Off the Hook Archive Home
2008 |
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2014 |
Off
the
Hook - Archive 2008
by
Melanie Behrens
Publish Date |
Title |
12/26/08 |
Marysville's connection to gymnastics, the Olympics and the USSR |
12/19/08 |
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12/12/08 |
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12/05/08 |
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11/28/08 |
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11/21/08 |
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11/14/08 |
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11/7/08 |
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10/30/08 |
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10/24/08 |
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10/17/08 |
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10/10/08 |
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10/3/08 |
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9/26/08 |
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9/20/08 |
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8/29/08 |
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6/27/08 |
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6/20/08 |
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4/4/08 |
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3/28/08 |
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3/21/08 |
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3/14/08 |
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2/29/08 |
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2/22/08 |
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2/15/08 |
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12/26/08
Marysville’s connection to gymnastics, the Olympics and the USSR
Hers is a story of hard work, athletic training, discipline,
love of country and the desire for a future as a U.S. citizen.
Natalia
Laschenova now lives in Marysville and is the head coach at
Integrity Gymnastics located near Plain City. She won the gold
medal in
gymnastics as part of the 1988 Soviet team.
Her road to Marysville was a long one and last week I told
you about how she and her husband Roman came to the U.S. in 1999 so
that
she could coach gymnastics in New York State.They were helped by
her former Soviet Olympic coach who was already in the states.
Later,
they lived in Georgia (U.S.) and have been in this area for
two years. Her story began in the late 1970s in Latvia.
When Natalia was in kindergarten, she began taking dance
lessons and was soon spotted by a local coach who wanted to try her
out at
gymnastics. She was tiny, agile and seemed to fit the bill for
the Soviets gymnastics program.
She soon moved from a small gym in her hometown to a larger
one about 1 1/2 hours away by train. By the time she was eight
years old
she made the train trip with her coach and other kids every day
after school. Natalia said: “We would go to American movies and see
people
chewing bubble gum. We didn’t have that and we had no idea what
it was. And we would think we didn’t really like Americans because
they
seemed so much richer than us and their world was so different.”
It was soon determined that Natalia needed to spend more time
at the gym, because her potential was great and so she moved to the
town
1 1/2 hours away from her mother and was placed into an
apartment. She was nine years old and so was her roommate.
There was no one else on the floor of the apartment building,
but that’s good because there was only one bathroom and it was down
the
hall. The only television was in the lobby and the little girls
had little supervision. A year later Natalia’s mom was able to get
a job
in the same town as the gym and she could drop in each night
after work to check on her before starting the long ride home.
They were given money for food, but of course children buy
cookies and cake, so that’s what they had for breakfast and dinner.
Their
coach’s wife made special soup for them at lunch time and
they practiced all morning and all afternoon, then went home to
more cake.
Their weight was watched very carefully. The little girls
were weighed six times a day and Natalia was expected to keep
weight
constant. At the time of her Olympic competition she weighed 80 lbs. If
she was even one pound over she would have to do extra time in the
pool or the sauna. She could only eat lemons - no drinking -
and before she went home, her weight had to be perfect.
Natalia continued to improve and by the time she was 14 she
had made the national Olympic team. That meant improvement in
living
quarters. When she got to the USSR Olympic Training Center, she
was able to have a room she could call her own, but there were
roommates.
This was different than before, when every time she went home or
left for a few days she was shuffled off to a new room when she
came back.
Those times away from the training center were rare, however.
She was only able to go home to see her family two weeks a year.
Remember, by this time Natalia was about 80 pounds and they
called her “dynamite.” She was a standout in competition and even
though she
was the youngest girl on the team, turning just 15 the day before
the Olympics started, she made the national Olympic team in 1988.
Natalia said, “When you walked out on the floor with a jacket
that said USSR on the back, you just knew you were the best!”
When Natalia and her team competed in Seoul, South Korea, they
won the gold in the team competition and the next year Natalia won
her
own gold in floor exercise at the International Games.
Post competition days were spent touring around the world
doing exhibitions and team members were able to be paid for this.
For the
gold medal, she was promised a house, a car and money when she was
16 - but that never materialized.
For another International competition she was personally awarded
a trophy in the shape of a hand which was valued at $25,000.
She
thought it was to be hers, but discovered that was wrong. Her
country took it away and all she got was a necklace replica of the
trophy.
During those years when she was competing in the Olympics, she
knew Valeri Liukin, also a member of the Soviet Olympic team in
1988. You
may remember a wonderful story during the summer Olympics this
last year of how he coached his daughter, Nastia, who was a member
of the
U.S. Olympic team. She was also an individual gold medal winner
for the U.S. Natalia said, " I sat up until 2 a.m. watching her
compete
with her father coaching her, and it made me cry as I enjoyed
their success."
Natalia married and had a daughter, Sasha, but then was
divorced. Sasha, who is now 16 and a junior at Marysville High
School, has had
the advantage of a live-in coach and has achieved the status
of National Champion in floor exercise at level 10. She has earned
the
right to be on the national team, but cannot because she has not
been allowed to earn American citizenship yet.
In fact the whole family has had a rough time financially
because only Natalia has had a work permit until just two months
ago. Now her
husband, Roman (whom she married in 1998) and her stepdaughter
Vesta, are both free to get a job.
Natalia’s life, like many others, has had tremendous highs
and lows. After nine years she actually thinks of herself as
more
American than Russian. When her in-laws visited this summer she had
a terrible time translating. Some of those Russian words would not
come
back to her.
Her life in the United States is much better than the one she
would have had back in Russia and she and her family are grateful
for the
opportunity to be here. They continue their quest to
obtain citizenship and all the rights that come with it.
If you would like to read more about Natalia and see her in
action in the Olympics and International games, go to the Internet
and type
in her name. You will see videos of her 20 years ago as a little
80-pound dynamite.
Next week will be the story of her husband, Roman, and his time
in the Soviet army and as a boxing champion.
12/19/08
USSR, Russia, then Marysville
Theirs is a story of communism,
athleticism and a desire for a better life. Natalia Laschenova and Roman
Kravchenko are married and live in Marysville. They had both been
married before when they met and each had a little girl. Now they have a
14 month-old son together.
Natalia grew up in Latvia and Roman in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg),
Russia, all formerly part of the USSR. They met in the late 1990s and
were married in 1998.
Both had achieved considerable status in their country of USSR. (The
USSR was dissolved in December of 1991 when Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
resigned and its republics became independent nations. Russia is the
largest.) Natalia was a gold medalist in gymnastics in the 1988 Olympics
for the USSR which took place in Seoul, South Korea.
Roman was a member of the elite commando army group called Spetznaz
(also spelled Spetznatz). They were called blue berets, which were
similar to our green berets. He achieved the status of major when he
finally left the Russian military in 1991. His father is a retired
general in the Russian army. Roman was also a champion boxer and is now
spending his time training other boxers.
After Roman and Natalia married, she stayed home as a housewife, but
wanted very much to get back into the workforce hoping to coach
gymnastics. Her coach from the Olympics had moved on to the U.S. as many
of the coaches from her country have done. He was in upstate New York
and through his help in 1999, she and Roman were able to come to this
country where she could coach gymnastics.
One big problem was, neither of them spoke English. Natalia now does
very well and she said she simply learned through her students. She
asked them to tape names of body parts on their arm, elbow, etc. so she
could learn the words. Remember, their alphabet isn't even the same as
ours.
Coming to America was their ticket to a new life, since their old
country was really gone and the new Russia meant nothing to them. For
several years, the job in upstate New York worked out well. There was a
large Russian community there, but Natalia was ready to move on.
Then a coaching opportunity arose in southern Georgia near the Florida
border, so the family (Natalia, her daughter Sasha and Roman) moved
there and immediately problems arose. It was truly a culture shock, in
that the people were very different. Also, the climate was very hot and
life was not as they had ever known it.
All through this time Natalia was the only one who was able to work
because the immigration service had not granted Roman a work visa (which
he just received two months ago after nine years). So he trained people
in gyms and at boxing and donated his services. During this time Roman’s
daughter Vesta, who had been living with her mother in Russia, came to
the U.S. to be with her father. Her mother had died and she was left
alone. She was just 15.
After two years in Georgia they were desperate to leave and Natalia
found Integrity Gymnastics (near Plain City) on the Internet. After
interviewing, it seemed the right fit and in 2006 Roman and Natalia and
their daughters Sasha and Vesta moved to Marysville.
It has been a good move and they like central Ohio. Natalia is now the
head coach and sings the praises of the talent she has to work with at
Integrity Gymnastics. She has also been the parent and live-in coach to
her daughter Sasha, 16, who has risen to the national championship in
floor exercise, level 10. This is a source of great pride to both
Natalia and Sasha and at this time there are already many offers for
college scholarships.
Now Roman and Natalia have their young son, Anthony, and they couldn’t
be more proud, particularly the stay-at-home-dad, Roman. He is thrilled
to be the one taking care of his son and Natalie is quite happy coaching
- what she knows best.
Surprisingly, after just nine years in this country, Natalia considers
herself more American than Russian and Roman has no desire to go back
and visit. They left behind their parents, but just this summer Roman’s
parents came to visit. They didn’t speak a word of English and Natalia
said she had forgotten so much that translating was difficult. They are
involved in a quest for a green card and eventual citizenship, which
both hope will be coming soon.
Next week- Natalia’s story.
12/12/05
Still in Madrid and loving it
She is a 2005 graduate of Marysville High School and currently
in her fourth year at the University of Cincinnati. Jenna Yoder
is
majoring in marketing, international business and Spanish as
a student in the Kolodzik Business Scholars program. Now she is
in
Madrid and this summer will finish up her studies by spending
the time in China.
Here is what Jenna had to say in her follow-up to me “These
past couple months have been a whirlwind! Cooking for
Thanksgiving in Spain was a lot of fun and quite interesting.
The ovens here aren’t the best, well at least in the apartment that
my
friend lives in, and converting Fahrenheit to Celsius is
another challenge.”
“My friends and I invited some of our Spanish friends to
enjoy Thanksgiving dinner which proved to be a lot of fun. Many had
not
experienced Thanksgiving before and therefore, had a lot of
questions about our tradition and the typical cooking that many
families do for
this day.”
“We had turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing
and mashed potatoes, green beans, and stuffed mushrooms! It was
quite a
feast and everyone really enjoyed it. It was a great
experience though to share a loved tradition from the states with
our Spaniard
friends here.”
“Out of all the places I’ve traveled, Paris, Portugal, Berlin,
and all over Spain, I think that Berlin is my favorite city to
visit by
far. Aside from being pretty modern, since 90 percent of Berlin
was destroyed in WWII, it has a bit of charm to it that I fell in
love
with. The wonderful food and beer were great contributors, too!
“After a tour of the city on Friday, my friends and I found a
sausage vendor where we indulged ourselves in caramelized onions
and mushrooms and potatoes and bacon placed on top a roasted
sausage! It
was great to say the least.”
“Besides the food, Berlin is such an amazing city with
incredible history; The Berlin Wall, Hitler’s suicide, Nazi
headquarters,
Sachenhausen Concentration Camp, Nazi book burning, and the list
goes on. I believe that I learned more on this trip than I had
ever
learned in any history class. My friends and I even
visited Schenhausen Concentration Camp one day and it was quite a
sobering
experience. For me, to have the chance to visit places in the
world which contain so much history is just an amazing
opportunity.”
“Aside from traveling, I have really loved the chance to
learn about new cultures and traditions from a first-hand basis. I
have had
the chance to meet new people from around the world, who offer
their heritage, culture, and life experiences. This all adds to the
overall
impact of studying abroad and the development of a better
global understanding.”
“I believe that all my experiences abroad have made me
more independent. For business, I know this will be extremely
helpful as I
prepare for interviews and a full time career.”
“Although I’ve loved every moment here in Spain, I am
looking forward to heading back to the states for Christmas. It
actually
amazes me that every city in Spain and in each neighborhood,
there are Christmas decorations that line the streets! I love it!
It has
definitely gotten me in the Christmas mood and I am excited to
spend time with friends and family.”
Good thoughts from a reader
I received this poignant, thoughtful and timely note from a
reader who asked me to share her thoughts. Here is some of what she
had to say:
“As others are making their list and dashing off to stores
or jumping online every available moment to get their list
completed, I
know I cannot even make a list. I know how far I am behind on
basic living expenses and that I have the means to simply present
my
children with a small gift.”
“I am comforted to know the real reason for the season does
not depend on my checking account balance, and my children know
that,
too. This is not new; for years as I have raised my children as
a single parent they have accepted that they will have lean
Christmases. We feel blessed that we do have a home, food,
clothing and money to keep the car on the road, and we have our
health. As if
things haven’t been tight enough providing for a family on a
low budget, I have been without work several months. The ongoing
job
search is grueling. The hope with each resume sent, waiting for
the phone to ring, is for an interview.”
“This is not a story about poverty, but one of a
generous outpouring of family, friends and our church family.
Knowing our
situation, we have received help this holiday season. I am humbled
to know there are people who care and want to help. Arriving home
this
evening, there was a large plastic tote with a festive red velvet
bow in the middle of my kitchen floor. As I opened the tote topped
with
enough toilet paper to last for months and many other things
from soup to nuts. I cried because we do need help, someone knew
that, and
chose to help us.”
“It brought so much joy to me, and an inspiration to someday be
in a position to be able to give on such a grand scale. I could
only
dream about being able to shop like that and surprise someone, and
it is a goal of mine. I challenge you to add one more name to
your
shopping list. Certainly you are aware of a neighbor, a home
you drive by, a child’s schoolmate, or someone you see in the
store, that
you could offer a small token of generosity. Those, like me, that
do not have expendable income, also have something to give — a
friendly
smile and greeting, even to strangers! Please share the joy!
12/05/08
My friend Jeanne Haynes recently sent me a very cute
story about the apron and its many uses. It quickly triggered
memories of my
grandmother Grace, who always wore her apron around the house.
She loved me and my brother very much. We were her only
grandchildren and
she died when I was just 20.
During the holiday times, I always think a lot about her for
many reasons, but mainly for all the work she did preparing holiday
meals
with no garbage disposal or dishwasher, and in a tiny kitchen.
Here’s a story of the apron and then more about Grandma Grace.
Grandma’s apron
I don’t think youngsters today know what an apron is. The
principal use of grandma’s apron was to protect the dress
underneath, but along
with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was
even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop,
the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes
half-
hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came,
those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy
children.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her
arms. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that
apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the
peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples or pecans that
had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the
road, it
was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in
a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, grandma walked out onto the porch, waved
her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields
to
dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that
will replace the “old-time apron” that served so many
purposes.
Grandma used to set her hot-baked apple pies on the window sill
to cool. Her granddaughter set hers on the window sill to thaw.
Today’s generation would go crazy trying to figure out how many
germs were on that apron, but I never heard of anyone catching
anything
from an apron.
Yes, Grandma Grace had one of those aprons. It fit over her head in
a halter style and tied around her waist. She was a tiny lady with
lots
of spunk, rarely sitting still for long.
Every day of her life she wore a tight corset that laced up the
front and I’m sure she never owned a pair of slacks. For winter,
she had
two pairs of shoes — one black, one brown. They were of the
lace-up, small heel grandma style. In the summer she added a white
pair.
That’s all quite different from the variety we all own now.
Grace was of German descent, a hard worker and a lady who liked
the house clean. She was a wonderful cook and that extended to
every
range of one’s appetite. Everything was done from scratch and
that meant even cooking and straining cranberries for holiday
cranberry
punch (cranberry juice and ginger ale — no alcohol for her!).
We always spent Thanksgiving at the home of Grandma Grace where
she and my aunt worked for hours and hours — probably days —
preparing for the Thanksgiving meal. It always included homemade
plum pudding with the whiskey sauce (alcohol cooked out, of course)
and a turkey
with all the usual trimmings.
Then came Christmas. Her specialty was meticulously
decorated Christmas cookies, picturing houses with Christmas trees
in the
window, reindeer and Santas with toys in their sacks. My brother
and Iate them quicker than the dough could be mixed together. The
baking
for these some 30 varieties of cookies began right after Thanksgiving.
Grandma Grace was warm and kind, worked hard to take care of her
family, especially her grandchildren, and left a happy legacy,
one that always brings back loving memories of her at this time of
year.
Mail call
I received several notes from members of the Drumm family about
their story last week. Here is one from Kim Drumm Smith:
Ms. Behrens,
Thank you for such a lovely “Off the Hook” feature about the
Drumm family. I remember most of those stories told by my dad (Art)
and
quite a few more. I married into the Air Force and left
the Marysville area more than a decade ago, living at 5 different
bases
in 12 years. My children are now in the military (one active
duty, one a military spouse) and they are spread from San Antonio —
soon to
be Germany — to Washington, D.C. So the family tradition continues. It’s
nice to see the Drumms recognized. Far from being the perfect
family, they were a blast to grow up around. I had so many
cousins, we had instant playmates every weekend. It made for some
really good
memories.
Again, wonderful story and excellently written,
Kimberly (Drumm) Smith
Penrose, Colorado
11/28/08
Drumming their own story!
They grew up in Union County and were a family of 14 children —
10 boys and four girls — plus the parents, Frances and Evelyn, who
were
married in 1920. That made up the Drumm family of Blues Creek Road.
Sixteen in one home was a lot of people in one place! There were
four
bedrooms and in the girls’ room the situation was all four in
one double bed (two at the top two at the bottom). At first there
was no
bathroom, just an outhouse with bathing done in a metal tub. Later
an inside bath was added.
As is typical, the boys were responsible for the outdoor chores
and work on the farm and the girls’ work began after a meal. The
family
ate at the dining room table with bench seating for four on each
side and additional chairs were placed there and on the end to
accommodate
everyone.
Gloria Drumm Oates was one of the youngest children and she
remembers meal time as fun. She related: “You sat there and ate and
there was
no squabbling. If there was any of that, you were reprimanded
and asked to get up from the table. But generally we would talk,
laugh
and pass the food until it was gone.”
The four daughters would then do the cleanup which began with
kitchen detail, including doing dishes, sweeping floors (since
there was no
carpet) and making everything ready for the next meal. She says
this continued for years until one of the daughters would move out
and get
a job. Then the others would take up the slack. There were
some arguments, but it was generally a happy family.
When Gloria was born in 1936, some of the older brothers were
just beginning to leave home. This was probably fortunate in a way
because
that made room for the new ones. The Drumm children were taught
that when they were old enough they were expected to get out and
find a
job. Gloria said they were told, “Even if you have to dig a
post hole, do it and work your way up.” Their parents also
reiterated, “Do
not expect a handout from John Q. Public — earn your money.”
Gloria’s family is well known in this county for its
military service. Ten of them have been part of our armed forces
history. This
brings the memory from Gloria: “Every time mom received a letter
from one of her children away in the service, she would take that
letter
and go to her flower garden or enclosed back porch. There she
would read the letters and cry.”
The tradition of military service began with their father,
Francis Drumm Sr. who served in the Ohio National Guard during WWI
setting
the scene for his sons and one daughter to follow. Oldest son
Pearl served in the U.S. Navy during WWII on the USS Phenakite. It
was
later decommissioned and he was moved to a Navy tugboat stationed
on Staten Island, N. Y. After his discharge he returned to raise
his
family in Marysville, where he still lives today.
