Deb Curlis doesn’t hesitate when someone asks her where to shop.  “Buy local,” Curlis responds.  “You can find just about anything you need or want right here in Ada.”

Curlis is president of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce and the “Buy Local” Committee. 

Committee members Fred Steiner of the Ada Icon, Corsie Arn of Liberty National Bank, and Linda Armstrong of U.S. Bank accompanied Curlis to a meeting of Ada’s Rotary Club.
Curlis reeled off a list of business in Ada – two barbers, two beauty shops, an auto parts store, a new car dealer, three auto garages, three doctors and a clinic, two medical labs, two real estate firms, two carryouts, a wine shop, grocery, two gas stations, several restaurants, a full-service pharmacy and one of the area’s finest hardware stores.  And on and on. 

“When you’re driving through Ada sometime, pay attention to the businesses all around you,” Curlis urged.  “It doesn’t pay to drive to Lima when we have so much right here at home.”

Ada’s Buy Local Committee had sponsored “Music on Main,” cash mobs, and will hold a soup cook-off and pie baking contest on the last Monday in October.

Also present at the meeting were Ada High School seniors Luke Long-Green, Seth Wright, and Jarod Woodland, who shared their high school accomplishments and future plans.  Ada Rotary hosts Ada seniors at its meetings throughout the school year.  The club annually awards two $1,000 scholarships to Ada graduating seniors.

In other Rotary news:
• Dictionaries have been ordered to give to third graders at Ada, Allen East, Hardin Northern and Upper Scioto Valley schools.  This is one of Ada Rotary’s annual “signature” projects.
• The club discussed its fourth annual Wine Pairing at the Inn at Ohio Northern December 4.  Tickets are $45 apiece plus tax and gratuity.
Ada Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at Noon at the Inn at Ohio Northern University.