10 Years Ago Etna Green’s annual Fourth of July festival has been combined with its sesquicentennial anniversary this weekend. The U.S. Marine Corps will be in the 4-mile country run. They will run in formation to cadence. They, as well as members of the Indiana National Guard, will participate in the parade and bachelor activities. The Miss Etna Green Contest competition ends with the crowning of Miss Etna Green in Remembrance Park. The contestants will be escorted by members of the Marine Corps. The public is invited to a free concert by The Sentimental Journey Band. 25 Years Ago Ivan Hochstetler, 67, of Nappanee, has been earning his living by tearing down, restoring and rebuilding old barns since 1957. He is also a leather craftsman. When he isn’t working on barns, he makes harnesses for horses. “I like to work with my hands.” He and his crew of eight, three of whom are in their 70s, have torn down and rebuilt about 20 barns, two or three a year. It is easier to take down a barn than it is to put it back up, which takes about 30 days. The men have begun tearing down a barn donated to the Elkhart County Fair Board. It is believed to be more then 100 years old. It will be set up at the fairgrounds. The men will begin by diagraming the 50-foot by 38-foot barn and numbering all the main timbers. 50 Years Ago An estimated 2,000 Kosciusko County residents participated in the Civil War. In honor of those who served 100 years ago, The Times-Union is publishing a series of articles on the history of the 12th Regiment Indiana Volunteers: From the diary of Charles F. Nelson, Company I, 12th Regiment, on the move from Collierville to an area near Vicksburg (provided by Mrs. Edwin Alexander, 118 E. Center St., Warsaw); a letter home from Henry Ferree, Silver Lake, on the travel down the Yazoo River (provided by Mrs. Jesse Cluen, 303-1/2 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw); the account of the 12th Regiment at the capture of Vicksburg in June 1863 was written by Chaplain Gage, “the reign of terror during the siege must have been appalling” (provided by Tom Warner, North Webster). 75 Years Ago Lawyer Thomas Fitzgerald, of Mentone, was born in Ireland and came to the United States when he was 16 years old. He located first in Boston, then came to Fort Wayne, spent three years in South Whitley, before locating in 1931 in Mentone. “I came out here in 1922 for the John Hancock Insurance Co., liked the country, and decided to stay,” he told the Times cameraman. Leading citizens of Mentone Friday were two newly married couples, Mr. & Mrs. Frank Warren and Mr. & Mrs. Walter Fenstermaker, who were feted in a town-wide celebration by jubilant friends and well-wishers, who in their enthusiasm, brought the happy couples 13 miles to Warsaw on the town’s ancient fire truck.
