The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 19

"Tr, 1 IN-MARS South Bend Tribune Sunday, March 27, 1994 l't 'k ms 1994 03 a- 'y INDIANA AREA BRIEFS Grave lies peacefully in road Burial at site was a final wish i NANCY KERLIN BARNETT MARKER The marker reads: "Nancy Kerlin Barnett, born May 14, 1793, died Dec. 1, 1831. Married to William Barnett Feb. 29, 1808. He was bom Sept.

27, 1786, drowned in Ohio River Sept. 24, 1854. William was the great-great-great-grandson of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Daniel G. Doty, 1846-1934, protected his grandmothers grave by staying here with his gun, while the county relocated this cemetery In order to build the road.

A concrete slab was placed over the grave to protect the marker on Aug. 8. 1912. Hi i I $.9 5 4 -i If'' I By ANNETTE REYNOLDS Associated Press Water FRANKLIN, Ind. The road graciously begs the pardon of Nancy Kerlin Barnett by splitting its lanes just before the place where her head lies, and coming back together a few yards from her feet.

Barnett is at peace with the intrusion, however. The farmers wife died in 1831. She is buried in the middle of a road in Johnson County, in a setting so close to traffic that cars whizzing by create a breeze that makes the grass dance on her grave. Her family granted her last wish that she be buried at that spot, which then was a peaceful grassy knoll just beside Sugar Creek, where she liked to fish. Once her tomb was erected, others decided it was a beautiful place to be laid to rest.

The area became a small graveyard. But Franklin, the county seat, encroached, and soon horses and wagons beat a path that passed beside the handfril of graves. The countiy lane was used by folks traveling between Franklin and Shelbyville. Years later, automobiles were cranked up and sputtered into Johnson County. The surveyors followed, and after them came the highway crews with their concrete to pour on the path.

The highway workers began moving the graves to make way for a brand-new road. Little did they know theyd soon come face to face with Daniel Doty, Barnetts loyal grandson. Doty met the highway crew with a shotgun as they prepared to shift his grandmothers grave in the name of progress. No one knows exactly what Doty said, but the crew evidently saw his point of view: The road was built with its teardrop-shaped split around the remains of Nancy Kerlin Barnett. Most lifelong Johnson County residents have seen and heard about the so-called grave in the middle of the road.

And curious newcomers and visitors to the county ask about the strange hump that sits about four feet above the blacktop of Johnson County Road 400 South, 1.3 miles east of U.S. 31. If we had a Top 10 list of things people call about, the grave in the A Photo Ruth Deer White, a great-great-great-granddaughter of Nancy Kerlin Barnett, stands at Barnetts unusual grave site in the middle of a Johnson County road near Franklin, Ind. The road splits around the grave because the family refused to move it when the road was built. middle of the road would be on it, said Julie Cole, curator of the Johnson County Museum of History.

Curious history buffs often check out the museums file on the Barnett family and the grave. So far as state history experts know, the grave is unique in Indiana. The Indiana Historical Bureau has no knowledge of any other grave in the middle of the road, said Judy Rippel, coordinator of state commemorative markers for the bureau. Nor could Susan Sutton, coordinator of visual reference services at the Indiana Historical Society, find listings of similar graves. Jack Arthur owns the Roto Grill in Amity, which sits at U.S.

31 and Johnson County Road 400 South, just a mile from the grave. People stopping in for a bite to eat often ask Arthur about the grave. Ive heard all the stories, Arthur said. When we were kids, we all heard it was the grave of an Indian, a relative of Pocahontas. A lot of tall tales have grown up around it.

The Johnson County Historical Society erected a marker at the grave many years ago, but vandals twice stole it. Someone found the marker a few years ago, dumped in a creek a few miles from the site. Museum personnel decided that erecting it again would be foolhardy, so today, its in a storage Adams present for all. voting INDIANAPOLIS State Sen. Kent Adams, R-Bremen, has been commended for achieving a 100 percent voting attendance record during the 1994 session of the General Assembly.

Adams was present for all 344 roll-call votes, according to Senate President Pro Tem Robert D. Garton. In addition to votes on bills, floor votes also were recorded on amendments, committee reports and procedural motions, Garton explained. During the two-month session, lawmakers considered nearly 900 bills ana sent 179 measures to the governor. Culver kindergarten sign-up CULVER Culver Community Schools Superintendent William F.

Mills has announced that kindergarten enrollment for the 1994-OS school year will be held on April 13 and 14. To be eligible for kindergarten, a child must be 5 years old on or before June 1, 1994. Enrollment of other new students to the district will be from 8 a m. to 3 p.m. April 13.

