Christmas holiday festive lighting.

Why Urban Woody Brewery stopped organizing Christmas events in Fostoria – LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Dear Editor,

With all the disappointment surrounding the city’s tree lighting, it’s worth remembering how these events were handled in previous years. From 2021–2023, the local brewery voluntarily took on the full responsibility of organizing the tree lighting so it would align with the Christmas card display they had launched in 2020 — with little to no assistance from the city.

That small business personally provided:

• The electric for the card display

• The supplies and manpower needed to set it up

• S’mores, fire rings, and fire extinguishers for the tree lighting

• And the ongoing time and effort required to coordinate the everything and maintain the month-long card display All of this was done with very few volunteers.

Despite limited help, the events were extremely well-attended because other local businesses were invited to participate. For example, the tree lightings: Java’s sat up a tent and donated hot cocoa and cider, Dunkin Donuts donated several dozen donuts and students from the high school choir or a local girl scout troop sang carols.

During the 2023 Christmas window display, there were numerous businesses who participated. All of the participants contributed their own time and resources simply to help make Fostoria shine. By the final year of the card display, over 100 businesses and organizations were involved. Once again, many stepped up—donating time, effort, and money to create something special for the community.

A fair question many people have asked is why the owners of The UrbanWoody Brewery eventually stopped organizing these events. From what is understood, their efforts to improve the community were met with negativity and a lack of appreciation, making it unsurprising that they stepped away. Running a small business, working full time jobs, and volunteering countless hours—only to be criticized—would discourage anyone.

It’s easy for people to share ideas about how things “should” be done, or events that should happen – but the follow-through is often lacking. Going forward, the city needs to make a stronger effort to include local businesses in community events, and the community needs to support the businesses and the people behind those businesses who dedicate their time and resources to make community events possible—before we reach a point where there are no events left at all, which is already happening.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

Dear Editor: I am writing to endorse Judge Best for November 7. She is the BEST choice.

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Dear Editor:

I am writing to endorse Judge Best for November 7. She is the BEST choice. She has held the job since last December and has done a fine job. Judge Best stepped up when there was a vacancy in the Court, leaving a long and successful career in prosecution to fill a need in the community for a fair, honest, and ethical Judge. In less than a year, she has addressed many of the issues in Municipal Court. She has restored Municipal Court’s involvement with the PIVOT Court. Along with Judge Alt and Judge Shuff, Judge Best helps offenders become productive citizens of Seneca County. Judge Best works hard for the community. Over 5000 cases have been through Municipal Court since the beginning of her tenure, including traffic tickets, criminal matters, and civil cases. The vast majority of these cases were handled by Judge Best. Municipal Court has an extremely busy docket. Ethically, she had to abstain from some cases because they were cases that she was actively prosecuting when appointed. The Code of Judicial Conduct requires such action to protect the rights of the involved parties and requires the assignment of visiting judges assigned by the Supreme Court in those cases. She attended two weeks of mandatory Ohio Supreme Court training sessions for new judges and kept the Court running during that time through the use of visiting judges. Without those judges, the Court could not process any cases during those required training days, as Judge Best was appointed to a Court without a magistrate, like our other Courts.

Looking at this further, you will see that this saved Seneca County funds. A full time magistrate requires full time pay and benefits. The use of visiting judges only cost the City of Tiffin (the budget for the Court is through Tiffin) and Seneca County less than $11,000. Some magistrate salaries exceed $100,000. In past years, Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court has paid more than that solely for Acting Judges. For conflict cases, which every Judge in a small community will have, all Judges are required to request Visiting Judges, even when they have acting judges or magistrates. Anyone stating otherwise could be either disingenuous or misinformed. It appears, based on statements that the democrat opponent of Judge Best has publicly made, that perhaps he simply wants to confuse the voters into thinking there is an issue where there is none. Judge Best has dedicated her career to public service. She often uses her life as an example to others for what hard work can achieve. She is truly an example of the American dream where everyone is allowed to aim high and achieve
 their goals.

I encourage you to vote for Judge Best on or before November 7 so that she can continue to make the important improvements to our Municipal Court.

Susan Platt
President of Seneca County Republican Women