Fulton County Ohio Media

Three incumbent Village Council members, Michael Tanner, Ashley Todd and Art Thomas, were sworn into office by Village Solicitor Kevin Heban at the first Council meeting of the year on Monday night.  Mr. Tanner and Ms. Todd were re-elected after appearing on the ballot in November.  Mr. Thomas, who was filling a vacancy on Council, was elected as a write-in candidate.

Mr. Tanner was then nominated to fill the position of Council President.  He accepted and was elected unanimously by Council.  As Council President, Mr. Tanner will assume the duties of Mayor Wilton in his absence.

With the approval of Council, Mayor Frank Wilton appointed Andy Welch to the Planning Commission, Tony Chiesa to the Board of Zoning Appeals, Jannel DeBacker to the Income Tax Appeals Board and Chad Johnson to the Fulton County EMA Board.

Old Business:  The Third and Final reading ofOrdinance 21-21 Amended, to place on the ballot of the next general election the issue approving the cultivation, processing and/or wholesaling, retailing and dispensing of medical marijuana in the Village of Delta was approved.

The Third and Final Reading of Resolution 21-21, authorizing the Village Administrator to advertise for bids and enter into contract for the capital improvement projects for 2022 was also approved.

New Business: The First reading of Resolution 22-01, authorizing the Village Administrator to advertise for bids and enter into contract for the construction of the Fulton County water connection passed.

The First Reading of Resolution 22-02, authorizing the Village Administrator to bid and enter into contract for the construction of roadway with utilities to support the expansion of Nature Fresh Farms Distribution Complex also passed.

Village Administrator Brad Peebles sent a letter to Mayor Wilton and the Council regarding the two new Resolutions.  The letter read, in its entirety:

With the planned expansion of Nature Fresh Farms and the need to construct a Packaging/Distribution Complex, the extension of roadway with utilities is required.  The design of these facilities will also serve land directly to the north of this complex and be postured to serve property to the west once annexed.

The estimates for the work with design total just under $1M dollars.  Currently, there bare commitments to assist with these costs totaling $736,000.  They include Community Development Block Grant $485,000, Ohio Department of Transportation (Jobs and Commerce) $100,000 and Jobs Ohio $151,000.

With an estimated shortfall of $200,000 to $250,000, it is proposed to create a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District over the property being developed as well as the adjacent properties, redirecting 75% of the property tax for a period of 10 years that would have been paid to a fund for debt service, both current and future, should these facilities require extension to serve other projects.  The TIF would be in place of tax abatement for these designated specific areas.

With the next Council meeting scheduled to fall on Martin Luther King Day, the meeting will be held one week later on January 24, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

Pictured:  Council members Michael Tanner, Ashley Todd and Art Thomas being sworn into office by Solicitor Kevin Heban

By: Dave Kina

The Delta Panthers Varsity Bowlers opened the new year Monday 1/3/22 with a trip to Lenawee Lanes in Adrian, MI to take on the Evergreen Vikings.  The Panthers jumped out to a 127-pin lead heading into the Baker Games but the Vikes put on a great rally shooting a 542 series.  Delta was able to hang on for a 29-pin match win.  Gabe Syverson (pictured) led the Panthers (2-6, 1-4) with a 225 and a 199.  Kaden Hawkins and Brody Waugh each chipped in with 197 games.  Derek Cobb was high for Evergreen (1-5, 1-4) with a 201.

The Lady Panthers opened up a 135-pin lead and cruised to the match win by 102 pins.  Ciarra Flickinger (pictured) led Delta (4-3, 1-3) with games of 191 and 173.  Lexi Brown 166 and Maddy Johnston 160 also contributed to the victory.  Delaney Burghardt 168 was high for the Lady Vikes (3-2, 2-2).

The Panthers return to action next Monday 1/10/22 when they host the Bryan Bears at 4 PM at the Swanton Sports Center.  The Wauseon match, originally scheduled for Friday 1/7/22, has been moved to Tuesday 1/18/22 at 4 PM at Swanton Sports Center.

