Each year, different antique vehicles like planes, cars, tractors and more are displayed for visitors and Marion residents to see.

Ray Johnson, the founder of the event, said he did not expect the event to take off.

“It all started in 1991, and we had an idea,” Johnson said. “We did not dream that here, 34 years later, that we would still be doing it.”

Johnson said the event originally started as a fundraiser for the Marion High School band. This year, the Grant County Rescue Mission fundraised the event through their all you can eat pancake breakfast.

Brad Terhune, the executive director of the Grant County Rescue Mission, said he was happy that the event still takes place so the rescue mission can still be beneficiaries.

“We get a lot of support from people who come out and eat,” Terhune said. “We also have people that come up to volunteer, so we’ll utilize up to maybe 200 volunteers to serve breakfast.”

Johnson said the beauty of the event is that it is an all-out community event. Many people from all over the country come to display their vehicles.

“This year we are showcasing a 1942 Curtis P-40N Warhawk,” Johnson said. “We are also showing a 1962 Beech Bonanza, a vantage airplane that flew around the world.”

Adrian Eichhorn, the owner of the Beech Bonanza, said he heard about the event through Johnson and originally planned to attend last year but had some scheduling conflicts.

“I fly for a living and was in Europe at the same time last year,” Eichhorn said. “I got back the night of, and there were pretty bad thunderstorms, so I decided not to come last year.”

Eichhorn shared that he bought and restored his Beech Bonanza back in 1990 and has taken it all over.

“2015 was the first time I flew it around the world,” Eichhorn said. “The most memorable flight for me was flying over Omaha Beach where over 10,000 soldiers lost their lives, because I’m a veteran and remember that time.”

Eichhorn said the best part about the event was getting to meet others who are passionate about their vehicles and being back in the Midwest.

Phil Martin, the co-owner of the Life Star Pulse Owners Group, has been attending the event with his wife for 20 years.

Martin said that his group attends the event as part of their national rally to show support.

“We love to come out and participate in the silent display to help support Ray Johnson, who I have been friends with for 20 years,” Martin said.

With the Fly-in Cruise-in having a big turn out this year, Johnson said that he hopes the event will continue to grow and help support the community in the future.

Construction for the splash pad will start in the next few months.

“Just excited for the groundbreaking of the splash pad, which will break ground officially” Supervisor of Marketing and Community Development Layla Price-Bodkin said. “This was like the ceremony for it, and it’ll break ground in May (or) June.”

Price-Bodkin said the splash pad is one of the ways that Mayor Ronald Morrell Jr. intends to improve Marion.

“The mayor has been listening to the community on what they want to improve quality of life here, and that’s something that he can control,” Price-Bodkin said.

The project is for the benefit of younger Marion residents, both current and future.

“You’ve got to have stuff for younger kids, and when you start doing these kinds of amenities, it starts spurring traffic from people coming into town and wanting to be here” Director of Engineering Michael Graft said.

Construction will end towards the end of summer.

“I’m just excited and ready for it to be open in late August,” Graft said. 

The splash pad is intended to be an added benefit to families looking to relocate to Marion.

“I think this is an addition to our quality of life investment, and this is going to be able to attract and retain young families” Mayor Ronald Morrell said.

Another goal of the project is to improve the Mississinewa Riverwalk that runs through Marion.

“The idea is that along the entirety of our Riverwalk trail we’ll be able to have different hot zone hotspots and this will be one that is really catered to the next generation and their families” Morrell said.

The case at hand was between a delivery driver Mahari Oukbu and Amazon. Oukbu sued Amazon and the property owner of the facility where the incident occurred, CF Mount Comfort.  

Oukbu was delivering a package to the Amazon facility when the signage for entrances confused him. He had to stop his car and get out on the highway to determine where to go. When Oukbu got out, he was injured by another vehicle. Seven weeks later, Harvail Dhillon, another delivery driver, got out of his car due to confusion and was struck and killed by a vehicle. 

Oukbu said he wanted Amazon to pay for damages and adjust, but Amazon argued that they are not responsible for damages that occur off their property.  

Alice Trueblood described Oukbu’s position. 

  “By placing those signs there, (Amazon) affirmatively assuming control of the behavior of the invitees who are attempting to enter their premises” Trueblood said. 

Amazon’s council said, “The concern is not so much how this affects Amazon, it’s how it affects property owners across the state, warehouse that have a condition that’s going to create a potential liability.”   

Justice Goff said this issue is not the liability as Amazon’s council is making it out to be.  

“Everybody’s worried about (liability), but it seems to me that the universe of people that this signage is directed to is really small and the conduct is really specific. Happens twice in a period of less than two months,” Goff said. 

No final decision was made during this hearing.  

The city of Marion broke ground Tuesday morning for a new dog park after over five years of setbacks and planning. 

The park will be named Wiggly Field and will be located on Ballard Field in east central 

Marion. 

Local businessman and Rotarian Dwight Ott said he has been adamant for years about rejuvenating Ballard Park. 

“It is one small thing we can do to try and make life fun here in Marion,” Ott said. “If one of us does one thing and someone else has another idea, it will make Marion a great place to live.” 

