Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH WEBSTER -ÊDates for the North Webster Mermaid Festival were announced Wednesday at the town council meeting.
The festival will run June 19 to 27. The carnival will not begin until June 22, said Bob Richards of the Lions Club.
"We've got a lot of different things planned," he said.
On June 20, Henry Lee Summers will be in concert at the fairgrounds from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A demolition derby will be held June 23 and 24. "Monstersaurus" will be at the festival June 22 to June 27. "Monstersaurus" picks up cars with its "teeth" and bites them in half.
Richards asked the council for a beer tent for three hours on June 20, with a limit of two beers per person.
Council president Myron Clark said he was not in favor of a beer tent.
"If we do it for one, you've got to approve for more and more," he said.
Council member Ken Wagner said, "I'm going to go with Myron. It's too risky especially with what almost happened last year."
Kay Andrews, councilman, also opposed a beer tent.
Richards said the Mermaid Festival cutie parade will be held June 23 with the cutie pageant June 25. The queen pageant will be June 19 with the Mermaid parade June 26.
Richards also said the admission fee will remain the same this year as last year once the carnival begins.
"The Mermaid Festival made more money last year than it has in all its history, that's a known fact," he said.
In other business, town marshal Jerry Craig said the police received their new squad car Wednesday. He said it was not practical to swap the equipment from the old vehicle to the new one, and they need to get the electronic equipment installed in the new vehicle professionally.
Craig said he knows an individual who can install the light bars, video cameras and electrical wiring in two squad cars for $600. He said the man does work for the Syracuse police.
A Warsaw company could do the same work for $1,000, he said.
Clark said he wants the work guaranteed. The board approved Craig to get the work completed.
Craig also said the map in the front lobby of the police station is outdated and needs to be replaced. He said the county can provide a new one through the geographic imaging system at no charge. The board told Craig they want a new one with photos, property lines and street names.
Council also approved Superintendent of Public Works Marshall Minnick to advertise for bids for blacktopping a portion of South Street from Ind. 13 to East Street.
Minnick said once blacktopping begins, the entire road will close.
