Fulton County Ohio Media

Wanting to be more involved in helping fellow Swanton businesses prosper, Joyce Berry, manager and fashion stylist of Younique Boutique located on North Main Street in downtown Swanton, has agreed to join the Swanton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors to fill a recent vacancy. Younique Boutique, a women’s clothing store, will be celebrating it’s four-year anniversary this coming May and Joyce gives a great deal of credit for their success to the Swanton Chamber and it’s Executive Director, Neil Toeppe. “Neil was a blessing to us. He has really gone above and beyond,” commented Joyce. “Neil was in here at least once a month, checking on us, seeing how we were doing, seeing if we needed anything or could do anything for us.”

In fact, it was a presentation by the Chamber that convinced Younique Boutique to locate in Swanton. “It was really Neil’s doing that made us decide to take a risk on Swanton,” Joyce added. “Because we looked at property in several different communities and it was much of Neil’s doing that made us come here.

Like all small businesses in Swanton and the rest of the country for that matter, the pandemic has had a major negative impact on sales. “Up until COVID things were going very well. You don’t sustain four years in a small business without doing well and being successful,” said Joyce. “The first year we were very dependent on the Swanton ladies and local business. Over the past three years we have expanded to outreaching communities. We now have customers from Maumee, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Wauseon, Delta and Rossford. I even have customers from lower Michigan.”

As a testament to the success of Younique Boutique, readers of the City Paper of Toledo voted the store the “Best of locally owned women’s boutiques” in the area in 2019 which attracted even more customers from outside the Swanton community. And bringing customers from the outside to patronize Swanton businesses will be one of the tasks Joyce and her fellow Chamber Directors will be faced with. “We don’t have a lot of foot traffic in (downtown) Swanton, but we’re working on it,” she said. Joyce has approximately one year remaining on the vacated term but will be eligible to run for another three-year term after that.

Rebounding from a late game-ending injury last Thursday, Aricka Lutz poured in 20 points and her sister Averie scored 16 as the Swanton Lady Bulldogs survived a horrendous start to get past the Defiance Lady Bulldogs 46-40 in a non-league home game Tuesday night. After the visiting Bulldogs raced out to a 14-2 lead halfway through the first quarter, the home town Bulldogs regrouped and scored the final seven points of the quarter to pull within 14-9

The Swanton scoring barrage continued into the second quarter and the defense rose up to hold the visitors to only five points while scoring 16 and the half ended with the home team on top 25-19. Defiance rallied in the third quarter and took a 34-33 lead into the final frame. Swanton was able to regain the lead early in the fourth and then were given a little breathing room when Aricka Lutz drove to the basket, was knocked to the floor by two defenders and still managed to lay the ball in the hoop for the score and the foul. Lutz drained the free throw to complete the three point play and Swanton never trailed again. Defiance hit a triple to draw back within one but two clutch foul shots by Maddie Peluso helped seal the win.

The Lutz twins combined to score 36 of Swanton’s 46 points including 12 of 14 from the free throw line. Olivia Moats and Kinley Maynard each had 11 points to pace Defiance. With the win, Swanton moves to 12-5 on the season.

We are fortunate to live in a democratic country where we, the people, elect our leaders and decide how we are to be governed. This system is applied from our nation’s top elected office to our lowest at any local level. However, there are times, more often at the local level, where an elected position suddenly becomes vacant and the replacement is chosen by the governing body, not the voters, to finish out the term. This practice allows the vacancy to filled relatively quickly and at very little cost. Unfortunately, it places an individual into an important leadership position with the constituency knowing little of their background or their stand on the issues.

Another common way to be easily placed into a seat of political control at the local level is to run for office without opposition. This occurs frequently in lowly populated municipalities when there are a relatively large number of seats up for election. Many small communities have a difficult time finding enough eligible people willing to step into a role of leadership for a variety of reasons. These reasons, some of them valid, will always not only shrink the number of candidates but diminish the overall quality of the pool as well. In effect, voters become insignificant when candidates run unopposed and they get what they get.

The Village of Swanton has six members on their council. Of these six, five (Craig Rose, Michael Rochelle, Kathy Kreuz, Dianne Westhoven and Dave Pilliod) gained their seat while running unopposed and one (Tony Stuart) was appointed to fill a vacancy. Are these the best six individuals the residents of Swanton want running their town, deciding how much to pay for utilities or in taxes or who should collect their garbage or a host of other quality of Village life decisions? As the Swanton Village Council is currently seated, it does not matter. The elections came down not to good or bad choices for the voters but rather having no choice at all.