Enrollment for students residing in the Monterey Elementary School attendance area will be from noon to 3 p.m. April 14. Children must be present for speech and hearing screening. Information will be given out concerning immunizations, physicals, dental and optical forms, which must be completed prior to readiness screening which will be done in August. Parents will be notified of times and dates of the testing.

Parents are to bring a copy of their childs birth certificate for verification of the date of birth. Those unable to come on the set enrollment dates should contact the school at 842-3389, 542-4017 or 542-2601 to make other arrangements. It is important for the school to have accurate counts of new students. State law requires that immunizations be completed prior to the first day of school. Hospice program gets funds PLYMOUTH St.

Josephs Hospital of Marshall County has donated $3,000 to Hearthstone Community Hospice. The hospitals funds came from the annual Million Dollar Hole-in-One fund-raising campaign. Hearthstone Community Hospice is a program developed to allow terminally ill patients to stay at home. The hospice program encompasses Marshall, Starke, Fulton and Pulaski counties. Hearthstone will be ready to accept its first patients soon after training several volunteers.

The hospice was created when St. Josephs Hospital Chaplain Jeff Nixa saw a need for such a program through his work with dying patients and their families. The creation of Hearthstone means that hospice care is now available for residents in evety county of Indiana. The annual Hole-in-One for St. Josephs Care Foundation is sponsored by Society Bank.

Proceeds benefit St. Josephs Hospital of Marshall County and St Josephs Medical Center. The Marshall County site is sponsored by American Container. The Plymouth Rock Golf Course donates its facilities for the qualifying weekend activities. The Hole-in-One will be conducted in August.

Saint Josephs Hospital of Marshall County and its ancillaiy programs benefit from these funds. Sheriff candidates to speak MICHIGAN CITY Candidates for LaPorte County sheriff have been invited to a public forum at 7 p.m. Monday at Dunebrook, 7451 W. Johnson Road. Candidates will speak about child abuse issues and then respond to questions from the audience.

The meeting is open to the public. People Against Child Abuse and the LaPorte County Child Abuse Prevention Council are sponsoring the informational meeting. For further information, call Dunebrook at 74-0007. Vandals damaging M.C. parks MICHIGAN CITY Parks and Recreation Superintendent Brent Bachmann will be meeting soon with city Police Chief Lany Kunkel to discuss a solution to vandalism occurring within city parks.

At a park board meeting Thursday, Bachmann said that over the last couple of weeks, someone has been spraying what appear to be gang symbols. So far, he estimates the damage has cost the city $2,000. Parks damaged by the vandalism are Washington, Ridgeland Avenue and the West Eighth Street Tot Lot. In other action, the board approved a Port Authority request made by Harbormaster John Rudisell which would allow Sprague Marina permit holders to launch their boats at the Washinton Park ramp. Rudisell said that because of the dredging on Trail Creek, the parking area and boat ramp might not be ready until April 20.

Bremen kindergarten sign-up BREMEN The Bremen Elementaiy-Middle School kindergarten registration for the 1994-95 school year will be held April 11 and 12. The registration will be held in the area of the kindergarten rooms. During registration, the prospective student will be given a preschool readiness inventoiy, as well as vision, hearing, language and motor-perceptual screenings. Parents are reminded that they need to bring their childs Social Security card and birth certificate for age verification. To be eligible for enrollment, the child must be 5 years old on or before June 1, 1994.

Any questions concerning the registration should be directed to the school at 546-3554. father pour a thick slab of concrete over the grave, setting the gravestone flat in the concrete. Doty feared someone would steal his grandmothers gravestone. I remember we spent the day picnicking nearby after he fixed up the grave, White said. Today, the gravestones markings are barely legible from years of being in the elements, but a visitor can make out these words: Nancy Barnett, d.

1831. Fallen trees, rusted barrels and litter mar the view around the grave. But White likes to imagine the grassy spot beside a gurgling creek that her great-great-greatgrandmother loved as her quiet retreat from her busy life as a farmers wife. It must have been so beautiful then, she said. room in the museum.

The museums file on the Barnetts includes a name-by-name genealogical listing, proving that William Barnett was indeed descended from Pocahontas. The Doty shotgun stoiy has been confirmed by a descendent of Nancy Kerlin Barnett. Her great-great-great-granddaughter, Ruth Deer White, 87, still lives in Franklin. White was an art teacher for more than 20 years in various Johnson County schools. Daniel Doty was Whites maternal grandfather, and White knew him well.

She recalls her grandfather telling the shotgun stoiy many times. She remembers going to the grave with Doty and the rest of her family in 1912, when she was only 5 years old. She watched her grand Bremen day-care program expands Last year, about 20 elementary children attended the program at the church. Currently, the church also runs a year-round infant and preschool programs, as well, at a church daycare building. Crafton hopes the summer program will bring 35 to 40 children.

