In this edition of our newsletter, you will find that we’re looking to the year ahead while thinking of the many things for which we are thankful now. Quite simply–2020 has been a year. And while it has brought with it a series of what will someday surely be historic events, I hope that we can end our year as we do every other. Let us look at the challenges we faced as battle wounds, proof that we made it through; let’s count our blessings, be kind to others, and share our hopes for 2021.

Among our many blessings here in Dover Township are our wide-open spaces and homegrown businesses. How lucky we are that we can roam around the 300-acres at Norma Johnson Conservation Center or walk the towpath down from Zoar whenever we want. When we want locally-sourced food or beverages, we can shop at Gooding’s Market or stop in at one of our wineries. We don’t have the space to mention all of our township businesses, but they are all an important part of what makes our township great. During the months ahead, these businesses are counting on us to shop locally and support not only their employees, but the many families who depend on them.

Coming off the heels of an election, we’ve been told how different we are, but I look around Dover Township and see a community of individuals who all decided to live, work, and raise their families here, and likely for the same reasons. I see that 79% of our township’s registered voters voted in November, that’s above the total turnout for both Tuscarawas County and the state of Ohio. Even if we voted different from our neighbors, most of us did our duty as citizens and cast our votes. We have so much in common, and it is my hope in the coming year that we can find our similarities, understand our differences, and continue to support our neighbors.

We will not be discussing any COVID mandates or guidelines in this newsletter, and that’s not an effort in anyway to minimize the pandemic or its effects on the lives, health, and finances of so many. Frankly, because of how quickly the guidelines and mandates change, we can’t risk printing something and having it altered before it reaches your mailboxes. For up-to-date information for Ohio, we recommend visiting: coronavirus.ohio.gov. Local information is available daily on the Tuscarawas County Health Department’s Facebook page or via their weekly e-newsletter. If you would like to be added to their email distribution list, email director@tchdnow.org and place “Subscribe to eNewsletter” in the subject area.

As we wrap-up one year and begin another, we will continue to work for the health, happiness, good-fortune, and safety of all our township residents. And if you have any good news of your own that you would like us to share in the newsletter or on the website, please submit it at dovertownship.us/news.