About

For many years, the Village of Sabina, OH had a Neighborhood Watch program that was active, functional, and well supported. The woman who was managing the program, Diana Preston, later moved and after she left most of the focus on the program faded away too.

Sabina still has many Neighborhood Watch signs on sign posts and on fences around town, and the number on the signs is still good. It is the local number for the Sabina Police Department. But with a smaller police force it is harder for residents to get action on issue they face by calling that number in a timely manner.

In December of 2023, Roger Starnes, a resident of Sabina on Florence Avenue since 2020, met with Sabina Police Chief, Joe Noland, about trying to restart the Neighborhood Watch Group up in Sabina. In the four years that Mr. Starnes has been a resident of Sabina, he and his wife have witnessed first hand some negative activity that is  a cause of concern for the Sabina community, and it was felt that more positive interaction is needed to resolve these issues.

The endeavors put forth by the Mayor of Sabina, Chief Noland, Sabina Village Council members, Mr. Starnes and many other invested residents will, hopefully, make the Village of Sabina a better place to live and bring in new business and organizations to help revitalize downtown Sabina. They are all motivated, as Mr. Starnes says, to again, see Sabina get back to being the true “Eden of Ohio. You can do much to help!

Much of Mr. Starnes’ passion to rekindle interest in the Neighborhood Watch group comes not only from his care and concern for his family and property, and that of others, but from much active involvement in the community and surrounding areas too.

Mr. Starnes is also a member of the Sabina Historical Society, the Clinton County Trail Coalition and he manages and supports the Clinton-Fayette Friendship Trail (on Facebook and online) that goes through Sabina and will one day connect Washington Court House down to Morrow, OH. He also tries to attend Sabina Village Council meetings frequently and works with the Mayor and Council on various things around Sabina. He also co-authored a book with the late Mike Mason, a former resident of Port William, Ohio, a former stop for their book on the Grasshopper Railroad.