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Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana
Sharing His Love of Music
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Page 5 One Nation Under God themail-journal.com
2023 LeadHERship women’s luncheon The Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce their second annual LeadHERship women’s luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, Leesburg. The event is open to women from all walks of life and the luncheon is designed to be a great opportunity for women to build their network with other women not only for business but for life. There will be time to connect with one another, learn more about women-owned businesses, a plated lunch and an opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Shannan Martin. Packed with street-level practices and realtalk storytelling, Martin will be speaking on how to live a more
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Polar Plunge returns to Syracuse 7H[W DQG 3KRWRV %\ '$9,' +$=/(',1( 6WDII :ULWHU The town of Syracuse celebrated the season Saturday, Jan. 28, with “Winter Wonderland.” Several events took place in various locations, including ice sculptures and a free movie on Main Street, a winter hike at
the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation Levinson-LaBrosse Lakes and Wetlands; and Oakwood Resort’s Polar Plunge in Lake Wawasee. Ice sculptor Howard Busfield of South Bend praised what he called a “nice day” due to the clouds and lack of wind. Sunshine, he explained, is worse for ice sculptures than warmer tem-
peratures. This year marked the first Polar Plunge since 2019 after it was cancelled due to COVID-19. A large crowd was on hand to watch 11 individuals followed by six teams, some wearing themed costumes, run headlong into Lake Wawasee in sub-freezing temperatures. The event raised $901, which
was matched and rounded up by Oakwood Resort, for a total of $1,901 to be donated to Turkey Creek Fire Territory. Polar Plunge winners were Rick Kiessling, wearing Team USA attire in the individual round, and a team representing Huntington Street Bar, who did their plunge wearing 1970sContinued on page 2
Syracuse Town Council candidates filing %\ /$85(1 =(8*1(5 6WDII :ULWHU
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Scherer is a native of Syracuse and has four children. He has been a business owner and entrepreneur for almost 20 years. He said he was running for the council position because he feels he has a pretty good idea about where the economy is going. He would like to make sure he is doing everything he can so his children can return
to Syracuse, if they so choose, to work and raise their own families like he did. Brian Woody who lives on North Street, had at press time filed to run in the primary in May. He had not yet filed for the caucus. Woody served on the Syracuse Town Council for a number of years before resigning in 2016 to spend
more time with his family. He said there was no specific reason for his running, other than he missed serving the community. “When I left (the council), we (his family) had a lot going on. The kids were in high school and it seemed like we had something every Tuesday night. Now the kids are all grown up,” he said.
Commissioners hear Crows Nest Drive drainage concerns %\ /($+ 6$1'(5 6WDII :ULWHU The Kosciusko County Commissioners heard concerns regarding drainage into Lake Wawasee. At the Kosciusko County Commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, Jan. 31, Carson LLP Attorney Andy Boxberger spoke. He represents Jim Marcuccilli, who lives at Woodys Lane, Syracuse, by the lake. Marcuccilli is concerned about silt along housing development, which is near his home, going into Lake Wawasee. Boxberger presented several photos and a video of the reported
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pollution to commissioners. “The first picture going out there, you can see the amount of silt going into the lake,” he said. Boxberger also commented he came before commissioners because the county has control over a road in the area and “it appears that the road doesn’t maybe have the proper guttering and stormwater prevention issues. “There probably needs to be some retention to be able to prevent this silt from going into the lake,” he said, mentioning he wants to work towards a resolution. He also had Dr. Jerry Sweeten with Ecosystems Connections Institute speak. Sweeten, who’s
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Cindy Kaiser, president of the Syracuse Town Council, has filed to run to represent District 3. Kaiser came on the council after a caucus to replace Tom Hoover after he moved out of the district. This will be the first time Kaiser has run in a council election. Three candidates have come forward to replace Councilman Larry Martindale, who recently stepped down due to health reasons. A caucus to pick his replacement will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7. David Rosenberry, who lives on Magill Court, has served at the Kosciusko County 911 center for 21 years and served on the Milford Fire Department for 28 years. He currently works in the private sector in a job connected to public safety. Rosenberry, who was appointed to the Syracuse Redevelopment Commission in January, said he filed for the caucus because he wanted to get back to serving the community. Nathan Scherer, who lives on Jackson Hole Drive, has filed for the caucus and the primary.
studied Lake Wawasee and is a former Manchester University biology professor, noted the damage that can be caused to lakes by runoff due to phosphorus. Kosciusko County Commissioner Cary Groninger said commissioners recently went to the area in question and have spoken with those behind the housing development and county department heads. “We’re still trying to work through this to try and come up with a good solution because we realize that these lakes are a huge asset to our community and we want to make sure we can maintain them for years to Continued on page 2
Celebrate Scout Week See Page 9 See Public Notices On Page 11
meaningful life, the importance of community and how to look beyond what is comfortable by pushing past insecurity and fear. Martin is a mom, wife, neighbor and author from Goshen. She currently has three published books: “Start with Hello,” “The Ministry of Ordinary Places” and “Falling Free.” Tickets are $40 per person and are available until Monday, Feb. 6. For tickets, visit swchamber. com/product-page/leadhershipluncheon-ticket, email sierra@ swchamber.com or call (574) 4575637. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please visit swchamber.com/ membership-levels.
Are we headed for a winter drought? %\ /$85(1 =(8*1(5 6WDII :ULWHU The lakes area hasn’t seen as much snow and ice as it has in previous years. Some have even noticed the water levels of area ponds seem a bit lower than normal. According to Rachel Cobbs, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Syracuse, the area had been in drought, but has been improving over the last few weeks, thanks to the recent precipitation the area has experienced. Cobbs explained an area such as northern Kosciusko County can go in and out of drought fairly easily and frequently. She explained the last time the area was considered in a drought or abnormally dry was on Jan. 3. The rest of the month, the area was not considered in drought. To determine whether an area is in drought, a variety of factors are looked at, such as the last
time the area was in a moderate drought, water levels on rivers and precipitation levels for the year and the month. As an example, Cobb pointed out the Fort Wayne area has been considered to have been below normal for precipitation until last week’s winter storm. Official climate observations for Fort Wayne are taken at the Fort Wayne International Airport. Other factors to determine whether an area is in drought include the accumulated precipitation as of Dec. 1, comparing the 30-year average for the area with information from local farmers and the Purdue Extension Office. Cobb said the area has been within a quarter-inch of the 30year average for precipitation since Jan. 1. “With this snowfall (from last week) there was a lot of liquid in it,” she said, explaining “the heavy wet snow had about a half-inch of liquid sitting in it.” The National Weather Service Continued on page 2
Kosciusko Chamber celebrates 111th annual awards dinner The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held its 111th annual awards dinner Thursday evening, Jan. 26, at Grace College’s Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center, Winona Lake. Kosciusko County business professionals, along with local and state-elected officials, were in attendance as several local businesses and individuals were honored. Rob Parker, the chamber’s president and CEO, welcomed ev-
eryone to the event. The evening’s keynote speaker was Indiana Secretary of Commerce Bradley Chambers. The Government Excellence Award was given to Kosciusko County Council member Sue Ann Mitchell. Matt Linville, who presented the award, said, “She is a wise steward of Kosciusko County knowledge, and no one has more government insight than she does.” Continued on page 2
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