The first person to vote in Wyandot County as early voting began Wednesday was nearly nonagenarian Helen Vogel, of Upper Sandusky, according to a press release from the Ohio chapter of Hillary For America.

Depending on whom you ask, the holiday season may begin in mid-December or mid-October. Those who prefer a prolonged yuletide can find company in uptown Upper Sandusky, where Dianntha Lessig, co-owner of the Vyntage Barn at 12487 TH 60, has a new pop-up Christmas shop.

SYCAMORE — The students of Mohawk Elementary School were given two challenges Monday morning. The challenges were issued by a fourth-degree black belt, originally from Reno, Nevada, who has traveled to Africa nine times to visit orphanages.

There were a number of sights as firefighters training at the Ohio Fire Academy on Friday worked under a variety of conditions and with a number of different types of fires.

Employees of Thiel Excavating and Drainage work to connect a plastic drain tile to a clay tile from the 1800s on Tuesday while Wyandot County Commissioner Bill Clinger (far left) looks on.

REYNOLDSBURG — The chief of the Fire and Explosion Investigations Bureau at the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office on Friday explained how investigators work closely with the office’s forensics lab and law enforcement officials in piecing together evidence and witness statements after a blaze.

Four guest judges taste the food provided at Senior Connection for day one of the third annual Iron Chef competition. The judges are (clockwise, from front, left) Anne Leighty, Bringman-Clark Funeral Home; Kathy Grasz, Upper Sandusky Area Chamber of Commerce; Vicki Charlton, Wyandot County Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; and Fortune Bormuth, Wyandot Memorial Hospital.

Manfred Hanke (right) speaks with Cal Bardon (left) of Upper Sandusky at the Oktoberfest gathering at St. Paul Lutheran Church on Sunday. Hanke was born near Landshut, Germany and traveled to the United States in 1953.

COLUMBUS — The state fire marshal’s office is reminding Ohioans to check the date of residential smoke detectors during Fire Prevention Week, which kicks off Sunday. Established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Fire Prevention Week is a nationwide awareness campaign observed the Sunday through Saturday period in which Oct. 9 falls, state fire officials said during the “Feel the Heat” media day at the fire marshal’s office Friday in Reynoldsburg. Fire Prevention Week has been observed annually since 1922, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Many children enjoyed the many activities at the fall play date sponsored by Wyandot County Help Me Grow and Women, Infants and Children on Thursday.