Ben Franke receives a Citizen Action Meritorious Award

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported this morning Ben Franke, son of Wade and Karen Franke, was honored with a Citizen Action Meritorious Award on Monday, March 23 at the 2008 Fort Wayne Fire Department Service Awards, held at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana. He was one of 13 firefighters and citizens recognized at the event.

"Ben Franke was given a Citizen Action Meritorious Award for helping his neighbors, Dean and Eleanor Shideler, escape a fire in March 2008 at their Rolston Avenue home.

The Shidelers attended the ceremony to personally thank Franke.

When Franke learned of the blaze, the first thing that went though his head was “just get over there and help them,” he said after receiving the award.

“It’s great,” Franke said. “It feels good.'"

2nd District News

Our next 2nd District Community Meeting will be Monday, April 27, 7 p.m., at Shoaff Park Riverlodge (straight west off of St. Joe Road, past the golf course). Our speaker will be Mayor Tom Henry, so please come for this opportunity to talk with our mayor.

Wednesday, March 25, 7 p.m., will be the first episode of a new show on "City TV" (Comcast 58/FIOS 28) called "Constructive Thinking." This will focus on the many and varied things that our Public Works and City Utilities departments do, hosted by yours truly. The 30-minute show will air on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., alternating with "Council Call-in." The first show is "Water, Water Everywhere" and includes discussion of the recent flood, flood control projects, repairing sewers and fixing potholes (which are caused by water if you think about it). In addition to some in-studio interviews we have filmed some interviews in the field so I hope it is interesting to watch. The April show will feature a rain garden theme and will include some how-to advice. We are trying to see whether we can get this podcasted so that people without Comcast or FIOS service can watch, because we know that this is going to be THE show of the season (just kidding on that last part.)

ABC’s EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION SEARCHING FOR HEROIC FAMILIES
From ABC:

Do you know someone whose home deserves an Extreme Makeover? If so, the producers of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition want to hear from you! Ty Pennington and his crew have been all across the map and they are ready to drive that famous bus into the Fort Wayne Indiana area!

What does it take to be picked for an Extreme Makeover?
We are in search of true Heroes - people who have amazing strength of character and who put their own needs aside to help others. Whether it’s a mom, a soldier, a teacher, or a fireman, we think a hero is anyone who inspires those around them. In addition, the producers are looking for families whose houses need major alterations or repair- homes that present serious problems for the family and affect the family's quality of life.

To be eligible: A family must own their own single family home and be able to show producers how a makeover will make a huge difference in their lives.

Interested families or those who wish to nominate another family should e-mail a short description of their family story to
castindiana@gmail.com

Nominations/submissions must include:
1. The names and ages of each member of the household
2. A description of the major challenges within the home.
3. Explanation of why this family is deserving, Heroic, or a positive role model in their community.
4. Photos of the family and a photo of the home
5. Don’t forget to include a contact phone number.

The deadline: for nominations is (April 2nd). BUT Don’t Delay! Please send story submissions as soon as possible!

For more information on how to apply please visit our website at: http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/index?pn=apply

Kirkwood Park invaded by Mad Ants

Have you ever considered how much we rely on our Public Service officials? The Mad Ants have, and so they are honoring them with a special Local Heroes Night.

On Friday, February 20, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants will be playing the visiting Dakota Wizards. After the game, teams from the Fort Wayne Police Department and Fort Wayne Fire Department will play in a championship basketball game.

Kirkwood Park has purchased 50 tickets to this Local Heroes Night and is making them available to residents on a first come, first served basis.

If you’re interested in attending, please contact board president, Joni Weber at jparweb@aol.com.

Sewer Update

The Sewer Reconstruction project is part of a $240 million dollar Citywide project that will be spread out over the next 18 years. There will be many of these same projects taking place all over the City of Fort Wayne during the summer. There will be no special assessment to Kirkwood Park or any of its residents for this project.

Our contractor is Geiger Excavating. Ray Wigfield is the Construction Manager, Ron Sheppard is the Program Manager. The project began on Thursday, February 5, 2008, and should be wrapped up by the end of August, by Labor Day weekend. Once this project is completed, this will wrap up the entire sewer reconstruction for Kirkwood Park.

