Greg & Sarah Merkel

When deciding where to settle down, we knew we wanted to live close to family, and our choices were Chicago or Venango County.  We chose to live here because we felt that Venango County offered a simpler, low-stress way of life for our family.

Our surroundings here are beautiful; we love the hills, the river and creeks, and the historic architecture. We were able to purchase an affordable victorian home in Franklin and both of us have found well-paying jobs to support our family of five.

When it comes to our free time, we never run out of activities or entertainment in this area, and we have formed a social group of many like-minded individuals.

We often hear that there are limited opportunities in small towns like ours, but we have found that there are just different opportunities.  Here, we have more opportunities to make real differences in the community, to hold leadership positions, and to spend more time with our kids. We truly feel that we couldn’t have chosen a better area to spend our lives and raise our family.