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VETERANS DAY CEREMONY WELL ATTENDED
The third annual Veteran's Day ceremony was held at the Veterans Memorial on the night of November 11. Our biggest crowd to date for this event stood in the cold that evening to honor the men and women who served their country.
The candlelight ceremony is a short, but fitting tribute to our veterans.
The program began with the American Legion Post #21 Color Guard posting the colors, followed by the National Anthem.
Our dependable Westville Cub Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Pastor Jo-An Haney of the Westville United Methodist Church, who gave the invocation.
The speaker, Ron Stallings, gave a short talk, his remarks appropriate for the occasion.
WCHS members, Mike Walt, Sr. and Elmo Elliott, both of whom are veterans, placed the wreath at the flag pole.
Following the benediction by Pastor Jo-An, Taps was played and the colors were retired.
As always, we wish to thank those who took part and to all of the citizens who attended. Their support at these events is very much appreciated.
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THANK YOU
A thank you to Sue Satoski for putting the new ribbon and flowers on our wreath. Sue does this each time it is needed and it always looks great.
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REFRESHMENTS
In the coming months, refreshments at the meetings will be provided by Jean Bartmess, March; Joanne Elliott, April; Cheryl Albert, May, and Priscilla Sebert, June.
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DID YOU NOTICE?
If you drove past the Lincoln Funeral Train memorial sign this past summer, you might have seen the flowers blooming around the base. Credit goes to Jami Heying, who pulled weeds and planted the seeds and bulbs to make it more attractive. Thanks, Jami, for sprucing up the area with some color.
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DONATION RECEIVED
Thank you to member Frank Morgan for sending a donation along with his dues.
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NOVEMBER MEETING
At the November meeting, Elmo Elliott installed the 2005 officers and board members. They are the same as 2004: President, Priscilla Sebert; Vice-President, Jean Bartmess; Secretary, Mike Fleming and Treasurer, Cheryl Albert. The board members are Richard Fagg, Joanne Elliott and Ron Albert.
Discussions were held on the upcoming Cookie Walk and Craft Show at the Methodist Church, and on the cookbook.
Joanne Elliott told the members that May Zona had come by to thank us for her birthday party. May generously gave a donation to the scholarship fund. Thank you, May.
Charlie Herrold reported that he thinks the railroad still owns the land where we want to put the permanent Lincoln Memorial sign.
There were 14 students in attendance.
The speaker was Gerri Grott, the Union Mills librarian. She showed a video about civilian life during WW2. Gerri also spoke about Molly, an American Girl doll, given to her by friends of the library. She told how the doll reminded her of her life as a young girl in New York City during WW2.
The refreshments were served by Mike Fleming.
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DECEMBER DINNER AT STRONGBOWS Because there is no meeting of the WCHS in December, the past 2 years members and guests have gathered for a social evening at an area restaurant. Each member pays for their own meal.
This year, the group met at the Strongbow Turkey Inn in Valparaiso for a buffet supper.
Attending were Priscilla Sebert, Shari Wilson, Steve Potrzebowski, Elmo and Joanne Elliott, Bob and Margaret Glassley, Jean and Dick Bartmess, Dick and Mauvie Fagg, Dr. and Mrs. Tim Willis, Mike and Kathy Fleming and Ron Albert.
From all reports, the food was delicious and a good time was had by all.
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COOKIE WALK AND CRAFT SHOW
On December 4, the Westville United Methodist Church sponsored a cookie walk and craft show in the Family Life Center.
Home made cookies of all kinds were on a large table. Customers took a bag, filled it with cookies of their choice, 'weighed in' and paid for their treats. The ladies of the church kept the trays of cookies well filled all afternoon.
Tables with crafts for sale were set up in the room and also in the basement. The WCHS had a table with old pictures, video tapes and cd's for sale. Helen Carson donated a 1951 Westville Centennial book for a silent auction, with the proceeds going to our scholarship fund. The winning bid was $15. Thank you, Helen, for the donation.
Mike, Dick, Mauvie, Ron and Cheryl worked at our table.
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JANUARY MEETING
With 27 members of the Westville Middle School in attendance, it was a packed house at our January meeting. After borrowing chairs from another room, there were still a couple of standee's. Priscila brought the refreshments and after taking a quick look at the overflowing crowd began to worry that there wasn't enough 'goodies' for everyone. Dick Fagg made a hurried trip to the grocery store for a supply of cookies.
The speaker was Ron McAtee, of the LaPorte Chapter of People Engaged In Preservation. He presented a slide show of old buildings in LaPorte and some buildings in Westville that are unique. He showed pictures of some buildings that have fallen victim to the wreckers ball, some buildings that PEP is working hard to save and other buildings that are being refurbished.
After his interesting program, he answered many questions from the group.
Mike Fleming has suggested that we have note cards printed up to sell. We will pursue this further, as we need ways to raise funds.
Ways to increase our membership was discussed. Mike suggested offering members the opportunity to be Sustaining or Benefactor members, by paying more money for their dues.
Cheryl said she would put a note on the Westville Alumni and LaPorte County websites, inviting new members. This has been done.
After Priscilla served the refreshments, there was no business, old or new, to be attended to, and the meeting was adjourned.
