VOICE OF THE TOWNSHIP

One of my favorite events each year is the Waynedale Memorial Day Parade. My office has participated in the Parade since my first year as Trustee, and we are excited to participate again this year.

The Parade is an outstanding example of how Waynedale pulls together to organize an event that can be enjoyed by the whole Waynedale community. More importantly, the Memorial Day Parade celebrates our veterans and demonstrates how much our community respects them for their service to our Country.

I want to add my utmost appreciation to our veterans for the sacrifices they and their families have made, and are making, to preserve our freedom. How hard it must be for spouses, children, parents and friends to part with their loved ones as they leave home for military duty, some going to combat in foreign countries.

As usual, I will be walking the Parade route with my staff and greeting those watching the Parade. If you are a veteran, please let me know so I can thank you personally for your service for our country. We also will be passing out some patriotic gifts to those watching the Parade.

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The Memorial Day ceremony after the Parade at Prairie Grove Cemetery sadly may be one of the last, if not the last, event for the Elmhurst High School band. The Band will carry on the tradition of the Red and Gray, as it has for the past several years, by performing the National Anthem and playing taps at the ceremony in honor of Waynedale veterans.

Wayne Township has a special relationship with Elmhurst High School. Wayne Township used to operate several schools, including Elmhurst, until Fort Wayne Community Schools took over after the Waynedale area was annexed in the late 1950s. Other schools that were operated by Wayne Township were Waynedale Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary on Tillman Road and Anthony Wayne School, which now is part of the Canterbury School campus.

Since parking is sometimes hard to find at the Memorial Day Parade, maybe those of you who are able will consider biking to the Parade. I have been helping to support the City with its Bike Fort Wayne Plan, a Plan to encourage bike commuting. According to the report of the Bike Fort Wayne Task Force, about 40 percent of the urban trips we make are two miles or less, a very doable distance on a bike.

I recently spoke in favor of the Plan at the Fort Wayne Plan Commission Public Hearing. In my presentation at Plan Commission, I emphasized the importance of safe bike routes and bike parking for the clients of our office, who often don’t have cars and use bikes as their only transportation.

Another event several of my staff attended recently was a Foreclosure Prevention Seminar sponsored by the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network. My office often is faced with helping clients who are undergoing foreclosure. My staff learned that clients can get free foreclosure advice by calling toll free 1-877-Get Hope.

We also learned about a recent change in Indiana law that requires loan institutions to offer a settlement conference to persons on whom the institutions are foreclosing. The settlement conference is a final opportunity for persons having trouble paying their mortgages to work out something with the financial institution to save their homes. If you have any questions about the settlement conference or mortgage foreclosure, please call the above number or my office.

I will be looking forward to seeing you at the Memorial Day Parade!

Richard A. Stevenson, Sr.

Wayne Township Trustee