Pictured above, Leroy sits in his home surrounded by displays of several photographs, medals and other items (also pictured above right) he acquired during his service in World War II. (Photos by Amber Raeder)

World War II veteran Leroy Olinger, age 92, who lives near the Sixspan Bridge, has been a member of American Legion Post [...]

Perla Vilches-Garfias, Evelin Calderon at left work together mixing batter while Hunter Smothers, Emily Turner, and Matthew Whelchel shop for ingredients to make the cake pops. (Photos provided)
“Philanthropy on a Shoestring” (POS) is the name of a recently formed student organization at Bristol Elementary School, and it has some lofty goals. Led [...]

St. Mary’s of the Annunciation Knights of Columbus Council, Bristol held their Annual Free Throw Tourney January 29 at the Bristol Elementary School. Winners will go on to district, state & national competitions. Winners are:

Elizabeth Harmon – Girls, 10Years Old
Nicholas Dibley – Boys, 10 year old
Megan Cawood – Girls, 11 years old
Surf Sadowey –  Boys, 11 Years old
Lucas [...]

Kids from left to right: Mathew Crussemeyer, 3rd grade Bristol Student: Joel Lininger – (Cat in the Hat) homeschooled junior; Hannah Shetler, 5th grade homeschool; Nathaniel Bowers, 4th grade Bristol Student; Lizzy Harmon , 5th grade Bristol student; Maya Zelaya, 4th grade Bristol student. (Photo by Amber Raeder)
“Oh the Thinks you can think!” especially [...]

Above, Dave and Michele Muir stand inside their winery (photo from BBN archives) which is also pictured at top right. (Photo by Amber Raeder)

Now in its second full year of operation, the Fruit Hills Winery and Orchard will harvest grapes from its own vineyard for the first time in 2012. In addition, it will [...]

At right Bristol Little League player Sam Trowbridge tries to evade a tag at the plate by Sam Russo in a summer game. (Photo provided) The board of the local little league is opening up player registrations for the upcoming season to all boys and girls age 4 through 18 years, within [...]

Above, Daniel (8) and Benjamin (6) Miller and Lindsey Daniels (7) pictured below, enjoy the hands on activities during the Children’s Activity Day at the museum. (Photos by Amber Raeder)

Children learned all about the World War II Home Front at a Children’s Activity Day hosted by the Elkhart County Historical Museum.  Held in last month [...]

Elkhart McDonald’s owner-operator Harry Smith stands with McDonald’s manager Veronica Ruiz after Ruiz was recognized with the prestigious Ray Kroc Award. (Photo provided)
McDonald’s of Northern Indiana announced that Veronica Ruiz, manager of the restaurant at 2808 N Cassopolis Street in Elkhart, was recognized with the prestigious Ray Kroc Award, a performance-based award given to only [...]

Greetings  Bristol!
Am I the only one who feels like this was the Twilight Zone for weather this January? 2 weeks ago, we held a sledding party for my son and today it is 56 degrees! Just chalk it up to the crazy Indiana climate, even though I’ve lived here all my life and haven’t seen [...]

Carol Willis is a freelance writer and editor. She specializes in written communications for businesses and nonprofits and other editorial projects. Carol also is the development director at Church Community Services.Sauntering into Summer
PLAYING IT SAFE ISN’T SAFE
Super Bowl weekend, and I’m just not that into it. Weird, I know.
I have [...]

BOY SCOUT TROOP 31:
Visit our facebook page: Troop 31 – Boy Scouts or e-mail Committee Chair – Chrystal Pedler : bristolboyscouts31@gmail.com.
The troop would like to thank the community for coming out to support our Boy Scouts at their Fish Fry February 27th @ the Bristol American Legion.
The Boy Scouts have several things planned this month [...]

At its January 19 meeting the Bristol Town Council (BTC) learned that funds amounting to about $100,000 are available from the TIF districts created several years ago, one in the north (Commerce Park) and one in the south (Earthway Industrial Park). TIF is an abbreviation for “Tax Incremental Finance,” a term describing a commercial area [...]

