Letters to the Editor 08-13-2004

- Defends Beer & Jessops - Community Reaches Out - REAL Services Defends Beer & Jessops Editor, Times-Union: I want to first off say that I am proud of Pierceton, Pierceton has always been "my town," I have lived here all my life and like most small towns, you know just about everyone in them, and everyone it seems is either family or friends, and that is only one of the many things that I really like about living in Pierceton, I could go on and on about all I like.

Letters to the Editor 01-03-2006

- Religious Freedom - Responds To Wolkins - Questions Religious Freedom Editor, Times-Union: This is the third part of my letter dealing with with the subject of freedom of religion.The previous two parts were printed in the Times-Union Sept.8 and Oct.14 with a list of 27 sources of information that were used to develop a definition or guiding principle, most of those sources of information are available at the Warsaw Community Public Library for those who would be interested in doing their own research.

Letters to the Editor 12-23-1997

- McCarthyism - Police Department - Pierceton Christmas - Gasoline Prices McCarthyism Editor, Times-Union: I quote a letter to the editor in an area paper dated Dec.17 by the Rev.Noel G.Reed, a Methodist minister.He said that "those seeking a pound of flesh have again crawled out of the woodwork unfurling the insensitivity banner."He described this action as "McCarthyism revisited."Rev.Reed told me that he was amazed at how few people that he talked to remembered what McCarthyism was/is.

Letters to the Editor 09-27-2004

Warsaw Top Program In '90s

Warsaw boys basketball distinction as the top program of the 1990s probably can be traced back to one single day, but it isn't even in this decade. No this day goes back six years before the '90s even started when the Tigers captured their first and only boys state championship title - March 24, 1984. Warsaw's 59-56 win over Vincennes Lincoln that day might have done more than give Warsaw the state title; it set in motion the enthusiasm and interest in a sport that has put the school and community on the map. "The seed of something like that would start with the state championship of 1984," current Warsaw JV coach Doug Ogle said."That had to be very motivating for the kids in elementary and junior high grades.That success kept breathing more success." The seed planted that day has grown into what can now be considered the best boys program of the '90s in terms of winning percentage among its high school (varsity, junior varsity and freshman) programs.

Northfield Upsets Squires -ÊAgain

Heading into the Wabash County Boys' Basketball Tournament at Northfield High School, all eyes were on the Manchester Squires.According to the coaches in the tournament, Manchester was the team to beat.The Squires would have to get past one of their biggest rivals, the host Northfield Norsemen. Turn the calender back to last March, the second round of the Maconaquah sectional where these same Norsemen took on the favored Squires.It took three overtimes, but the underdog Norsemen upset the Squires 42-41. It was deja-vu all over again for Manchester. What was supposed to be a warm-up for Wednesday's championship game against Southwood (a 77-26 winner over Wabash), the Norsemen pulled off their second upset in 10 months, defeating Manchester 47-46 in Tuesday's first round of the 1999 Wabash County Tournament.

Letters to the Editor 11-20-2001

- MDA Says Thanks - Legion Says Thanks - Ten-Million-Dollar Mistake - Food-Drive Disappointment - Caring Passersby - Fund-Raiser Thanks - Stop Dumping Leaves MDA Says Thanks Editor, Times-Union: The Warsaw community opened its arms again and welcomed MDA for a one-day mock lock-up fundraiser Nov.1. We were hosted by the Warsaw Fire Department at Station 2 on Center St.The men and women of the fire department in Warsaw, as well as all over the nation, are MDA's greatest supporters and we thank them for that.

Letters to the Editor 09-09-2002

- Benefit Concert - Stirring Remembrance - Community Outreach - Peer Pressure - Warsaw MDA Support Benefit Concert Editor, Times-Union: On Sunday, Sept.15 at 10 a.m.at Full Gospel Tabernacle, North Main Street, Claypool, there will be a gospel concert in honor of Brenda Evans.Singers will be Ron and Sharon Frazier, Mark Harvey of River City Ministries and the Dotsons of the Claypool church. Brenda passed away April 16, 2002, from complications caused by kidney failure. Brenda would have been 39 years old on Aug.28 of this year.From the age of 15 until her death, she struggled with kidney problems.

Wabash No Test For Valley

AKRON - In terms of the coaching experience in Tuesday's Wabash/Tippecanoe Valley varsity boys basketball clash, Valley's Bill Patrick played the role of the teacher; Wabash's Mike Noszka was the student. Patrick, the silver-haired 32nd-year veteran, picked up his 513th career win as his Vikings schooled Wabash 78-43.Noszka, the blond-headed youngster in his third year with the Apaches, watched as his team lost for the 25th consecutive time. With four future Valley opponents (Plymouth, Whitko, Manchester, Northfield) in the stands taking notes, the Vikings threw a test at Wabash in the form of a 1-3-1 half-court trap defense - Wabash failed miserably.

