INSIDE THIS ISSUE Classifieds............................................A13 Community Calendar....................A14-15 Healthy Times........................................A7 Serving New Haven & East Allen County
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January 18, 2013
East Allen schools superintendent tells new board she’ll leave By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcnews.net
Former East Allen County School Board President Janice Witte described Superintendent Karyle M. Green’s exit as “a sad day for the district.” Witte commented Jan. 10, two days after Green submitted her letter to the newly impaneled school board. Green said she will leave no later than the end of her contract, which continues through June 2014. Green was sick Jan. 10, and unavailable for comment.
Courtesy photo
Karyle Green “I think that she wants what’s very best for our district,” Witte told the East Allen Times. “We would be millions of dollars in the red if she hadn’t helped us to make decisions.” Courtesy photo/Kelly Lynch
See GREEN, Page A4
Schools help Red Cross collect for Sandy relief
Steam Engine No. 765 chugs past the Wabash Railroad depot on State Street in New Haven. The depot was renovated to its original 1887 condition, with some modern upgrades. Colors ingrained into the woodwork and tonal contrast in black-and-white photos were used to determine the building’s color scheme.
Laying new tracks Leaders contemplate future uses for depot
By Valerie Gough vgough@kpcnews.net
Last month, students and staff from East Allen County Schools stood in a conference room at American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana to present a jumbo-sized check totaling $2,407.49 for Hurricane Sandy relief. The weeklong fundraising effort was spearheaded by Paul Harding Jr. Sr. High School guidance counselor Joe Venderley. In 2005, he was part of the student council at Prince Chapman when the school raised funds for Hurricane Katrina victims. “Thinking back to Katrina,” he said, “they really pushed the fundraising — I mean it was all over the country — and I felt this one (Sandy) didn’t quite seem to have the backing.” The district’s secondary schools pooled their resources to hold various fundraising events: at Paul Harding, See SANDY, Page A10
Photo by Valerie Gough
East Allen County Schools students hold up a ceremonial check for the American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana. From left are Kean Ward, student council representative at Paul Harding; Sharla Hoting, acting student council representative at Heritage; Jackie Niemeyer, student council president at Heritage; and Verenise Garcia, student council representative at Paul Harding.
By Valerie Gough vgough@kpcnews.net
When Alison Adams describes the Wabash Railroad depot as it would have been in 1887, one can’t help but imagine what it was like. For the people of New Haven, it was a doorstep to the world. It was where soldiers stoically said their goodbyes en route to war. It was where lovers boarded the train for a honeymoon in big cities like Chicago, Kansas City or St. Louis. At the time, just a few pennies would have purchased a ticket to Fort Wayne for a day of shopping or work. “This is where passengers would have warmed up by the potbelly stove,” Adams said, gesturing next to what used to be the ticket window. “I imagine the station staff would have also used it to brew coffee and put their feet up around it to keep their boots warm.” That potbelly stove now sits in a barn on Adams’ property awaiting restoration and will one day find its way back to the depot, although it won’t be func-
tional. As president of the New Haven Heritage Association, Adams led an effort to renovate the 126year-old train depot with painstaking attention to detail. “The two west rooms now have air conditioning and heat, although you can’t see any of that so it still looks the way it did in the 1890s,” Adams said. The depot, which was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2003, now boasts other modern conveniences, including a handicapaccessible ramp and restroom, a kitchenette, ceiling fans and new lighting. A recent ribbon-cutting celebration was the most activity the depot had seen since 1964, when the railroads abandoned the building. It sat vacant for more than 20 years, until the New Haven Heritage Association acquired the depot from Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1988, saving it from imminent destruction. It would take two decades of grant writing, fundraising and planning before renovations could begin, but it all came full circle on Dec. 7 when the New Haven community came out in droves to see the new depot for the first time. Now, association members must tend to finishing touches, such as See TRACKS, Page A2
Photo by Valerie Gough
Justin York, project supervisor with A&Z Engineering, presents New Haven Heritage Association President Alison Adams with a photo book documenting the renovation to the Wabash Railroad depot.
Photo by Valerie Gough
An old freight room at the Wabash Railroad depot was left mostly untouched, with plans to use the space for some kind of community activity such as a bike-rental facility, said New Haven Heritage Association President Alison Adams.
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