If he were still alive, Edward Kabelin would be surprised how
that seed he tossed in the ground 100 years ago has taken root
and grown.  That's how long it's been since Kabelin purchased an
interest in   Webber Hardware on Lincolnway in LaPorte.  Two
years after that purchase, Kabelin and his son, Russell,
purchased the remaining interest in Webber Hardware and changed
its name to Kabelin Hardware, which today has grown to seven
Kabelin Ace stores in Indiana with 220 employees.  "I think he
would be pretty amazed and pretty excited and proud that it has
lasted this long," said Diana Kabelin Corley, the fourth
generation of the Kabelin family involved with the stores. "And
that it started with just buying into Webber Hardware."  Corley
said she started getting excited about the anniversary and the
history of the family business as she started working on the
anniversary celebration. "As we started to look through the old
pictures and put stuff together, it became a little more
exciting. I went, 'Wow, this is pr