Fulton County Ohio Media

On Tuesday, August 15, 2023, from 6:00 to 6:30 PM, the Swanton Middle School (SMS) will be holding a Mural Reveal event in a large classroom that once served as the school’s library.  The mural is functionally interactive and is the brainchild of SMS Career Coach Mike Remer who began thinking of how to put to use a blank 20’ x 36’ wall to best benefit his students.

“The classroom where I teach used to be a library and one day I came in here and all the books and cabinets were gone off this wall and I just saw this huge white board.  And over time it just occurred to me that maybe we could have a mural painted with all the businesses on it throughout the region and show the students how awesome it is to stay right here and have a great life and a great career and achieve your dream right here.  That’s sort of how we came up with the idea,” explained Mr. Remer.

The mural, painted by local artist Dave Rickerd, is themed “There’s No Place Like Home”, borrowing the famous quote spoken by Dorothy in the 1939 classic film, “The Wizard of Oz”.  You will see the Yellow Brick Road at its base as it splits off in several directions that lead to the more than 200 businesses and other organizations that offer numerous career opportunities.  Of course, Dorothy and her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are all present as well.

“Once we got the idea to put the businesses on the wall it occurred to me to make it more diverse if we used a QR (Quick Response) Code so that people can capture that QR Code and then have the mural come up on their phone or device,” said Mr. Remer.  “They could now tap on each one of the 200 plus businesses and go right to whatever content these businesses want them to see.  Some companies are sending customized videos to help students see how awesome it is to work there.  Others are using their normal website.”

Currently, in this America, there is a labor shortage and Fulton County is no exception.  According to Cara Leininger, Workforce Development Supervisor of Ohio Means Jobs of Fulton County, there are more job openings in Fulton County than there are high school students in all seven Fulton County school districts combined.  That is a fact that helps put things in perspective and why programs like the SMS Swanton Seven Initiative are partnering with local businesses to help produce a qualified and robust workforce for the area in the near future.

The Swanton Parents Club has stepped forward and is funding the mural program.  “We didn’t ask any businesses for any funding.  And they’re very generous anyway and they would have funded it,” said Mr. Remer.  “It’s meant a lot to me and our superintendent and our leaders to be able to go to these business people and say ‘Thank you for being great partners’.  It’s a way to give back.  The Swanton Parents Club funded the whole thing.”

The Parents Club had one stipulation that was immediately agreed to.  They wanted the program to be curriculum wide to help Swanton students realize that the stuff their learning in class was important and would have practical applications in many of the available careers.  “When they ask the question, ‘When will I ever use this when I get out of school?’, well, I’m going to work with the teachers here to come up with a curriculum around this board and around this campus to answer that question,” stated Mr. Remer.

The mural ties in very well with the SMS Swanton Seven Initiative, a culture-changing and award-winning program that is now entering its fifth year.  “This (the mural) is just one piece of that whole culture they built here before I got here,” said Mr. Remer.  “I’m just doing my part to raise the bar with everybody else here in this building.”

Photo: (L to R) Chris Lake (Swanton Schools Superintendent), Cara Leininger (Ohio Means Jobs Supervisor), Leigh Pancoast (Swanton Middle School Principal), Mike Remer (SMS Career Coach), Ashley Stambaugh (EMIS Coordinator), Ben Remer (Swanton Board of Education President), Matt Horen (SMS Assistant Principal), Dave Rickerd (Mural Artist)

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There are only two basic ways to play a round of golf at the historic and tradition-rich Inverness Golf Club in Toledo.  You either pay a lot of money or you earn your way on to the nationally recognized course, site of several major PGA and LPGA Championships, with your golfing skills that have been developed and honed while competing against the toughest competition you can find.

For Mazin Rukieh, an incoming junior at Swanton High School, it was his talent and his impressive performances while competing in the Toledo Junior Golf Association (TJGA) this summer against many of the top high school golfers in the area that paved his way.  Mazin played in 11 tournaments on some of the best golf courses in Northwest Ohio this season and “made the cut” to qualify to play in the final tournament of the summer, the TJGA Founders Invitational held at Inverness this past Monday. 

Inverness is a “walk only” course so Mazin was allowed to bring along a caddie, choosing friend, classmate and fellow Swanton Bulldog golfer, Adam Lemon.  It was a perfect weather day, sunny and 78 degrees at tee-time.  However, playing for the first time on a course that saw the likes of so many greats of the game, names such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, it had to be intimidating. 