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The Evergreen Vikings defeated the Swanton Bulldogs 47-25 in boys Junior Varsity basketball.

Click on the link above to access all 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.

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The Swanton Bulldogs and the Evergreen Vikings opened the boys NWOAL basketball season last night, playing what might go down as the best league game of the year when it is all said and done as the visiting Bulldogs survived a long shot at the buzzer to defeat the Vikings 46-44 in overtime.

With 4.9 seconds left on the clock in the extra frame, Evergreen got the ball to reigning NWOAL Player of the Year Evan Lumbrezer who was immediately triple-teamed by the Swanton defense.  Lumbrezer tossed the ball to a wide-open Brock Hudik, about ten feet out from the top of the key.  Hudik launched the shot just before the clock hit all zeros but the ball bounced off the backboard and the rim, touching off a wild celebration from the Bulldog bench.

Evergreen, playing in front of their raucous home crowd, took control of the game in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 14-4 early lead and led 15-8 after one.  Swanton went on a 9-2 run in the second quarter on the strength of three triples from Nic Borojevich to tie the game at 17 all with 3:30 to go in the half.  The game stayed tight from there with the Vikings holding a one-point lead, 23-22, when the teams headed for the locker room at halftime.

The Bulldogs got five points each from Cole Mitchey and Nic Borojevich, outscoring the Vikings 10-9 to enter the fourth quarter tied at 32-32.  Both teams shared the lead several times during the final quarter of regulation until Lumbrezer scored on a layup to knot the game at 40 apiece with about one minute left.  Swanton was able to get a 15-foot shot off at the buzzer that missed, hitting the back of the rim, sending the game into overtime.

Nic Borojevich scored 21 points to lead all players.  Cole Mitchey had seven points, Luc Borojevich had six, Kayden Davis had five, Sam Betz scored four and Hayden Callicotte added three.

For the Vikings, Ethan Lumbrezer scored a team-high 17 points.  RJ Shunck had 13 points, Eli Keifer scored 10, Evan Loeffler and Brock Hudik added two each.

Click on the link above to access all 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.

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Swanton seniors Carson Santchi and Marty Mosher rolled games of 213 and 210 respectively, in the first round, giving the Bulldogs a quick 194 pin lead that led to a 2136-1988 victory over the visiting Tinora Rams at the Swanton Sports Center Monday afternoon. Mosher led all bowlers with a two-game 405 series and was followed by Santchi’s 347 series. Other series scores were Seth Sweet with a 342, Scot Reside with a 305 and Matt Bates with a 291. The win puts the Bulldogs record at 4-2 on the season.

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

Starting the first week in January, the eighth-grade class at Swanton Middle School, (SMS) will begin their last several months at SMS before leaving and continuing their educational journey in high school.  This group of students will have the honor of being the first class to complete all four years of the Swanton Seven Initiative (SSI) program.

The Swanton Seven Initiative is a program first introduced and implemented into the curriculum of the SMS by Principal Matt Smith in 2018.  The program adopts the philosophy of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia and focuses on building soft skills in students, placing strong emphasis on manners, discipline, respect, and professional behavior.  Skills that will serve the students well for a lifetime.

To help sell the program to the faculty and, more importantly, to the students, the program’s structure was modeled after the Harry Potter house system with each house (Dignitas, Obduro, Gratus, Sapentia) comprised of a relatively even mix of all four SMS grades, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.  “It was kind of a leap of faith in that first year.  Nobody really knew how it was going to be perceived or if the kids would buy into it or even the staff for that matter.  So, it was kind of like ‘Hey, let’s give this a shot.  I think it really could work.’  And the first year was better than we could have imagined.  It seemed like everything fell into place,” said Mr. Smith.

“In year two we thought ‘What could we do better?’  We added a few things.  We added a couple of events.  We added the Amazing Shake (a competition where students could display their newfound soft skills) that second year which was a big hit.”

The program was so successful in just its second year that the Ohio Middle Level Association (OMLA) selected, for its two most prestigious annual awards, Swanton Middle School as the 2020 Team of the Year and SMS Principal Matt Smith as the 2020 Educator of the Year. 