Vikings Help Patrick Win His 'Big Game'

MENTONE - It was quite possibly the most anticipated showdown of the high school basketball season. Coach Bill Patrick and his Tippecanoe Valley Vikings faced off against the Whitko Wildcats, Patrick's team for 24 years. "It was obviously a big game," said Patrick."And obviously I wanted to win for several reasons." Patrick got his wish Friday when his Vikings defeated the Whitko Wildcats 66-51. The first quarter of the game could have been called the Jarvis Shepherd vs.Joe Grant show. Shepherd nailed Valley's first eight points and scored 10 of the 19 first-quarter Viking points, and Grant scored six of Whitko's 12 first-quarter points. By the end of the first frame, Valley held a 19-12 lead. Whitko held Valley scoreless for the first three minutes of the second quarter before the Vikings went on a six-point run to bring the score to 25-18 in Valley's favor.

Not Your Typical Fish Story

MENTONE - Brandi and Brooke Fisher hopped on their bikes and pedaled down county back roads, devoted to their cause, determined to reach their destination. For two weeks one summer, the sisters biked from their home in Palestine to Tippecanoe Valley High School - seven miles one way - so they could attend girls basketball camp.Their itinerary: Rise early in the morning.Pedal down roads for 40 minutes to an hour.Play basketball at camp.Get back on the bikes, pedal down roads for 40 minutes to an hour.Pull in at home. These weren't strapping 17-year-old lads doing this.These were young girls.Brandi was a sixth-grader and Brooke a fifth-grader the summer they rode their bikes to camp.Their stepdad and mom, Rick and Evelyn Rickel, worked day shifts and could not take them and pick them up. The sisters didn't let that stop them.

Concord Gadget Play Trips Wawasee Warriors

Dunlap - With Halloween just three days away, Concord football coach Tim Dawson reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a Minutemen treat, a 62-yard reverse by junior wideout Jeremy Lugbill to defeat Wawasee 30-27 in Class 4A Sectional 11 second-round play Friday evening. The fourth quarter of this classic resembled a mad dash to the department store to grab a new Sony Play Station 2 as the game was full of uneasiness and excitement. "We knew coming into this one that it was going to be difficult," Dawson said."We thought that we had to get four scores or 30 points to win." Wawasee had fought an uphill battle, ever since the opening kickoff, to take the lead 27-22 on quarterback Brent Doty's scoring strike to senior wide receiver Travis Klenke.Klenke found himself lined up against no Concord defender, waved his arm to Doty, then did the rest in going for the leading score.

Tigers Down But Not Out In Goshen

GOSHEN - Although Warsaw trailed Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen for the majority of Friday's boys basketball game, the Tigers defeated the Redskins 43-39 in a defensive showdown. "The NLC is a defensive conference," said Al Rhodes."And tonight's game was a good example of that." Goshen took an early 6-0 lead, and its defensive effort kept Warsaw scoreless for more than two minutes. The first Tiger points came on two Zach Nelson free throws with 5:42 left in the first quarter to make the score 6-2 in Goshen's favor. Goshen allowed Warsaw to score only seven points in the next five minutes, and by the end of the first quarter Goshen held a 15-9 lead. The second quarter began the same way the first ended, with a solid defensive effort, and the score stood at 15-9 for the first minute of play. With 6:57 left in the second frame, Josh Keister scored a basket to put Goshen up 17-9.

Homestead Ends Warsaw's Season

FORT WAYNE - When it's all said and done, third-year Warsaw Community High School football coach Troy Akers said, people will be talking about Justin Clemens. Friday night, as the talented freshman made his first varsity start at quarterback for the Tigers, however, it was Homestead senior signal caller Jordan Wise who was in the spotlight. Wise completed 10 of 18 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns and intercepted a Clemens pass in the second half while leading the Spartans to a 26-7 win over the visiting Tigers in Sectional 3 semifinal action. "When it's all said and done, people will be talking about Justin Clemens," said Akers, whose Tigers finished the season with a 2-9 record."He'll be a household name." The win improved Homestead to 10-1 on the season.The Spartans will play Fort Wayne Snider (9-2) in the sectional championship Friday.Snider, ranked 10th in the final Class 5A poll, beat seventh-ranked Marion (9-2) 60-0.

