PALM SUNDAY - 1965

 

It was a Palm Sunday no different than any other.  The young ones meandered the aisles of the sanctuary waving their green fronds, followed by a not-real donkey and a not-real Jesus.  I wondered how many palms from the South sacrificed their boughs for a Northern Indiana ritual.

The reward for making it through Sunday morning was dinner at Sam and Anna's.  Grandpa Sam had caught a boat-load of perch at the marl pit and Grandma Anna fried them up in butter along with thinly sliced potatoes.  She also had her standards - beans cooked with bacon and strawberry rhubarb pie.

The afternoon light suddenly turned dark.  A storm was moving southwest to northeast. The thick low clouds were angry, swirling like an eddy in Turkey Creek and colored like a rainbow gone bad.  Johnny and I stared at the sky, oblivious to the dangers.  Then a siren went - and then another - and another until they were continuous.  For hours.  Slowly we learned that one of several tornadoes was a double funnel that touched down for miles. For over 200 souls, it was their last Palm Sunday.

COACH

 

 

 

And My Favorite, Although Coach Looks A Tad Serious!

 

 

 

Wilmer James [Jim] Hettler

Jim died at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, November 10, 2021, at his home in Goshen.

He was born June 14, 1929 in Whiteford, Michigan. His parents were William Lavern and Annabelle (Holmes) Hettler.

He lived the first six years of his life in Whiteford before moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from South Side High School in 1947 before enrolling at Ball State Teachers College in Muncie.

After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. He was assigned to the Medical Corp. and served as a Physical Reconditioning Technician involved in the treatment of the returning wounded. He served at Brooke Army Medical Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, at Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan and at Camp Pickett Army Hospital in Blackstone, Virginia.

After his service, he spent 33 years in Public Education in Michigan and Indiana, primarily in the New Paris/Fairfield School System. He was a Secondary Teacher, Coach and School Administrator during this time.

He retired in 1986 and spent the rest of his life in the Goshen, Indiana community. He married Ruth Rae Bowen, in Bowling Green, Ohio, on April 3, 1955.

He is survived by three children, Ronald James (Robin) Hettler, Lubbock, Texas; Celia Anne (Douglas) Holte, Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Amy Lynn (Thomas) Yoder, Elkhart. Ruth and Jim were blessed with 15 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren; sister, Edith Marsh, Sarasota, Florida; brother-in-law, Dale Nelson, Chula Vista, California and sister-in-law, Celia Ribas, New Jersey.

Preceding him in death are his parents; wife, Ruth and brothers, Merle & LaVern.

A gathering will be 2-4 & 6-8 p.m. (EST) Friday, November 19, 2021, at Rieth Rohrer Ehret Funeral Home, 311 S. Main St., Goshen. Services will be at Grace Bible Baptist Church, New Paris (the old high school/elementary school) on Saturday, November 20, with military honors beginning at 11 a.m.
Burial will follow at New Paris Cemetery at a later date.

Memorial donations may be directed to the Fairfield Alumni Association or Goshen Hospital Hospice.

FREDRIC LAMAR SCHROCK 1945-2016

 

Sadly, another member of our New Paris High School Class of 1964 has passed away.  Fred Schrock was a multi-talented, highly-respected and well-liked person with wide-ranging skills from the classroom to the basketball court.  I am hopeful that classmates and friends will add their memories in the comments section.  Here is Fred's obituary from the Goshen News:

Fredric's Story

Fredric "Fred" Lamar Schrock, 70, of Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, died at 6:10 p.m. Saturday, April 30 at the home of his brother and sister-in-law, Bryce and Jane Schrock, after an 18-month battle with cancer.

He was born Nov. 10, 1945 in Goshen to LaMar and Lucille (Weaver) Schrock. On Aug., 1, 1969, he married the late, Ann Smoker at First Brethren Church in New Paris.

