I am going to be 90 years old in a few weeks. I guess

that gives me license to take on a subject that needs to go

beyond the breakfast table at Nick’s Kitchen.

There is a spot in our town that is a shameful

unwelcoming mess. Thousands of potential visitors, maybe

customers, drive past it each day. I bothers me so much that I

have considered changing my route to and from downtown.

The mess that I am talking about is on the corner of

US-24 and Guilford Street, near the building that formerly

housed K-Mart. It is that overgrown, weed-consumed mess that

was built to slow the storm rain-off from the store parking lot.

Some of the trees are almost ready for the saw mill. I assume

that it is there because of building code requirements. If so,

someone must have the duty of seeing that it functions

properly.

I always wondered why K-Mart would invest millions of

dollars in a property and then allow it to be hidden in a forest. I

also wonder if the new owners of the building will continue to

ignore the mess.

So, if the old owners didn’t clean it up, and the new

owners may not see it as their problem, who is going to do it?

I am now, using the license that I have claimed,

suggesting that our club take on the project. Let’s use

Huntington University’s well-kept property across the highway

as a model and give potential visitors a better welcome to our

town.

I am not suggesting that we furnish the labor but just

make some visits to those who might have the responsibility to

correct the problem. Maybe the first step would be to take this

column to the new owners of the building.

-Article written by Mel Ring

I’M STICKING MY NECK OUT

May 2019 edition

1st Jennifer Goff 1st Dawn Harvey

9th Chris Sands 12th Nicole Johnson

15th John Nelson 23rd Kay Schwob

26th Kyle Metzger 29th **Joe Hake**

Early on in my first year of becoming President, we announced that our

Huntington Club would be sponsoring a new club in Ossian. That Club is

coming to fruition with the help of our very own, Mel Ring. He’s been

attending regular meetings to help get this Club off and running. If you

know of anyone that works or lives in the Ossian area please let them

know that they will soon have their very own Ossian Rotary Club. They

kicked off with an informational meeting held this week. Mel Ring and

Rose Wall were in attendance to represent our Club.

District Conference—Notre Dame May 10th and 11th

Obituary:

DR. JOSEPH W. HAKE, 72, of Clear Lake, Ind., died Friday, April 12, 2019, at his home. Born May 29, 1946 in Fort Wayne, Ind., Jo-seph was a son of the late Joseph H. Hake and Rose (Schenk el) Hake. He attended Most Precious Blood Grade School and Brun-nerdale Seminary High School. He graduated from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer and Loyola University School of Dentistry. Joseph was the founding owner of the Huntington Dental Group where he retired after 44 years. He served as a U.S. Navy Lieuten-ant and was president of Parris Island, S.C. Dental Society. Joseph was a Rotary member for 43 years. He loved his family dearly, life at Clear Lake, spending time with his grandchildren, many fishing trips to Black Birch, and his booth at Nick's Kitchen. Joseph is survived by daughters, Michelle Hake (Mark) Clark and Lanah Hake (Fernando) Tarango; son, Nathan Hake; stepdaughter, Betsy (Jim) Till; stepsons, Christopher (Laura) Klerner, Charles (Delonna) Klerner and Patrick (Kathleen) Klerner; and eight grandchildren; brothers, Edward Hake, James (Carol) Hake, John (Tammi) Hake and Timothy (Karen) Hake. Joseph was also preceded in death by his wife of 34 years, Sally (Aurentz) Hake.

Visitation also from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday April 28, 2019, at Divine Mercy Funeral Home, 3500 Lake Ave., Fort Wayne.

A Mass of Christian Burial is 10 a.m. Monday, April 29, 2019, at Most Precious Blood Church, with calling one hour prior.

Burial will be in Catholic Cemetery, Fort Wayne.

Memorial contributions may be made to the following: The Rotary Foundation, Most Precious Blood Catholic Church or St. Paul's Chapel of Clear Lake, Ind. To sign the online guestbook visit www.divinemercyfuneralhome.com

DR. JOSEPH W. HAKE, DDS (1946 - 2019)

Dr. Hake was a true Rotarian. As seen in this picture, he was wearing his Rotary emblem. Not long after I became President, he

came to my office and spent time with me sharing some Rotary history with documents and stories. I truly always appreciated his

wisdom and guidance. It was sad when he retired and didn’t attend meetings regularly but it was always a pleasant surprise when

he did attend. I can also attest to the fact that he was a great dentist; he was my dentist from the time I was young. I don’t

remember how young but I do know that while he was my dentist for many years, I never had one cavity. Rest in peace Dr. Hake,

you will truly be missed by many!

-Cindy

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4

5 6

Club

STRIVE

2:30 at Y

7

Indy 500

Princess-

Karley

Hockemeyer

8 9 10 11

12 13

14

Bob Hammel,

Sportswriter/

Huntington

Native

15 16 17 18

19 20

Board

Meeting

5:15

21 Financial

Peace University

Nick Stanley

22

23

24 25

26 27

Memorial Day

28 Habitat for

Humanity-

Jenn

Vanderpool

29 30 31

May 2019 Youth Service Month

Program Chair: Megan Reckelhoff