On Monday afternoon, the Delta Lady Panthers lost out to the Swanton Lady Bulldogs by a single stroke, 202-203, in an NWOAL golf match at their home, White Pines Golf course. Delta’s Mackenzie Grahn captured Medalist Honors, carding a score of 41, four strokes ahead of Swanton’s Raegan Rominski at 45. Only the top four scores are factored into the team total.
Swanton Lady Bulldogs: Raegan Rominski (45), Audrey McFarland (51), Audrey Carte (52), Gabbie Orner (54), Jocelyn Villagomez (61), Ellie Sgro (68), Total = 202
Delta Lady Panthers: Mackenzie Grahn (41), Aubree Perdew (50), Sophie Ford (56), Aleiya Moore (56), Ana Gilders (61), Madelyn Lowe (70), Total = 203
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 and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Two Delta golfers (Left) and two Swanton golfers (Right) waiting to tee off.
From the Color Run to the All-Class Reunion to the Parade to all the great activities at Memorial Park, the 2026 Swanton Corn Fest Committee orchestrated a fabulous and memorable three days of fun for the Greater Swanton Community. Congratulations and thank you to Chairs Alyssa Walberg and Stephanie Fessenden and the rest of the hard working committee members who volunteered countless hours for the benefit of all those who attended.
Click on the link above to access photos from the Memorial Park activities. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be down loaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Almost five months after the position of Fiscal Officer became vacant, the Swanton Village Council hired Joyce Marie Elmore, currently employed as a Senior Accountant by the Robert Half Human Resource Consulting Firm out of Perrysburg. Ms. Elmore and her colleague Ryan Larzelere appeared before Council during a Special Council meeting offering her services Elmore at a rate of $91.00 per hour with a minimum of 37.5 hours per week and a contract of no less than six weeks or a total of $20,475. Shortly after that meeting, Ms. Elmore applied to the Village for the Fiscal Officer’s position. During the Executive Session at last evening’s Council meeting, Council rejected the offer from the consulting firm and accepted Ms. Elmore’s application.
The special meeting was called after a plea for help by Village Administrator Shannon Shulters who had assumed the Fiscal Officer responsibilities in the interim. “Over the past several months, I have reached a level of burnout that I can no longer ignore. Time is the one thing none of us ever gets back, and this position has required me to sacrifice an extraordinary amount of mine. I have missed time with my family, evenings, weekends, holidays, and countless personal moments because I believed the Village came first. While I accepted those sacrifices for a season, they cannot become a permanent expectation,” explained Ms. Shulters.
The Robert Half Consulting Firm spoke highly of Ms. Elmore and her qualifications: Joyce Marie is a highly skilled Senior Accountant with a strong knowledge of full-cycle accounting. She has experience with AP/AR, general ledger, journal entries, month-end & year-end close reconciliations, fixed assets, payroll, financial analysis, Sales & Use Tax, reconciliations and creating SOPs. Joyce Marie is a hard worker with an incredible drive and a wonderful personality.
Proficiencies – AP/AR, Cash applications, Collections (consumer & B2B), Journal Entries, Reconciliations, General Ledger, Sales & Use Tax, Payroll, Creating SOPs, Month-end Journal Entries Industry Experience – Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Automotive, Restaurant, Agriculture Software Knowledge – SAP, QuickBooks, Excel, Great Plains, JD Edwards, Kronos, AS400, Adobe, QAD, Atlas, CorelDraw, Publisher Education: BA in Accounting, University of Toledo.
Ms. Elmore will begin working for the Village on Monday, August 17th, with an annual salary of $73,000 following a background check and drug screening. No compensation to the consulting firm was required.
Photo: New Village Fiscal Officer Joyce Marie Elmore on the right
The streak of fabulous Swanton Corn Festival Parades continued this past Saturday morning as three rivers of entertainment from the Swanton Sports Center, Brookside Drive and the Swanton High School driveway converged onto Main Street at 10:30 PM and headed east for 60 minutes of showtime for a large excited crowd.
Parade Chair Hannah Gombash, along with Taylor Riester and the rest of the parade committee, once again, put together an amazing lineup for all the Swanton area residents and hundreds of visitors from around Northwest Ohio who were fortunate enough to witness the event.
The theme for this year’s parade was the celebration of America’s 250th Birthday and serving as the Grand Marshal was the Ohio Air National Guard 180th Fighter Wing stationed at Toledo Express Airport. For the second consecutive year, Tri-County Block and Brick was voted First Place in the Best Float competition. The Swanton Sports Center was chosen for Second Place and Kesters ‘Tis the Season grabbed the Third Place prize.
Click on the link above to access well over 700 photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountumedia.com website.
About an hour before the start of the Swanton Corn Festival’s 2026 Color Run, the weather looked like it could ruin the evening’s good time. There was thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening. Fortunately, the skies calmed down and the show went on.
