{"id":11814,"date":"2015-08-05T09:16:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T13:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=11814"},"modified":"2015-08-05T09:16:54","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T13:16:54","slug":"antwerp-announces-gem-of-the-year-bill-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/antwerp-announces-gem-of-the-year-bill-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"Antwerp Announces Gem of the Year: Bill Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Bill Fish – selected as Gem of the Year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every year the Antwerp Chamber of Commerce selects an outstanding member of the community based upon the entries provided by residents. This year Bill Fish has been selected for the 2015 Antwerp Chamber of Commerce Gem of the Year.<\/p>\n

Bill is actively involved in the community \u2014 from the school to the city works. You probably have seen Bill fixing broken water lines, cleaning out storm sewers this year from the flooding, or fixing up the park when the need arose. He has done much more than that though.<\/p>\n

Bill\u2019s family moved to Antwerp when he was 11 or so. His parents, JD and Frances Fish, realized Detroit was not the location to raise a family. Being pushed around with uncalled for violence and gang fights, it was a choice that had to be made for the benefit of the whole family.<\/p>\n

When the family moved here, his dad already had a plan. His sister, LoJean, ran the Varner\u2019s Restaurant on East River Street. She invited her brother\u2019s family to the Antwerp community, knowing it would be much better than Detroit.<\/p>\n

In high school, Bill played football and basketball. He won sports awards from the school and also from the Green Meadows Conference. Bill graduated in the class of 1975 of Antwerp High School and he\u2019s been around ever since.<\/p>\n

After high school he worked for Weatherhead, but found a better paying job at Parrot Meats in Fort Wayne on West Main Street. It was good pay and he met his future wife, Cheryl Hamman, on the job. How he spontaneously introduced himself to Cheryl, well, you\u2019ll have to asked Bill. This is a family newspaper and we just can\u2019t print everything.<\/p>\n

In 1981, they married. Unfortunately, after they had their first child and another on the way, Bill found Parrott Meat Packing suddenly closed its doors. Bill took up any odd job he could find to keep food on the table.<\/p>\n

Through the help of George Rhonehouse, he was able to secure a job at Spectemp for 7 years. Following that stint, he worked for CR Carpet in Fort Wayne, but it was rough on his body, and the doctor told him if he continued he would need a full knee replacement.<\/p>\n

The medical pronouncement scared Bill into looking for another job that wasn\u2019t so hard on his knees. For the last eight years now, Bill has worked for the Village of Antwerp. It was a perfect fit! \u201cI love to work outside!\u201d Bill continues, \u201cincluding taking care of the park.\u201d It doesn\u2019t matter the weather, it\u2019s always a good day to be outside\u2014according to Bill!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is at every event supporting both the boys and the girls athletics.\u201d states Drew Altimus, Antwerp Athletic Director. Bill has also served many years at the school helping young people out in the weight room and inspiring them to push themselves further than before, making goals and beating them. In 2010, Bill broke his own record with 80 pushups in 30 seconds! Some of the responders specifically pointed out Bill\u2019s enthusiasm for encouraging them. \u201cOur athletes look for him in the stands at every event. He is a very positive influence of our student.\u201d said Drew.<\/p>\n

He remembers distinctly that he would go support the kids playing games when other people may not think the sport is as popular. He and Cheryl are remembered for the giant cookies that are made for the volleyball team, or making the homemade pizza that the kids love! The young people recalled how much he cared\u2014and showed it.<\/p>\n

Why did Bill get involved with exercise and weight lifting? \u201cI kept getting the crap beat out of me in Detroit. I always had to hide because of the gangs. I started lifting weights at age 11 because I was tired of running!\u201d This is why he wants young people to get involved with their health and fitness. He understands that kids can control their lives and he inspires everyone to take charge!<\/p>\n

Bill not only lives and works in Antwerp, he also attends church here. He is a Jehovah\u2019s Witness.<\/p>\n

In the last couple of years, Bill has stepped back from some of his obligations. He and his wife are now empty nesters. It\u2019s been 34 years since the house has been empty and he says it\u2019s time for him and Cheryl to do what they have been wanting to do for years and enjoy each other.<\/p>\n

All of their kids live close by, but Bill\u2019s dad moved down to Alabama. His mother is deceased.<\/p>\n

Congratulations on being selected as Antwerp\u2019s 2015 Gem of the Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year the Antwerp Chamber of Commerce selects an outstanding member of the community based upon the entries provided by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[218,4070,3112,2596,1490],"class_list":["post-11814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-antwerp","tag-bill-fish","tag-chamber-of-commerce","tag-day-in-the-park","tag-gem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-34y","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 03:54:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}