The City of Pickerington is celebrating 30 years as a Tree City USA! To mark the occasion, seven new trees (representing the city's seven Pickerington Parks Board members) were recently planted in the Arboretum at Sycamore Creek Park.
The City of Pickerington lost a beloved friend and co-worker after Bob Middendorf’s sudden passing on March 18. Bob worked in our service department and was often seen in our parks, setting up for an event, hanging Christmas lights or even watering flowers. Bob was a great team player and took a lot of pride in working for his hometown.
Bob’s loss is being felt throughout our community. He was a graduate of Pickerington High School and served his alma mater as a coach in football, baseball and wrestling. He was a Tiger through and through and impacted hundreds of young lives.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob’s wife Kelli, their sons Keaton and Kasey and all that knew and loved him.
In celebration of Earth Day, City employees, community volunteers and students from Pickerington High School Central and Pickerington High School North canvassed the community and collected more than 2,000 lbs. of trash. It is the third year of the ‘Picktown Pickup’ initiative and the City sincerely appreciates the hard work of our staff and volunteers.
Pickerington is the Home of State Champions! The City recently dedicated a new sign at the main entrance at SR 256 and SR 204. Pickerington’s high school athletic teams, as well as the Pickerington Special Olympics teams, have won 23 state titles as of 2023. Many of the coaches that led those title teams were present at the April 3 dedication ceremony.
“We’re proud of the successes of our student-athletes and coaches and wanted to do something special to recognize their accomplishments in a more permanent way,” Mayor Lee Gray says. “We are Pickerington proud and look forward to adding to this sign for many years to come.”
Planning is underway for Pickerington’s annual Independence Day Celebration.
This year’s fireworks display will take place Monday, July 3 at 10 p.m. Fireworks will be launched from Pickerington High School Central. There will be no organized activities and residents are encouraged to watch the show from home.
The parade will take place Tuesday, July 4 at 10 a.m. Any groups or individuals interested in participating should contact the Pickerington Parks and Recreation Department at 614-833-2211 or by visiting www.pickerington.net. Registration is free. The parade lines up at Pickerington High School Central between 8:30-9:30 a.m. The route is approximately two miles long and moves from PHSC north on Lockville Road, then west on Columbus Street through Olde Pickerington Village, south on Hill Road and ends at Pickerington Ridgeview Junior High School.
It’s bittersweet as we don’t like seeing them go, but greater things are ahead for three of the City’s longest-serving employees. Happy Retirement to Detective Tim Planck, who has served the police department in a number of roles during his 30 years of service, Officer Rick Hoagland is retiring with 26 years of service and Service Foreman Dwayne Mohler is clocking out after 28 years of hard work and dedication to the City of Pickerington. All three will be greatly missed and we thank them for a job well done!