His brother, Robert, who is deceased, served as a private in the
U.S. Army during WWII in the European Theater, fighting from
foxholes in
Germany and France. He was the recipient of many awards including
the Bronze Star. He returned to central Ohio and lived with his
family in
Prospect.
Carl served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII and after
his discharge in 1946 returned to Irwin, where he raised his family
and
also farmed. Arthur Drumm was a sargeant in the Marine Corps
during the Korean War and after his discharge in 1952 came back to
this area
and started his own business, Marysville Rotary Broom. He
is currently semi-retired. Richard Drumm was in the U.S. Army in
the
Korean War and was overseas in Germany. After being discharged
in 1954 he started his own business, the Drumm Wrecker Service,
which is
still in operation.
Donald, who is deceased, served in the U.S. Air force during
the Korean War and after his discharge, moved to Magnetic Springs
to
raise his family. Francis Drumm Jr. was a sargeant in the
Marine Corps at the end of the Korean War. After three years of
service he
was discharged in 1957, came home and worked in the
Marysville-Plain City area. He must have missed his military
service days, because
very soon he re-enlisted in the air force. That sent him to
Vietnam, where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross among
many other
honors. He lives in California.
Rodney Drumm served in the U.S. Army during the Cuban Crisis
and after his discharge in 1963 returned to Marysville to work at
Ohio
grain and later the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. He is
currently retired. Joining her brothers in military service was
Wanda Drumm
Henry, who is deceased. She served in the Women’s Army Corps
during the Korean War and after her discharge in 1961 returned to
Marysville
to raise her family.
There was only one brother, Stanley, who is deceased, who did
not serve in the military. That was not of his doing. He was
denied
service because of a medical situation.
Gloria proudly speaks for the rest of her surviving siblings.
“When you have this many members in one family serving their
country and
fighting for our freedom, I feel it is truly honorable. All
the members of our family are truly proud of the part they were
able to
play.”
Gloria continues, “We all grew up, left home and our lives
changed. But to look back over the years brings to mind how lucky
we were to
have our parents with 14 children, giving us these basics of life
— work hard, pay your bills, keep your nose clean and have respect
for
others.”
11/21/08
A little help needed
The worst of it began in July of 2007 when he was only 52
years old. That was when Rick Monroe had his first heart attack. He
and his
wife, Cathie, were in the car and he was at the wheel. Suddenly
he slumped over and hit the steering wheel. Cathie knew something
was
terribly wrong. She was able to pull the car over and when
help arrived the sheriff’s deputy had a defibrillator, which
probably
saved Rick’s life. He went on to the hospital, had heart
bypass surgery and months later seemed to be recovering really
well. That is
when the second event occurred.
On Jan. 1, 2008, Rick got up in the middle of the night and
then Cathie heard a big thud — she saw him lying on the floor
beside her.
She called 911 and fortunately the Plain City Fire Dept. squad
was nearby. They came to the Monroe’s house on Robinson Rd. and
after
nearly 40 minutes of working on him, Rick was finally stabilized.
All the time with his heart in trouble was very hard on the rest of
his
body. His family nearly lost him again.
After two months in the hospital, if his heart situation
wasn’t enough, Rick developed serious kidney problems which require
him to
undergo dialysis three days a week at a facility in Delaware. He
has a new defibrillator-pacemaker in his heart, and if all goes
well may
be a candidate for a new kidney some day.
All these medical problems have been very hard financially on
a family that lives on Rick’s sign business, which Cathie is
now
managing along with help from two employees, one of them their
son, Cody. There is insurance and some Medicare, but much is left
over to
pay. That’s where Rick’s church, St. Johns Lutheran, has come to
the rescue.
In an effort to help him, sub sandwiches are being sold at
$2.50 apiece, which have been available to order and can be picked
up at
the church this Saturday or Sunday morning. If you have
already ordered a sub, great. But if you haven’t, there will still
be some
available to purchase at the church located on St. Rt. 736.
If you don’t need a sub sandwich but just want to help
Rick, donations are being taken and can be sent to Bob Clevenger at
11555
St. Rt. 38, Marysville, OH 43040. In addition to the money earned
by this effort of the church, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will
also
match their funds.
Rick is the son-in-law of Marge Morley and the late Roger
Morley. Through them, we knew Rick and Cathie as a young married
couple and
always enjoyed the gentle razzing Roger would give Rick after
he married his oldest daughter. Rick said they couldn’t have been
better
in-laws and he’s not only grateful for them, but also for every
day that he can be here with his family.
Cakes are us!
Last Saturday was their grand opening and it was a huge
success, according to the owners of the Ribbon Box Cakery. Denene
Keifer and
Cindy Beil are now knee deep in cake orders at their new
bakery located at 121 E. Fifth St., and they couldn’t be happier.
The two women met six years ago while working for the
Marysville School System and the friendship was instant. They
dreamed of
starting their own business and settled on the bakery, which
sells cookies, jumbo cupcakes and brownies Monday through Saturday.
Their specialty is cakes and the butter cream frosting is
the secret. For those, the ladies need a couple of days order time.
There
are also gift items for sale including ready to go gift baskets.
It was also so nice to hear that even though they knew
nothing about starting a business, everywhere they went, help came
easily.
They visited other bakeries in Columbus, and locally, city and
county employees from the health department to zoning to permits
seemed to
be cheering them on all the way.
When you see the inside of the bakery, you will be
pleasantly surprised at the beautiful brick walls and wood floor,
which were
added to a previously run down facility.
Of course, this could not be done without the help of
their husbands — who they are now calling wonderful (maybe that’s
from
exhaustion) — for all of their help and support. It is truly a
family effort with their moms and dads involved also.
So we wish them good luck. You know what Marie
Antoinette supposedly once said — let them eat cake!
11/14/08
Guitars, computers and California
He is a 1988 graduate of Marysville High School, a computer
expert and a guitar player, and he now lives in Oakland, Calif.
Mark Lamb
was always interested in music and was part of a band while in
high school.
John Homan, David Sawyer and the recently deceased Todd
Blackburn made up the rest of that band. They often practiced –
loudly at
Mark’s home. He said his parents were wonderful to donate the use
of their basement and tolerate all the volume of a heavy metal band
as
they practiced.
Mark also fondly credits his parents with providing guitar lessons
as they drove him to the String Shop in Delaware. That was
every
Saturday morning. He plays the guitar and bass guitar and to
educate me, pointed out that the difference is the number of
strings and the
musical frequency of the instrument. Mark is also grateful for
the good work ethic he learned from his parents.
While working in Columbus in the computer field and performing in
a heavy metal band in the area, he met a girl who was headed
to
California for an internship. He followed her to the Oakland
area. That relationship didn’t work out but he fell in love
with
California, its beautiful climate and laid back people.
Once there, Mark again became part of a heavy metal band, which
he now calls “The Scorched Earth Policy.” They have toured the
country
several times, seeing nearly every major city. Those tours were
about three weeks long — mostly one-nighters — traveling in a van.
What a
way to see the country. The group includes two others and during
one such tour they also performed with a group of five from Japan
who
also played heavy metal.
After high school, he gained his computer skills (his day
job) through a degree in electronics from DeVry Institute in
Columbus.
That gave him a good base and the rest of his computer knowledge
has been self-taught. For the last 15 years, he has been the
computer
technician at a small liberal arts college near his home.
Mark was recently back in Marysville for the 20-year reunion of
his high school class. He’s in Marysville at least once a year, but
this
time it seemed to really jog his memories of growing up in
our community. He remembers it as “such a nice town.”
He says that it’s been fun to get away and see the world, but
now he’s thinking it may be time to return to Marysville, even
though the
climate certainly can’t measure up to California. He’s very
serious about owning a home but in California that would be tough.
So, he’s
saving his money and in the near future may be a homeowner in
Union County.
Mark’s story is similar to so many others, who grow up here
and eventually come back to raise their families the way they grew
up in
Marysville.
Some thoughts from one of my friends:
Why, why, why do we press harder on a remote control when we know
the batteries are almost dead?
Why do banks charge a fee for “insufficient funds” when they
already know there is not enough money?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four
billion stars, but have to check when you say the paint is still
wet?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when
you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use, the
bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes
that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's
falling off the table you always manage to knock something else
over?
How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
My personal favorite — The statistic on sanity is that one out
of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental
illness.
Think of your three best friends — if they're OK, then it's you!
11/7/08
In the midst of it all
He is a 2003 graduate of Marysville High School and has been in
the middle of the most exciting place in the United States for our
time.
After high school, Geoff Lane went on to Miami University to major
in political science with urban regional planning as a minor.
While there, one of his professors encouraged him to run for
public office. As a sophomore in college in 2004, Geoff ran for
state
representative to the Ohio General Assembly from the district
which includes Union County. It seems that there was no Democrat on
the
ballot, so he jumped in at only 19 years old. He did not win
that election, but the political experience was something which may
have
helped him gain his present position.
After graduating from Miami University, he opted for
graduate school at George Washington University in the Washington,
D.C. area.
He was working on a master’s degree in political science when
a friend of a friend of a friend told him there was an opening on
the
staff of House Majority leader Nancy Pelosi. That was an
intriguing thought and, what the heck, he might as well apply just
to see what
happened.
He got the job, dropped out of graduate school and is now a
staff assistant doing clerical work in Pelosi’s office. In this
capacity he
answers calls and e-mails and passes along important messages
to staff members. There are several dozen people working in the
office
of the Speaker (who he says is a phenomenal person) and are paid
by public funds.
Most of the callers express an opinion about an upcoming bill.
Some are just private individuals who have strong feelings about a
cause,
and still others represent members of focus groups who
monitor legislation.
It’s expensive to live in Washington, D.C., and Geoff has
an apartment with a roommate just 300 yards from the Capitol
Building.
He told me that nearly three fourths of the apartments in
his building are occupied by members of the House of
Representatives.
It’s close enough to walk to work although he also has a
car. Salaries are commensurate with living conditions there, but he
does
have to watch his expenses carefully.
Geoff said the most exciting part of his job is that he’s
actually been in the middle of all the political drama which has
taken place
lately. He is at what he calls “ground zero” and his working
hours are sometimes long — 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., whatever the
speaker needs
from her staffers at that particular time.
These extra long hours occurred recently during the efforts of
the House of Representatives to crank out a bailout bill to
help
alleviate the nation’s serious financial situation. The long
hours can be a drain, but Geoff does manage to get over to
Georgetown
occasionally for a break in the routine.
One thing he’s learned through this job is that you have to
take the opportunities as they come. He has the chance to stay in
this
position or even move up in the staff positions in the future.
But then there’s the option to go back to graduate school or maybe
even
continue on to earn a PhD.
Geoff doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but
the excitement of Washington will probably keep him in the arena
for some
time. This personable, well spoken young man is a good example of
the children of Union County who were given a great start by
our
Marysville School System.
I predict that big things are in his future. Now that the
election is over, there’s the inauguration and a new administration
— more
exciting times for Geoff.
10/30/08
Schools are us!
Last week in this column I spoke out in support of our two
school levies which I felt must be passed this time in support of
not only
our children but also our community. The response was huge and I
now have more comments from Marysville grads who had the advantage
of
being educated in our well-run school system.
The first note is from Teri Heard (MHS class of ‘93): “My
experiences with Marysville Schools have truly created who I am and
who I want to
continue to be. As a student, my participation in the
advanced placement classes for English and history helped me earn
college
credit. My husband Jason (MHS class of ‘92) and I gained
priceless social and interpersonal skills through athletic and
extracurricular
activities including cheerleading, softball, football,
wrestling, baseball, band, National Honor Society and Student
Council, to name a
few.”
“We attended school in what could be considered a leaner time as
we struggled for voter support and did without high school busing
even
then. This underscored our understanding that working for
something empowered you to appreciate your blessings and motivated
you to do
better while earning your respect from others.”
“I carried these core values, instilled through my
educational experiences in our district, with me as I went on to
college and
earned my Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Morehead
State University, Cum Laude. Jason earned his Bachelors of Science
while
also earning academic and athletic awards in football. While
in college, we were constantly able to appreciate the
differences
between our learning experiences from our school system and those
of our fellow students.”
Teri currently serves as a health consultant for the Marysville Schools.
Brent Bergum (MHS class of ‘92) had this to say: “After
graduating from Ohio State I entered the workforce and after a few
years took a
job that gave me the opportunity to travel throughout the
United States. Marysville High School taught me how to become a
good person.
I was given the attention I needed, was pushed to succeed
in academics and athletics, and most importantly was taught that
strong
roots are much stronger then a strong suit.”
“I was given all the tools and confidence to take chances
and succeed. Currently I live outside of Nashville and am watching
my
seven-year-old daughter hold a guitar in hopes of becoming the
next Hannah Montana. I encourage you to consider the implications
that any
decisions regarding education can have on those who matter the
most. I am very lucky to be where I am today and I hope that all
students
in Marysville are given the same opportunities as those before
them have had.”
Zack Stillings, a recent MHS grad, is currently a student at
the University of Alabama and wants everyone to know this: “My
education
at Marysville High School would not have been complete had it
not been for the AP classes I took while enrolled there. I am happy
to
say that, following high school, I was given 25 hours of credit
at the University of Alabama, where I now attend. Upon entrance
there, I
was five hours away from being a sophomore. In a national
university system where more and more students are being forced to
graduate in
five years at an ever increasing cost, AP classes have been, and
will continue to be, an invaluable tool for many of the nation's
top
students.” “Not affording students in Marysville Schools the opportunity
to get college credit during high school would be a shame.
Furthermore, our students wishing to apply to the nation's top
universities would be at a severe disadvantage, ultimately losing
out to students from
schools where AP classes were the norm. I cannot describe
how valuable my education at Marysville has proven in college, and
I hope
that it is allowed to continue as a top achieving school in the state. "
Stephanie Devine, currently a student at Cedarville University,
said: “During my time at MHS, I learned just as much from my
extracurriculars and AP classes as I did in any general
education classroom. In fact, I would wager to say that the
personal
interactions I had with my peers and faculty advisors shaped me
more than anything else. My involvement in Mock Trial specifically
has
allowed me to be involved in extracurriculars that took me
to California, Colorado and a higher percentage of tuition covered
by
scholarships." “Marysville's fantastic teaching staff set a standard
that prepared me for an intensive liberal arts education and the
expectations that come with it. I couldn't be more grateful for
‘Marysville, our dear High School.’"
And finally my son, Mike Behrens (MHS class of ‘88), had this to
say: “My high school education provided me the skills to achieve
a
Bachelors of Arts at Miami University. MHS helped me forge my way
in the world and because of the education I received, I am now
president
of my own company located in Cincinnati, Ohio.”
“The teachers and staff at MHS expected each student to strive
for excellence. The curriculum offered was second to none, allowing
each
student to be prepared for the next step in life. The guidance
and support from those involved in extracurricular activities will
stay
with me forever. School levies are an item that should never be
in question.”
It is obvious that MHS grads view their high school as a
special place. Please keep it that way and continue to support our
schools
and our community. Vote yes on both levies.
10/24/08
Schools — yes, yes, yes!
Everyone knows this is a tough economic time in not only our
city, county and state, but also the rest of the world. No one
knows what
will happen in the next months with our economy. The one thing
we should realize is that even though this is a tough time to ask
anyone
for extra money, there may be nothing more important to the life
of our community then a “yes” vote on both school issues.
Normally, I do not editorialize in this column. I am
usually featuring a local person or place or crazy things my
friends do.
However, the situation within our community calls for
drastic measures. I want to do what I can to convince you all to
support our
school system.
About 30 years ago, I was one of those people serving on the
board of education for the Marysville Schools. I remember that as
not only
an exciting time as the community was just really beginning to
grow, but also the time when our job seemed like a thankless one.
Someone was always unhappy with the decision we made,
including putting levies on the ballot. So, I understand the
frustration of
members of the Marysville Board of Education. Remember, they are
just members of our community hoping to do the right thing and make
the
right decisions. I’m sure they are trying to do what they think
is best having lots of inside knowledge of the situation.
Now, down to the importance of the school levy.
Here’s a quote from Andy McCarthy of the MHS class of 2001:
“At Marysville High School, I was able to join what is one of the
most
competitive programs for high school mock trial, arguing on the
floor of the Ohio Supreme Court my senior year. The skills I
learned
through these activities propelled my college mock trial teams to
two national competitions. Where am I now? I’m a first year law
student
at The Ohio State University. I can assure you that this wasn’t
just by chance.”
Jerry Tsai (leader of his class at University of Cincinnati) of
the MHS class of 2003 said: “Let me personally encourage everyone
to
support this levy by voting yes at the polls. Though it may not
be apparent, let me assure you that Marysville students receive
a
tremendous education that is second to none. With this in mind,
I would be remiss if I did not stop and thank everyone for their
past
support of Marysville Schools. Whether it was terrific
teachers, state-of-the-art facilities and resources, or award
winning extra-
curricular activities, the educational experience at
Marysville Schools would not be the same without the support of the
community”
And finally this from Lisa Minken from the MHS class of 1999:
“Ten years ago, through a program with the Marysville High School
Drama
Club, I attended my first opera, Tosca. Later in the year,
Opera Columbus artists came to our school to work with the drama
club.
Before those experiences, I thought opera was a stuffy, elitist
art form; however, afterwards, my eyes were opened to a new,
beautiful
art form that was easy to enjoy and accessible to many. Little did
I know at the time how those two experiences would change my life.”
Lisa continued: “Currently, I serve as Director of Marketing
and Public Relations for Opera Columbus. If I hadn’t had that high
school
experience, I doubt that I would have ever considered a position
that turned out to be my dream job.”
Our own children are now grown, but of course were products of
the Marysville school system. It was one which provided them a very
good
education, thus they were able to go on and excel in college.
Our children were well prepared for that world and for this we
were
thankful. Now that we have no children or grandchildren in
school here, my husband and I still fully support our schools every
time a
levy is presented. Some might say that is blanket support. Well,
yes it is.
If we don’t have good schools, people will not want to live in
our community. So, even if you don’t have children in school,
it’s
necessary to keep our educational system in the top-rated
condition it has been in the past, just to protect your property
values. Say
for some financial reason or for a business move you have to
sell your home. One of the criteria for a desirable community is
good
schools. If the schools are sub-standard, no one will want to come
to this community to buy your home.
If people don’t come, new businesses will not locate here and
our situation becomes stagnant. It would become a difficult
situation to
crawl out of.
Because we have early voting, I have already cast my ballot
for both school levies. When I voted last week, poll workers told
me that
there had already been over 5,400 ballots cast in our
county (including out of town absentee voters). I was amazed that
so many
people had taken advantage of either absentee or early voting.
Since that option of early voting is open to all of us now, I felt
that it
was necessary for me to tell you how I feel, even though it is
more than a week away from the general election.
Times are tough financially and it could get tougher, but
sometimes you have to “bite the bullet” and do what is really right
for your
community. I urge you to vote for both school levies to
bring youngsters in our system back on track. They are entitled to
the
excellent education that those before them were provided.
10/17/08
MHS meets Madrid
She is a 2005 graduate of Marysville High School and currently
in her fourth year at the University of Cincinnati. Jenna Yoder
is
majoring in marketing, international business and Spanish.
That sounds like a lot to take on, but this young lady is loving
it. As a
student in the Kolodzik Business Scholars program, Jenna has
already been able to study in Montreal, Canada and Florence, Italy.
Now she
is in Madrid and this summer will finish up her studies by
spending time in China.
