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Volume 55, No. 3
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Chester Preps for Inaugural Unity Day By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com In a social climate that is often isolating and divisive, Chester Township is celebrating unity Aug. 27. Excitement and anticipation are filling the streets as officials prepare for the township’s inaugural West Geauga Unity Day, hosted by the West Geauga Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young and West Geauga Schools. The event, held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at West Geauga High School, will highlight local companies and organizations in and around the Chester, Newbury and Russell township area. “Our goal is to bring together local families from Chesterland to Newbury and surrounding townships,” said chamber member and Unity Day chair Rachel Kalina. “With the new chamber of commerce and surge of new local businesses, the merge of Newbury families to the West Geauga district and our new Police Chief Craig Young, we have an opportunity to bring everyone together in a very fun way. Chief Young is a very community-oriented person and when the opportunity to work together came
up, we had to jump on it. “We are very thankful to the West Geauga school district for being so supportive and for agreeing to host this extensive event,” she added. Superintendent Richard Markwardt said West Geauga Schools is pleased to team up with the chamber and police department. “As one of the common elements in each of the respective townships that make up the West Geauga local school district, it is logical that the schools host the festivities,” Markwardt said. “This event is a good way to bring people together for a time of fun and community engagement. The West Geauga Chamber of Commerce is planning a wide range of activities that should be fun for all, regardless of age.” West Geauga Schools Marching Band will kick off Unity Day, with speeches from Young and chamber President Steve DiFranco to follow, Kalina said. “We have one side of the event to bring our first responders faceto-face with our community,” she said. “This will include a ‘touch-atruck’ type portion with emergency vehicles, heavy equipment vehicles and food trucks.”
Young did not respond to a request for comment prior to press deadline. Other Unity Day highlights will include local businesses selling their products, live music, lawn games, inflatables for older children and a soft play area for younger children, Kalina said. Participating vendors will have ample 10-foot-by-10-foot spaces with tables available for rent ranging from $50 to $125. “We have been planning for a few months now and our teams have worked very hard to bring all of our visions to life,” Kalina said. “We really want to bring attention to the local businesses that people might not even realize are in their own backyard.” Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the day is a dunk tank that will cost $1 for three balls or a guaranteed dunk for $5, Kalina said. “We have secured all four of the West Geauga school principals, as well as Dr. Markwardt and Chief Young for special dunking time slots,” she said, adding the time slots will be announced closer to the event. “We have really tried to make this event include something for everyone.” Kalina looks forward to seeing
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Obituaries page 3
Chester Government Update page 4
Classifieds how Unity Day impacts the community. “We will have a large area of the school property dedicated to this event and to see it full of people will be amazing,” she said, adding Chester has not hosted a large community event in many years. “We named it the West G Unity Day because we truly want to have a day for all of West Geauga and our neighboring communities to come together for a stress-free day of fun,” Kalina said. “For nothing more than meeting up with old neighbors, new friends and really get to know what our towns have to offer. This is something we hope people talk about for years to come.”
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Bye-Bye-Bing: The Very Good Pizza Co. Keeps the Pies Coming By Kayleigh Scharf West Geauga Student Intern Bob Piecenski is cooking up some “very good” pizza at 12720 Chillicothe Road in Chester Township. Formerly “Bada-Bing,” Piecenski’s shop recently underwent a name change after some disagreements in sharing the same name with another Bada-Bing location. Ultimately, Piecenski decided to cut ties with the title Bada-Bing and highlight his specialty — making very good pizza. As he does with everything in his business, Piecenski put a dash of personality into the new name.
KAYLEIGH SCHARF/KMG
Bob Piencenki’s The Very Good Pizza Company, formerly known as Bada-Bing, is at 12720 Chillicothe Road, Chester Township.
In an interview, he said he gained inspiration through the love of the NBC sitcom “Parks and Rec.”
“There’s a very stoic character on that series named Ron Swanson and in the sixth season he started a
building company called ‘The Very Good Building Company,’” Piecenski See Pizza • Page 6
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