Up to 50 can be accommodated. Bremen Elementary Principal Lloyd Cabmess is all for the program. I think its great. It will provide lots of supervised activities for the kids in the summer. In a lot of families, both parents work.

This provides an excellent alternative care (to baby sitters). Superintendent Dick Kline agrees, There seems to be a lack of quality children care during the summer months. Moving to the school will help them (Salem) double the number of students. Weve got the space for them. Kline notes that the program is separate from the Enrichment Summer School program the school has during the summer months.

Those who wish more information on Salems summer program can call Crafton at 546-2275. She says that information also will be available in the coming weeks through the school By MICHELLE DONAGHEY Tribune Correspondent BREMEN I have been very concerned about the number of children who are left alone, said Ginny Crafton, Salem United Methodist Church day-care director. This summer, Crafton will realize her longtime goal of opening the program to a larger number of children. The summer program is aimed at children in grades one through five. The Bremen School Board recently agreed to allow the day-care this to use two rooms at Bremen Elementary School.

We do not intend to be in the school that much. We will be keeping the children very active in various activities. They will not just be sitting there, says Crafton. When they are in the school, teacher Sharon Forte says they will have fun, learning topics such as earth science with rock collections and other activities, dinosaurs and art and crafts. Crafton says children will take field trips every Friday to places like the Michiana Regional Transportation Center in South Bend, Potato Creek State Park in North Liberty, Curious Kids Museum in SL Joseph and a train ride on Amtrak.

Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the group plans to swim at the Bremen Pool for two and a half hours. Bowling will be on Tuesdays. Its a needed service, says Kathy Sharp, a parent of preschool and school-age children. Sharp says its an attractive option because you might think that your kids cant get into trouble. They do things you think they wouldnt (with a parent in the home).

Teen-agers (baby sitters) have a tendency to do what they want and to let the kids go on their own, and neither one tells the parent. Parent Susie Valdez agrees that the program is needed, especially for younger children. The summer program will begin the day after school ends for the summer and will end a week before school starts. Hours will be from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Children will need to bring their own lunches. Weekly rates have not been set, but the church hopes to include field-trip fees so parents will not need to remember to send money for each outing. The church has operated the program for school-age children for the past two years at its facility but has found more space was needed. Series speaker claims honesty during divorce assists children pretty matter-of-fact and amicable? Infants are affected by the grief and depression the mother feels, preschoolers by the fear of being abandoned, preteen-agers by anger at parents for divorcing teen-agers feeling rejected by their parents. The younger kids are frying to figure out if Mommy or Daddy depending on who is out of the home is going to ever come back.

Is that parent lost forever? Are they going to replace me? Will they get another kid to take my place? Thomas said. Older children question how theyre going to handle love relationships. Am I going to fail in marriage like my parents? A lot of times parents are so caught up in their own emotions and their own worries financial changes, having to work, child care and all these responsibilities as a single parent that its hard for them to focus on whats going on with the child, says Thomas. Thomas says that in most cases, its better that a child live in a divorced home than be in a home where parents fight all the time. She says that as long as the children are included in whats going on, without the parents drawing them into custody battles, theres no reason the kids can't come through this.

Each session of the divorce senes costs $5 and runs from 7 to 8.30 pm Anyone interested may drop in for any session. An of the meetings are held at First Presbyterian Church of Goshen. 215 East Lincoln Avenue. Goshea For more information, call Oaklawn, 533-1234 ExLr 250. By BOB KRONEMYER Tribune Correspondent GOSHEN Honesty is the best policy.

Especially when it concerns kids and divorce. The best thing parents can do, overall, is be honest with the kids to talk with them honestly, says Roxanne Thomas, a soda! work intern at Oakjawn Hospital in Goshen. Thomas will be the speaker April 4 in an ongoing series titled Creatively Coping With the Fallout From Divorce." The eight 'weekly sessions, which began March 7, are sponsored by Oaklawn and The Plus Fund, an community outreach program of First Presbyterian Church in Goshea In her presentation, Kids Questions and Behaviors, Thomas stresses not only honesty with divorce but also the need for parents to communicate at the level of their child's understanding. Youre not going to tell your 2-year-old aO about how Daddy cheated on Mommy. It's going to be very basic.

Mommy and Daddy don't get along anymore. They need to be apart, says Thomas, 30. who earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Indiana University South Bend in 1992. There is no set response that a child is going to have to divorce, notes Thomas. A lot depends on the age of the child and their developmental leveL Also, bow the parents are handling the divorce is it a messy divorce, where the parents are fighting ail the time and involving the children in the fight, or is it Jrtxr PtotoSOB KRONEYMER Roxanne Thomas, social work intern at Oaklawn Hospital in Goshen, stresses honesty in counseling divorce.

A Ajus jW i.