It sure sounds like college isn’t what it was in my day. Of
course, if you’re an international business major you have to be
able to see
what the rest of the world is like. Jenna is studying the
Spanish language and culture at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in
Madrid,
where she hopes to perfect her Spanish. “I have studied Spanish
for six years, but have never developed the necessary
communication
skills needed in a work environment,” she said. “This
situation fueled my decision to go to Spain and study the language
first hand,
and so far, it seems like one of the best decisions of my life.”
To help perfect her Spanish, Jenna has an “intercambio” or
Spanish buddy who helps her with her Spanish on a day to day basis.
She said
she hopes to return to the U.S. as a fluent Spanish speaker.
The people of Spain have been kind to her and she notes that
they are extremely proud of their culture and heritage. They enjoy
sharing
their festivals. One which she attended was the Fiesta Del
Pilar which is based on the appearance of the Virgin Mary (they
call her
Pilar) atop a pillar after the death of Jesus. During the
week preceding that festival, music fills the streets, traditional
dances
with castanets are around every corner and each person wears
a bandanna to show pride for the fiesta.
Jenna wrote: “On Sunday, starting at 7 a.m., people begin to
bring flowers which are placed on a structure in respect for
their
religion, culture and for Pilar. All wear traditional Spanish clothing."
“As I watched the parade of people walk to the statue to
present their flowers, it dawned on me how amazing it was to see
thousands of
people devote their day to this event. Words cannot even describe
my experience.”
She lives with a senora and another student in a small
apartment. She feels lucky to have her own room with a terrace —
very fancy
according to their standards. Lunch is the big meal in Spain and
is enjoyed from around 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. This three-hour break is
called
the “descanso.” Many stores still close for a “siesta” during
this time, but since Madrid is such a cosmopolitan city, some do
remain open.
Jenna said: “The town comes back alive around 6 p.m. and dinner
is followed at the earliest about 8 p.m., but normally 9 to 10
p.m.
Tapas bars are also very popular as these dishes are inexpensive
and most comparable to finger food in the U.S. Some consist of ham
and
cheese, calamari sandwiches or olives. There are many kinds of
tapas, but you can be assured that some sort of ham is involved as
Spaniards
love their ham.”
It is difficult for Jenna to get to the Internet because she has
to go to a “locutorio” or Internet café. The situation means she
can
only communicate sporadically and that creates a sense of
frustration because it is her main way to contact friends and
family back in the
U.S. Even though Madrid is home to about four million people,
the Internet is not widely used or available there.
She walks around her neighborhood or “barrio” in search of
fresh bread, pastries and vegetables. So, through this quest, she
has made
friends with many of the local market owners. There are no
Wal-Marts and only a few fast food places available, which makes
shopping for
daily foods and necessities somewhat of a treasure hunt.
When students go to study abroad, one of the perks is travel
to many other cities and countries. In Spain, Jenna has already
been to
Barcelona, Segovia, Zaragoza and in her future plans are
Paris, Berlin and Seville. Spain is just about the size of Texas
and travel
is inexpensive. At least I’m sure that’s how she’s reporting it
to her parents, Roger and Sandy Yoder of Marysville.
Jenna is in the cooperative education program at UC and this
has enabled her to work in between her studies. One company she
has
worked for, Ethicon, may be her favorite company and one she
may return to for a fulltime job after graduation.
For now, Jenna will finish up her time in Spain and her wish is
to master the Spanish language and some day return to live in
this
beautiful country.
10/10/08
More crazy things my friends do
I have two friends who originally came from Holland and we also
have played tennis together for many years. Usually we don’t let
who we
call the “Dutch girls” play doubles together because they end
up speaking in Dutch. They are both left handed and somewhat
difficult
to watch as opponents. Sometimes it is even hard to get
their attention to finish a match when they are on the same court.
So, it’s
pretty much a rule that the “Dutch girls” don’t play together!
They struck a new low last week at the tennis court. I arrived to
see them both adorned all in orange even down to their water
containers.
Oranje (pronounced oronya) is the name of the royal family
of Holland, which translates to be “orange” in our language. So,
the
monarchy is known as the House of Orange.
For some unknown reason that day the “Dutch girls” decided it
was time to celebrate their heritage. So when I arrived at the
courts,
they were all dressed in orange and singing Dutch songs.
Now let me tell you those songs were loud and seemed quite bawdy.
We all thought they were probably Dutch drinking songs, but the
girls
assured us they were of a patriotic nature. No one else could
verify that fact. Of course it held up the tennis match and was
undoubtedly
another attempt at these ladies to get attention for themselves
and their country!
I immediately grabbed my camera to capture this stunning moment
for all of you. I hope you get the full flavor of the event as
Marianne
Berbee and Gerrie Van Dam shared their singing talents with us.
Long live the Dutch, I guess!
New bakery in town
Bob and Liz Meeder have expanded their operation to include
a charming new bakery just one block away from their
well-known
restaurant, Doc Henderson’s. The bakery looks really
traditional inside with an exposed brick wall, three tables for
eating and even a
sofa to relax on as you enjoy any one of the coffees that they
sell. The place features baked goods of all kinds and my new
favorite is
the little nutmeg twist that is covered in sugar. If you go in
there, do not miss them. They will really make your day.
Voting made easy
I was glad to learn that once again everyone is able to vote early
at the Union County Board of Elections located on London Ave. From
now
until election day, anyone may walk in from 8:30 a.m. until 4
p.m. Monday through Friday and vote.
The best part about this voting early is no lines ... well,
probably no lines, and then on election day you’ll have already
done your bit
for the country. So, everyone please vote and if you choose to
take advantage of this extra, early voting time, it may make the
whole
thing painless.
Local Bonhomme Richard connection
We have followed the career of Capt. Neil Parrott, U.S. Navy
(MHS class of ’79) in this column from time to time. He is captain
of the
amphibious assault ship, Bonhomme Richard.
In a recent news release, it explains that the Bonhomme Richard
was named after an earlier Bonhomme Richard, which was under the
command
of the famous Capt. John Paul Jones during the American
Revolution.
In 1779, during the battle of Flamborough Head off the British
coast, Jones refused to surrender his sinking ship named the
Bonhomme
Richard. His words, “I have not yet begun to fight,” are part of
our history.
His squadron was attacked by a British convoy of 44 ships and
two escorts, the HMS Serapis, a 40-gun ship, and the HMS
Scarborough. The
Bonhomme Richard eventually sank, but before that happened, Jones
was able to force the surrender of the Serapis after a desperate
three-
hour battle, and transfer his command to the British ship as his
ship was sinking. The Bonhomme Richard was known as one of the
great
warships of its time.
During a ceremony commemorating the battle of Flamborough,
Capt. Parrott explained the significance of the battle and how the
Bonhomme
Richard’s rich heritage is alive today and supporting the
maritime strategy.
“It is the only ship today that can trace its lineage back to
the birth of our nation,” said Parrott. “Today, its crew continues
a
proud legacy of taking the fight to the enemy started by Capt.
John Paul Jones and his crew 229 years ago.”
10/3/08
The story of Hannah Emerson Dustin and the DAR
The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
(DAR) was named for a brave woman, Hannah Emerson Dustin, who lived
from
1657 until 1735. The DAR, as it is called, requires its members to
be descendants of someone who fought in the revolutionary war.
The
national organization has a format to verify, through genealogy,
the relationship between the perspective member and a soldier. Then
the
member is accepted.
The local chapter was founded in 1922 by a woman named Helen
Butler Rausch, who was a direct descendant of Hannah Emerson
Dustin’s second daughter, Elizabeth. The group’s purpose is to
promote patriotism and reverence for the Constitution. Current
chapter president is Sharon Chuvalas.
It is not just a social organization, but one of service. The
DAR works nationally to promote schools for the Indians and
Appalachian
children and in doing so promotes the education and citizenship of
its youth.
Now more about this frontier woman and her brave acts. I
became aware of her story through Jeanne Haynes who had purchased
a
commemorative bottle in the likeness of Hannah and was presenting
it to the local DAR. Then she told me the story of Hannah and how
she
became proficient in scalping Indians!
Hannah and Thomas Dustin were living in the town of
Haverhill, Mass., in 1697. She was 40 years old and had just given
birth to her
12th child, so was taking it easy in bed when the Indians
attacked their home, which was part of a settlement of about 30
houses.
The French in Canada had offered bounties for English scalps
and live English captives, who were then sold into slavery to the
French
Canadians. This was an effort to incite the Indians against
the English to help win the New World for the French King.
At the time of the attack, Hannah was forced from her bed by
the Indians and made to dress hastily. The Indians took her and her
new
baby daughter, Martha, and Martha’s nurse Mary Neff. The rest
of Hannah’s children, at her urging, had been hurried off to
the
protection of the local garrison with her husband Thomas. It was
all too quick — the Indians were there and taking her away, but she
felt
secure that her other children and her husband were safe.
The women were made to trudge through mud and snow-covered ground
with Mrs. Neff carrying the baby. At some point the Indians became
angry and cruelly threw the baby against a tree, killing it. Then
the women were made to march 12 more miles the next day to an
Indian
camp. What a sad, cold, almost unbearable time it must have been
for these women.
Upon reaching the Indian camp, the two women met a young
boy, Samuel Lennardson, who was white and had been captured by the
Indians
several years earlier. The women heard of the plans for them.
It included running a gauntlet of knives and tomahawks, and if
they
survived that, being sold into slavery to the French Canadians.
None of this appealed to them and they plotted their escape.
Samuel had learned how to scalp Indians and taught Hannah. After
all that
had happened to her, she was a willing student.
In the middle of the night, Hannah, Mary and Samuel struck
the Indians with their tomahawks and gathered scalps, then made a
quick
run for the canoes and traveled down the Merrimack River. The
scalps were important, since there was a bounty for them, too, and
they were
proof of the terrifying capture.
The group returned home safely after a two-week journey.
Mary recovered and gave birth to her 13th child the next year. What
a woman!
It is certainly fitting that the local DAR chapter be a monument
to her as also are several large stone statues that have been
erected in
her memory in New England.
9/26/08
Two Belvas and women’s suffrage
This is an interesting time in American politics to say the
least. First we had Hillary Clinton who worked so hard to get the
nomination
for over one year and ended up with nothing, and then we have
Sarah Palin who fell into the position of running for vice
president of the
United States.
Sarah is impressive and interesting and has given new life to
the Republican Party. On the other side of the coin, even though
Hillary
didn’t get the nomination for president she probably would’ve
jumped into the vice presidential race for the Democratic Party,
but was
denied that.
Women voters seem to be energized over the whole story and
sometimes it’s hard to remember that they haven’t even been able to
vote for
100 years yet. Many of you may have seen the e-mail that is
going around now titled “Why women should vote.” It shows old
pictures of
women marching with placards to try and get the attention of men
in an effort to gain the vote.
So, I hope all you women do vote for whoever your favorite
candidate is and that brings me to a note I recently received from
my friend
Kae Zorman. She always has interesting stories and here is one
about her mother, Belva Allen Ewing.
Kae begins: “I thought you might like to know why my
grandmother Allen named the last of her six kids, Belva. It was
obvious why my
Uncle Perry Allen was named Perry as we are related to Admiral
Perry. Perry was Dave Allen's dad. I asked my grandmother, Marietta
Allen,
why she named my mom Belva. I didn't tell her I didn't like the
name and was curious why anyone would put the name of Belva on a
baby.
Grandmother replied with a smile, ‘I named your mother Belva
after the first woman who ran for president of the United States.’”
“Grandmother lived during a time when women did not have much
input. So I think this was our grandmother’s way of silent protest.
What
follows is the tale of Belva Lockwood. I do see some of the
same traits in my mom. She could be stubborn if she thought she had
a cause.”
We give John H. Lienhard credit for this story about Belva
Lockwood, America's first woman presidential candidate. Historian
Madeleine
Stern tells a remarkable tale. It begins with Belva Ann
Lockwood appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1880 to demand
that Samuel
Lowery be admitted to practice law. It was the first time a
woman pled before our highest court.
Belva Lockwood was born in 1830 on a New York farm. At 15 she was
a school science teacher. She married at 18, but her husband soon
died
of consumption. So she sold their farm and went off to do what
her father hadn't let her do — attend college.
She finished her science degree and went on to teaching posts
in private schools. But it was the science of government that
became her
focus. After the Civil War, she left the North, moved to
Washington, and tried to enter law school. The Columbian College
told her that
"the attendance of ladies would be an injurious diversion to
the students." Georgetown University also rejected her, but they
gave no
reason.
Finally, the National University Law School opened its doors
to women. She was one of 15 women who began the program, and one of
only
two who finished. Then they refused to give her a diploma.
Finally she wrote to President Ulysses S. Grant, who, by virtue of
his
office, was the titular head of the college.
"You are, are you not, the President of the National University
Law School," she said. She told him to either grant her her degree
or
take his name off the letterhead. Two weeks later she was
quietly handed a law degree bearing Grant's signature.
Belva had married Ezekiel Lockwood soon after she'd arrived
in Washington. He shared her passion for social change, but he was
also
a liability. Federal courts questioned the legality of admitting
a married woman to the bar. So Belva wrote a bill for congress
to
permit a woman to plead as high as the Supreme Court. The bill had
a rocky time, but it passed.
That's how, in 1880, Belva Lockwood took the case of the
black attorney Samuel Lowrey to the Supreme Court and won him the
right to
practice law. For years she fought for equal rightsAt the age of 75, she
won $5 million in back interest for the
Cherokee Nation. But that was long after she had formed the
Equal Rights Party and ran against Grover Cleveland for the office
of
President of the United States. She lost, of course. She
gathered only a little over 4,000 votes. Still, she carried
Indiana, whose
Electoral College members gave her the vote as a protest. She
managed that in a world where women couldn't vote. She couldn't
even vote for
herself.
Today, people wonder when a woman will run for president without
even realizing that one already did - over a century ago.
So now you know the rest of the story — so to speak. Women have
much to offer this world and our government. I don’t know if this
will be
the time for a woman vice president, but someday it will happen. Don’t
forget to vote — ladies and gentlemen.
9/20/08
The bracelet and Vietnam Wall
His name was David Hartzler Zook Jr. and he was born in 1930 in
Logan County. He grew up on a farm in the West Liberty area and
eventually
entered the U.S. Air Force. He became a pilot and married his
wife Pat in 1954. He earned the rank of lieutenant colonel and
received a
Ph.D. in Latin American studies from The Ohio State University.
Colonel Zook was a respected teacher at the Air Force AcademyIn 1966,
when still a major, Zook was sent to Vietnam leaving behind
his wife and three small children. Mrs. Zook said goodbye to
her husband and at that time had no idea it would be the last time
she
would see him. She never thought he wouldn’t come back.
Then the tragedy happened. Lt. Col. Zook was shot down, flying
his A10, and his body was not recovered until recently. He was
listed as
missing in action along with thousands of others. Mrs. Zook said
she was fairly certain that her husband had died and she didn’t
think
anyone would show up at her doorstep saying they had found him
alive. The family excepted that he was gone.
Many were missing in action and prisoners of war during the
Vietnam years. That sad situation got the attention of two college
girls in
Los Angeles. They tried to find a way to insure remembrance
of American prisoners of war who were suffering in captivity
in
Southeast Asia. Many people were afraid in the 1970s that
these people would simply be forgotten.
So, these two young college girls finally settled on the idea of
a bracelet, maybe each with the name on it of one who was missing
in
action. It could be used as a way to raise money to increase
awarenessThey finally found someone who agreed to make 10 sample
bracelets and
engrave names on them. Then they started by selling 1,200
bracelets. That grew to requests for 12,000 a day, which were sold
for between
$2.50 and $3 apiece. The bracelets cost about 75 cents to make,
so all the profits went on to produce millions of bumper
stickers,
buttons, brochures and newspaper ads to draw attention to the
missing men. Nearly five million bracelets were sold between 1970
and 1976.
Through the efforts of these young college girls, none of these
men were forgotten.
Bonnie Norris (MHS class of ‘70) was a senior and that year a
speaker came to Marysville High School to talk about the bracelets
and how
students could help raise money and awareness so that these men
would not be forgotten and left in Vietnam.
It seemed like a good cause to Bonnie and her sister Valerie
Selig. They sent for the bracelets and when they received them,
each had the
name of a man who they didn’t know or know anything about. Each
girl received a different name.
Bonnie’s read: Lt. Col. David Zook Jr. She had no idea that his
home was less than 50 miles from hers. He could have been from
anywhere in
the U.S. as the girls believed that the bracelets were just sent
out randomly. Bonnie wore that bracelet for some time and
eventually put
it away in a safe place.
Now 38 years later, Bonnie learned through a story in
the Bellefontaine Examiner that his home town was West Liberty and
that
his name is on the Vietnam Wall. She got the bracelet out and took
it to the wall when it was in Marysville last week. There was his
name —
Lt. Col. David H. Zook Jr.
About that traveling Vietnam Wall — it is just about half the size
of the permanent one which is in Washington, D.C. There are six of
these
traveling walls which are privately owned by five different
people.
The aluminum wall that was here came from Brevard County, Fla.
There is a charge to bring the wall to the town and the money is
used to
continually refurbish it and keep it in tiptop shape. Any money
left goes to help support a home in Florida for homeless veterans.
Bonnie learned that Zook’s widow, Pat, was still alive and in
a retirement community nearby. She has spoken with members of
the
family on the phone and agreed that she would like to give
the bracelet to the Zooks.
Just recently, Bonnie was informed by an employee of
the Bellefontaine Examiner that the remains of Lt. Col. Zook have
been
found in Vietnam and are being returned to the U.S. DNA, which
was not available back in the days of the Vietnam War, is now
proving to
be quite helpful in identifying remains.
There will be a memorial service in his honor next month and
Bonnie will be there and give the bracelet back to his family.
9/12/08
The Buckeye Battle Cry
Last Saturday was a very sobering experience for all those
who support my Ohio State Buckeyes (I can say that because I am
an alumnus of that wonderful institution called The Ohio
State University). Ohio University located in Athens provided much
more football than any of the Ohio State fans had expected. In the
end, the Buckeyes prevailed, but it was close for most of the game.
Maybe support of the crowd and the fantastic song called “Buckeye
Battle Cry” had something to do with Ohio State winning the game.
Not only is the football team important on Saturday afternoons
in the “shoe,” but also the Ohio State University Marching Band
is certainly a close second for its contribution to the color of
the game. Band members enter the stadium through the central ramp
and always begin by playing their famous fight song. It’s a great
song and through Sherry Poston of Dublin I learned of its origin.
It seems her great uncle Frank Crumit was the author. He was
born in Jackson, Ohio, in 1889 and attended local schools, but
finished his high school days at Culver Military Academy in
Indiana, graduating in 1907.
From there Frank went on to Ohio University to major in
electrical engineering. In the midst of his studies for some reason
he
transferred to Ohio State University. Some say it was to follow
in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Dr. C. K. Crumit, a
medical doctor.
His medical course of study was short lived and soon he was back
at OU to graduate in electrical engineering. The profession was not
a good fit, and his engineering career did not last long. His
passion seemed to be music and the old ballads of the 19th century.
His love of music and theater dated back to his early years in
the Methodist Church choir and led him to pursue, finally, a
musical career. Frank studied voice in Cincinnati and then tried
out unsuccessfully for opera in New York City. He performed on
the Vaudeville stage in 1913 playing a ukulele. Eventually he did
appear on Broadway in 1918 in the musicals, “Betty Be Good” and
“Greenwich Village Follies of 1920.”
