Tuesday, November 2, saw big changes to the Elberta Village Council. The Elberta Alert was on the scene at the library on Frankfort Avenue when the polls closed at 8 pm. The trusty election workers had put in a very long day and were probably only too happy to read the results and be on their way into the windy night.

Elberta voting this year was a combination of the ancient and the modern, with large paper ballots filled out in pen in little cloth-curtained booths and then fed by the voter into the Optech Insight machine, which resembled R2D2 in girth and stature. Optech, prompted by an election worker, spat out a tape of results sometime shortly after 8 pm. Probably the biggest news of the night was the turnout. A stunning 413 votes were cast among a registered-voter population of 600 in Gilmore Township. This 600 figure is courtesy of Sharyn Bower, who as Village clerk was there to record the results—and also to learn of her re-election.

The 2010-elected Village Council members are as follows: Reginald Manville, president; Sharyn Bower, clerk; Diane Jenks, trustee; Matthew Stapleton, trustee; Ross Thorsen, trustee; Linda Manville, trustee; and William Soper and Charles Hendershott tied for trustee. The last appointment will be decided by the council. Laura Manville remains Village treasurer with two more years to her term.

Several people were heard to say that the number of council hopefuls this year was unprecedented in their memory.

The next regular meeting of the Elberta Village Council will be Thursday, November 11 at 7 pm at the Village building behind the old Bay Valley Inn (former Elberta elementary school).