Mazin teed off on the first hole of the front nine, paired with a player from Toledo Central Catholic and Anthony Wayne.  “I started out a little rough, but as I went on to the back nine, I finished strong with two birdies.  I had five birdies in total which is a pretty good amount for my usual rounds,” he explained.  “I did have a fair amount of bogeys so it was pretty aggressive.”

Inverness has a well-deserved reputation of being very challenging, rarely yielding scores below its par of 71.  “Some of the fairways are really hilly, up and down.  And the greens, from a distance, don’t look terrifying but once you get up there, you’re shaking,” said Mazin.  “I enjoyed the course overall.  It’s beautiful.  Probably the best I’ll ever play on.”

Competing in the TJGA this summer and finishing on the prestigious Inverness Golf Club will produce some major benefits for his golf game, admits Mazin.  “All these summer tournaments have really changed my game a lot and how I look at a golf course.  I have two strategies now.  It’s been really good for me,” he said. 

On the day, which he will never forget, Mazin shot a 79 for +8 over par, good for 7^th place among the 26 golfers in the boys 16-18 age group.  The winner of the tournament finished at +1 and second place came in at +5, in a testament to the difficulty of the course.  If these scores do not seem too impressive, keep in mind that in the 1957 US Open, a young Jack Nicklaus shot back-to-back rounds of 80 and missed the cut. 

There will be little time to rest for Mazin as he and the Swanton Bulldogs begin the high school season this Friday at an 18-team tournament at Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green.  The Bulldogs will start their home season at Valleywood Golf Club on Monday with a 3:00 PM match against the Otsego Knights followed by a Tuesday 1:00 PM match against the North Central Eagles.  On Wednesday, they host the Bulldog Invitational with an 8:00 AM tee-off.  They finish off the week by traveling to the Auglaize Golf Club for another 18-team tournament.

Click on the link above to access photos from the tournament.

Photo: Mazin Rukieh and Adam Lemon

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Click on the link above to access the more than 450 photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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These are some photos taken on Thursday from the 2023 Wauseon Homecoming. Click on the link above to access the photos. They are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Earlier this July, Swanton’s Memorial Park was the site of the Fulton County Chapter of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio Summer Camp.  Currently the are 22 Girl Scout Troops with approximately 225 members in Fulton County according to GSA Leader Patti Leach who oversees the operations of all the county’s troops.  This year’s summer camp hosted 40 girls along with 16 adult and teenaged volunteers and it ran Monday, July 10th thru Friday, July 14^th, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM all five days.

“Our theme this year was the ‘Magic Girl Scout Bus’, based off the ‘Magic School Bus’,” said Ms. Leach.  “We had singing, crafts and games and each day was a different theme.  Monday, we learned about dinosaurs.  Tuesday was all about science so, we did a lot of science experiments with the kids.  Wednesday was about water so, we learned about the Amazon (river) and the rain forest.  Thursday was about the good ol’ outdoors so they learned fire building and trail signs and those types of things.  Friday was about the Girl Scouts and we learned all about the founder of Girl Scouts, Juliet ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low and different Girl Scout traditions.

There was little down time during the camp as the girls were also received lessons in outdoor cooking, knife safety, fire safety and many other life skills.  “They start their own fires.  They do their own cooking.  The adults are just there to help give them guidance to all of that,” explained Ms. Leach.  And, fortunately for the happy campers, the weather was perfect the entire time.

Photo: Fulton County Girl Scout Camp

PRESS RELEASE:  Swanton, Ohio – A consortium has formed out of the necessity to help our young people understand how they can achieve their dreams right here in the NW Ohio region.

Building on the very successful culture shift at Swanton Local Schools around workforce readiness, the Swanton Parents Club has funded an immersive experience that will connect our middle school students directly with local businesses through an interactive mural painted on the expansive wall in the Middle School Career Center.

Nationally recognized muralist Dave Rickerd has been commissioned to create the interactive experience which will be revealed during open house to kick off the exciting new school year on August 15th from 6-6:30.