Back in Columbus, in 1919 a new stadium was in the plans for
Ohio State. It would be called Ohio Stadium and a contest resulted
to create a new school fight song. Frank had written a song about
Ohio and football and had previously submitted it to his alma
mater, Ohio University. OU didn’t want it and so he was free to
enter it into the contest at Ohio State. He renamed it “Buckeye
Battle Cry” and won the contest.
He met Julia Sanderson in 1921 and began working with her on
stage and radio. He was known for humorous material, particularly
his puns. The two married in 1927 and moved to Longmeadow, Mass. By
1928, Frank
and Julia were performing together on radio as the
“Singing Sweethearts of the Year.” They had a nationally produced
radio
broadcast which was aired on WLW in Cincinnati.
In 1930, they continued on the radio with a popular quiz show,
“The Battle of the Sexes,” which ran 13 years until Frank’s death
in 1943 of a heart attack.
Some changes had to be made to the lyrics of the Buckeye Battle
Cry to make it fit Ohio State, since it was really written for
Ohio University. There are many mentions of Ohio, which you can see
could have been used for both schools. But in the chorus with the
words “men of scarlet and gray,” there is no doubt it is our Ohio
State Buckeyes.
Had the song been the Bobcat Battle Cry instead of Buckeye
Battle Cry, maybe the result of Saturday’s game would have been
different Go Bucks!
Octoberfest this Saturday
If you like auctions, raffles, delicious food and just plain
fun for the kids, the Octoberfest at First English Lutheran Church
is for you this Saturday. It begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 3
p.m.
Not only is there a silent auction and raffles, but also there
are games for the kids. “Lutherland” provides outdoor fun with a
jump house and slide, plus there will be ladder golf, sack races,
tug of war, cake walks and a bake sale. The church is also
sponsoring a 50/50 raffle which will benefit the Habitat for
Humanity house to be built in Union County.
Food includes pulled pork sandwiches, brats, hot dogs, baked
beans, sauerkraut, German potato salad and fruit dumplings.
9/5/08
This week I would like to share
with you some of the e-mail that comes from my readers. They send
me some of the most interesting
things. Barbara Forsythe sent the first one.
The Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational once again asked readers
to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding,
subtracting or
changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are
this year’s winners. Read them carefully. Each is an artificial
word with
only one letter altered from a real word. Some are terrifically
innovative:
1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund which lasts
until you realize it was your money to start with.
2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that
stops bright ideas from penetrating. The Bozone layer,
unfortunately, shows
little sign of breaking down in the near future.
4. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders
the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
5. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
6. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and
the person who doesn’t get it.
7. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
8. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
10. Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all
these really bad vibes, right? And then like, the Earth explodes
and it’s
like, a serious bummer.
11. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the
day consuming only things that are good for you.
12. Glibido: All talk and no action
13. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter
when they come at you rapidly.
14. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just
after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets
into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm
in the fruit you’re eating.
Laura Laslow and I play golf together, so I suppose that is
what prompted her to send this next one to me.
There are two things you can do with your head down — play golf
and pray. — Lee Trevino
A little girl was at her first golf lesson when she asked
an interesting question: “Is the word spelled p-u-t or p-u-t-t?”
she
asked the instructor. P-u-t-t is correct,” he replied. “Put means
to place a thing where you want it. Putt means merely a vain
attempt to
do the same thing.
Art said he wanted to get more distance. I told him to hit it and
run backward. — Ken Venturi on Art Rosenbaum
The only thing in my bag that works is the bug spray. — Bruce Lansky
Golf is a game in which the slowest people in the world are those
in front of you, and the fastest are those behind.
I’ve had a good day when I don’t fall out of the cart. — Buddy Hackett
Relax? How can anybody relax and play golf? You have to grip
the club, don’t you? — Ben Hogan
My body is here, but my mind has already teed off.
I found out that all the important lessons of life are contained
in the three rules of achieving a perfect golf swing:
1. Keep your head down.
2. Follow through.
3. Be born with money.
You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives.
Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work. — Lee
Trevino
Finally, Jerry born shared this last one with me which
contains lots of good thoughts for daily living.
Daily Rules:
1. Wake Up! Decide to have a good day.
2. Dress Up! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A
smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
3. Shut Up! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two
ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as
much
listening as talking.
4. Stand Up! For what you believe in. Stand for something or you
will fall for anything.
5. Lift Up! Your Prayers. Do not worry about anything; instead
pray about everything. God answers knee-mail.
Local author
We have a new author in town. He is Sam H. Hsu PhD. Sam lives
in Timberview and has written a book entitled, “Once Upon a Land of
Joy
and Peace.” It contains life stories told through poetry. You
can obtain a copy at Amazon.com.
(Melanie Behrens - melb@imetweb.net)
8/29/08
The Smiths’ Ukranian connection
Just about eight years ago, Matt Smith and his wife Meg, who are part of
the local real estate world with REMAX Winners, invested in property in
the Ukraine. They had become familiar with a gentleman from that newly
emerging country (part of the former USSR) and decided, with his
guidance, that they would buy an apartment there.
It needed lots of work. They paid $22,000 and put another $50,000 into
it to renovate. They only own the apartment; the city of L’viv owns the
building. It’s almost a condo-like relationship, except the city doesn't
do much. That’s the way it is there.
Right after the purchase eight years ago, Matt took his parents, Dick
and Linda Smith, to the Ukraine to see his investment. Linda said they
saw it and the town and thought he and Meg had made a big mistake.
Now eight years later, the Smiths returned along with Matt and he was
able to proudly show his original property plus two more apartments. The
country is growing and improving all the time, and so is Matt and Meg’s
investment.
They also own an 18-room bed and breakfast there with other local
investors. Matt estimates his original apartment has appreciated five
times in just eight years. In fact, he points out that Ukraine real
estate values are all increasing as is most of Europe. The U.S. seems to
be the only one in the big slowdown. Hopefully, for all of us, we are on
the upswing now!
The trip for the Smith family also included a stop in Hungary. Linda’s
family originated there and she researched both the Dohanos and Kerstner
families, who were her great-grandparents. To do this, they visited both
the towns of Bachka and Acsteszer. Matt said they even located a distant
cousin of Linda’s who still lives in this remote rural section of the
country.
Upon asking villagers, the Smiths discovered the cousin was visiting an
area about 30 miles away and so thought he might be right back so that
they could meet him. Then they were informed that the cousin rode a
horse there! They would not see him that day.
Linda did see her great-grandfather’s house, the one where he lived as a
child in the tiny rural village.
When the Smiths moved on to L'viv, Linda described the change in
shopping. When there eight years ago, she said she entered a store and
saw a shirt, some car parts and a gallon of milk. Now they are fully
stocked with goods and appliances just like our retail stores.
Matt said when the Ukraine separated from the USSR, the government owned
all the buildings but is gradually selling them to the public. He and
Meg tried to buy a movie theater, the attempted purchase of which went
on for some time. That request had to go to a body similar to our state
legislature and was decided by a state property manager. Their request
was finally denied because Matt was too young, but probably a
70-year-old former communist would be OK.
Bribes are a way of life there and most transactions are done in cash.
This way, much of individual and business income is hidden. Official
records state that the average income is about $500 a month, but then
there is all that cash floating around.
Many U.S. companies are expanding there, partly because labor is
cheaper. Even though bribes are used frequently, the official U.S.
position is severe penalties are imposed if this practice is discovered.
The Smiths also visited the spa town of Truskavets, which is described
as a smelly sulfur springs area and resembles our spas of the 1930s.
There, you will find the traditional spa therapies.
Under Soviet rule, companies would purchase rooms or even build entire
hotels for use by their workers as a vacation in that region. Then the
employees would be assigned certain dates for their vacation in that
spot.
In the Ukraine, many speak a little English and Matt understands
Russian, Czech and Polish. So, communication is easy there, but in the
villages of Hungary, the Smiths were nearly reduced to sign language at
times.
Going to that part of the world is not easy (24 hours to get there) or
cheap, but Matt has had to make many trips in the last few years to
watch over their investment. Now, he and Meg can look back and smile at
the welcome improvement and westernization of the Ukraine.
(Melanie Behrens - melb@imetweb.net)
8/22/08
More on Sal Petrovia and the Afghans
Last week I told you about Lt. Col. Sal Petrovia, a 1985 graduate
of Marysville High School, who has made the U.S. Army his career.
He is
currently stationed in Afghanistan and is the commander of
a battalion of troops which are part of Task Force Centaur.
This column is a continuation of his story on life in Afghanistan.
He tells us what it’s like serving in Afghanistan on a day to day
basis.
Sal begins: “This morning, before my 7 a.m. briefing, we received
a call from a local police officer about some information he had
in
reference to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that a
local villager informed him of. Because the villagers are gaining
trust in
their local security forces, because we have established
partner-like relationships with the security forces, and most of
all, because the
people (in some areas) feel we can protect them from the ‘bad
guys,’ we were able to find and eliminate the IED before any
coalition
forces or Afghans were injured or killed.”
“In essence, this small victory and microcosm of what we hope
will continue to spread like wildfire shows we were able to defeat
the
‘bad guys’ and their threats without ever using violence because
the Afghans believed in their government and security forces. The
people
did the right thing. The government and police did the right
thing. And your American soldiers did the right thing. I consider
it a win
across the board.”
“By 8:30 a.m., my soldiers loaded up and we departed to meet
a local village elder to talk about progress in his village,
upcoming
projects, and security issues in the area. As we arrived, the
red carpet (so to speak) was laid out in Pashtunwalli fashion.
The
children greeted us and we went inside the stone, wood, and mud walls.”
“Greetings are much more elaborate than we Americans are used to,
but it is really quite refreshing. It always starts with a cordial
hug
and by asking each other about one’s health, followed by the
family’s health, and their livestock. Then we sat in the shade
under a
thatched roof while drinking tea and discussing their concerns.
As expected, there were some security concerns, but we also spoke
about
a proposed construction project for an irrigation ditch to
channel water through different portions of the village.”
“The elder also asked if we would come to the school where he
had invited several leaders from different districts (all in our
area of
responsibility). We weren’t sure how many people were actually
there, but we obliged and made the trip to the center of the
village, where
there were over 70 leaders from across the province. Some had
walked six days to make it there. The terrain and lack of roads in
some
remote mountainous areas makes travel by vehicle impossible.
The attendees ranged from chiefs of particular government agencies
to
local elders to religious leaders.”
“The discussions that lasted hours are not the important part
of this story though. We never even got into the school (although
it was
well over 100 degrees in the sun). The leaders met us out front
and the discussions ensued. When I walked up, I thought to myself,
‘this
is an ambush waiting to happen, or these people really get
it.’ Luckily for us, it was the latter. They really do get it.”
“‘It’ is this thing we Americans call democracy, that so many of
us take for granted. They crave the ability to be able to make
decisions
and choose what is best for their own people. Although it
is sometimes frustrating for us and the Afghans because we cannot
assist
enough or fast enough at any given time, it was worth every
minute, and I really believe we made some friends today.”
“Of course, my day wasn’t even half over yet, but I think you
get the picture. Your soldiers are here in Afghanistan for a good
reason
and are making a difference every day. In spite of the
glamorized terror so often portrayed in the media, there are
thousands of small
good-news stories, like the two I mentioned, happening every day
that no one ever hears about. It is much more so than the kinetic
events
shown on much of the evening news.”
“‘What are we doing in Afghanistan?’ And, ‘Should we be there?’
I think I’ve shown you a little of what we are doing here, and
my
answer to the second is, ‘Yes, we should be here.’ It is the
burden we bear as the democratic superpower in this world, and
proves our
ideals as well as solidifies our legacy for generations to come.
I miss my family dearly, but I believe if we don’t pay this price
now,
our children will continue to pay for a much longer time.”
Then Sal answered some of my questions. The first was, What is
it like to live in Afghanistan — Americans and natives alike?
He
replied, “As mentioned, this is a harsh country according to
our standards, but the Afghans are acclimatized to their
environment and
rarely complain. They work hard, and like to laugh ... not a bad
way to be.”
Then I asked him, How long is your duty there? “My unit
is scheduled for a 15-month tour.”
My next question was, Are woman still so oppressed? “Oppressed is
a relative word. In this culture, women work extremely hard and
are
never in the forefront. They are the ‘behind-the-scenes’ workers
who really make everything happen. When we speak with local
villagers and
leaders, it is offensive if we ask questions about their wives
or adult daughters.”
I asked Sal, Is your area secure? “Secure is also a relative
word. There are Taliban and other conspirators in the area who are
always
looking for an opportunity to attack or threaten our coalition
forces and the local populace. Therefore, our vigilance is a must,
and has
paid great dividends so far. Continued building and strengthening
of our relationships here will continue to force them out or
eliminate
them.”
Finally I asked Sal, What should those in your hometown know
about life there? “Days are long, and there is no ‘five o’clock
whistle.’
We work as long as it takes. For me, the day begins around 5 a.m.
and usually ends about 12:30 or 1 a.m., but I do sleep in until 7
a.m. on
Sundays. Obviously, there are peaks and valleys in our
daily activities, but all in all, time flies because we are so
busy.
“Your soldiers make an incredible sacrifice in this place that
most Americans probably can’t locate on the map. They volunteered
to be
public servants and guard our freedom and the American way of
life, and I am so proud of each and every one of them, both young
and old.
These soldiers, if nothing else, appreciate why we are here, and
how wonderful it is back home!
“God Bless America!”
Lt. Col. Sal Petrovia
8/15/08
Marysville-Afghanistan connection
He is a 1985 graduate of Marysville High School and is now
a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army leading a battalion of troops
in
Afghanistan. Sal Petrovia has made the army his career and I
have recently heard from him about the work he and his men are
doing with
the people of Afghanistan. You will see and appreciate his
kindness for both his own troops and the Afghan people as evidenced
through
his own words.
Sal begins: “Thanks for thinking of our soldiers over here. My
unit officially assumed responsibility of our area of roughly 1,800
square
miles on July 20, but has been operating here since the first week
of July. We left Fort Hood, Texas, on June 30 enroute to
Afghanistan. I
am the commander of the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery
Regiment and command about 540 soldiers spread over 14 different
locations
throughout Eastern Afghanistan. While we’ve only been here for
about a month, our soldiers are already making a difference and
embracing
the Afghan culture.”
“So much has happened already, it is hard to soak it all up.
Our mission here and our method for success encompasses four
things:
1. Security — our first priority is security of the Afghan
people against anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) which intend to coerce the
populace
through threats, violence, and death. The “bad guys” want nothing
to do with this concept of freedom and democracy because it puts
them
out of business both economically and ideologically. Our job,
in coordination with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF
-
consisting of Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army,
and Afghan National Border Police), is to assist in eliminating
the
threat so all Afghans can prosper in whatever way they choose
versus remaining subservient to the agendas of tyrannical warlords
and
religious fundamentalists.
2. Governance — Strengthening and legitimizing the Government of
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) at the lowest levels is
an
important step in enabling the Afghans to flourish in Democracy
and take advantage of their freedom to choose and decide based on
what is
best for themselves and their families. It is a learning process
for all of us. I think I understand the trials and tribulations
our
forefathers went through in building our nation from a few
‘rebels’ with a democratic ideal into the great United States of
America of
today.
3. Building — This is a war-torn country which has been invaded
and pillaged from the times of Alexander The Great through the
Russian
invasion in 1979 and up to the ousting of the Taliban in 2001.
There is rarely any infrastructure, amenities, or comforts outside
of the
few ‘big’ cities like Kandahar, Kabul, and Jalalabad. Most
villages only consist of a few mud and stone structures, and in
remote areas,
less.
Electricity and water are most often scarce, and luxuries we take
for granted as Americans, like education and healthcare, are
non-existent
in many locations.
In spite of this hard life, Afghans are considered some of the
most hospitable people in the world and live by a credo
called
‘Pashtunwalli.’ In our terms it loosely means, no one is a
stranger and what is yours is mine so let’s sit, eat dinner, drink
some tea,
and enjoy each other’s company. And that attitude makes all
the difference in the world, and makes us want to assist more
than
possible in some cases.
4. Restraint — Here’s an important element. My unit lives by
the mantra, ‘Did we make a friend or an enemy today?’ By treating
all
people we encounter with respect and dignity, we hope to make
more friends than enemies to make the first three elements
possible.
However, if we do make enemies, we are prepared to revert to
number 1, security.
Sal concludes, “That’s a brief summary of why we are here and
what will quantify success for us and what I believe the American
people
have asked of us soldiers. I’ll try not to write a novel, but this
is exciting stuff and I’d like to tell you how that all translates;
just
from my adventures today.”
“God Bless America!”
Lt. Col. Sal Petrovia
Commander, Task Force Centaur
Forward Operating Base Kalagush, Afghanistan
Next week we’ll hear about the day to day lives of soldiers
in Afghanistan trying to make a difference.
8/8/08
More on the Farmer’s Market
The Union County Farmers’ Market has been in operation for
more than 23 years. It began at the Union County Fairgrounds and
now has
moved to the parking lot in downtown Marysville at the corner
of Sixth and Main Streets, just across the street from the
fire
department. The market opens in May and continues into October,
on every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.
When I visited with the vendors at the market recently, it was
not only a very hot day and hard on every one, but also typical of
the
conditions for this time of year. Many of the vendor’s products
were nearly gone by a little after 11 a.m. and some had started to
leave
for the day. The moral to this story is, the early bird gets the
worm — if you want a good selection, be there between 8 a.m. and 10
a.m.
and you may be pleasantly surprised at the diversity and quality
of the products.
Kathy Custer is the woman in charge of the market. She is
a volunteer who has been involved with the market for many years.
Under
her guidance, it has grown considerably and is well worth getting
up early on a Saturday morning to experience all the homegrown
produce
and baked goods.
As I walked around the market meeting vendors, some of whom I
told you about last week, I stopped to see Angela Jenkins and
Shannon
Bowles whose display is called Kitchen in the Country. They not
only bake but garden, too, and they call their garden a
transitional type.
This means they use no chemicals, but they are not
organically certified. This is their first year in the market and
they make
interesting fudge - cherry and pumpkin - and also make the ever-popular
buckeyes.
Angela pointed out that all the recipes are uncompromising.
That means they use real butter and in their pies, they use no
filler or
jelly, just good homegrown fruit. This includes black
raspberries, pineapple, peach, apple and tart cherry. Are you
interested yet?
Their produce includes broccoli, peaches and peppers.
Sweet treats and garden eats was the next area run by Chris and
Sue Sours who live in Mill Valley. Sue had homemade bread, rocky
road
brownies, scones and vegetables, plus raspberries. They also
sell vegetable plants.
This is the fifth year for Teri and Brad Lemaster to have a
space at the market. They began with products from Brad’s garden,
which
includes strawberries, onions, cabbage, squash and cucumbers, just
to name a few. His mother, Linda Lemaster, was filling in for him
that
day and says she is part of the garden crew. Just two years ago,
Teri began her baking end of it.
Weekends during the farmer’s market are tough on her because
she begins baking for 20 straight hours before it opens. That means
she
starts on Friday and works through the night making at least
22 loaves of bread, nine plates of homemade cinnamon rolls, cookies
and
muffins. By the time the market opens, she has been up all night,
so during those hours she has to be just running on enthusiasm
because
she loves to bake.
