On September 27, 2023 at approximately 3:59 p.m., Swanton Police Department responded with Swanton EMS to 129 St. Richards Court in Swanton for a possible medication overdose. Upon arrival to the residence, fire and police personnel were informed the incident was a domestic violence situation involving a firearm. The suspect was reported to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
EMS personnel left the scene until the situation was secured. The victim in this incident was able to escape the home and stated the suspect was still inside the residence with a firearm. Numerous attempts were made to contact the suspect, but were unsuccessful. Law enforcement personnel made entry into the home and were able to take the male suspect into custody without incident.
Zachary Wehman, age 36, of Swanton was arrested for Kidnapping, Abduction and Theft of a Dangerous Drug. Wehman was transported to the Correction Center of Northwest Ohio. Several firearms were recovered from the home. Additional charges may be pursued pending further investigation. Agencies assisting in this incident include, Swanton Fire Department, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and Wauseon Police Department.
In less than two weeks, on Sunday, October 8th to be precise, the Swanton Sports Center will host a Fall Craft Show in their spacious banquet hall. The event, held from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, will be presented by veteran craftsman and craft show organizer Renee Tufts. It will be a great opportunity to find items to decorate your home for the Fall season, get ready for Winter decorating or buy great gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Proceeds from the show will be donated to the Swanton Bulldogs Football Team. Don’t miss out.
Click on the link above to access photos taken from the Spring show this past June.
The Evergreen Lady Vikings beat the Swanton Lady Bulldogs 2-0 (25-16, 25-20) in freshman volleyball in Swanton’s Kevin J. McQuade Gymnasium last night. Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Evergreen’s Marlee Brubaker goes high for a spike
While it may not be on par with the legend of the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rose from the ashes of its predecessor to be reborn, the story behind Swanton Sports Center and Banquet Hall does have its similarities. It began as a banquet hall and skating rink built by the Knights of Columbus in 1948 then added eight bowling lanes in the 1950’s and was known as KC Lanes. Richard (Dick) and Norma (Nordie) Slawinski, along with their eight children, ran the vibrant and enormously popular business with league and open bowling seven days a week. Thousands of people from the area either held their wedding reception, or attended their prom or enjoyed some other major event in the banquet hall over the many years the Slawinskis and their employees ran the operation.
In 1959 the labor-intensive manual pinsetters were replaced by Brunswick automatic pin setters and in the mid 1970’s the bowling area was expanded to bring in 12 more lanes, making a total of 20 that are still there today. When high school bowling came into existence, the Swanton Bulldogs, Delta Panthers and Evergreen Vikings bowling teams chose KC Lanes as their home.
Eventually, after years of hard work and dedication to the community, Dick and Nordie sold the business and retired. Unfortunately, the individuals who purchased the business and the facility, did not have the same commitment or share the same passion for the business as the Slawinski family. To be fair, bowling as a pastime in America had significantly dropped off and the new owners, who had changed the name to the Swanton Sports Center, stopped reinvesting in the business and the facility itself. The building soon fell into disrepair, many customers stopped bowling or took their business and their game to other bowling centers, and in early 2011, the Swanton Sports Center was put up for sale. It continued to deteriorate, had no offers to buy and there was even talk of having the long-time Swanton institution demolished.
The building sat empty for approximately 18 months until Toledo businessman and former Swanton resident Tracy Ratliff purchased the structure with the plan to consolidate his two Toledo-based auto body and engine repair shops (Import Automotive) into a new Swanton location. Relying primarily on his son Boyd, daughter Charlene O’Connell, grandson Kevin Ford and several other family members, work began on renovations to turn the dilapidated facility into an automotive repair business. However, soon after the work had begun, many members of the Swanton community began stopping by and asking when the bowling alley would reopen. A month later, after hearing that question over and over again, Mr. Ratliff gave in to the will of the people and decided to bring the Swanton Sports Center back to life.
With everyone in the family already holding down full-time jobs, the work, none of which was contracted out, included cleaning, electrical, plumbing, roofing, painting, reflooring and much more, and took just over a year. During that renovation period, the new Swanton Sports Center made the very smart move of hiring their first employee, Mary Slawinski Stine, Dick and Nordie’s daughter.
Mary had grown up in that building along with the rest of her seven siblings. She worked the business for 40 years, beginning when she was just 14 years old. Mary not only knew KC Lanes/ Swanton Sports Center inside and out, she also knew the bowling industry and the bowling community of Northwest Ohio just as well. Her experience and guidance in bringing back the business was invaluable to the new owners. Mary’s knowledge of league bowling and the rules and regulations of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), helped bring back bowling not just to Swanton, but to Fulton County as well, given that all other county bowling centers had closed. “It just warms my heart to see it come back to life,” she said. Many in the community have expressed the same sentiment.
In September of 2013, the Swanton Sports Center, or KC Lanes if you prefer, reopened its doors to the Swanton area community. Over the past ten years, the Ratliff family has continued to make major improvements to the facility and the business. Anyone who saw the place just prior to the doors being shuttered would not recognize it today. Just like in the days under the Slawinski family, it is a safe, warm and welcoming place for everyone and their families.