The Elkhart County Election Board would like to inform the voters of Elkhart County that there will be several changes to the voting process in 2012, including changes in legislative representation, polling locations, and precinct names.
After the 2010 census, the Indiana General Assembly was required to create new legislative district boundaries through the redistricting process. [...]

Traffic enforcement: Our officers have had a busy month with vehicle crash investigations.  Most crashes were caused by drivers driving too fast for weather conditions.  Even though our winter has been rather mild, the constant change in weather has caused drivers to be less aware.  We ask everyone to please drive defensively, slow down when [...]

April 16, 2012 is the new date for the trial of Tyrice J. Halliburton, who has been indicted for the 2008 murder of Sheena Kiska in her Bristol apartment. The trial, originally set for January 23, will be held in the Elkhart County circuit court in Goshen, Judge Terry C. Shewmaker presiding.
The delay was granted [...]

-Controlling Credit Creep Helps Students Complete College
Among the many pieces of legislation under consideration by Indiana lawmakers this session is House Bill 1220, also known as the “credit creep” bill. If passed, HB 1220 would help Indiana students graduate on-time by not requiring excessive credits to earn a degree.
The historical standard was once 120 credit [...]

On the weekend of January 21 & 22 the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued press releases about three accidents involving snowmobiles, one of which resulted in a fatality.
Near Peru, Indiana, a 9-year-old boy, riding with his mother, grabbed the snowmobile’s handlebars and engaged the throttle. The sudden acceleration threw the mother off the [...]

From Left to Right – Pie contest Judges: Ross Hougland, Gary Stoltz, and Paul Becher. Bottom left, Grand Prize winner – Lemon Raspberry Ribbon Pie – submitted by Marcia Griffien – Elkhart. Bottom right, Runner up – Pecan Pie submitted by Rosetta Mullet of Goshen. (Photos provided)

We Have a Winner!
January 23rd, we wanted to bring [...]

NATIONAL  PIE  DAY–PIE  MAKING  CONTEST The Friends of the Bristol Library and the library staff would like to thank everyone who brought in pies or volunteered to help.  Our Grand prize winner with a lemon-raspberry ribbon pie was Marcia Griffen.  A pecan pie was the runner-up, made by Rosetta Mullens.  Thank you and congratulations to [...]

-Warmer temperatures could be bad news for budding plants and fruit trees
What is going on with our winter? The warmer temperatures are more enjoyable than the normal but all the mud makes it a mess doing chores or any outside work. The warmer temperatures could also cause some problems with our local fruit crops, maple [...]

LoveWay, Inc. was recently the recipient of a $5,000 donation from the United Way of Elkhart County.  The grant will help fund LoveWay’s “Cowboy Poetry” program, also known as Equine Facilitated Learning, which is currently being offered to classes from Elkhart Community Schools. “This grant allows us to offer our services to the schools free [...]

Above, LoveWay’s 2012 Board of Directors, front row (from left): Deb Wilson-Treasurer, Joel Duthie-President, Deb Beehler. Back Row (from left): Chris Welch, Shelley Tucker-Secretary, Lori Boecher, Rhonda Banta, and Meg Ryan (Not pictured: Ken Smith, Anne Eisele-Vice President, and Karin Jensen) (Photo provided)

Professional photographer, Amber Raeder has joined the Bristol Bugle Newspaper staff as primary photographer.   Amber has operated her professional photography business for 5 years.  She specializes in modern wedding photography but also welcomes clients for family, graduate, maternity and baby sessions.  Amber was born and raised in Northern Indiana and has lived in Bristol for over [...]

Concord Mall is proud to be celebrating 40 years of service to our community in 2012.  Local towns are invited to join in the celebration by participating in our “Hometown Showcase” events.   Towns can promote their businesses, non-profits and entertainment at the mall for a day.
The Hometown Showcase schedule is as follows:
February 4 – Goshen
February [...]

Workshop instructors are pictured above displaying class samples. From left to right: Linda Weltz, Barbara Jewett and Kris Peterson. (Photo provided)
-Still Time to Register
Don’t miss out on this opportunity!  There is still time to register for the Elkhart County Extension Homemaker’s Heritage Skills Workshop.  Many of these heritage skills are not being learned and passed [...]