The original plans were to rejuvenate the entire 20-acre Ballard field. But with unprecedented hurdles and COVID-19 hitting, plans were settled for just the three-acre dog park. 

President of the Parks and Recreation Board Kyle Beal said, “It’s nice to see it actually come to reality, it was kind of a dream that Dwight had. There were times I did not think it was going to happen. “ 

Ott said he got inspired while visiting a Utah dog park in 2018. He saw how it brought the community together and wanted to see Marion residents come together in the same way. 

“I think this will be a really neat project that will bring people together,” Ott said. “Folks will get to know each other in the community that they didn’t know before.” 

This is the second large investment in local dogs this year, following the improvements at Marion Animal Care and Control back in January. 

“I just want more reasons for people to live here,” Ott said. “Not just drive to town, go to work, drive out of town. We want them to live here, and we want to give them reasons. 

Local resident Scott Overman has wanted Ballard Park to be developed for many years, and what he referred to as “the bark park” Is really good for the community. 

“Anybody moving into a new community they look for the amenities,” Overman said. “They look for the walking trails, they look for the parks, they look for the schools, and this is one piece of a big puzzle.” 

Wiggly Field is a roughly $550,000 investment made possible by grants from the Marion Rotary Club, Community Foundation and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. They are still looking for approximately $30,000 from additional sponsors. 

Wiggly Field is currently set to open in early August.

Vendors from Upland and the nearby area came together to sell their crafts to the community and make connections.

“It’s really neat to see a lot of people from Upland and surrounding places come together” vendor Lindsay Crawford said. “You get to catch up with old friends, which is really fun. You can invite them to church here and just, you know, see how they’re doing.”

The fair gave crafters an opportunity to share their work with other locals.

“I wanted to try to get my book out to the community” self-published author Jessica Miller said. “Of course, you want your first readers to be where you live so I wanted to come out.”

The funds that Pierce Church collected are set to go towards their children and youth ministries.

“It’s typically a fundraiser for discounts for camp scholarships for our kids or youth ministry programs or for different outings” Pierce Church’s Director of Children’s Ministries, Kevin Duecker said. “If we’re going to go to Kings Island or something like that with the kids or the youth. We don’t ever want finances to be an obstacle for families that we’re ministering to. So, this is one way that we can raise money for that.”

Pierce Church fundraised by charging a vendor fee. Admission and parking were free for anyone who wanted to attend. 

“I love the idea that we’re helping the church and helping the church and helping the youth. And then I think it’s just a way of connecting” vendor Kim Kreischer said.

Crawford and Duecker lead the event together.

“She and I co-lead it together” Duecker said. “And so, I kind of do all the stuff that like I’m able to do on the church side. But because she’s also part of that community with the crafters, she’s able to connect with them and be like, hey, Pierce Church is doing this craft fair again.”

Pierce Church also fundraised by hosting a smoked meats lunch during the craft fair.

“We also have a lot of guys here in the church that love to do smoked meats” Duecker said. “So we do like a pulled pork lunch or a beef brisket lunch where those guys will get together, you know, like yesterday or the day before, you know, they’ll do the 12 hour smokes and smoke all the meats. And so there’s community getting built there.”

“There’s always some absolutely amazing work in there, and they have everything from photography to watercolor, you know, kind of a neat combination of different media,” Librarian Barbara Enslen said. 

The categories include oil, acrylic, watercolor, drawing, mixed media and photography. Winners of each category will receive cash prizes. 

Laurie Gates, Grant County Art Association secretary said she is excited for this year’s show. 

“Every year is a little different, we never know if we’re gonna have more oils, more acrylics, more watercolors or what,” Gates said. 

Last year, Judy Keilholtz, a Grant County Art Association member won best of show. 

“This year I’ve been too busy to really put much into the show but I’m looking forward to seeing all the other artist’s work,” Keilholtz said. 

Adults 18 and older can enter up to six pieces.Each entry costs $10 and must be submitted on April 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the second floor of the Marion Public Library. 

Entry forms are available at the Marion Public Library reference desk or can be requested by emailing grantcountyartassociation@yahoo.com. 

The art will be on exhibit from April 5 through May 1, 2025.

The event will feature new updates, bingo, prizes and food served by The Kitchen Company, a program designed for career training for people with disabilities. 

“Denim and Diamonds every year is an opportunity for us to partner with the community and celebrate people with disabilities, the families and children that we serve in Early Head Start, and share updates,” Allbaugh, CEO of Carey Services said. “We wanted to bring the community into our facilities here on our main campus in Marion to really let folks see where  the magic is happening,” 

Kelly Scher, vice president of advancement at Carey Services, said recent renovations also influenced the decision to host the event on campus. 

“So this year’s Denim and Diamonds is being held on our campus in Marion. This is being done as a way to showcase some of the new space that we have renovated in the last year and a half and talk through some new and exciting things that we have in vision for the future,” Scher said. 

Each year, Denim and Diamonds celebrates diversity and inclusion through its dress code. 

“When you think of denim and diamonds, you think of your denim as being more casual and your diamonds a little more dressed up. And so that’s similar to the idea that we’re very different from one another,” Scher said. 