Click on the link above to access photos from night’s craziness. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Bulldogs Boys’ Golf Team fired a school record 299 on Wednesday morning at Valleywood Golf Club to win their own Bulldog Invitational, easily outdistancing the second place Montpelier Locomotives (311) by 12 strokes. The Otsego Knights (330) finished third in the 10-team tournament followed by the Anthony Wayne Generals (341), Delta Panthers (347), Liberty Center Tigers (357), Evergreen Vikings (361), Swanton Bulldogs “B” (366), Maumee Valley Hawks (386) and Springfield Blue Devils (410).
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Carter Malak who shot an even par score of 71 to edge out teammate Dylan Smigelski (72) for Medalist Honors. Christian Butler and Camden Kozakaiecicz each shot a 78 to complete the scoring for Swanton. Carson Bond had an 82 and Brendan Upham scored an 88 for the Bulldog’s “A” team.
Malak and Smigelski topped the All-Tournament Team followed by Brady Wyckhouse (73) of Liberty Center, Keegan Clapp (73) of Delta, Tony Capretta (74) of Liberty Center, Owen Summer (76) of Montpelier, Malachi Smelter (76) of Montpelier, Christian Butler (78) of Swanton and Kade Stweart (78) of Montpelier. Camden Kozakaiecicz’s score lost out on the All-Tournament team due to a tie-breaker.
The Invitational victory was a major accomplishment for the Bulldogs and first-year coaches Austin Luce (Head Coach) and Carter Swank (Assistant Coach) who are also Swanton Alumni and were very accomplished golfers when they played in high school. “We kind of had a rough start to begin the season,” said Swank. “But we came in with a plan today and executed the plan and shot very well.”
Click on the link above to access photos from the Invitational. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Soon to be a Swanton High School senior, Dylan Smigelski competed this summer in the Toledo Junior Golf Association (TJGA) and performed well enough to make the cut and be invited to the TJGA Founder’s Tournament held at historic Inverness Golf Club in Toledo. Playing in a number of tournaments around Northwest Ohio, Dylan joined 28 other area top high school boy golfers for the final TJGA tournament at Inverness, one of the most prestigious golf courses in the nation and the site of many PGA and LPGA Major Championships, such as the U.S. Open, the PGA National Championship and will be hosting the Women’s U.S. Open in 2027.
Paired with Thomas Woycik (77/+6) of Toledo St. Francis and Will Parker (79/+8) of Delphous St. John, Smigelski fired a very impressive round of 76 (+5) on the par 71 course to finish ninth overall out of the field of 29. Michael Distefano of Maumee and Charlie Swigart of Ottawa Hills tied for medalist honors with a score of 72 (+1). Helping the cause, Adam Lemon, former teammate and SHS 2026 alumni, served as Dylan’s caddie.
Entering his final season of high school golf, Dylan looks to build on a very successful junior year in 2025. He earned First Team All-NWOAL, qualified for the DII District Tournament, which he subsequently achieved medalist honors and qualified for the DII State Tournament in Columbus.
The Bulldogs begin the 2026 season in earnest tomorrow morning when they compete against 20 teams from across the region this Thursday at the 25th Annual Irish Invitational, hosted at Stoneridge Golf Club in Bowling Green. The Invitational will feature a shotgun format with an 8:30 AM tee-time. On Wednesday, August 5th, Swanton will host the Bulldog Invitational at Valleywood Golf Club with a tee-time of 8:00 AM. Leading the Bulldogs this season will be Swanton Alums, Austin Luce as Head Coach and Carter Swank as Assistant Coach.
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 and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Dylan Smigelski tees off on the third hole at Inverness
Following a presentation by Swanton resident and local Airbnb owner Amanda Church at the July 20th Swanton Village Council meeting, the Council voted 6-0 to kill Planning Commission Ordinance 2026-15, legislation designed to revise regulations governing short term rentals.
Defined in the Ordinance as the rental, lease, license, occupancy of a dwelling unit, or any portion thereof, for compensation of less than thirty (30) consecutive days. It also defined the term “Sort Term Rental” to include, but not limited to rentals advertised or offered through Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.co, Expedia, Vacasa, Home to Go, FlipKey, Facebook Marketplace or similar online lodging platforms. In its essence, the legislation would prohibit Short Terms Rentals from operating in residential neighborhoods and be limited to commercial zoning districts.
Ms. Church’s displayed a map of the United States with pinpoints of locations from around the country where her guests originated. Her address to the Council was as follows:
Hi, my name is Amanda Church. I am a seven-year resident of the Village of Swanton. During those seven years, I’ve restored several homes in the Village including 201 North Main, 205 North Main, 305 West Garfield, and 3407 Waterville Swanton Road. Currently, I own two homes, 126 Harrison Ave. and 201 North Main, which I operate as Airbnbs for guests visiting the area.
