nickwindsor – GrantCOnnected.net https://grantconnected.net News for Grant County Sun, 08 Dec 2024 20:01:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.3 https://grantconnected.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-GrantCo-150x150.jpg nickwindsor – GrantCOnnected.net https://grantconnected.net 32 32 Christmas in Converse https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/12/08/christmas-in-converse/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/12/08/christmas-in-converse/#comments Sun, 08 Dec 2024 20:01:31 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=928 Last week the annual event Christmas in Converse celebrated 15 years, with various community businesses and organizations joining the festivities.  

“It’s just a celebration of converse and its businesses. And so, we work to highlight all the wonderful businesses that we have in converse and all the great options that people have when they go into those businesses,” Library Director Andy Horner said.  

The event entailed local businesses opening their doors for exclusive deals and events where people can win prizes.  

“So, for Christmas in Converse tonight, we do free hot cocoa for anyone that wants to come in. We’re also doing $100 gift card giveaway. We’ll have a lot of promotions on like our merchandise. We also hand make all of our own bologna sausages. We smoke our own tallow, so all of those products will be 10% off. We’ll also have smoked lasagna and our white turkey chili tonight as well,” said Jefferson Street BBQ owner Lindsay Baker.  

Baker has had her doors open for this event every year and has seen it grow with people traveling to converse for the event.  

“I mean, some years we’ve seen upwards of like 1000 people through town. So, it’s basically jam packed. Everyone in town can always assume that it will be a busy evening,” said Baker.  

Other activities include a horse carriage, Mrs. Claus reading to kids in the library and tthe lighting of the town Christmas tree. 

 “Now, we actually shut down the street through the business district so that it’s, one, a lot safer for the kids, but two, it’s a lot bigger of an event. We’ve added different things over years. We’ve done bounce houses. We’ve done we one year had an ice-skating rink brought in, and the last two years, we’ve had horse drawn wagon rides throughout town. And so just how can we make this event more fun for the whole family, and hope, hopefully drawing people in,” said Horner.  

Marion resident Monica Nall said she appreciates the safety of the Converse community. 

“There’s nothing better than being able to come together and see people that you know and reconnect with people that you haven’t seen in a while, and also just the safety of letting my kids run down the street and not be concerned about who’s walking next to them, and that kind of thing, because everybody knows everybody,” Nall said.  

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What is the Public Question? https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/11/06/what-is-the-public-question/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/11/06/what-is-the-public-question/#comments Wed, 06 Nov 2024 02:41:55 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=873 By Nick Windsor and Isaac Wolf

Nov 5, marks the day of the presidential election and the ballot loaded with new and familiar names as residents mark who they want to see in office.  

For Indiana residents this year’s presidential election has a public question on the ballot.  

This question proposes the removal the state superintendent of public instruction from the list of five other top state officials who would need to step into the governor’s role under extreme circumstances. The exact position, last held by Jennifer McCormick, no longer exists. 

The question reads, “Shall the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to remove the state superintendent of public instruction from the list of officeholders who shall discharge the powers and duties of the governor if the office of the governor and lieutenant governor are both vacant?” 

Joe Lewis is a resident of Marion and gave his thoughts on the question.  

“I’m not in favor for changing the constitution for something like that it’s supposed to be the way, it was established that way, and we’re going to keep it that way,” Lewis said.  

If approved, the state superintendent of public instruction would be removed from the list of those who would take over the governor’s role if the lieutenant governor’s position was also empty.  

This change is a result of legislature approving to send the decision to voters, as well as updating outdated language in the constitution since the position no longer exists.  

The final step of ratifying the amendment is for it to be approved by the majority of Hoosiers in the general election. 

“I mean it relates as I understand to the succession of the governor in the case of a catastrophe so it’s an important question certainly is just like the line of succession for the White House,” Lewis said.  

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Fairmount haunted trail returns this Halloween season https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/28/fairmount-haunted-trail-returns-this-halloween-season/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/28/fairmount-haunted-trail-returns-this-halloween-season/#comments Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:46:18 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=832 Fairmount resident Eric Richards has opened his backyard haunted trail for the second year in a row.  

The trail is a 15-minute walk through the woods on a path lit up by tiki torches as volunteer scarers jump out at visitors.  