Photo from 2013 Ribbon Cutting (L to R): Ted Haselman (Swanton Middle School Principal), Jeff Schlade (Swanton Schools Superintendent), Ann Roth (Swanton Mayor), Charlene O’Connell, Bill O’Connell, Kevin Ford, Boyd Ratliff, Hal Stine, Mary Slawinski-Stine, Neil Toeppe (Executive Director Swanton Chamber of Commerce)
A smothering defense, two blocked punts and a strong running game led the Delta Panthers to a 31-0 halftime lead over the Swanton Bulldogs. A running clock kept the scoring down in the second half and the Panthers picked up their first league win 42-0. Delta’s record moves to 1-2 in the league and 3-3 overall. Swanton drops to 0-3 in the NWOAL and 0-6 on the season.
Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Delta QB Justin Ruple runs through a big hole at the goal line to score the Panther’s first touchdown.
Click on the link above to access photos. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Click on the link above to access photos from the ceremony honoring Swanton High School Class of 2024 seniors who participate in football, volleyball, girls golf, boys golf, girls soccer, boys soccer and band. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Luke (16) and Brady (68) Arnold with parents Carrie and Jake
Both the Archbold Boys and Girls golf teams entered the NWOAL Tournament held on Friday at Auglaize Golf Club as heavy favorites to win the league championship. And, at the end of the day, neither of the Blue Streak contingents disappointed, easily finishing atop the leader board by 14 and 20 strokes respectively.
On the boys side, Archbold won with a score of 310. Bryan was second with a 324, Swanton came in tied with Wauseon for third at 331, Patrick Henry had 342 to finish fifth, Evergreen was sixth at 352, Delta with a 360 and Liberty Center with a 383 were seventh and eighth. Archbold’s winning score for the girls was 364. Patrick Henry was second with a 384, Wauseon had a 387, Delta finished at 439, Evergreen came in at 470, edging Swanton’s 471.
Swanton’s Mazin Rukieh fired a 74 to tie for medalist honors with Archbold’s Grady Short and Bryan’s Kai Dauber. Rukieh was named Player of the Year (POY) by totaling the most individual points based on finishes in all the league matches during the regular season and the tournament. In fact, the Bulldog junior finished as the medalist in every league match this year to earn the POY award. Aniyah Copeland of the Lady Streaks shot a round of 79 to earn medalist honors for the girls.
Boys Individual Scoring: Only top four scores count towards team total.
Archbold (310): Grady Short (74), Cahle Roth (75), River Ryan (80), Zach Short (81), Charlie Jones (82), Cameron Yoder (82) Bryan (324): Kai Dauber (74), Noah Hurd (77), Brayden Hall (85), Jaydan Deel (88), Frew Engstrom (90), Elijah Schlade (97) Swanton (331): Mazin Rukieh (74), Adam Lemon (75), Dylan Smigelski (91), Carson Lemon (91), Brady O’Shea (92), Grady Tipton (119) Wauseon (331): Carter Stuckey (81), Zach Puehler (81), Jack Alstaetter (82), Mykale Schneider (87), Gavin Van Deilen (93), Ethan Schnitkey (97) Patrick Henry (342): Jaxon Guelde (80), Ian Schwab (82), Luke Woods (87), Noah Robinson (93), Chayse Maas (104), Zach Hastedt (109) Evergreen (352): Cody Kanneman (85), Brady Kanneman (86), Nicholas Kruzel (87), Adam Schmidt (94), Michael Laver (96), Caden Beier (105) Delta (360): Slade Young (84), Adam Mattin (87), Lane Lopez (90), Ethan Huffman (99), Ashton Alig (109), Drew Smith (111) Liberty Center (383): Brody Wyckhouse (86), Braden Like (94), Stone Roth (96), Tony Caprella (107), Jack Jones (110), Izzy Hill (133)
Girls Individual Scoring: Only top four scores count towards team total.
Click on the link above to access photos from the tournament. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Mazin Rukieh about to tee off on hole #1 to start the tournament
The Swanton Lady Bulldogs grabbed a relatively easy 25-12 game-one win against the Archbold Lady Blue Streaks but had to battle the rest of the way to come away with a 3-1 NWOAL match victory at home. Game-two saw Swanton survive a game-point at 23-24 before rallying for a 26-24 win. Archbold then returned the favor and took game-three by the same 26-24 score. The Lady Bulldogs finally closed out the match with a 25-19 win in game-four.
The victory takes Swanton’s overall record to 9-3 and 3-1 in the league, good for third place behind Delta and Liberty Center, both at 4-0. Archbold falls to 1-3 in the NWOAL and 4-7 on the season.
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Peighton Manning gets ready to defend the net.
The Evergreen Vikings went on the road and slipped past the Wauseon Indians 3-2 on a late second half goal. The win put the Vikings’ record at 2-0 in the NWOAL and 8-1 overall. The Indians fall to 2-1 in the league and 6-1 on the season.
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Evergreen’s Riley Dunbar (8) and Wauseon’s Seth Richer (4) fight for ball possession.
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