Last Saturday evening, on Swanton’s youth soccer fields, a crowd began to form around 6:00 PM and grew in numbers for the next four hours with people of all ages, dressed mainly in some combination of patriotic red, white and blue. They had gathered to witness one of the best pyrotechnic displays in Northwest Ohio, the Village of Swanton’s Independence Day Fireworks. There was some apprehension in the air as people kept checking the weather forecast on their cell phones, not knowing if the anticipated “bombs bursting in air” would be delivered by the American Fireworks Company as scheduled or by Mother Nature, at an earlier and inconvenient time. As we all know now, Mother Nature was gracious enough to hold off the storm long enough for everyone to enjoy another spectacular show.
As breathtaking the fireworks were, what I enjoyed even more as I walked around the grounds before the big boomers began, was watching all the people that had come together to celebrate America’s 247th birthday. So many families, so many young people, so many adults, playing games, eating food, talking and laughing and just having a great time as they waited hours for that first rocket to take flight. I could not distinguish anyone by political party affiliation and I am confident that many of the larger groups that night were a mix of political parties that had checked their beliefs at the gate.
It was only for a few hours but it was great to witness. With the exception of 1861-1865, I do not believe we, as a nation, have ever been more divided. I can only hope and pray our democracy will survive this tumultuous period of our history and we come together as a country for our own benefit. And not just once a year to watch fireworks.
Click on the link above to access photos from the event. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Lions Club held their annual Installation and Awards Dinner last Friday evening at the Swanton Community Center. The event is held to install Club Officers who were elected for the 2023/2024 fiscal year and thank those who served in those positions the year prior.
The Club’s new officers, who assumed their duties on July 1st are as follows: President – Dr. Mark Jones, First Vice-President – Scot Lawson, Second Vice-President – Jeff Patch, Secretary – Holly Lawson, Treasurer – Dr. Penny Jones, Membership Director – Jennifer Salyers, Lion Tamer – Lloyd Cass, Tail Twister – Dr. Mark Jones.
The Swanton Lions Club meets every second and fourth Tuesday at 6:15 PM each month in the Swanton Community Center on Chestnut Street. Meetings are generally one hour or less. Major projects for the Club include the Easter Egg Hunt, the American Flag Program, Swanton High School Scholarship Golf Outing, Swanton Corn Festival involvement, Halloween Hoopla Sponsorship and Coordination, Christmas Giving Tree Program and many other smaller benevolent projects.
Click on the link above to access photos from the dinner. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Lions Club District Governor Dave Stockum, Secretary Holly Lawson, President Dr. Mark Jones
The Swanton Athletic Boosters welcomed 35 teams of golfers to Valleywood Golf Club for their annual fund-raising outing last Friday. Word on the course was that several of the participants were using this outing as a tune-up for British Open later this month. Good luck to them in the UK. Here are a few photos from the day.
Click on the link above to access photos from the event. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
On Friday night, the Village of Swanton’s recently established Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) hosted its first block party featuring live music, games and a food truck. The DORA, which encompasses a small section of Zeiter Way off Main Street and includes Benfield Wines and Hub’s Swantucky Pub, was filled from end to end with local residents and out-of-town visitors taking advantage of a warm summer evening to celebrate the beginning of the Fourth of July weekend in a friendly and carefree atmosphere.
The idea behind a DORA is to create an economic stimulus in a downtown area by allowing the consumption of alcohol in a very controlled fashion within the confines of that area. Judging by the attendance on Friday night and the way everyone conducted themselves, the event was a big success. “It was super fun. We had a really good time and had a lot of people ask us to do it again,” said Julian Benfield of Benfield Wines. “We were busy all night. So was Hub’s. And we saw a lot of new faces,” she added, echoing comments made by some of the Swanton residents.
A great addition to this inaugural event was the music of the widely popular Chris Shutters who entertained the crowd from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. Tocayo’s Authentic Street Tacos food truck was on hand to feed the hungry and cornhole games took place in the grassy area next to the Swanton Chamber of Commerce building. The next DORA block party is schedule to happen on July 21, 2023 starting at 6:00 PM. JP and the Big Deal will be the musical guest and organizers are in the process of lining up a food truck.
Currently, the size of the DORA will remain the same until the first full year of existence. The program will then be reevaluated to determine what changes may be warranted. “We’d really like to get it expanded northward, especially so we can include EJ Ritter Hall and all the wonderful things that happen in that venue,” Julian explained.
Click on the link above to access photos from the event.Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Swanton resident Lloyd Cass, was presented with the Melvin Jones Fellowship at the Swanton Lions Club’s Annual Installation and Awards Dinner last evening at the Swanton Community Center. The prestigious honor, officially presented to Lloyd by Lions President Travis Weigel and Past-President Dick Notestine, is named after Melvin Jones, the Founder of Lions Club International in 1917.
Lloyd, a founding member of the Swanton Lions Club in 2009, was nominated by his fellow Swanton Lions for his unwavering dedication and support of the Swanton Community through the Club during the past 14 years. Rare is the Swanton Lions Club event where he does not maintain a presence and a major contribution. His tireless efforts on all of the Club’s community projects have had a significant impact in determining their success in helping others and making the Swanton community a great place to live.
