Community improvement awards presented
Jesse Fischer received the community improvement award for the upgrades at the River View Community Park at the quarterly chamber of commerce luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Also pictured is Amy Stockdale, executive director of the chamber. Beth Scott | Beacon
Jandi Adams received the community improvement award for the new Scarecrow Town Festival at the quarterly chamber luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Also pictured is Amy Stockdale, executive director of the chamber. Beth Scott | Beacon
COSHOCTON – The River View Community Park and Clary Gardens received community improvement awards during the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce Luncheon held on Oct. 22, at Frontier Power, in the community room.
The park’s award was accepted by board member Jesse Fischer, who said the $97,000 worth of improvements they recently made were to the basketball courts.
“In 24 years the courts have not had additional work done on them,” Fischer said. “With a grant from the Coshocton Foundation and some forward thinking when we sold timber we were able to do this. It’s a big deal for us. It’s a project we are really excited about.”
Clary Gardens was presented with its award for expanding its scarecrow trail into the city and working with the Coshocton Visitor’s Bureau to plan the Scarecrow Town Festival set for Oct. 26 in Downtown Coshocton.
“We are so excited about this,” said Jandi Adams, director of Clary Gardens. “This is our fourth year doing the scarecrow trail, but our first expanding into the city. It’s been so much fun.”
The luncheon was all about sharing positive news. After the awards were presented chamber members were able to take a turn sharing what is happening with their business or organization.
Amy Stockdale, executive director of the chamber of commerce, started everyone off by sharing that they recently hosted the annual manufacturing day for high school juniors and seniors.
“It’s a great day,” she said. “The skilled trades are so important. There are jobs within our community. We need to get kids who graduate to look at Coshocton and coming back home to work.”
This month they also will host a healthcare and first responder day that includes activities like learning to take stitches out of a hot dog and spending time in COTC’s nursing lab.
“We need our kids to understand that there are great programs and jobs in Coshocton,” Stockdale said.
Bob Bigrigg from Century National Bank announced that the Tom Thompson Memorial he was part of was officially dedicated. The memorial is by the baseball field at Lake Park, where Thompson spent a lot of time serving in different capacities during his lifetime.
“I want to thank the community for its wholehearted participation in this project,” he said.
Sherri Gibson, business liaison with Ohio Means Jobs Coshocton County, said our county’s unemployment is pretty low right now at 5.7 percent. Her office is aware of 91 full-time jobs and 17 part-time jobs that are currently open. Lots of seasonal jobs also are available nearby in surrounding counties.
Danny Brenneman, director of job and family services, said they are seeing the lowest number of people on some type of public assistance program than they have in quite some time.
“That is a good sign as far as the economy,” he said. “At the end of this year, if the trend we are seeing continues, we also will see a reduction in the number of child welfare cases. That’s the first time I can say that in several years. I hope that stays true.”
Mindy Brems, executive director at the Coshocton Visitor’s Bureau, said her office recently won an award for innovation in travel marketing.
“It was for our concept of combining tourism information with locally made products,” she said.
The CVB rebranded its store in Roscoe Village, the Coshocton Supply Co., which provides tourists and residents with unique products made right here in the county.
Stephanie Conn from Coshocton Regional Medical Center encouraged everyone in attendance to get their flu shot.
“We are seeing influenza much earlier this year than we have in past years,” she said.
The hospital is in the process of working with Aultman Cardiac Consultant Group to bring cardiac care closer to home. They also are developing a pulmonary service line.
Coshocton City Mayor Steve Mercer and Safety Service Director Max Crown were the last to speak. Mercer said they are adding pickleball courts to Hall Park, which will be one of the city’s premier parks. Crown said their paving season has ended and they are now preparing for leaf collection.
Fischer, who is a member of the chamber’s executive committee, wrapped up the meeting.
“This is my favorite meeting of the year because we get to hear from all of you about the positives happening in our county,” he said. “Take what you heard from here and spread the good news.”
Category: Business
