December 2022 – The Downtown Tiffin Marketing Committee under the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership announced today that there will be a new holiday event – the Kris Kringle Markt on December 2 and 3. The festival will be an open-air holiday market highlighting German/Bavarian-inspired Christmas offerings.

Visitors can enjoy the sounds of live holiday music, the aroma of German food, late-night shopping, children’s activities, and the ambiance of an old-world German Christmas.

Court Street will be transformed to take on the traditional German Christmas market, or Weihnachtsmarkt feels, featuring local vendors in white tents adorned with holiday lights offering fresh greens, garland and wreaths, handcrafted gifts, Christmas ornaments, and more. Downtown restaurants and bars will feature German-style food and beer selections, mulled wine (Glühwein), and specialty hot chocolate beverages. Santa will be available for pictures at Pan Yan Bookstore, and several other activities will be spread throughout downtown including strolling Christmas carolers, live ice sculpture carvings, and a parking lot dedicated to donations for the Salvation Army of Tiffin. The RTA parking lot will feature live Christmas trees for sale that are being sponsored by local businesses along with a Boot, Hat, and Mitten drive. All proceeds from tree sales will go to the Salvation Army of Tiffin. The Christmas festival will also be hosting multiple food trucks to feature German food & drinks, such as Schmidt’s Sausage Truck.

Mayor Dawn Iannantuono said, “I’m excited to see a new event in Downtown Tiffin that will appeal to families and welcome people to experience our community. This is the perfect way for us to continue our celebration of Tiffin’s bicentennial!”

The Kris Kringle Markt will be open Friday, December 2nd from 5 pm – 10 pm in conjunction with the tree lighting and Saturday, December 3rd from 10 am – 3 pm in conjunction with the holiday parade. Follow along on our social media outlets to stay up to date and learn more. Facebook @KrisKringleMarktTiffin, Instagram @kriskringlemarkttiffinoh

Tuesday, the Architectural Board of Review (ABR) approved two Façade Enhancement Grants for the buildings located at 40 Perry Street and at St. Joseph Catholic Church, along with a Sign Enhancement Grant for Pan Yan Bookstore.

The ABR approved a grant of $10,000 for restoration work on the stained-glass windows at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and a grant of $4,200 for painting and lighting at 40 Perry Street. These projects closed out the Façade Enhancement Grant for 2022 with approved grants for 14 buildings in Downtown Tiffin and a total investment of nearly $340,000.

Mayor Dawn Iannantuono said, “It is exciting to see that the city’s façade program continues to create a significant return on investment for our community. I would like to thank all of the building owners who continue to invest in Downtown Tiffin.”

Since the Façade Enhancement Program’s inception in 2014, 116 projects have been approved for a total downtown investment of nearly $3.3 million.

The annual Downtown Tiffin Trick or Treat event is planned for Oct. 20, from 4-6 pm as the Downtown Tiffin Third Thursday event.

Seneca County residents are encouraged to bring their little ones to stop at Downtown Tiffin businesses to collect treats and explore everything going on in the community. Residents will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite Halloween décor in the business decorating contest during the event. The winning business will be announced on the Downtown Tiffin Facebook page Monday, Oct 24.

While residents are downtown, they can enjoy Halloween themed artwork designed and built by the Tiffin Columbian High School art students. Freshmen through seniors will be creating site specific artwork geared toward the young trick or treat crowd for their enjoyment. Over 40 different large-scale sculptures made of paper mache, metal, and more will be featured throughout downtown, since students were encouraged to be resourceful with their building materials and creative with their designs.

Tiffin Mayor Dawn Iannantuono said, “The Downtown Trick or Treat is a great opportunity for the community to see all that is going on with the businesses in our downtown. I’m especially excited that this year’s event will give Tiffin Columbian students a chance to participate and show off their creativity.”

For more information, visit www.downtowntiffinevents.com or search for “Downtown Trick or Treat” on Facebook.

Third Thursdays are sponsored by Reineke Family Dealerships and UIS Insurance and Investments.

The Meshech Frost Charitable Trust has provided a grant to Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership for the City of Tiffin to purchase 18 box planters for Downtown Tiffin. The grants provides 50 percent of the funding toward the overall cost of $10,446.96.

The $4,644.78 grant allows the city to continue to install black, self-watering planters along South Washington Street to the south at the five points intersection by St. Joseph Catholic Church. Funds are to be used for planters as well as for hanging basket liners and flowers.

In 2019, the City of Tiffin was the recipient of a $5,388 grant from Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca Joint Solid Waste Management District for the initial purchase of 25 planters in Downtown Tiffin. These replaced the decades-old planters that previously were there. The planters are made of 70 percent recycle material.

Tiffin Public Works is to install the planters in the early spring and volunteers maintain the flowers, which are supplied by the city. These new planters will bring the total to 80 planters in Downtown Tiffin.

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz said he is pleased to have received the grant: “We are grateful that Meshech Frost Charitable Trust has provided these funds to the City of Tiffin and allowed us to expand the number of planters as we continue to invest in the beatification of downtown Tiffin.”

Today, a Tiffin tradition is coming under new ownership. Dave Spridgeon, owner of The Renaissance of Tiffin and Barrel 51, has announced that he has purchased Jolly’s, which is celebrating 74 years of business.