“People drive to it you know they say we really like to do it we really like to come last year I had a couple come from Warsaw Indiana every weekend, and I have a scarer that comes from Huntington every weekend just to scare. And he comes in full costume, so he drives from Huntington in full costume he’s got prosthetics and everything on his face so he’s super creepy,” Richards said.   

The trail opened last year in October. Due to the positive response, Richards said he made a few changes this year.  

“I reran the trail I ran it 2/3 of the trails all different from last year and people came through last year said it’s way creepier because I took 10 tikis out and tonight I just took two more out so that it would be a little bit darker a little bit more twists and turns but I’ve got a bus at the end now I add a new feature every year I got a new feature in the back it’s an 8 foot by 8 foot wall it’s got a door and it says free hugs so yeah every year I try to add something different so that somebody that came the year before won’t recognize,” Richards said.   

 Both years have seen good turn outs since the location of the trial is next to two universities Indiana Wesleyan University and Taylor University.  

“I thought it was really good I thought that it was really scary like the jump scares were good and they started following you after that’s what made like super scary and they didn’t touch me, but it was close it was really good and I probably would like to go again,” IWU student Jeremy Azofeifa said.  

The trail originally started as a birthday idea for one of Eric’s kids but grew into something bigger.  

“I was talking to my stepmom, and she said that it was initially just so that my brother’s friends would have the place to go and like a thing to do for his birthday and then I turned in something greater,” Lauren Richards said.  

The trail is open from 7:30 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. Friday through Sunday starting Oct 4 and ending Oct 27.   

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Local ghost hunter visits Marion Public Library https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/13/local-ghost-hunter-visits-marion-public-library/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/13/local-ghost-hunter-visits-marion-public-library/#comments Sun, 13 Oct 2024 17:15:58 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=783 Ghosts, aliens and Bigfoot was the topic of conversation in the Marion Public Library on Friday.  

The library brought in local ghost hunter Malichi Durieux to talk about his time pursuing the paranormal.  

“Going to start off by saying, like, I’m not a scientist, I’m not an expert by any means. I just do this at the bottom as a hobby. just because I’m like, talking about this and stuff. I don’t necessarily believe 100% and I’m always trying to be skeptical,” Durieux said.  

He has ghost-hunted in multiple places in Indiana but the place he has been in the most is the Randolph County asylum.  

“I have five times. Yeah, it’s very expensive, but it’s very fun,” Durieux said.  

During his presentation he showed videos of his encounters from his YouTube called The Paranormal Patriot.  

Durieux said he got started ghost hunting only because he’s always found it fascinating and does not know what is out there but has experienced weird stuff in his own home according to his fiancé.   

“I was home alone with our not even one year old at the time. And the fire alarm in the nursery started going off and they were the type of smoke alarm that didn’t need batteries you would just have to buy a new one when it was time…. So, I took it down so she could sleep because it woke her up. So, I took it to the landlord, and she swapped it out and I put the new one up. Then the next night it went off and this all took place at exactly 10:00 at night. So, the new one went off…. So, there was no fire alarm in the nursery so I thought everything would be fine until the fire alarm in the room next to hers went off. So, I called my parents and left the house,” Durieux’s fiancé said.  

She said they kept taking down the smoke alarm that was going off, and the one next to it would start going off almost like the spirit was moving at 10:00 p.m. every night.  

“I like spoke to him and told him that he couldn’t be there and explained that not one could sleep and after that it stopped,” Durieux said. 

His fiancé was the one who actually got him in touch with the library for the event. 

 “His fiancé is actually related to one of our librarians,” Librarian Kelsey Winters said.  

The event was a success, and people were very engaged. 

“People seemed engaged, and he even went over time so there’s that,” Librarian Crystal Gosnell said.  

The event ended with Durieux giving a live demonstration of his equipment that he uses when he goes hunting.  

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Gas City continues Ducktail Run tradition https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/01/gas-city-continues-ducktail-run-tradition/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/10/01/gas-city-continues-ducktail-run-tradition/#comments Tue, 01 Oct 2024 20:23:14 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=780 Gas City held its annual Ducktail Run Rod and Custom Car Show this year, where residents of Gas City and outsiders can come and show off their custom muscle cars.  