Fred was a 1964 graduate of New Paris High School. He attended Purdue University and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He also received a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1973

.
Fred worked for Uniroyal in Mishawaka from 1969-1997, and retired in 2014 as senior research scientist for Royal Adhesives in South Bend, Indiana.

Fred enjoyed photography, gardening, and traveling, especially to the Southwest and Florida with family and friends. He was an active member of the New Paris Missionary Church, where he taught adult Sunday school classes for many years and was a faithful student of God's word.

He was preceded in death by his wife and parents, a sister Patrice (Schrock) Hurd of Milford, and a brother Steve (Carol) Schrock of Kingston, Tennessee.

Survivors include a brother, Bryce (Jane) Schrock of Goshen, sister-in-law Nancy (Donn) Huber of New Paris, brother-in-law Douglas (Sara) Smoker of Goshen, brother-in-law Gary (Sandy) Hurd of Warsaw and 10 nieces and nephews. 

Visitation for family and friends will be from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3 at Rieth Rohrer-Ehret funeral home, 311 S. Main St., Goshen.

Funeral services will take place Wednesday, May 4 at 10 a.m. at the New Paris Missionary Church, 67621 Ind. 15 New Paris, friends may call one hour before. Officiating will be Pastor Dave Hackney, assisted by Pastor Matt Schoettle. Burial will be immediately following the service at New Paris Cemetery.

Memorial contributions can be made to the New Paris Missionary Church.

BOURBON, INDIANA

This could be one reason folks live there!

THE NEW PARIS JAMAICAN RANCH

Here is a bit of little known history about my hometown of New Paris, Indiana.  Text taken from an article in the Elkhart Truth here.  I think that nearly all of us New Parisians know about Dwiggins Alfalfa, but likely were not aware of this story.

During World War II, men from Jamaica and other countries came to the U.S. to work on farms. The location of this photo from the Library of Congress is unknown. (Library of Congress)


In an Elkhart Truth article from June 8, 1943, a story chronicles the arrival of 18 men from Jamaica to New Paris. The reason they came to this area was to work at the Dwiggins and Sons alfalfa farm. The company, which ground alfalfa into meal for farm animals, was facing a labor problem before the Jamaicans arrived due to many of its workers fighting in World War II. The men were hired as laborers loading alfalfa onto trucks in the field, and unloading them into dehydrators and choppers back at the mill.

This piece of our county’s history is a small example of a much larger movement that took place throughout the country in order to keep food production during World War II going.

During World War II, the Farm Security Administration (FSA), first established as a New Deal program to assist rural poverty, looked to other nations to employ men to work on farms across the country. We all remember the stories of women entering the workforce as men were fighting in Europe or the Pacific, but there were still some jobs that people believed were too hard for women at the time. Farm work was one of those types of jobs. The U.S. government recognized that with many men being sent off to fight, farming and food production would suffer. They knew they needed to act in order to keep fueling the war effort by producing food and products for the nation.

To solve this problem, the FSA reached agreements with neighboring countries to send men to the United States to work on farms — in total, about 300,000 workers from Canada, Mexico, Barbados and Jamaica came to the United States and were sent to farms all across the county.

One group that worked in New Paris entered the country by way of New Orleans May 1, 1943. They were then sent to an old CCC camp in Brownstown, Ind., while they awaited job assignments. When they reached New Paris and the Dwiggins farm, John Dwiggins reportedly said the men were excited to work on a contract that was set to expire on Sept. 1, but could have been extended.

The men were required to work eight to 10 hours a day and would be paid overtime for all hours over 40 hours per week. The men, per their contracts, would be paid a minimum wage of $3 a day, but Dwiggins indicated they would be paid more than that. Other than being paid for their work, they were provided a number of benefits. They were provided housing by converting an apple butter plant into barracks that became known as the “Jamaican Ranch.” They also received food and any medical care they required.

Another interesting detail is that in their contracts, the Jamaican workers were required to send $1 of their earnings per day to the Jamaican government. They would send their wages to their families, which would then be turned in to their national government.

