The Marietta Brewing Company has added a new feature to their bar to help get over the wintertime blues. Every Thursday night will give Marietta a competitive edge with MBC’s Trivia Nights, a live hosted trivia game that is free to play by individuals or teams.

“Trivia Night has been successful so far,” said Tony Styer, co-owner of the Marietta Brewing Co. “We get a good mix of people coming in to play. From college students to retirees, everyone seems to have a great time!”

The idea was brought to the restaurant owners’ attention when the company Team Trivia approached the business with information.

“Team Trivia hosts these trivia nights all around West Virginia, and Wanted to start coming into the Ohio Market,” said Styer. “We thought this would be a great and unique form of entertainment for this area. We thought it was worth a try, and it has taken off!”

Subjects involved in the trivia nights range from sports, geography, history, and pop culture, among many others. The game is played in rounds, with each round having three questions in different categories. Sign ups for the evening start at 7:30pm and the game starts at 8pm, lasting about 2 hours.

Now that Thursdays have been sectioned off for team competitions, the Marietta Brewing Co. now boasts a week-long list of entertainment possibilities.

“Every Wednesday night we host an Open Mic night. Thursday is live trivia. Friday & Saturday we host live music,” said Styer.

Of course, the Brewery is primarily known as the best location in Marietta for live music, and this coming New Year’s Eve is no exception. This year, MBC will be having a New Years Eve party featuring the local band Backroad Remedy. A $5 cover will be charged for the evening.

For more information about the Marietta Brewing Company’s list of exciting activities, visit them at www.mbcpub.com. 

The 10,000 Sunflowers community project raised both spirits and money during the seven-month effort.

More than 135 people either assisted with the planting, harvesting, distributing or do- nating money for sunflowers raised on the Dr. Roger Anderson farm near Fleming. The seeds were planted on four acres along Ohio 550 5.5 miles west of Marietta by 78 volun- teers ranging in age from 2 to 96 years on May 12. After delighting passersby, tourists, photographers and thousands of butterflies and birds, volunteers in October harvested seeds for distribution to people who enjoy feeding birds at their homes.

Designed as a community-involvement project, the last of the sunflower seeds recently were distributed from American Flags and Poles on Front Street.

More than $350 was raised from donations for the seeds in support of Harvest of Hope, a non-profit community organization developed to help low-income people and others to grow their own food and for food recovery from grocery stores, manufacturers and farms.

Planting of 10,001 Sunflowers is planned for Saturday, May 11, 2013. Plans include planting additional sunflowers in swaths on both sides of Ohio 550 so that passersby and tourists will be engulfed in the multicolored, towering flowers. Additional efforts will be made to invite school and youth groups to participate in the sunflower project.

For anyone wishing to donate to the 10,000 Sunflowers: Harvest of Hope 10,000 Sunflowers, Marietta Community Foundation, P.O. Box 77,
Marietta, Ohio 45750. 

Hunters checked 14,365 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s extra gun-hunting weekend, Dec. 15-16, according to the Ohio Depart- ment of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

That total is a decline of 14.3 percent from 2011, when hunters harvested 16,766 deer. In 2010, hunters bagged 20,916 deer over the same time period.

“The overall size of the deer herd is smaller, and the harvest is aligned with that decrease,” said Mike Tonkovich, ODNR Division of Wildlife deer project leader. “We anticipated the 2012-2013 deer season harvest would be down 5 to 10 percent from last year. Most of Ohio’s counties are above their target deer harvest number, and we have worked to get those numbers closer to the target through generous harvest regulations.”

The counties reporting the highest numbers of deer checked during the 2012 deer-gun hunting weekend: Coshocton (489), Tuscara- was (483), Muskingum (474), Licking (444), Harrison (390), Belmont (387), Guernsey (382), Carroll (375), Ashtabula (372) and Knox (356). The top five counties remained unchanged from last year. In Washington County, hunters bagged 266 deer, down from 330 last year.

The extra gun-hunting weekend was first of- fered in 2006 in response to hunters’ request for an increase in the amount of weekend days

to pursue deer. Hunters still have opportuni- ties to pursue deer this winter. Archery season remains open through Feb. 3, 2013. The state- wide muzzleloader season is Jan. 5-8, 2013.

The white-tailed deer is the most popular game animal in Ohio, frequently pursued by generations of hunters. Ohio ranks eighth nationally in annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with hunting-related industries. Hunting has an $859 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more.

More information about Ohio deer hunting can be found in the 2012-2013 Hunting and Trapping Regulations or at wildohio.com.

Hunters are encouraged to donate any ex- tra venison to organizations assisting Ohioans in need. ODNR Division of Wildlife is col- laborating with Farmers and Hunters Feed- ing the Hungry (FHFH) to help pay for the processing of donated venison. Hunters who donate deer are not required to pay the pro- cessing cost as long as the deer are taken to a participating processor. To see which counties are involved in this program, go to fhfh.org.

Ohio’s first modern day deer-gun season opened in 1943 in three counties, and hunters harvested 168 deer. Deer hunting was allowed in all 88 counties in 1956, and hunters killed 3,911 deer during that one-week season. 

What started out as enthusiasm for fresh foods has become a promising start for a new small business in Marietta. With an eye for modern design and tongue for a tasteful menu, the new catering service, Thrive Catering, is off to a great start at bringing quality food to an area rich in agriculture.

“We want to do the food we think is im- portant in a location we love,” said Christian Jussen, owner of Thrive Catering.

Jussen said that the idea to open Thrive developed through his love of Californian cuisine. He and his team also hope to deliver an edge in Marietta catering by producing a service that focuses on a healthy menu, on a commitment to higher-quality ingredients, and on organic, local foods that are served fresh from the farm to the plate.

Menu items to be found at Thrive include Miniature Salad Bites served as individual cups, Ginger Chicken Cakes, and Soup Shooters. Other finger food selections from Thrive are Phyllo Pastry Triangles or Crostini Platters.

As for entrees, Thrive offers selections that feature Seared Fresh Ahi Tuna Medalions , Herb-Roasted Pork Tenderloin, and Morac- can Spiced Chicken, to name a few.

“We have access to an agricultural bounty in this area,” said Jason Legraen, manager for Thrive. “We’ve made an effort to utilize that asset in our business plan.”

While Thrive might have a mindset on Cali- fornian cuisine, the team that has brought about the business keeps residence in Mariet- ta. Jussen and Legraen have focused tirelessly

on the business end of Thrive, but both have worked to find the right chef to help create a menu that emphasizes their culinary ideas.

“We are excited about food and want our customers to feel the same,” said Jamie Hey- dinger, Chef of the Thrive.

Having worked as a chef for several local kitchens and received an Agricultural Business Management degree from Washington State Community College, Heydinger found the challenge of Thrive to be something that in- trigued him both personally and professionally.

“Even as a meat eater, I would enjoy the se- lections developed particularly for our vegan menu,” said Heydinger.

To help spread the word about what Thrive Catering has to offer, the creators of the busi- ness have organized a schedule of select events for catering, as well as a private tasting event for their new menu on Wednesday, December 19. In this way, the Thrive team can spread the news of their food throughout the com- munity, all while fine-tuning their signature tastes.

For the future, Thrive has placed a special interest on different sorts of private functions, including parties, office luncheons and other business events. They’ve even gone so far as to supply a conference room in Putnam Com- mons to host private functions to offices or individuals who need the space.

For more information on Thrive Catering, call 903.245.1408, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or find them at www.thrive-cafe.com or facebook.com/ThriveCafeandCatering.