We can take Mr. Rose’s time on the Council as an example of how we get to the current situation. Craig Rose was first appointed to the Swanton Village Council in 2014 to serve the remainder of Councilman Dave Pilliod’s term after Mr. Pilliod stepped down to serve as a Fulton Township Trustee. With two open Council seats available in the November 2015 election, Mr. Rose ran and was defeated. In 2017 Tamara Haselman resigned her seat and Mr. Rose was again appointed to serve the rest of her term. In the November election of that year, with four Council seats open, he ran again, unopposed with three others and received the lowest vote total of the four, not that it really mattered. Perhaps, if only three seats up for grabs, we would not be having this conversation. But here we are.

At the beginning of 2020, Neil Toeppe was sworn in as Swanton’s Mayor, having defeated incumbent Ann Roth in November. Mr. Rose was then elected as President Pro Tempore or President of the Council by the rest of the Council members, giving him new-found authority. What developed over the next 12 months was a contentious relationship between Mayor Toeppe and Councilman Rose when discussing initiatives proposed by the Mayor. The initiatives concerned economic development during the pandemic, giving residents greater access to Council meetings and better cooperation with Swanton Local Schools in managing the Village’s youth sports program. These initiatives and several others were summarily rejected by Mr. Rose on several occasions with strong support from Councilman Rochelle.

In the first Council meeting of 2021, Mr. Rose was re-elected as President Pro Tempore and proceeded to make significant changes the Rules of Council. He made it clear that he, as President of the Council had to approve all meeting agenda items or agenda amendments and started by removing the Mayor’s Report from the meeting agenda. Mr. Rose also had the Mayor removed from his position as an ex officio, or a non-voting member, of all Village committees so he would not be allowed to participate in committee discussions. This included the Public Safety Committee which is comprised of the Police and Fire departments, both of which report to the Mayor. The Council approved these changes by a vote of 5-1 with Mr. Pilliod voting against and, for all intent and purpose, handed control of the Village of Swanton over to Mr. Rose and literally silenced the Mayor when conducting Village business.

The solution to counter this type of influence and control is for the citizens of Swanton to be more active in their politics, more interested in the decisions being made on “their behalf” and more willing to step into leadership roles when the direction of the Village is headed down the wrong path. They need to care more about how local government is affecting their lives and stop believing there is nothing that can be done. The alternative is too costly. Swanton chose a new mayor in 2019 because they wanted a new direction that would make the Village a better place to live and raise a family. But the Council is the legislative authority and those six members that currently sit at that table, who may all not be there if the citizens were more involved in their government, will decide what kind of Village we will live and or work in, whether we like it or not.

Four Council members, Kreuz, Rochelle, Rose and Stuart, have terms that will expire at the end of this year on the 31st of December. Hopefully, Swanton will have several civic minded individuals who will be willing to step up and and challenge any Council member that decides to run for re-election or run to fill any potential vacancy. The Village is desperate for new leadership.

Photo: Swanton Village Council President Pro Tempore Craig Rose

Connar Penrod (pictured) sank three shots from behind the arc and scored all 11 of Wauseon’s first quarter points as the Indians defeated the Swanton Bulldogs 52-39. Penrod’s early outburst gave the Indians a two-point lead after one and they outscored the Bulldogs in each of the remaining three quarters to capture a key league victory on their home floor. The senior, a baseball commit to Bowling Green State University, finished with 17 points, tying Jonas Tester for team high scoring honors. Kolton DeGroff added nine points. Swanton’s Andrew Thornton lead all scorers with 18 points while Bulldog teammate Josh Vance had 12.

With the win, Wauseon remains undefeated in the NWOAL at 3-0 and moves to 12-2 overall. The loss drops Swanton to 2-1 in the league and 7-6 overall on the season.

With the score knotted at 37 and just over 20 seconds remaining in the game, Averie Lutz launched a shot from well beyond the arc that found nothing but net and the Swanton Lady Bulldogs hung on to defeat the Wauseon Lady Indians 40-37. After Swanton lost leading scorer Aricka Lutz for the rest of the game early in the fourth quarter, Wauseon rallied from an eight-point deficit to tie the contest. Only Averie’s two scoring drives to the basket kept the Bulldogs from falling behind. The three-point bomb gave Averie all of Swanton’s seven fourth quarter points and a game-high 21 in the win. Her twin sister Aricka had 10 points before the injury and Katie Floyd added five for the Bulldogs. Marisa Seiler led the Indians with 14 points, Autumn Pelok had 12 and Hayley scored seven. With the victory Swanton moves to 3-1 in the league and 11-6 overall. Wauseon falls to 2-2 in the league and 9-4 on the season.

