Tinora catcher Nolan Schafer led off the fourth inning with a home run off Archbold ace DJ Newsom for the first run of the DIII District semi-final game at Defiance High School. It was only the second hit of the game for the Rams. They would not get another. As it turned out, they would not need another as the lone run held up for a 1-0 Tinora victory.
Despite Newman’s brilliant performance on the mound, one run on two hits and 12 strikeouts in six complete game innings, the Blue Streaks were unable to push anyone across home plate against the Ram defense and pitcher Casey Wolfrum. In throwing a complete game shutout, Wolfrum gave up three singles and a bloop two-out double in the seventh inning while striking out five and walking none. Neither team committed an error.
The loss ends the season for the Streaks, last year’s DIII State Runners-up. It was also the final high school athletic competition for Newman who is headed to Bowling Green State University to play baseball and for fellow seniors Zane Behnfeldt and Jaybe Burkle.
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.
John Heckert has decided to continue his education and his baseball career and will remain a Bulldog in those pursuits. Yesterday, in front of family, friends and coaches, the soon to be former Swanton Bulldog signed a National Letter of Intent with Adrian College and the school’s Bulldog baseball program.
“I felt very comfortable there and not just because of baseball but I am looking forward to playing baseball there,” said John explaining his decision. The close proximity, 30–40-minute drive, to Swanton also factored in the choice. “It’s as far away from home as you make it,” he added. “If something happens to where I need to come home or for a long weekend, but it’s far enough away where I can live my own life.”
While John has performed well on the diamond, his achievements in the classroom have been beyond impressive. He has already earned college credits through the school’s relationship with Penta County’s satellite accounting program coordinated and administered by Ron Kauffman. John recently returned from Dallas where he finished 17th in the nation in an accounting competition sponsored by the Business Professionals of America.
Playing baseball for Swanton has also added to John’s education. “With our baseball program the past few years there have been a lot of ups and downs and one of the things I’ve definitely noticed is how awesome it is to be part of a team and battle through some of those lows. When things get tough you just got to stick it out and keep going,” he said. “It’s definitely one of those things I’m going to take away from high school sports and hopefully it will carry over into the next chapter of my life.”
In the Adrian College classrooms, John will be majoring in both Accounting and Criminal Justice with Forensic Accounting being one of the potential professions on his career list.
Pictured: John with his father Eric, Mother Kathy and brother Ben
The Village of Swanton ordered all new playground equipment, including a new and safer surface for it to be placed on in January of this year. Originally, the plan for this $200,000 project was to have if completed before the annual Swanton Corn Festival, scheduled for August 13, 2022.
However, as Village Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle explained during Monday night’s Council meeting, supply chain issues, which are occurring globally, keep pushing the arrival date back. There will also be some other work that will need done in the playground area which, in order to minimize the playground’s down time, is planned to do at the same time. As of now, it appears the installation will take place in late August or early September.
Recently, the Village had the current playground equipment inspected for compliance to the guidelines established in the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Handbook for Public Playground Safety. Below are their findings”
Spiral Slide – The slide is non-compliant with current CPSC recommendations and should be removed and destroyed. Specific hazards exist. Several large gaps exist between the slide bed and the vertical support post that have the potential to create an entanglement. A small opening in the handrail at the transition platform creates a head entrapment. Clearance distance between the slide bed and the vertical support creates a contact hazard.
Truck Climber – The climber can be updated to meet CPSC recommendations. Specific updates are:
The pole ends are of a diameter less than three inches. This small diameter creates an impalement hazard that is specifically dangerous to the eyes. Three-inch disks should be affixed to the pole ends of the climber or the addition of a piece of material to cover the exposed ends. The coating on the poles is showing signs of deterioration. The surface should be prepared and coated.
