July 2023

  • /

The Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will host Hancock County Safety Council, featuring a presentation titled “Preventing Suicide: A Topic for the Workplace” on Thursday, August 10 from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Findlay. The event costs $25 to attend and includes lunch. The event will feature main speaker Amber Wolfrom, Adult Prevention Specialist with Family Resource Center.

In this session, attendees will gain increased awareness of suicide statistics for Hancock County and Ohio, explore the risk factors related to suicide and provide local preventative programs and resources for local businesses.

Registration can be done online at https://findlayhancockchamber.com/

About Amber Wolfrom
Amber Wolfrom has 25 years of experience providing and monitoring substance use prevention and mental health promotion efforts in Hancock County.  She has been an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant since 2002 and is a trainer of several evidence-based prevention programs for adults.  Amber has spent her career in behavioral health championing evidence-based prevention strategies, assisting with Hancock County’s Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) transformation, educating about trauma-informed care approaches and working with local businesses and employers to promote the message that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people do recover.

  • /

1:00 p.m., August 1
Schumacher Homestead, 8350 Bixel Road, Bluffton

The Swiss Community Historical Society of Bluffton and Pandora will host a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, August 1 at the Schumacher Homestead, marking the start of a project to repurpose and reconstruct a 100+ year old barn into a Heritage Center. The local barn was deconstructed a year ago and will be transformed into a facility used to house historical society collections and provide restrooms, storage and meeting space.

  • /

11th class of honorees to be inducted

Four honorees, Ray Dorley & Ray Dorley, Jr (Keystone Meats), Gary Jackson (Ag Broadcaster), Ron Spencer and H.G. Violet, Inc, will be inducted by the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce into the Allen County Agricultural Hall of Fame presented by Nutrien, during an evening banquet July 27 at the Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center in Lima.

The Dorley’s began the Pride of Lima Provision Co, in 1954, which has transitioned into today’s Keystone Brand Meats. Gary Jackson was the “voice of agriculture” on WIMA/WIMT radio and the Ohio Ag Net. Ron Spencer has been involved in farming and farm real estate since 1972. And H. G. Violet, Inc has been a steady source of agriculture related implements and supplies that date back to 1945 – today owned by Howard and Lora Violet.

The Allen County Agriculture Hall of Fame is celebrating its 11th induction class. According to the Chamber’s agri-business committee chair Russ Decker, “our goal with the Hall of Fame is to annually recognize local agriculturalists that have been instrumental to the success and excellence of agriculture in Allen County, either as a farmer or in an agricultural-related field. All of our 2023 inductees truly reflect the award’s purpose of honoring and giving public recognition to those who have brought distinction to themselves, have made outstanding contributions to their professions, and whose community involvement has served as a stimulus to others.”

  • /

By Avery Smith

Our Beaverdam Bunch 4-h group has been busy these past couple weeks! Many of our meetings consisted of demonstrations by all members in our group, booth ideas for the up coming fair, and finalizing projects as we all get ready to be judged.

With judging this past week, that concludes our meetings for the year. We have a few members that will be attending the state fair later this week to continue further judging.

A big thank you to all leaders and members who participated this year, and feel free to come visit the Beaverdam Bunch 4-H booth at the Allen county fair this year!

  • /

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Imagine a hot air balloon ascension in Bluffton years before the Wright brothers flew the first airplane.

Imagine Bluffton’s first-ever automobile to hit a speed of 50 miles per hour–114 years ago–as an enormous crowd watched in awe.

  • /

By Jami Koziel, RRT, CPFT
Pulmonary Services, Blanchard Valley Health System

Asthma is a heterogeneous respiratory disease–meaning it presents in many different ways–that affects an estimated 25 million Americans, with six million being children. The financial cost of asthma exceeds $81 billion every year and despite all the resources invested, asthma is responsible for over 3,500 deaths annually in the United States. The prevalence of asthma is proven to be higher among individuals of low socioeconomic status than among those with higher socioeconomic status. 

