INSIDE THIS ISSUE Classifieds........................................................................... A14 Community Calendar .......................................................B5-7 Fundraisers................................................................A6, 8, 13 Happy Father’s Day..............................................................A5
Serving New Haven & East Allen County
INfortwayne.com
May 15, 2015
Woodburn to celebrate summer, and 150 years By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
As her husband did 50 years ago, Gloria Gerig’s son is helping to tell a chapter in Woodburn’s history. Gerig has experienced about half of the city’s 150 years, which the community will celebrate June 12 and 13. The community is not bound by the municipal limits, she said. Nor is the work of the Woodburn Community Historical Society. The president of that society, Gerig has been organizing exhibits and records depicting a century and a half of the locale’s story. In 1965, the community enlisted Harold Wayne Gerig to design the cover of the centennial book. “The ladies on the committee were good friends of ours and they knew his abilities and they knew he loved history, and so they just
PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
DeWayne Heckley, from left, former Woodburn Summerfest chairman Rex Farver, and 2015 chairman Gary Messman post a banner announcing the June 12-13 celebration.
worked together really great,” she recalled. Gerig’s husband died eight years ago. In 2015, her son Harold George Gerig II designed the cover of the town history book. “He works AutoCAD and he can make anything,” the mother said. “And he said, ‘Dad sat here with paper and did the
whole thing by hand, and I’m doing the whole thing electronically.’ ” She gave a nod to technology but stopped short of endorsing the broad application of that tool. In fact, she said, society is sacrificing its appreciation of the human connection. “We’re losing it by having all this fast telephone stuff
online and texting, and you don’t have to talk with another human being,” she said. “They don’t have that feeling back and forth that you get when you personally talk to someone. “How do we get them to start talking again? “I write a lot of letters, See YEARS, Page A4
Hoe-down in Hoagland By Aaron Organ aorgan@kpcmedia.com
Community summer festivals are all about fun, and Hoagland Days 2015 is taking that literally. Hoagland Days will fill the 26-acre Hoagland Park and community center June 18-20. The theme for the 44th annual festival will be “Fun in the Summertime,” an ode to the carefree 1960s, said Sally Holle with the Hoagland Area Advancement Association. The festival fun opens the evening of June 18 with the opening of the amusement rides, merchant tents, food court and the unveiling of the Royal Court. One of the more popular events will be held that same evening with a greased pig set loose and wrangled. The fun resumes June 19 with the adult beverage tent and a
FILE PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
Youngsters enjoy thrills on the midway at Hoagland Days.
mechanical bull, as well as the festival’s chief money-maker — the demolition derby. Saturday opens with a volleyball tournament before the favorite parade. Holle said more than 100 entries have been registered for the See HOAGLAND, Page A14
New Haven’s Canal Days about friends, neighbors By Mariah Martz mmartz@kpcmedia.com
Held at Grace SUMMER Gathering Church LEARN Open to Allen Co. 2015 IN youth only 3147 Minnich Road, New Haven
June 1 - July 31 • 7 AM - 5:30 PM FILE PHOTO BY JANE SNOW
Children line the sidewalk and hope for candy at the New Haven Canal Days parade.
New Haven or lived in New Haven has a special place in their heart for the town,” said Stauffer. “A lot of people say if you grow up in New Haven, you never want to leave.” The goal of the festival is to support and benefit
See special Canal Days section inside this edition. local non-profits hoping to make a difference in the See DAYS, Page A11
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Times Community Publications
Complete with rides, corn dogs, live music and parades, the New Haven Canal Days Festival is happening again this summer. New Haven’s Canal Days Festival will ring in the summer starting June 2 and running through June 6. The festival brings residents old and new together to celebrate all things family, friends, faith and fun. The theme for this year’s festival is “City of Neighbors.” John Stauffer, president of the Festival Committee, said the theme is all-encompassing of New Haven’s small town camaraderie. It is a town of neighbors helping neighbors. “New Haven is one of those places that anyone who has ever visited
50 $ 50 $
Registration Fee/Family /Child Sibling discount available
For more information call:
(260) 749-9516 610 Professional Park Drive New Haven, IN 46774