The construction will start at the Springfield at Crescent Ave. extrance, going east to Kirkwood Drive, north on Kirkwood Drive to the end, and curving around to go over to Merivale, where one block (from Kirkland Ave. to to Rolston St.) is slated for the sewer construction.

All of Kirkwood Drive and the one block portion of Merivale will have all new concrete. However, concrete will NOT be poured until the weather breaks — in the interim, there will be stone/gravel placed for residents to travel on. The contractor does not anticipate any construction or concrete pouring to go any further than the right of way or driveway approach of affected each residents property.

Once the concrete is poured, affected residents will not have access to their driveways for one (1) full week. Residents will then be directed to street parking nearby their homes.

If the need arose for any type of utility shut-off, affected residents would be notified 24 hours in advance.

Kirkwood Circle will have portions of cement replaced — this is due to extra CEDIT funding coming available to us via our 2nd Disctrict Councilperson, Karen Goldner. This repair should take place something during the construction project.
This project will serve ALL of us and will only bring better property values to our neighborhood.

Construction Contacts are:
Ray Wigfield,
Construction Manager
Phone: (260) 427-2704
FAX: (260) 427-6234
E-MAIL: ray.wigfield@
ci.ft-wayne.in.us

Ron Sheppard,
Program Manager
Phone: (260) 427-2705
FAX: (260) 427-6234
E-MAIL: ron.sheppard@
ci.ft-wayne.in.us

Storm Stories...

MAYOR HENRY SEEKS STORIES FROM THE STORM
Mayor Looks for Heart Warming Stories of Those Who Went the Extra Mile to Help During the Ice Storm

Fort Wayne, Ind. – During the December ice storm that left thousands of Fort Wayne residents without power, some for many days, Mayor Tom Henry continued to ask citizens to check on their neighbors to help ensure no one was in danger.

During and the since the storm, Mayor Henry says he hears story after story of people who made big efforts to reach out to friends, family and even strangers. “People offered help and hope to individuals and families who were cold, tired, and hungry,” said Mayor Henry. “It’s these stories that make me proud to be part of this community.”

Saying he would like to acknowledge and possibly publicly recognize many of those who went to great lengths to help others, Mayor Henry asked citizens to send him a note on the City’s website to tell the stories they know, where warm hearted individuals made a difficult situation a little more bearable for others.

Submissions can be made until February 2 at www.cityoffortwayne.org/warmhearts. Mayor Henry would like to thank all of those who made such an effort and helped avoid a terrible storm becoming a tragedy.

Upcoming 2nd District Events

The holidays are over and we're now all working on a schedule again. In that spirit, here is the schedule for our 2nd District Community Meetings for 2009. Please join your neighbors for these meetings, to learn more about what is going on in our community and to have an opportunity to share your ideas and concerns.

All meetings are at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, February 18, Psi Ote Barn Lower Level (Northside Park, enter off Parnell and go just past the tennis courts)
Monday, April 27, River Lodge (Shoaff Park - enter the park and go straight back, past the golf course)
Wednesday, September 2, River Lodge
Monday, November 2, Psi Ote Barn Lower

The February 18 program will be a (short) State of the Second District speech, and then time for any questions, ideas or concerns you want to share.

The other programs are being finalized but I wanted to get the dates out. Stay tuned for more information.

It's Dues time again...

Once again, it's that time of year — your Kirkwood Park Association, Inc. annual dues are currently due.

In accordance with the By-Laws of the Kirkwood Park Association, Inc., each homeowner must pay their mandatory association dues of $30.00 to the Board Treasurer by January 31st of each calendar year.

Forms will be distributed the week of Jan. 5. Please complete and mail with your check in the amount of $30.00, made payable to Kirkwood Park Association, no later than January 31, 2009. Send to P.O. Box 5354, Fort Wayne, IN 46895. If you misplace your form, a pdf is available in the links section of this blog, or by clicking here.

Thank you for your anticipated prompt response. Your cancelled check with serve as receipt of payment.

Happy New Year to all of our residents — stay warm and healthy during this winter!