Wawasee Comes Up Short At Plymouth

PLYMOUTH - For all the thousands of yards Joe Leach has gained this year, he could have used just one more foot Friday. The Warriors' electric quarterback came up just short on a two-point conversion in overtime Friday night against host Plymouth as Wawasee ended its season with a 21-20 loss to the Rockies in the Class 4A Sectional 10 semifinal. Wawasee had a chance to win the game in regulation when Aaron Polsean set up for a 20-yard field goal with 9.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Plymouth coach John Barron called two straight timeouts in the hopes of icing Polsean.While the timeouts may have had some effect, a bad snap, hold and low kick that was blocked into the line forced overtime. The Warriors won the coin toss to start overtime and deferred and gave the Rockies the ball first.

Andrean, NorthWood Face Off - Again

NAPPANEE - The NorthWood Panthers are one of 20 teams battling for the opportunity to play in the state championship next week. However, the path to Indianapolis and the RCA Dome will not be an easy one for the Panthers because they must face last year's Class 3A semistate champion, Andrean High School, in order to get there. NorthWood (10-3) and Andrean (11-2) will square off in Merrillville at 8 p.m.Friday, and the winner will travel to Indianapolis the following week to compete in the Class 3A ISHAA state football championship. "NorthWood is a lot like us," said Ted Karras, Andrean's head coach."They play a difficult schedule, and they are a traditional power.

Start Of Class System Tops Local Sports Stories

It was a year that brought near state championships, program turnarounds, outstanding individual efforts and long overdue sectional championships. All in all, it was another exciting calendar year for area athletes. It is almost impossible to single out accomplishments and rank them, but we as a sports staff gave it our best shot.We came up with the top 10 sports stories of the year among our seven area high schools (Warsaw, Wawasee, Valley, Manchester, Whitko, Triton, NorthWood) from January 1997 to December 1997. 1.Class sports comes to area/state. The top story of the year was not only an area story, but a story that affected the entire state.Class sports, especially basketball, has been a topic of conversation for the past two seasons, but the big story this year was the first use of it in IHSAA history.

Meadowlark Moves People With Message

SYRACUSE - The 63-year-old man walks onto the basketball court, a red, white and blue basketball - like the kind the ABA used - tucked under one arm. The people cheer and clap.And yes, when he wraps his hand around the microphone, he owns their undivided attention. That's because he is Meadowlark Lemon, and the former Harlem Globetrotter still works a crowd like no other. Meadowlark made at stop at Wawasee High School on Saturday.He played basketball, told jokes, picked on little kids and talked to crying babies.But the real reason he was here was to talk about God. That's what the man known as the "Clown Prince of Basketball" does these days.Meadowlark, who makes his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., talks about God whenever and wherever he can.He's been an ordained minister since 1986.He's spoken about God in more than 100 countries, from Algeria to Zimbabwe.He's traveled more than four million miles to win people over to God.

For Helfrich, June Has Been Joyous

June 1999 has been good to Craig Helfrich. On June 1, the Warsaw girls softball coach watched his then 18-11 Warsaw softball team beat then 23-5-1 Elkhart Memorial 2-1 in the second round of the sectional. On June 5, Warsaw won its first sectional title since 1995 with a 2-0 win over Concord.The 25-year-old Helfrich is in his second year as Warsaw's softball coach.He says a lot of people tell him he is the youngest coach to win a sectional at Warsaw. On June 12, 20-11 Warsaw will play 12-17 Huntington North in the second game of the Columbia City 3A Regional."No one expected us to be here," Helfrich said."Everyone thought Elkhart Memorial would be here." On June 26, he gets married. Yes, he planned his wedding around the softball tournament.The state finals take place June 18-19. "This is a big month," he said."It's hard to believe.I made sure nothing is interfering on the June 26 date." In a lot of ways, 12-17 Huntington North is like Warsaw.

Sloppy Vikings Lose Grip On First Place

After blowing a 21-7 fourth-quarter lead at the RCA Dome last Saturday against Oak Hill and losing 28-27 in overtime, Tippecanoe Valley's football team went from looking like a favorite to claim a coveted Three Rivers Conference title to finding itself in a four-way tie for first with Oak Hill, Rochester and Southwood. Friday night's game against Rochester was even bigger than Saturday's game for Tippecanoe Valley.A win, and the Vikings would position themselves for a shot at the conference title; a loss, and they would need some help from other conference foes. With a packed house at Death Valley, the Rochester Zebras took advantage of seven Valley turnovers en route to a big 33-2 TRC win over the host Vikings.The win puts the Zebras (6-1) in a first-place tie with Oak Hill for the lead at 4-1 in the conference.