Pictured in this file photo from 2020 are the finished basketball courts inside the new North Union Student Wellness Center. (Journal-Tribune Photo by Sam Dillon) A recently constructed student wellness center at North Union Local School District serves to bring the education system together with the community. “We needed more space for activities for our students,” said North Union Superintendent Richard Baird. “We have community groups come in and use our schools all the time and actually most of those community groups are our students in school.” He added that increased involvement in athletics also led to a need for…
Author: Ally Lanasa
Volunteers of the Marysville chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace deliver a bed to a Marysville apartment on Dec. 20, 2020. Pictured, from left, are John Mangas, Steve Smith, Jose Banaag and Marty Logsdon. (Submitted Photo) Marysville has taken on the mission of “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town” with a local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace. “Two years ago I was just talking with my boss about how we can get involved in giving back to the community,” said Bradley Kitzler, president of the Marysville chapter. His boss was aware of Sleep in Heavenly Peace,…
The Richwood Revitalization Committee, a subcommittee of the Village of Richwood Council, must find the funds to install a rubber roof on the Richwood Opera House to prevent further water damage to the structure. During a meeting on Thursday, the committee addressed the years-old leak where there is a broken beam and another leak at the bell tower. “We’ve got to buy the rubber roof,” Chairman Reddy Brown said. Brown asked Jeff Meyer, owner of Meyer Restoration Inc. of Piqua, Ohio, for a quote for the roof repair at the bell tower area. Meyer said he cannot commit to doing…
Representatives from Samsung recently met with Union County Commissioners, Leesburg, Taylor and Clairbourne township trustees, North Union Local School District officials and Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew to discuss the development of a third new solar farm in Union County called “Samsung Richwood Solar Project.” At a Village of Richwood Council meeting on July 26, Jerew told the council that this solar farm will be located at the intersection of Routes 4 and 37 going into Magnetic Springs. The mayor said he was shocked that Richwood is included in the solar project’s name although it is not within town limits. “They…
Current and past trustees of the Union County Foundation gathered for the annual Visionary Men & Women event at Agnone & Morrison and Associates recently, taking stock of what the organization has acoomplished. Executive Director David Vollrath, who has been with the foundation since 2001, said the event is “an opportunity to thank them” and recognize individuals with awards. Special guests included founders David Allen, Dan Behrens, Gary Lee, Barb Herron and Le Herron, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Vollrath also acknowledged deceased founders — Myron Gallogly, Bob Evans, Bob Lewis and Dorothy Mudgett. UCF has 15 trustees that…
James Bowsher reacts after learning that local businesses had paid $10,000 to purchase his family’s market rabbits at Saturday’s livestock sale at the Union County Fair. Bowsher’s 11-year-old sister, Megan, learned recently that she has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and she was unable to show her rabbits, so her brother stepped in to exhibit her project for her. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson) — View the full video from the sale of Megan Bowsher’s rabbits here: James Bowsher learned about a week before the livestock sale that he would be showing market rabbits at the 2021 Union County Junior Fair on Saturday…
Mayor Scott Jerew addressed the possibility of adding 13 camping spots near the bus garage at Richwood Lake Park during the Village of Richwood Council meeting on Monday. “That’s a 40-foot site, so that would get you about any camper in Richwood in there,” Jerew said. “Some of them are 60-foot, 70-foot, 120-foot. They could possibly be pull-through sites for bigger buses or mobile homes.” He added that they will all be at least 30 feet wide. The camping site would require a permit from the local health department and the state as well as a dump station. “That’s why…
The Richwood Revitalization Committee, a subcommittee of the Village of Richwood Council, did not make its membership legal at Thursday’s meeting because all voting members were not present. Of the 10 voting members, three will be asked to voluntarily become alternates at an upcoming meeting. According to the changes to the charter recently approved by the council, the committee can remove a voting member after three unexcused absences. Although an unexcused absence is not clearly defined in the charter, the committee agreed that an unexcused absence is any absence that was not notified to another voting member prior to a…
Julia Patterson, an incoming senior at Marysville High School, will attend the week-long program, American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls Nation July 24-31 in Washington D.C. after participating in Buckeye Girls State in Ohio last month. (Photo submitted) Julia Patterson, an incoming senior at Marysville High School, is one of two participants selected and sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary of Ohio to attend American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls Nation July 24-31 in Washington D.C. “I am super honored to be one of the two selected. I’m just super excited,” Patterson said. “This is kind of what I want to do when…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines for school settings on July 9, but North Union Local Schools Superintendent Richard Baird told the North Union Board of Education Monday night that the guidelines do not significantly change the district continuity plan. “The key to that is the community spread is still low around here,” he explained. According to a letter from Baird dated June 29, 2021, the North Union Local School District has uploaded its continuity plan for the 2021-22 academic year to its website as well as the Ohio Department of Education’s website. This plan…
Matt Roberson and Julie Spain organized the Marysville Plant Library on Milford Avenue, which provides community members a safe space to share plants. The plant library officially opens on Wednesday. (Journal-Tribune photo by Ally Lanasa) The Marysville Plant Library, a plant-sharing space, provides community members with the opportunity to try their hand at gardening without wasting money. The plant library officially opens Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at 663 Milford Avenue with an official stocking of plants. “We’re encouraging people not to all come through at the same time,” said Julie Spain, a life-long resident of Marysville and a local attorney,…
Dustin Lowe, local historian and author of “The Rich Woods of Union County: A Comprehensive History of Richwood, Ohio,” is willing to donate all proceeds of his book sale in addition to $1,000 of his own money to keep the Richwood Opera House in use. As of July 9, Lowe had raised about $3,062. “The Richwood Opera House is very important to our community. It was built in 1890 because our community needed a building to meet in that was large enough to hold a few hundred people,” Lowe explained. “The building replaced the old engine house and has been…
South Franklin Street in Richwood remains closed as crews from Underground Utilities of Monroeville dig up the base of the road as part of a multiple phase reconstruction project of both ends of Franklin Street. (Journal Tribune photo by Ally Lanasa) Underground Utilities of Monroeville resumed work on South Franklin Street in Richwood on Monday, including ripping out the base of the road and installing new curbs and sidewalks. The construction crews will build a new base of two and a half inches of compressed asphalt for the road. The crews were ahead of schedule before the fourth of July…
According to Mayor Scott Jerew’s report during the Village of Richwood Council meeting, Village Solicitor Alison Boggs called the village’s former fiscal officer Tim Goodwin, who is required to pay nearly $20,000 in penalty fees following a report from the state auditor’s office. Goodwin will reportedly be out of town for three weeks, but he “wants to make it right with the village,” Boggs told the mayor. Goodwin wants to get an attorney to draft up an agreement for the council’s consideration. With Goodwin out of town, Boggs recommended that council give him until Aug. 9 before voting on the…
Originally constructed in the 1830s, the Weller Cabin on the Union County Historical Society site, above, recently received a five-week exterior restoration that involved replacing the cedar shakes and chinking. Below, James “Tim” Harrington of H & S Remodeling and Painting, LLC of Marysville works on the cedar shake shingle roof of the historic Weller Cabin on May 21. The shingles were milled locally out of old cedar telephone poles. Harrington finished the exterior restoration around June 19. (Submitted photos) Tim Harrington of H & S Remodeling and Painting, LLC of Marysville recently completed a five-week exterior restoration of the…