The “Jamaican Ranch” is a really interesting footnote in our community’s past that teaches us a new facet of World War II history on the home front. In school we all heard about “Rosie the Riverter” and the large waves of women working in factories, as well as the community drives to collect metal, but the national effort to bring in men from other countries is a largely unknown and fascinating piece of history. Not only did they work, but they shared their cultures with us. Imagine the undocumented stories and interactions that would have taken place in New Paris in 1943 between two groups of people that may not have known much about each other.

MY LETTERMAN DREAM

 

Unless you have been living in the hinterland for the past few days, you likely know that Wednesday was David Letterman's last late night show, signing off after 33+ years.  The NYTimes review is here and there are a numerous online videos, etc. 

However, I am not writing about his farewell, but rather about a dream that I had at least 15 years ago - obviously memorable, and it still makes me chuckle.  It goes like this:

Rhonda and I were at the taping of a Letterman show and he asked if anyone was from Indiana [since that's where he is from].  We were the only ones who raised our hands, and thus were invited to stay after the show.  We were escorted backstage to Dave's private dressing room, and we had a nice chat about Hoosier stuff.  Then he said "Why don't you walk with me to the club that I always go to after the show?"  Of course we said yes, and we headed out to the streets of New York City.  We turned into an alley and there was an unmarked door with a small window.  Dave knocked, the window cover opened, and a voice said "Good afternoon Mr. Letterman."  We were very anxious and anticipatory as the door opened - and then Letterman, turned to us and said "Thanks, and we'll see you."  He walked in, we were left outside and I had to think - Classic Letterman!!!

THE INDY 500 - POUNDS

h/t Essenhaus Man

THAT'S A WRAP

Start Date:                  6-July-2012
Penultimate Date:      4-August-2012
End Date:                 21-August-2012

On the sixth of July, sister Kay and her daughter Anna, spouse Rhonda and I started sorting and packing at Ed & Mary's home on Kentfield Way in Goshen.  We knew that it would be a big job - an accumulation of 'stuff' over the course of 73 years of marriage, and Mary is a well-known "keeper."  That's several ticks short of hoarder!!  During the three full days that Rhonda spent at the house, she made it through all of the contents of the sewing room, which ended up filling several large boxes and several smaller ones - material, thread, yarn, and virtually every other sewing supply item that one would need.  And this was literally the tip of the iceberg - Kay and I spent 28 straight days sorting and packing, the results of which are summarized in the Sale Bill here.   I call these days 'the lost month' - every day I got up at six and went to bed at 11, with some diversions for exercise, visiting with mom and dad and relatives, and occasionally going out to eat.  A few things went to the Depot, others to the recycle bins, and some things were saved for friends and relatives [e.g. a birth announcement for cousin Jim Anklam who is approaching 70!] but most everything will be at the sale.  I cordially invite one and all of you to attend on September 19 - it will be most interesting!

The penultimate date is when most things were taken care of and I departed Indiana, driving a 17-foot U-Haul truck loaded with 'merchandise' as the Chupp Auctioneers refer to people's 'stuff' before it is sold!  And the ultimate date is when Kay wrapped up the final details at the house and when the Chupp folks came to load everything up to cart to Shipshewana for the sale.  Here are a few photos:

A Garage Full of Boxes

[and the house was full of furniture]

Ed Surveying The Progress

"The Boss"

Workin' Hard - Almost Done

Success!

SAVE THE DATE!!!



