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STORY INDEX Introduction Service still most important product at Ligonier Telephone Co. A black and white sensation: Tiny Screens a big attraction in early years of television A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done Indiana Extension Homemakers better the lives of families How to be a good wife The show goes on at The Strand: Kendallville theater survives decades of changes in the movie business Some movies forgettable, but not Cleon Point: Memories of colorful, longtime Strand Theatre manager live on Small towns once supported their own movie theaters 'You'd see everyone there': Kendallville residents have lasting memories of teen hangouts old and new Links of land and lakes: County, state officials worked together to establish Chain O' Lakes State Park William Jennings Bryan among among orators at Rome City's Western Chautauqua Dr. David Rogers - Man of mystery, and benevolence DNR restoration programs working: Once abundant wildlife returning to area Rise of girls athletics have changed face of school sports Decades of intramurals: Before the '70s, girls had limited athletic opportunities Ford Frick was reared on Noble county's sandlots: Baseball executive always considered himself a 'lucky fan' Ruth was greatest player ever: Frick Frick's predictions for 2000 not far off Small Wolf Lake big winner in 1942 basketball regional Four in a row: Finally with a gym of their own, KHS cagers went to 'Sweet 16' four straight years Ink to flow into 21st century at county's newspapers Broadcast media: Manahan was pioneer in Noble County broadcasting WAWK's history dates back to 1959 Soundwaves from the past: Ligonier museum has one of the largest collections of antique radios in U.S. Health trends: Changes through the century occurred in medicine, health care Scarlet fever, polio were early health scares From sanitarium to partnership: A century of Noble County's medical care Funeral directors ran ambulance service in county prior to '74 'EMS arrives in time for '74 tornado LaGrange County doctors once made house calls by horseback Country doctor delivered babies in his home and drove a Thunderbird Service to mankind condensed to footnotes of history Lengthy Mier-Straus rivalry ended with bank merger : German-Jewish immigrants had impact on Ligonier's history Who are the people of the Amish faith? A place to live, farm, worship, and raise families: Amish began settling in LaGrange, Elkhart counties in 1840 Two controversial religious sects from the 1970's have impact on Noble County Churches with rich heritages served parishioners in LaOtto, Ege Links of land and lakes County, state officials worked together to establish Chain O' Lakes State Park By DAVE KNOPP The News-Sun ALBION - What has become a popular state park with boating, camping, cabins, fishing, hiking, picnicking and swimming, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, was as recently as 40 years ago a patchwork of rural Noble County private properties comprised of mostly farm and pasture land. Not just any patchwork though, for together the Green Township properties which today make up Chain O' Lakes State Park shared the distinguishing feature of 11 small lakes ranging from a few acres to 47 acres in size, with eight of the lakes connected by channels. Chain O' Lakes is the only state park in Noble County and is about four miles south of Albion, where the Chamber of Commerce proudly proclaims the town as "Gateway to Chain O' Lakes" in its logo. Known as kettle lakes, the small bodies of water were once huge blocks of ice formed about 10,000 years ago by the last glaciers in the area. Rivers resulting from melting ice carved the channels. Prior to settlement by pioneers the Chain O' Lakes site was inhabited by Miami Indians, and an Indian village of about 30 bark wigwams was located on the north shore of what is today Bowen Lake. The lake is so named because William Bowen was one of the first settlers in the area in the 1830s and, in 1840, he constructed a home on the north shore. Over the ensuing years other homes, farms and a school occupied what is now the park landscape, and there were ice-cutting and logging businesses along with some privately-operated cabins and camping. Then, in 1946, Indiana Department of Conservation land planner Donald Johnston recommended the area as a future state park site and a year later the project was recognized by the Indiana General Assembly, which got rolling a process of land acquisition and park development. With backing from the commissioners of Noble, Whitley and Allen counties, an Allen, Whitley, Noble Joint County Park Board purchased 1,200 acres for the project while the state acquired about 300 acres more. The park was opened in 1960 by a dedication ceremony held on Sunday, June 12, in which Gov. Harold W. Handley addressed the gathering. Included in the program were presentations by the bands of Kendallville High School, Albion High School, Churubusco High School and Columbia City Joint High School, as well as a fly-over of jet bombers from Baer Field. In a write-up of the ceremony in the Albion New Era, the park area was described as "one of the most beautiful, natural, untouched scenic spots in this part of the country. Possibilities for recreation in all months of the year are unlimited." The park's total size has been added to over the years and currently stands at 2,718 acres, containing 212 surface acres of water, more than seven miles of shoreline and a wide variety of flora and fauna in its woods, fields, lakes and streams. The most recent property addition took place in 1998 when an adjoining 40 acres was purchased through the Indiana Heritage Trust, which is supported through the sale of Indiana's environmental license plates. The 40 acres is intended to provide a buffer zone against housing development and to help ensure a natural entrance to the park. The park staff includes an interpretive naturalist in the summer months who works out of a nature center in the restored one-room Stanley Schoolhouse, which was constructed in 1915 and served its original purpose until the early 1950s. As a state park, part of what is unique about Chain O' Lakes is that within its boundaries there is a medium-security facility of the Indiana Department of Corrections, which was established there so inmates could provide labor for park maintenance. New to the park in 1998 was a controlled deer kill, which the Indiana Department of Natural Resources determined was necessary to avoid overgrazing of park vegetation due to the animals' high population. In a pair of two-day controlled hunts a total of 337 deer were killed, and a park hunt for 1999 was determined to be unnecessary.