To further recognize this very exclusive honor, Lloyd was given a plaque and a lapel pin accompanied by a letter from Douglas X. Alexander, Chairperson of the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF). The letter read, in part: On behalf of Lions Clubs International Foundation, congratulations on becoming a Melvin Jones Fellow. LCIF is able to continue and expand programs through the generous support of Fellow such as yourself. You should take great pride in knowing you will impact so many lives, both in your immediate community as well as across the globe. Wear your Melvin Jones lapel pin with pride. It represents your dedication to humanitarian service to the highest degree. Thank you for your continued dedication and support to LCIF.
With this honor, Lloyd’s name will be added to the list of all Melvin Jones Fellows and displayed at the Lions Clubs International Headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois.
At the beginning of the baseball season in his sophomore year, Ryan O’Shea talked his fiend and classmate, Drew Smigelski, into coming back out for the Bulldog team even though he had not played the game for a while. Fast forward three years plus as Ryan and Drew finished their high baseball careers as three-year starters and have both decided to continue their education and athletic careers by signing National Letters of Intent with Owens Community College in Toledo.
“It’s awesome. It’s great to see us developing kids to make it to the next level,” commented Swanton Head Coach Josh Siewert. “Ryan did well on the mound and Drew was Second-Team All-League again this year and was really strong at the plate.”
Bulldog Assistant Coach Matt O’Shea, Ryan’s father, had two reasons to celebrate. “I’m really excited for both of them because I had them both at the youth level. Drew took some time off and Ryan was able to drag him back on the diamond so, that was neat,” said O’Shea. “For them to get an opportunity to compete at the college level together is pretty special.
Both Drew and Ryan will major in Business while playing for the Express Baseball program and plan to continue their education at a four-year institution after graduation from Owens.
Click on the link above to access photos from the singing.
Photo: Swanton Head Coach Josh Siewert, Drew Smigelski, Ryan O’Shea, Assistant Coach Matt O’Shea
As many of you know, I’m a York Township Trustee. Part of the duties I and my fellow trustees perform is to fund oversee the Delta Community Fire Department. The Delta Community Fire Department has developed a long history of outstanding service to our community and the surrounding areas we do not hesitate to help. We employ a full-time Fire Chief with over 20 years experience in this field. We also employ two full-time firemen between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., seven days a week, along with over 30 volunteer firemen who are fully-trained to fight fires and handle other emergencies. We are the largest volunteer fire department in the area.
The Wauseon Fire Department has recently created an issue with a portion of our Township I used to cover for us until 2020. We took back over this area in 2020, when Wauseon dramatically raised their fees for covering this approximately 14 square mile area. We also took the area back because we are very confident, we can provide the best fire service possible for this area. We routinely have 8-12 firemen respond to our fire calls, a tremendous achievement. The City of Wauseon recently placed a press release in several area newspapers, detailing their side of this issue. York Township was able to provide a response to some of the newspapers but not others. Therefore, I wanted to place our response on my FB page to give those who only saw Wauseon’s response, our side of the story. Please share if you wish. Thank you.
Press Release Below:
The City of Wauseon recently offered a fire contract to provide fire coverage to York Township to cover an approximately 14 square mile area that covers the west side of Co. Rd. 11 to the east side of Co. Rd. 13, ranging from Fulton County Road H to Fulton County Road A (the Fulton/Henry County Line). Wauseon had covered this area until York Township did not accept a new coverage contract in 2019. Therefore, Wauseon’s coverage of this area ended on December 31, 2019.
York Township terminated this contract for two main reasons. First, the Wauseon fire department raised their contract cost from approximately $3,500.00 per year to over $40,000 annually. Second, York Township oversees the Delta Community Fire Department, and the Trustees determined this department was fully capable of handling this area of York Township.
There was no discussion between the Wauseon and Delta fire departments regarding this issue for over three years until a group of concerned citizens came to a York Township Trustee meeting on April 26, 2023. When the trustees gave this group their blessing to speak at the meeting, the citizens expressed their concern about the current fire coverage situation. There was discussion back and forth between the two parties. Many things were discussed, and the York Trustees agreed to meet with the City of Wauseon and its fire officials at a later date to discuss this issue.
Prior to scheduling this next meeting, Wauseon sent a letter containing a fire coverage contract offer to York Township on May 16, 2023. Wauseon offered to cover this area for $44,463.35 per year. This area averages eight accident/fire calls per year. This contract would pay the City of Wauseon $5,558.17 per call based on an average year. We feel this is an excessive amount to pay to a neighboring fire department when we are completely capable of servicing this area.
The City of Wauseon’s attorney, offered to have himself, The Wauseon Mayor, and the Wauseon Fire Chief to attend the May 24th York Township meeting to discuss the contract they proposed. We, in turn, emailed all the parties relevant to this issue, stating that anyone was welcome to come to our meeting, but that we wouldn’t be discussing this contract in depth. The trustees and I felt that the contract offered was not a good starting point for us. We felt and still feel we provide great coverage to this area. We also feel that any contract offer should come from us, since the area is in our township.
