INSIDE THIS ISSUE Classifieds .........................................A7 Community Calendar ...............A10-11
Serving New Haven & East Allen County
fwdailynews.com
February 15, 2013
East Allen explores possibility of sponsoring Johnson Charter School
Grabill Hardware adds postal services Service follows reduction in window hours at post office
By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcnews.net
By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcnews.net
Grabill postal customers now have a second option for buying postage and mailing packages. Following a reduction in window hours at the post office, the Postal Service has contracted with Grabill Hardware. Claude Shrock, the president of Grabill Hardware Inc., said the Feb. 6 grand opening went well. “Our feeling about the Village Post Office is we’re really excited about it, that we can be a service to the Grabill community when the post office is not open,” Shrock said. “We’re able to sell stamps for customers and to help customers with some of the packages — not all, but some of the boxes — and packaging and so on. So we think it will be a good service.” “The purpose of the Village Post Office is to supplement the work of the post office,” said Shrock, who said there is no plan to close the post office. “There was a meeting here in Grabill last October where they polled the people in Grabill as far as our post office, and I attended that meeting and they talked about the Village Post Office,” Shrock said. Shrock investigated the concept, and signed a contract. Postal Service representatives Kim Hernly and Alice Moore joined Shrock and staff at the ribbon-cutting and grand opening. A sign now heralds the corner hardware store’s added service. Inside, a cardboard display holds boxes that can be picked up, filled, and then mailed from the Village Post Office. Sales associate Todd Widdifield described the shop as a full-service hardware store. “We offer a hardware line and we have some specific niches for our community,” he said. Now, though, customers also can buy postage and pick up shipping boxes. “You can drop your packages off
Courtesy photo
Claude Shrock, left, the president of Grabill Hardware Inc., and Postal Service representative Kim Hernly preside at the grand opening of the Village Post Office. here to be picked up on a daily basis,” he said on the afternoon of the grand opening. Three blocks away, postal customer Diane Keith of Grabill retrieved her mail from a post office box. Although the post office doors are open around the clock, Keith is no longer able to visit the post office during window hours. Keith moved to Grabill three years ago, from Leo. She said she is disappointed that window hours have been reduced. “I have to be at work early and I don’t get home until a little after 4, and they’re closed,” she said. “I’m not fond of it,” Keith said, “but I understand why they have to do it.” She also commented on the Postal Service decision — announced that same day — to eliminate Saturday mail delivery, beginning in August. “I don’t like that at all. That’s upsetting,” she said. Only a week earlier, the Postal Service had announced a 1-cent increase in first-class postage, plus other rate increases. Moore, one of the postal representatives who visited Grabill, said the partnerships allow businesses to sell Forever stamps and flat-rate postal boxes. Moore works See HARDWARE, Page A2
The East Allen School Board is exploring the possibility of becoming the new authorizer for the Timothy L. Johnson Charter School. That school at 7908 S. Anthony Blvd. in Fort Wayne is scheduled to lose its charter on June 30. At its Feb. 5 regular meeting, the school board mentioned the possibility of a special meeting to discuss sponsoring the charter school. The board did not commit to a specific date for that discussion, or even to a special meeting. No promises were extended to that school or to the community members who presented the request. The seven board members discussed the topic for more than two hours. Board member Terry Jo Lightfoot reminded her colleagues that the board already has the responsibility of operating public schools that serve Amish families and city neighborhoods. “I am just reminding you that
you have a lot to do here,” Lightfoot said. Superintendent Karyle Green informed the board that a set of procedures must be followed before applying to operate a charter school. Green said she would finish researching the requirements, and would email her findings to the school board before the next regular meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19. East Allen Times readers can follow developments through the newspaper’s online news partner — fwdailynews.com. The school district maintains a list of board meeting dates on its website — eacs.k12.in.us. Johnson parent Ebonee Pilot made the request, asking the board to become the authorizer for the school. The board room then emptied as supporters followed Pilot into the hallway. Outside the board room, Pilot told the East Allen Times that she is confident that Johnson will find a new authorizer. “We have See SCHOOL, Page A3
Grieving find friends during search for peace By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcnews.net
Photo by Garth Snow
Margie Williams, left, and Ruth Daring review the material for the GriefShare group, which meets in the parlor of the New Haven United Methodist Church. another complete session. The facilitator took up another ministry within the church. Eventually, Williams stepped forward. “For a year, no one did it,
but it was just so helpful for me that I thought this is something we really need to be doing.” “What really got me started doing it was the
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 40808
Times Community Publications
Margie Williams knows how it feels to be one of the new faces at a grief seminar. She took that step 13 years ago, after the death of her mother, Peg McKay. “I was struggling,” she recalled recently, as she discussed her role as a GriefShare facilitator at New Haven United Methodist Church. “Someone at our church was a facilitator for that, and I thought, ‘This is something I need to be in,’ ” she said. Williams joined a 13week seminar in progress, and then stayed through
classes but also the encouragement from the pastors at my church, because I had never done anything like this before,” Williams said. She gave special credit to then Associate Pastor Marilyn Dunton, now retired. “Pastor Marilyn said ‘You can do this. You can do this,’ ” Williams said. “So I grabbed a helper,” Williams said. Deb Potts shared the project for several years. Ruth Daring is now Williams’ co-facilitator. Daring said she also benefited from the program when her mother, Glada Swartz, died. “I benefited from the GriefShare program and I felt that it could be beneficial for other people,” she said. Williams has helped lead the discussions for 10 years. Still, Williams remembers the sense of loss that brings people to the sessions. See PEACE, Page A4
Photo by Garth Snow
Rachel Hammond distributes brochures at the Fort Wayne Farm Show, as part of a project by the Heritage High School FFA. Hammond is the Eastern Region director for the National Junior Horticultural Association.
Heritage senior in national leadership role By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcnews.net
Rachel Hammond’s service to the National Junior Horticultural Association will continue after she graduates from Heritage High School this spring. Hammond is the Eastern Region director for that youth organization, and is helping to plan the group’s annual convention Oct. 11-14 in Williamsburg, Va. See LEADERSHIP, Page A5