Unfortunately, like the rest of the world, SMS was forced to deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic in year three and the program had to scale way back to keep the students safe.  This year the program is making a slow comeback to “normalcy” and was able to hold the Amazing Shake again.

Asked to describe some of the impact the SSI program has had, Mr. Smith said, “It’s difficult to quantify but it’s certainly easy to tell there is a different feel in the culture.  When people arrive, they say they have a feeling of welcomeness and the kids’ behavior and expectation, they have risen in the past couple of years.  That’s what we wanted to do.  That’s what we set out to do and we’re happy about that.”

Despite the setback the SSI had to endure because of the pandemic, the one feeling that was not diminished by it was the enthusiasm of the students for the program.  In fact, for these eighth graders, it has grown since day one when they were all ushered into the gymnasium with no forewarning of what was to come.

“We didn’t know what was going on,” said student Hailey Frosch.  “We didn’t know what to expect but we knew it was going to be fun.”  Adding to the excitement of that introduction and making it more memorable was a fog machine which inadvertently set off the fire alarm multiple times.

As much fun as the program has been for the students and for as many of the new life-long skills they have learned in the three plus years, there have been several incredible and very positive by-products of the SSI that was passionately shared by a group of eighth graders, some from each house, during a recent interview.

One is the long-established pecking order found in all schools has taken a major hit at SMS.  “With the Swanton Seven and the House System, I’ve got friends in younger grades that I never would have had.  They’re more like siblings to me because I’ve never had a little sister or little brother.  So, they’re like my little siblings.  I watch over them,” said Carli LaGrange. 

These students realize they have become role models for the lower grades and they take that role very seriously.  They all agreed that each House was like its own family, like its own “wolfpack.”  And like a wolfpack, the older and more mature wolves teach and take care of the younger and less experienced wolves.  “It’s not like a normal middle school.  Bullying went down.  Tremendously,” said Autumn Collins.

The group also agreed that what they enjoyed the most was the House competitions where Houses are matched against each other in games and other skill-displaying events to score points towards winning the House of the Year trophy.  “I feel like the House competitions have brought us together.  Not as a House but as a school in general,” said Hailey.

Other great SSI by-products mentioned were the development of stronger student-teacher relationships and the bonding experience with the fifth graders and older incoming students during the House Reveal event. 

Graduating from SMS and leaving the SSI program will be bitter sweet for many of these students.  Because it has proven to be such a wonderful experience, they expressed hope that a similar program will be started at Swanton High School.  Either way, next year all four of the high school grades will be filled with students that have been through the Swanton Seven experience.

Pictured: (Back L to R) Mylee Rochelle, Brody Bergman, Gabbie Alexander, Brody Voight. (Front L to R) Hailey Frosch, Carli LaGrange, Autumn Collins

We are all familiar with the old adage, “When one door closes, another door opens”.  This wise proverb was my first thought when the Village Reporter, a weekly newspaper that covers Fulton and Williams Counties, unceremoniously informed me that my freelance services, articles and photographs, were no longer required.  I believe the owner capitulated to complaints from certain members of the Swanton Village Council with regards to my coverage of the Council meetings which detailed their decisions for the Village.  Apparently, my disseminating the truth to the general public had become a problem for them.

When that door slammed shut in late November of 2020, I began to work on finding another door to open so I could continue to cover village council and school board meetings while also photographing Fulton County high school sports and other local events and writing occasional human-interest articles related to the community. 

That other door turned out to be the fultoncountymedia.com website and blog.  I began FCM one year ago and it has allowed me to resume my journalistic coverage of our community with several added benefits. 

I can choose to report on only what I think others would like to read and what I believe is important they should be made aware of.  The photographs from any event I choose to cover, sports, festivals, fairs, plays and others, are edited, placed into a Google Photos file and made available on-line to anyone at no cost. 

On a more personal level, another new benefit was the opportunity to write editorialized pieces, similar this one.  These opinion pieces contained facts and what I believed them to mean and what impact I thought they had or may have our community. Obviously, not everyone agreed or will always agree with my opinions. My articles will remain the same, straightforward, listing facts and quotes without any added commentary.

