A message from the President:

The opportunity to serve this community is something I intend to talk about to my grandkids someday — as someone born right here in Defiance, Ohio and raised here in the village of Sherwood — this community runs in my blood.

My grandfather Bernard Kuhn was a star big man in basketball, and wore number 55 for the Sherwood Rangers. I remember my dad taking me downtown Sherwood to Del’s cafe as a child, ordering me a basket of crinkle cut fries. Driving through Sherwood brings back memories of walking home from school to my family’s business — one that I’m honored to have helped grow into a nationally recognized brand — our YouTube channel alone is nearing 25,000 subscribers, and has allowed us to reach millions of people.

I’ve had the pleasure of welcoming folks from all around the globe right here to Sherwood, Ohio. And I can tell you firsthand how remarkable people find it.

They comment on the beauty of our fields and forests, and the warm demeanor of total strangers they come across by happenstance — and yes, they even comment on the beauty of how flat it is here. But most of all, they leave here remembering the close-knit community we have, and can relate to how this is a great place to grow up — and to grow old.

The resilient spirit of our village and small-towns across America embodies what stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius meant when he said: “the impediment to action advances action — what stands in the way becomes the way.” In other words, the obstacle is the way, and as leaders in our community, we must embody this spirit of stoicism ourselves.

Defiance county and the Sherwood area have a rich cultural history written by countless local families, our families, and by failing to capture and share these stories now, we do a disservice to future generations that will call this place home.

In closing, I’d like to say — at only 28 years of age, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world: I’ve driven the entire circumference of Ireland where I kissed the Blarney Stone, bathed in the Blue Lagoon of Iceland, driven Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and even rode a go cart dressed in a Winnie the Pooh costume through the busiest intersection in the world in Tokyo, Japan. 

Through my travels, Henry David Thoreau’s words from 1857 have rung true: Men should not go to New Zealand to write or think of Greece and Rome, nor more to New England. Celebrate not the Garden of Eden, but your own.

And I mean it when I say this: this place right here in Northwest Ohio may not have purple mountain majesties, or awe-worthy skyscrapers — but this garden is worth celebrating, and it’s what I long to come home to.

There’s a Statue of Liberty outside of Kuhn Truck and RV's office Sherwood, and I like to tell people “this may not be the Big Apple, or even the Little Apple — but it will always be the apple of my eye.”

Thank you for this opportunity to serve you, I will give nothing less than my best because this community deserves it. Thank you, and please consider joining in our efforts by becoming a member.

Luke Charles Kuhn — President of Sherwood Area Economic Development Corp.

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