In due time, the auction will show up here.  If you would like a jpg that is easily readable, leave a comment with your email.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Some of you know that my mother Mary [94] took a couple of tumbles two weeks ago, so I traveled to Indiana to help out with the day to day since she was not able to do much and father Ed [almost 96] is not particularly handy around the house [understatement!].  I wrote a daily report to the family, and below is an example of how we spent our days.  For many of you, it will be boring and perhaps not worth your time, while others will appreciate the transition in their lives that is taking place.
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Tuesday Night

Halftime of the Notre Dame/Baylor women’s b ball championship, so it’s time to write a bit.  Ed is in the groove for breakfast at the County Seat – it seems to be the place where most of the crew goes most of the time.  They gave up on Lux and most had abandoned the Fairway before it finally closed down.  Interestingly the Fairway reopened as a Vietnamese restaurant – the Golden Monkey.  Breakfast Ed Special = ½ order of oatmeal, brown sugar and milk.  Decaf coffee.  I mix it up a bit; pancake; eggs; toast J  Regular coffee.  Mary had requested a ½ order of mush, so we brought that back, and topped with the local maple syrup, it was pretty good.  She said that she could not go back to sleep after waking up earlier, so she was rather tired today.  Her pain and getting around were about the same today as yesterday, and she decided that she probably would not make it to this week’s hair appointment on Friday.

At 10, Ed and I went over to Greencroft to meet with a marketing person and get a tour of the Senior Center and of Evergreen, the assisted living facility.  There are only two empty units, and both are the Balsam model – a one bedroom with a large walk-in closet, one bath and the standard living-dining-kitchenette set-up.  One is on the first floor and one is on the second floor.  It was interesting to note that during our tour, Ed met at least a half dozen folks that he knew.  The second floor unit is ready for occupants, but the first floor unit is a couple of weeks away from being finished – they always paint, put in new carpet, and generally fix up between occupants.  Of course as we all know, Ed was ready to move in!  We learned that you can ‘hold’ a room with a refundable $500 deposit, and after some discussion, they decided to put a hold on 109, the first floor unit, and to put their name on the waiting list for a two bedroom Tamarak unit.  Although there they are not first on the list, the marketing person said that in essence they are because the people in front of them don’t really want to move.  There is no way of predicting when units might be available, so many folks move into an available unit and then decide later if they want to move to a larger or smaller unit.  The 109 unit is nicely located – not too far from the main entrance and dining area; across the hall from the beauty salon/barber shop; and on the side that is closest to the SideBoard.

I had prepared the sticky topping for cinnamon rolls last night, so this morning I put them in the pans to raise whilst we went to breakfast and then got them baked before we headed to Greencroft – they turned out better this time!  I played noon-ball at GC and then got lunch around for E&M.  A Troyer-restaurant-lady brought some rivel soup, so I heated that up; Ed finished the egg drop soup and pork fried rice from Memories of China; we also had some apple salad, bbq chicken, and of course cinnamon rolls!   Mary said that tomorrow she is ready for some tacos – not sure what I will get for Ed J

When E&M were discussing moving to Evergreen, kinda out of the blue they decided that they only need one car – not in the future but now!  Mary got on the phone with Eby Ford and on Thursday they will discuss their lease on the Lincoln – save them over quite a bit per month I believe.  One of the nice things about Evergreen is that the monthly cost includes virtually everything – all utilities, TV, phone, meals, transportation options, activities......

Supper was quite small for them [and naturally not for me], and they watched their usual evening line up, although Ed slept through a good portion of Wheel and some of Jeopardy.  They made it to half time of the game, and then hit the hay.  Ed has called one of his Shipshe friends to say that he, Slugger and I would be at the Corral for breakfast tomorrow.  We will also make a stop at EDDS.  Linda and Anna Belle are planning on being here whilst we are gone.  Anna Belle called this afternoon to have handyman Doug come down and look at one of her pantry shelves that one of Nickie’s kids had ‘displaced’ – it went back onto the track fairly easily.  No charge. 

