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Archbold Softball Grabs Big Road Win at Swanton

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The visiting Archbold Lady Blue Streaks overcame a 4-2 deficit by scoring three runs in the fifth inning then added two insurance runs in the seventh to defeat the Swanton Lady Bulldogs 7-4 in NWOAL action.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Master Plan for Delta Community Park Recommended by Village Administrator

At the April 18th Delta Village Council meeting, Administrator Brad Peebles recommended to the Council that they begin to focus on a long-range master plan for the Community Park.  “I do believe, with regards to the park, I think we need to, as a Village, take a step back and develop a long-range plan for the park that not only looks at the pool itself but also looks at our other facilities,” he said. 

Mr. Peebles stated that this recommendation “tracked right along” to comments made earlier in the meeting by Delta resident Kyle Comers who had, among other things, expressed his concerns about the costs associated with a new pool, especially considering the short swimming season of two and one-half months.  “Spending that amount of money on a non-essential item, I just think is foolish,” stated Mr. Comers.

“The layout of the park, in a lot of regards, is not conducive in trying to keep things concise.  So, if there is common usage, for instance the concession facilitates, we have things spread all over the park so if anybody wants to use the concession facility hey have to walk halfway across town to get to it,” explained Mr. Peebles.  “I know it has been discussed in the past.  It was a desire of Mayor (Dan) Miller years ago to create a master plan that never came to fruition.  But I do think, given where we’re at today and the circumstances, it is prudent, even it takes a few months to do it and we miss the opportunity for being on the ballot in November this year, I think it’s a prudent move for us to facilitate a study, get public comments, have public meetings and then come up with a true reflective plan that supports the desires of the Village of Delta residents.”

In the previous Council meeting, Mr. Peebles spoke of the possibility of creating a Park District would encompass the entire Pike-Delta-York School District and spread out and lower the tax obligation on property owners for the pool project.  However, he said that option may not be viable for the park master plan and would need more research done by Kevin Heban, the Village Solicitor.

In Old Business, the Third and Final Reading of Resolution 22-06, authorizing the Village Administrator to execute a cooperative agreement with the Fulton County Landbank, Bunting Bearing Inc. and the Village of Delta for the transfer of property, environmental testing, remediation and redevelopment of the area was approved.

In New Business, the First reading of Ordinance 22-04, authorizing the Village Administrator to dispose of certain property not needed for any municipal property was also approved.

The next meeting will take place on May 2, 2022, at 5:30 PM in Memorial Hall.

Swanton’s Nic Borojevich Commits to Lourdes University

After leading the Swanton Bulldogs to one of the best seasons in school history which included a 20-3 overall record and an NWOAL Championship, Nic Borojevich signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his education and basketball career at Lourdes University in Sylvania. 

Nic topped all league opponents in scoring with 18.4 points per game in 21 contests.  He was also selected to the First Team All-NWOAL and All-District.  “It’s never old hat,” said veteran head coach Bruce Smith, commenting on sending another one of his players to the next level.  “It’s great.  He’s worked really hard for this.  It’s been one of his life-long goals.  It never gets old. It’s a great thing.”

In the Gray Wolves program, Nic will be playing a guard position and will be coached by former Ohio State star and NBA player Dennis Hopson and former Lourdes basketball standout Jake DuPree.  “They showed the most interest in me by far,” said Nic explaining his decision to play for Lourdes.  “They have a really good coaching staff and have a lot of players from around here who I grew up watching and I want to play with them.”

While in the classroom, Nic plans on studying Business or Exercise Science.

Pictured:  Nic signs NLT with parents and Lourdes coaches

Lactation Consulting Services Comes to Swanton

Breast feeding, a mother nourishing her infant with milk from her own body, seems like the easiest and, of course, the most natural, nutritional way to feed a child when they are first brought into the world.  However, for women who chose the breast-feeding option, it can be far more complicated stressful and frustratingly difficult than they could imagine and often times requires professional help.

For those women there are people like Sarah Domoe, a professional Lactation Consultant who’s recently opened Oaks Lactation and Wellness at 113 South Main Street in Swanton.  Sarah, a married Wauseon mother of three young children, started on this career path running a breast-feeding program for a local health department before starting a private practice with home care visits during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic.  Eventually, demand for her services grew so large she decided to open an office to see clients in addition to home visits of families within a 45-minute traveling radius.

