Warsaw Will Provide Some Fond Memories

One of my first memories of Warsaw was that of Nancy Dickerson at a city parks department board meeting. It was a jovial setting with a mix of small talk and business.Boat ramps and beaches intermingled with talk about the kids, friends and life in general. And in the middle of the meeting, Dickerson, with her infectious smile, started passing out homemade candies.I don't remember what type, probably because I was so bowled over by this cozy little situation where people gather to oversee the town's business while munching on homemade goodies. The reporter in me was aghast.This is not what the journalism degree from Ball State was supposed to yield.I was not made to sit around and record the news of a board that smiles and passes candies around.I was supposed to be covering gruff politically strained meetings where everything was serious and scornful.

Letters to the Editor 04-04-2001

- Thanks To Foundation - Disabled Children - Life Lessons - Hickory Creek - Thanks To Cub Scouts Thanks To Foundation Editor, Times-Union: I would like to take this opportunity to publically thank the Kosciusko County Foundation, the Lilly Endowment and the selection committee for making this past Wednesday one of the best days of my life! Winning the Lilly Scholarship was an answer to the prayers of many.God has truly blessed me, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Letters to the Editor 03-27-2001

Leininger, Tiger Girls Hoops Team Continues To Roll

HUNTINGTON - Though they hung a stuffed tiger in the entrance to their locker room, it was the Huntington North Vikings that had the life snuffed out of them Saturday evening. Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team, currently ranked No.9 in Class 4A, raced out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and never trailed en route to a 57-44 win. In all reality, it was the Tigers who had Huntington North on the ropes, and the Vikings tried to hang on but couldn't. Huntington North cut the lead to as little as eight, 45-37, at the end of the third quarter but trailed by 18 in the final frame when Miss Basketball candidate Jaclyn Leininger hit back-to-back treys for a 55-37 Tiger lead with 3:51 remaining.

Letters to the Editor 03-20-2001

- Hickory Creek - Grace Theater - Jazz Cafe - Valley Band, Choir - Repetitive Motion - Daylight Saving Time - Hickory Creek Editor, Times-Union: This is a letter from the heart, from people who care for people who need cared for. Hickory Creek of Warsaw, a long-term care facility, has been in this community caring for people for 30 years.The residents of this facility are mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, mentally disabled and have a lot of behavioral problems. Because of their condition and state of mind, other long-term care facilities do not want to house these special people.That is why our "house" facility is so special.

Letters to the Editor 03-22-2001

Letters to the Editor 06-07-2000

Warsaw Stifles Col. City

It may not be pretty, it may not earn many style points, but it is getting the job done. After the first week of the season, an inexperienced Warsaw Tigers boys' basketball team has three wins against three good opponents, and it doesn't really matter how they are getting it done, as long as they are doing the job. "It (the first week) is very difficult because of the fact there is just not enough time to get ready with our inexperienced team," Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."Last year, I wouldn't have thought twice about this stretch because we already knew our offenses and defenses basically.We were more ready for different situations to arise." Besides the wins, another constant has been the defense of the Tigers.Warsaw is 3-0 despite having scored 63, 63 and 56 points in those three games.And the reason is defense, having given up only 59, 62 and 46 points in the three games.

On The Court

NO.10 DEKALB AT WAWASEE TIPOFF: 8 p.m.Saturday COACHES: Cliff Hawkins (DeKalb), Jerry Davis (Wawasee) RECORDS: DeKalb 1-0, Wawasee 2-0 LAST GAME: DeKalb 76, FW Northrop 49; Wawasee 49, Mishawaka 39 MATCHUP: ...Luke Recker, the Indiana University recruit who has been rated the top shooting guard in the nation, leads the Barons into Wawasee.Recker, the frontrunner for Mr.Basketball, averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists per game last season.He plays the point guard position for DeKalb.DeKalb presents height matchup problems all over the place.The Barons start a 6-10 center, Jan Thompson, and Recker is 6-5.Every other starter is at least 6-2.The sixth man, Shane Monroe, is 6-6.Wawasee will start 5-10 Ryan Mikel, 5-9 Jay Haugh, 5-10 Jarod Mahnensmith, 6-4 Jordan Bender and 6-5 Brody Stipp.

