with the same phrase?

Once we click on the little link seen above and then remove the wording from the first box and put it in the second box, we now have almost 54,000 results. Still a very daunting task, but one that’s much more manageable and accurate to our search.

Quick Tip: As you can see below, it’s not totally necessary to go into the advanced search mode, you simply can put quotation marks around your phrase and get the exact same results.

The reason our first choice returned so many results is because Google by default is searching for any website that contains all five of these words. So it’s finding the words grow, growing, tree, a, how to, so on and so forth. By being more specific and telling the search engine to do so, our options are a narrowed by the tens of millions.

Online Documents – Anywhere, anytime, any place

Microsoft is the dominant software when it comes to programs such as Word and Excel and most of us have emailed one of these documents a time or two. But what if you write something at home and then needed elsewhere? Unless you saved it to a flash drive or CD and have it with you, you’re out of luck.

Enter Google Doc’s – a free online set of software that allows you to create Word and Excel-like documents saved online for you to access wherever you have Internet capabilities.

You’ll need to create an account with Google, which is absolutely free and once you do it’s quite simple to access the software.

1.)Go to Google.com
2.)Click on “sign in” at the top
3.)Click on “settings” then Google Account Settings

You should now be in a screen that shows all of the products you’re signed up for or have access to.

Find the “Docs” link/button and now any document you’ve ever created is available no matter where you are!

You can even share these documents with people if they have an account and allow them to have access to just “view” or “edit” but that’s another tutorial for another time.

Here we can see a simple document that was created and the system has some of the very familiar tools we would find in any word processing program such as bold, italics, align left and so on.

As you can see in the image below I personally have a host of documents from both the spreadsheets to the word processor documents to choose from no matter what computer I’m on.

One very impressive and important feature that is included with the program is an auto save function that occurs every few minutes. This is great for those sudden power outages or when you’re suddenly pulled away from your computer and someone else barges in and closes the document.

Three Fun Things With Google

As with anything Google, it never stops with just their search engine, but there are quirky and little fun things you can easily do in the program with just a few keystrokes.

Want to know the time in Hong Kong China? Just type in what time is it in Hong Kong China and the result is there in a millisecond.

Can’t find a calculator right away and you just need a quick calculation?  Just type in the mat such as 81/9 and boom, there’s your answer. Yea, we know, that one was easy.

Are you shopping online but the company is overseas and is displaying Euro’s? Simply enter 10 us dollars in Euro and your answer is right there.

That’s just a small sampling of what all Google can do. For more information on their products and search features head on over to Google’s help file for more and enjoy!

And Finally…

What the heck is a Google and where did they get their name from?

At the beginning of our story we mentioned that the word Google is now considered an actual verb, but how in the world does a fake name become a real word?

In actuality Google was a word well before we knew it as a search engine but it’s actually spelled googol, which is the number one followed by one hundred zeros coined by Milton Sirotta in 1938.

In 1997 the founder’s of Google registered the domain name and today it’s one of the most popular and well known terms on the planet.

Helen J. Gentis, 75, a resident of Fort Wayne, passed away at 12:20 a. m. on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne.  She had been a patient there since Thursday.

Mrs. Gentis was born in Bluffton on July 19, 1934, a daughter of George Edward and Annabell (Leanch) Betz, and spent her formative years there.  She lived much of her adult life in Blackford County, where she was employed at Sheller Globe in Montpelier for 33 years.  She later returned to Wells County and lived there until moving to Fort Wayne in 1991.

While living in Fort Wayne she was employed at Hospital Laundry Service, retiring from there five years ago.

She was a member of the International Chemical Workers Local 444.

The surviving relatives include her children Ernest (Colleen) Betz of Sylva, NC., and Gene E. Hawk and Lenah A. Hawk, both of Fort Wayne; four brothers Homer (Phyllis) Betz of Franklin, Jim (Treva) Betz of Poneto, Joe (Connie) Betz of Decatur, and Robert (Annie) Betz of Bluffton; six sisters Esther (David) Clements of Indianapolis, Blanche (Bruce) Willette of Bluffton, Wilma (Pat) Ohern of Hartford City, Sue (Tom) Johnson and Linda (John) Stinson, both of Bluffton, and Lori Ann (Bill) Zent of Huntington; and two grandchildren.