Having her first child was the initial motivation behind her desire to work with women who had just given birth.  “I’ve always had this desire to work with babies and when I became a mom, I developed this passion to work with post-partum moms,” she explained.  “There’s not nearly enough support for post-partum moms in this area, anywhere in this country, really.”

Sarah’s focus goes well beyond making sure milk makes its way from the breast to the baby.  “I’m here to take care of the moms as well.  ‘Are you taking care of you?’” she will ask.  “Yes, we’re going to make sure your baby is fed but we also need to make sure you’re being taken care of, too.  Are you nurturing yourself as much as you’re nurturing your baby?”

Sarah maintains that breast-feeding is becoming more common than it was during the past two generations when baby formula ruled the day.  “It was known that formula was like this magical milk in those generations and that’s why there is a lack of support now for breast-feeding parents because our grandmothers didn’t do it.  A lot of time our moms didn’t do it,” she said.

Today’s mothers are more willing and likely to at least attempt to breast-feed says Sarah but there are fewer women from the previous generations with first-hand knowledge that can pass along their experiences.  She, on the other hand, has three children, seven, five and two years of age, and has been breast-feeding for many years.  Sarah also contends that how babies are fed, whether it be with formula, pumped breast milk or direct contact feeding, is a personal decision and she has no issue with any of the choices.  Sarah admits she is not a big fan of pumping, mainly because of the extra work involved including the equipment maintenance and clean up.  But she also realizes it may be the only option for some.

Even mothers with multiple children may have problems feeding their third or fourth or fifth child because, as Sarah emphasizes, every child is different and the problem is more often with the baby and not the mother.  With mothers she works mainly on supply management, removing milk to make milk.  “I’m working mostly with the babies.  Most of my babies struggle with oral function.  They don’t know what to do with their mouth.  That’s kind of like my specialty,” she said.  “Moms come to me and say, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ There is nothing wrong with anybody.  Your baby just needs to be taught a few things to help relax a little bit.”

Stress and body tension of both mother and child are two other factors important in successful breast-feeding.  “A lot of what I’m teaching is how can I get you to bond with and love on your baby so you both enjoy it.  That will help your supply.  That will help baby kind of relax.  So, that’s almost always part of the care plan,”

Another major decision is when to stop and move on to formula or even dairy milk and solid foods.  “The most important thing when we’re talking about how long we’re going to breastfeed and keep this relationship going is that it needs to be mutually desired,” stated Ms. Domoe.  “The baby always wants to, but if mom is not enjoying it and is so stressed about feeding her baby that she can’t bond with her baby or enjoy her baby and think it’s a feel-good loving time, then it’s time to make a change.”

Sarah believes, no matter what choice a woman makes to feed her baby in those early days, weeks and months, the goal is to have mother and child experience a loving and emotional bonding experience.  “Our goal is for mothers to look back at that time and think, ‘That was awesome.’”

Oaks Lactation can be contacted by phone at 419-314-4752 and by email at sarah@oakslactation.com

Pictured:  Sarah Domoe with intern and administrative assistant Brianna Christopher

Clutch Hitting Leads Evergreen Baseball Past Wauseon

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With Evergreen holding a slim 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Hunter Vaculik dropped a two-out, two strike pitch into centerfield to plate RJ Schunk and Conner Hewson, giving the Vikings a three-run cushion late in their game against the Wauseon Indians. The clutch hit proved to be the difference in the game as Evergreen hung on to beat Wauseon 5-3 in a key NWOAL matchup.

Pictured: Hunter Vaculik drives in two runs with a single to center.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Wauseon Softball Picks Up Road Win at Evergreen

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MLwkrwrj22cr761B8

The Wauseon Lady Indians broke open a 1-1 game by scoring eight runs in the top of the third inning and went on to defeat the Evergreen Lady Vikings 16-6 in an NWOAL softball matchup.

Pictured: Autumn Pelok scores her second run in Wauseon’s eight-run third inning.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Swanton BOE Presents Commendations to Award-Winning Accounting Students

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Six Swanton High School students from a two-year accounting program funded through the Penta Career Center and their teacher and mentor were presented with Swanton Board of Education (BOE) Commendations for their outstanding performance at the state level competition put on by the Business Professionals of America (BPA). 

Kris Oberheim, BOE President, first presented a Commendation to Mr. Ron Kauffman, the teacher and leader of this perennially successful program that has seen many Swanton students excel in regional, state and national competitions.  Mr. Kauffman then presented each of the six students with a BOE Commendation.