“When we all come together, we make a great community that’s diverse and inclusive, and that’s what we celebrate. So we encourage people to dress however they want,” Scher said. 

In the past, attendees have ranged from those in T-shirts and jeans to others in elegant evening gowns. 

Teresa and Troy Cass have attended Denim and Diamonds for the past two years. “It’s been a true celebration, the years we’ve attended,” Teresa Cass said. 

A large goal of the event is to help raise money and awareness around Carey Services and their mission.

“I think this event allows the community to not only financially support Carey Services, but get an inside look at all Carey Services has to offer,” Teresa Cass said. 

Holly Jones was hired as Principal for Kendall Elementary. Jones has worked in education for 14 years with eight years as a school administrator.

“I applied for the job not knowing it would be in the middle of the school year. When I interviewed with the committee they stated that they hoped the person would be able to start after spring break,” Jones said.

Jones said she was serving as assistant principal at Fort Wayne Community Schools when MCS Superintendent Stephanie Lockwood offered her the job.

“As an assistant principal it is your goal to eventually become a principal. I thought this was a great opportunity and made sure I was able to make that move in the middle of the year,” Jones said.

Jones said her goals for the remainder of the school year are to build relationships with families, students and teachers in the Kendall Community.

“We want to make sure that we keep pushing the kids and make sure they are engaged. We want to keep everybody on track to reach that May 22 date to see where we are and where we need to go,” Jones said.

Kyle Mealy was hired as Chief Financial Officer for the district.

MCS Superintendent Lockwood said she was happy to welcome Mealy as the new CFO.

“His wide range of experiences will bring great value to our district,” Lockwood said.

Mealy previously served as superintendent at Wes-Del Community Schools for nearly eight years as well as in principal, assistant principal, athletic director and teacher capacities.

“Superintendent Lockwood asked if I would be interested in interviewing so I came in and met the team. I just really fell in love with the people,” Mealy said.

Mealy said he is looking forward to working alongside Superintendent Lockwood and the school board.

“I look forward to supporting their vision for Marion from the financial aspect of things and I am really excited for where Marion is headed,” Mealy said.

Khris Goff, Grant County 4-H Youth Extension Educator, said “We haven’t received any official notice from Purdue telling us we need to look at different options for the fair. Our 4-H superintendent of the Poultry show has already thought of some ideas if it does happen, but as of today, everything is going as planned. 

The CDC reports that, as of March 24, cases of the H5N1 bird flu have been found in 1,231 U.S. counties. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says 13 Indiana counties in 2025 have reported bird flu cases. 

Goff said a decision would likely be made for the entire state whether birds were allowed on the fairgrounds for the 4-H Fair. 

The bird flu has made headlines before. The last time a large number of cases were reported in Indiana was 2022. If there are still bird flu cases close to fair time, Goff said they have precautions planned. 

“The last time we had something like this happen, we made sure we had plenty of hand sanitizer, a lot of signs up telling people to please wash your hands after coming through and don’t touch the animals,” Goff said. 

Grant County Emergency Management Director Bob Jackson said the 4-H animals always get checked for viruses every year and have a pretty good safeguard. 

Large poultry farms have been hit hardest by the bird flu. Grant County does not have any major poultry farms, but there are a lot of small family farms with hobby flocks, Jackson said. 

“We want people here in Grant county to be aware and watch your flock in the backyard,” Jackson said. “Look for the signs and notify the state when they see that occurring that way we can get a better idea of where spreading might be taking place and take efforts to contain that.” 

The bird flu signs to look for in your poultry include: sudden death without clinical signs, lack of energy or appetite, decreased egg production, thin shield, soft shield or misshapen eggs, swelling of the head and eyelids, purple discoloration in the legs, particularly the lower part of the legs, nasal discharge, coughing and diarrhea. 

Bird owners can report sick birds by calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture at 1-866-536-7593.

“Current one that we have, engine six there. It’s 22 years old. It’s done a lot.” Assistant Chief Tony Fox said.

The new fire truck will be ready in about a month as all the equipment arrives.

“It’s going to take us probably about 30 days to get all the equipment mounted and everything on it. There’s, there’s a lot of things you have to do on one” Fox said.

Private Blake Hancock said that thanks to the new truck, Marion’s Fire Station 6 will be more equipped to help its community.

“The purpose for the new truck is just to make sure that we can serve the citizens of Marion properly” Hancock said. “You know, we’ve had a great luck with this administration wanting to pour into this department, and for us, it’s looking to have the right tools to be able to serve the community as fast as we can, as effectively as we can.”

The fire truck will be put into operation once all the parts arrive.

“The equipment process is really important that the day goes into service it’s fully equipped. You know, these guys wait until they get everything together, so we’re not partial and piecing things together,” Hancock said.

Training is another part of getting a new truck.

“Before we even put, you know, a new truck in service. I mean, it’s new technology, so we got to get all our guys trained on it as well. We don’t want someone operating, you know, million dollar vehicle without, without being how to, you know, how to work it, where everything’s at. So, getting all 60 guys trained on the on how to work the equipment is another big thing.” Engineer Nathan Duke said.

The old truck will be kept as a backup.