More…

When Bobbie Butler smiled, the whole world smiled back. From the time she was a young girl until late in life, Bobbie never lost her ability to light up a room with her smile.

Ask anyone what he or she remembers about Bobbie and the first thing that person is likely to say is, “her smile.”

Born in Greenwood, Miss., on May 11, 1927, to Hugh Davis and Louise [Holland] Moore. Bobbie was the fourth child of Hugh and Louise, following big brothers James and Doug and sister, Madie. Later she would be joined by a little sister, Dorothy. Hugh and Louise also had a sixth child, a daughter who was stillborn.

Growing up in Mississippi

The first house the Moore family lived in had an outhouse and an outside water pump. Later they moved into town and had indoor plumbing – an unheard of luxury in the rural areas of Mississippi during that time.

The family had a wagon and two mules named Shorty and Bill. Bill was a very, very large mule, but very friendly and playful. Shorty was neither.

“Shorty was frisky and kicked the plow so hard that once he cut up Daddy, so they had to get rid of him,” Bobbie liked to tell her grandchildren. “You just couldn’t ‘play’ with Shorty like you could with Bill.”

The family always had two or three cows and struggled to make ends meet. Some of their share crop cotton was sold to buy the clothes for the winter months. During the Depression Bobbie and her siblings would cut out cardboard and put it inside their shoes to cover the holes.

Bobbie spent many months picking cotton in her father’s cotton fields. She had a special relationship with her Daddy and followed him everywhere, even if it meant working in the fields or milking cows, which she did daily.

In 1937, Bobbie was 10 years old. Every day she got up at 5 a.m. and pumped water into buckets and carried them inside the house. She was in charge of milking the cows and that was next on her list. Then it was time to go to the fields and pick cotton.

Bobbie’s mother would fix a large lunch and after eating lunch, everyone would take an afternoon nap on the front porch. Upon awakening, everyone would return to the fields and pick cotton until sundown. But, before she could relax and eat a large supper and go to bed, Bobbie had to once again milk the cows.

But, what Bobbie remembered the most was that every night after supper she got to sit on Daddy’s lap and the family would talk about their day. Sometimes – for a bedtime snack – they would pop popcorn or roast sweet potatoes in the glowing embers of the fireplace.

Bobbie would continue this work ethic throughout her lifetime and go on to instill the same work ethic in her daughters. She never sat still and was always doing something. She was unstoppable and had tireless energy, right up until the insidious Parkinson’s disease entered and ravaged her body and slowed her down for the first time in her life.

Bob and Bobbie

When she was 15, she began working at Hamburger Café as a waitress. She received 75 cents an hour, which was a pretty good wage for the time. There was an Army base in Biloxi, not far from Greenwood, and many of the soldiers frequented the café. And, many of them came in just to admire the pretty waitress with the friendly smile named Bobbie.

“There were dozens of small country stores that lined the streets for miles,” Bobbie would tell her children and grandchildren years later when talking of Greenwood.

Segregation was a given.  Greenwood was a typical Southern town of 18,000, and black citizens had separate restroom facilities and drinking fountains from the white population.

The main industry was the town’s cotton gin, and Piggly Wiggly was the place to go for groceries.

One day a soldier named Robert “Bob” Butler came into the café. They exchanged friendly banter and there was an instant attraction between the two. They exchanged friendly banter. As Bob prepared to leave and go back to the Army base, he left a penny tip, and then waited by the door to see Bobbie’s reaction. She picked up the penny and threw it at him.

Within months, they married. Bobbie was not quite 17 years old.

Mr. and Mrs. Bob and Bobbie Butler – how perfect was that? The couple would enjoy a long and happy marriage until Bob’s death 25 years later on June 14, 1968.

Moving North

Bob was from a strange place in Indiana called Churubusco. A year after they married, in 1946, Bob was discharged from the Army, and he and Bobbie moved north.