One year ago today, January 18th, 2020, Cat Kania realized her life-long dream and opened a bakery and coffee shop, selling her incredibly home-made delicious cookies, cakes, muffins, doughnuts, fritters, cupcakes and more to what proved to be a very wanting and appreciative public. It was a cold and rainy Saturday morning and dozens of customers waited anxiously outside for the doors to open to sample some of Cat’s delectable baked treats they had heard so much about, mainly by word of watering mouth. Although the day still remains a vaguely remembered “whirlwind” to Ms. Kania, it foretold of what kind of support she could expect from the Swanton community.

“It was amazing to see all that support from the community and surrounding communities that came out to support us that day,” recalled Cat. And that support would continue for the next two months and then, as we all know, 2020 hit everyone like a Mack truck. Suddenly, a new and thriving business was facing the possibility of shutting it’s doors by order of the State of Ohio to help slow down an emerging deadly pandemic. “Going throughout 2020 was kind of rough. We had some rough spots where we weren’t sure if things were going to get better. It was kind of day by day trying to make it through,” said Cat. Fortunately, while indoor dining was suspended by Governor Mike DeWine, take out service was allowed to continue which kept the CK doors opened.

With one year under their belts, Cat and her husband and business partner Derek have a unique and grateful perspective. “Now, being open a year, it has been an amazing journey with so many friendships made and the customers who we look forward seeing them come in everyday,” reflected Cat. “It’s feeling a sense of love and support from the community. It’s been overwhelming. It’s very humbling to see how much people wanted us here and are happy to have us here. We love being that spot that everyone comes to have a cup of coffee and meet with a friend you haven’t seen in a while or sit and do work for a couple of hours each day. It’s been amazing and we’re very thankful and blessed. It’s been a long year but a very fulfilling year”

This is the first major venture into the business world for Cat and Derek and it should also be pointed out that they are both Master Sergeants serving in the security unit of the 180th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard based at Toledo Express Airport. Cat believes their military background has been a significant contributor to their business success. “Both of us being in the military has kind of helped us in ways with leadership and organization and structure, making sure everything is done in a specific way with consistency and attention to detail,” she explained.

As difficult as 2020 was, the beginning of 2021 may be just as challenging. The pandemic may be at it’s peak, the economy is still struggling and, to make matters worse, MSGT Derek Kania was recently deployed with a return date scheduled for sometime this summer. It is a sacrifice known all too well to the Kanias and their daughters with both Derek and Cat deployed multiple times over the years. It is a sacrifice we should all appreciate and be grateful for and one to contemplate while we sit and relax in CK Sweets with a cup of coffee and anything from Cat’s kitchen.

Pictured: Cat Kania and her amazing CK Sweets staff (L to R) Amber Never, Julianne Holtsberry and Hanah Faber.

The Delta Panthers used a slow-down offense in hopes of controlling the tempo against the heavily favored Evergreen Vikings and keeping the score close. The strategy had limited success in the first half as the Panthers held the Vikings to 16 points but could only manage six points themselves and they eventually fell 37-22. The much taller Vikings dominated the inside offensively with 6’5″ forward Ethan Loeffler (pictured) scoring 13 points and defensively with 6’6″ center RJ Shunk providing an intimidating presence underneath. Evan Lumbrezer topped all scorers with 14 points, most coming from drives inside to the basket. James Ruple led Delta with seven points while Nolan Risner added five.

The Evergreen Viking boys jumped out to a large double-digit lead over the Delta Panthers and cruised to a 36-26 victory on the Panther’s home court. Tyler Sack led all scorers with 11 points. Worthy White added seven points and Ben Ruetz (pictured) chipped in with six. Maverick Mercer scored eight for Delta and Jude Gibbons had five.

Sarah Kohlhofer rolled games of 157 and 194 for a match leading 351 series as the Swanton Lady Bulldogs topped the Evergreen Lady Vikings 2073-1901. Amy Lawson added a 163+160=323 series and Hannah Patch finished with a 181+130=311 series in the victory. Keigan Shuster led Evergreen with a 189+153=342 series. Joleen Warner bowled a 329 series and Carly Kenneman had a 302 series for the Lady Vikings.

Evergreen senior Ethan Shively rolled games of 223 and 245 for a 468 series to lead the Viking boys bowlers to an easy 2405-1911 win over the Swanton Bulldogs at the Swanton Sports Center Friday night. Derek Cobb had a 213+196=409 series and David Fuller bowled a 214+169=383 series for the Vikes. Marty Mosher had a 133+210=343 series to lead Swanton. Carson Santchi and Seth Sweet rolled a 321 and 302 series , respectively, for the Bulldogs.