We greatly thank these new donors for their commitment and support of this community for years to come. Donors of the below listed funds have permitted us to publish the fund and its purpose.

Donor Highlights

Sprenger Retirement Center Scholarship

Mark and Scott Sprenger established this fund to encourage those interested in a nursing profession and to recognize Grace Sprenger, their grandmother.

Her lifelong encouragement, compassion, and care for people with illness, disease, and rehabilitative injuries led her to establish the first of what is today nine Sprenger centers located throughout northeast Ohio.

Grace was already married and raising several children when she earned her LPN in 1943 and by 1957 was the administrator of the Halks Nursing Home in Oberlin. This experience helped her receive a small business loan to build a 26-bed nursing home in Amherst which eventually became a 102-bed nursing facility.

Guided by her original vision, Sprenger Retirement Centers provide multiple healthcare options including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing care, and rehabilitation therapy.

The Sprengers also recognize that we are in a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows.

Initially, the fund will provide for two scholarships to Wayne County residents enrolling in or currently enrolled in the Wayne County Schools Career Center LPN skills training program on a full time basis. Graduating high school seniors and adults are eligible for this scholarship.

Wooster Bicentennial Fund

This fund was established by the 2008 Wooster Bicentennial Committee to accept community donations to help support and celebrate Wooster's 200th anniversary and provide for several enduring projects such as the 2008 Wooster Bicentennial Legacy Memorial and part of the exterior renovation of City Hall. The main entry to City Hall will be landscaped to include a smaller version of the 2008 Bicentennial Memorial with a memorial walkway of engraved paver bricks.

Bicentennial activities began on April 5 at McGaw Chapel on the College of Wooster campus with the Wayne County Choral Union's production of "Celebrate Wooster," which culminated in the unveiling of the 1958 Time Capsule.

Other Wooster Bicenntenial activities included historic Trolley Tours, the revitalized Jamie Howey Memorial "Dogwood Dance", a Wooster Chautauqua at Christmas Run Park and the grand opening of the Wayne County Historical Society's Reasin Beall Home.

Independence Day weekend was dedicated to the bicentennial with the Ohio Light Opera performing on the square in downtown Wooster and an expanded fireworks display at Kenney Field. The city lined the streets for the Bicentennial Parade in which Ohio Governor Ted Strickland participated.

Festivities will end with the "Cemetery Walking Tour" and the "Sealing of the Time Capsule" at Archeology Days.

John G. Streeter Music Fund

John's inquisitive nature, high intellect, and faith helped form him into a wonderful person with broad interests of which family, nature, and music were especially important. John died in June 2007.

Mary Alice Streeter, his widow and a trustee of the Wayne County Community Foundation, created this fund to honor his faith and love for joyful music. It is designated for use by First Presbyterian Church of Wooster to foster their adult and children's music programs.

John received his BS in agronomy from Penn State University and went on to Cornell University to earn his masters in agronomy and his PhD in botany and plant physiology. In 1969, John began his career in Wooster at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

John was recognized around the world as the pre-eminent scholar on the function of soybean nodules and the role they play in nitrogen fixation, nutrient uptake, and carbohydrate metabolism. His work with others helped solve problems of soybean tolerance to drought stress and the development of soybean-based products. As a visiting scientist, he traveled to many parts of the world including China, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and BrazilÉleaving each with a opportunity to create a better life for their residents.

Orren D. and Polly G. Weitzel Fund

Orren Dean Weitzel was born three days after Christmas in 1904 in Pottersville, Pennsylvania. At the age of 24, Dean married Polly G. Kauffman of Wooster in 1928. Polly died in 1979 and their only son, Harry Dean Weitzel of Wooster passed away in 1987.

Dean worked for his uncle, Paul K. Weitzel Sr. at the former Weitzel Dry Cleaning Company for 26 years. In 1950, he began his second career at The Wooster Brush Company, where after 24 years, he retired in 1974.

Dean was a charitable and hard working person. He was an active member of Wooster Masonic Temple, Ebenezer Lodge #33, Royal Arch #27, The Order of the Eastern Star #270 and a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church of Wooster.

In his later years, he enjoyed sports and luncheon outings with fellow retirees.

In December 2004, The Wooster Brush Company and friends helped celebrate Dean's 100th birthday, which included a colorful, 1958 poster of Dean who was 54 years old at the time. Before his death in May 2006, he established this fund to support several charitable causes in the Wooster area. This fund has made charitable distributions to eleven different local charities.

Steven H. Smith Scholarship

If you are from Orrville, then the name Steve Smith should be very familiar to you because of his incredible high school basketball record of 513 wins and 178 losses. His teams won 3 state championships and was elected into the sports halls of fame by Orrville, Wayne County, and the Ohio State Basketball Coaches. According to his widow, Donna, one of the most respected awards came from the Akron Beacon Journal in the form of the Clem Caraboolad Coach of the Year award, which is given not for wins and losses, but to those who have given the most of themselves to help kids.