The students were Riley Bellner, Xander Gilsdorf, John Heckert, Jayden Hendricks, Reese Oberheim and Garret Swank.  Competing in the Finance Division in either Advanced Accounting or Payroll Accounting, all six students finished in the top ten in the State of Ohio and three, Bellner, Heckert and Swank finished in the top five nationally.  The three national qualifiers will be traveling to Dallas, Texas to compete in the BPA National competition being held from May 4th to May 8th.

Pictured: (L to R) – Garret Swank, Jayden Hendricks, John Heckert, Xander Gisldorf, Reese Oberhiem and Riley Bellner

Click on the link above to access photos from the presentation. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Just My Opinion – Schools, School, Schools

We have all heard the real estate industry’s three-word creed on what most affects the price of a property.  It’s “Location, location, location.”  However, as many of those in real estate will tell you, it could be, and many times should be, “Schools, schools, schools.”

The quality of a local school system has a major impact on the value of the local real estate values.  It starts with homes where people will pay higher prices to live in an area that provides a quality education as opposed to other towns, villages or neighborhoods that offer something less.

This, in turn, will attract and grow businesses that will increase the tax base and lower the overall tax burden on the residents.  Studies have also shown that communities with good schools will also have better parks, more leisure activity type businesses, a lower crime rate and many more other amenities.

The Swanton Local School District has a five-year renewal levy on the May 3rd ballot for $825,000 or approximately 5.1% of its operating budget.  This levy was first successfully put on the ballot in 1996 for the same $825,000 and the voters have approved several subsequent renewals since.  Until this past November when it was replaced by a “substitute” levy and failed by three votes.

There may have been some misunderstanding or confusion by some voters who assumed it was a new tax or an increase in taxes.  It was not.  In fact, it represented, like every time it went on the ballot, a decrease in taxes.  Because it is a flat amount of $825,000, its spending value has been subjected to inflation.  The $825,000 in 1996 has lost more than 45% of its value and today, in 2022, stands at approximately $454,000.  The milage, the number applied to the taxable portion of a property, required for the levy in 1996 was above 6.0 and has dropped to 3.2 today.

When a levy fails there is always an analysis done, or maybe a better word would be “autopsy”, to find out why.  It may have been the confusion I referred to earlier but what I cannot understand are the difference in numbers reported by Fulton and Lucas counties during these levy votes.  They seem to indicate we have two counties divided by a common school district.

Lucas County voters in favor of the past three renewal levies were at 34.0%, 35.0% and 35.6% while Fulton County numbers in favor of renewal came in at 60.5%, 65.0% and 55.8%.  Until 2021, Fulton County, which makes up a much larger share of the district’s population, was able to offset the low numbers from Lucas County.

I have a hard time making sense of this.  I cannot believe the residents of Lucas County value education that much less than its neighbors.  Does the fact that all school property is located in Fulton County cause some underlying resentment or belief that Lucas County residents are receiving less value for their tax dollars or have less control on how the funds are spent?  I would love to hear what is behind it and determine for myself if it has any validity.

Basically, the Swanton Local School District is a geopolitical boundary designated for providing convenient access to education.  It is a separate entity that just happens to encompass portions of two counties and several townships and is no more complicated than that. 

Not having children is the school system is another common excuse but, as I have shown, it does not mean you and your economic status will not be affected.  Most of us were educated through the public school system.  Somebody paid our way.  We need to do the same.  A strong school system means a strong community with a bright future, especially in small municipalities like Swanton.  A yes vote is not just for the kids, it’s for all of us.

Swanton School District Treasurer Receives Distinguished Service Award

At the annual conference for the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) Joyce Kinsman, the Treasurer for the Swanton Local Schools District, received the 2022 OASBO Regional Distinguished Service Award for the Northwest Region. This award is given to an individual from each region of the state who has made a significant contribution to their profession. 

Joyce was nominated by her peers for her outstanding service as the Northwest regional chapter Treasurer, Vice President, and past President. She currently organizes monthly meetings for the Treasurers from Lucas County and the surrounding area and serves as a mentor in the OASBA Mentoring Program.

The award was presented to Ms. Kinsman at the April meeting of the Swanton Board of Education.

Pictured:  Joyce Kinsman (right) is presented with the award by Swanton BOE President Kris Oberheim and Swanton Superintendent Chris Lake

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