People ask me all the time, “Why Swanton?” Honestly, it surprises me, too. But yes, people do come. They come to see family and friends, attend weddings and funerals, visit events at the Fulton County Fairgrounds, attend events in Toledo, or come here for work.
Firefighters have stayed here while training at the Swanton Fire Department. Swanton High School graduates have stayed to attend their class reunions. Quilters have come for events in Archbold. Guests have stayed here on their way to the Toledo Zoo, concerts in Detroit, or to ride the Wabash Cannonball Trail. Honestly, you name it, they’ve come.
In a few weeks, a guest is passing through Swanton on his way to Woodstock Harley-Davidson for the start of HOKA Motorcycle Challenge. Another guest is coming for a granddaughter’s baby shower. Another guest is visiting family here because Swanton is halfway between Fayette and Sylvania.
I often have to turn guests away because I’m fully booked. These guests aren’t looking for a hotel, they want a home to stay in. Almost every guest asks me for recommendations on where to eat and what to do while they’re here, the diner, the bakery, the winery, the bowling alley. One guest who originally stayed here for work liked it so much that he brought his family back for a weekend vacation. Linemen, electricians, cable installers, road workers, engineers stay during the week. Currently, I am hosting an engineer that is making Swanton his home for two months as he is here for work in Delta.
You’ve seen my passion and work for restoring real estate here in Swanton. I plan to continue that work at 14147 Airport Highway, a home that sat vacant and in disrepair for years. Without the ability for me to operate these homes as Airbnbs, it will be very difficult for me to continue doing what I love, restoring real estate and revitalizing homes within the Village of Swanton.
I encourage other residents of the Village of Swanton to Airbnb, but I warn you, it’s a lot of work for little pay and a lot of laundry. We have a need so let’s have these travelers stay in Swanton in the residential areas.
With the unanimous rejection of the Ordinance, Council chose to send it back to the Planning Commission to revise the regulation language to allow Short Term Rentals within residential areas.
Photo: Amanda Church addresses Swanton Village Council
This past Friday, at White Pines Golf Course in Swanton, the Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce held its 30th Annual Golf Outing with a record 27 four-person teams taking part. Prior to the start, Chamber Executive Director, Delray Busch, asked for a moment of silence in honor of Patty Sword McNeill who had passed away several months ago. Patty had sponsored the outing for many years in memory of her late Drew McNeill, an avid golfer and owner of McNeill Chevrolet, now Ballas Chevrolet, in Swanton.
Following the moment of silence, Ms. Busch spoke again to the golfers:
“We are so grateful to Skye’s Heating & Cooling for serving as the Presenting Sponsor of the 30th Annual Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing.
Owner Jeremiah Kelley and the entire Skye’s team are known for dependable heating, cooling, indoor air quality, duct cleaning, and maintenance services throughout Northwest Ohio. More importantly, they are a family-owned business with a deep commitment to our community.
This year, their sponsorship created an impact that will extend beyond the golf course. All proceeds from Friday’s 50/50 raffle, Skins Game, and two games held on the course were dedicated to establishing a scholarship in memory of Jeremiah’s late daughter, Skyeler Kelley. The scholarship will benefit graduating Swanton High School students and help preserve Skyeler’s memory through new opportunities for local students.
Thank you to Skye’s Heating & Cooling for your generous support, your commitment to Swanton, and for helping us turn a fun day of golf into something that will make a lasting difference.”
Congratulations to the top teams from the Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing:
*First Place: Northstar, 19 under* Jim Kaczorowski, Ben Bowes, Quinton Oberhaus, Adam Gray. *Second Place: Lucas County Port Authority, 19 under* Thomas Winston, Brent Williamson, Tim Wisnewski, Jason Bartschy. Northstar and the Lucas County Port Authority both finished 19 under, so a standard golf scorecard tie breaker was used. The teams’ scores were compared starting with the back nine. If still tied, the comparison moves to the final six holes, final three holes, and then the 18th hole until a winner is determined. Northstar earned first place through that process. *Third Place: Affiliated Lumber/Lugbill, 15 under* TW Churchill, Dusty Stickley, Wes Granger, Matt Kress. *Fourth Place: Skye’s Heating & Cooling, 14 under*
Click on the link above to access almost 600 photos from the golf outing. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website and the Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Summer Block Parties, organized and sponsored by the Swanton Chamber of Commerce, have become a very popular “Can’t Miss” event in the DORA of Downtown Swanton. This past Saturday, Zeiter Way was rocking to the music of Renegade Lemonade as party goers, adults and children alike, filled the street to enjoy the summer evening fun with a Christmas in July theme. The next Block Party will be Saturday, August 15th, from 6:00-9:00 PM.
Click on the link above to access photos from the night. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website and the Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce.
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