While none of them are the megachurches with a large attendance, there is no shortage of impact in the community through their ministry.

Jeff Luedtke, lead pastor at Fairmount Wesleyan Church, got to the church 12 years ago. He says the church was initially inward focused when he joined, but Luedtke has made a deliberate effort to change that.

“We understand that our mission is outside the four walls of the church, so we do various outreaches throughout the year,” Luedtke said.

Events such as a block party, prayer walks, cleaning up trash, and building ramps for the elderly are just a few of the ways the church serves the community of Fairmount.

“When we hear there’s a need, we want to try to push people to go and serve,” Luedtke said.

The building Fairmount Wesleyan Church resides in is 162 years old, but after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Luedtke said the church is still in a rebuild.

“COVID about took our legs out from under us and really changed the dynamic of the church we were,” Luedtke said.

The church was on the verge of launching a fourth service. Luedtke said that well over 300 people were coming to services at the time. After the pandemic, less than 70 people attended services.

“We didn’t see a kid for almost eight months after we came back,” Luedtke said.

Luedtke said the church is in a slow grow of discipleship with their new members, featuring training on how to serve, how to lead, how to give and what the Christian life is all about.

Jodi Small, who attends Sweetser Wesleyan Church, said her church shut down like everyone else, but pre-recorded services and has since made it back to where it was pre-pandemic.

“By the end of 2020, most of our people had returned. I would say we are completely recovered from COVID,” Small said.

While it took a while to meet back in the sanctuary, eventually Sweetser Wesleyan was back to their two-service format, which Small said holds around 45 people total.

Small has been a part of initiatives concerning Pastor’s Appreciation month, which is celebrated every year in October.

“We have handed out papers with ideas of how to bless our pastor – his favorite foods, hobbies, etc., and a reminder to our congregation to invite them for dinner or dessert or coffee,” Small said.

Small said the church comes together to treat their pastor well.

“In the past we have taken up a collection to purchase something large, like an Airbnb gift card or a conference registration that our pastor wanted to attend,” Small said.

Small recognizes the importance of celebrating pastors during October.

“Our pastors and leaders work hard throughout the year, and many times congregants aren’t appreciative because the pastor is doing what’s expected of them. October’s pastor’s appreciation is a way to truly see all the things our pastors do for us,” Small said.

After a rough couple of years dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, local churches are getting back to their pre-pandemic numbers. This month is where the leaders through those time are highlighted. Small and others are thankful for the way they handled the unprecedented time. This month is also a reminder to not just celebrate pastors and leaders for these 31 days, but also the rest of the year.

While some places, like the Marion Splash House, are officially closed, others, such as Voss Landworks, are still finishing up projects. 

“We are currently on the Marion park job, finishing up here,” Timothy Voss, co-founder of Voss Landworks, said.

Voss Landworks has opened a number of parks in the surrounding Grant County area, including Matthews, Marion and Upland. 

“(The Upland project) was fun. That was a large-scale job downtown, revitalizing the community,” Voss said. “It’s cool to see the year after, how they’re building around it and Taylor (University) is investing more downtown, and a lot of where the park was helped with that.”

The Marion Splash House officially closed on Labor Day.

“I always measure the summer based on how safe it went. In that regard, it was a very safe summer for us, so that’s something I’m always proud of. Our staff is very good about that, so that’s most important,” said Splash House Director Andy Davis. 

The Splash House hosted a multitude of events this summer, including a fourth of July special, Splashability and a puppy pool party. 

“Splashability is an evening in July which we cater towards guests with special needs, as well as their families and caretakers, so it’s a more kind of calm, relaxing time where it’s not as crowded,” Davis said. 

Despite closing or wrapping up operations for the season, each business still has tasks to take care of in the offseason. Davis said a pool company comes to the splash house to winterize everything on the property. Davis also conducts the application and interview process starting in February, concluding in April. At that point he and his staff work on filling the pools to have the splash house ready and open by Memorial Day. 

In the landscaping offseason, Voss coaches a high school basketball team. Outside of that, he said there is about a month’s worth of office work per project, which occupies a lot of the time in the offseason.
“These parks take about a month of office work by itself to get ready for designs, the bidding process, traveling to the locations and back and everything that goes with that. It sets up our schedule starting March 1 to really attack everything, so we keep pretty busy still,” Voss said. 

Both Voss and Davis talked about plans for next year, with some still up in the air.

“We’re doing bids and starting that process right now, getting ready for some parks for next year, three in the Grant County community,” Voss said. 

Splash House projects include improving the look of the facility, in addition to planning events for next year.

