Local Archived News

Richwood loses a business owner and friend
By Sherryl Sheets
The village of Richwood lost a business owner and a community friend last Thursday, May 1.
Jim Baker, 52, of Richwood, died unexpectedly in his sleep. He and his wife, Paula, have been the owners of Richwood Laundry and Richwood Dry Cleaning, located at 13 E. Ottawa Street for 12 years.

NU FFA receives many honors at convention
By Sherryl Sheets
The Ohio FFA Convention just wrapped up events May 1-2 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus. Thirty-nine students from North Union, along with many family members and guests attended the annual event. The North Union FFA chapter was recognized at the convention as a “ Top Ten Gold Medal Chapter in Ohio.”Many students and CDE teams were also noted for their accomplishments during the 2013-14 year:
•Justin Gravatt was recognized as a finalist for the State Star in Agricultural Placement (one of four in the state). He also placed second in the state in the Grain Production Placement Proficiency area;
•Bethany Dresback placed second in the state in the Outdoor Recreation Proficiency area;
•Mike Plotner, Maggie Hall, Makaylin Johnston, Sydney Plotner, and Cole Krawczyk received their State FFA Degrees;
•The first place state Agronomy team of Madi Shawver, Kiersten McMahon, Maggie Hall, Taylor Bahan received honors;
•The Poultry team of Cole Krawczyk, Lexi Shawver, Bethany Dresback and Justin Gravatt also took first place accolades;
•Justin Gravatt took first place State Individual in Rural Soils;
•North Union senior Shelby Furer was elected as the 2014-2015 State FFA Vice President;
•Former retired FFA instructor Nevin Smith was awarded the State Honorary FFA Degree; The North Union FFA chapter is busy year round. They can be seen helping set-up and cleaning up at the Richwood Independent Fair, teaching elementary students about farm life, donating food to The Richwood Emergency Assistance Program (REAP) Food Pantry, just to name a few project. The local chapter is instructed by Tom Jolliff and Hannah Crossen.

Children’s Hospital hosts family day
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Close To Home Center with Urgent Care invites the public to “Marysville Family Day” in celebration of the opening on Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 100 Coleman’s Crossing Blvd. in the City Gate Development. The free event will include tours of the new facility, free healthy refreshments, face painting, arts and crafts, interactive activities, cookie decorating, spring/summer safety tips, a Union County students’ art display, games and prizes, and a chance to win a family fun pack of gift cards totaling $200. Nut and gluten-free food options will be available.

Post office announces food drive
By Sherryl Sheets
The 22nd annual Letter Carrier’s Food Drive will be held Saturday, May 10. Over 1,200 postal branches nationwide will be collecting food to help feed our hungry neighbors. In Richwood, the local post office will collect food all week long if anyone wishes to bring non-perishable or canned food items. Residents are also encouraged to donate a few non-perishable items in their mailboxes for mail carriers to pick up. In 1992, when the drive first began, that drive collected just under 1.3 billion pounds of food that was donated to food pantries and to those in need. Last year, America collected more than 74.4 million pounds of food, the second highest amount collected.

Hospital receives honors as Healthiest Employer
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
Memorial Hospital of Union County was named one of central Ohio’s Healthiest Employers by Columbus Business First, for a second consecutive year. Ranking tenth in the “large employer” category, Memorial Hospital rated tops along with Union County’s own Scotts Miracle-Gro, which garnered first place.

Successful collection of drugs
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was held Saturday, April 26 at the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Jamie Patton was pleased with the results.

Supporters “walked for life”
By Sherryl Sheets
Nearly 400 people walked Saturday in Richwood and Marysville in support of the Union County Pregnancy Care Center. Both locations held face painting, gave away balloons, muffins, bottles of water and goodies during the event.

Council rebids for water line project
By Sherryl Sheets
Richwood Village Council members heard from Monte Asher, village administrator that only one bid was received for the proposed water line project, when bids were opened recently. Since the bid received was too high over the $335,000 estimate, they will advertise again, with bids to be opened on May 30.

Low voter turnout for election
From Richwood Gazett staff reports
The Union County Board of Elections reports that less than 16 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls last Tuesday to vote during the primary election. Union County has 33,644 registered voters and only 5,319 cast their votes.

Law enforcement to hold memorial service
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The public is invited to attend the “In the Line of Duty” memorial ceremony, on Thursday, May 15, at 7 p.m. on the north lawn of the Union County Courthouse and Justice Center, 221 West Fifth Street, Marysville.

Art exhibit displayed at library
By Sherryl Sheets
Last year, the North Union High School Art Exhibit was displayed for public viewing at the Richwood-North Union Public Library. It was such a success that the public is invited to the 2014 art exhibit, located at 4 E. Ottawa Street in Richwood.

Free summer literacy program offered
By Sherryl Sheets
The First United Methodist Church, 18 S. Fulton Street, Richwood, will be offering a free literacy program for children living in the North Union Local School District. The six-week program will be available for children in Kindergarten and first grades, second and third and fourth and fifth grades.

Board and union come to agreement
By Sherryl Sheets
This was the year to negotiate an agreement with the school board and the North Union Education Association (NUEA) and it could not have gone better, according to school superintendent Rick Smith. One day of negotiation and both sides agreed on a contract.

Disney coming to Balloon Fest
By Taylor Evans
The All Ohio Balloon Fest will be an official stop on the nationwide Radio Disney Live - Win, Lose or Draw Edition tour.

Remember and Honor on Memorial Day
By Sherryl Sheets
Monday, May 26, is a day when all of America takes time to remember and honor the men and women of the armed forces who gave their lives for our freedom.

Office closed May 26
With Memorial Day falling on Monday The Richwood Gazette will be closed. The office will resume regular hours on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Subscribers and news stands will not recieve the newspaper until Thursday, May 29. The Gazette staff hopes you have a safe holiday.

Input needed for lake trail project
By Sherryl Sheets
The Richwood Park Lake Trail committee is hosting an open house to share information and ideas with the community and local citizens about the Lake Trail Project.

Red Cross Bloodmobile needs you now!
By Sherryl Sheets
It is time to roll up your sleeves and donate your much needed blood at the Monday, June 9, bloodmobile. The event will be held at the Richwood First United Methodist Church, 18 South Fulton Street in Richwood from 1 to 7 p.m.

Springenfest is around the corner
By Sherryl Sheets
The 38th annual Springenfest event is set for Friday and Saturday, June 20 and 21 at the Richwood Fairgrounds. Bring the family and have some fun as old friends gather to reminisce, class reunions are held, and all in support of North Union athletics.

Move over for roadside workers-it’s the law
With 936 work zones around the state this summer, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) reminds motorists to stay alert while driving. During all of 2013, there were 4,093 crashes in work zones in Ohio, including 1,012 injury crashes and 17 fatalities.