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August 17, 2012
Couple gifts cooling vests to police dogs By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
Photo by Jeff Jones
Kelly Lynch demonstrates the fireman’s job on a steam locomotive, shoveling coal into the firebox to generate steam. Lynch volunteers with the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society about 40 hours per week.
Lynch shares railroading passion Jeff Jones jeffj@kpcnews.net
Courtesy photo
A police dog from the New Haven Police Department wears a cooling vest donated by New Haven couple Mike and Carla Mowery would be suitable for NHPD police dogs. What they found was HTFx. HTFx was founded at the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Kate Doherty, a sales consultant with HTFx. The patented technology cools an animal’s core in extreme heat. Vests are custom-fitted and each usually comes with a second set of cooling packs to insert into the vest to prolong its use. “The technology isn’t ice or gel,” Doherty said. “If you carry a small cooler See DOGS, page A3
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Photo by Jeff Jones
Kelly Lynch stands next to the massive, 400-ton 1944 Berkshire 28-4 steam locomotive, owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. teered his time with the historical society. “There’s not many 20somethings roaming around trying to do this,” Lynch said. “I would try to go to other locomotive groups and operators too, just to shadow people and to learn,” he added. “Some
of it was paid and some of it was volunteer, so it was a good mix.” Lynch estimates he spends about 40 hours a week volunteering with the historical society. When he’s not working on the See TRAINS, page A8
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It’s only natural that Kelly Lynch became involved with railroading. His grandfather was an engineer, and later a roundhouse foreman, for the New York Central Railroad in East Chicago. Lynch’s father was an original member and later president of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. As a kindergarten student at Riverdale Elementary School, one of Lynch’s first and fondest memories was being in a locomotive cab with his father. Today, the 2004 Eastside graduate sees it as a personal mission to spread his love of railroading with others. Lynch spent his first summer after high school working for the Ohio Central Railroad — a short line railroad operation. He came back that fall to attend Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. For a time, life took Lynch to Los Angeles, where he worked for NBC Universal, then back to northeast Indiana. When he was in the area, he continued to work for the Ohio Central and other railroads, and also volun-
Mike and Carla Mowery of New Haven were saddened when they heard about the death of New Haven police dog, Riley, last year. The couple with one dog of their own wanted to do something to honor the K-9’s memory. “It all started when Riley, the New Haven police dog died,” Mike Mowery said. “We both wanted to do something in remembrance of him, but we weren’t sure what to do.” Months later, on a trip to the 2012 Canal Days festivities, the Mowerys saw the K9 units giving a demonstration. The day, Mike Mowery recalls, was hot and the temperature about 90 degrees. The dogs had to be put inside a running, airconditioned vehicle to cool down in between demonstrations. “(The dogs) were panting pretty heavy,” he said. “They weren’t in distress, but it was obvious they were hot.” The couple had read about a company manufacturing cooling vests for animals in the military. The company recently donated some vests to the Fort Wayne Police Department, Mike Mowery said. The couple decided to do a bit more research to determine whether the vests