They rented a house in Arcola was three bedrooms, one of which had dirt floors, but soon moved to a house on U.S. 33 – called Goshen Road at that time – several miles south of Churubusco near Bob’s brother’s farm.

Bob and Bobbie had three daughters, Jean, Peggy and Donna. Bobbie often said she was very joyful of being blessed with “those three beautiful ladies.” But, she said, it was especially hard after her husband died unexpectedly and at a young age in 1968, leaving Bobbie to raise the girls on her own.

Although she was a traditional mother in every sense of the word, and her family and daughters were top priority, Bobbie had never known life without hard work, so she went to work immediately after moving to Indiana.

Her first job in Churubusco was working for the local weekly newspaper, the Tri-County Truth, where she hand-folded papers for delivery.

Next, she landed a job at Harold McCoy’s egg hatchery on Line Street in Churubusco. Her job was to place the eggs under a light and “read” them. She also later got the gruesome job of de-beaking the chickens so they did not peck at each other.

That Gorgeous Lady

Bobbie began working at the Churubusco Dana/Victor Gasket factory in 1951, where she worked on the line as a packager. She worked there 26 years before retiring. Co-workers remember her as “That classy, drop-dead gorgeous lady with the beautiful smile.”

Co-worker Irieta Coleman of Fort Wayne remembers working with Bobbie. “Her girls meant the world to her. They were ‘her life’,” Irieta said. “She was never boisterous; she was quiet, but she also loved to joke and kid around.”

“She was always particular about her appearance and always was perfectly coifed and dressed,” Coleman went on to say. “The rest of us could never figure out why we would have glue all over us after a day of packaging, but Bobbie did not. She still looked perfect.”

“She was a very nice lady.”

Another co-worker, Arlene Halsey, said she worked with Bobbie for many years. “I truly admired her,” Halsey said. “She was a lady with a lot of dignity and class.”

When Bobbie was not working, she liked to garden, listen to music, dance, tend to her flowers or sew and cook.

“She loved to sew,” remembers her daughter Peggy. “She taught me to sew and she sewed all of our clothes.”

Bobbie also loved to cook, and her specialty was southern style dishes. “We grew up on black-eyed peas, cornbread, sweet potatoes and okra,” Peggy said. “Our friends thought these were strange foods, but we loved them.”

The Butler family eventually moved to a home on Railroad Street in Churubusco, then to a home not far away on Mill Street, where they stayed only a short time before finding their permanent home on Orchard Lane, on the south edge of Churubusco.

Even when working fulltime, taking care of her family, gardening, and all of the domestic chores that went along with running a household, Bobbie always found time for her family and friends, particularly those in need.

In the early 1970’s, when her close friend was dying of cancer, Bobbie spent many, many hours at her bedside, caring for and spending time with her.

Bobbie was very particular about her appearance, her home and even the way the girls hung wet clothes on the clothesline. “She insisted that all like garments be hung neatly together,” Peggy remembers. “It seemed ridiculous to me, but I knew I would be doing it over if I didn’t abide by her wishes.”

“I wasn’t afraid of mom, but I was always aware of that switch she kept on top of the refrigerator!” Peggy added.

When her girls were young, they watched a lot of westerns with their mother. As the people on TV sat around their campfires eating with their tin pans in hand, Bobbie would hand her daughters a hamburger and beans concoction in tin pans, so they could pretend they were doing the same.

Family Is Everything

Bobbie loved spending the holidays with her family. Every Christmas Eve, Bobbie’s daughters and all of her grandchildren would crowd into Bobbie’s tiny, two-bedroom house on Orchard Lane.

Bobbie and her daughters would always light the luminas – bags with sand and candles inside – and line the driveway. Bobbie always managed to spend hours conjuring up a unique way each year to stuff a small amount of money into some sort of ornament on the tree for each grandchild.

It’s one of her grandson, Chris Tomlinson’s favorite memories. “The kids would sit staring in awe at the tree, trying to guess which group of ornaments held our tiny little fortune for that night,” he remembers.

Bobbie never lost the child inside. She loved to have fun. Her daughter, Donna, said it was nothing for her mother to suddenly laugh and turn cartwheels on the beach.

