Staff Reporter

March is around the corner and that means the March Maple Madness Driving Tour is ready to roll.  The tour is sponsored by the Ohio Maple Producers Association and maple producers across Ohio.  The event takes place March 12 & 13, 19 & 20, from 10 a.m. to 5...

Garrettsville – Charles Chevrolet is supporting the Garrettsville community through a partnership with Garrettsville Baseball League. The dealership will provide baseball equipment, instructional clinics, a monetary donation, and an opportunity to raise an additional $10,000 in funds through a Chevy vehicle giveaway-fundraiser.  The effort by Charles Chevrolet is part...

Summerfest Wedding Deadline April 29 The Summerfest committee is accepting entries for couples who would like to get married or renew their vows at Summerfest 2011. Send your story on why you would like to be Summerfest’s First Couple to: Summerfest’s First Couple, c/o Weekly Villager, PO Box 331, Garrettsville, OH...

Windham - Recently the students of Windham Junior and Senior High Schools had a canned food drive to benefit the Windham Salvation Army.  The students collected over 300 canned goods and raised $120.  As a reward for reaching their goals, the students were treated to a demonstration from the...

Burton – Do you long for the taste of real homemade baked goods made with fresh ingredients from scratch?  If so, Countryside Home Bakery located at 17075 Mumford Road is the place to go.  Countryside Home Bakery offers many different types of baked goods such as breads, dinner rolls,...

Burton - Division III of the annual Friends of the Burton Public Library Chess Tournament was completed Saturday, February 19, by 7 participants from northeast Ohio. One player, Nathan Ferris, a 12th grade Perry High School student won all four of his games and the first place medal. Two players scored...

I apologize for no bowling article last week; I was bowling in the Ohio Women’s Intercity Tournament last weekend in Sandusky.   We had a great time (and I bowled fairly well).  So this time I have two weeks of scores to report. This week’s high series was rolled by Kim...

Garrettsville -  It’s gonna be sweet! ...Not just the edible set of candy confections, but the entire production of “Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, the spring musical taking the James A. Garfield High School stage April 7-10. Come and see how Violet Beauregarde morphs into the Blueberry Girl,...

Mantua - The Mantua-Shalersville Area Chamber of Commerce met on February 16, 2011. The featured business was GoRilla Productions of Mantua. Owner Brent Simon offers custom web design, web maintenance, website tune-ups, and multimedia production. He offers quality services at prices that are affordable. Crestwood School District is happy to...

Nelson Twp. - Nelson Township Trustees met for their regularly scheduled meeting with about ten residents in attendance. Fiscal officer Mr. Finney presented bills and wages to the trustees; after reviewing them they approved the affidavits. The trustees noted that the windows at the community house were installed and...

Garrettsville - The break in winter weather we experienced last week was just what ODOT needed to take the wraps off the State Route 82 Bridge and re-open it to vehicle traffic... nine months after the old bridge was closed for demolition and reconstruction. The new, rolled steel frame bridge...

Garrettsville - True artists are said to look at the world differently. They tap into that side of themselves that allows them to find beauty and melody in things that other people just see as objects. Vox Voronet is a band made up of four musical artists who derived...

You’ve still got time to get to some Family Week activities sponsored by the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club. Friday, February 25 is Friday Night Out.  Take your whole troop to one or more of the local activities-bowling skating, dining, etc.--featured in the Villager pages.  Make an evening of it.  Connect.  Enjoy. Saturday,...

Hiram - Hiram College’s Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature invites you to attend a convocation with poet and essayist Rebecca McClanahan on March 1, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the Pritchard Room of Hiram College Library. Rebecca McClanahan has published nine books, most recently Deep Light: New and Selected...

Summerfest Wedding Deadline April 29 The Summerfest committee is accepting entries for couples who would like to get married or renew their vows at Summerfest 2011. Send your story on why you would like to be Summerfest’s First Couple to: Summerfest’s First Couple, c/o Weekly Villager, PO Box 331, Garrettsville, OH...

