Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Local woman tries her luck on Wheel of Fortune

By William Kincaid
CELINA - Bonnie Rutschilling always wanted to be on the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. But now that she's done that, she's not telling anyone how she did.
Anyone interested in the results will have to watch her performance at 7 p.m. Tuesday on WHIO and WLIO.
She hasn't even told her husband, Jim. Show officials strongly encouraged her not to tell anyone the results until the show aires. Only three of her sisters, a couple friends and one of her daughters, who attended the taping, know the outcome.
Rutschilling was one of 600 people selected from a pool of 10,000 aspiring Wheel contestants to appear on the show this year. She tried out for the show this spring in Los Angeles after visiting Las Vegas with her five sisters - of the Overman family in Maria Stein - who were celebrating someone's 50th birthday.
"My husband and I watch Wheel of Fortune all the time and he told me I had to get on there," she said.
During the tryout, Rutschilling - a manager at The Potter House on Main Street in Celina - said she had to introduce herself, call out letters as if she were playing the game and take a five minute written test of 16 different puzzles.
She was selected to move on to the next round, where she spun the wheel during an emulation of the show, and she and other applicants were told they would be notified if chosen.
The call came at the end of October, and Rutschilling and her supporters traveled to Los Angeles in the middle of October for a four-day trip that included the taping of the show and another stop in Las Vegas, where Rutschilling won $1,000 on a Wheel of Fortune slot-machine.  
Six shows were taped in the one day.
The set is much smaller than what it appears on TV and Pat Sajak and Vanna White were very nice, she said. She saw White without makeup and her hair pulled back wearing jeans - she looked just like a normal, but very pretty and skinny person, Rutschilling said.
"He's a very funny, nice guy; he relaxes you," she said about Sajak.
She also said the wheel is heavy and somewhat difficult to spin.
"Enthusiasm is the main thing," she said when asked what qualities show producers look for in candidates.
She also recommended that anyone interested in trying out be themselves and genuine. Producers can tell if applicants are fake, she said.
Additional online stories on this date
Mercer County health board members moved forward with plans to place a countywide property tax levy on the March primary ballot.
A resolution passe [More]
MENDON - A 19-year-old Mendon woman died Wednesday afternoon after losing control of her car along Celina-Mendon Road near Celina.
Shirissa D. Seibert, 110 N. Green St., was pronounced dead at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys shortly after the 5:22 p.m. crash. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
ROCKFORD - Five-year financial forecasts are bleak for many school districts across the state and region, but Parkway Local School is projecting a $3.2 million surplus by 2016.
Treasurer says finances could worsen depending on state funds
ST. MARYS - St. Marys City Schools' five-year financial forecast predicts a $3.6 million deficit by 2016, with expenditures exceeding revenue each year.
ST. MARYS - Authorities say arrests are pending the outcome of test results for drug-related evidence seized Tuesday at a home on Royal Oak Drive.
Three-year-old Minster girl died in Oct. 15 crash
A local attorney entered a plea of not guilty Wednesday in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on behalf of his client - a Butler County man charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a 3-year-old Minster girl.
Facility planned on Industrial Drive
FORT RECOVERY - Village council members this week approved a tax abatement for Evers-Lennartz Investments, which is planning to construct a daycare/preschool in the village.
A joint effort between the Celina Police Department and Celina City Schools led to the discovery of marijuana in a high school locker Wednesday morning.
NEW BREMEN - With chilly winds blowing, New Bremen Village Council looked ahead Tuesday night to snow removal efforts.
Mayor Jeff Pape said employees expressed concerns about snow removal, among other things, during an organizational effectiveness meeting.
ST. MARYS - Illustrator Lynn Rowe Reed says color is her thing and that's what drew her to children's books.
"I just couldn't resist trying my hand at it, and I quickly realized it would be my lifelong passion," the Fort Wayne, Ind., artist said.
Division IV State Volleyball Preview
A traditional power, a hopeful contender and two rookies make up the four teams that will be playing for the Division IV volleyball state championship this weekend at the Nutter Center.
Division V Regional Semifinal Preview: Coldwater vs. Versailles at Welcome Stadium in Dayton
A pair of Midwest Athletic Conference rivals will play for the second time this year on Friday night when Welcome Stadium in Dayton hosts the rematch between Coldwater and Versailles.