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Friday, March 27th, 2009
Minster woman breaks wedding cake tradition with designer desserts
By Shelley Grieshop
MINSTER - It's not just about the cake anymore.
Mousse-filled chocolate cups and cappuccino-flavored cannolis are just a few of the desserts stealing the spotlight these days from traditional wedding cakes.
Sue Doenges of Minster - a confection chef - saw the trend coming. [More]
By Margie Wuebker
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the theft of thousands of gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizers from two area farmers.
William M. Muhlenkamp, 7911 state Route 49, Celina, contacted the sheriff's office Tuesday to report $6,000 worth of a liquid nitrogen product called 28 was missing from his Liberty Township farm. [More]
Obituaries on March 27th, 2009
Marjorie P. Baird, 92, 11302 Bobwhite Lane, St. Marys, died at 10:30 p.m. March [More]
Former New Bremen resident William M. Greber, 73, died at 3:25 p.m. Jan. 26, 2009, at Hanover Rehabilitation Center, Mechanicsville, Va. [More]
Vernita Scheer, 89, formerly of Lock Two, died at 8:47 p.m. March 19, 2009, at [More]
Local pictures on March 27th, 2009
Subscriber stories on March 27th, 2009
A Celina man displeased with the city planning commission's decision to allow a bed and breakfast to open on Main Street is appealing it to the city board of zoning appeals.
Community development officials are excited at the prospect of an area business expanding to fill an empty shop near the former Wal-Mart store in Celina.
Two multiple disabilities (MD) classes that were going to be cut next school year due to state funding reductions have been reinstated, Superintendent Andy Smith of the Mercer County Educational Service Center said.
Celina captured several major awards as the Lima Area Swim Coaches Association released its all-area team.
Kirsten Samples, a four-event state qual
The old saying goes "Go West, young man."
And so Trevor Kill will.
The St. Marys senior will head to Kansas to continue his baseball career at Bu
With seven returning letterwinners, Celina head coach Drew Braun likes what he sees out of his Bulldogs in the preseason thus far.
Celina finished just 11-19 a year ago, but was able to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the state last year during the postseason by beating top-ranked Defiance.
The Celina softball team had the best season in school history after winning the Western Buckeye League title and finishing the year as the Division II state runners-up.
Last year, the Coldwater baseball team was loaded and the season ended in the state semifinals.
While this year's team did lose some key players fr
An up-and-down season finished with some positives for Jeff Kerr and his Coldwater softball team a year ago.
The Cavaliers were just 12-10 overall, but were able to earn a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference title along with Versailles at 6-1 in league play.
After a second straight district runner-up finish last year and going 12-12 on the season, Fort Recovery baseball coach Shane McKibben will look to find a way to better the record and possibly advance further in the postseason.
Even with a 7-17 record last season, the Fort Recovery softball team experienced some big moments, especially late in the season.
The Indians got h
Marion Local head baseball coach Greg Bruns heads into his fourth season as Flyer pilot with plenty of experience and athleticism at his disposal.
Second-year Marion Local softball coach Russ Puthoff has a nice mix of youth and experience to work with on the diamond this season.
The Flyers have six returning letterwinners back from last year, and according to Puthoff, the experience is right where it is needed - up the middle.
Over the course of the past four or five seasons, the Minster Wildcats graduated arguably more talent than at any other period in the history of the baseball program.
Last spring, Minster head coach Tom Berger made the shift from veteran junior varsity coach to rookie varsity coach on the softball diamond.
Under the new management, the Wildcats showed signs of improvement - particularly on offense - something which Berger expects to continue in 2009.
For New Bremen baseball coach Greg Cox, the second year of his coaching career will bring a change of game plan and attitude.
Coming off a season w
One of the areas that long time New Bremen teacher and softball coach Craig Griesdorn teaches is the area of psychology.
Griesdorn will try to put his training in psychology to good use with the 2009 version of the Cardinals' softball team as he tries to mold a mixture of veterans and youngsters.
Parkway baseball coach Eric Stachler will need to do a little rebuilding this season.
The Panthers went 21-6 (6-3 MAC) last season, but graduation day last June took 11 seniors, including four first team All-Midwest Athletic Conference selections.
The difference between the Parkway Panthers midway through the season and at the end of the season was a marked one.
Parkway went from losing 11-0 to Marion Local at home on April 24 and falling to 7-3 on the season to finishing the year 18-7 and in the Division IV regional finals.
It's tough to call the run for St. Henry's baseball team the last few years unsuccessful.
Last year the Redskins went 19-7, but a 5-4 mark in the Midwest Athletic Conference and a loss in the sectional finals to Parkway ended the season earlier than anticipated.
Last year, with no seniors on the roster, the St. Henry softball team came through to go 10-11 on the season and earned the top seed of the Division IV sectional.
It was a struggle at times last season for the St. Marys baseball program, but with a strong core in the middle of the field, Roughriders head coach Denny Pfeffenberger is hoping that it was a one-year hiatus.
The talent and experience is in place for St. Marys softball and head coach Sue Grothouse hopes that her Roughriders have what it takes for a special season.
Celina's track teams will be complete opposites this year under head coach Dan Otten.
The Bulldogs may have their most experienced team returning ever, while the girls will try and find a way to replace four state caliber athletes.
The Coldwater track and field teams will look to build from last season, a year when the girls were competitive with perennial powers Versailles, Minster and St. John's while the boys struggled after finishing eighth in the team standings.
New Fort Recovery head track coach Chris Summers will look to get his program back into the middle of the Midwest Athletic Conference after the girls placed eighth and the boys 10th at last year's conference meet.
Track at Marion Local continues to be a popular spring sport, with both the boys and girls teams sporting good numbers.
The boys team has 30 members and the girls will start the season with 27.
In 21 years of wearing the whistle at Minster, boy's track and field coach, Larry Topp, has entered previous seasons with a wide array of expectations.
In her 35 years as a track coach at New Bremen, girls coach Sue Ritter-Burnell has seen a little of everything, so the small number that greeted her at the first practice wasn't surprising but not something that pleased her.
The Parkway track program will rely on the state experience from several individual athletes to continue its rise.
The Panther girls placed sixth in the Midwest Athletic Conference last season and will rely on their sprints and jumping events to help improve in the standings.
The St. Henry track and field team will look to reload in some spots this season.
The Redskin boys, third in the Midwest Athletic Conference last season, will miss some key personnel that helped the Redskins to a top-20 showing at state.
For the past 29 years, Kathy Sites has been a fixture with the St. Marys track program.
She coached varsity track at the beginning of her tenure with St. Marys and then has guided the junior-high program the past 18 years after the birth of her two children.
The Celina boys tennis team struggled to a seventh-place finish in the Western Buckeye League last season with an inexperienced roster, but head coach Jan Morrison expects to see improvement this year out of her Bulldogs.
The St. Marys tennis team will rely on singles players in the early going to lead the way as the Roughriders will try to keep pace with the contenders in the Western Buckeye League.