Generally, there has been a lack of priority in the effects and differences in asthma prevalence among populations as well as the response to therapies among racial and ethnic minorities. To illustrate, African American patients respond differently to corticosteroids in contrast with White patients. One study suggests Hispanic and non-Hispanic White children exhibit better responses to increasing therapy with Long-Acting Beta Agonist (LABA), rather than higher doses of Inhaled Corticosteroids (ICS), whereas African American children were less likely to respond to adding leukotriene receptor antagonists, and more likely to respond to increasing dosing of ICS.

  • /

Citizens National Bank (CNB) has named Kathi Amstutz as AVP/Branch Operations Coordinator. She replaces Margaret Thompson who recently retired. In this role Kathi works with the offices and operations department to bridge communication and make workflows easier for the customers and employees. Amy Yochum, VP Operations, states, “The level of experience and knowledge of operations Kathi brought to the bank made it an easy transition. I’m excited to see how Kathi will increase efficiencies through her new role.”

Kathi has dedicated 25 years to the banking industry, beginning as a teller and taking on new roles through the years. “I believe this position is what I have been training for. I’ve had guidance and leadership from some amazing coworkers, supervisors and mentors and now I’m able to apply that to my role in training, making our employees more confident so they’re prepared to serve our customers.”

Kathi believes in community involvement and is currently the Treasurer for the Putnam County Cancer Assistance Program, Treasurer for the Pandora-Gilboa School Boosters, Secretary for the Challenged Champions Equestrian Center Board, President for the ADAMS Board of Putnam County, and a member of the Pandora-Gilboa School Board. She resides outside of Gilboa with her husband, Ryan, on their family farm. She has two children, Mikaylie and Brennen. She’s excited to be part of the Bluffton community and looks forward to enhancing the customer experience people expect from CNB.

  • /

The Allen County Health Department will be offering a vaccine clinic for students in grades 7-12 at Bluffton Middle School, from 9:00-11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 9.

- Incoming 7th graders need Tdap and Meningococcal vaccines

- Incoming 12th graders need the Meningococcal vaccine.

In addition, the Allen County Health Dept. will have clinics in Lima at 219 E. Market St., on July 31, August 2 and August 3, from 8-11:30 a.m. and from 1:30-5:00 p.m. each day.

Please call 419-228-4457 for an appointment.
 

  • /

The following construction projects are anticipated to affect highways in Hancock County during the week of July 24. All outlined work is weather permitting.

Interstate 75 southbound between the village of Bluffton and the U.S. 68/SR 15 interchange in the city of Findlay will be restricted to the left (passing) lane on Wednesday, July 26, for pavement repairs.

U.S. 30 between State Route 235 and U.S. 68 will be restricted to the right (driving) lane for resurfacing. Work zone speed limits are in effect.

State Route 103 just east of State Route 698 may have temporary lane restrictions for culvert work.

  • /

By Karen Kier
Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

"How sweet it is" was a signature phrase of comedian and actor Jackie Gleason.  Born in Brooklyn, John Herbert Gleason became a success in several well-known shows such as The Honeymooners and The Jackie Gleason Show. His biography written by James Bacon was published in 1986. Jackie Gleason starred in several movies later in his life including The Hustler with Paul Newman and Smokey and Bandit with Burt Reynolds.

The Gleason signature phrase was the inspiration for the song How Sweet It Is (To be Loved by You) sung by Marvin Gaye. This American soul singer recorded and released the song on his fifth studio album in 1965. The song peaked at number six on the Billboard charts. James Taylor released a version of this song on his 1975 album titled Gorilla. His easy listening version hit number one on the charts.

How sweet it is explains why artificial sweeteners are popular for reducing calories in many foods and beverages. Artificial sweeteners can be 200 to 20,000 times sweeter than regular table sugar (sucrose) with little to no added calories.

Pages