Looks like Baylor is burying Notre Dame – not a big surprise – Baylor will be 40 and 0 after this game.  Game over.  At least it is not midnight like last night and the men’s championship!

nite

INDIANA TORNADOES

The recent multiple tornadoes in the southeast US and the visit there of President Obama rekindled memories of the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak on April 11, 1965.  A map of the tornado tracks in northern Indiana and Michigan can be found here and you will see the time, F-scale, length, fatalities and injuries.  Johnny Johns had come over to our place for the afternoon, and we were most likely working on car models or on the previously mentioned HO train.  We went outside for a bit and were quite taken by the sky.  We stood in our front yard and watched the gray-yellow-green clouds angrily swirling and heading northeast.  It was not too long before we began to hear sirens, and so we went inside to turn on the radio and TV.  The news was pretty bad.


Dunlap

This was probably the worst of the many tornados of the afternoon - a double funnel that at times was almost a mile wide.  And as so often seems to be the case, a trailer park was in the path.  Of the 271 people killed by these tornadoes, 137 were in Indiana.  One of the tornadoes tracked right over Goshen.  It touched down briefly at the Elkart River dam, lifted and passed right over Rhonda's home at 414 Westwood Road, then touched down again east of town near the Elkart County Fairgrounds, and proceeded NE as a killer tornado.  Elkhart County had the highest death toll amongst all of the counties affected - 62 perished.

Soon after the outbreak, emergency centers were set up and donations began to roll in - I believe that we sent some clothes.  Similar to Obama's trip to the southeast, President Lyndon Johnson paid a visit to the Dunlap trailer park that was actually hit twice.

If you google Palm Sunday Tornadoes and click on Images, you will see some incredible pictures.  Amongst all of the tragedy, there were a few odd events.  The home of my good friend and college roommate John Riegsecker was half gone - one half missing and strewn about, the other half with the clothes still in the closet.  Another house was intact but apparently had been lifted off the foundation, a cow deposited in the basement, and the house reset albeit off a bit.  In the days and weeks afterwards, there was plenty of cleanup work to do, and I spent time cleaning up a woods.  We "tree-aged" the trees, with some of them being carefully cut so that they could be sold for lumber [cherry] and others cut up for firewood [poplar].  Amazingly there were many trees still standing.

A MUSIC VIDEO FROM GOSHEN

There aren't too many music videos that come out of Goshen, IN, but here is one.  Personally, I don't think it's a great tune, but to those of you who know Goshen, you will recognize the college, the dam, the race, etc.



Untitled from Jacob Landis-Eigsti on Vimeo.

**Added note:  Apparently this video is now not available - not sure why.  Even my Vimeo password does not work.....sheesh.

Here is the Goshen College blurb about the video:

GOSHEN, Ind. -- Goshen College junior Jacob Landis-Eigsti, a communication and theater double major from Lakewood, Colo., is a master at making videos that people love.  And one of his recentprojects caught the attention of national judges.  Landis-Eigsti's music video "Beautiful" won second place in the 2011   Broadcast Education Association (BEA) National Competition. The video features independent Nashville musician Phoebe Sharp, was filmed on the Goshen College campus and around town, and includes dancing by Goshen College senior Brett Bridges.

Landis-Eigsti told the Goshen College Record that the song is about "trying to find beauty in everyday life," and that the video "shows beauty in people, beauty in nature around us ... like the stuff that we walk by that we don't really notice."  Landis-Eigsti will accept his award at this year's BEA National Festival of Media Arts in April in Las Vegas, Nev. More than 1,600 professors, students and media professionals are currently individual members of BEA and approximately 275 college and university departments and schools are institutional members.

"This is a great continuation of Jacob's success after he won first place for a different music video in a state competition last year, contributing to Goshen College being named 2010 Television School of the Year," said Seth Conley, assistant professor of communication."BEA is the premiere radio and television education organization i the United States and the competition is highly competitive. His award is a great accomplishment."