Many people who were showing off their cars were returners like Jarred Lucky, Ducktail staff, a resident of Gas City and owner of a blue 1960 Ford F1 500 truck.  

He has been participating in Ducktail Run with his truck for five years. 

“It’s a good atmosphere. It’s fun to look at all the cars and all the people you see, people that you hang out with the year before you see them that next year. And it almost becomes like a family, almost,” said Lucky.  

Lucky has been a frequent attender of Ducktail since the early ‘90s when it was still called Rebel Run.  

Ducktail run has been around for almost three decades and goes on around the same time as Fairmount’s James Dean festival.  

“So, James Dean is a classic car show, where this (Ducktail Run) is a rod and custom show. So that’s difference, whereas it’s only classic cars that go into James Dean and classic cars and cars that are chopped, channeled, tubbed and highly customized are allowed in here,” said Lucky.  

Lucky said both festivals benefit their hometowns in different ways. 

  “It brings a lot of revenue to the community through the businesses, convenience stores, hotels, parks, they do a good-sized donation to the parks department from this,” said Lucky.  

There are some other benefits that can be seen by first timers like Noah Richey who helped build a 1968 red Pontiac GTO.  

“I think it just really is a very important thing that just kind of brings the community together. Obviously, we have James Dean, that’s just down the road, and we have Ducktail here, and there’s a lot of people here who you get to hear their stories and hear how they built the car with the history is of the vehicle, and it’s just a good community event that brings everybody together,” said Richey.  

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Annual Puppy Pool Party takes over Marion Splash House https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/09/09/annual-puppy-pool-party-takes-over-marion-splash-house/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/09/09/annual-puppy-pool-party-takes-over-marion-splash-house/#comments Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:37:37 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=652 The Marion Splash House held its third annual Puppy Poop Party for dog owners in Marion.  

Pet owners were able to bring their dogs to play and swim at the splash house before the splash house closes its gates for the summer.  

Worker and owners said they enjoy their time watching the dogs play in the water with toys that the splash house provides.  

“I just I love watching people smile, seeing the dogs running around too, and they’ve been pretty friendly with each other,” said Kilee Langley a support group member for The Marion Splash House.  

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IGO Hosts Intercultural Cookout https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/09/05/igo-hosts-intercultural-cookout/ https://grantconnected.net/blog/2024/09/05/igo-hosts-intercultural-cookout/#respond Thu, 05 Sep 2024 21:11:35 +0000 https://grantconnected.net/?p=634 Indiana Wesleyan University’s International Global Office (IGO) celebrated diversity by hosting a cookout for students Aug 30.
“And it’s just like our kickoff to, like, invite people to come up to the lounge, and just kind of like celebrating diversity on campus,” said Camryn Bobiak, the assistant director of multicultural programming.
Bobiak oversees the student workers and plans events with multicultural programming.
The goal of the cookout was to create a space for students at IWU who come from different backgrounds to talk and get to know each other.
“Get people from all the diversity at IWU just to come here, just to talk with each other, get to know each other, and just create fun games and, yeah, just create a sense of belonging for everyone on campus,” said Cole Bradburn, a student ambassador for IGO.
Bradburn is in charge of pursuing and advocating for minority students by putting on events.
IGO events serve as a reminder that IWU does care about their international students, as some schools do not have organizations like IGO on their campus.
“There’s parties, but not diverse? No, it’s just all the same people and clothes… it’s like, copy and paste. This, though, this is crazy. You see people from all around the world,” said Kai Ellis.
Ellis is a student at the University of Kentucky and was invited to the cookout by a friend/student from IWU.
The cookout had many activities for students including spike ball, cornhole, music to dance, a barber shop and a nail art station .
During the cookout the temperature was 91 degrees, but it did not matter as students lined up for food and games while smiling and laughing.

“So far, it’s really hot out, but we have a lot of water and good vibes. Music is pumping. So fun,” said Bobiak.
IGO has a lot of events planned for the year but one of the more exciting events is the grand opening of the barber shop on the IWU campus.
“So it’s gonna be (open) in the next couple weeks. We don’t have an exact date yet, but we’re gonna have, like, food giveaways and then people can get free haircuts,” said Bobiak.
Haircuts will be free on opening day only and then students will have to pay for haircuts afterwards as prices will vary.

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