Mantua - About 400 parents, teachers, current and incoming high school students attended Crestwood High School’s first ever 8th Grade Information night, Feb. 15 at Crestwood High School. Forty-five different high school groups participated in the event, ranging from academics to extra-curricular and co-curricular subjects. Many of the tables...

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and while we celebrated with wine we still have some special bottles to open. Thankfully, there is still one more holiday in February that will force us to open our special bottles. I am really looking forward to my favorite holiday this month...Open That...

Windham - The wait is finally over for the patrons of the Windham branch of the Portage County District Library. Last Thursday, the library opened to débuted its new facility after being closed for about a month. The library is now located at 9005 Wil-Vern Drive inside the Renaissance...

Hiram – All council members were present during the February 8th council meeting except Councilperson Donley.  At 7 pm, Mayor Bertrand called the meeting to order.  After a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance, the Mayor asked for approval of the 1/25/11 Special Council Meeting minutes and...

The Weekly Villager has prided itself on covering local area news for over 30 years. Our readers look to our paper to provide stories that have meaning to each community.  We also pride ourselves on being a family-friendly newspaper. Our reporters cover meetings and events, many of which can be...

Garrettsville - Just when it appears that there will be no end to stagnating winter doldrums, Family Week breaks up the monotony with live entertainment, contests, dinners out, a health fair and carnival of fun. Sponsored by the Garrettsville-Hiram chapter of the Rotary Club, this annual weeklong celebration to...

So did you make it down to the Community EMS Boot Camp last Saturday? Why not? You still have time to join in the effort to shaping up our community. Joining doesn’t mean you have to lose weight, maybe you would like to simply tone up or get into...

Garrettsville – Village Council opened their monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 10th  with Mayor Moser  recognizing Council President Rick Patrick’s half-century birthday; they then got down to business.  The mayor, five council members, the village solicitor & clerk-treasurer were all in attendance (councilwoman Karen Clyde was absent).  The minutes...

Garrettsville - Brian Gorby is a proud father. And he has every right to be. His son, Travis, has been selected as McDonald’s Student Athlete of the Week, representing the Greater Cleveland/Northeast Ohio area. A television news crew from WEWS Channel 5 traveled to the Garrettsville G-Plex sports complex...

Summerfest Wedding Deadline April 29 The Summerfest committee accepting entries for couples who would like to get married or renew their vows at Summerfest 2011. Send your story on why you would like to be Summerfest’s First Couple to: Summerfest’s First Couple, c/o Weekly Villager, PO Box 331, Garrettsville, OH 44231...

Freedom Twp. - Highlights of the February 3, 2011 Trustee meeting were: Mr. Tom Mesaros was appointed to the Zoning Commission for a one-year term. Zoning Inspector Derthick reported one permit issued for a new single family home.  A resident on St. Rt. 700 has not responded about removing an unlicensed...

Rivalries have been around for years and many times the rivalries brings out the not so good in people. Folks get so caught up in the rivalry they have a tendency to be more negative than positive, but that has been changed recently with the Garrettsville–Windham Rivalry. Last fall when...

Portage County - At the January meeting of the Portage County Suicide Prevention Coalition, one of our members said, “We are in the business of hope.” The comment came after the Portage County Coroner’s report that showed 2010 as the highest year on record for completed suicides since 1980 when...

Windham - Monica’s Café is slated to open early February 2011 in the old T&J’s Restaurant located in the Shops of Windham next to the Sparkle Market in Windham.  The first question I asked owner Monica Welton was why a restaurant in this economy, and why now? Monica responded...

Mantua - Meghan Sara of Mantua won the Girls 10 year old division while representing the K of C Mantua Council # 3766 at a recent District level of competition in Kent.  Meghan will receive a medallion for her success and an invitation to the Regional level in Warren...