“The joy of feeding geese bread from your hands at the lake, spending a day shopping and having pie and coffee at Richard’s restaurant afterward – Mom never lost her childlike enthusiasm for those kinds of things,” Donna said. “She never asked for much. She always appreciated the simple things in life.”

Her favorite thing to do with her husband was to sit on the porch and talk. With her children and grandchildren it was much the same. Whenever she could spend time with them and laugh and enjoy small moments, she was at her happiest.

Enjoying Every Minute

A Christmas Eve tradition that carried on for many years involved skits the grandkids would put on to entertain the adults. But, many times Bobbie couldn’t resist and she too, would join in on the comedy, dressing up in hilarious outfits and singing and dancing and acting silly right alongside her grandchildren.

She retired from Dana when she was 62. Never one to sit idly at home, she immersed herself in her home and family, especially her grandchildren. The grandkids could usually find Grandma Bobbie riding her lawn tractor, weeding her garden, picking fresh flowers or baking in the kitchen.

As a retirement gift Bobbie’s daughters took their mother to Nashville, Tennessee, to see the Grand Old Opry – a lifelong dream of Bobbie’s – where they watched a fantastic show, had dinner in a local restaurant and enjoyed the companionship of a “girls’ weekend out.”

Without a doubt there was always a little bit of mischief in Bobbie’s life. From acting like a ham for the camera to flirting with the gentlemen folk, she truly was a child at heart who had a real zest for life.

Peggy remembers taking her mother to see a waterfall in a picnic area near the Huntington Reservoir. “We had to walk through woods, climb down a hill and over some rocky terrain to see the water spilling over the cliff’s edge to the creek below. Experiencing the beauty of nature with her will be a memory I’ll never forget,” Peggy said.

Peggy, who inherited her mother’s green thumb, spent many hours with her mom,  planting flowers and gardening. “We always checked with one another in the spring to see who had the first flower coming up. I think she always won,” Peggy remembers with a laugh.

Dancing in Heaven

After her retirement, in the late 1990’s, Bobbie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Her family took care of her as long as they could. Six years before her death, her daughters made the painful decision to move her to the Oaks in Columbia City where she could get round the clock nursing care. Soon after that devastating news came an added diagnosis of dementia.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Peggy said. “But we could no longer lift her and she could not walk. I cried and cried, and when I told mom we were going to move her to the Oaks, she hugged me and told me it would be okay.”

At the nursing home her family would visit and push Bobbie in a wheelchair around the buildings and talk about flowers and gardening.

Shining through the dementia, Bobbie always seemed to recognize her family.

“I will always treasure the huge smile she would give me when I would go see her at the Oaks,” Peggy said. “When the physical smile went away, I could still see a little twinkle in her eyes.”

Bobbie lived at The Oaks for six years, up until her death at 8:45 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10, 2009.

Bobbie’s days of turning cartwheels on the beach and doing funny skits with her grandchildren and dancing with her loving husband were over.

But she continues to dance in the minds and memories of her three children and 18 grandchildren, who were greatly influenced by the funny, beautiful lady who loved them and showed them how to appreciate and enjoy every single moment of life – no matter how fleeting that moment may be.

There are several constants I see after twenty- two years of growing plants professionally.

One of those things is if you let grass grow up to the trunk of your tree you will ding it with a lawn mower and cause a garish wound that gets worse with time. If you do not do that you will weed whip the bark right off the base of the trunk of the tree and kill it quickly.

Human nature being what it is overcomes common sense and instead of pulling that grass with your hand, cutting with lawn shears, etc you try and get as close as you can with dangerous machinery inevitably injuring your tree.

Anyone with a brain would not do this to a dog, cat, child, their mom – so why a tree? It’s a living thing too.

Often times people think a tree, bush, or perennial should be torture proof and sustain all kinds of injury and still perform perfectly. Do the Colts players pull that one off? No they do not!

That brings us to the solution to this problem the mulch ring. The mulch ring is a ring 3-5’ across with mulch no more than 2” deep. I use pine bark mulch and generally regard most other mulch products as less than desirable.  I do not use weed barrier. I place 8-10 sheets of newspaper (no glossy pages) for my weed barrier on the ground before I put my mulch down. This is a great way to keep 80% of new weeds down the first year.

