Letters to the Editor 11-10-1997
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Winona Alcohol - Gospel Farm - Liquor And Immorality
Winona Alcohol
Editor, Times-Union:In response to the "information meeting" hosted by Brent Wilcoxson on Oct. 30, in Winona Lake Grace Brethren: The subject was not Winona Lake development as was suggested by the home-delivered flyer, or the fancy maps given out by Mr. Wilcoxson, or his color slides of the proposed building and landscape changes.
The question of the evening was on the subject of alcohol sale in the "upscale" restaurant planned for the soon-to-be-renovated Winona Hotel. Brent's answers were flimsy: "Help me find a professional restaurateur that can make this business prosper without alcohol sales," "We already sell alcohol in Winona Lake (Stonehenge Country Club)," and, to those who cited the town's Christian and assembly heritage he said, "I have no personal Christian convictions against the sale (or use) of alcohol." The town board would not have any say in whether or not alcohol was sold, but would rest in the hands of the State Liquor Commission?
After the meeting, when all but a handful of people had left, several of us approached Mr. Wilcoxson. I asked him personally if he would but poll the people of Winona Lake to get their conviction on this matter. I explained they could make or break him, depending upon their agreement on this matter. He stated emphatically that it did not matter what the people of Winona Lake wanted. He said the business for that hotel and the restaurant he knew would come from outside Winona Lake. What the residents of this town wanted was unimportant to him, as this was but a business decision.
Mr. Wilcoxson, I disagree with you. You are accountable to the residents of this town! You are the mayor, and you represent the people of Winona Lake! Since the success of this $18 million business venture for you and Mr. Miller is so dependent upon sales in shops, hotel rentals and making that restaurant business go, I believe you had better start considering what the people of this town think.
Since you have already told us that you have no convictions, Mr. Wilcoxson, let me approach the problem from a different angle. How would Billy Sunday, the man who put 1,500 Illinois taverns out of business in a single day of his campaign, respond to your lack of concern, gentlemen? There is but one real entrance in and out of Winona Lake. How would your businesses prosper, Mr. Wilcoxson and Mr. Miller, if the entrance to town as well as the walkway in front of your hotel, possibly the fronts of shops you have planned to spend millions of dollars on, were jammed every day with town residents, carrying signs, protesting the sales of liquor on your new land development? I and many others who own property in Winona Lake believe this would be a proper response to your impudence to the home of and legacy of Billy Sunday.
You appear to care very little what the town people think of your business deals, and have verbalized and demonstrated that you have no convictions. Well, the prospect of three hundred extra visitors per day to Winona Lake and liquor sales in the Winona Hotel make us care very little if you succeed in this venture.
Rev. David J. Bauer
Winona Lake
Gospel Farm
Editor, Times-Union:"It is Better to Light One Candle than to Curse the Darkness."
On Oct. 31, the Syracuse/Wawasee Ministerial Association hosted "The Gospel Farm" as a free community outreach at Calvary United Methodist Church in Syracuse.
There were games, prizes, hay rides, cider and lots of fun for the entire family! Pumpkins with hearts carved in the back were used as creative visual aids illustrating how Jesus takes the "stringy stuff" (sin) out of our hearts and lights up our lives. This concept has been in use all over the United States for over 25 years and was mentioned twice in the Focus on the Family church bulletin.
We want to express gratitude to the local merchants and individuals who helped make The Gospel Farm a success through their contributions of treats, straw for the hayrides and pumpkins.
Pastor Mick McCoy
Syracuse Vineyard
Liquor And Immorality
Editor, Times-Union:Pastor Dave Halyaman believes that liquor destroys moral character. Wouldn't it be more correct to say that liquor destroys the "hedge" that surrounds the character of a person? Liquor doesn't destroy good characters. Genuine good characters couldn't be destroyed by anything. Liquor exposes bad characters that have existed long before the liquor came. Can one imagine a husband and father who has never had any bad feelings toward his family, showing any violence toward them if he used too much liquor? Liquor exposes what is there.
Since Winona Lake, just as the rest of the world, has inhabitants who have characters that are so far from being moral, wouldn't it be best to have anything that brings out the worst in immoral characters eliminated in this world?
