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Healthy Community - Letter from the Mayor
While your local government plays a role in cultivating the health of a community, it alone cannot create a healthy community. It takes the combined efforts of local businesses, volunteers, organizations, schools and health services.
Welcoming two new hospitals to Grove City, and the multitude of healthcare services that come with them, is fantastic as we work to establish and maintain a healthy community. Bringing medical services closer to our residents is vital in those efforts.
Parks, playgrounds and facilities are abundant for individuals of all ages to play freely without breathing secondhand smoke or excessive exhaust from engines. We recognize that so many young people try smoking or vaping and can quickly become dependent, so education and early intervention are critical. The Grove City Division of Police continues to educate youth about the health risks of smoking, vaping, secondhand smoke and drug/alcohol use through the D.A.R.E. program. Now in its 33rd successful year, Grove City was the first suburban city in Franklin County to offer this education.
We are blessed to have a variety of options for healthy dining and produce shopping. Our community hosts a number of opportunities for residents to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables, including the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce Farmers’ Market — recently voted “CBUS Top Pick for 2018.” The Grove City Food Pantry and M.A.S.H. Pantry and Resource Center (for military and service heroes) bring goods and services to members of the community who otherwise may not have access. We are also home to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, which serves about 650 food pantries across 20 Ohio counties.
Our parks and recreation department does an amazing job providing people of all ages and abilities opportunities to participate in physical, creative and fellowship activities. Getting to those activities can also be part of your healthy routine by walking, running or cycling on any portion of more than 25 miles of trails connecting Grove City parks, neighborhoods and businesses. Our latest addition is the Scioto Grove Metro Park, offering 620 acres of outdoor fun for the whole family.
Connectivity, in the social sense, is of equal importance to your health. Participating in the community events we host throughout the year, including Grove City’s EcoFest, is an excellent way to create friendships that nurture a healthy community and ultimately develop a feeling of belonging and pride.
Although where we live shouldn’t determine how long or how well we live, we certainly are blessed in Grove City to be surrounded by conditions that enable us to live the healthiest life possible.
Discovering Our Past
Grove City's First Emergency Squad
This wasn’t the first time a Grove City resident was in need of emergency care at home. For years, the Grove City Police Department used a retrofitted vehicle to care for and transport individuals when necessary, but the need grew.
Because of the growth, Village Council (because Grove City was not yet an incorporated city) and Jackson Township Trustees recognized there would be a tremendous benefit to creating a squad of professionally trained individuals with equipment dedicated to urgent medical aid. This and other reasons prompted trustees to present – and voters to ultimately pass – a bond issue in 1954 that led the fire department to be managed by the township and permitted the move to create the Emergency Squad.
For over a year, Harriet Rumfield, registered nurse and wife of Fire Chief Olen Rumfield, instructed 31 volunteers in standard and advanced first aid and provided basic training in obstetrics, resuscitation, inhalators and oxygen use.
The squad also received education from the legal advisor of the Ohio State Firefighters Association, the head squadman of the Columbus squad and a local mortician. The men then participated in state squad training, allowing them to eventually assist in the emergency room of the former St. Anthony’s Hospital, now The Ohio State University Hospital East, in Columbus.
At the time, the fire chief and assistant fire chief were the Township’s only two paid employees and providing aid to fellow citizens became a growing necessity as Grove City and Jackson Township continued to experience major building booms.
Today, the Jackson Township Fire Department employs 84 full-time and 21 part-time employees, including one chief and one deputy chief, covering 37.4 square miles and providing services to nearly 47,000 residents.
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City Council Roby Schottke, Ward 4; Christine Houk, Ward 3; Steven Robinette, President, At-Large; Jeff Davis, Ward 2 and ted Berry, Ward 1.
Council Briefs - Continual Commitment
The year 2018 was one of exceptional and exciting growth in our City’s recreation and development departments – both focused on advanced health and recreational opportunities for residents.
Two major medical facilities brought forward-thinking healthcare options to our community, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and Mount Carmel Grove City. With these new neighbors comes a variety of medical support services, bringing doctors and ancillary services closer to home than ever before.
Couple this development growth with constant parks improvements, and it continues to get easier to be healthy and stay fit in our community. Maintaining good health can be as simple as taking a stroll or biking along the growing miles of trails throughout Grove City or hiking in our new Scioto Grove Metro Park.
You may be familiar with the park in your neighborhood, but mix it up a bit and visit a park outside your neighborhood or consider taking advantage of the more than 700 free or low-cost programs offered by the parks and recreation department, designed to get people of all ages and abilities up and moving.
As City Council, it’s our responsibility to maintain the City’s vision and goals when considering every project, from community growth and land use to finances and strategic planning. We look forward to continuing our commitment in 2019 as we strive to maintain the historic hometown atmosphere we have all grown to love.
Steve Robinette
President, Council Member At-Large
