by Isabella Carwile | Apr 19, 2024 | Community, Property Development
PAULDING – The John Paulding VFW Post #587 has announced a new veterans memorial that will be established in the village. The monument will face the corner of US127 and Caroline Street and is designed to honor all veterans and branches of the military. The main monument is the centerpiece of the memorial that features three towering granite pillars and a life size bronze eagle. There will be six granite memorials honoring the service branches of the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force. It will then have two additional memorials honoring Gold Star Families and Combat Wounded Veterans, along with a bronze battle cross memorial and three commercial grade flagpoles holding the flag of the United States of America, the Ohio State flag, and the Prisoner of War flag.
The memorial will be built at 220 N. Williams Street, facing northeast, so it will be viewed by passing cars going south on US127. This is the current site of the former Church of Christ and more recently Faith Alive Church building.
The Paulding VFW team has invested extensive time in sharing insight and aesthetic goals for the monument, working with Homier Monumental in Defiance, Ohio, in designing a plan that was recently revealed to the public.
VFW Post #587 Commander John Daeger stated, “Our post members wanted to give the Paulding community a memorial that would provide suitable recognition of their citizens who served in the military. The proposal, provided by Homier’s Monumental, exceeded everyone’s expectations. Upon our first review, we were awestruck. It took a while for us to fully absorb all the unique features of the veterans memorial. Once completed, the memorial will be a prominent feature of downtown Paulding and something for our future generations to respect and cherish.”
The site of the memorial was made in part by many collaborative discussions prior to the VFW team involvement. Paulding County Economic Development Director Tim Copsey shared, “The PCED office was tasked with trying to find a building for a new church organization that has grown in the Paulding village some time ago. We talked with the owner of this church building and scheduled some walk though visits. We brought in church members and then contractors to see what it would take to rehab the structure to a clean and safe environment. The deeper we looked the more we found that needed to be remediated, to the point that no one could afford the purchase and investment and still see a return on investment.”
The largest remediation issues, pointed out by two different contractors, included: roof, ceiling, HVAC, and lead paint issues, in addition to a heavy black mold presence in the basement area. It was at this point ownership was interested in working with the Paulding County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) to see what options were available.
“Once it was agreed there was not going to be an investment into the building, and the Land Bank was asked to get involved. They provided the necessary funding for the demolition and removal of the church structure. However, the Land Bank was not interested in taking on this project just to tear down a building and have another empty lot in town. The Land Bank wanted to have a purposeful and positive end use for this site. The timing of the VFW team asking about available sites in the village could not have come at a better time.” Copsey continued.
The Paulding VFW team had been working on their own for quite some time discussing different options and sizes for memorials. The catch continually seemed to be where the memorial(s) would be located. A casual inquiry from Jon Snodgrass with Copsey, and a follow up conversation by VFW committee member John Daeger led to final discussion about the pending opportunity to place the memorial on this site.
Daeger shared, “In the initial stages of our project, our post members spent hours searching Paulding for locations for the veteran’s memorial without success. Just when we were about ready to terminate the project, we were contacted by Tim Copsey who inquired if we would be interested in the church property. It only took us a couple heartbeats to respond yes, and to request additional information. Since our first meeting with the Land Bank, Paulding County Area Foundation (PCAF) and the Paulding Fraternal Order of Eagles, the VFW has been totally overwhelmed by the level of support and interest of everyone we spoke with. What started as a dream, has now turned into something that is very achievable.”
There are many incredible individuals and various entities working toward the end goal of a meaningful and beautiful memorial. Included in that is the Village of Paulding. Through initial design drawings and revisions, the village has been instrumental in discussing pieces of sidewalk development and potential upgrade of the adjoining city owned parking lot to the south of this site.
“The Village of Paulding is very excited about the new Veterans Memorial. We believe it’s a wonderful project that will honor those who have served our country worldwide, and also in remembrance of those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom.” Commented Village of Paulding Mayor Greg White.
Fundraising for the project has already begun. In yet further collaboration, the Paulding Fraternal Order of Eagles has made a significant initial donation to kick off the $250,000+ fundraising needed for the project. PCAF will be the fundraising collection point for the project. There are many achievable levels of donation including “in-kind” donations. If you would like to make a monetary donation you can send them to PCAF at 101 E. Perry Street Paulding Attn: Cardinal Park Veterans Memorial. For additional questions or involvement contact John Daeger.
by Isabella Carwile | Apr 19, 2024 | Business Expansion, Community, Jobs
CHARLOE – The Charloe Sno-Cone, located at 10768 Rd 171, has recently changed ownership. Daniel and Dimare Dunlap have purchased the building and business and hope to grow the business. They have also named Cannina Lewis as the Operations Manager for the facility.