Seated Spring Rocker – The rocker can be updated to meet CPSC recommendations. The handholds and footholds are of a diameter that creates an impalement hazard that is specifically dangerous to the eyes. Three-inch disks should be affixed to the ends of the footholds to remove the hazard
Large Composite Play Structure – The structure is a commercially designed and constructed 5-12 composite play structure. It has various areas where the surface coating is deteriorating, but the overall condition is good for its age. My understanding is that the structure must be removed to make room for newer equipment. Carefully disassembled and removed, the structure could be made available to another municipality or school to be reinstalled as a playground. I would recommend that the future owner of the structure contact the manufacturer for proper installation and any updates that potentially could be included.
Large A-Frame Swing – The swing system is in good condition for its age. The safe zone of surfacing material is compliant with CPSC recommendations. The large zone is based on the fall height of the swing pivot location. I only mention this observation as many communities struggle to continually maintain large safety surface zones as the cost of surfacing material increases. Consideration should be made to replace the swing with a newer design that accommodates users of all ability levels and where the fall height is closer to the surface to limit the size of the recommended use zone.
Small Composite Play Structure – The structure is a commercially designed and constructed 5-12 composite play structure. It has various areas where the surface coating is deteriorating, but the overall condition is good for its age. It is my understanding that a potential change of the play activities incorporated with the structure are under consideration. If the changes include a change in the intended user age range from a 5-12 to a 2-5, the fall height of the activities will need to be lowered. The vertical support posts are in excellent condition and should be able to be fitted with more age-appropriate activities. Contacting the manufacturer to inquire about changing the activities would be my recommendation.
The Swanton Lions Club awarded the second of two Joe D. Kahl Memorial Scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to Swanton senior Carolina Vargas. Carolina was chosen on the basis of her community service during her high school career and her high academic standing achieved in the past four years. She plans on attending Kent State University in Kent, Ohio and majoring in Zoology
The late Mr. Kahl was a long-time teacher and coach in the Swanton Local School District and a charter member of the Swanton Lions Club, founded in 2009. Carolyn Kahl, wife of Mr. Kahl, presented Carolina with the scholarship along with Lions Club President Jeff Patch.
In front of family, friends, fellow firefighters, and the Swanton Village Council, Ed Dziegielewski was sworn in by Mayor Neil Toeppe as Swanton’s new Chief of the Fire and Rescue Department.
The Swanton Garden Club was out in force today, planting flowers around the Doughboy Statue in Memorial Park. Swanton will be having its Memorial Day Parade which will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 30, and finish at Memorial Park with a presentation to be given at the Doughboy Statue.
And speaking of the Swanton Garden Club, they will be celebrating their 90th year anniversary this summer and will commemorate the milestone that began in 1932 with a float in the Corn Festival Parade. That first year, in the depth of the Great Depression, the Dow Jones Industrials hit 41.22, a record low.
On the positive side of things, Script Ohio was spelled out for the first time in Columbus at halftime of the Ohio State-Michigan football game by the University of Michigan Marching Band. The Buckeyes reciprocated the gift by allowing the Wolverines to win the game 14-10.
In April of this year, the Evergreen baseball team traveled to Archbold to kick off the NWOAL season with both teams having high expectations. The pitching match-up that afternoon featured two of the best arms in the league with the Vikings throwing University of Toledo commit RJ Schunk and the Blue Streaks countering with Bowling Green State University commit DJ Newman.
The game more than lived up to its hype with Schunk outdueling Newman for a dramatic 1-0 Evergreen victory. Because the NWOAL teams only play one official league game against each other, there was no assurance the two aces would square off again in their high school careers.
However, as expected, both teams won their respective sectional semi-final games, with neither needing to use their top starter, and set up a Schunk versus Newman rematch. Evergreen entered the tournament as a higher seed than Archbold which allowed the game to be played on their home field.
For the first three innings, it was “second verse, same as the first” as both pitchers were dialed in and almost unhittable. In the fourth inning, the Blue Streaks finally broke their scoreless streak against the Vikings when a sacrifice bunt attempt was misplayed, resulting in a poor throw to third base, allowing the runner to score for a 1-0 lead.
