North Central Local Schools recently inducted two alumni into the North Central Hall of Fame, Edward Kidston, North Central Class of 1977 and Rodger Swank, North Central Class of 1989.
While attending North Central, Mr. Kidston was his Class President for all four years. He was also the captain of the baseball, cross country and basketball teams. Mr. Kidston was a member of the NC Chorus when they traveled overseas to Poland for three weeks and he also participated in the school musical! After graduating from North Central, he attended Tri-State University and graduated in 1981 receiving a Business Management degree. Mr. Kidston served as Vice President of Artesian under his father, the late Bruce Kidston, for nine years prior to taking on the reigns of President of Artesian in 1990. Mr. Ed Kidston is President and CEO of Kidston family Companies including: Artesian, Quality Inn and Wynn’s Restaurant, Kidston Consultants, Kexon and Artesian Capital Partners. He is currently serving his 5th term as Mayor of Pioneer and at the completion of this term he will become the longest serving mayor in the Village of Pioneer’s history – surpassing his father’s length of service by one year. Mayor Ed Kidston has worked with the Village Council to make improvements to Pioneer such as the paving and curbing or several streets, the revitalization of downtown, the street light improvement project and numerous other projects that have helped improve the Village of Pioneer! In 2005, Ed Kidston was appointed to the Ohio Turnpike Commission and he was instrumental in implementing the EZ Pass, increasing the speed limit across the state to 70 miles per hour as well as assisting in the planning and constructing of the Service Plaza near West Unity. Mr. Kidston is also actively involved at St. John’s Lutheran Church.
Ed and his wife Ann have been married for 37 years. They have three children – Kati and Ryan Burt, Jodi and Josh Fiser, and Michael and McCrae Kidston. Ed and Ann also have seven grandchildren.
Mr. Rodger Swank was the Senior Class President, a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Club, Band, Choir, SADD, participated in the high school musical, Cross Country, Basketball, Baseball and Track. He was selected to the 1st Team BBC in Baseball and received the Gamboe Sportsmanship Award his senior year.
Rodger continued his education at Tri-State University and has a degree in Drafting and Design. Since college, he has been employed at ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks.
He started his career as a Process Engineer. In 2002, Mr. Swank was promoted to the position of Quality Manager. In this role, he has worked closely with the employees and customers and has developed relationships built on integrity and trust. Rodger is knowledgeable in many areas of the business and is an excellent problem solver.
He excels in planning and executing!
Besides being highly involved at ArcelorMittal, Rodger has been a Volunteer Firefighter for 22 years, the assistant softball coach at North Central, a very active member at Pioneer United Methodist Church as well as very much involved in the North Central Athletic Boosters and Music Boosters.
Rodger and his wife Tammy have two daughters – Makayla and Alyssa.
North Central Hall of Fame Applications can be found on the school’s website or also by contacting the school.
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