“We Are All Connected” jams and jellies is owned by Bev
and Jennifer Picklesimon. These ladies are mother and daughter and
work
fulltime in addition to making wonderful jams and jellies. Bev
told me that after you open the jars, they should be good to keep
in your
refrigerator for up to a year. This is her fourth year
selling products made from some of her own fruit. She was a warm
and friendly
person and also talked about how she loved meeting people in
Union County who frequent the market.
Then there was Carl Rausch who calls his area Carl’s Veggies.
He must have nearly been one of the original members since he’s
been at
this for 20 years. He sells beets, zucchini, onions and Swiss
chard. Later there will be carrots. He said this year was a tough
year
because the hot weather actually cooked his green beans while
they were still in the ground. Replanting must have been necessary
then.
It was a very hot day and I finished up my visit at the
Farmers’ Market with a lady I had known for many years. Sue Hites
makes fudge
and this is her third year at the market. She produces
chocolate, maple nut and peanut butter fudge. She added that it’s a
lot easier
to keep the fudge solid in cooler weather and it’s a very
popular product as the summer goes on.
I hope this two-part visit to the local Farmer’s Market
will encourage you to check it out. If you haven’t seen what’s
going on
there you are missing a lot. You will meet your neighbors who
are working hard at their own little businesses. Every Saturday
morning
you can find them selling their homemade or home-grown products
in downtown Marysville.
Don’t forget the Farmer’s Market Community Festival, which
takes place in the same parking lot in downtown Marysville plus an
expanded
area which includes Sixth street this Saturday. It begins at 8
a.m. Tom McNutt from NBC 4 will be there from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and
there
will be cooking demonstrations and heritage craft sales. There’s
lots to see, so be there early.
P.S. Several vendors shared some of their products with me. I
got cookies and jam to take home. I guess this job isn’t so bad
after all!
He’s a winner
Two weeks ago, I reported on the adventures of Mike McCarthy in
the world of TV news. He was also nominated for the Tennessee
Associated
Press award for enterprising news coverage. I am happy to report
that he won!
Tip for a better life
Take a 10 to 30 minute walk every day. And while you walk,
smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
8/1/08
Farmer’s Market more than just produce
Right here in Marysville we have an outstanding Farmer’s
Market which offers a very nice variety of products produced in
Union County
and surrounding counties. It takes place every Saturday morning
from 8 a.m. until noon between May and October and is located in
the
parking lot at the corner of Sixth and Main Streets, right across
the street from the fire department.
Last week I decided to go meet the participants and now I
will share some of their stories with you. When you enter from the
Main
Street side, the first sign you see is “free coffee.” It turns
out that it is provided by the Nestle Co. and the booth is manned
by
volunteers from the Community and Seasoned Citizens group.
Eileen Petrovia and Carolena Trees were there to offer not only
free coffee,
but also recipes to cook a featured product. There is a free
holder for the recipes and patrons can collect these weekly.
Then I saw Tonya Dunton whom I have known for some time. She
used to be an employee of the Marysville Post Office, but has been
named
postmaster in East Liberty. She said that currently, however, she
is on loan to La Rue.
Tonya loves to cook and might even call it her passion.
Everywhere she has traveled she enrolled in cooking classes. That
includes
Venice, Morocco, Bali and, of course, Paris.
Her specialties are biscotti and scones. She had a variety of
each and there were also homemade marshmallows. In addition, she
makes and
sells macaroons, seasoned salt and peppers served in grinders
and also she had chocolate truffles. Tonya does cooking classes in
her
home and you can reach are at mymom’s_cooking.net.
Next I met Deb Holdren, who makes all natural gourmet dog
treats. She is an animal lover and believes dogs deserve good
tasting natural
treats without all the additives, preservatives and
animal byproducts. She uses human grade ingredients. There was even
a doggie
birthday cake available.
Deb has a golden retriever who is 12 years old. She began
her business to help him and other dogs who need good treats. Most
of her
doggie goodies are baked fresh each week and any that are left
over are donated to the dogs at the humane society.
Ross Moore was there also at the market. I immediately
recognized him because in addition he works at Dutch Mill
Greenhouse. Plus, he
has his own business with herbs and perennials and winter
hardy cactus, and later on in the summer he will bring in produce.
Ross has
been at this for seven years.
Honey Health Farms was next door and is owned by Dale
Benedict. Dale has been a beekeeper for 10 years, but before that
was a
longtime employee of O. M. Scotts and then worked as a consultant
for Fortune 500 companies in product development. Everyone around
the
market calls him the “Honey Man” and he loves talking to
people. Besides honey, he also sells soap and moisturizer all made
from the
products of his bees. He told me that much research is being done
on bee stings as a therapy for arthritis and multiple sclerosis
and
there have been positive results.
Dale’s helpers gather the honey and it is processed into
the products at his hardware store in North Lewisburg. You can
reach Dale
at honeyhealthfarms.com.
Sarah Negley grows herbs and vegetables in her greenhouse
and garden and she has been selling her products at the farmer’s
market
for three years.
Then I moved to the next booth and saw Robert Carson, who
makes beautiful Adirondack chairs. His wife Miriam decorates them
with
charming designs. Earlier, on his way to creating at least 100
of these chairs, he determined he needed to use hardware that would
hold
up to the elements. Each chair is then finished with a coat of
stain, hand sanded and a second coat of stain is put on before
assembly.
Robert also builds swings, benches, deck tables, coffee tables
and even a child’s version of the Adirondack chair. He’s been doing
this
for more than 10 years and would love to meet you at the
Farmer’s Market.
Vanessa Abel was the only lady selling organic tee shirts with
hand painted designs. This is her first year at the market and even
though
she lives in Mill Valley this has been her first opportunity to
know those in our community much better through her association
with the
market. In addition to the tee shirts, she does recycled art on
old doors and boxes, plus jewelry. You can chat with Vanessa about
her
work at earthflutter@yahoo.com.
Edie Lemaster is a baker and has been selling her products for
many years at local bazaars. She specializes in sugar-free desserts
of all
kinds. In her booth I also saw some crocheting, scrubbers and
dish cloths. Edie said she has lots of regular customers who
are
particularly looking for sweets that a diabetic can enjoy.
Edna Hinderer and her sister, Doris Fields, have a garden. For
23 years they have been growing produce and were part of the
original
Farmer’s Market which was located 23 years ago at the Union
County Fairgrounds.
The market is administered by volunteer Kathy Custer. When
the market began in 1985, Kathy and her husband, Tom, sold
hydroponic
tomatoes there which they grew commercially for 13 years. Now she
is out of the business. This has given her time to volunteer
her
services including publicity and collecting fees to run the market
A permit from the city is necessary to use the parking lot and
each
person pays $30 a season or $10 a week for their spot at the
market. There is a list of rules that all vendors must abide by
including one
which requires that products must be grown or made in Union County
or surrounding counties and baked goods must be fresh in the last
24 hours.
The Farmer’s Market is expanding its operation through the end
of the produce season. Now, it will also be open on Thursday
evenings at
the Connolly Construction office parking lot in Green Pastures from
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
On Aug. 9, the Farmer's Festival will take place at the
downtown city parking lot location and probably extend out into the
street. It
runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and tries to teach the public to eat
from their garden. Tom McNutt from NBC 4 will be there from 8 to 9
a.m.
and there will be cooking demonstrations and heritage
crafters. Marilou Suszko, cookbook author, will be doing
cooking
demonstrations. Be sure to put this event on your list of things
to do on that day.
Next week we'll meet more of the people who make up the
Union County Farmer’s Market.
7/25/08
Costa Rica - home of lilies and tarantulas
Costa, Rica is a long way from International Falls, Minn., but
that’swhere life has taken Al Reinarz. He grew up in Minnesota, where
there
are some of the coldest temperatures in the nation during the winter,and
now enjoys a much more temperate climate. He is a graduate of the
University of Minnesota in horticulture and has been working in the cut
flower business as a grower for more than 30 years.
Henk Berbee of Dutch Mill Greenhouse has known Al for 20 years. The two
became friends while working in the flower industry together. When Al
came to town for a flower trade show, I was able to meet with him at the
Berbee home to learn more about life in Costa Rica.
Living there takes some adjustment because things are quite different
than in the U.S. Many people do not have cars and the average income per
year is only $5,000.
If you want to have a car it will cost you 70% more than it would in the
U.S. because of an import tax. So, the cost of a car is several year’s
salary. Even though the price of gas is about the same as ours, the car
alone is a huge investment. Consequently, Costa Ricans take very good
care of their cars and nearly everyone washes and waxes them on Sundays.
Apparently, the average driver is very suspect, also. Sometimes they
obey laws and sometimes they don’t. They also drive in four lanes when
there should only be two. Many of the main roads are paved, but the side
roads are made of rock, a very bumpy ride, and require frequent new
tires.
Al visited Costa Rica back in 1980 because his college roommate lived
there. It struck him then as one of the most beautiful places in the
world and certainly one of the three top places for retirement. When he
had the opportunity to move there in 2003 (not for retirement), he and
his wife decided to go. There, Al works as a lily grower. His company
exported 28 million lilies last year. They went all over the world.
The country is lush, green and welcoming to Americans, but the language
is Spanish and Al only knew a little when he and his wife arrived there.
Al says, “It’s amazing how quickly you can pick up a language when you
have to deal with it on a daily basis.”
The technical part he uses in his business is easy, but he said the hard
part is when you try to understand their jokes, which he still doesn’t
think are funny even now that he understands all the words. They also do
not appreciate his sense of humor.
There are about 40,000 Americans living in this country of about 3.8
million people.
Al does not drink the water, which is said to be about 95 percent
potable. The reason is, as he points out, that he doesn’t know when he’s
getting that 5 percent that isn’t any good! So, they use bottled water
and at home have a well.
Their home is perched on top of a beautiful hill in the area that lies
between Cartago and Turrialba. Building their home was an experience,
too. It took about a year to get it done. Sometimes the contractors had
to use Al’s tools because they were better, and they didn’t even have a
level. His wife purchased all the materials and hired the contractors.
In addition, they had to hire 24-hour guards to protect the supplies
while the home was being built.
Al has determined that his contractors knew nothing about plumbing and
electricity. This work had to be redone several times to work properly.
But he said that they are very good with concrete. The contractors had
never even seen a water heater. Sadly, most of them didn’t have a car to
get to the property to work, and many didn’t have shoes.
Special earthquake construction codes are in effect in Costa Rica
because of the frequency of earthquakes. Most roofs are tin because tile
roofs can come apart and fall on someone’s head during an earthquake.Al
points out that insects are not bad there. For instance, there are no
mosquitoes. Then in the same breath he tells me they have tarantulas,
Asian cockroaches, giant rhinoceros beetles and other ugly things. He
considers himself a naturalist and actually enjoys talking about the
wildlife there which includes jaguar, mountain lion and ocelot.
The police force is interesting. There are three types of policemen. The
first are only involved with traffic. They have no guns and are the most
poorly paid. Maybe they are the most easily bribed, too. Then there are
the regular policemen, who have no cars, no radios or no guns. I don’t
know how effective they can actually be at their job. The third kind of
police is the OIJ, most like the FBI in the U.S. Al says they are very
efficient, respected and have SWAT teams. They’re the ones to call for
big problems.
This tiny country the size of West Virginia has numerous volcanoes and
most of the residents get very excited to see steam spouting out the top
of one that has been inactive for 140 years. The White Tower volcano is
just 15 miles away from where Al lives and he has mixed feelings about
its possible eruption. He wants to see the activity, but he’s not sure
how close all that might come to his home.
If you have a special girl that you really want to impress and you live
in Costa Rica, you take her to McDonald’s, Domino’s or Burger King for
dinner. That is a very big night out.
Al says there are lots of good things about Costa Rica, a place where he
plans to stay even after he retires as a lily grower. The democracy is a
stable one and there are rarely fires because most of the houses are
made of brick or cement. They have government healthcare and the scenery
is beautiful, but he says the best part is the temperate weather which
ranges from 60 to 80 degrees year-round. That means no need for a
furnace or air conditioning!
7/18/08
Reporting breaking news
He is a 2002 graduate of Marysville High School (salutatorian),
just had his 25th birthday and holds the valued position of on-air
news
reporter for WVLT Volunteer TV News in Knoxville, Tenn.
Mike McCarthy tells me there are literally hundreds of
applications for each TV reporting job. For his current job in
journalism he not
only credits his internship served on the Today Show, but also
the excellent education and preparation provided him at Ohio
University’s
Scripps School of Journalism. There, he was the
outstanding graduating senior in broadcast news. He believes his
education
provided “hands on” experience and top notch teaching. It is
common for many students to look back and be appreciative of how
well they
have been prepared by their school to do their job.
Mike works hard — many long hours — and as a young reporter
earns what some would consider low compensation. That’s the price
to pay
for working your way up in this very competitive industry. Mike
is quick to point out those huge multi-million dollar salaries are
only
for the big network news people.
Here’s a description of his job in Mike’s own words: “While I’m
a ‘reporter,’ I’m technically a ‘one-man-band,’ someone who
shoots
photos, writes, and edits a story completely on his or her
own. Basically, I do the job of both the reporter and the
photographer.
It’s a huge challenge, but rewarding when I have viewers tell me
they can’t tell the difference.”
“The highlight so far came very early in my career, actually just
two weeks into it. I was sent to cover the Virginia Tech massacre
last
April. I reported live in every newscast for three days. It was
a daunting and heartbreaking task, especially since I’m the same
age as
the students I interviewed, and those who were killed. But at
the same time, it was very rewarding as a journalist to be there
for that
moment in American history.”
His work day goes from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. and he’s almost
always fighting to meet on-air deadlines as he gathers, edits and
prepares
to report on the local news. Until just recently, Mike was
the youngest reporter at the station. He also thinks his very young
face
occasionally works against him.
Everyone at the station was very welcoming and there are several
Ohio University grads there now. He says they are an amazing group
of people.
Mike’s co-workers are his friends and social life, partly
because they work the same crazy hours. His weekend is Wednesday
and Thursday
and the rest of the week he works in the evening when most of
the world is playing.
Knoxville has been good to him, too. He likes the town and
the southern hospitality. Reporting in the field brings him in
contact
with many local people and it’s a good feeling to be out in
the community. He says most work days go so fast, it’s hard to
meet
deadlines, especially since he does all the work on the stories himself.
He considers the on-air time as the best part of his job. His
daily stories appear on at least two of the four newscasts. There,
he can
tell thousands of people what’s going on in the area around
KnoxvilleMost reporters aspire to be anchors and he does too. He might
even
enjoy a morning show with more on-air time.
Mike McCarthy is a charming young man — a pleasure to talk to
and someone who I believe will do well in his chosen, crazy and
sometimes
chaotic world of TV reporting. He’s currently nominated for
the Tennessee Associated Press Award for Best Enterprise Reporting.
The
awards will be presented tomorrow. Good luck, Mike!
Flowers, flowers everywhere
Once again I want to compliment those who purchase, plant and
care for the beautiful downtown hanging baskets on both Fifth and
Main
Streets. They’re a very nice addition to our downtown. We also
have new flowers up on the balcony over the offices of McCarthy and
Cox at
the corner of Court and Fifth Streets. Be sure to look up as you
pass by. In addition, there are some pretty window boxes. It would
be
lovely to have all downtown businesses add window boxes for
the public’s enjoyment.
7/11/08
Bermuda, one last time
This is the third and final story about my cruise to Bermuda with
my husband Dan. We had been there 41 years ago on our honeymoon
and, let
me tell you, much has changed. We had always wanted to return
and this cruise along with our friends, Marianne and Henk Berbee,
was our
opportunity to see that beautiful British-controlled island once again.
Henk, of Dutch Mill Greenhouse, was actually there on business.
He sells flower bulbs all over the Eastern United States and
Bermuda.
This was a working trip for him and he took me along one day to
meet one of his favorite clients, Bobby Baron.
Actually, Bobby and his wife Julia opened their home to us and
were willing to share their experiences of living a life in the
beautiful
island country of Bermuda. There’s nothing like seeing a
country through the eyes of lifelong residents.
The Barons live near Hamilton, the capital. His family came to
the island from the Azores in the 1930s and Julia’s roots are in
Great
Britain. Bobby operates Aberfeldy nurseries which grow and
sell plants and Berbee bulbs.
Bobby and Julia are both products of the extensive private
school system (at least six of them) in Bermuda. Each school has
a
distinctive uniform. Also, public school students wear uniforms.
The public schools, according to Bobby, have deteriorated in the
last
years. He feels politicians are trying to run the schools instead
of letting educators do it, and the schools have suffered.
According to Bobby, many young teenage males drop out of
school before graduation. Since they are not prepared for work,
some turn to
crime often involving drugs. The drug problem has increased
greatly over the last few years in Bermuda.
The island of 67,000 people hadn’t had a murder for over 10
years until last month. A 14 year-old girl was murdered by her 30
year-old
boyfriend (what?). The crime had the town of Hamilton buzzing when
we were there. It was a jolt to the relatively serene lives of
those in
Bermuda’s capital.
Those who live in Hamilton and operate businesses have daily
lives much like ours. They too are concerned about gas prices since
theirs
is $7.75 a gallon. Those with British connections say that
the gasoline there is nearly $11 a gallon! Bermudians do have to
pay more
for their cars, too, because of a high import tax that is
155 percent. So, if the car sells for $20,000 in the U.S., it costs
over
$50,000 in Bermuda. Also, to buy a license to drive a cab
is $150,000. The Bermuda dollar which is used as currency is equal
in
value to ours. So the exchange rate is even and most stores take
our American money.
There is one hospital for the whole country, but if one needs
heart or brain surgery they are flown to the U.S., usually NYC or
Boston,
for care. Recently added is a medically equipped jet at the
airport for emergencies. I can’t even imagine living on an island
and having
to depend on a plane to be flown at least two hours away for a
life threatening illness.
The United States military constructed the airport in Bermuda in
the late 1940s and operated an air base there. The runways were not
for
the public to use until many years later.
Bobby began as a truck driver and delivered to the garden center
of which he is now part owner and manager. He has built the
business up
to one with a gross of $4.5 million. They also grow almost all
their plants, since import rules are strict on vegetation entering
the
country.
Those who live in Bermuda don’t feel isolated since they love
to travel. But their own country, which is beautiful, thrives on
tourism.
Julia told me the Internet has been good to customers in Bermuda
and has opened up a world of shopping for things not available on
the
island. However, it can include expensive shipping and import taxes.
Conversely, this extended shopping has been tough on local
merchants and has cut into their earnings. She also told me the
island mail
could be called “snail mail.” I guess we say that, too. One
package of hers took seven weeks to arrive and a letter could get
to London
faster than across the island. That’s just like our mail — you
wonder where it was all that time!
Hurricanes do hit Bermuda — their worst in recent years was
just three years ago. Now another big storm is on its way toward
the
island. During the last one, the Barons recall that trees were
down everywhere blocking even the main roads and residents pulled
out
their chain saws to clear the streets. Their buildings, like
Florida, are built with hurricanes in mind and everyone hopes for
the best.
Even if Bermuda escapes a direct hit from the current
hurricane, there is bound to be some damage to deal with after it
passes.
All homes on the islands collect their own water, which rolls
down their hard surfaced, terraced, white roofs into an
underground
holding tank. I think we call that a cistern.
They use the water for everything including drinking. When I
winced, wondering if untreated water was safe to drink, the Barons
replied
they must be immune since they had done that all their lives.
Their terraced roofs are pristinely maintained by cleaning and
painting.
The one exception to the water from the roof is during a
hurricane.
