Fostoria's Colbert honored as Seneca Co. vet of the year

TIFFIN — Toby Colbert is a credit deflector.Of course, the Fostoria resident felt honored to be named the Seneca County Veterans Service Commission's veteran of the year for 2025, but talking about it was another matter as he received that honor and commendations from other area officials Thursday night during a dinner at AMVETS Post 48."We aren't celebrating me," he told the dinner's gathering. "We're only celebrating because of the Seneca County Honor Bus."Colbert and his wife, Dottie, though, are the driving forces behind the periodic three-day bus trips to Washington, D.C., which enable area veterans to travel to Washington, D.C., at no cost to themselves, and see the national military monuments and other sights.The impetus for the Seneca County Honor Bus came in 2021 from Jim Nusser and Dennis Nye, two members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 440 in Fostoria, who had traveled on the Ashland County Honor Bus. Both men died before they could put the wheels in motion for a local bus, but Toby Colbert promised Nusser that he would handle the matter."I think he left it in the right hands to make it happen because Toby and I both are pretty much go-getters," Dottie Colbert said. "I think he picked the right people."Indeed, with a number of fundraisers being conducted throughout Seneca County, the Colberts and others on the Honor Bus committee have sent 180 veterans — along with companions, who pay a fee for the trip, and high school student volunteer assistants — to the nation's capital since 2022.One bus went to Washington in 2022. Another went in 2023, followed by two in both 2024 and 2025. Both of this year's busses went last month."Unbelievable," Dottie Colbert said of the success the Honor Bus has enjoyed. "You know, people say, 'Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that?' Every time somebody gives me a suggestion that sounds like something we might need to do — I'm not religious, but I always pray and kind of wait around for an answer. I don't do anything without someone else's authority, higher than me. And I usually get my answer. I just really think that Jim asked the right people to take care of this for him."During the trips, 12 Seneca County veterans have taken part in laying wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery."You can't even explain it," he said of the feeling associated with stepping to the tomb and laying a wreath.Toby Colbert is a Vietnam veteran who enlisted in 1969 and was discharged in 1970. He's a past commander of Earl Foust Post 73 of the American Legion in Fostoria and a member of VVA 440. Along with helping to book bands to play at legion fundraisers — he's a bass guitar player in a band himself — and has been a regular participant in the Fostoria Honor Guard.Before retiring from the U.S. Army tank plant in Lima in 2007, he made arrangements two have two World War II cannons refurbished — removing the lead paint in favor of a new paint job — and placed in Fostoria's Fountain Cemetery.Colbert has continued to carry on with connecting with other veterans to help them with various matters, including registration for benefits to which they're entitled."You all can be in the same position," he said of assisting veterans during a brief post-dinner interview. "You've just got to go do it."Both Colberts said they were surprised to hear that Toby was this year's county honoree."I know he does a lot of stuff for vets and I've seen him do a lot of stuff for vets," Dottie Colbert said, adding that the evening was "emotional" for her. "But I didn't realize that the community realized how much he does, that they elected him veteran of the year. That really shocked me. I was amazed."And Toby Colbert didn't care to bask in the limelight, though he did engage in several individual conversations."Tonight I've got my family with me, I've got my legion family with me and I've got a lot of bus family in here," he told the dinner's attendees. "I've really been blessed. ... I'm not going to stand here and burn your ears all night. You all do your thing."