Co-owners Dave and Amber Spridgeon have been working with previous owner Diane Hassinger for a while to finalize the sale of the business that has been with her family for three generations. Dave Spridgeon said he has no plans to make any changes to the menu, which will continue to feature Jolly’s family recipe ketchup, sloppy joes, chicken, chili, pulled pork and root beer. They hope to add donuts in January.

Hassinger’s grandparents, Roy and Vivian Jolivette, opened Jolly’s in 1947 as an A&W Root Beer stand. Known for its root beer and Coney dogs, the drive-in was a staple on West Market Street for more than 70 years. In 1980, Diane took over from her parents, Gene and Colett, who had succeeded her grandparents. In 2017, Diane had moved into the historic Laird Building in Downtown Tiffin, after having been selling Jolly’s staples out of a food truck following the sale of the original property.

Hassinger is looking forward to retirement and spending time with her grandkids. “I want to thank the community for supporting my family for 74 years by coming to Jolly’s. I’m proud that we were able realize my dream to make our food available year-round and offer indoor dining,” she said. “I believe that Dave will continue to honor the Jolly’s tradition.”

In addition to the Renaissance, Dave Spridgeon introduced the Renaissance on Wheels and the Pink Lady food truck in 2020. The Renaissance and Barrel 51, which opened its doors in 2017, recently was named the Heritage Ohio 2021 Main Street Business of the Year.

Dave Spridgeon is excited about the opportunity to keep Jolly’s in Tiffin, and hopes to eventually add some of the Jolly’s sandwiches to the offerings at his other businesses. “The Tiffin community has been so welcoming since I opened my business in 2017, and I’m excited to now be part of the history of Jolly’s. I’m not only looking forward to continuing the legacy of the Diane’s family, but to make new memories with Jolly’s for years to come.”

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz said, “Congratulations to Amber and Dave Spridgeon on yet another positive announcement for their businesses and continued investment in Tiffin. It is exciting to see a long-time Tiffin staple being preserved for future generations to enjoy. I also want to wish Diane Hassinger a happy and well-deserved retirement.”

Jolly’s is located at 66 E. Market St., Tiffin. For more information, visit www.jollysdrivein.com or find them on Facebook. Jolly’s is a member of the Seneca Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The owner of a small business is taking his love of music to the next step, by moving up from the back of another business to his own storefront in Downtown Tiffin.

Jacob Wheeler, a Tiffin native and graduate of Columbian High School, had been selling records in the back of Line Drive since July, but plans to soon open his own underground record store, Under the Surface, in October at 16 E. Market St. The store will specialize in independent label releases and demos.

Wheeler said his friends from high school introduced him to music, and they then in turn spent time bringing bands into Tiffin in his youth. He wants to have a way to reach youth about this genre and style of music.

“I love being in Downtown Tiffin and wanted to give people a reason to stay here and appreciate the strong sense of community in this town. I’m excited to be able to expand my offerings and have a home here in Tiffin for independent and underground music,” Wheeler said.

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz commented, “Congratulations to Jacob Wheeler on expanding his business to a storefront in Downtown. I’m excited to see people investing in our community.”

For more information, call (567) 268-9278 or email underthesurfacerecords@gmail.com.

Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership hosted the 2021 Main Street Celebration and Downtown Summit Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, at the Chandelier Community Event Center, 151 S. Washington St. The program included award presentations, celebrated the success of 2020 and 2021 – including the resiliency of the community amongst a global pandemic – and gave a look forward to the next year.

During the event, Joyce Barrett, Executive Director of Heritage Ohio, announced this year’s recipient of the Main Street Business of the Year award is Dave Spridgeon with The Renaissance and Barrel 51. The Renaissance and Barrel 51 opened its doors in 2017 to bring the roaring 20s back to Tiffin. The bar incorporates 1920s style drinks, uniforms and furniture. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, Spridgeon and grew his business, by opening a food truck and purchasing a party bus, which was converted into a speakeasy on wheels.

Spridgeon will be recognized during the annual Preservation and Revitalization Conference, taking place Oct. 18-20 in Springfield, Ohio.

The Celebration included the 2021 Downtown Tiffin Main Street Awards ceremony. Winning awards were:

• Tony Consolo, Anne Gase Achievement Award.
• Hempy Water/Jeff Knedler, Development Award.
• Jam’s Monthly Markets/Jami Fadley, Entrepreneurial Award.
• Bear’s Den/Dennis Wickert, Business Legacy Award.
• Dale Depew, Main Street Director Award.

The night also featured:

• Ohio Sen. Kirk Schuring gave the keynote speech about downtown revitalization, introduced by Ohio Sen. Bill Reineke.
• Year in review by Director of Downtown Revitalization Amy Reinhart.
• No Eileen gave a live performance, accompanied by a slideshow of projects and events.

Company receives maximum grant amount for roof replacement

During a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 7, the City of Tiffin Architectural Board of Review (ABR) approved a façade grant for UIS Insurance & Investments for roof replacement.

During the meeting, the board approved a $10,000 Façade Enhancement Grant for UIS Insurance & Investments for their location at 51 Washington St. to replace the current roofing material with new EPDM roofing material. The $28,983 project was approved for the maximum grant amount.

Mayor Aaron Montz said, “Downtown buildings are expensive to maintain and I’m pleased to see that the City can support this investment by UIS Insurance to preserve their historic building.”

The 2021 Façade Enhancement Program continues to be successful with 11 building project approvals for an investment of more than $215,000. Since the Façade Enhancement Program’s inception in 2014, 98 projects have been approved for a total downtown investment of more than $2.6 million.