Top stories in Edwardsburg in 2018

Published 10:04 am Thursday, December 27, 2018

  1. Edwardsburg wins state football championship — For the first time in Edwardsburg history, the Eddies football team won the division four state football championship game. The team played at Ford Field in Detroit against Chelsea, beating their opponents 28-7. The victory was not only a first for the football team, but a first for any Edwardsburg athletic team.

  2. February floods — All of Cass County was subject to flooding in early 2018 as rain and melting snow washed through communities and caused damages to infrastructure and homes. Levels in Garver Lake rose above the seawall, swept debris into the lake, flooded basements and swamped yards.

  3. Sherman Ostrander retires from Edwardsburg — After 31 years in Edwardsburg education, 23 of which were as superintendent, Sherman Ostrander retired. What started as a two-year commitment lasted three decades. Ostrander was a teacher, a coach and an administrator. He also worked in Niles. His successor, James Knoll, took over as superintendent in July.

  4. Eagle Lake Elementary School recognized as Blue Ribbon School – The US Department of Education recognized Edwardsburg’s Eagle Lake Elementary School among its Blue Ribbon recipients of 2018 for its remarkable progress in M-STEP scores. The recognition was an honor not only for the Eagle Lake staff, but for the Primary School staff that brought those students forward. Superintendent Knoll saw the recognition as a victory for the district and Edwardsburg community as a whole.

  5. Edwardsburg native learns to walk again — Ella Merrill started out 2018 with a horrendous car accident that put her in the hospital in a vegetative state. Her prognosis was grim, and her family and friends thought she would likely be that way for the rest of her life. Unexpectedly, she made a miraculous recovery, regained her cognitive capabilities, learned to walk again and essentially made a full recovery. She went back to school, began playing tennis again and has a positive outlook on her experiences.