COLUMBUS — Lima City Schools' Food Service Director, Carrie Woodruff, of Ada, has been named the 2017 Outstanding Food and Nutrition Director of the Year by the Ohio Association of School Business Officials’ (OASBO) Foundation for School Business Management.

On October 17 for the past two years, the residents at Scioto Village get together and release blue balloons in memory of the 2015 fire that took one person’s life and impacted dozens of others. It was a day few of the residents will forget.

MOUNT VICTORY — The host Ridgemont girls have not won their season-opening tournament in either of the first two years they have hosted it. The Lady Gophers made sure to at least give themselves a chance to go after the title in their third year as they jumped out to a 29-6 lead after one quarter and never looked back on the way to a 77-30 victory over Ridgedale in the semifinals of the Ridgemont Girls Basketball Tournament on Friday night.

Roger and Julie Crowe prepare to install a string of colorful lights along the driveway of the Lake of Lights display at Kenton’s Saulisberry Park. The annual event will open tonight at 6 p.m.

On your way to Ada or on your way back home to Kenton, stop by the best little cabin in the county, Chris’ Country Cabin, just south of Ohio 309 on Township Road 115. It will be one of the stops on the Candy Cane Tour of Homes, set for Sunday, Dec. 3 from 1 to 6 p.m.

The Hardin County Players will be presenting "Miracle On 34th Street Radio Play" as a dinner theater. It will be staged at the Forbing Community Center, 122 N. Main St., Kenton on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m.

The streets were filled with people welcoming in the holiday season for the annual Kenton Lions Club Christmas Parade on Tuesday night.

For the fifth year, the Kenton Full Gospel Church is opening its doors to provide food and clothing for area residents who need assistance. The food pantry, Bread of Life, was established in 2012 and in recent months has expanded to offer clothing to families, said Pastor Anita VanBuskirk.

The elegant home of Mike and Beth Milks, 424 S. Johnson St., Ada, will be featured in the Candy Cane Tour of Homes on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 1 to 6 p.m., sponsored by Keep Hardin County Beautiful. Located a block east of Main Street and gracing the northeast corner of University Avenue (formerly Peach Street) and S. Johnson Street, this 1880’s two-story Queen Anne style Victorian homestead lends itself to be the ultimate Christmas house.

Hardin County Courthouse Maintenance Director Richard Lawson hangs Christmas decorations on the side of the courthouse annex building in preparation for the holiday celebration as Steven Ray steadies the ladder.