City of Goshen
November 2, 2018
Steury seeks a blue seat on County Council
For decades the Elkhart County Council has allocated funds, levied taxes and carried out its other business with one striking imbalance: all its members have been Republican. But a former staff member at Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center in Wolf Lake, Paul Steury, plans on changing that. Steury is running against a Republican incumbent, Darryl Riegsecker, who represents the 3rd District. Riegsecker could not be immediately reached for comment. Steury believes that the majority of residents in Goshen do not know who the County Council members are. He wishes to change that, both before the election and afterward,...
April 12, 2018
River Bend Film Festival returns to Goshen
The River Bend Film Festival will soon be returning to Goshen. This year’s theme: Making a Splash. About three years ago, the festival moved from South Bend to Goshen. The festival works with the city of Goshen as well as other groups and individuals, like David Kendall, associate professor of communication, and his wife, Carrie Lee Bland-Kendall. The two run Kendall Pictures and have several film industry relationships, making them a key connection between the college, the city, and the festival. “When the film festival moved here, they really wanted to partner with Goshen entities,” said Bland-Kendall. “We’re the people...
April 5, 2018
GRID cards offered
This Friday evening from 4-7 p.m., The Center for Healing and Hope (CHH) will offer Goshen Resident Identification (GRID) Cards to Goshen College students at a discounted price at Java Junction. CHH is taking off $5 off of each card, and Student Senate is taking off an additional $5, bringing the card’s price to $15 per student. Students can pay the full $20 so that the additional $5 goes to support the Center for Healing and Hope. There are three requirements in order for a Goshen student to receive a GRID card. First, a student will need either a passport,...
April 5, 2018
Local artist brings new life to an old form
Amy Worsham is bringing the oldest form of graphic design into the modern era. Tympanum Press, located in an alley in downtown Goshen, specializes in the art of the letterpress. Amidst shelves of loose type and nine presses, Worsham has carved a space for her unique business while also expanding to take on the role as arts director of the city of Goshen. Recently, I had the privilege of working alongside Worsham during a workshop at her studio. As I fumbled through the process of setting and pressing type, Worsham guided me through it with expertise. Her well-trained eyes could...
February 8, 2018
A heart for service
Last June, Dominique Chew (GC 2015) joined the staff of the Center for Healing & Hope (CHH) in downtown Goshen. Chew, originally from Hesston, Kansas, works with the organization to provide affordable medical and immigrant services in a Christ-like manner to members of the community. In her roles as office manager and immigrant resource coordinator, Chew coordinates volunteers for the clinic and schedules appointments. In addition, much of her current work consists of helping with the process of issuing Goshen Resident ID cards (GRID cards). After graduating from GC, Chew moved to New York where she served at the United...
January 25, 2018
CoreCivic withdraws zoning requests for ICE facility
On Monday morning, Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder informed the public that CoreCivic, a private prison company, had chosen to withdraw their zoning request to build a 250,000-square-foot ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention facility in Elkhart County. This announcement followed a groundbreaking letter last week from local business leaders, demonstrating a lack of economic support for the facility and issuing a call for CoreCivic to withdraw their proposal. Signees of the letter include Goshen mayor Jeremy Stutsman, local chambers of commerce and prominent business leaders of local communities. Announced in fall of 2017, CoreCivic’s plans to create an ICE...
January 18, 2018
Immigration Detention Center Press Conference
Local leaders representing major constituencies in Elkhart County linked arms with the Coalition Against the Elkhart County Immigration Detention Center on Tuesday at a press conference to show their support against the proposed detention center for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Representatives from the local government, businesses, faith communities, the Latino community, the African-American community, DACA recipients, the legal community, retirees, and the medical community came together to share their own reasons as to why CoreCivic, one of the nation’s largest for-profit prison owners, should not build a ICE detention center in Goshen. News broke on Nov. 17...
November 16, 2017
Goshen Resident Identification cards become available in Dec.
Starting in December, Goshen Resident Identification Cards (GRID) will become available to all residents of Goshen. Monday’s launch of GRID marked a culmination of significant effort by the Center for Healing & Hope and the Elkhart County HOPE network. The GRID card is available to everyone who lives in the city of Goshen, but will be of particular help to those who are unable to attain other forms of identification or documentation. It is not a valid form of identification for voting or a driver’s license. Bryan Mierau, the executive director of the Center for Healing & Hope, said the...
