POLAND, Ohio - The late David N. Ludt, former Poland Township Trustee, is set to have a memorial park bench dedicated to him on Wednesday.

The ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. in the Poland Township Park Pavilion by current Trustees Eric Ungaro, Joanne Wollet, and Ed Kempers.

Ludt served Poland as a Trustee between 1974 and 1988 and later became the Mahoning County Commissioner, where he served from 1998 to 2010. 

According to Ludt's fellow ex-trustee and personal friend, Jim Scharville, "I could go on and on about Dave.... He was the father of our Police Department... He made sure it got started and had what it needed to be successful."

Scharville says that before the Poland Police Department was founded, they relied on the Mahoning County Sheriff for their law enforcement, and it was Dave's idea to create a police force that could be a real part of the community. Scharville also notes that this is just one of Dave's many contributions to his community, both in Poland and the county as a whole. 

"He loved his people, he loved his community and he loved the work he did," says Scharville.