Hiram Township
Hiram Township will continue to have 100 Village of Hiram police patrol hours per month. That was a contract that, when originally established, was 60 hours per month.
“This keeps the community a lot safer,” township Trustee Debra Blake said. “We’ve had speeding troubles on Pioneer Trail, Limeridge Road and Vaughn Road. They’ve made some traffic stops and handed out some citations to slow down the traffic there. The complaints have decreased, and actually we get some compliments from people calling us saying it feels a little safer.”
Hiram Township purchased a new Chevrolet pickup truck for the road department. The cost was approximately $40,000.
“We were able to get a good trade-in on the old truck,” Blake said, “so it made a little dent in that $40,000.
The township is considering changing its street lights to LED and received a quote from Ohio Edison for $7,942.
Said Blake, “The savings would be about 40-50 percent on our electric bill.”
Village of Hiram
The Village of Hiram has reached a three-year agreement with Hiram College to continue to provide free parking in the village rather than have a pay-to-park system, which the village had been considering. The college will provide an annual stipend of $40,000 to the village.
The Hiram Historical Society hosted a well-attended event Nov. 1, All Saints Day, in which members of the Hiram Christian Church enjoyed a story hour as well as engaged with nationally known spiritual medium Robert Painley in the Century House. Painley, who was born and raised in Hiram Township, shared numerous stories about some of the interesting buildings in town.
Garrettsville
Garrettsville’s annual Santa Pub Crawl, a fundraiser for next year’s Garrettsville Summerfest, will be Saturday, Dec. 7. It will start at Skylane Bowling at 8311 Windham St. Registration is at 2 p.m., and the Crawl begins at 3 p.m.
“People will wear their ugliest Christmas outfits,” event organizer Aaron King said. “They’ll go around to four stops – three bars and VP Realty – and they’ll get a playing card at each one, with the best poker hand at the end winning a $150 cash prize.”
A dinner catered by Cal’s Restaurant at 6 p.m. at the bowling alley will conclude the evening.
The village’s annual tree lighting and clock tower lighting will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30. Santa Claus will come by fire truck. Mrs. Claus will be there, too.
“Usually cookies and hot chocolate are provided by McDonald’s,” Mayor Rick Patrick said. “A local group from a high school will lead people in Christmas carols.”
Village of Mantua
The Village of Mantua’s annual community Christmas tree-lighting event will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30 on the green space on Main Street downtown. There will be complimentary hot chocolate, popcorn and ornament crafts for kids. Santa Claus will be there. The official lighting will take place around 6 p.m.
The annual Merry Evening in the Village will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5. The downtown stores and restaurants will stay open late. There will be carriage rides, a cookie walk, carolers, and a farmers and makers market.
There will be a Christmas makers market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30 at Restoration 44 Coffee Company. The coffee shop is located at 10675 Main St.
The 25th annual Turkey Trot will take place at 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 28 at Advanced Rehabilitation & Health Specialists at 4707 Mill St. Usually, it is a 5K run.
A senior citizens exercise class is held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays at Buchert Memorial Park’s lodge. The class promotes staying active and independent living.
The Portage County District Library Bookmobile is set up from noon to 2 p.m. every Wednesday for the foreseeable future at Buchert Memorial Park’s lodge.
Mantua Township
The Mantua Center Christian Church will hold a Christmas craft bazaar from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at Mantua Center School. The school is located at 11741 Mantua Center Rd. There will be food for sale and a 50/50 raffle.
