By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — “We love Rochester, we love family and we love kids. We love small-town communities where people can just enjoy each other really,” said Amy Richard of her and her husband, Ed.

The Richards, of Rochester, serve the community in a variety of ways.

This includes helping run the Nickel Plate Music and Arts Festival parade set for 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, in Rochester.

The Richards moved to Rochester in 2021 and started helping with the festival that year. The move marked a return for Ed, who was born and raised in the city.

After graduating from Rochester High School, he started a 22-year Naval career. He attended boot camp with his friend and classmate, Jon Wootten.

“I started out in San Diego, Calif., went to Bahrain on the USS La Salle for two straight years, so I was over there for the Gulf War,” said Ed. “After the La Salle, I went to Greece for two years and then after that I went to New York City (doing) recruiting. So, I’ve lived on three continents and in five states.”

Ed obtained his associate degree from the University of Maryland when he was in Greece and also got his bachelor’s degree from Excelsior College while in the service.

Amy is originally from Plainfield. She graduated from Mount Carmel High School, San Diego. The couple met while living in Avon.
“We met in the community that we both lived in and through our children,” said Amy.

They married in 2009. Before moving up to Rochester, Amy ran a home child care facility for 25 years. Ed worked as a teacher’s aide for special needs students at Avon Community School Corp. for 13 years.

“We came home to Ed’s hometown after we raised our kids and are kind of having a semi-retirement if you will,” said Amy of moving to Rochester. “We officially moved back up here to the home he grew up in.”

The couple has seven kids and seven grandchildren, with one on the way.

Both of them work at Green Oak Antiques, Rochester, alongside Wootten.

When the couple’s not working, they’re serving the community in various ways.

Ed serves as assistant Scout Master for Troop No. 219, the same troop he was part of when he became an Eagle Scout in the 1980s, and as a Rochester Park Board member.

The couple serves as leaders for Celebrate Recovery at St. John Lutheran Church. Ed noted the group is not only for those battling addiction, but also those with “depression, grief, anxiety or anger” or who have “a hurt, habit or hang-up.”

The couple also helps with the Haunted Woods Trail at the Fulton County Historical Society around Halloween.

Ed noted he remembered those in the Jaycee Club hosting haunted houses in Rochester when he was young.

“They do a phenomenal job at the Haunted Woods Trail. All the profits and proceeds go 100% to the historical society, so that’s a really good cause and it gives people a little bit of a scare,” he said.

The couple became connected with the Rochester Downtown Partnership’s Christine Walsh, who runs the Nickel Plate Music and Arts Festival, and started helping with it.

“We reached out to her, and she really needed help,” said Amy.

Along with the couple and Walsh, others serving on the festival committee include: Judi Leininger, Jeanie Griffith, Candi Patton and Brian Ringle.

Ed and Amy noted anyone is welcome to enter the parade, with there being no entry fee.

“Hometown Pride is the theme (for the parade). I want anybody who has a passion for anything, even if it’s their family, to get out there, feel important, showcase Rochester, showcase your family and just have some fun,” said Ed.

The deadline to sign up for the parade is Saturday, Aug. 24. People may get entry forms by emailing [email protected] and returning them to the same email or mailing them to: RDP, P.O. Box 975, Rochester, IN 46975.

Amy noted entries won’t be “turned down” if it’s after Aug. 24.

The parade runs from the high school’s parking lot down 15th Street to Main Street to Eighth Street, with the judging stand at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Ed said the parade’s at 9 a.m., so people don’t have to leave the area before the festival begins at 11 a.m.

Volunteers are still welcomed for the parade and festival. People may email the above address to learn how to do so.

He encourages people to get involved in the community.

“My biggest pet peeve is when people say there’s nothing to do in Rochester,” said Ed, adding people should try to do something about it.

“Everybody should be trained on volunteer service because if this community fails, everybody in the community fails,” he said.

“I’m loving this town and its people,” added Amy.

Ed said though he’s lived in many places, “there’s no place like Rochester, Indiana.”

“It does give me a sense of pride to be able to come back here. It just gives me ease just being back home and being a part of Rochester,” Ed said.