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FEBRUARY MEETING
It was another full house at the February meeting with the members being joined by 28 middle school students.
Jerry Lewis, head of Purdue North Central's financial aid department, was the speaker. He told of the scholarships and other aid available to college students. He told the students that were present that now is the time to be thinking about their college careers. A lot of his program was directed at the students and they asked many questions during his talk. His humor and informal style were well suited to this younger audience and was enjoyed by the members as well.
After refreshments were served by Helen and Phillip Carson, Mr. Lewis joined us for our business meeting, to discuss setting up the scholarship the WCHS will give, answering our questions and giving us some ideas.
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SCHOLARSHIP MEETING
The WCHS board met at Priscila Sebert's home on November 18, to start working out the details for awarding a scholarship. The criteria for the recipient and the amount was discussed. After getting the input from Mr. Lewis, we will now be able to finalize plans.
At this meeting, Cheryl suggested we give a plaque to the outstanding 8th. grade history student each year. The first one will be awarded at Honors Night on May 12, 2005.
The upcoming cookbook was also discussed at this meeting.
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COOKBOOK
The deadline for sending in recipes for the cookbook has been extended until April.
Tell your family and friends to send their recipes to: WCHS, P.O. Box 395, Westville, 46391. Please type or print clearly, on a sheet of paper or an index card. We hope to have a section of OLD recipes, too, so be sure to mark them if they are from the 1950's or older.
You can also email a recipe (or recipes) to:
Joanne jelliot@csinet.net
Cheryl charmel2@verizon.net
Mike mpfleming@comcast.net
The cookbooks will be this year's fund raiser, so PLEASE help us out!!
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WORKDAY FOR NEWSPAPERS
Joanne is going to order more of the preservative paper to use on the Westville Indicators. As soon as we have it, a work day will be scheduled. It is hoped that this can be finished in one more session.
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RUTH A. CASS
Several generations of New Durham Twp. residents can look back on their trips to the local library and recall the friendly lady behind the desk, who served as the librarian for many years.
The daughter of L. R. and Rose (Andrews) Cass, Miss Ruth A. Cass was born in 1895.
After graduating from Elston High School in Michigan City, Ruth entered the Stout Institute in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Graduating from there in 1917, she began a career as a school teacher, teaching English and Home Economics in the Stillwell and Westville High Schools.
in 1934, while teaching, she became an assistant to the librarian, Ezra T. Scott. Upon Mr. Scotts retirement in 1936, she became the librarian.
Ruth did so much more than stamp a library card when a book was checked out. Students were often found sitting at one of the tables doing homework and Ruth could always find books and articles of interest to help them research their subject. She always seemed to enjoy helping them.
Children were free to browse their section of books, taking as much time as they needed to make their selection. Her patience with the young ones made their visits to the library something to look forward to, and no doubt made many of them avid readers for life.
Ruth knew what type of books each patron preferred and could recommend a book to the readers taste.
In front of the desk were big wooden rocking chairs, inviting one to sit down and chat for awhile, which many patrons did after checking out their books. The townspeople on their way home from the post office or store would often stop in the library, just to visit and exchange the latest news in this friendly atmosphere.
In 1976, Ruth retired, saying that she felt the library needed new blood and also she would then have the time to do the many things she had always wanted to do, but couldn't.
In 1996, Ruth passed away at 101 years of age.
The library has had very capable and friendly librarians in the years since Ruth's retirement. The present, larger library and staff are something the community can be very proud of, but for the older generation, this kind, caring, helpful lady can never be replaced.
(I want to thank Lewis Cass for his help in furnishing some of the information for this article.)
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MEETINGS
A reminder that the WCHS meetings are held the 4th. Monday of every month, except December. The lower level of the library is handicap accessible. Meetings begin at 7 p.m. Guests are always welcome to attend.
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JUST FOR FUN
If your children, or grandchildren, came across an old shopping list, would they know in what department to find the items? Do you remember them?
Duz or Rinso
Sal Hepatica
Mum Deodorant
Cresta Blanca
Sweetheart soap
Ipana
Dr. Lyons Toothpaste/tooth powder
Vimm Vitamins
Halo Shampoo
Wildroot Cream Oil
Brille Cream
Roi Tan cigars
Did you go shopping at Robert Hall's or buy a pair of Buster Brown shoes?
A few of these items might still be on the market.
Can you still sing any of the "jingles" that were used as advertising?
"D-U-Z, D-U-Z, put Duz in my wash machine, see the clothes come out so clean, when I Duz my wash I sing, D-U-Z does everything."
"Rinso White, Rinso Bright, happy little washday song."
"Get Wildroot Cream Oil Charlie, it keeps your hair in trim. It's non-alcoholic, Charlie, made with soothing lanolin. Get Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie, start using it today, you'll find that you'll have a tough time, Charlie, keeping all those gals away."
"Brille Cream, a little dab'll do you, Brille Cream, you'll look so debonair, Brille Cream, the gals will all pursue ya, they'll love to get their fingers in your hair."
Many of the radio commercials were blended in as part of the program.
I can remember so many jingles from years ago when commercials weren't quite so painful to listen to. I only wish I could memorize my Social Security number!!
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