The Paper of Wabash County - June 2, 2016, issue

Page 1

Vol. 39, No. 12

PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326

of Wabash County Inc. June 1, 2016

www.thepaperofwabash.com Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977

Trail plan: Some hopeful, some not By Emma Rausch & Joseph Slacian news@thepaperofwabash.com

On Friday, May 6, Wabash River Trail Inc. announced ambitious plans for a 33-mile multi-use river walk, connecting Wabash, Huntington and Peru. Starting in August, the group will be breaking ground with Phase I Sub-Phase I, which will pave a path through Lagro from the east side of Kerr Lock to the end of Basin Street. Eventually, Phase I will span 6.6 miles, connecting Lagro to Wabash. However, little to no information has been released on the second and third phases of the three-phase project. That lack of information has landowners in one of those phases – the stretch from Wabash to Peru – quite concerned.

The beginning The plan began four years ago as a thought in the back of Trail board chair Amy Ford’s mind to connect the city to its neighbor-

ing town, Lagro. “It kind of has been floating around in my head for about four years,” Ford told The Paper of Wabash County. “I ride quite a bit to Lagro on Hill Street Extended and it’s quite the climb to get out of Wabash.” Hill Street Extended is not very cyclist friendly, either, she continued. “(It) is really not safe, especially for kids or people that don’t bike very often,” Ford explained. “You just have to be so careful because people are on their phones … and there’s no stops,” she continued. “It’s six miles to Lagro and no crossroads.” However, those barriers, which could prevent bikers from navigating to the city’s neighboring town, would be eliminated with the addition of the river trail, she continued. “So I just kind of thought this would be really great, but both girls were still at home so I was too busy with their projects to really wrap my head around this project,” Ford said. “Then after Melissa graduated I had

just a bit more time … and I just kind of started verbalizing it and when things start verbalizing for me that’s kind of when they start becoming more of a real project.” Ford reached out to members of her biking group and other community leaders, and eventually formed the Wabash River Trail, Inc, a non-for-profit organization.

A local resident takes advantage of the Wabash River Walk Trail on a spring afternoon. Photo by Mike Rees

Plan gains momentum Last year, the idea gained momentum and the group began developing official drafts to make the path, the official Wabash River Trail (WRT), a reality. Early on, the group received an anonymous donation, which helped fund the conceptual designs, surveying and other behind-the-scenes project necessities, according to Ford. “It was a nice early belief that this is actually going to happen,” she said. “When you actually get money for a project then it’s all of a sudden like ‘Wow. Somebody else believes in this (continued on page 2)

Troxel Equipment breaks ground for expansion By Sarah Peters news@thepaperofwabash.com Troxel Equipment broke the ground on its expansion project at 834 N. State Road 13, on Thursday, May 26. Dozens of people, including Chamber of Commerce members, Mayor Scott Long, Keith Gillenwater, EDG of Wabash County President and CEO and Troxel owners and workers, among others, gathered to dig their shovels into Amanda Brinkman interviews Kent Henderson and Kris White during a filming seg- the dirt where Troxel’s equipment and ment on the third floor of Schlemmer Brothers. Photo by Joseph Slacian new buildings will soon be located. “I’m hoping that we can get moved in (by the) January to February timeframe, and be ready to go next spring,” said Troxel co-owner Dave Troxel. “That’s

Brinkman: People are key Wabash asset By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Amanda Brinkman saw a glimpse of what makes Wabash special a few weeks ago. She learned firsthand last week, spending two days in the city filming interviews with local business owners as part of a web-based series to be released later this year. “I think it’s the people,” Brinkman, Deluxe Corporations Chief Marketing Officer, said when asked what made Wabash special. “Everyone is just so

kind and authentic. I feel like it’s a town out of a movie or something. “I feel like there’s a real sense of gratitude in this town.” Brinkman, several other Deluxe officials, as well as a film crew from Flow Nonfiction arrived in town Monday, May 23, to begin filming the web series that was part of the prize package for winning the Small Business Revolution Main Street contest. Brinkman left Wednesday, May 25, but the crew stayed behind to continue filming. Wabash defeated Silverton, Ore., to (continued on page 19)

our hope.” A large part of the need for expansion comes from the modern equipment as well as the growth in workers since 2007, when Troxel Equipment came to Wabash. “I can’t get anymore people in that building. We can’t grow. …The equipment is bigger today and the shops over there (store) equipment from the 1970s and 1980s. So we outgrew the building in people and in equipment.” said Troxel. The new plans for the business are one way they are fulfilling their mission “to serve the needs of (their) costumers with the best possible equipment, parts, (continued on page 18)

Steel beams are unloaded at the site of the Troxel Equipment expansion on Thursday. Photo by Joseph Slacian


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