We have a few more points for discussion as well:
The Wauseon Fire Department feels the need to bill us for any mutual aid calls they help with in the Delta Fire District. Mutual aid calls are loosely defined as: When a neighboring fire department helps out another with a fire call when needed. According to the Fulton County Prosecutor’s office, no fire department is allowed to bill another fire department for fire services.
York Township was sent another Letter on May 24, 2023 from the City of Wauseon stating that if the entities could not come to an agreement by August 1, 2023, then the Wauseon Fire Department would terminate their fire coverage in this area. The York Trustees were emailed a press release on June 13, offering a town hall meeting on June 21, to discuss the City of Wauseon’s Fire Department’s decision to terminate coverage to the citizens of this area, effective August 1, 2023. Citizens in this area should be very nervous about backing a Fire Department who would choose not to help, in the case of an emergency. Despite the strained relationship, the Delta Community Fire Department would not hesitate to help anyone in need of service in this area. We don’t apply conditions to our services.
This past Sunday a craft show was held at the Swanton Sports Center with the expressed goal of donating all proceeds to the Swanton High School Baseball/Softball Complex project. Renee Tufts, long-time craft artist and current Swanton resident, organized and coordinated the show with help from family members, friends and several members of the Bulldog football team.
The fund-raising efforts included a 50/50 raffle, a vendor-donated items raffle, along with several vendors donating a percentage of sales and the donating of the venue by the Swanton Sports Center. Once the basic expenses were deducted, the craft show was able to raise $1,140 to the new complex. A check will be made out to the Swanton School District and delivered to the Swanton Board of Education Office this week.
Photos from the show are available on the link above and can be downloaded for FREE.
Photo: Renee Tufts with her craft booth, A Little Bit Retro.
The Metamora Chamber of Commerce held its Second Annual “Party in the Park” Celebration this weekend with three days full of food, fun, games, music, a craft show, a car show and a host of other festivities. This relatively new event began last year as a replacement for the village’s Parkorama. According to Kim Smallman, Metamora Chamber Vice-President, the primary goal of the event is to raise funds for downtown revitalization projects and for scholarships to graduating seniors of Evergreen High School.
Click on the link above to access photos from some of the activities on Saturday. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Texas born and Ohio raised, United States Army veteran Brandon Walberg of Swanton was recognized for his military service as a Hometown Hero by USA Insulation of Toledo. Brandon was nominated by his wife Alyssa who sent in his story to the company’s nominating committee who then unanimously agreed he should be duly recognized. With this honor came a free home insulation package from USA Insulation which was accomplished in just several hours by a crew of 12 skilled employees. “We’re really happy to be here. It’s been a really great experience so far,” remarked Christy Bacurin, USA Installation Representative. “The first thing they’re going to notice when we leave here today is the noise reduction and then from there, they should be able to see 30-50 percent on their utilities back. The return on investment is huge,” she added. Of course, for the Walberg family, it is a gift that keeps on giving.
Brandon’s military story began almost immediately after he graduated from Sylvania Southview High School in 2008 when he enlisted in the Army and was sent to Fort Leonard Wood Combat Training Installation in the Missouri Ozarks. Upon graduation he was assigned to Fort Hood (renamed Fort Cavazos in May of 2023) in Texas then deployed to Iraq for four months as an engineer. “At that point we pretty much convoyed everywhere and built bridges,” said Brandon. “We cross-trained with combat engineers and were either clearing roads or building bridges. There are surprisingly a lot of bridges in Iraq.”
He returned to Fort Hood for 18 months and was subsequently redeployed back to Iraq in May of 2011 for eight months, leaving to come home on Christmas Eve of that year. “It was hot. The temperature would reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Brandon explaining the summertime conditions he worked under. After returning to Fort Hood, he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and reassigned to a unit assisting with military funerals.
Six years removed from his enlistment, Brandon received his honorable discharge from the US Army, returned to Toledo and enrolled at Lourdes University, eventually earning a Bachelor’s of Education. Following his student teaching at Pike-Delta-York Schools, he took a position as a math teacher at Rogers High School where he is still today. Somewhere in between he married Alyssa Gombash and they now have two beautiful little girls, Renee aged three and Lyla aged six months.
USA Insulation does one Hometown Hero Giveaway in Northwest Ohio every year and they literally make it a community event, encouraging friends, family and neighbors to stop by and help celebrate the moment. CK Sweets Coffee and Bakeshop of Swanton, owned by Kat and Derek Kania, provided a great assortment of pastries and coffee for the guests and the crew. Just two years ago, coincidentally, Derek, a long-time and still active duty member of the Ohio Air National Guard 180th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Toledo Express Airport, was the recipient of the this same generous gift.
Photo: Brandon and Alyssa Walberg with Christy Bacurinof USA Insulation
Fulton County Ohio Media 