By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for Dean Gogolewski, the new CEO of the Wabash County YMCA.

Gogolewski began his new position on Feb. 25, replacing former CEO Clint Kugler, who joined the Indiana Youth Institute, where he will serve as Vice President of College Career and Community Initiatives.

“I’m acclimating, getting to know everybody,” Gogolewski told The Paper of Wabash County during a recent interview at the YMCA. “It’s an intentional discovery period.

“I’ve been making my way around town. Jay Driskill (the Y’s Vice President of Mission Advancement) has been phenomenal in getting me around town. It’s definitely been a whirlwind tour.

“I’m not done. I’ve got two more weeks of meet and greets. It’s going to be good to get to know the key players and folks that make Wabash such a great community.”
 

Members of the culinary arts team at Heartland Career Center are seen with the electric smoker which was donated to the program. Culinary arts team members include Devon Roberts, Montel Woodruff, Sophia Wheeler, Brayton Collins-McPhearson, Caleb Hunt-Buell, Jessie Sandlin, Derek Dolby and instructor Brad Luzadder. Photo by Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Heartland Career Center’s culinary arts program will have another piece of equipment at its disposal thanks to a grant from the Indiana Farm Bureau.

An electric smoker was delivered to the center on Wednesday on behalf of the Indiana Farm Bureau to be used by the students in Heartland’s culinary arts classes.

It was made possible by a grant through the Indiana State Farm Bureau called Educational and Development Opportunity Grant.

The grant is sponsored by the Outreach Education Coordinators, and is designed to promote new ideas, new projects and equipment for educational purposes.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Members of the Wabash High School business class IncubatorEdu were on hand to give presentations during the Monday, March 4 Wabash City Schools Board meeting.

The presentations centered on the type of business each group has started, and what the students have learned while enrolled in the program.

“I want these kids to know that they can start businesses right here in Wabash,” teacher Tyler Olson told the board before the start of the presentations. “… I want these kids to see successful businesspeople in our community, and to connect them before they leave us and go off to whatever their next step is, so they know they can come back. This program has done an awesome job of allowing that networking between professionals in our community and the students.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash City Hall will have new safety measures installed, largely due to the insistence of the city’s insurance company.

A partial wall cordoning off the various offices from the public will be installed by Mike Paul Construction. The Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety approved the work, expected to cost $5,800, when it met on Thursday, March 7.

The wall will go from the corners of the reception desk to the wall separating the clerk-treasurer’s office from the public area, and to the wall of the building commissioner’s office.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Anita Renfroe was familiar with the world of comedy. However, it was a suggestion by her three children to post a video clip to YouTube that helped many in the world of comedy get to know her.

The video, called “The Mom Song,” features Renfroe recapping her daylong conversations with her three kids in a little more than two minutes, all set to the tune of “The William Tell Overture.”

Renfroe will bring her comedy routine to the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14.

“(‘The Mom Song’) kicked me off into general consciousness,” she told The Paper of Wabash County during a recent telephone interview. “I was already touring with Women of Faith, which is an arena tour where we played like big basketball arenas around the country. I think I was better known inside the Christian market than in the market in general. I think that might be the first time the people outside the Christian touring world heard about me.”
 

Toby Tobias, North Manchester Town Council president, speaks at the State of the Community breakfast. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Communities in Wabash County experienced a variety of successes in 2018.

That was the word Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the second annual State of the Communities breakfast sponsored by Grow Wabash County.

But, as it is in nearly every case, the county also experienced some problems which officials hope to address in the future.

During the breakfast, emceed by Keith Gillenwater, Grow Wabash County president and CEO, representatives from the county’s incorporated municipalities spoke about the past year in their communities.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

MSD of Wabash County approved the recommendation to add School Resource Officers at its schools for the 2019-20 school year at its board meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 26.

The agreement calls for the placement one SRO at the district’s north schools, Northfield Junior-Senior High School, Sharp Creek Elementary and Metro North Elementary, and one at the district’s south schools, Southwood Junior-Senior High School, Southwood Elementary and White’s Junior-Senior High School, during the school day for the 180-day school year period.

By The Paper staff

Wabash County 4-H Junior Leaders will host a free Veteran’s Appreciation Dinner at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 19.

The event will take place at the Lagro Town Hall, 230 Buchanan St., Lagro.

The dinner will include spaghetti, salad and an ice cream bar. The meal is open to active military personnel, veterans and a guest.