Eatery offers aid

Ike Tharp of Kokomo sends this Cheer for Richard’s Restaurant:

“I am writing to the tell the folks what a great establishment the Richard’s Restaurant is.

“Last Friday, my 93-year-old brother lost his balance and fell by my car in the parking lot. I could not get him up.

“A man came out of the restaurant, and I called to him to get me some help.

“He went back in and got the manager, Jessica, and another fellow. They came out and helped my brother into my car. I took him to Howard Regional Health System, and they were prompt with a wheelchair.

“Happy ending. There was no permanent damage to my brother. He’s hospitalized for recuperation and doing OK.”

Event affirms family

Bryan Cranfill, director of Yes Marriage Matters, sends this Cheer:

“On Saturday, Sept. 12, Marriage Matters hosted the Family First Festival at Foster Park’s new pavilion. The event was an amazing success. Our vision was to unite our community around the value of family, believing that a strong family foundation is important to the people and the future of Kokomo.

“In this letter, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the many people and organizations that helped to make the inaugural event a huge success. However, I first want to offer an apology to the good people who live in the Foster Park area. Since this was our first event of this magnitude, we misjudged the time it took to launch some of our activities, and that caused us to run a full hour later than we intended. We subjected our neighbors to some very good, yet very loud live music well after 10 p.m. We truly hope that you will forgive us. Believing in the value of community, we are sorry for any distress we may have caused. We will learn from this experience and be a better neighbor to you next year. Thank you for your understanding.

“Now, as a word of thanks, let me begin by saying Kokomo, Ind., is a wonderful community in which to live. Everywhere you look, there are people with wonderful hearts, willing to serve and help in a good cause for our community. The Family First Festival was a huge success because of the collective heart of this community. Estimated turnout for the event ranged from 2,000 at one time, to more than 3,500 people throughout the day. During the activities, there were more than 400 kids counted in the KidsZone area alone. We served free food to more than 1,000 people (maybe more), and had the chance to have fun and be united together as family and community. We were incredibly blessed by the number of volunteers who came to serve the community. Thank you!

“Kokomo is graced with great city and county leadership. Beginning with John Martino and the Kokomo Parks Department, Foster Park and the new pavilion is a top-notch facility. We were blessed by the help of city engineer Carey Stranahan, Greg Goodnight and the Kokomo Police Department providing insight and security as part of their natural support for our great city. The Kokomo Fire Department, Howard County Sheriff and EMS all voluntarily provided their support to ensure that the event was both enjoyable and safe for all who attended. We are grateful for the strong leadership of each of these organizations.

“The focus of our event was the awesome praise and worship music we enjoyed throughout the day. Our local talent in this area is phenomenal and demonstrates some wonderful diversity in musical styles. Our day included the musical talents of Gideon Press, CIA, Evidence, Steven Sherwood Jr. and the Family Worship Center’s Praise Team. Along with a great hands-on presentation by local artist Darby Scalf, we were able to visually see and hear how the hands of God can shape our lives together, and we had a great chance to live it out loud! We are grateful and blessed by all of the gifted people who contributed their talents to the Family First Festival. We also thank Big Daddy Weave and the Uprising Band for their outstanding performances.

“Finally, there were so many others involved that it would be impossible to mention them all here. Our community is filled with many good-hearted people who believe in the future of our city. We have everything we need to lead this nation in the things that really matter: faith, family and friends. In our home, the City of Firsts, we can hold our heads high and step confidently toward living a model of hope for our nation.

“I thank you all for joining us in affirming the value of marriage and family to Kokomo, Ind. I am grateful and blessed to call this my home.”

Councilman explains finances

Terry Thompson, president of the Cobblestone Villas Home Owners Association, sends this Cheer for Paul Wyman:

“The Cobblestone Villas Home Owners Association sends a big Cheer for County Councilman Paul Wyman.

“Mr. Wyman graciously spoke at our semiannual home owners meeting on Sept. 22. He gave us a frank, candid, honest and bipartisan presentation concerning annexation, property taxes and the Howard County budget. He answered questions clearly and helped us understand the pros and cons of annexation. He enlightened us on how property taxes are assessed, distributed and what we should expect in the future.

“We enjoyed his expertise and his passion for his work as a councilman and appreciated the time he spent with us.”