https://photos.app.goo.gl/gzgDBNyZmbwVfgDU9
Click on the link above to access almost 500 photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/n7UoyX9Zi1Gsiu5u8
These photos are from Friday night and can be accessed by clicking on the link above. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
At the July 18th Village Council meeting, Council members approved the following personnel moves:
Offered employment to Brice Nemire with the Swanton Public Service Department, Public Works and Utilities Division, as a Public Works and Utilities Laborer at a rate of $18.00 per hour. Mr. Nemire is subject to a 12-month introductory period and a continuation of his leave, should he have any remaining from his previous employment with the Village.
Offer employment to Dustin Makula with the Swanton Water Treatment Plant as a Water Treatment Plant Operator at a rate of $20.00 per hour, contingent upon the successful completion of a drug screening and background check. Mr. Makula is subject to a 12-month introductory period and a proration of his leave.
Offered part-time employment to Wendy Waisner with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department as a Paramedic and Firefighter at a rate of $17.00 per hour, contingent upon the successful completion of a drug screening, background check, and physical examination. Ms. Waisner is subject to a 6-month introductory period.
Offered part-time employment to Abigail Zunk with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department as a Paramedic and Firefighter at a rate of $17.00 per hour, contingent upon the successful completion of a drug screening, background check, and physical examination. Ms. Zunk is subject to a 6-month introductory period.
Offered part-time employment to Bruce Barnes with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department as an EMT and Firefighter at a rate of $15.50 per hour, contingent upon the successful completion of a drug screening, background check, and physical examination. Mr. Barnes is subject to a 6-month introductory period.
Accepted the reclassification of Nicholas Rohrs, from part-time to full-time member of the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department. Mr. Rohrs will have prorated leave, but no change to his 6-month introductory period.
Accepted the resignation of Shawn Bowman, from the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department, effective July 22, 2022.
Offered employment to Claire Smith with the Swanton Village Administration as the Community Development Assistant at a rate of $15.70 per hour, contingent upon the successful completion of a drug screening and background check. Ms. Smith is subject to a 12-month introductory period and a proration of her leave.
PDY Announces New Athletic Director
Delta Ohio – July 19, 2022: The Pike-Delta-York Local School District will welcome Walter Steele to the administrative team as the next athletic director, pending board approval. Steele will replace Mr. Andrew Hange, who served the district as AD for five years.
Mr. Steele is a Delta High School graduate from the Class of 2001, who attended The Ohio State University where he graduated with a degree in Communications before attending Defiance College. Steele completed his Master of Business Administration at Defiance, focusing on Sports Management while working inside the college’s recreational sports department. He later joined the coaching staff at PDY before accepting a leadership position in the athletic department of a neighboring district. He brings a solid background of experience with high school athletic program supervision and development at area districts within the NWOAL. Steele states “It is my belief that extracurricular activities are a part of the wholistic student experience. It is my goal to ensure that our PDY students have a positive experience throughout their time competing as a student athlete. I will help foster that positive environment in any way that I can.”
Steele’s background and experience with high school athletic programs combined with a strong work ethic will help him make a positive and smooth transition to Pike-Delta-York this summer. When asked what drew him to apply for the position, Steele stated, “It was an opportunity to come home. As an alum and former coach in the district, it was a chance to come back and be a part of something special.” He is looking forward to having the opportunity to work with great people and help make an impact in the district as well as the community. Steele goes on to say, “working in collaboration with tremendous leaders is very exciting to me and I can’t wait to get started.”
“I am excited to add Mr. Steele to our district leadership team,” Superintendent Dr. Ted Haselman stated. He goes on to add, “I believe his enthusiasm and leadership skills will continue the forward progress of the District. He has a unique skillset and a passion for high school athletics.”
Mr. Steele was selected from a competitive pool of applicants. The district hiring committee interviewed seven applicants from a pool that included representatives of the district’s coaching staff, area administrators, and community members.
Americans did not devise the concept of protesting against perceived injustices, but we have been using this method of standing up for ourselves and communicating our grievances for several hundred years, often with great effectiveness. Violent protest aside, the right of peaceful protest is written into the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and fully engrained into our social consciousness.
That being said, peaceful and occasionally subtle protest to bring attention to an issue can be completely obscured, misconstrued or create a powerful backlash if the wrong tools of communication are used. The American Flag, the National Anthem and even the fictional Uncle Sam are iconic symbols of the American way of life or at least what our country, overall, strives to be. They encompass our values, our morals and our codes of conduct that gives our society a sense of direction to be better people and a better country.