During that time, residents put a tennis ball in a sock and clog
up the hole blocking the water from entering the holding tanks.
During a
hurricane, salt water is heavy in the air and can foul the
water system. If that happens it takes weeks to clear it up.
The Barons are charming people and generously opened up their home
to us. It is a lovely island style where they leave the doors
and
windows open.
Bermuda is a beautiful place with a rich British history.
Flowers grow everywhere and people are friendly — many who seem
quite
American. As I prepared to leave, Julia gave me a gift of a
Bermuda cook book written by a lifelong resident. I will be using
recipes
from that book for the next few weeks in my recipe column
on Thursdays. No gift could be more appreciated.
7/3/08
Is there a doctor in the house ... or
on the ship?
This is a continuation of my story which
began last week on my recent cruise. My husband, Dan, and I had an
opportunity to return to the island of Bermuda on a week-long
cruise aboard the Norwegian Dawn. We had been to Bermuda 41 years
ago on our honeymoon and this was our first opportunity to return
to the beautiful island country controlled by the British.
The seas were calm, thankfully, the food was good, the
personnel pleasant and that leads me to how I got to know the
ship's doctor, Philip Buttaravoli M.D.
My time spent with Dr. "B" (as he is called) was not for the
usual reasons. Actually Dan and I were chosen, through a drawing,
to have dinner with the ship's doctor. There were four other
passengers, Phyllis Mueller, Rita McDonald and Carl and Jean
Makowski, who were also chosen to eat with the doctor and it helped
make the event a memorable one.
As we sat next to each other at dinner, I learned a lot about
the physician who was a graduate of the University of Vermont
Medical School and did his residency at the University of
Cincinnati in the early 1970s. Because of his residency in the
Queen City, he says he feels close to those of us from Ohio. In his
days as a resident there he served as team doctor for the old
Cincinnati Royals basketball team.
Dr. B turned out to be a kind, charming man and one who is
enjoying this time of his life immensely. For 35 years he practiced
emergency medicine - a perfect background for a cruise ship doctor
- and has been serving aboard the Norwegian Dawn since last
November.
This was his last cruise for now. When he leaves the ship he
will provide emergency medical services in a hospital in Vermont
for the summer. Then true to his last few years of work, he'll be
back out to sea next winter cruising the west coast of the United
States and Mexico.
I wondered why at this time, he would change his life so
drastically. He told me he loves this life for now and noted it was
a wonderful way to see the world. Also, he must be quite suited for
his life at sea since he told me he loves the rock and roll of
heavy seas - yuck! As you may remember last week I said I get
seasick, but was very lucky to have smooth traveling on this
cruise.
Some of the doctor's recent cruises have certainly been
noteworthy. The stories were sure interesting from his point of
view. You may remember this past May on Mother's Day, a woman fell
off a cruise ship about two hours out of New York City on the way
to Bermuda. That event occurred on our ship! I remember hearing
about it and especially noting the story since we were to be on
board that same ship.
Dr. B says there may have been some alcohol involved in the
event. The woman was seen on those surveillance cameras which are
everywhere on board (except the rooms, we think). She was climbing
from one balcony to another in the midst of heavy seas as was
caught by the cameras and fell into the water.
The tragedy was reported quickly to the ship's crew and boats
were dropped into the water to search for her. Code "Oscar" was
heard all over the ship's speakers and Dr. B explained it was such
an unusual thing because the crew knew that means someone is
overboard. The medical team prepared for rescue of a hypothermia
patient, because the water was still quite cold then. The coast
guard was notified and arrived to help but then it got dark. The
lady was never found.
The ship eventually went on to Bermuda and you can imagine the
flurry of conversation on board as it had to leave the area where
the woman fell into the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently the FBI was at
the dock when the ship arrived in Bermuda to interview the lady's
traveling companion, but the video from the balcony area showed the
fall to be an accident.
Dr. B also said on the cruise just completed before ours that
the ship was just a short distance from New York Harbor on its way
to Bermuda when a man became so ill that he decided the patient
needed more care than he could provide on board ship, so the giant
vessel - more than three football fields long - turned around and
headed back to NYC. There, the ill passenger was handed over to
emergency medical personnel.
The captain of the ship told the doctor that the return trip to
New York City cost $10,000 in fuel alone. Then there was the
expense of the pilot that is hired to take the ship in and out of
the harbor. But it was, after all, a person's life!
Fortunately our cruise was smooth and so nice that I might even
be coaxed back out to sea again some day. Bermuda was beautiful,
elegant and provides quite a lavish lifestyle for many of its
residents.
Next week I will write about a couple who have lived in Bermuda
all their lives. You will learn what day-to-day living there is
like.
6/27/08
To Bermuda and back
This trip was a long hoped for adventure. You see 41 years ago
my husband, Dan, and I spent our honeymoon in Bermuda. As we were
flying
home then, I remember asking, “Do you think we will ever come
back?”
He said, “Sure, in a few years.” Then there were children, a
house and childrens’ college, but finally we returned to Bermuda.
Our friends, Henk and Marianne Berbee, were headed there on
business, so we joined them on board the Norwegian Dawn, part of
the Norwegian
Cruise Line, for a seven-day cruise.
Henk, of Dutch Mill Greenhouse, sells flower bulbs all over
the Eastern United States and Bermuda. He worked all three days we
were
docked at Bermuda obtaining orders from local nurseries and even
from the government of Bermuda. I was also able to spend time with
one of
his customers at his home near the capital city of Hamilton.
I’ll have more about that in a future column.
About taking a cruise: Dan and I did that more than 20 years ago.
For me it was the trip from hell — the seas were rough and I was
sick for
five days. So, you can understand why I didn’t really want to do
that again. But here was my chance to return to Bermuda. I decided
to be
brave and hope for the best.
Getting ready to board the ship was interesting. First our
passports were checked and our picture was taken with a tennis ball
size hand-
held camera. Later we learned the picture was immediately put on
a chip on the ship credit card we were issued. Every time that card
was
used in our room door it was registered. Every time we left the
ship and returned, our picture came up on a screen. Those in charge
of the
ship knew who was on board at all times.
Surveillance cameras were everywhere except in our rooms — we think
— to keep the passengers safe. These cameras will come into play
next
week when I discuss our ship’s involvement when a woman jumped or
fell overboard one month ago.
Another very reassuring service was omnipresent hand
spray disinfectant. As we boarded, everyone’s hands were sprayed.
Then at
each restaurant, bar and even business counters, a hand
disinfectant machine was available. When returning to the boat
again we were
sprayed. Of course, this service was an effort to prevent
norovirus and respiratory infections, which have given cruise ships
a bad name
in the last few years.
This cruise was wonderful from the very beginning. As we left
New York Harbor and passed the Statue of Liberty, everyone sang
“God
Bless America.” It gave me quite a sense of pride in our history
and patriotism.
The ship is more than three football fields long. There are
12 restaurants and as many bars, and best of all, the first two
days at
sea were smooth as glass— not a bump. It only increased to a
moderate chop on the return trip, but I did not get seasick. The
ship is even
larger than the Titanic with 14 decks and many of the rooms
with balconies.
The Norwegian Dawn is also quite “green.” All the water for the
3,200 people on board (2,200 passengers and 1,000 crew) is provided
through
desalinization. Solid waste is dried and used for fuel. No waste
is dumped in the ocean.
My conversation with the ship’s physician (more about how I got
to know him next week) revealed how spotlessly clean the kitchens
are.
Once a week he conducts a U.S. Health Dept. check and is
always amazed at the attention to disinfection. The food was great
and I was
again surprised to learn that they serve over 100,000 meals on
the weeklong cruise.
The ship is driven by a computer that calculates the speed needed
to arrive on time. That takes into consideration the wind and
currents.
I guess that was good to know even when we were in heavy fog all
one day and couldn’t see anything. I was just hoping someone was
watching
out for that.
We were docked in Bermuda for three days and were able to explore
the island thoroughly. It’s very expensive to live there in this
British
territory. I met a woman named Carol Holding in her artist’s shop
and as we were talking she told me that she has to pay her sales
clerks
$18 to $20 an hour to keep them because the cost of living is so
high there.
There is a parliament and a governor who is appointed by
Queen Elizabeth. There is much wealth on the island (actually there
are
many islands) and property is unbelievably expensive. Everywhere
you look there are beautiful pastel colored stucco homes ranging
from
cottage styles to castle-like homes all along the harbor of
Hamilton.
The homes are surrounded by soft pink sandy beaches and
beautiful flowers everywhere you look. Policemen dressed in
starched uniforms,
businessmen in Bermuda shorts, knee socks, long sleeve shirt,
coat and tie, and horse drawn carriages all add to the island’s
unique style.
Bermuda is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
the Carolinas and was first discovered in the 16th century by a
group of
Spaniards who named the island Bermuda for Juan de Bermudez,
a Spanish sea captain. The British came in 1609 and have been
in
control ever since.
Not too much on the islands looked familiar to Dan and me after
41 years. The hotel where we stayed was demolished and an
insurance
company is now in its place. There seems to be constant
building going on, so even the main street of Hamilton looked
different than
it did 41 years ago.
Bermuda is beautiful. I hope all of you will have a chance to see
it someday. Next week - how I got to know the ship’s doctor.
6/20/08
Off to Mongolia!
Andy McCarthy has spent his time since college teaching in
Japan. He will return to the U.S. to attend OSU law school in
August. Here
is his latest adventure, now in Mongolia!
Andy begins: “I’ll be arriving back in Ohio around Aug. 8, as
the plan now goes. OSU’s first year orientation begins on Aug. 14,
so I
need to come back with a little bit of room to get reacclimated
to American life.”
“My latest adventure doesn’t take place in Japan at all, but
rather a country I never thought I’d find myself in had you asked
me three
years ago. At the beginning of May, I spent nine days
traveling around the hills of central Mongolia. I traveled this
time with a
good friend from my area, and we met a fellow traveler, an
English-educated Spaniard, who joined our group after we arrived in
Ulan
Bataar, Mongolia’s capital city.
“Mongolia is a nation two times the size of Texas, with roughly
the population of Connecticut. More than two-thirds of the year,
the
country is covered in blue skies — something the Mongolians
take utter reverence in. About one quarter of the population is
nomadic,
traveling around the steppe with their herds of goats, horses,
and yaks. These were the kind of people me and my fellow travelers
stayed
with for most of our trip.”
“If it sounds like these sorts of nomads can be hard to track
down, that’s absolutely correct. Even though we had a guide, on our
first
night out in the countryside, our guide got lost and couldn’t
find the family we were supposed to be staying with! It’s not
very
reassuring to watch your driver going into a subdued panic as the
sun goes down on a land dominated by much of the same scenery and,
as
would be expected in a country of nomads and drifters, no real
roads.
That and driving through a sandstorm were perhaps the more
terrifying highlights of the trip, which was otherwise a great
time.”
“We traveled out west from the capital for a solid week,
staying with a different family each night. We rode horses up and
around a
volcano, visited ice caves, and walked on a frozen lake. I took
some time to myself and even did a little light climbing, to which
coming
down after sunset in a country known for clear skies made for
seeing some of the most beautiful starlight I have ever known”
“There were plenty of things that were surprising or worth
noting along the way. The Mongolians experience of being a Soviet
satellite
means that most people mistook me and my fellow travelers
for Russians. It was an interesting reminder that you were in a
country
that shares a view of the west that is very different than
Japan’s (where all foreigners are assumed to be American, and
English-
fluent). The Mongolian diet is mutton, with a side of more
mutton, and the possibility of more mutton to follow. All that
mutton is
either put with pasta or rice, rounding out the meal. There is
an obvious lack of vegetables, but that is expected from a
nomadic
people who live off their only resource — their herd animals.”
“The Wedding Finger"
June is wedding month and a friend recently shared this story
with me. I thought it would interest you.
Ever wonder why wedding rings should be on your fourth finger
and nowhere else? Read and try this.
There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the
Chinese.
The thumb represents your Parents.
The second (index) finger represents your Siblings.
The middle finger represents you.
The fourth (ring) finger represents your Life Partner.
The last (little) finger represents your children.
First, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers
and hold them together, back to back. Second, open and hold the
remaining
three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip.
Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents).
They will open, because your parents are not destined to live with
you
lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.
Please join your thumbs as before and separate your index
fingers (representing siblings). They will also open, because your
brothers
and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead
their separate lives.
Now rejoin the index fingers and separate your little
fingers (representing your children). They will open too, because
the
children also will get married and settle down on their own some
day. Finally, rejoin your little fingers, and try to separate your
ring
fingers (representing your spouse). You’ll be surprised to see
that you just can’t, because husband and wife have to remain
together all
their lives — through thick and thin!
6/13/08
Mark Miller’s final episode
Ever since Mark Miller graduated from Marysville High School in
1976 he has been on the go. After receiving a Juris Doctor Degree
and a
Ph.D., he now has a permanent position as director of the law
and society program at Clark University. Currently he is serving as
a
visiting professor at the University of Leiden in Holland. For
the past few months he has shared his experiences while working
and
traveling in Europe. Soon he is headed home to the U.S. and so
this is his final episode.
Mark traveled to Maastricht, Holland, and begins his story: “I
went to breakfast and they had an odd machine in addition to the
American
style scrambled eggs, bacon, and other things on the
breakfast buffet. The sign said (in both Dutch and English) take a
glass and
put in two oranges. I puzzled for a while, and then watched
another guest use the orange juice machine. One puts two whole
oranges on a
track. The track is then rolled down and into the machine made
mostly of glass so that I could watch the whole process. It cut the
orange
in half, and then squeezed the two halves. The fresh squeezed
orange juice then went directly into my glass, placed carefully at
the
bottom of the machine. Maybe others have seen such machines
before, but it was a new experience for me.”
“Then I decided to go to Germany for lunch. I took the train
from Maastricht to Heerlen, where I found an automatic luggage
storage
locker that took my Dutch bank card. I then got on a German train
in Heerlen, which is still in Holland. The German train was going
to
split after my stop, but I saw only one driver. The Dutch
train announcements are all made by a real person, often in both
English
and Dutch. But the German train used a computer generated voice
to speak very clear German. It seemed strange to me to travel
across the
national border without a real train staff person onboard (I
think there was a human driver, but I'm not sure). I then went to
Aachen,
looked around Charlemagne's cathedral, had my German lunch
of Sauerbraten, and then walked around the town a bit more. It was
a
nice day.”
“On the train back, I took the German train without human input,
and then retrieved my luggage from the locker without human
input,
purchased a ticket home without human input, and then boarded
the train to Utrecht. When I was about to get off to change trains
in
Utrecht, a group of Italian students asked me if we had
reached Amsterdam. I explained that they needed to remain on that
train for a
few more stops. They asked in English, but it was the first time
I had to give directions to Italian speakers to my knowledge.”
When Mark returned to Leiden there was this observation: “I saw
a mother on a bicycle, with a child in a baby seat on the front
and
another child on a baby seat on the back. She was also guiding
a third child on her own little bicycle. I've never seen children
use
training wheels here. Instead, children as young as three or
four ride regular small bicycles, but their parents guide them
along with
a hand on their handlebars or on their shoulder.”
“The Dutch have just finished a long series of holidays the
most important of which was Queen's Day. It's not the birthday of
the
current Queen, but the one of several queens ago. Since the
current Queen's birthday is in January, they decided that the
celebration
should be in better weather. There are many street concerts and
local parties on the evening before.”
“On Queen's Day itself, it seems that they turn the entire
country into a massive flea market. Children then try to sell their
used toys
and used clothes. Adults sell all kinds of junk. By the middle of
the afternoon, the beer gardens seem to be doing more business than
the
kids. Leiden had several marching bands added to the mix. It was
odd to hear Anchors Aweigh playing in the medieval streets of
Leiden.
People dressed up in all sorts of crazy orange outfits to honor
the House of Orange (the family name of the royals). The Dutch
flags were
flying everywhere, often with large orange cords attached to them.”
Of his travels outside of Holland, Mark had this to say: “I
would recommend both Ghent and Bruges (Belgium). They are
beautiful. There
was a carnival across the street from my hotel in Bruges. It had
a stand with food from Luxembourg, which I loved. On Friday
evening, I
ate dinner at an ultra-modern cafe in ancient Bruges. Their wine
list included two pages of what they called FreakyWijns. They were
so
freaky that they had two types of wine from South Dakota. I had
no idea that they produced wine in South Dakota! I guess I'm just
behind
the times.”
“I came back to Leiden and the weather was absolutely perfect. So
I spent several hours sitting outside at the little cafe five
minutes
from my house. The cafe tables take up part of one of the
bridges over the Rapenburg Canal, which is the large canal near my
house (I
live next to a much smaller canal adjacent to the Botanical
Gardens).
Since the weather was so beautiful, I spent the late
afternoon watching the many boats traveling up and down the
Rapenburg Canal.”
“Monday was Liberation Day. At the end of WWII, I'm told the
Germans stole every available bicycle in order to flee the country.
When the
Dutch get upset with their German neighbors, they just ask for
their bicycles back. I spent liberation day at the beach in The
Hague,
where the cafes are right on the sand - they just put flooring
down.
Some of the cafes there have traditional tables, some have
couches, and some even have huge bean bags to lie on. It was a
picture perfect
day.”
“Afterward, I went to the center of The Hague where they were
having a huge outdoor concert with music in English. The best part
was
seeing Dutch University students dressed up in traditional
dress dancing to ultra-modern beat with ultra-modern dance moves.
Finally a
folk singer came on and sang in Dutch.”
“While in Luxembourg, I noted that the Luxembourgers have bigger
cars than the Dutch, and are much shorter on average than the
Dutch. They
are also not as slim as the Dutch. They also close their
shutters, curtains, and everything else they can at dusk, while the
Dutch leave
their curtains open at almost all times. I've never quite gotten
used to walking around Leiden and seeing the Dutch leading their
normal
lives as seen through their open curtains.”
“On the train from Luxembourg to Brussels on Sunday, a soccer team
or a group of soccer fans were singing and chanting most of the
way.
Most of the riders were amused. At every stop, they would run off
the train and sing a quick song on the platform, then run back on
the
train just before the doors closed. It is a good thing I came back
on Sunday, because all of the trains in Belgium are on strike
today,
shutting down the country's entire train system. I'm glad I got
back to Leiden before that happened.”
“It will be difficult to leave this beautiful city with its
windmills and canals.”
Mark has provided us with great stories of Europe from his point
of view. Thanks to him for sharing his experiences with us.
6/6/08
Kayti comes home
We have been following the adventures of Kayti McCarthy as she
has spent the year teaching in Austria. It has been her first year
out of
college and a wonderful experience. Just before she heads back to
the U.S. to seek a job, she tells us of her final experiences in
Europe.
Kayti begins: “Springtime in Austria is growing to be my
favorite time of year. We’re finally through the cold, wet, mucky
winter (and
should be, it’s the end of May!) and spring is finally in full gear.”
“In early May, my dad (Bill McCarthy) came to visit and
after seeing the beauty of Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Bad
Ischl, we
decided to see a side of Austria that is not as frequently
visited. We went to Mauthausen – one of the worst and largest
concentration
camps under Hitler. It’s one of the forgotten and definitely less-known
camps, but at the time, it was one of the most notorious among
the Third Reich. Survivors say it was even worse than Auschwitz in
Poland.”