On The Court

Letters to the Editor 03-29-2001

- Basketball - Daylight Saving - Rave Parties - Zimmer Road Basketball Editor, Times-Union: The ISHAA executive council will meet on April 30 to take a hard, depressing look at the attendance and revenue figures since the last single-class basketball tournaments in 1997.The Indianapolis Star reports, "Attendance had been declining, but the steady decline turned into a free-fall after the final single-class tournaments in 1997.Since then, boys attendance for all tourney rounds dropped from 786,024 to 387,710 last year - a decline of 50.1 percent.Total profit to the ISHAA, after all expenditures and payments to participating schools, fell during that period from $924,017 to $475,734 - a slide of 48.6 percent.

Letters to the Editor 06-09-2000

- Better Understanding - Labels - Knight Is His Own Man - Color Guard - Gun Locks Better Understanding Editor, Times-Union: This letter is in reference to the letter written by Justin Butts that was printed June 5, 2000.I am sorry that you are shunned by some Christians at school.IÊappreciate your desire to reach out to them in a positive way.We all need to look beyond our feelings of anger and indifference and show one another respect.Perhaps your insight will help them to respond better as they observe this issue from your perspective.Open and considerate communication concerning differences can lead to a better understanding of one another.

Wawasee's Leach Garners Offensive Honors Again

SYRACUSE - How good is Wawasee quarterback Joe Leach? You can ask his coach, Joe Reitveld. Or maybe you should talk to the coaching staffs at the University of Toledo or Dayton or the bundles of other colleges that have taken quite an interest in the 6-foot-3 senior from Syracuse. And the answer from all of them would probably be the same: REAL good. For the second straight, year Leach has been named the Times-Union Offensive Player of the Year. Leach is being courted by several D-I schools, including Northwestern, but it's not clear-cut that he's best quarterback in his conference. Concord senior Bob Cira led his team to a Class 4A state runner-up. Any other year, Leach would be a cinch for the North-South All-Star team and any other accolades thrown to high school quarterbacks in Indiana.

Letters to the Editor 06-12-2000

Letters to the Editor 05-26-2000

Times-Union All-Area Team

Last-Second Shot Sinks Vikings' Ship

AKRON - Winamac girls basketball head coach Jim Swaney picked up his 300th and perhaps most memorable win with a 63-62 buzzer-beating win over Valley Tuesday night. Winamac came into the contest ranked first in the most recent 2A poll and a 9-0 record. On the other end, Valley had reeled off three straight wins after a rough start to the season. Despite no full moon outside, there were plenty of strange occurences that occured inside the Valley gym Tuesday night. The tone of the game was set at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter when Kara Kramer looked to complete a three-point play.Kramer's free throw attempt bounced on the rim three times before coming to rest on the back of the rim. At that point, the Vikings trailed 27-16 and continued to trail by double digits for most of the game.Valley made its push in the fourth quarter and took its first lead at 57-55 with 2:33 left in the game on three Holli Jackson free throws.

Barons Shoot Down Tigers

WATERLOO - The Warsaw Tigers hit the road Friday night for the first time this season to take on unbeaten DeKalb. The hour-plus bus drive to Waterloo showed as the Tigers came out cold in the first quarter and fell 65-41 to the Barons. While Warsaw struggled from the field, DeKalb was red hot from just about everywhere on the floor. Dakota Smith served as the proverbial thorn in Warsaw's side as he came out of the blocks quick and scored 15 first half points. "DeKalb was really good tonight," said fifth-year Warsaw coach Doug Ogle."I thought Dakota Smith played as well as you can play.He was perfect from the field and had some well-timed shots for them at key points of the game." Smith was perfect from behind the three-point arc in the first 16 minutes going 4 of 4. For the game Smith was 7 of 7 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for a game-high 22 points.

Squire Girls Still Undefeated

At North Manchester, Katie Parker scored 24 points and added seven steals, four rebounds and three assists and Manchester defeated Wabash 66-49. Jodie Peden helped out with 15 points, seven assists, eight steals and a blocked shot.Megan Eckert had seven points and eight rebounds. Manchester (4-0) will be at Whitko on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MANCHESTER 66, WABASH 49 Manchester - Markstahler 4-6 1-2 9, Parker 11-17 2-2 24, Wagoner 1-1 0-0 2, Jester 1-2 0-0 2, Peden 4-12 7-12 15, Hicks 1-2 0-0 2, Seagert 2-5 1-2 5, White 0-2 0-0 0, Ruppel 0-2 0-0 0, Eckert 3-7 1-2 7, Total 27-55 12-20 66. NorthWood 96, South Bend Adams 37 At South Bend, NorthWood had six players score in double figures led by Amy Zercher's 19 points as the Panthers won in a romp for the second game in a row.

Letters to the Editor 06-15-2000