Planter Parents Make a Difference

Orrville Pet Spa & Resort

Orrville Vet Clinic

I can't let this summer season go by without thanking a very special group of people whom I like to call our "Planter Parents".  We all know how much is said about the beautiful hanging baskets, but let's not forget the impact created by the 30 gorgeous street planters.  

The Blough Family

The planters actually belong to the city, but the Chamber partners with them to make sure they are filled with flowers.  This is the third year for our "Adopt-a-Planter" program.  The Chamber lines up the volunteers and makes the assignments.  Without a doubt it's the easiest recruitment process ever!  People practically line up at the door to be part of this downtown beautification effort.  It's almost magical.

The Hare Family

          

WCCF Credit Union

The Bloomin' Orrville program from the Main Street Orrville office prepares vouchers for the volunteers to take to Buchwalter's Greenhouse. They are assisted by staff people who answer questions and advise which plants will work best in the concrete planters sitting on concrete sidewalks surrounded by brick buildings and streets with heavy truck traffic.  Buchwalters also waters the planters at the same time they water the hanging baskets.  It takes them about two hours to get it all done.

Justin Haislip State Farm

As part of the Bloomin' Orrville program, all costs are covered by donations from the community, either through the utility bill options, outright contributions, or money collected in the white buckets.  It takes about $50 a year for each hanging basket and $25 for each planter. 

Jim & Cindy Webster

As you can see, it all happens in typical Orrville style, with lots of people pitching in to help.  Everyone seems to have a favorite planter to cheer on throughout the summer.  Now you'll know who to thank!

Evergreen Garden Club (4)

Other downtown businesses do their own thing to add to the summer color, such as The Will-Burt Company, Audrey's Attic, the United Way & Daily Record offices, Heartland Point, First National Bank, PNC Bank to name a few.  And of course we enjoy taking care of the landscaping here at the Chamber office, too!

Ann McPeek

Now, scroll on down to enjoy the rest of the flowers and to appreciate all of our awesome volunteers. Thank them when you see them.

AND -- Thank YOU for your support!   Jenni

Honored to Oblige - Thank You for Asking

When people come to visit Orrville and you want to show them around, where do you take them? The answer to this might vary a bit depending on variables such as whether or not there are children, antique lovers, or rumbling tummies in the group.  Regardless, we all know those certain hot spots that we always like to show off with pride.

On June 15 I had the very special privilege of being a one-hour tour guide for a group of about 10 people from Team Neo and JobsOhio, thanks to our friends Rod Crider and Shawn Starlin at Wayne Economic Development Council who invited me to serve as tour guide.

For this whirlwind tour of Orrville, the focus was on manufacturing.  The 8 x 6 handout at left was their welcome card. It was important for them to know about our economic development partners first and foremost.

They arrived from Wooster in a bus via the Back Orrville Road, so our tour began at the Scott's Company.  Then we headed east to Route 57, entering Orrville from the south.  You can follow the icons that were on the opposite side of the welcome card (shown at right) to see the route we took from there.

Each place we passed was indicated on the list by their logo and a paragraph of description.  This enabled our visitors to learn quickly about the diversification we have, and they could keep the card to remember what it was that they learned about Orrville, Ohio's manufacturing base.

Although I have known all my life that we have a lot of industry here for this size town, I was once again amazed as we passed by company after company, nearly all of them doing business on an international scale.  Seriously, it's nothing short of astounding.   And I do believe our visitors were rather incredulous.

The timing was great, too.  We were able to take them by the current Venture Products building on Mill Street, and shortly after swing through the new industrial park to view the site for their new state of the art facility that is about to spring forth. That was very cool.

There were a few non-manufacturing locations that I was able to share along the way such as Aultman Orrville Hospital, our downtown and The University of Akron Wayne College.  The route worked out well, too, for a quick point in the direction of the library, the schools, the Y and our condo and neighborhood developments.  It was great fun and I enjoyed every inch of it.  Thank YOU for making Orrville so easy to show!

If we weren't on the radar with these folks before, we are now.  Combined with all the impressive things they saw and learned about Wooster and Wayne County, I'm confident they'll know we truly are the heart of Ohio.

I Spy with My Orrville Eye...

Hopped in my car and took a quick spin around town to see what's new.  Didn't take me long to find much more than I expected.  So here goes...

I'm loving the new flag pole at Veteran's Park on the corner of W. Market and Depot Streets.  When the Leadership Orrville 2012 class first talked about making this one of their projects, I thought it was a "nice" idea.  After all, who doesn't like to see the American flag flapping in our local breezes?  But wow, once it was installed and the flag was raised, I was astounded what a huge impact it has on the entire scene as I enter the downtown coming from the west.  It draws much more attention to that lovely little corner park as well as to the museum and the depot.   Special thanks to class member Dick Smith, Superintendent of Distribution for Orrville Utilities, who masterminded the project.  And by the way, did you know that bell is from our original city hall?