“This fall, we’re having the wave pool painted. It has needed a face-lift for several years now, so we’re finally getting that done,” Davis said. 

Vendors of all kinds were able to share their goods and promote their businesses to the community. 

“We started just last year…something for the community to be able to do, to bring people together to support local businesses,” market organizer Sarah Howard said.  

Howard said the farmer’s market provides an opportunity for businesses without a brick and mortar building to sell their products. 

“You get to meet a lot of people and bring fresh produce and baked goods and all sorts of stuff to town,” Howard said. 

The market, located in the parking lot of Grains and Grill in Fairmount, has more to offer than just produce. 

“We like to keep a good variety,” Howard said. “I don’t like to overbook the same amount of things. I want everyone to benefit, so we try to keep things interesting and bring things that you don’t normally see in a small town.”

Janelle McDaniel works for Wesson’s Canine Bakery, who is relatively new to the market. 

“It’s been monthly since May,” McDaniel said. “It’s a good time.” 

Wesson’s Canine Bakery sells grain-free and organic dog treats and skin care products. McDaniel makes fleece dog toys as well.

Local coffee shops like The Branch were also set up at the market. Assistant manager, Megan Kaufman said Howard approached her about being involved with the market, which led to filling in for one month last year, then becoming a more consistent presence this year.

“We’ve been here every month this year,” Kaufman said.

The market allows for each of these local businesses to make connections and get familiar with each other.

“Just creating that community, there’s been a good amount of camaraderie. All the vendors need coffee, so just being able to chat with them and see how businesses are going has been really good,” Kaufman said.

Howard said the market’s success has been great and it runs itself at this point. The market has one more gathering set up for next month before shutting down for the season.

A former Indiana Wesleyan men’s basketball star is making noise in his professional hoops journey. 

Kyle Mangas, a 2021 graduate, is currently playing in the NBA G-League for the Indiana Mad Ants, the affiliate of the Indiana Pacers. Mangas was a four-time NAIA All-American in his time at IWU and is the school’s all-time leading scorer, amassing over 3,400 points. 

“He always made the right play throughout his career,” Wildcats head basketball coach, Greg Tonagel said. 

Wildcats associate head coach Jeff Clark echoed a similar sentiment. “His humility allowed him to forget mistakes,” Clark said. “Mentally, he was as strong as any player that we’ve coached and I think a lot of it had to do with his humility.”

Coach Tonagel and Coach Clark have been two of Mangas’s biggest supporters throughout his career.

“(Coach Tonagel and Coach Clark) have helped me so much in letting me know that my identity isn’t in a basketball player, but it’s in my faith, it’s in being a son, a brother, a fiancée,” Mangas said. “That was so important for me to get out of my head and just know that stats don’t define me, performance doesn’t define me, but that I’m a lot more than that.”

After his wildly successful college career, Mangas got an opportunity to work out with three NBA teams for a chance to get drafted. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and Indiana Pacers all worked out the 6’4” guard. 

“It was a dream come true just to be in the building,” Mangas said. 

Despite going undrafted, Mangas was presented the opportunity to go overseas and play in Prague, Czech Republic. He put up averages of 20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Mangas then suited up in Lithuania the next season, where he averaged 12.3 points per game

”When I first got there, my head was spinning, but at the same time, I love it.” Mangas said.

Mangas was expecting to go back overseas after a short summer home in 2023, but then the Pacers came calling.

“I passed up some European offers and was able to get a workout with the Mad Ants. The workout went very well and they offered me a contract and I took it that day. It was a no-brainer for me,” Mangas said.

The Pacers signed Mangas to an Exhibit 10 deal on October 17, 2023. He was waived the next day, paving the way for him to suit up with the affiliate Mad Ants. 

“That’s really cool to be playing pro basketball in the state you grew up in, especially Indiana,” Mangas said.

Mangas’ performance this season earned him a spot in this year’s G-League Up Next game. He scored two points in five minutes of play in the first-to-30 scrimmage.

As the regular season comes to a close, Mangas and the Mad Ants sit at the number two spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-11. Mangas is averaging 17.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. The Mad Ants will look to make a run in the G-League playoffs, starting on April 2, in a single-elimination first round game.

Every 12 weeks, the Quilters Hall of Fame changes their exhibits to promote different quilters and artists. The current exhibit comes from the American Quilt Study Group nonprofit. 

Deb Geyer, the Executive Director for the QHoF, said that the Hall of Fame loves promoting the AQSG due to their exceptional work in the quilting world. 

“The American Quilt Study Group establishes and promotes standards for quilt related studies, and they provide opportunities for the study, the research and the publication of works about quilting,” Geyer said. 