I am convinced my removal from the pages of the Village Reporter were intended to silence my voice.  However, one of the items I found waiting for me when I opened the other door was a “bullhorn”.  It was the ultimate backfire.  When the deadline passed for filing a petition for election to the Swanton Village Council, the names of the four members of that Council, whose seats were up for re-election, were nowhere to be found.

I would like to thank everyone who has chosen to follow my blog and website in 2021 and hope to welcome more of you in 2022 as I cover as many Fulton County events as I can.  There is no charge to follow it and you will not be inundated with any advertising.  You will be sent an email every time there is a posting.  Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Bill O’Connell

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The Swanton Bulldogs took control of the game almost immediately after the tip-off, racing out to a 14-0 lead, and coasted to a 56-25 victory over the Maumee Valley Country Day School Hawks to capture their own Bob Fisher Holiday Classic.

Excellent ball control was a key factor in Swanton’s win, a day after committing numerous turnovers in their 52-45 semi-final win over the Maumee Panthers.  “We had a come-to-Jesus moment before practice this morning about how flat we came out last night,” said Bulldog head coach Bruce Smith.  “Obviously, what we decided to do worked really really well against a very dangerous team.”

Senior Nic Borojevich, in his second game coming off an injury, jump started the Bulldog offense with 10 first quarter points and finished with 23 for the game to lead all scorers.  “He’s healthy again.  He hyperextended his knee against Edgerton and he missed eight days and he wasn’t very good yesterday getting his timing back,” explained Coach Smith.  “In order to beat good teams, we need him to play well.”  Cole Mitchey and Sam Betz each scored 11 points in support.

Swanton will have just a short time to enjoy the Classic victory before they dive into the meat of their schedule after the first of the year.  “It gets real hairy real quick.  Going to Evergreen, going to Ottawa Hills, Wauseon, etc.,” said Smith.  The Bulldogs open the NWOAL season in The Big House at Evergreen High School on Thursday, January 6, 2022.  Game time is 6:00 p.m. for the JV’s and 7:30 p.m. for the varsity.

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

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Early injuries knocked two Swanton starters out of the game, guard Jayden Hendricks and leading scorer Frankie Nelson, as the Lady Bulldogs dropped a 31-20 decision to the Leipsic Lady Vikings in the championship game of the Bob Fisher Holiday Classic on Tuesday evening.  Hendricks sustained her injury late in the first quarter and Nelson went out at the 5:16 mark of the second quarter.  Swanton played well for the rest of the contest, keeping the score relatively close, but were unable to make up for the loss in offense typically provided by Nelson and Hendricks.

The Lady Bulldogs earned their trip to the finals with a convincing 42-16 victory over the Fayette Lady Eagles.  They opened the game with a 15-0 run and were never threatened after that.  Frankie Nelson led all scorers with 15 points.  Katie Floyd had six points and Jayden Hendricks and Emma Crow scored four each.

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

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The Swanton Bulldog boys shook off poor ball handling in the first half and a one-point halftime deficit to defeat the Maumee Panthers 52-45 in a semi-final game of the Bob Fisher Classic at the Robert Fisher Gymnasium.

With legendary Coach Fisher sitting courtside, the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 15-4 in the third quarter, riding the hot shooting of senior guard Sam Betz.  Betz trigger the blitz when he hit three straight shots, two treys and a deuce for eight points, and Swanton took a 34-24 advantage, into the fourth quarter.

The lead would eventually grow to 12 points before Maumee, out of the Northern Lakes League, forced several more turnovers and cut their deficit to five points.  Fortunately, for the Bulldogs, they were able to get to the free throw line 16 times in the final frame and sank 11 of those shots to hold off the charging Panthers.

Betz led all scorers with 17 points while Lathan Pawlowicz and Nic Borojevich had 10 points each.  Cole Mitchey added seven point, Luc Borojevich scored five and Hayden Callicotte had three.

Click on the link above to access all 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.