“I had previously been to Buchenwald, a concentration camp
in Weimar, Germany, four years ago, and both have been eye
opening
experiences into the dark history of countries and cultures I
have grown to know and love. Mauthausen is just 12.5 miles outside
of
Linz, along the Danube. The camp embodies an old stone quarry,
and prisoners were made to carry slabs of stone up 186 steep steps.
I
decided to climb the steps myself, and counted 155 steps
before reaching the first platform. I also learned that Mauthausen
had 49
sub-camps, one of which was located in Ebensee, which is about a
10-minute train ride from Gmunden; just on the other side of our lake.”
“As my time in Europe is coming to a close, I decided to drive
to Venice for the weekend. A friend from America had come to visit,
so
we rented a car, got on the Autobahn and were on our way.
We considered taking the train, but what would’ve taken 12 hours on
a
night train only took about four by car (thanks to the Autobahn).
The Austrian Autobahn does have a speed limit, though not many
people
abide by it. The first 300 miles only took three hours and
45 minutes, but the last 20 miles took about two hours, thanks to
bad
directions - but that just allowed us to see more of the
beautiful Italian country side.”
“Driving down through the Alps was amazing – though I didn’t
take advantage of looking around too much; most of the time I was
staring
straight ahead, even though I wasn’t the one driving. Going that
fast though the mountains and tunnels is slightly frightening. On
the
Autobahn, we topped out at 150 km/h (aprox. 95 mph), and
going through the mountains, we felt we were playing it safe -
quite a few
cars passed us. But then, when it became really windy or we had to
go through tunnels, we backed it down to 135 km/h.”
“The tunnels are really scary because people don't slow down
and you're allowed to pass! Granted, you're only allowed to pass in
the
tunnels that have two lanes running in the same direction,
but nonetheless, it was a little frightening.”
“To save a little money, we stayed in a resort town called
Jesolo and took a boat over to Venice. We had heard that Venice can
be a
disappointing city to visit (but not too smelly in our
experience) and that it doesn’t live up to expectations, but to us,
it was
amazing; the architecture of the buildings, the narrow
streets, winding walkways, and of course, the canal. We got lost -
a lot - but
that just added to the fun. We opted not to take a gondola ride
(80 Euros for 40 minutes), but we saw plenty of them, and it’s true
-
they do all wear red and white striped shirts, but we didn’t hear
any singing. Maybe that costs extra.”
“Our last evening, we made it to St. Mark’s Square to see it
all lit up. It had rained earlier, so the light reflected off of
the
puddles and wet pavement. There were two small orchestras, one
on each side of the plaza, competing for our attention with
classical music.”
“The food in Venice was a nice change from the Austrian
cuisine. Authentic Italian is slightly different from what we call
Italian in
America. For example, pizza is paper thin - more like what we’d
use for a crepe than a pizza, and the cheese and sauce is also
different.
One day for lunch we found a nice little restaurant off the
beaten path, and it served great food at reasonable prices. Most of
the
time, the food was too expensive to actually leave a meal
feeling full, but at this place we got a full three course meal,
which would
normally be about 30 Euros each (about 45 dollars), easy, but
here, it was only 15 - including a glass of red or white wine.”
“Now I am back in Austria, in my last full week of
teaching.
Teaching this month has been very relaxing. With all of the
Austrian holidays, there has been plenty of time to travel, and
relax. I’ve
enjoyed being here and traveling, but I’m ready to return home
to America … there’s just no place like it.”
Kayti will return to central Ohio to look for a job as
an intervention specialist where she would work with children with
Autism.
Attention all gardeners
The Journal-Tribune is pleased to host the first garden contest
in several years. In the past it has been a hotly contested event
and we
are excited to have that enthusiasm return to Union County.
To enter, just take a picture of your garden and fill out
the application available in the Journal-Tribune, then turn in to
the
newspaper office before June 27 along with a $10 entry fee. The
entry fee will go to the United Way of Union County to help others
in our community.
The photo of your garden will be placed on our website
at My2CentsWorth.biz for community voting. The top two from
each
category will be presented to our judges, Pam Hitchcock and
George McVey, who will decide the winners.
There are two categories of gardens - a vegetable garden and
a flower garden. Also, there is a best lawn category. Sponsors of
the
contest include McAullife's Ace Hardware, Dutch Mill Greenhouse
and Crago's Nursery. They will provide prizes. Winners will be
announced
in the July 14 edition of the Journal-Tribune.
So, start applying that fertilizer and water to make the
most beautiful garden or lawn in the area and then share it with
all of us.
5/23/08
Farmer, salesman and now commissioner
As a teenager he was called Chas, now he goes by Charles, but it
was never Charlie. Born in 1941 Charles Hall came home from the
hospital
to live in a house that was built in the early 1800s and the
property had been in his family since 1857.
At that time, the family homestead had 1,000 acres. Now it has
been divided by the family. He lived there until he was about 10
years old
and eventually when he married, he moved back to this home on
52 acres on St. Rt. 347.
When your father is a farmer you are certainly drawn into that
work too, and both Charles and his brother, Jim, helped on the
family farm
along with their sister Peggy. They milked cows twice a day.
There was an electric milker, but when the power went out that
meant doing
it by hand. Sometimes their father would even hook up the milker to
a pickup truck for power to get the job done, but it wasn’t
very
satisfactory. There were only 21 cows, but it was still a lot of work.
The family slaughtered chickens and sold them, too. Both the boys
did that work, but sister Peggy just couldn’t kill those chickens.
The Halls sold their milk and eggs and frying chickens for money
to help with the family budget. People would just come to their
front
door to purchase these fresh products.
Charles remembers that there were chicken thieves in the area in
the late 1950s and Sheriff Ed Amrine was called to investigate the
theft
of their chickens. Unfortunately the thieves were never found and
the chicken thefts finally ended.
He was part of the last graduating class of Magnetic Springs
High School in 1960. The school was later consolidated into the
North
Union District. At Magnetic Springs he played basketball, of
course, because he was, as he said, the tallest kid in the school.
Charles
also played baseball and was even part of a six-man football
team. There were only 14 members in his class so that’s the best
they could
do.
He said there were about eight other schools in North Central
Ohio that had six-man teams. Their uniforms were “cast offs” from
Ohio
State University, so they were all gray and they even had their
old helmets. Can you just imagine how many kids would love to say
today
that they were wearing uniforms from OSU?
After graduating from high school, Charles went to work at
Whirlpool in Marion and a good friend of his named Jerry Weaver
decided to fix
him up with Peggy McNeal. She was from Prospect. He said they went
to a movie that first night to see West Side Story and they just
really
hit it off. In fact, that was 1962 and they wanted to get
married right away, but her mother said they must wait until June
of 1963, so
that’s when they wed.
The newlyweds then moved into that family home on Route 347 which
was occupied by many generations of Charles’ family. As a young boy
he
had to use an outhouse there and a pump at the sink for water.
There was also a fuel oil stove in the living room and his mom
cooked in
the kitchen on a wood stove. There was no central heat, but by
the time he married everything had been updated.
The Halls had three children — Shari, Judy and Brian — and now
are proud to have 12 grandchildren. For most of his life Charles
has sold
farm equipment and mowers. It was a tough business to be in
and routinely the companies he worked for would go out of business,
so he
had to move on to another one.
Then it happened. In 2002 Charles needed a heart bypass and after a
7-week recuperation, he found out his job was no longer there. That
was
OK with him since the business was so volatile, he had already
been considering running for county commissioner. In March 2002 he
ran in
the Republican primary against two other opponents and won.
Since there were no Democrats in the general election, that meant
he was in.
He spent four months before he took office attending meetings
with the county commissioners so that there would be a smooth
transition
when he took office in January. It was kind of a rude awakening
to join this world of politics and the management of a very large
budget
— $22 million!
One of the hardest things was to learn all the acronyms thrown at
him daily. There are more than 100 in use in our county system.
Charles
decided to get some help with that and had an aide prepare a list
of what all those made-up words stand for. Then he could at
least
reference each of these organizations.
The three county commissioners divide up the duties and Charles is
a representative to many organizations in the county. He’s
quite
excited about the new downtown county office building which was
the former Carney’s store many years ago. It is the building
undergoing
renovation at the corner of N. Main and Sixth streets. The
Uptown Renewal group was instrumental in promoting the idea that
the
building be more in line with the rest of downtown, and he tells
me the building will now have a reddish color to blend in
with
everything else. Hopefully it will be in operation by November.
About 30 to 35 people will work there, but most of them will
already be
employed by the county and will be coming from the courthouse or
the justice center.
In the new building, there will be a conference room for public
use. The coroner will have an office on the second floor and so
will the
sheriff’s office of investigation. The sheriff will also have
an evidence storage area that will be very well secured.
Mainly, however, the building is for record storage. It will
have computer terminals where the public can research genealogy or
other
public records of the county.
Charles Hall was just made for this job. He’s a big man with
an equally big heart. One of the joys of working in a position
where
you’re managing such a big budget is that most of it is to be
used improve the lives of the residents of Union County. One of the
things
that is unforeseen is the medical care and even mental health
care for children who are in the foster program. Some expenses have
been
as much as $400 a day in very special cases.
Money for senior care is also another thing he takes pride in.
Money in that area can be used for those who can’t afford cancer
medicine
or to fix windows that leak like a sieve. Now there is some help
for them. He said he just feels good about helping so many people.
He’s a Sunday School teacher, part of the Emmaus community, a
Mason and will begin his second term as county commissioner in
January.
Charles Hall is more than up to the job!
5/16/08
Ins and outs of the courts
It was a memorable evening, a learning experience and now
an opportunity to share a little of the workings of the Supreme
Court of
Ohio.
At a reception last week sponsored by the Union County
Bar Association, I met and had dinner with four of the seven
members of
the court. Also in attendance were members of the Court of Appeals
of the Third District, which hears appeals from our lower courts
in
Union County as well as other counties in the district.
It was interesting that there were at least three people
providing security at the event. Apparently, being a judge can
bring out the
“kooks” who disagree with their decisions. Sometimes they write
notes filled with veiled threats, so the judges themselves and
the
professionals stay on guard.
Chief Justice Thomas Moyer has held the top position on the
court for 21 years. When his current term ends, he says he will
retire. He
is certainly a charming man.
He told me the court meets in downtown Columbus about every
other week and during the summer about two days a week. When not in
session
the justices are reading briefs and doing research about cases
they have heard or will hear. Some cases don’t have oral arguments
— just
briefs which are just presented and decisions made on that basis. Only
two of the seven justices live in Columbus, where they usually
meet. The others are scattered around the state. Justice Paul
Pfeifer still farms with his sons in Crawford County near Bucyrus.
Chief Justice Moyer also said that in oral argument, lawyers for
both sides typically talk only about 20 minutes each (not very long
for
lawyers to talk). Immediately after that, a preliminary decision
is made by the justices — sort of a straw vote. It is not announced
at
that time. The justices then draw lots to see who will do the
further research to make sure the decision will be appropriate and
write the
majority opinion. Every once in a while the final decision
is different than the original informal one.
Once a case has been filed in the court, it takes about a year to
be heard and then about four to six months after that hearing for
a
decision to be made, according to Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger I
was able to watch the court in action in our courthouse last
week. Four cases were heard, none of local origin. The court goes
“on the road” twice a year and under Chief Justice Moyer’s
guidance,
Union County is the 55th county visited. He originated these
visits as a way for people to see how the court operates.
The case I observed dealt with four Cincinnati families who
were attempting to change from the Cincinnati City School District
to a
suburban school, Madeira. It seems the whole neighborhood
was assigned to this school district except the houses in a
cul-de-sac of
the four families involved in the case.
There were no students in these homes so just the resale value of
the house — about $40,000 more — was on the line if the suburban
school
district was chosen. During the hearing, there was much
discussion about that fact.
The reason the court was hearing this case is that a precedent
could be set — would the state school board still have the final
word on
who would be assigned to what school system for tax purposes?
For these hearings, the traditional judge’s bench in the
Union County Common Pleas courtroom had to be tripled in size
to
accommodate the seven judges. It was interesting to observe
that during the 20-minute arguments the attorneys were
politely
interrupted by the justices from time to time and questioned
about the case and the precedents cited. At times it was more like
a
conversation than a typical legal hearing. Security in the
courthouse that day was also evident.
In exchange for the honor of serving on this or any court in
Ohio an attorney must make some sacrifices. While the chief justice
is
paid $150,850 a year, the other justices earn $141,600. This
seems like a lot of money, but as attorneys, they, no doubt, could
earn
much more in private practice. The justices are not permitted
fees for any speaking events or outside work. So, we say “thank
you” to
those who serve our courts.
Apparently, Ohio is quite behind other states in pay for judges
and currently an effort is in the works to bring their salaries up
to
those outside the state.
When I spoke with Justice Terry O’Donnell, he talked about
the camaraderie and respect those on the court have for each other.
At
this time, even though all seven are of the same political party
— Republican — they would no doubt like each other anyway. It
seems
that a few years ago this was not the case and the court was
strongly divided.
Chief Justice Moyer also told me that he has a very good rapport
with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. This is also a nice change from
the
last man in that office.
Judges of the Third District Court of Appeals were also present
at the reception. Judge Richard Rogers, who is in the middle of a
six-
year term, is a former prosecutor, municipal court judge and
common pleas judge. He told me a little bit about how they operate.
There are four judges, but only three hear a case at one time.
He said the court meets in Lima. He lives in Marion. They
have
jurisdiction over 17 counties. He and Union County Common Pleas
Judge Richard Parrott met in New Judges School quite a few years
ago and
have maintained their friendship.
This two-day visit from the supreme court was quite an
education for me as well as others and I’m glad to be able to pass
on some of
the facts about a world that most of us never experience.
5/9/08
In honor of mothers and grandmothers
For about 38 years, I have been a mother. Now I am a
grandmother. Being a mother is sometimes a thankless job, and yet
all at once it
can be wonderful.
Some of my friends have recently shared with me their
thoughts about being a mother and a grandmother. Since Mother’s Day
is Sunday,
I am sharing these with you. Some of it will ring true to
you mothers. Some of the thoughts I hope will make you laugh.
Please
enjoy this tribute to mothers and grandmothers.
Being a mom:
We were sitting at lunch one day when my daughter
casually mentioned that she and her husband were thinking of
“starting a
family.” She said they were taking a survey and asked me if I
thought she should have a baby.
“It will change your life,” I said, carefully keeping my
tone neutral. She agreed — no more sleeping in on weekends, no
more
spontaneous vacations.
But that is not what I meant at all. I looked at my
daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I wanted her to know
what she
would never learn in childbirth classes. I wanted to tell her
that the physical wounds of child bearing would heal, but after
becoming a
mother she would forever be vulnerable.
I looked at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit
and thought that no matter how sophisticated she was, becoming a
mother
would reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her
cub — that an urgent call of “Mom!” would cause her to drop a
soufflé or
her best crystal without a moment’s hesitation.
I wanted my daughter to know that everyday decisions would
no longer be routine. She must consider her child first.
I wanted to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing
your child learn to ride a bike. I wanted to capture for her the
belly
laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for
the first time.
My daughter’s quizzical look made me realize that tears had
formed in my eyes. “You’ll never regret it,” I finally said. Then I
reached
across the table, squeezed my daughter’s hand and offered a
silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal
women who
stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.
Reasons I owe my mother:
My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done — “If
you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished
cleaning.”
My mother taught me religion — “You’d better pray that will
come out of the carpet.”
My mother taught me logic — “Because I said so, that’s why.”
My mother taught me more logic — “If you fall out of that swing
and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”
My mother taught me irony — “Keep crying, and I’ll give
you something to cry about.”
My mother taught me about contortionism — “Will you look at
that dirt on the back of your neck!”
My mother taught me about stamina — “You’ll sit there until
all that spinach is gone.”
My mother taught me about weather — “This room of yours looks as
if a tornado went through it.”
My mother taught me about hypocrisy — “If I told you once,
I’ve told you a million times, don’t exaggerate!”
My mother taught me about behavior modification — “Stop acting
like your father!”
My mother taught me about envy — “There are millions of
less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful
parents like you do.”
My mother taught me medical science — “If you don’t stop
crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.”
My mother taught me ESP — “Put your sweater on; don’t you think
I know when you are cold?”
My mother taught me humor — “When that lawn mower cuts off
your toes, don’t come running to me.”
My mother taught me how to become an adult — “If you don’t eat
your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
My mother taught me about my roots — “Shut that door behind you.
Do you think you were born in a barn?”
And my favorite, my mother taught me about justice — “One
day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”
Now about grandmas:
Those of you who are not grandmas should enjoy this too!
What is a grandmother? (Taken from papers written by a class of
8-year-olds)
A grandmother is a lady who has no little children of her own.
She likes other people’s.
Grandmothers don’t have to do anything except be there when we
come to see them. They are so old they shouldn’t play hard or run.
It is
good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us.
When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like
pretty leaves and caterpillars.
They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and
also why we shouldn’t step on “cracks.”
They don’t say, “Hurry up.”
They wear glasses and funny underwear.
They have to answer questions like “Why isn’t God married?”
and “How come dogs chase cats?”
When they read to us, they don’t skip. They don’t mind if we
ask for the same story over again.
Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you
don’t have television, because they like to spend time with us.
They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they
say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we’ve acted
bad.
To all the mothers and grandmothers — Happy Day!
5/2/08
Kayti’s European adventure
continued
It was almost five years ago that Kayti McCarthy graduated
from Marysville High School. Then she was on to college. After
graduation,
she headed to Gmunden, Austria, and has been teaching there
during this school year. The time has flown by and she can’t
believe that
soon she will be returning to the U. S. Living and working in
a different country with a much different culture has been
eye-opening,
and makes Austria a place of wonderful memories. This is some
of Kayti’s story in her own words.
“One of the great things about living and working in Austria is
all of the holidays and opportunities to travel. In March, we had
our
Osternferien (Easter break), and I decided to travel back
to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Germany to visit a family I lived with
four
summers ago when I took a summer German course there. This is where
I was first encouraged to stick with German, and if it hadn’t been
for
this experience, I probably wouldn’t be in Austria right now.”
“Being Lutheran, it was great going back to Luther’s town;
seeing where he and Katerina von Bora lived, the Leucoria where he
taught,
the Stadt Kirche where he preached, and the Schloss Kirche where
he posted his 95 theses and was laid to rest. Wittenberg is also
my
university’s sister city, so it is also interesting to see where
the founders received their inspiration.”
“Just last week a friend from home came to visit, and we decided
to go to Prague in the Czech Republic for the weekend. It is a
beautiful
city that I would highly recommend visiting, but honestly, using
the Czech rail system is an experience all in itself. It’s a great
system
to use, as long as you’re in no hurry to reach your destination.
Arriving in Prague was easy. We’d gone to Vienna the day before,
and from there it is a direct route. Trying to make it back to
Gmunden
however, is a totally different story.”
“We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to catch
the 9:15 a.m. train. We stood waiting, staring at the board,
waiting for
it to tell us our platform number. (It’s an older board, the
kind that updates by flipping cards to make new letters and
numbers, and
makes a lot of noise, like in the movie, The Terminal).”
“Finally, the board updated, but instead of revealing our
platform number, it told us our train was 15 minutes late. My
friend, Bethany,
panicked, but I figured — no big deal, there’ll be
another connection. I suppose I’m spoiled by the Austrian rail
system. We
asked at the information desk, and there was another train in
two hours. So, we could take the one that’s running late, or wait
two
hours and take the next one. Out of fear the next one could also
be running late, we decided to stick with the original train.