The bottom line is this ring creates a psychological barrier against the mower and weed whipper. You do not generally weed whip or mow mulch.

Landscapes need to be functional and be thought out to a greater degree by the masses. Too often I see people make mediocre efforts in growing things and expect incredible results. Does this work in the gym?

When you first bought that computer it was fast, fun and entertaining. Now just a short time later it’s slow, lagging and some times unpredictable. So how can you make your computer faster without spending loads of money or time with tech support?

By following these simple guidelines you can keep your computer up and running smoothly without a lot of technical knowledge.

1.) Free Up Disk Space

Using the Disk Cleanup Tool you can easily free up space on your hard drive and improve performance. It helps identify files that you can safely delete and then gives you the option to delete all of them or just a select few.

Quick Tip: If you’re not sure which ones to remove, we would definitely recommend at least removing the Temporary Internet Files because your browser caches (stores data) each page you visit for faster connections when you visit later.

For Windows XP Users

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point so System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
2.On this screen check the boxes for the files you want to remove. Again, don’t forget about our ‘Quick Tip’ above for the bare minimum
3.Now clear any boxes that have a check mark for those files you don’t want to delete or are unsure of and click Ok
4.When the screen pops up asking if you want to delete these files, click Yes.

After a few minutes (each computer varies), the process is complete and your computer should be running cleaner and performing better

2.) Speed Up Access To Data

Imagine for a moment you’re in a big department store and it’s filled with those big 5-drawer metal filing cabinets and each of those drawers is filled with information that helps your computer run. This is a fragmented hard drive and it can slow your computer down considerably.

For example – imagine you’re trying to put together a grocery shopping list and each item you need is on one piece of paper scattered throughout the entire store in all of those filing cabinets.

How long would it take you to put together a list of 20-items? Probably long enough that you’re going to starve to death before your list is completed.

With the Disk Defragmenter your computer will consolidate all of those grocery items into one neatly organized file folder and will be able to find the list much quicker than wandering the entire store (your hard drive)

When to run Disk Defragmenter:

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals—monthly is optimal—there are other times you should run it too, such as when:

• You add a large number of files.
• Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
• You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

For Windows XP Users

Click Start, point to All Programs (or Programs), Accessories, System Tools, and click Disk Defragmentor. Choose the disk you want to defragment (usually the C: drive) and then click Analyze Disk to start the Disk Defragmenter.

Quick Tip: It might be a good idea to do this just before going to bed at night so that it can run smoothly while the computer wouldn’t be in use anyways.

1.To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button. Note: In Windows Vista, there is no graphical user interface to demonstrate the progress—but your hard drive is still being defragmented.After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.
2.To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.
3.To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.
4.To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

3. Protect your computer against spyware

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. From the Web sites you visit to usernames and passwords, spyware can put you and your confidential information at risk. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer’s performance. To combat spyware, you might want to consider using the PC safety scan from Windows Live OneCare. This scan is a free service and will help check for and remove viruses.

We would also like to recommend a FREE anti-virus program for any home computer’s called Avast. It works great, has free updates and even talks to you know and then. If you’re not sure how to install it, contact a professional.

4. Uninstall Unused Software

We all maintain software on our systems we rarely, if ever, use. That software can steal . system resources

Click Start, Control Panel, and “Add Remove Programs” to pull up a screen that allows you to remove old programs you don’t use anymore. Simply select and uninstall all programs you know for sure you don’t need or want.

5. Buy More RAM

Increasing your RAM, a computer’s memory, can dramatically increase speed when running certain operations or programs. The cost of RAM is so little anymore that you should install the maximum your computer will allow. If you’re a novice computer user, we highly recommend having a professional look at your computer and install the hardware.

So there you have it! Five easy ways to help speed up your computer before you decide to chuck it into the garbage and spend money on a brand new system!

*Note: It is not our intention to solve all of your computer problems here. If you are unsure as to how to accomplish some of these tasks we highly recommend you contacting a business that specializes in these services.