Acreage sought connecting to nature preserve

Friends of the Limberlost is seeking donations to help acquire 10.42 acres of flood-prone land north of the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve in northern Jay County.

The cost of the acquisition is about $100,000, according to organization treasurer Randy Lehman.

“We were unsuccessful when it was on the market the last time,” Limberlost enthusiast Ken Brunswick told the organization’s members in a recent newsletter. “Now, after nearly six years of continued crop loss, the owner is wanting to get free of this problem property. For us it is a great purchase, and it has been our highest priority area. It gives us a nice wildlife corridor connecting the White Oak (Cemetery) property with the Loblolly Marsh.”

To support the purchase, send donations to Friends of the Limberlost, P.O. Box 571, Geneva, Indiana 46740.

“Such opportunities do not happen very often, and when opportunity knocks, we want to answer,” said Lehman in an email.



Scholars honored

The Cooper Family Foundation recently presented the 2020 V.H. Cooper Scholarship to 36 graduating students from different area schools.

The V.H. Cooper Scholarship was first presented in 1986 as a way for the Cooper family to continue recognizing Virgil Cooper’s generosity to the surrounding communities and organizations, especially those involving children and students.

Among this year’s recipients are Andrew Weitzel, Lydia Wenning, Rachel Acheson, and Jared Timmerman of Fort Recovery High School and Reanna Myers of Jay County High School.



Let us know

As things begin to return to a “new normal,” many clubs and organizations are beginning to meet again on a regular basis.

But each organization is making its own decisions about holding meetings.

To help sort this out, clubs and organizations who are resuming their regular gatherings are asked to email that information to [email protected] or drop a note to P.O. Box 1049, 309 W. Main St., Portland, so that the Community Calendar feature on this page can be re-built to reflect changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.



Free classes

Ivy Tech Community College has announced it is offering free classes and trainings for 10,000 participants impacted by COVID-19 who are experiencing unemployment, reduced hours, and/or furloughs across the state. Participants may take more than one class or training in a range of relevant high-demand areas. 

For detailed information about the classes and trainings, and to register for free, visit ivytech.edu/10kclasses.

Many of the classes and trainings will be offered so that the participant can start and finish on their own timeline, with no regular course meeting times. A few offerings are time limited. The college plans to increase the types of offerings and trainings throughout the summer.  

Classes and trainings that are currently being offered as part of the initiative include:

•Advanced Manufacturing: Smart Automation Certification Alliance Industry 4.0 Silver Level Multi-Skill Maintenance and Operations Technician Certifications (Associate I and II, Electrical Systems, Electric Motor Control Systems, Motor Control Troubleshooting, Pneumatic Systems)

•Tools of the Industry with Autodesk: Introduction to CAD, CAM and Practical CNC Machining, Fusion 360 Introduction to CAD and CAM, Simulation Analysis for Mechanical Engineers, 3-Axis Machining with Fusion 360, Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing, Modeling and Design for Mechanical Engineers. Autodesk Inc. is the software provider for people who make things

•Information Technology: Introduction to Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Essentials, AWS Educate Cloud Practitioner

•Business and Cross-Sector: LinkedIn Learning

More class and training offerings for skills credit, and for-credit classes and trainings, will be phased in later this summer.



Schedule shifts

Jay Community Center’s calendar has been undergoing serious revision during the coronavirus pandemic.

A 5K run is slated for June 14, and senior programming is expected to resume on July 6. T-ball is expected to start on July 11, and the deadline for registration is June 14.