Founded by Quilter’s Hall of Fame Honoree Sally Garoutte, the AQSG currently has around 800 members around the globe. Each year, the AQSG challenges their members to study an antique quilt in a specific theme and create a new quilt inspired by the antique. The Hall of Fame currently displays quilts with the “medallion style” meaning the quilt starts with a centerpiece and has multiple borders surrounding it. 

Julia Blosser and her sister Connie Carmack volunteer and assist at the Quilters Hall of Fame answering phone calls, running the gift shop, and admiring the new exhibits.

The sisters have been investing in quilting since they were young and continued with their love of quilting by helping out with the QHoF.

“We were brought up in the quilting world anyway. Our grandmother had a big quilting frame set up in her parlor most of the time. And so when we’d go visit her, she’d give us needles and scraps of fabric and taught us how to quilt,” Blosser said.

 Blosser and Carmack both said they loved the newest exhibit. 

“It was very interesting how they were all older quilts and these quilting stars nowadays were able to miniaturize them and replicate them. It’s very amazing,” Carmack said. 

Aside from new exhibits every 12 weeks, the Quilters Hall of Fame also inducts a new honoree every July. 

“The public must nominate people and the selection committee every year chooses one honoree. To be selected, you must have a national influence on the world of quilting whether through books or through teaching,” Geyer said. 

This year’s honoree is Katie Pasquini Masopust, a quilter from California. 

One does not have to be a quilter to make it into the Quilters Hall of Fame, however. William Rush Dunton, Jr. worked as an Occupational Therapist for his entire life. Dunton’s inclusion as a Quilter’s Hall of Fame Honoree comes from his promotion of quilting to doctors and patients alike. 

“(Dunton) promoted quilting as an occupational therapy to other doctors in medical journals. So, he never made a quilt. He’s in the Quilters Hall of Fame,” Geyer said. 

Located in downtown Marion, the Quilters Hall of Fame holds some Grant County History. The honoree from 1991, Marie Webster lived in the home where the QHoF currently resides. Originally founded in 1979, the Quilters Hall of Fame moved to Marion when Webster was induced as an honoree for her quilting prowess. 

“Marie lived in this house in the early 1900s and she designed floral applique quilts, she sold kits and patterns and finished quilts across the country. And so she had her own little cottage industry here in the house,” Geyer said. “Her granddaughter was living in this house when (Webster) was inducted and she offered it to the Quilters Hall of Fame as a place for our organization.”

Blosser, Carmack, and Geyer all said that they quilt as well and really enjoy the art form. 

“They were utilitarian for so many years and the revival of quilts that happened in the 80s has brought all kinds of art. It’s just amazing what it has all come to,” Carmack said. 

The Quilters Hall of Fame is open from February to December each year with rotating exhibits every 12 weeks to showcase the art of quilting and bring some joy and history to Marion.

Obi’s Barbecue, located in Marion, IN, has been voted Grant County’s Greatest BBQ. Obi’s isn’t only known for the great food and community, but also the live music. 

Owner Jeff Richardson won Grant County Economic Growth Council’s “Community Pitch Night” in the fall of 2019. This win launched the aspirations of Obi’s as a family-run local restaurant and food truck.

“I entered a contest to put a business in this place, and it was Shark Tank-style where I put a presentation on in front of 200 people, a panel of five judges, and I ended up winning the grand prize, which let me open up the business here,” Richardson said. “We are family-owned and run. With people that we hire, they all become family, so it’s comforting.”

Local artists across Grant County can reach out to Obi’s via Facebook or email for live music performance opportunities. 

“Ever since we opened, we [have] always wanted to have music in here. My wife and I love live music,” Richardson said. “[The artists] approach us. They know we like having live music in here. We get several emails a week about people wanting to play here.”

The Richardsons have always wanted to host live music because of their passion for music and community. Although it doesn’t always bring in more customers, the live music creates a place of smiles and a good time.

“Especially when we find artists that we like, it’s enjoyable for us,” Richardson said.

Singer-songwriter Tony Hopkins has been playing live at Obi’s for about a year now. These weekly live events have allowed him to grow since moving from Bloomington to Marion. 

“They were the first ones in this area to give me a chance,” Hopkins said. “Obi’s has been my main place to play.”

When Hopkins first moved, he reached out to Obi’s to play live one night when they had a cancellation.

“Jeff and Michelle, the owners, aren’t just really nice people; they are devoted and hard workers,” Hopkins said. “Just the entire business itself and the way it’s run, I have a lot of respect for.”

Obi’s Barbecue continues to host live artists on Wednesday and Saturday nights and stays involved with the Grant County community.