by Julie Scher
Polar Bear Swim in January in Bixler Lake? Water fights pitting North and South at Bixler Lake? And a Zombie Walk on Oct. 30, what’s that? No, we’re not kidding, these fun events that have drawn large crowds are the brainchild of Corey Kline. But who is Corey Kline and what’s he doing for Kendallville, besides having fun and making us all laugh and enjoy our neighbors’ company?
Below is an email interview with Corey, and he tells us the answers to these questions and more. Enjoy, and thanks to Corey for making us all smile a little more this year, and learn to enjoy our community more. And find out what fun event is planned next.
Corey Kline, pictured at right, leading the waterfight at Bixler Park. Where are you from?
I was born at the old McCray Hospital in Kendallville where the Public Library is now near Bixler Lake. Where do you work?
I work at Courier Kendallville as a Mac Applications Specialist. Courier is one of the largest textbook printers in North America. Married, kids?
I've been married to my awesome wife Nadine L. Wells Kline for nearly 15 years now. Together Mrs. Kline and I have 3 children, Gage Nory 14, Ethan Cole 9, and Sophia Eleanor 21 months. What motivated you to start these fun events? Do you have a name for the overall things you do?
Co-Organizer Scotty Mullins and I have always bounced ideas off of each other. We started working together years ago shooting and editing video and people really enjoyed the results of those collaborations. The community events were most likely born out of a swim that Mullins and I took in Bixler Lake in December 2008. It was 19 degrees and the ground was covered in snow. It was about 6:30 AM and pitch black. We'd just left our graveyard shift at Courier and our coworkers followed us down to cheer us on and video tape the event. After swimming Mullins sledded down the hill at the west beach, I made a snow angel and drew my name in the snow with my hand.
We don't really know what to call it... Community Enrichment I suppose. Why do you do these community events?
We just want people to come out and enjoy themselves with us. We hope that the events somehow enrich the lives of the participants even if only for a moment. Who helps you?
In addition to our families and friends we get tons of support from local merchants, local media, and like minded citizens. The city government is also beginning to show an interest in our events. The Parks Department in Kendallville are very good to us and we receive support from the Kendallville Police Department, the Kendallville Fire Department, and the Noble County EMS for our larger events. There are really too many people, businesses, and organizations to name. We sincerely thank them all. Why do you think these events are important in our community?
Because in these times money is tight and people are pressed for time. It's important to inspire people to use the resources available to them locally. If we focus on improving our own community instead of choosing to leave town for recreation there's no doubt that we'll prosper as a city. How do you come up with ideas for events like the water fight?
Scotty and I are always tossing around ideas. When one is really good like the Water Fight we stop talking about anything else, set a deadline for the event, and start working on making it a reality. One thing about you that would surprise people?
I was a troubled teen who did not graduate with my class. I left high school in my second year and later took a test for an equivalency diploma. Although I scored in the top 10% of the graduating class that year and was accepted to IPFW I've never attended college. What's planned next? Next 6-12 months?
The Kendallville Zombie Walk is coming up on Oct. 30. I don't wanna say too much until we know for sure but privately we are very excited about this event! Also, on January 1 we'll be hosting the 3rd annual Kendallville Polar Bear Swim which we fully expect to be an enormous event! With increased support from the community I think we'll continue to surprise ourselves far into the future. What help are you looking for to plan and host these events in the future? Contact who?
We need all kinds of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. If you are interested please call Corey Kline @ 260.349.0215 or Scotty Mullins @ 260.349.0194 Anything else you'd like people in our community to know about you or the fun events?
All of our events are free and public participation is very important to us. Our events are very fast, if the promotional materials say it starts at 4 PM it means the train leaves with or without you at 4 PM. These are flash events and almost never last more than one hour so please come early. Many times we've seen people show up just as everyone was leaving. We don't want you to miss out! Is there a website, or Facebook pages for people to go to for more info?
These are the Facebook pages:
Kendallville Polar Bear Swim
Kendallville Zombie Walk
Kendallville Water Fight
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Corey Kline, pictured at right, leading the waterfight at Bixler Park. 