It was during his tour of duty as a Navy Sea Bee in Vietnam that he decided that youth coaching and working with disadvantaged children would be a lifelong passion. He earned his bachelors degree from Northern Arizona University and his masters from Bowling Green State University.

At Orrville he established the Occupational Work Experience program which touched many at-risk students. Through his youth mentoring and coaching programs, he has helped students increase their self-esteem and succeed beyond their self-confidence level.

This fund was established to assist those kids who are motivated to succeed in their education and need it the most.

Thomas A. Nickle Scholarship

Thomas Nickle passed away at the age of 57 in November 2005. A 1966 Waynedale High School graduate, Tom was very good with his hands and loved machinery. After graduation, he took adult classes at the Wayne County Schools Career Center and became a journeyman machinist.

Soon after, he got a job at Wayne Machine Shop in Wooster and worked there for 39 years. During those years, precision machining technology grew at a rapid pace and Tom grew with it. In 1985, he became president and co-owner of the Wayne Machine Shop.

In addition to his family, he enjoyed angling in Canada, eating out and working in his home machine shop. According to Karen, his wife of 36 years, he was an avid sports car and motorcycle enthusiast, but not a "Harley guy". He loved his convertibles! And he "loved to help others, but in a quiet way," she said.

This scholarship was established to provide financial assistance for continuing education in industrial arts technology with preference given to precision machining. It is one of Thomas Nickle's quiet ways of helping others experience the joy of what he did for years.

Charles S. Cicconetti Scholarship

In March 2008, The Daily Record had to post an obituary for one of its own employees. Actually "Chuck" Cicconetti was more than an employee, he was a local news icon. Over a 41 year career, Chuck had been its Sports Editor, Managing Editor, and News Editor.

His fellow writers remember him as a quiet, focused, highly competitive, and dedicated family man... a person who listened... a person you could count on... a person that was hard to think of as your boss.

He was a 1967 graduate of Wooster High School and knew sports inside and out... especially local leagues like Little League and the DR softball, basketball and bowling teams. But his passion centered around youth wrestling when his sons Casey and Mitch were competing.

As managing editor, he made page one a local story, not just the stuff you see on the evening national broadcasts. His leadership skills shined as past president of the Board of Directors for Goodwill Industries and the Wooster Wrestling Club.

His friends and family established this scholarship to reinforce and honor his leadership and commitment to this community.

Arden and Clarice Shisler Nationwide Insurance Scholarship

This scholarship reflects Arden and Clarice Shisler's support for furthering local education and agriculture. Available to Dalton High School graduating seniors, half of the fund is dedicated to scholarships for these students enrolling at the University of Akron, Wayne College and the other half for students pursuing an agricultural related career. Arden and Clarice represent more than six generations of the Shisler family living, working, and serving communities in Wayne County.

Arden attended Dalton High School and the Ohio State University, served his country in the U.S. Army and became president and CEO of K&B Transport. In 1984, Shisler became a board member of Nationwide and in 1992, became the Chairman of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, the parent company of the Nationwide organization. He held this position until his retirement in 2008.

In addition, his leadership includes directorships or officer positions of the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington DC, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio Agricultural Marketing Association, the Wilderness Center and the Ohio 4-H Foundation.

In December 2000, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees honored him by naming the Arden Shisler Center of Education and Economic Development at ATI in Wooster.

The Workman Family

Two new funds were established in the 2007 fiscal year that are attributable to the community spirit of the Workman family in Dalton, Ohio. Gene Workman was a Board member for the Wayne County Community Foundation from 1994 until his death in December 2001. At the time of his election to the Board, Gene had been president of the Orrville Saving Bank and prior to that, the president of First National Bank of Massillion. He was very community minded and took an active part in both the Orrville and Dalton areas.

Mildred "Mickey" Workman, was elected to fill the unexpired term of her late husband in 2002, re-elected, and most recently, elected vice-president beginning with the 2008 fiscal year. This year, she and her family established the Aharon Woodruff Scholarship fund to provide educational assistance to honor the daily courage of those afflicted with a critical or chronic life threatening disease or illness. Applicants must be residents of Wayne County under the age of 70 with such a condition. It is named for her grandson Aharon, who suffers from Juvenile Diabetes.

Fifteen year old Aharon was able to be excused from his school in the Columbus area to present the first award of this scholarship to Brock Schludecker, a graduating senior at Waynedale High School now enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University. "It was a very touching and emotional moment for all of us that attended the awards assembly and you could see the Waynedale student body could really identify with Aharon," said Ferenc Relle, Jr.

In addition, Mickey established the Workman Family Community Grant fund this year. It is to be used to support local charitable agency-sponsored human service organizations that provide emergency family stabilization assistance. These may include families in need of skills training, healthcare, temporary living assistance, parent education and care, or to support the aged.

In 2006, the Board of Trustees for the Orrville Area Boys and Girls Club established the Eugene Workman Scholarship Endowment fund at the WCCF to be presented to the OABGC "Youth of the Year." It is to honor the exceptional leadership skills, good character, and active community involvement and volunteerism that Gene Workman valued and exemplified. The Wayne County Community Foundation has been blessed with two fine trustees from the same family.