November 2, 2017
Carlos Lora an integral part of Goshen community
The path to Goshen, Indiana was not a straightforward one for Carlos Lora. Dominican born, Lora met his wife, a Puerto Rican named Nancy Lora, in New York, and it was there that their three children, Clarissa, Nahshon, and Elijah, were born. From the very beginning, the Lora family has been active in the faith community, both large scale and small. In the 1990s, Nancy Lora served as a board member of Mennonite Church USA. In this role, she made a trip to Elkhart which would change the course of their lives. She came home and told Lora that they...
October 5, 2017
Capitol Hill to Fifth Street — One Goshen family’s call to neighborly love, and the blog that memorialized it.
Shannan Martin pulled her door open quickly, revealing a sunny living room and the kitchen that was featured in Midwest Living. She stood tall and lanky in jeans and a cardigan- the beautiful but well lived in vibe of her house reflected in her outfit. She gestured to the coat rack and says, “You don’t need to worry about taking off your shoes. We don’t worry about that here.” With her children–Calvin, Ruby, Silas–fresh out of the house for the day, Martin offered a glass of water and took a seat on the couch. She mentioned the walk to Chamberlain...
September 14, 2017
Goshen Fashion Week
Next week a flurry of fabric and dresses will descend upon northern Indiana with the first ever Fashion Week taking place Sept. 18-24. The week will feature promotions from Goshen retailers, stylish events and high-fashion couture, with over 10 events taking place in Elkhart, Middlebury, and Goshen during the week. Goshen College alumnus Eugene Stutzman’s designs will be featured in a runway show alongside fashion from local retailers on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Goshen Theater. All of the Eugene Alexander dresses that will be shown are originals crafted in the...
April 6, 2017
Cohousing comes to Millrace
For Mary Ellen and Al Meyer, Greencroft was becoming essential. It was an expected move, now that they had both reached their 80s and lived in a two-story house, with bedrooms upstairs. The Meyers were approaching the age of migration but didn’t want to migrate. So, they began developing their own community: Millrace Cohousing. Cohousing is an intentional living community, where residents choose to live collaboratively. It mixes the public and private lives; members live in their own homes, but share a communal space. The group will have one communal meal a week, shared events and care for the property...
March 30, 2017
A passion for music and community
Ignition Music Garage, your one-stop shop for classic vinyl. The product of a teenager of the 70s, it houses some of the best music of the past half century, with genres that can fit anyone’s taste of music. The inside is spacious and free, with CDs, vinyl and different pieces of listening equipment lining the walls. The ceiling is high, and it really does feel like a great space for live performances. Tucked in the back-left corner underneath a small second-floor landing was where I found Steve Martin. Two nice leather chairs and a coffee table: it was a comfortable...
March 23, 2017
Pottinger exhibit to open at GC
David Pottinger, a Goshen resident, is known nationally for his collection of antique quilts from Amish communities. Now, Goshen College has its own Pottinger collection of quilts and household antiques on display. Pottinger moved to Goshen in 1989 and began his projects in a downtown historic renovation. Three books have been published about his collections of Amish quilts and antiques, and hundreds of quilts were acquired by major U.S museums across the country. In 1983, an exhibit of Pottinger’s quilts toured museums in the U.S and Europe. The exhibit was particularly popular in Zurich, Switzerland, the historic home of the...
March 23, 2017
Clay artists guild feeds Goshen with empty bowls
Rebecca Ramer pointed to a precariously balanced stack of handmade bowls in her kitchen cupboard. “I can’t really even remember how many times we’ve gone,” she said. “The first time was probably before we even moved to Goshen six or seven years ago.” She’s referring to the Empty Bowl Project, a meal that takes place one night a year at the Goshen Farmers’ Market. Put on by the Goshen Clay Artists Guild, members provide handmade bowls, area restaurants and guild members donate soups to fill them and community members contribute money. The suggested $15 donations go to Goshen Interfaith Hospitality...