Speaking of beautification projects, the flower baskets are up and the planters are in bloom.  This all happens thanks to Main Street Orrville's "Bloomin' Orrville" program.  For the second year the flowers at the gateway signs on Route 57 and Back Orrville Road are also included in the program.  The planters are all "adopted" by a great team of volunteers who plant and take care of them.  I hope you are among the many who support this program by adding a monthly fee to your utility bill or by sending in a donation.  Special thanks to Orrville Utilities for all their help.

New signs are in place at Aultman Orrville Hospital which makes the transition feel totally official. Sounds like everything is going great for our friends at our local hospital. 

I hadn't been to the industrial park for awhile.  It was the first I had seen the beautiful addition at Bekaert.  Certainly had heard about it, but am embarrassed to admit I hadn't driven by.

There was a real buzz of activity where the new Smith Dairy CNG filling station is being installed...

...and oh my goodness, scads of workers making things happen at the NEW industrial park.  Exciting things to come!

Newly owned White's Maibach Ford is having a grand opening sale.

Orrville High School is really shaping up.  Now I can envision just how big it will be!

I drove by the "coming soon" site for a new business downtown.  It's called  Lola, Cheech & Mooey's: Natural Pet Market, LLC.  Owners are Darrin and Stephanie Wasniewski.  

And of course there continues to be a great deal of amazing and exciting changes taking place in the N. Main Street block where Orrville Redevelopment is making things happen every day.  I went around back to get a view of the upgrades and hints of what's to come.  Wow!

While I'm talking about new things, allow me to introduce you to our new leadership program and logo.  I would love to tell you more about it.  Give me a call.
And HERE is the link to the application for the 2012-2013 class.


What's new with you?  Send info and photos to me, or let me know and I'll be around to snap a few.   I'm always happy to share your good news with your fellow Chamber members.

Jenni

About that green grass of ours.

Rehearse? Who needs to rehearse when you have the best possible players in place?

Eleven people agreed to participate in our interactive "Where the Grass Really is Greener" banquet program, without really knowing how it was going to happen, who else was going to speak or what the others were going to say.   As it turned out, it couldn’t have been scripted any better!  With Malinda Thomas from Wholesome Pet getting things started perfectly on just the right note and the way Jon Ritchie, Superintendent of Orrville City Schools nailed it in his conclusion, well, it all rolled out as the exact message we had hoped for.

Jim Davis, owner of Orrville Dairy Queen,  gave a great perspective on small city advantages, County Commissioner Scott Wiggam focused on the impact we have county wide, and Brian Gibson from White's Maibach, as a real newcomer, reminded us how unique we really are.   Steve Snyder from Bob Snyder Auto Exchange shared about their family success in Orrville, still going after 100 years.  Maria Hostetler from Nagy's Collision Center had an announcement about plans for growth which was a great example of growing in our green grass,  and Jack Rose from The Will-Burt Company had some spontaneous remarks about customer loyalty that really rang true.

Helen Meyers, Executive Director of the Orrville Area United Way, reminded us of our generosity, and Larry Meyers from Orrville Plumbing and Heating had a great message that was simply outstanding in such a real way. David Lehman from Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company can always be counted on to bring it all together for a deeper meaning. He did not disappoint, as he made us think about the green grass that grows seedlings into trees that flourish right here in our town.

Mayor Handwerk was the perfect person to be our roving reporter, interacting on the floor, adding just the right touch of interest, humor, history and sidebars. 

I have had so many people tell me how much they enjoyed the evening and the great feeling of partnerships, teamwork and community that they felt in the room that night.  Thanks for making that happen in such a very special way.  

With sincere appreciation to our sponsor The Scotts Company, to everyone who helped make this a great night, and to all who attended.

Jenni 

Pollyanna and Petula

My parents, Ethel and Harrold Johnson.

I've been called a lot of things and one of them is Pollyanna.  Guilty as charged. I can blame my parents for that, thank you very much. When it comes to seeing things on the the bright side, viewing the glass as half full and looking for the silver lining, they were role models supreme.  I learned at a young age to count my blessings and to understand that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.  At the same time I have to say that all of those ingrained habits also lead me to a clear realization that we are surely blessed in Orrville and Wayne County. Our Chamber Board agrees that you don't have to look far to find out that we are better off than many other towns. That's why our banquet theme is "Where the Grass Really is Greener", a slightly tongue in cheek twist to last year's "Where Progress and Tradition Meet" brand launch. 

Now here's the inside secret about the banquet for those of you who are reading this: If you so choose, you'll be given an opportunity to stand up and tell us why you agree that our grass really is greener. 

Here's how it will work.  We're going to have a little fun with a Greener Grass Guessing Game. A series of slides, each with six images, will ask the questions, "How are these alike, and how are they different?"  Once the audience has come up with the answers, our roving reporter (who looks a lot like Mayor Handwerk) will ask someone in that set of six to tell the rest of us why the grass is greener here for them. Then if others in the audience have something to share, (that's where you come in) we want to hear it.
 

Here is a sample of one of the slides.  Can you guess how these are the same, and which one is different? There might be more than one answer!  




We're looking forward to a great evening of honoring our triple crown COYs and applauding a number of very deserving others, too.  Bring your thoughts along with you as we plan to have fun with this open forum of ideas and sharing about our green grass world.

Petula and I look forward to seeing you,

Jenni