Obviously, we are far from perfect and I believe, as a country, we have recently slipped back to some degree in regards to equal rights. But when someone uses the Flag or the Anthem to convey their objection to one issue, the message that gets received is that they object to all that is American, including all the good. The objections, no matter how relevant, are treated as an attack on our country. Most Americans are very passionate about their country and do not have the patience nor the inclination to sort through a blanket condemnation to find the real message. Desecrating the American Flag or kneeling during the National Anthem immediately aligns them with leaders and citizens of adversarial countries who burn our Flag, hang our leaders or Uncle Sam in effigy and shout “Death to America”.
Let me cite two examples of what mindset develops when one of these American icons is involved in a protest. In the final preseason game of the 2016 NFL season, Colin Kaepernick, an African-American member of the San Francisco 49ers, knelt down during the playing of the National Anthem to protest police brutality against the Black community. He continued to take a knee before each game for the rest of the season.
Was Kaepernick’s grievance valid? Evidence not only suggested it was, it screamed it. What was the overall response by the American public? Outrage. He was accused of hating his country, not appreciating his privileged social and economic status provided by the opportunities he was given in this country and disrespecting the US military who had long fought to ensure his Constitutional right to protest.
Unfortunately, despite the legitimacy of Kaepernick’s message, it was virtually silenced by the blowback. The spotlight was placed almost directly on his kneeled stance and not his stance on the issue. He did receive some support but many did not hear of did not want to hear what he was trying to say. Ultimately, the general public chose to rally around the flag rather than find a solution for the problem.
On April 25, 1976, during a game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field between the Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, two people ran onto the outfield grass in the fourth inning and attempted to burn the American Flag as a protest. Cub centerfielder Rick Monday swooped in and grabbed the Flag before they could light the match and carried it to the Dodger dugout, all to a thunderous applause and standing ovation.
In those few moments, Monday became a national hero and remains one still today. He did not save a life or right an egregious wrong or make the world a better place to live and yet, that single “patriotic” act became his legacy, far beyond anything else he did in his 19-year MLB career. Whatever those two individuals were protesting that day had no impact on the country and they, along with their names and their cause, were quickly lost to obscurity.
America needs activists, like Colin Kaepernick still is to this day, to highlight and speak out against social injustice. However, you don’t tear down your house when you see rats running around. Your message is destroyed in the process. You find another way to rid your home of rats and keep the house standing. In the late 1960’s, young men burned their draft cards to protest the war in Vietnam. We got the message. In that same decade, a few women burned their bras in protests demanding equal rights. Again, we understood. Whether we agreed or not, their issues were clear and specific.
There is no denying that Kaepernick’s actions destroyed his football career. He has been blackballed by the NFL and its owners despite having very credible statistics as an NFL starting quarterback. I firmly believe the owners do not want to risk damaging their brand by signing the controversial player.
It makes me wonder if Kaepernick and his cause would have been better served if he had chosen a less controversial way to express his message. If he had kept playing football and used his financial resources to promote better awareness and push for substantive change, the results may have been different. His cause was just, his approach, misguided.
Many individuals in American history have followed the same path as Kaepernick and have rarely been successful. Societal change does not come easy but will not come at all if every aspect of it is condemned by those seeking change. Often times, it is all in the delivery.
At the June 27th Swanton Village Council meeting, Shannon Shulters was hired to become the next Village Administrator, replacing Rosanna Hoelzle who had submitted her resignation with an effective date of July 5, 2022.
“It’s only been a few days, but I am hitting the ground running,” said Ms. Shulters on starting in her new position. “I am excited to be a part of the Village of Swanton and look forward to working with the community as a whole.”
Below is Ms. Shulter’s bio, submitted by Mayor Neil Toeppe:
Shannon was born and raised in Metamora, OH. As an Evergreen High School graduate, she went on to further her education by obtaining her Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in Organizational Management from Tiffin University. Shannon worked as the Assistant Director for the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation from 2015 until August of 2018.
Since her departure from the FCEDC, she has gained knowledge and experience within the automotive, construction, insurance and scrap metal recycling industries. Shannon served on the Wauseon Chamber Board of Directors for several years, was a member of Swanton Rotary, along with the National Exchange Club of Toledo. She truly enjoys volunteering and has assisted in event organization for the FCEDC, Wauseon Chamber of Commerce and Triangular Processing’s Festival of Trees.
