BUCYRUS — During the Crawford County Board of Health meeting April 15, good news was shared amidst the current Coronavirus Pandemic.
Board of Health President Zach Wolfe signed certificates recognizing the 2019 Food Safety Award Winners and the 2019 Donors of Excellence.
Several years ago, Crawford County Public Health (CCPH) initiated an annual Food Safety Award Program to recognize local food establishments that exhibit exceptional efforts to make, serve, and sell safe food to the public. In the state of Ohio, March 1st through the end of February of the following year is considered a complete licensing and operational year.
CCPH is proud to announce the following thirty-two facilities (out of 115 eligible) are recipients of a 2019 Food Safety Award:
Superior Award winners (No violations of any kind during the entire year)
Buckeye Central Schools, Bucyrus Elementary, Bucyrus High School, Carolyn’s Kitchen, Cooper’s Mill, Crawford County Council on Aging, Crestline Child Care, Fit, Fab, Fun, Frank’s Treat Time, Katering Country Style, Little Athens, Maple Crest, Taco Bell (Bucyrus), Tim Hortons (Bucyrus), Wagon Wheel Campground and Wynford High School.
Excellent Award winners (No critical violations and no more than 3 non-critical violations during the entire year)
Bucyrus Hospital, Carle’s, Crestline High School, Dairy Crest, Depot Deli, Domino’s Pizza (Crestline), Freezer Fresh, Hannah & William Crawford School, Heartland Care Center, Holiday Inn Express, KFC (Galion), McDonald’s (Crestline), Quality Inn, United Dairy Farmers, Walmart and Wynford Elementary.
Kate Siefert, Crawford County Health Commissioner, offered praise to the award winners.
“Congratulations to all of our winners for their dedication to safe food service. Their attention to food safety greatly aids in the reduction of foodborne illness for those that live, as well as those that travel through, the Crawford County community.”
The completion of the 2019 food licensing year marked the seventh year CCPH has been recognizing local food operations for exceptional food safety practices. CCPH would like to further acknowledge the following four (4) facilities have consistently received a food safety award all seven years:
- Buckeye Central Schools
- Little Athens
- Walmart
- Wynford Elementary
Fred Fox, superintendent of Wynford Local Schools, says his staff works tirelessly to ensure that all safety and cleanliness procedures are followed while preparing and cooking meals for students.
“We have a staff of food service supervisors and workers who are very conscientious of cleanliness in preparing nutritious meals,” Fox said.
He said even though the schools are currently closed, Wynford’s food service workers are preparing hundreds of meals each day for kids in the community.
Cathy Wample, an assistant manager at Walmart, said the associates at the Bucyrus store work put the cleanliness and safety procedures as a top priority for customers.
Little Athens owner Chris Gasuras said he is proud to be a standard among those inspected by the health department.
“It’s almost like being the poster child for the health department. Our place is a little dated, but it’s always clean,” he said. “It’s great to have the award, but it’s a hard one to hang on to. No one is perfect.”
Gasuras said it is especially important to be sanitary during concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus. He said by preparing everything in the restaurant himself, it eliminates multiple hands touching the product during production.
The Board of Health also recognized the many generous individuals and organizations that donated items in 2019 to be distributed to families they serve in the community. The following are recognized as a Donor of Excellence for helping Crawford County Public Health fulfill its mission to educate, empower, and improve the quality of life for the Crawford County Community:
- Laura Thompson (handmade hats, blankets, sweaters and car seat covers)
- Irene Springer (handmade sleep sacks, bibs, burp cloths and cloth toy balls)
- New Washington Community Quilters (handmade quilts)
- Gloria Nelson (handmade bibs, burp cloths, blankets, sleep sacks, hats, jackets, diapers, wipes, specialty clothing for an autistic child, clothing, cloth toy balls, and washable breast pads)
- Janice Auck (handmade bibs, burp cloths, blankets, sleep sacks, hats, jackets, diapers, wipes, specialty clothing for an autistic child, clothing, cloth toy balls, and washable breast pads)
- Gospel Baptist Church (handmade receiving blankets and burp cloths)
- City of Bucyrus (pool passes)
- Ian & Holly Cramer (new infant car seat)
- Evelyn Franklin (formula)
- June Baker (board books, pull ups, diapers, wipes, and toothpaste)
- Sarah Kalb (diapers and wipes)
- Church & Dwight Company (laundry detergent, baking soda and cleaning products)
- Lisa Cook (board books)
- General Electric (Christmas gifts for children)
- IUE Local 704 (monetary donation)
- Galion LLC (Christmas gifts for children)
- Bucyrus Lions Club (payment for flexible frames for a child)
- Ohio Mutual Insurance Group (Christmas gifts for children)
- Lynn Utz (monetary donation)
- Bucyrus Dental (Christmas gifts for children)
- Plankton United Methodist Church (Christmas gift for children)
For more information on food safety or for ideas on how you can volunteer or donate items to help local families, contact Crawford County Public Health at 419-562-5871.