The Archbold hitters were able to get to Schunk, who began to tire, for three more runs in the top of the fifth inning and was eventually relieved by Landon Vance. “He’s a great pitcher,” said Newman, speaking of his pitching opponent. “He even struck me out once, almost twice.”
Meanwhile, Newman kept the Evergreen batters off balance and off the scoreboard through the sixth, when he also showed signs of fatigue after throwing 120 pitches. “I was getting tired at the end but my teammates kept telling to just throw strikes, that they had me and I trusted them,” he explained.
The Streaks were able to score one run against Vance for the 5-0 final and this day belonged to Newman and his Archbold teammates. “It was a gutty performance by DJ Newman. He was running out of gas and pitching on fumes,” said Archbold coach Tim Selgo. “But he’s a competitor and he’s going to give you everything he’s got. He got us through his last inning then (Zane) Behnfeldt came in and pitched well in the last inning.”
Archbold now moves on to face the second-seeded Tinora Rams on Thursday, May 26th, at 2:00 p.m. at Defiance High School in the DIII District Semi-finals.
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.
Archbold Blue Streaks – 2022 DIII Sectional Baseball Champions
The Evergreen Vikings spotted the Swanton Bulldogs a 1-0 lead then scored a combined 16 runs in the third and fourth innings in route to a 16-2 victory. The win put the Vikings into the sectional title game against the Archbold Blue Streaks who defeated the Northwood Rangers 13-3 in the other sectional semi-final.
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.
The Annual Meeting/Luncheon of the Swanton Area Chamber of Commerce (SACC) was held this Wednesday in the banquet hall of the Swanton Sports Center where members gathered to hear highlights of the past fiscal year and look at what is ahead for the SACC and the business community of Swanton.
President and Executive Director Neil Toeppe opened the meeting by introducing the SACC Board of Directors. They are Julia Benfield (Board Chairperson) from Benfield Wines, Joyce Berry (Board Vice-Chairperson) from You-nique Bou-tique, Bill Bohney (Director) from Farmers and Merchants State Bank, Fran Nichols (Director) from Anne Grady Services, Seth Thomas (Director) from Thomas Construction and Remodeling, Rick Lederman (Director) from Soaring Software Solutions, Shelly Keifer (Director) from First Federal of Delta, DaNetra Smith (Director) from Level Fitness and Bill O’Connell (Director) from Swanton Sports Center.
Mr. Toeppe then addressed Strategic Highlights first. “This past year was an opportunity for the Board to reassess our ability to provide better membership access to our programs,” he stated. “To that end we are in the process of upgrading our website and our Customer Relationship Management program. It will provide the ability of our members to sign up for and pay for events and dues on-ling. You will also be able to offer business special sales through our website software. You will be able to update your business information directly on-line.”
In the Financial Highlights, Mr. Toeppe said that the SACC has approximately 100 members and membership dues have not increased in the past 11 years, thanks, in large part to the revenue-generating events put on by the SACC such as the Annual Fine Art Exhibit, Golf Outing and advertisement sales from their annual calendar and biennial Swanton Community Directory. He explained that they will lose some members every year because a business may close or relocate but they will also gain members each year because of the strength of their member Benefit Programs.
Looking ahead, Mr. Toeppe said, “the 2022-2023 fiscal year will be a year of change in how we communicate and provide services to our members. We hope that you will take advantage of our member programs and the new and improved website.”
Following Mr. Toeppe’s remarks, a presentation was given by Dave and Pam Mills, the owners of the soon-to-be constructed Birchwood Meadow, a Premier Wedding and Event Barn Venue which will be located on a 27-acre site within the Turtle Creek Business District on Airport Highway in Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Mills explained that their new and unique venue will accommodate up to 300 people and is currently booking events for 2023. They believe the expected influx of people will provide a major boost to other local businesses and the Swanton economy. An Open House is planned for some time next February.
Pictured: Pam and Dave Mills with a photo of what the main hall in Birchwood Meadow may look like.
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