The business had a soft opening over Easter weekend. The goal for the future business schedule is to be open seven days a week ASAP along with adding a morning shift for coffee and pastries. Current hours are Thursday thru Sunday from 11 am-8 pm. There will be additional days slowly added with the intention of being open seven days a week by peak boating season. The new owners intend to stay open year-round and utilize the indoor seating, likely shutting down the soft serve ice cream operation in the off-season, but keeping the hard dip flavors and full-service kitchen options available.
The Sno-Cone will offer a full food menu this year and pretty much every ice cream you could imagine, including hard dip, soft serve, slushes, and bringing back the actual Sno-Cone!
Dunlap grew up in the area of the Auglaize River. His background is in real estate investing and construction. He is also the owner of Four County Home Inspections, Code 3 Properties, LLC, and Flat Rock Real Estate Corporation. He was previously an EMT, paramedic, and firefighter. Once he married Dimare, they chose to live on the river and enjoy it all the time. Dan stated, “I grew up as a kid eating at the Sno-Cone on weekends and enjoying the delicious ice cream. Now we have the privilege of owning the establishment and sharing it with others.”
In connecting with the history of the business, the Dinmares brought back the original signage with the Native American logo. This sign was painted by a local artist to represent the history of the unincorporated village, which was named after Chief Charloe Peter in 1839.
In developing into the future, the Dunlap’s hope to bring pizza to the menu and obtaining a liquor license for the sale of beer and wine, along with wine slushes and other refreshments. They are currently repairing the large deck looking over the river. It should be open soon. They are also adding three brand new docks in the water to accommodate passing boaters who would like to visit from the river.
The menu options and pricing have changed to better serve the community. The end goal is to provide the best service at the best pricing. This decision is supported by stopping the automatic tips added to orders. This will allow customers to tip at their own discretion. You can call the business for more information at 419-594-3594 or find the business on Facebook or order online at charloesnocone.com
If you would like to enjoy some savory deliciousness from the Charloe Sno-Cone and experience a beautiful river view, support local and give the new team a try.
by Isabella Carwile | Apr 9, 2024 | Community, New Business, Paulding County Business Weekly Radio Broadcast
Hear it here! Join us this week to hear from Thomas Cameron, the founder and owner of
Back Wall Archery. Starting as a passion for archery, Thomas has turned his love for the sport and its respective equipment into a successful business! Listen to this week’s PCBW episode to learn more about Thomas’s story of starting and running his own business.
by Isabella Carwile | Mar 27, 2024 | Community, Events, Jobs, PCED Office
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release
PAULDING – The Paulding County Economic Development (PCED) office will host a Business, Industry, & College Expo Showcase event on April 3 at the Extension Building on the Paulding County Fairgrounds. The event will bring junior and senior students from all three Paulding County high schools in addition to Continental High School to learn about, meet and discuss future opportunities with area colleges and businesses.
“This event continues to evolve each year, last year we saw the addition of hands-on activities which helped lead into more student and employer discussions. We understand our students are at different stages in their future job and education journey, so the goal of the expo is to showcases the different opportunities in our area. We’re excited too that Vantage Career Center has funded access to a career assessment platform called You Science, allowing students to seek out careers and colleges that suit their strengths found from their assessment. It’s our first time trying this, and we’re excited to see how it goes.” stated Economic Development Office Manager Kristen Schilt.
The event will run from 8am-12noon with students arriving at the top of each hour. Paulding County Vantage Career Center students are invited to attend the opening hour on their way to the career center. Each school will then bus their students to the event on the hour for forty-five minutes. Homeschool students and the general public are invited to attend at any time.
Students will be provided a “passport” upon arrival. The passports suggest a variety of questions to ask participating exhibitors to help start conversation. Each student is encouraged to talk to a minimum of 10 businesses and have the business sign their passport. Completed passports will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gas gift card, one winner per school will be drawn. The gift cards are sponsored by C&Y Oil Company and National Gas & Oil.
This event has grown over the years. This year there are a total of 52 entities that have sent an RSVP for the event, with many having interactive and hands-on activities for students to engage with. For questions about the event contact the PCED office at 419-399-8295.
by Isabella Carwile | Mar 26, 2024 | Community, Paulding County Business Weekly Radio Broadcast
Did you know that Paulding County has VRBO rooms available at the Bittersweet Inn in Paulding? Listen in as we talk to owner Jack Baughman and learn about the business and other rental rooms available in the county. This could change the way your company makes overnight stay arrangements in the local area!
Paulding County Business Weekly is hosted by Tim Copsey from @Paulding County Economic Development, Inc. and is proudly sponsored by OhioMeansJobs of Defiance and Paulding Counties. You can tune in Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or catch this episode online at
www.my1027.org/paulding-county-business-weekly/. This episode is also available wherever you get your podcasts.
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