BACK HOME AGAIN [from] INDIANA

We recently returned from a one-week trip to Indiana and Michigan.  We stayed with Ed and Mary whilst in Goshen and then traveled to Evart, MI to visit with Rhonda's brother and sister-in-law.  We flew to Midway and had a rental car for the rest of the trip.  There was significant lake-effect snow during the week, but we managed to get out and about without getting stuck.  South Bend received over 25 inches in one 24 hour period, but Goshen only got 10 inches - enough to keep me busy shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. 

Goshen tends not to be a prime vacation destination, but if you do venture that way, there are several places that you might want to visit.  The historic downtown area has retained a vibrancy that many small towns have lost, and hosts a monthly First Friday event that draws thousands.  There are numerous nice restaurants, a variety of shops, and a stately courthouse.

Just north of the courthouse and across main street is one place that you should not miss - the Olympia Candy Kitchen.  Be sure to order a pork and olive sandwich on toast, and finish up with a soda, shake, sundae or phosphate.

Another place that you should hit is about a mile south of downtown on south Main Street - The South Side Soda Shop - check out the video.

If you go a bit further south on Main Street, you will come to the campus of Goshen College, and you might enjoy wandering around, visiting the bookstore and checking out the facilities, especially Sauder Music Hall [yes, that Sauder].  If you are there on a Sunday, visit College Mennonite Church to hear some fine a capella singing.

Then, be sure to head west from the College campus on Westwood Road - at the end of the street you will find the Goshen Dam and Millrace park and trails.

If you happen to be there July 22-30, 2011, be sure to visit the Elkhart County Fair at the fairgrounds on the edge of town.  It's one of the largest county fairs in the country, and activities range from 4-H to top entertainment, and of course lots of food and rides.  Also, only in the summertime, you can enjoy some great ice cream at The Chief.  Goshen also has many antique stores, a year-round Farmer's Market and one of the few Wal-Mart stores with places for the Amish to hitch their horses and buggies.



If you are downtown and feel the need for caffeine, stop in at the Electric Brew for a mocha and a pastry.  And if you need to wet your whistle, across the street from the Electic Brew you will find Constant Spring, Goshen's only non-smoking bar.  There you will find a dozen brews on tap, including some local craft beers, and often there will be live entertainment in the evening.  If you don't mind having a cold one in a smoke-filled bar, head west of downtown to the Oasis.  The O doesn't have a website, but they do have a YouTube video :-)  Stick with the video past the mixed drink to see the marvelous back-bar.



BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA

I just returned from a trip to Indiana - the fourth Saturday of September is the day for the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale at the Goshen Fairgrounds, and the weekend has become a traditional time for a gathering of the Sam and Anna Plank Aschliman clan, my mother's side of the family.  With eleven children and who-knows how many cousins, grand-children, great-grand-children, in-laws and outlaws, it can be a big crowd.  I believe that this year's head count was 75.  I flew in on Wednesday, and left on Tuesday, and as they say, "I spent a month in Goshen last week."  Ha!  It was actually quite pleasant.

Probably the main event of such visits is eating - had broasted chicken at New Paris; cinnamon rolls, ham salad, fresh tomatoes and sausage at Ed & Mary's; cinnamon roll, pulled pork sandwich, eggs and sausage, and strawberry-rhubarb pie with homemade ice cream at the fairgrounds; Slugger's barbeque chicken, ham, and many, many desserts at the Aschliman gathering; and no doubt gained weight!  This should make you hungry:

Slugger's BBQ Chicken

My parents are 94 and 92 and are doing remarkably well, all things considered - still get around fairly well, drive themselves locally, reasonably sharp, etc.  Here is a picture from their 70th wedding anniversary:

Mary & Ed

On the return trip, I drove a small U-Haul truck with some furniture from Rhonda's late parents, Abe & Ruth Willems.  I did not have my camera to take pictures of interesting signs, so I will just give the context and text:

Large official interstate sign at an exit in the middle of Illinois: ATTRACTIONS [it was blank]

Sign on fence at a desolate-looking farm:  Oil Leases Available - Call 800-Dry-Hole