Author: Richard A. Stevenson - Wayne Township Trustee

As I look back over the last several years, I am struck by the changes that I have witnessed while doing the business of township assistance. In 2007, the early days of my administration, the Great Recession was just getting started, and it would become the worst economic situation since the Great

The month of May brings us lots of good things to celebrate—sunshine, flowers, milder temperatures, the end of the school year and Mother’s Day. It’s also the month we here at Wayne Township begin reviewing the applications we receive for our two scholarships: Recognizing Achievement Scholarship

On May 8, Indiana voters will cast primary ballots for United States Senate; Congress; state legislature; county offices such as the Sheriff, Assessor, Recorder, Auditor, Prosecuting Attorney and the Circuit Court Clerk; and for township officials. School board races also will be decided in that election

In Indiana townships, the citizens elect not only a trustee, but also a Township Board. The Board is the legislative body of the township, and its members serve four-year terms. As the legislative body, the Board adopts and oversees the township budget, sets tax rates and approves salaries for township

That was the message from the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities, and if you stopped by our office this past month you would have seen on the wall in our lobby the big colorful posters shouting out that message. Step up closer to it and read in smaller print, IndianaDisability

The Wayne Township Trustee Office is taking applications for the 6th Annual Recognizing Achievement Scholarship that it offers to graduating high school seniors who are moving on to higher education. And for the second year we are offering the Academic Encouragement Award, for students in grades 11

Townships exist in various forms in about twenty of the United States. In my previous column I promised to talk about the difference between survey and civil townships. Simply put, a survey township is a plot of land with boundaries that have been drawn to establish regular parcels for ownership.

In the years following 1787, the new government of the United States surveyed the lands of the old Northwest Territory—an area now comprised of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota—into blocks of 36-square mile parcels called townships. Those townships became the

I recently saw a cartoon calling this past January “The Cruelest Month,” and I could relate. We’ve had record cold temperatures, an awful flu season, dangerous ice and snow, short days and long nights…okay, you’re right, it’s winter; I should be used to it. Still, you can’t blame me

Happy New Year, and welcome to winter! The snow and cold that we’ve recently experienced is making for greater energy usage in all of our homes leading some people to worry about keeping the heat on. I’d like to offer a few tips to counter that.

The first thing I do when the cold sets in is to

I grew up in a family of eleven children and learned at an early age about not having an abundance of material possessions. While I was surrounded by love as a child, I still had difficulty at Christmas understanding why I couldn’t have all the gifts I wanted. And, looking back now, I know the adults

On Saturday, December 16, the Wayne Township Trustee Office will be holding its free Sixth Annual Holiday Celebration from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at the McMillen Park Community Center at 3901 Abbott Street. This year’s celebration will feature fun activities like games, face-painting, bounce houses, a

It’s holiday shopping time again, and the Wayne Township office is gearing up for the season to benefit our clients with the Christmas Bureau program and with our annual Holiday Celebration (held this year on December 16 at the McMillen Community Center). These are special activities we’ve been

For this column I would like to talk about one of the Township programs I am most proud of as it allows clients we have helped to give back to the Wayne Township community. Those of you who have not been involved with Township Assistance may think we simply hand out money to those in need and that’s

I’ve been doing some traveling lately and looking around at how other places deal with some of the problems almost all cities and towns have in common. Because of my job, I am particularly interested in how different places deal with homelessness—either long-term or cases of temporary need for

Even though the U.S. economy has slowly improved since the low of the Great Recession in 2008, here at the Trustee’s office we still see evidence that finding good job opportunities remains a challenge for many of our citizens. Because of that we are always looking for ways to improve our clients’

While the Trustee’s Office does not close on Columbus Day, we still recognize that 2017 is the 525th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas on October 12 (officially celebrated on October 9th this year, the second Monday of the month). I remember being taught as a youngster

It’s hard to believe but fall is just a few days away now. Where’d the summer go? We’ve been very busy over the past few weeks of the season, including enjoying the Waynedale Picnic in August. This year our new Chief Deputy Trustee, Austin Knox, tended our booth at the picnic, and he greatly

On Monday, September 4, my staff and I will be hosting a booth at the Annual Labor Day Picnic in Headwaters Park organized through the Northeast Indiana Building Trades who have their offices on Waynewood Drive in Waynedale. We have been attending this event for several years now, meeting so many

As part of our weekly Wednesday training class I talk with clients on many of the practical lessons I have learned from being Trustee and just by living as long as I have. Because the office of the township trustee helps with emergency financial needs, most of the lessons I talk about relate to money,

This year the Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday, so the Wayne Township Trustee Office will be open Monday, the 3rd and then closed the following day for the holiday. Unlike many federal holidays that are observed on the nearest Monday, the Fourth is always celebrated on the actual day, wherever it

With the Great American Cleanup, the Waynedale Parade and our other May activities behind us—isn’t 2017 just flying by—we turn now to our June activities. This month the Wayne Township Trustee Office will be at two events with our information booth; one is the annual Juneteenth celebration at