Starke County Youth Club Announces Youth of the Year

Posted on Author Anita Goodan
McKenzie Vanderhoef

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This fall, the Starke County Youth Club began their search for the first annual SCYC Youth of the Year. Youth of the Year is an effort to foster a generation of leaders who are ready to thrive personally and in their community. This project pairs students with local mentors to coach them and help them build real world and workplace skills of communication, goal-setting, and teamwork. The Youth of the Year program recognizes youth leadership, character, academic success, and citizenship. The Youth Club member chosen for this honor each year will become the role model, leader, and advocate for the Starke County Youth Club.

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Pulaski County Officials Sworn into Office

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Many newly elected and re-elected Pulaski County officials were sworn into office Tuesday, December 17 following the swearing in of Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Mary Welker and Pulaski County Superior Court Judge Crystal A. Brucker Kocher. The two judges swore in the candidates during the short ceremony.

Superior Court Judge Crystal Brucker Kocher swearing in Circuit Court Judge Mary Welker
Circuit Court Judge Mary Welker swearing in Superior Court Judge Crystal Brucker Kocher
Judge Kocher swearing in Auditor Teresa Bryant and Recorder Marsha Tetzloff
Judge Welker swearing in Pulaski County Commissioners Don Street and Jenny Knebel
Judge Kocher swearing in Pulaski County Council members Albert AJ Gutwein and Sheila Jimenez
Judge Welker swearing in Winamac Clerk-Treasurer Kendra Craft, Medaryville Town Council member Nick Gillock and Winamac Town Council member Larry Weaver

OSSIS’ Archway of the Sun Installed in North Judson

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

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Residents and visitors of North Judson got a glimpse of the sun Monday, December 16 – despite the gloomy weather – with the installation of the Archway of the Sun. This new landmark marks the beginning of the “Our Solar System in Scale” (OSSIS) installation along the Erie Trail, a project designed to offer a unique blend of education, arts, culture, and exercise.

The Archway of the Sun, installed by Steindler Signs & Graphix, serves as the starting point for a multi-faceted project that was fully funded by the Lilly Endowment GIFT VII Placemaking Grant, awarded to the Starke County Community Foundation. The OSSIS installation is a scaled representation of our solar system, with the planets depicted at a scale of 1:355 million over several miles along the Erie Trail.

To explore OSSIS, visitors should begin at Main Street, just east of the Hoosier Valley Rail Museum in North Judson, and head east. The first four planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – are within an easy 1-mile round-trip walk from the Archway of the Sun. However, for those seeking to explore the farther reaches of the solar system, including gas giants like Jupiter and Neptune, a longer journey is required. Neptune, for example, is located over 8 miles from the starting point, making bicycle travel a more practical option for the extended trek.

The Archway of the Sun, along with the sun information sign, joins the planetary markers previously installed by Outstanding Tradeshow Exhibit Services (OTES).

This project would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of numerous individuals and organizations. Special thanks are extended to Steindler Signs & Graphix, Outstanding Tradeshow Exhibit Services, Martin Lucas for his inspiration and design, Bob Aloi and Territorial Engineering, the Prairie Trails Club, Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, the Town of North Judson, and all others who contributed to bringing this vision to life.