Notes From The Vineyard
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 Bottle Night (OTBN). The concept behind OTBN is exactly why...
Windham Library Opens at RFC
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 Family Center (RFC). The hours to the library have changed...
Hiram Village Council Meeting
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 motion was passed as were the minutes from the...
A Message To Our Readers
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 controversial. We do our best to report the facts. Our...
Rotary Family Week Promises to Warm Up Winter
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 empower the family runs from Sunday, February 20 – Saturday,...
Boot Camp Begins
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 shape for the upcoming summer. The point is that you...
Village Council News
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 of February’s meeting were approved with one minor correction to...
JAG Freshman Named Athlete of the Week on WEWS
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 on Tuesday night to video and interview the freshman soccer...
Freedom Township Trustee News
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 vehicle from his property. Trustees approved turning the problem over...
Neighboring Schools Rival for a Cause
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 Mike Chaffee took over as the principal of Windham Schools,...
In The Business of Hope
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 the office started organizing the information. The Coalition was established in...
Windham Welcomes Monica’s Café
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 that she had always wanted to have her own restaurant...
Mantua K of C Free Throw Winner Continues On!
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 later in February. Eight participants from the Mantua area were...
G-Men Classic A Rolling Success
Garrettsville - The First Annual G-Men Classic High School Bowling Tournament was held on Saturday, January 29th at SkyLanes. A packed house of hundreds watched sixteen teams consisting of the top boys and girls in Northeast Ohio bowl for the championship trophy in each division. The boys from Massillon Perry defeated Garfield in the finals while the Hubbard girls (pictured) dominated...
Mantua Youth Wrestling Dominates Tournament
Mantua - Mantua Youth Wrestling took First Place at the Portage Lakes Varsity Tournament on Saturday, January 22, 2011. This tournament was a six team round robin that included: Springfield, Coventry, Akron Copley, Portage Lakes Wrestling Club and Barberton. This was the first time in Mantua Youth Wrestling’s history that the team won 1st place overall. The team was lead by...
Artwork Earns Second Place For Howell
Windham - The students in Windham High Schools’ Design & Illustration classes participated in the NAACP Art Show as a part of the organization’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast held in Kent , Ohio. All Portage county students were invited to contribute artwork depicting Dr. King’s life and legacy. The artwork of Sherry Corley, Kyle McManus, Kaitlyn Nagy, and...
Nelson Township Launches Website
Nelson Township - The Nelson Township trustees met for their regularly scheduled meeting with the fiscal officer and two of the three trustees present. Trustee Bill Wilson was unavailable. Fiscal officer Dave Finney presented bills and wages to be approved. Finney also stated that the first electronic IRS payment for withholdings had been sent and that because of his...
Lions Host Windham Mayor
Windham - The Windham Lions Club recently invited Windham Mayor Rob Donham to give an outline of what the village plans for the future are. An interesting talk was enjoyed by the members as the mayor took them from his inauguration to present day Windham. His remarks reassured everyone present that the Village was moving away from old ways...
Newton Township Meeting
Newton Township - The January meeting of the Board of Trustees opened at 7:30pm with all members present. Business was as usual with reports from the zoning director, the sheriff’s department, and cemetery news. The road crew reported two new street signs and two stop signs that had been stolen and replaced, as well as general plowing and salting...
Windham Historical Society News
Windham - The Windham Historical Society has become the repository of many of the artworks of world famous woodcarver Huber King, who spent his entire life in Windham. King received numerous awards in juried competitions, including his American Bicentennial carving, pictured above, which he boldly entered into a British woodcarving show in 1976.The carvings are the donation of his...
Windham Trustees Hold Public Meeting
Windham Township - The Windham Township Trustees held a public meeting prior to their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss proposed zoning changes. The zoning proposal brought out about 25 residents who wanted to have their say about the zoning issues. After about an hour of discussing flag lots, lot sizes, square footage allowances, frontage, variances and other property use...
Rotary Report
Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary caught a glimpse into an appalling abyss with Roger Cram’s presentation on the hidden world of human trafficking, something that few are aware of and fewer still wish to acknowledge, confront or take adequate measures to end. While calling the U.S, “the ostrich nation”, he offered statistics on the numbers of street kids, illegal immigrants, homeless persons...
Enough Is Enough!!
I’ve had enough! Enough of eating fast food because I am too tired to cook after a long day. Enough of doing the funky Egyptian chicken dance around the bedroom after I put on my jeans just so I can breath. Enough of being tired and run down all the time. I have definitely had enough of getting winded...
New Truck For Village Of Garrettsville
Garrettsville - The Village of Garrettsville recently purchased a 2011 Ford F550 4X4 Dump Truck which will replace the 1974 Ford F700. This is the first dump truck the Village has purchased since 2001. The ‘74 F700 will be offered for auction on Ebay for anyone interested. On the agenda for 2011 are the replacement of the police department’s...
Garrettsville Area Chamber News
Garrettsville - Roger and Connie Angel opened the doors of Dairy Queen early Wednesday morning as they hosted the first meeting of the Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce for 2011. A review of the treasurer’s report was first up and it was announced that the sale of the 2011 Chamber calendars had netted $700 towards the flower basket fund. Aaron provided...
Contentious Hiram Annexation Battle Continues
Hiram - After lengthy delays since mid-November, Portage County Commissioners finally held hearings to consider the annexation of approximately139 acres from Hiram Township to Hiram Village last week. The proposed annexation would pave the way for private developers to build retirement housing on the parcel of land originally set aside for Hiram College expansion. Hiram College and Village Builders of...
Awards Banquet Held for Police Department
Newton Falls - The officers of the Newton Falls Police Department were honored Friday during an annual awards ceremony luncheon held at the Covered Bridge Restaurant’s banquet hall. Department members and invited guests gathered to recap the various events of 2010 and to give tribute to the everyday heroes in blue who protect the city. Among those city officials...
Quiz Masters Make The Grade
Garrettsville - Bulletin: the James A. Garfield Quiz Masters appeared this past Saturday on the WEWS Channel 5 Academic Challenge program at 7:00. Interesting mix of competitors--Indian Valley (Gnadenhutten, Tuscarawas County), Canton Central Catholic and Garfield. Quite an extensive viewing area the station has from which to draw participation. It was a “Great Battle of the Brains” whereby the...
Miller’s Family Restaurant Relocating
Garrettsville - The rumors have been spreading like wildfire. Yes, it is true. Now that the ink is dry, Monica has given us her blessing to let you know that it is official -- Miller’s Family Restaurant will be moving to a new location. Miller’s, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary in December 2010, was started by Monica Miller and...
Newton Falls Special Council Meeting
Newton Falls - The council members gathered at the community center with the mayor, city manager, and city clerk last week for a special work session. The law director was not present. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Waddell opened the workshop, instructing those present that this was a time to put ideas and questions on the open table and...
