By Elle Wood

MILFORD — The Milford Conversation effort is returning after a few months’ hiatus.

The group had its last meeting in November 2023, but city resident John Huntzinger is bringing it back to life.

“I was getting calls and emails from people who have been to it before that were asking what was happening with it,” he said. “I contacted the person it had been handed off to, and they were trying to figure out what to do.

“It was just taking them a long time to figure it out.”

So, Mr. Huntzinger asked to take over, with a mission of bringing citizens together to meet people with similar interests.

“The goal is to get people talking with one another,” he explained, “especially those who are new to the community, (and) to be able to become members of the community and try to do that by finding common interests.”

He also hopes to educate about events happening in Milford before it’s too late.

“One of the things we kept finding was ... what happened the last weekend that would be interesting to go (to), but we were having a tough time finding things that were coming for the next weekend,” he said.

Mr. Huntzinger has called Milford home about 12 years.

“When (my wife and I) retired full time, we were looking for a place where we wanted to put roots down and stay,” he said. “We have found different people in town that we enjoy doing things with, finding things of interest that we both enjoy, so it has grown on us.”

One way he branched out was by joining the Milford Conversation events. And he was surprised to learn about some of the bigger improvements being made in the area.

“My first meeting with them, the talk of that meeting was about the DE Turf (Sports Complex), and it was one of those things that I didn’t realize anything about,” Mr. Huntzinger said. “All of a sudden, I realized that it was a big deal around here.”

The group meets on the second Thursday of each month and hosts representatives from various organizations, who speak about their efforts.

This month’s meeting will be June 13 at 8:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Milford at 101 S. Walnut St. It is recommended to enter the back of the church, off Pearl Alley.

Sarah LeBright from Downtown Milford Inc. will be the speaker.

For information or to recommend a topic for Milford Conversation, email milforddeconversation@gmail.com.