Mogadore
Mogadore’s annual “Christmas in the Village” will take place from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 in the center of the village.
Special events will include ice skating on an iceless ice rink, visits with Santa Claus, a holiday ice sculpture and a mystery prize giveaway. The Mogadore Branch Library will provide cookies and hot chocolate and have activities such as holiday crafts, magic with the Michael Mage Experience and balloon animals with Rick Everhart. Mogadore High School and Middle School will have holiday crafts, cotton candy and face painting. The Mogadore Historical Society will have activities like train displays at the depot, Christmas stocking stuffers and walks through the museum. The Mogadore Fire Department will have “Explore the Fire Truck” and ice cream sundaes.
Meanwhile, the Village of Mogadore Municipal Building will provide things such as snacks and train rides from Little Roaming Railroad. The Community Life Church will have a giant toboggan slide, beautiful sounds of Christmas music and warming stations. The Mogadore Police Department will have “Fill a Cruiser” with non-perishable food items and hot dogs. El Pastorcito will provide churros and hot chocolate.
Concluding the day will be a holiday sing-along at the gazebo with the high school choir and a tree-lighting ceremony by Mayor Mike Rick on a Christmas tree provided by the Mogadore Lions Club.
Write a letter to Santa, and the village will make sure that it gets to the North Pole. Letters can be written and dropped off at the library. Letters must include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a letter back from Santa and must be received no later than Saturday, Dec. 14.
Mogadore Village Council approved legislation to apply for a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to pursue the third and final phase of the walking trail at Lions Community Park. The projected cost would be between $100,000 and $125,000. The trail would start at Hale Street and travel all the way through the front of the park past the playground and end up connecting to the existing trail that was put in last year.
Suffield
The Suffield League’s annual “Welcome Santa” will be Sunday, Dec. 8 at Suffield Town Hall at 1262 Waterloo Rd. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and Santa will arrive on a fire truck at 6 p.m. Light snacks, punch and coffee will be available.
Suffield Township is holding its fifth annual “Suffield Tour of Lights” contest. People can find a map of participating homes and can vote on the best lights display by going to “Suffield Tour of Lights” on Facebook. There are signs in participants’ yards that say they are part of the tour. The winner will be announced Sunday, Dec. 8 at the winner’s home. A trophy, a gift card and another sign in the winner’s yard that shows they won will be awarded.
Ellison Performance: Sports Performance Training and Adult Weight Loss opened recently at 1137 state Route 43. Classes and personal training are available. For more information, call 919-327-7948.
Atwater
Atwater Township Trustee Thora Green attended the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) 2024 General Assembly Meeting in November. NOPEC will be holding the Electric Standard Program price steady at 6.499 cents/KWH from January to May 2025 meter read dates. There are new fixed rates for 12- or 24-month fixed terms. Go to nopec.org to view rates, or call the customer care center at 855-667-3201.
The Atwater Township Trustees continue to finalize obligating the remaining CARES act (ARPA) monies. These have included such items as working on Town Hall acoustics, an AED to be placed in Town Hall, LED lighting for the Atwater Fire Department, resealing the fire department’s driveway and the chip-and-seal of the Town Hall parking lot in 2025.
The Portage County Land Bank notified Atwater Township that a grant has been received for the razing of the property at 1517 Whittlesey Ave. The proposed timeline is the end of December/first of January.
Jeremiah Willis completed his Eagle Scout project by installing a new sign for the German Reformed Cemetery along with leading a crew of scouts that worked on trimming and cleaning up the landscape.
There will be a township board of trustees meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10 immediately followed by the 2025 organizational meeting, both at Atwater Town Hall at 1219 state Route 183. The year-end board of trustees meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30, also at Town Hall.
Randolph
The Randolph Township Trustees are still working with Portage County on finalizing the blueprints for the pavilion and bathrooms at Old School Park.
“When that’s done we can put it out for bid,” township Trustee John Lampe said.
