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Drew DeVilbiss "We've always tried to be community-first because that's the whole point... Because we only exist to serve the community," stated Drew DeVilbiss, President and second-generation owner of the Wilmington Donatos franchise group. Donatos, located at 860 Rombach Avenue, opened in Wilmington in 1992 as a franchise by Drew's father, Doug. Drew grew up in Columbus, but spent "a lot of time" in Clinton County, as his grandparents lived in Wilmington. After graduating college in the late 2000s, Drew even lived in Wilmington for a period of time. He got involved with the family franchise in 2009, which includes three locations: Wilmington, Washington Court House, and Ashland (Kentucky). Drew's father, Doug, opened the Wilmington location first and then each location a few years later. Doug had owned the building in Wilmington where Donatos is now and was planning on just selling it to Donatos, but after meeting with Donatos' founder, Jim Grote, he was inspired to open his own Donatos. Doug opened the other two locations in the 1990s and 2000s. According to Drew, there are over 200 Donatos locations nationwide. Donatos offers pizza, calzones, subs, wings, desserts, and more. Drew shared that Donatos is known for their edge-to-edge toppings and signature party cut pizza. Although the Wilmington Donatos offers the same items as other Donatos locations, it is unique because of its "party room," where individuals and groups can host events. Drew hopes to grow community events in the party room and shared that anyone can reserve it. Drew emphasized their "community-first, local" approach to restaurant service sharing that his father Doug was involved with the Wilmington-Clinton Chamber of Commerce, the tourism board, the parks department, and more. According to Drew, the store's general manager, Marcus Harris, is also heavily involved in the community. Donatos recently began a new partnership that allows them to host "Donation Days," where groups can partner with Donatos for a day and receive 20% of the profits when customers use a code. Learn more about Donatos at donatos.com.

"You always want to please your bowlers... We always try to make the bowlers happy," stated Jackie Balon, General Manager of Royal Z Lanes, located at 2667 Rombach Avenue. Jackie, originally from Hillsboro, Ohio, has worked at Royal Z lanes for over 28 years. In 2017, she took on the role of general manager. Prior to becoming the general manager, Jackie managed the youth leagues for young bowlers. She has continue displaying that passion and encouragement to young bowler and continues to help with the youth leagues today. Constructed in 1959, the bowling alley was originally known as Airport Bowl and was partially owned by a member of the Zavakos family. In the late 1990s, Louie Zavakos, one of the original owners, passed away and his son, Jim took over. Jim renamed the bowling alley to "Royal Z Lanes" and has owned it ever since. Royal Z Lanes features bowling lanes, a game room, pool tables, and more. The alley hosts leagues, parties, and all four Clinton County high school bowling teams. On specific days of the week, the bowling alley has a women's, men's, senior, and youth leagues. Their regular leagues begin in August and end in April. The alley also hosts an unsanctioned 12-week summer league for those who want to continue bowling for fun. The bowling alley even hosts tournaments for bowling leagues, bringing in individuals from as far as Dayton to bowl. In addition to the activities available, Royal Z also has a kitchen and bar that serves "a little bit of everything," including chicken tenders, fried mushrooms, hamburgers, hot dogs, cheese curds, pizza, and more. On the side of the bowling alley, they host Relentless Pro Shop, a pro bowling shop operated by Austin Smith. According to Jackie, the pro shop features "any type of equipment you need for bowling [professionally]," including shoes, balls, and even a drill to custom drill the ball holes. " In addition to their regular offerings, Royal Z Lanes will also host fundraisers for sports teams and other organizations. To learn more about Royal Z Lanes or Relentless Pro Shop, visit royalzlanes.com.

"The project is the tool for the kids to develop life skills [like] leadership and time management. [Kids are] caring for their animals everyday, learning about nutrition, and balancing whatever their summer schedules are," stated Tracie Montague, 4H Youth Development Educator at the OSU Extension Office, located at 111 S Nelson Avenue. Tracie, originally from Sunbury, Ohio, attended Wilmington College for her undergraduate degree. This led her to intern and explore with the OSU extension office and she later attended OSU for her masters degree. In her position at the extension office, Tracie coordinates and runs the 4H program for Clinton County, including the summer camps, overnight camps, and fair. According to Tracie, there are over 700 kids who participate in 4H in Clinton County, ranging from age 5 to 18 and coming from various backgrounds like apartments, suburbs, and small farms. 4H was started in Ohio in 1902 by a school administrator in Clark County. The club came to Clinton County in the 1920s and has since evolved from traditional projects to now offering STEM projects and more. Ohio 4H has over 200 different project opportunities ranging in subject from nutrition, electricity, welding, livestock, sewing, recipes, scrapbooking, photography, and more. Children have the opportunity to show livestock like sheep, goats, chicken, cows, and more. Tracie stated, "We have an opportunity for everybody. We have projects for every interest." Within Clinton County, there are 25 groups that come together a few times each month for meetings to learn life skills, and work on their projects with the goal of exhibiting them at the fair. The meetings and projects are age-appropriate, ensuring that even though five-year-olds cannot participate in the fair, they can learn from the program. Children can begin taking projects to the fair at age eight and once in third grade. Tracie stated, "I don't think there's a life skill that 4H does not provide... There's just nothing really quite like 4H." To learn more about the Clinton County 4H Club and the OSU Extension office, visit clinton.osu.edu.