Friday, July 29, 2016

County Fair Highlights Local Spirit (and Healthy Options)

It’s no doubt that fair week is one of the highlights of the summer in Union County. When you walk in you instantly smell the aroma of great food in the air, hear laughter coming from all directions, and the excitement of the town surrounds you. It’s hard to concentrate on one thing and decide what to do first; ride the rides till you feel sick, eat all of the desires of your heart, or pet every single adorable animal in sight.

For some people, the fair is just a day trip; for others, the fair is their living quarters for the week. Lilly Kincaid, an 18-year resident of Marysville, is one of those people that makes the fair their home away from home. She shows horses every year and exclaimed her excitement about something new the fair has to offer this year, “Fruit Bucket Smoothies is awesome! I am so happy they finally have something at the fair that's not going to make you puke when you're out in the heat. Awesome smoothies, awesome people! Everyone needs to go get one this week!”

Fruit Bucket Smoothies is owned by Ed and Christa Rausch, who have been proud Marysville community members their entire lives, 42 years to be specific. I was able to speak with them and hear about their goals for Fruit Bucket Smoothies inaugural year, “The goals are to bring a healthier choice of food to the festivals and fair and to have fun doing it! We all like our delicious fair food but sometimes a good, cold, healthy smoothie is perfect on a hot day!”

My pals and I had to try Ed’s favorite thing on the menu, The Bahama Mama, and Christa’s favorite thing, the Super Smoothie. The Super Smoothie has the acai berry which is super rich in fiber and antioxidants. The Super Smoothie cancelled out the humidity, a price that could never be repaid. The Bahama Mama is essentially the beach in a cup; strawberry, banana, pineapple, and coconut. The only thing missing was the sand.

Fruit Bucket smoothies also strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible. They have a punch card system that allows you to return their biodegradable cups to get a punch and they also give you another punch for purchasing a smoothie. The punches add up quickly and in the end you get a free smoothie! Save the earth, drink smoothies, and get free smoothies; that’s a system I can definitely handle.

Ed and Christa wanted to thank Marysville and their supporters, “The support has been great so far, a lot of customers are very happy they have a healthier choice. I think Marysville is a great place for the Fruit Bucket because we don't have many places that offer a good smoothie. We just want to thank our family and everyone for all their support and helping us get started. We hope to be at a lot more community events next year and hope to see everyone out supporting the local businesses.”

Smoothies, funnel cake, and summer; what’s not to love?!

You can follow Fruit Bucket Smoothies on Facebook

Monday, July 18, 2016

Events Bring Out Community Pride

There’s nothing better than enjoying live music with a close-knit community like Marysville on a Friday night. There was nothing but friends made, laughter shared, and happiness in the air at Uptown Marysville. I had the chance to meet a lot of great community members and listen to what they love most about Marysville!

“What do you love most about Marysville?”

“We love the small town feel. It’s a small town with a big city focus. It has everything a big city has but in a small community.” - Linda and Tom (on left)
“It’s my hometown! I left for 40 years and came back because I love it so much.” - Rosella (middle right)
“There’s a lot to do and they are good to their seniors!” - Elphie (right)


“We love the people!” - Fruit Bucket Smoothies



“It was nice growing up in a safe community with a lot to do!” - Meghan and Matt


“We love the small town feel. They are bringing the big city to a small town!”-Bill, Wendy, Julie 

“The library. We’ve met a lot of friends at story time.” - Allie and Zach (in wagon)


“It’s an up and coming small town. The parks are gorgeous and the city has done a great job!”- Hillary from Laughing Dog Studio


“The welcoming and friendly people. We love youth to youth, the drug free coalition. Right now we are working against underage drinking. We also enjoy all of the local food places like Fifth Street CafĂ©.” – Union County Drug Free Coalition


“The small town and community. The people and the businesses still look out after each other and support the community. There is also a great variety in Marysville.” - Rich from Nationwide Children’s

“Everyone is very friendly and hardworking. We still have that small town feel!”- Katie from Nationwide Children’s Close to Home



What isn’t there to love about Marysville? We hope to see you at the next Friday Nights Uptown on August 5th  for more fun, food, and music! For a complete listing of upcoming events, please visit our Neighborhood Calendar!





Monday, July 11, 2016

The Half Pint on a Friday Night

Hi, it’s Morgan DeWitt, I’m the new kid on the block here at Team Marysville. I’ve joined with the team to spread the good word of our community through this blog. This week I’m here to share about another new kid on the block, the Half Pint.


The beautiful, rustic, and laid back interior of the Half Pint
I came to the Half Pint expecting a cheeseburger cooked to perfection with perfectly salted French fries on the side. I not only had the best, but also the strangest cheese burger I’ve ever had the privilege of eating; I also came out with the feeling that I had just gained some high-quality friends. 

I was able to chat with Scott, the manager, over his meal suggestion, a PB&J burger. I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical about Scott’s choice but I stepped out of my comfort zone and devoured (I mean seriously, devoured) a hamburger with peanut butter and jelly on it. I also know there are stereotypes about ordering crab cake in Ohio, but Scott swears that Chef Ryan’s crab cakes taste like they are fresh off the East Coast. I dare you to try a PB&J hamburger and a crab cake from Ohio at the same time - you won’t regret it. 


This is me devouring a PB&J hamburger, nice to meet you!
Besides encouraging me to take risks with my hamburger selection, Scott also gave me the low down on what the Half Pint is bringing to Marysville’s community. Marysville needs a community that works together and Scott agrees with that to the fullest degree, “I don’t want the Half Pint to take away from any other business in Marysville. I want to give Marysville a place to sit down and get an efficient burger and fast. The Half Pint, the Old Bag of Nails, and Leon’s can all work together to make downtown Marysville a great place along with giving it that “closer to home feel” rather than driving all the way to Dublin to have dinner with the family.”

We are blessed to live in a small community where it’s easy to recognize faces when you walk into a restaurant and give a small hello or wave. The Half Pint and Scott want to expand this simple wave into something more, “The community doesn’t just need food and beer, the community needs relationships and friends. I want to come out to your table and know about you, I want to know about your family, what you do, everything. I want to know that you’re comfortable and that you can tell me if the food sucks at dinner that night. I want to be involved not just because I have to be but because I want to be.”

I had nothing to complain about after I ate dinner at the Half Pint but if I did I would have no problem telling my new friend, Scott. Thank you Half Pint, for helping Marysville become so much more than a city 45 minutes Northwest of Columbus. You can enjoy a fantastic meal, make friends, and bring the whole family out to the Half Pint. You can find it at 211 East 5th Street.

The Half Pint Marysville
211 East 5th Street
Website or Facebook