In 2018 she graduated from Fulton Leadership University. Shannon currently resides in the Village of Lyons where she values spending time with her two young daughters, Makayla and Leah. When she’s not spending time with her girls, Shannon enjoys running and everything outdoors!
By a vote of 4-2, the Delta Village Council approved Ordinance 22-09, Prohibiting the cultivation of marijuana; processing of medical marijuana; marijuana wholesalers; marijuana retailers; and “medical retail marijuana dispensaries” in the Village of Delta, Fulton County, Ohio, on the Third and Final Reading at tonight’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Language in the ordinance referred to the legal right of the Village to prohibit marijuana-related activities despite it being legal in the State of Ohio and stated, “The Council for the Village of Delta has reviewed the pros and cons of allowing these activities and finds it would be in the best interest of the Village of Delta and its inhabitants to prohibit such activities.”
The First Reading, on June 6th, was approved by a vote of 4-3, requiring Mayor Frank Wilton to cast a deciding vote when the Council deadlocked at 3-3. When the vote was taken that evening, Council members Lynne Frank, Mike Tanner and Art Thomas voted “Yes” to allow the ban to become law. Council members Ashley Todd, Tony Dawson and Chad Johnson voted “No” to oppose the ban.
The vote on the Second Reading, taken on June 27th, was approved 3-2. Councilman Johnson, who had voted against the ban, was absent from the proceedings. The remaining Council members did not change their vote from the previous meeting with Ms. Frank, Mr. Tanner and Mr. Thomas voting for the ban and Ms. Todd and Mr. Dawson voting against.
All Council members were present tonight and only Mr. Johnson changed his vote, voting to approve the ban, resulting in the 4-2 final count. When asked, after the meeting, why he changed his vote, Mr. Johnson cited, “Lack of support,” as his reason.
Before the vote was taken, Delta resident Rachel Nagel made an impassioned plea to the Council, asking for the legislation to be passed. “Because my vote, which was in the 62.75 percent that voted against this (marijuana), was not heard loud enough, there was a need to come (forward),” said Ms. Nagel, referring to the results of the advisory issue that was on the ballot in May of this year.
Ms. Nagel reminded the Council members that of the 14 individuals who addressed them on this issue in previous meetings, 13 voiced their opposition to having any marijuana facilities within the Village limits. She also said, that after contacting the Fulton County Auditor’s Office, the only tax money the Village would receive would come from the value of the property on which the proposed facility would sit. Ms. Nagel concluded by saying, “I’m begging you guys to understand the repercussions now and in the future.”
Pictured: Delta resident Rachel Nagel
https://photos.app.goo.gl/icTFCsmw3VmBqRjh9
Click on the link above to access photos from Friday and Saturday at the Delta Chicken Festival. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CD2o7PivkvS8CYau7
The organizers of the Delta Chicken Festival put together another great parade. Here are just over 400 photos from the event.
Click on the link above to access the photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded to your computer for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
At the June meeting of the Swanton Board of Education (BOE), Board members approved the hiring of Joe Bolyard as the Dean of Students at the Swanton Elementary School (SES). Mr. Bolyard, who has been a teacher at SES for 22 years in several different capacities, was approved by four members with the fifth, Ben Remer, abstaining as Mr. Bolyard’s brother-in-law.
The SES Dean of Students is a new position that was created to help alleviate the workload on SES Principal Christie Molter and Swanton Middle School (SMS) Assistant Principal Leigh Pancoast who would typically spend one to two days a week working at the SES. “We have had the job description for Dean of Students. We keep it on the books and from time to time, when we feel we really need this we add it back in,” said Swanton Schools Superintendent Chris Lake.
Mr. Lake further explained that while the SES has the largest student population out of the three buildings, it does not have a dedicated assistant principal as does the SMS and Swanton High School.
“It’s been something we’ve been looking at in the elementary for a while and we felt like the time was right. So, we posted it internally for a dean. We had a few people apply. We interviewed them and decided to go with Joe,” said Mr. Lake. “Joe has done his administrative licensure stuff. He’s got all that stuff to be a principal and he wants to someday.”
Familiarity with the school system and the Village are also advantages for Mr. Bolyard in this new position. “As a teacher there he obviously knows the kids, he knows the staff. He has been really big into PBIS which is Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. It’s something the State mandates that all schools have,” explained Mr. Lake. He also uses a program that helps student learn how to deal better with each other, deal better with their teachers and prevent problematic issues before they begin.
Mr. Bolyard is very much looking forward to his new position within the Swanton Local School District and the next chapter of his career in education.
Fulton County Ohio Media 