Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Museum's capital campaign under way

By Amy Kronenberger
WAPAKONETA - The Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum's capital campaign received a jump start last week, thanks to three local businesses.
Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, and G.A. Wintzer and Son Co. and the Telephone Service Company, both of Wapakoneta, made the first pledges totaling $40,000 toward the museum's capital campaign goal of $150,000.
The money will fund construction of a sign on I-75 to attract more visitors to the museum and a picnic pavilion and garage on the center's north lawn.
The new Tranquility Base Picnic Pavilion will house up to 16 picnic tables in a covered area and will feature information about the museum and community.
"We hope that the pavilion will be available for civic organizations, businesses and families to host summer celebrations," museum executive director Chris Burton said. "Tranquility Base Picnic Pavilion will be a focal point of the community."
Burton hopes the pavilion will be available for the Summer Moon Festival in July. Construction of the I-75 sign is hoped to begin soon, he said.
The museum will begin phase two of the fundraiser by launching a mail campaign to businesses in St. Marys, Wapakoneta and the Golden Triangle.
For the campaign's final stage, the museum plans to "really take it to the public," Burton said. The campaign committee plans to install fundraising thermometers throughout the community, so the public can follow the progress, he said.
Anyone interested in contributing to the campaign should contact the museum at 419-738-8811 or info@armstrongmuseum.org.
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CELINA - Algaeventure Systems, the Marysville-based company conducting the silica test on Grand Lake and researching how to turn algae into a biofuel, now has an office at 1049 West Bank Road. [More]
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An anticipated reduction in county appropriations won't be as steep as originally thought, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District board members and employees found out Wednesday.
New Bremen
NEW BREMEN - The New Bremen Local Schools board of education learned Wednesday that plans are being formulated for anticipated Race to the Top funding.
VAN WERT - The body of the elderly Van Wert woman who was strangled to death nearly two weeks ago was found that night by her daughter - the mother of the murder suspect.
COLDWATER - A deficit cash balance of $1.24 million is projected for Coldwater schools in fiscal year 2014 as future state funding is nebulous.
But Superintendent Rich Seas and other school officials believe they have been responsible and accountable with spending.
ST. HENRY - A 78-year-old St. Henry man pleaded not guilty to five counts of gross sexual imposition involving juveniles during an Oct. 6 appearance in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
ST. MARYS - In light of recent bullying incidents around the country, St. Marys High School has implemented a new freshmen mentoring program with hopes to stop bullying in the school.
Now that the regular season for high school football is only three weeks from completion, it becomes possible to start predicting where teams will end up in the final computer points.
Sure, the lop-sided 58-14 loss to Kenton last week was embarrassing to Celina players, coaches and fans.
However, Celina can't let that one loss linger and derail what has already been a special season for the Bulldogs.
Impact Game of the Week:
Marion Local at Coldwater
The annual matchup has almost always had an impact in the MAC title and playoff race for both teams.