The mural painted on in the Career Center includes 200 area businesses as you face west from the Lucas/Fulton County line. The interactive mural will include a QR code. Upon scanning the code, an electronic replica of the mural will appear on your device. Each business will be a hot link. Tap it and you immediately are immersed in that company’s customized experience created to reach our young people while they’re still in middle school.

It’s clear that if our young people are more exposed to opportunities right in their own backyard, we will keep our best and brightest right here in our region. Remote users will enjoy the same experience through the solution provided by NwOESC IT web team.

Embedded in the mural are “There’s no place home” images as a fun way to remind our young people about the great opportunities that await them right here in our region when they graduate from High School or College.

The new consortium formed organically immediately after the Swanton Parents Club announced their decision to fund the mural. Instead of requesting donations from our very generous business partners, we are very pleased to use this as our way of demonstrating that regional Educators and Community Members are stepping up in a big way to do more than their fair share to help solve the workforce dilemma.

The Fulton County Economic Dev Corp Office immediately began to actively assist as well as the OhioMeansJob office. The NwOESC is funding and hosting the electronic experience behind the QR code.

“I couldn’t be any more excited about how this idea has come to fruition and the impact we will make together to improve how we educate our kids utilizing this novel approach,” – Chris Lake, Swanton Local Schools Superintendent.

“It’s immediately evident as soon as I saw the mural for the first time how many unique career opportunities we have in our region. I’m impressed beyond belief!” – Matt Gilroy FCEDC Director.

The Chief of Swanton’s Fire and Rescue Department, Ed Dziengelewski, has submitted a letter of resignation to Mayor Neril Toeppe and the Village Council.  Below is an announcement from the desk of Mayor Toeppe:

“The Village of Swanton has had the benefit of Chief Dziengelewski’s decades of experience in the Fire Service.  He has served as a Firefighter, EMT, Captain, and most recently as Fire Chief.  We wish him well as he pursues additional opportunities and challenges in the Fire Service.  I quote from the Chief’s letter of resignation.  ‘I wish you all the best moving forward as I have felt this was a great place to work.’ The Chief’s last day with the department will be Friday, July 28th.

Village Administrator Shannon Shulters will begin an immediate search for Chief Dziengelewski’s replacement.

Photo: Chief Dziengelewski’s with another well known firefighter.

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Just weeks after a tremendously successful turnout at Swanton’s first Block Party in the recently established DORA, it was deja vu all over again as the Swanton Chamber of Commerce held Block Party II last evening. Some of the proceeds will be donated to Fulton County’s Habitat for Humanity. Entertainment was provided by JP and the Big Deal with a great mix of Rock and Country. The next Block Party is scheduled for Saturday, August 26th.

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.

Photo: JP and the BIG DEAL

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Swanton resident Shannon Heilman began liquidating products through a Facebook group heavily during COVID.  When the world was at a standstill and shops were closed, she wanted to be able to have necessities and “wants” at fingertips length.  She noted it was so fulfilling to be able to make connections with people during such a trying time.  About a year ago she suffered a medical crisis, and it brought her life to a standstill.  She wasn’t sure what her future was going to look like, so she took a break and began helping out a close friend at her liquidation warehouse located in Swanton (Buy to Win).

Through this friendship and opportunity, she was able to rejuvenate her passion and wants to share it with Swanton. The Main Street Trading Post, located at 113 S. Main Street, is a small, quaint shop that will offer all brand-new brands that you will recognize, quality items, and at a bonus at a discounted price. Shannon wants to bring another small shop to Main Street that will allow a bit more variety while exploring the Village.

A ribbon cutting with family, friends, local business owners, Village Officials and the Swanton Chamber of Commerce was held today to announce their arrival onto the Downtown Swanton Business District scene.  They will be opening for Christmas in Swanton on Saturday, July 29^th, from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM and will continue with the following regular hours:  Tuesday thru Saturday, 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Click on the link above to access photos from the ceremony and new business merchandise.

Photo: Shannon Heilman cuts the ribbon to open a another new business in Downtown Swanton

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Apparently, Mother Nature did not receive the memo from the Delta Chicken Festival Parade Committee that stated, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” because, from start to end, that’s all it did. No let up. However, it did not stop the parade from taking place as the floats, the twirlers, the Delta High School Marching Panthers and dozens of other participants traversed the entire route to the delight of the brave spectators that shook off the weather and lined Fernwood and Taylor Streets.

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 for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.