INSIDE THIS ISSUE Business & Professional .................................A10 Classifieds.........................................................A12 Community Calendar ......................................A15 Dining & Entertainment .................................A14 Library Times......................................................A3 Youth....................................................................A8 Serving Northeast Fort Wayne & Allen County
July 13, 2012
www.StJoeTimes.com
Storms batter area, many left without power By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
The Fourth of July was hot and sweaty for many St. Joe- and Georgetown-area residents after a wild storm with reported winds up to 91 mph caused a widespread power outage on June 29. Area homes and businesses were hit hard. Maureen Partee, manager of Georgetown Square Shopping Center, said the storm halted the plaza’s kids day, shuttering the planned activities and sending children home. Georgetown Bowl and the Georgetown Cap n’ Cork liquor store were left without power for the entire weekend, as were a few other stores, but the majority of the shopping center was spared, Partee said. “Cap n’ Cork stayed open Friday taking cash only, but they eventually closed,” Partee said. “It’s sad because both the bowling alley and the liquor store could have had a really big week with the holiday week, but they lost out.” Power was restored to the bowling alley and liquor store around 9:30 p.m. on July 1.
Area residents, though, weren’t as lucky. Lindsey Brown and Julie Klingenberger both live in Lake Forest. Both were without power for several days. Brown said she and her husband purchased a generator not even 24 hours before power was restored midday on July 4. To stay cool throughout the outage, which happened during one of the city’s hottest summers on record, the Brown family deserted their home during the day and opted to spend time at any place with air conditioning. “We basically just, during the day, would go out and do things to be out of the hot house,” Brown said. “At night it was a little cooler and we’d open the windows.” Brown said the family used a power inverter in their car to operate a small fan inside the house. Klingenberger said the outage caused her to lose all the food in her refrigerator, in addition to being forced to eat out for each meal before power was restored the evening of July 3. See STORM, page A12
Trails damaged in storm, proceed carefully
Courtesy photo
Trees sit on top of a house in the Lake For est addition in the Georgetown area after storms raced through the city on June 29.
Trail users are urged to use caution when traveling along sections of the trail system, which were damaged during severe storms on June 29. Trail users should be prepared to travel around the brush and large branches knocked onto the trails or broken branches still suspended above the trail. While some debris has been removed, the following obstructions remain: • On the Rivergreenway — St. Joe Boulevard Pathway, where the trail is blocked by downed trees and limbs near the intersection of Lake Avenue. • On the Rivergreenway — St. Joe Pathway in Shoaff Park, where the trail is blocked in south Shoaff Park, between East Shore Drive and the boardwalk. Trail users can get around the downed tree by walking/riding through the grass. City crews will continue working to remove debris and fallen trees, until all trails are cleared but the process may take several weeks.
Comfort food delivered to your desk By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
Budget Tight? Are you pregnant? Breastfeeding? Have a child under 5? WIC might be able to help. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program provides free checks for nutritious foods, breastfeeding support and nutrition education for all kinds of qualifying families - single parents, married, working, not working and foster. Photo by Nichole Hacha-Thomas
Tammi McKee, owner of Comfort Food Deliver ed, stirs up a batch of food for an upcoming wedding reception. Comfort Food Delivered specializes in delivering catered lunches to employees across the city, but also caters events such as meetings, weddings and more. “Necessity literally was born out of unemployment,” she said. “I started with about $65 in my
pocket.” Trading in her calculator See FOOD, page A13
Call to see if you qualify.
458-2641 You can ask about our medical and dental services too!
Neighborhood Health Clinics s 1725 S. Calhoun St. Fort Wayne, IN
3306 Independence Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Times Community Publications
It’s all about the food at Comfort Food Delivered, a local company bringing catered lunches to offices across the city. Owner Tammy McKee has been cooking and perfecting her recipes for more than 30 years for her family, friends and loved ones. “I like to cook and feed people,” McKee said in the kitchen of the Cole Foundation Conference and Training Center, on the grounds of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center on Stellhorn Road. “And we eat good.” Three years ago when McKee found herself unemployed as a property assessor, she decided to take her recipes on the road, serving up dishes such as fettuccine carbonara with crispy bacon, Parmesan cheese and green peas served with garlic bread and a garden salad.