Robert Stichter
Milford
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- Winona Alcohol - Gospel Farm - Liquor And Immorality
Winona Alcohol
Editor, Times-Union:In response to the "information meeting" hosted by Brent Wilcoxson on Oct. 30, in Winona Lake Grace Brethren: The subject was not Winona Lake development as was suggested by the home-delivered flyer, or the fancy maps given out by Mr. Wilcoxson, or his color slides of the proposed building and landscape changes.
The question of the evening was on the subject of alcohol sale in the "upscale" restaurant planned for the soon-to-be-renovated Winona Hotel. Brent's answers were flimsy: "Help me find a professional restaurateur that can make this business prosper without alcohol sales," "We already sell alcohol in Winona Lake (Stonehenge Country Club)," and, to those who cited the town's Christian and assembly heritage he said, "I have no personal Christian convictions against the sale (or use) of alcohol." The town board would not have any say in whether or not alcohol was sold, but would rest in the hands of the State Liquor Commission?
After the meeting, when all but a handful of people had left, several of us approached Mr. Wilcoxson. I asked him personally if he would but poll the people of Winona Lake to get their conviction on this matter. I explained they could make or break him, depending upon their agreement on this matter. He stated emphatically that it did not matter what the people of Winona Lake wanted. He said the business for that hotel and the restaurant he knew would come from outside Winona Lake. What the residents of this town wanted was unimportant to him, as this was but a business decision.
Mr. Wilcoxson, I disagree with you. You are accountable to the residents of this town! You are the mayor, and you represent the people of Winona Lake! Since the success of this $18 million business venture for you and Mr. Miller is so dependent upon sales in shops, hotel rentals and making that restaurant business go, I believe you had better start considering what the people of this town think.
Since you have already told us that you have no convictions, Mr. Wilcoxson, let me approach the problem from a different angle. How would Billy Sunday, the man who put 1,500 Illinois taverns out of business in a single day of his campaign, respond to your lack of concern, gentlemen? There is but one real entrance in and out of Winona Lake. How would your businesses prosper, Mr. Wilcoxson and Mr. Miller, if the entrance to town as well as the walkway in front of your hotel, possibly the fronts of shops you have planned to spend millions of dollars on, were jammed every day with town residents, carrying signs, protesting the sales of liquor on your new land development? I and many others who own property in Winona Lake believe this would be a proper response to your impudence to the home of and legacy of Billy Sunday.
You appear to care very little what the town people think of your business deals, and have verbalized and demonstrated that you have no convictions. Well, the prospect of three hundred extra visitors per day to Winona Lake and liquor sales in the Winona Hotel make us care very little if you succeed in this venture.
Rev. David J. Bauer
Winona Lake
Gospel Farm
Editor, Times-Union:"It is Better to Light One Candle than to Curse the Darkness."
On Oct. 31, the Syracuse/Wawasee Ministerial Association hosted "The Gospel Farm" as a free community outreach at Calvary United Methodist Church in Syracuse.
There were games, prizes, hay rides, cider and lots of fun for the entire family! Pumpkins with hearts carved in the back were used as creative visual aids illustrating how Jesus takes the "stringy stuff" (sin) out of our hearts and lights up our lives. This concept has been in use all over the United States for over 25 years and was mentioned twice in the Focus on the Family church bulletin.
We want to express gratitude to the local merchants and individuals who helped make The Gospel Farm a success through their contributions of treats, straw for the hayrides and pumpkins.
Pastor Mick McCoy
Syracuse Vineyard
Liquor And Immorality
Editor, Times-Union:Pastor Dave Halyaman believes that liquor destroys moral character. Wouldn't it be more correct to say that liquor destroys the "hedge" that surrounds the character of a person? Liquor doesn't destroy good characters. Genuine good characters couldn't be destroyed by anything. Liquor exposes bad characters that have existed long before the liquor came. Can one imagine a husband and father who has never had any bad feelings toward his family, showing any violence toward them if he used too much liquor? Liquor exposes what is there.
Since Winona Lake, just as the rest of the world, has inhabitants who have characters that are so far from being moral, wouldn't it be best to have anything that brings out the worst in immoral characters eliminated in this world?
Robert Stichter
Milford
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