Finally,
they told us the platform number and a herd of people started for
the gate. We boarded the train, and then we waited. After leaving
half an
hour late, we arrived at Ceske Budejovice, where we had to wait
two hours to catch the next train.”
“But at least we weren’t alone. We met a girl in the same
position from Australia. Our next train arrived on time, we
boarded, and then,
we waited. Half an hour later, we were on our way. The next place
we had to change trains was in Sommerau, which was just barely
across
the Austrian border. It felt good to be in Austria again, but
having missed our connection and being stranded in the middle of
nowhere, we
were still looking forward, and hoping to make it back to Gmunden.
At this point though, we weren’t the only ones stranded. Our new
group
consisted of us (the two Americans), four Australians, and
three Austrians. One of the Austrians was a girl about our age, and
the
other two were two old men on a mission to find the closest pub.”
“We wandered a little bit away from the train station and in
the middle of a field found a restaurant. Having not eaten since 9
a.m.
that morning, we were so happy to have a turn in our luck, only
to discover that it was closed on Mondays. That day was a Monday,
so we
found a shop that sold bread, cheese and coke and called it lunch.
The next train came at 6 p.m., which was still two hours
away. However, once that train came, our luck changed, and we made
it home
on the last train from Linz into Gmunden — 12 hours after
leaving Prague, and only five hours later than originally
scheduled. (And to
think, we could’ve been to France by then.)”
“The night came to a close as we missed the last
strassenbahn (street car) and walked home. All in all, it really
was a great trip.
Part of living in Europe is learning to relax, be flexible, and
know that eventually, it will work out.”
“Needless to say, after our Prague adventure, as fun as it may
have been, I am in no rush to leave Austria anytime soon ... at
least not
until May when I’ll travel south to Venice, or June when I
leave Austria to return home to America. I am excited to go home,
but it’s
bittersweet. I’ll miss many things from my life in Austria, like
the people and the food that I have come to know so well, and my
favorite
café with a terrace that overlooks the lake and surrounding
mountains — Gmundenerberg, Gruenberg, and the Traunstein. But, I’m
ready to
come home and pursue my other passion as an Intervention
Specialist, somewhere in the central Ohio area, preferably working
with children
on the Autism spectrum. Besides, I know I will return to Austria
... someday.”
Brandon Creagan’s invitation
Marysville High School senior Brandon Creagan recently received
an invitation to attend the Inaugural Ball and the swearing-in of
the
President of the United States in January, 2009. He received
this honor when he attended the National Youth Forum on Medicine.
Brandon
is pursuing a medical career and hopes to become a
pediatric oncologist. The forum chose students to attend the ball
and swearing-
in. The honor is based on accomplishments and volunteer work. Brandon's
parents and grandparents will be funding his trip, which
will take him to Washington from Jan. 17-21. While there, he
will receive a leadership award. We look forward to an up-close
and
personal report from Brandon at that time — he will be a freshman
at Muskingum College and plans to play football there.
4/25/08
Mark Miller and his Dutch experiences
Ever since Mark Miller graduated from Marysville High School
in 1976 he has been on the go. After receiving a Juris Doctor
Degree and
a Ph.D., he now has a permanent position as director of the law
and society program at Clark University. Currently, he is serving
as a
visiting professor at the University of Leiden in Holland.
Mark shares some of his latest encounters with us. As he
visited the history museum in nearby Amsterdam, he made these
observations:
“The most interesting exhibit for me was one about the
often strained relationship between the Queen of The Netherlands
and the
city of Amsterdam. Since the queen spends most of her time in
Den Haag (The Hague), Amsterdamers are among the strongest voices
for
abolishing the monarchy. It has always seemed odd to me that such
an egalitarian society as the Dutch have a queen. I don’t hear
much
about the monarchy here, unlike what we hear about the British
royal family. I get the sense that the royal family here keeps a
low profile.”
“The exhibit even had the pictures from queen impersonators,
both male and female. Since my house in Leiden used to be owned by
the
royal family and one of the princes used it when he was a student
at Leiden University, I find the whole monarchy thing to be
quite
interesting. April 30 is Queen’s Day, a huge holiday here, so I
am looking forward to seeing what happens on the day they celebrate
the
queen’s birthday. The current queen wasn’t born on April 30, but
one of her predecessors was, so they continue to use that date as
a
national holiday.”
As a teacher himself, Mark was also interested in what went on
at the University of Utrecht. “Utrecht is another ancient canal
city and
I took a boat tour of the city center — it is beautiful. I
also visited the Protestant Cathedral which would be considered
austere by
even American Protestant standards. The University of Utrecht has
a special University College, where all courses are taught in
English
with American style letter grades. Most Dutch universities use a
very strange 10 grading scale, where grades of 1-5 are failing and
a 10 is
never given. Thus almost all students receive something between
6.5 and 8.5.”
“Faculty members in the Netherlands don’t compare students, so
my questions about grade distributions got blank stares. I jokingly
told
my students that none of them were in danger of getting a 10,
but none of them laughed. Because of the special University College
at
Utrecht, I heard a lot more English being spoken than I have heard
in my Dutch towns. I also found an American deli where they sold
Pop
Tarts, chocolate breakfast cereals, Oreo cookies, peanut butter
and other American delicacies. I found it quite amusing.”
When not teaching, Mark is seeing the surrounding cities. Here
is what he had to say about Alkmaar: “My train was a bit later than
I
had hoped so I missed the unloading of the cheese from the
canal barges. But I did get to see the huge wheels of cheese all
spread out
on the town square in front of an incredibly ornate cheese
market building. The buyers in long white coats inspected the
cheese,
knocked on it to hear how it sounded, and took core samples.
Then porters dressed in all white work clothes carried the huge
cheese
wheels on some kind of contraption that is between a stretcher and
a sleigh without wheels.”
“This apparatus was curved at both ends and looked like a
teeter-totter without connections to anything. It was painted bright red
and
the yellow Dutch cheese made colorful pictures. It took two men
to lift this sleigh, carrying six wheels of cheese to the scales
where
it was weighed. Then they carried the cheese back to the square
to push carts. Women in traditional costumes stood about
looking
interested in all this cheese porting. The white-suited porters
had different colored hats on, with each color signifying a
different
porter’s guild. None of this is necessary today, but is a show
for the tourists. When the porters got tired of carrying the
cheese
wheels around, they carried small children on their sleighs instead.”
“As I was heading back to the train station, I ran into
three American women on the train platform. I could tell they were
American
immediately because they were wearing white tennis shoes.
Europeans over the age of 15 never wear white tennis shoes or white
socks, for
that matter. The American women seemed quite confused by the
Dutch trains, so I told them to follow me onto the train and where
to get
off. They were going to an old Dutch Village outside of Amsterdam.”
“The women were from Utah and I’m not sure they knew how to
use public transportation very well. They didn’t figure out I
was
American until I started talking. I guess my black tennis shoes
gave them a clue that I was not an American, but it was good to
see
someone from the United States. I hope they found their way OK.”
I hope to have more commentary from Mark as he winds up his time
in Leiden, Holland.
4/18/08
Master chef in training
It was during his senior year at Ohio University that Seth
Carroll (MHS class of ‘03) decided the world of catering and
restaurant fare
was in his future.
In fact, Seth’s family had been in the restaurant business
in Marysville for many years. He started working at McDonald’s when
he
was 15 years old. But cooking had been in his family since his
great-grandfather, Thomas Carroll, owned the Malaga Grill in Malaga,
Ohio.
He later moved to Marysville where he bought the Tijuana Inn,
now called Stephens, on North Main St. There, his great-grandmother
was
the cook. Later, Thomas purchased the building at the intersection
of Elwood Ave. and Maple St. and opened a soft-serve ice cream
store
called the Dixie Curl where his great-grandmother again cooked.
So this became a serious endeavor for him during the time he
worked at OU in the Baker Center catering. The Baker University
Center is
the student union at Ohio University. It’s a new building which
was built at a cost of $60 million and just opened in 2007.
Seth said: “I really enjoyed cooking during the day and
working events at night. As I started my senior year at OU, I knew
that the
culinary direction was definitely the one that I wanted to take.
It just seemed right since I liked cooking for Baker Center
catering as
well as for my friends. I thought about staying in Ohio for
culinary school, but realized I could get some really good
experience in
Chicago because it is a great restaurant city.”
So, Seth has moved to Chicago and works during the day at
Table Fifty-Two, where he is a cook. Then at night he attends the
Cooking
and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. The restaurant’s executive
chef is Art Smith, who for 10 years was the personal chef of Oprah
Winfrey
and currently is the specialty chef for Ms. Winfrey. He opened
this restaurant in 2007 and it’s located at 52 W. Elm St. on
Chicago’s
Gold Coast.
Restaurant officials focus on southern cuisine and they
serve dishes such as shrimp and grits and fried green tomato
napoleons with
goat cheese. On Sunday nights, which is their biggest and
busiest time, they serve Art’s buttermilk fried chicken.
Seth said the kitchen usually runs quite smoothly although it
can get crazy at times, especially on Sunday nights because that’s
when
the crowds flock in for the fried chicken. Right now the
restaurant has about a three-month waiting list.
Art Smith is also a contributing editor for “O,” the
Oprah magazine, and for the food section of Oprah.com. In addition
he has
appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey show.
From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Seth cooks at Art’s restaurant. He
says he usually has about an hour after work until he has to be at
school,
which lasts until 11 p.m. Just because he might not be busy
enough, Seth works for Sur La Table also, where all the utensils
for cooking
are sold.
I asked him if his academic experience at the institute was
made easier because he is a recent college grad and here is what he
said:
“The transition from OU to the institute was a lot easier than
I expected. The long nights of studying and writing papers in
college
prepared me very well for the culinary school. The academic work
came much easier and the experience I got from Baker Center helped
with
the kitchen work. I think that my experience has definitely led to
my success, especially now that I won the National Restaurant
Association Salute to Excellence Award.”
Seth was nominated for this award by one of his chefs and chosen
by the faculty. He was chosen from the Culinary Department and
another
person was chosen from the Baking and Patisserie Program. He
will receive this award at a special event in Chicago on May 17.
Seth currently lives in downtown Chicago, which was a big
change from the small towns of Marysville and Athens. He said
it’s
definitely a lot noisier and people are out at all hours of the
day and night. Its also a big change to have to take the bus or the
El to
get around rather than just jumping in a car and going where
he wants. But Chicago offers a lot to see. Also during the summer
all
the neighborhoods have fests and block parties, more to look forward to.
It is also quite common to see movie stars filming their
latest work as you walk in downtown Chicago. Just two blocks from
his home
is where they shoot scenes from ER. He said that overall living
in the city is really great.
Seth will be done with classes at the end of June, but is
still required to complete a three-month internship in the culinary
field
and after that is completed he will be done with school.
Graduation ceremonies are on Nov. 16.
Chicago is not that far away for most of us. If you’re there in
the next two months stop in to see Seth in action at Table
Fifty-Two.
4/11/08
The big finish in Japan
Andy McCarthy has been teaching in Japan ever since his
college graduation three years ago. Now his school year is finished
and he
will be traveling around Europe and the Far East and then return
to the U.S. to go to law school in the fall. He has been accepted
at The
Ohio State University Law School having received an Academic
Merit Scholarship there. Here are some of his last encounters in
Japan, a
nation which has embraced him so lovingly:
“The winter this year was not terribly bad, although far from
good. Snow tended to fall and accumulate daily, and the
temperatures were
the lowest I’ve experienced. Akitan snow removal exists only
in spirit, so every year roughly a foot or more of snow piles up on
the
streets, which then freezes overnight creating an ice rink for
cars to slip around on the next morning. I’m very thankful I’ve
never been
in an accident in my three years here, given the circumstances.”
“New adventures here continue to accumulate. This fall I joined
a Taiko drumming group and had my first public performance in
January.
Taiko drumming is traditional Japanese drumming, played in
large groups over varied types of drums. The drums are typically
wooden and
the surface that is struck is formed with stretched leather. It’s
as much performance art as it is music, as what you see often
reinforces
the power that the music tries to convey.”
“Ancient Taiko was used mostly for communication and for
giving battle orders. Modern Taiko is performed now in large
groups. It used
to be a solo activity designated specifically for
religious ceremonies. The large group activity was borne from the
imagination
of a 1950s Japanese jazz drummer.”
“I had no drumming experience before, but found the
instrument fairly easy enough to pick up, though there is a lot of
room for
improvement. I played in the town next to mine, Noshiro. Another
town near me, Takanosu, has the world’s largest Taiko drum.”
“While I doubt it will be something I will continue when I get
back to the U.S., I have to admit banging on a huge drum is a great
stress
reliever.”
“I also attended one of the most dangerous winter festivals in
the world in February. Called ‘Takeuchi,’ the festival is an
annual
reenactment of a small Japanese village’s civil war that
involves several hundred people, divided into two teams trying to
wallop each
other with large bamboo poles. The battle goes for three rounds,
and for the final two gigantic bonfires are lit in the middle of
the
battlefield and ultimately ends in an all-out brawl near the flames.”
“Sadly, my survival instinct was too strong and I chose only
to watch and not take part. After seeing what happened to some of
the
other foreigners that joined, I’m happy with that decision.”
“I also continued to work on skiing this winter, getting outside
of my prefecture for a lot of the time to try new slopes. I also
took
the time to visit some of the more remote places near where I
live, including a shrine with a frozen waterfall.”
“Over winter vacation I also traveled back to Osaka for a
final reunion with my host family and to see the largest castle in
Japan in
Himeji. The castle took several hours to walk through and
was certainly well worth the visit.”
“Work remains busy but fun. Japan is, sadly, a country that
is shrinking, and I have many elementary schools that will close
this
year. While I will miss teaching at them, my small elementary
schools worked hard to include me a lot in their final year, which
certainly
helped my and the students’ experience. I was even able to grow
my own American pumpkins this year and harvest them to give my
students
the chance to carve legitimate Jack O’ Lanterns on Halloween.”
“My time with my other schools has also gone well, and the
time spent here being the ‘official’ foreign presence in my town
will be
well missed. I’m perhaps only the seventh foreigner to live in
my town as a part of the school system, and I can see the impact
that I
and the people before me have had by being here — and I think it
has all been for the better.”
Andy will return to the U.S. in July and go back to being
an American student instead of the teacher.
(
4/4/08
Jerome and the early
Methodists
Jackie Russell has compiled the wonderful history of
Jerome Township and has shared some more with us in this story
about the
early Methodist congregations there.
“Historically, the Methodist movement attached a vast importance to
a felt experience of salvation. This emphasis led to the
highly
emotional atmosphere at services, especially at revival meetings
in the early 1800s. Preachers filled their sermons with hell, fire
and
brimstone, and frontier folks flocked to hear the sermons
invigorated by a faith that they believed would comfort them
through an otherwise
fearful life in this new wilderness.”
“Many of these pioneers were Methodists from Vermont who migrated
to Ohio because they had heard it was an earthly paradise. Among
those
first settlers were Amos Beach Sr. and his wife, Judith Beebe
Beach. They had originally set up homestead along Darby Creek south
of Plain
City in Madison County, holding religious services in
their neighbors’ homes.”
“Amos Beach was the first minister of the Methodist church and
a highly respected citizen. In 1846, he platted the village now
called
Jerome. The citizens casually referred to it as a Beachtown.
Although the founders of the town formerly named it Frankfort, in
1894 the
United States postal department renamed it Jerome because
another Ohio town had already been named Frankfort. In addition,
Plain City
neighbors sometimes referred to the area as Pleasant Hill,
so historically there are four different names used for the village
of
Jerome.”
“In 1833, the Beach family moved from Darby Plains to the
Jerome Township area because it reminded Amos more of his home in
Vermont
with the rolling hills, clay soil and waving trees. He was 45
years old when he spent $180 for 180 acres extending along what is
now
Brock Rd. to the current Jerome road. About the same time,
several other devoted Methodist families came to Jerome — the
Joseph Wells
family and the Jacob Frederick family. These three families held
the first Methodist class organizational meeting in 1835 in the log
home
of Henry Beach, Amos’ son. Amos Beach donated one acre of
his property for the burial ground, naming it Pleasant Hill
cemetery. It
still stands today at the corner of Brock and Jerome roads.”
“Over the next several years, the congregation grew rapidly
and prospered religiously and a new church was erected in 1842 at
the
corner of the Pleasant Hill cemetery. It served satisfactorily
until 1860. The present sanctuary at 10531 Jerome Rd. was completed
in
1891. It was built on one acre of land that was purchased from
Jacob Frederick for $75 using labor and timber donated by church
members.”
“The typical Methodist Sunday in the mid 1800s started at 8:30
a.m. when the bell would ring for Sunday School to commence.
Children
would race to church eager to learn lessons without grades
and singing songs at the top of their lungs.”
“After the short intermission preaching began at 10 a.m. Wagons
and horses carried the adult congregation; women with hoop skirts
and sun
bonnets sat on the west side of the church, males in their heavy
work boots sat on the east side. The preacher would approach the
pulpit,
kneeling for prayer and then announce the first hymn. Without
choir, organ or hymnals, the congregation would raise their voices
to songs
they knew by heart. General prayers and a lengthy sermon followed
the singing. At 11 a.m., general class meeting would begin —
religious
questions were posed by the leaders and answers discussed.”
“Methodist revivals were held annually, usually in the winter.
The purpose of this evangelical display was for the conversion
of
sinners, the reclamation of backsliders and reviving and
refreshing of current members. These revivals could last as long as
two weeks.
An amusing incident reported in the church’s history occurred
during a revival. Since there was no electricity, one woman member
would
always place her lantern under her chair and then cover it with
her long skirt. One Sunday this parishioner had fallen asleep when
her
skirt reportedly began to smoke. The preacher had to stop
the service, wake her up and request that she put out her lantern
and her
skirt!”
Much has changed in our churches since these early years — almost
200 years ago. Thanks to Jackie Russell and her work done for the
Jerome
Village Co. and for sharing some of that researched history with us.
3/28/08
The first churches of Jerome Township
In southern Union County in Jerome Township, an area will
soon become Jerome Village. It’s a 1,350-acre parcel currently
being
developed by Highland Management Group. The property is bounded
by Route 42, and Jerome, Brock and Home Roads. The 2,200 housing
units
planned for this parcel will range in price from $175,000 to a
median price of around $375,000.
Owners of the Jerome Village Co. have become quite involved
with the history of Jerome Township and asked Jackie Russell, nurse
turned
historian and storyteller, to research this history to get a
better understanding of the area and to help preserve its heritage.
Her many hours of research have been compiled into three
lovely booklets. They contain information about the schools and
churches of
Jerome Township and the Seely Store, which was a hub of activity
for many years.
In a past column, Jackie shared her story of the schools in
that area. Now we move on to the churches. You will find her
research very
interesting.
“Faith and church have played a significant role in Jerome
Township ever since the area was settled in 1798 by brothers Joshua
and James
Ewing along the west bank of Darby Creek. In fact, at the corner
of routes 42 and 736 there is a rock with a plaque on it known as
the
Ewing memorial. It says he was the first white settler in
Union County. Indians were plentiful in the area and the Ewings
relied upon
their faith to survive amidst the danger of the wilderness. In
time, other brave pioneer families arrived. These God-fearing men
and women
were determined to keep alive the Christian truth as they had
been taught in childhood and to instill them in the hearts and
minds of
their own children.”
“The majority of the early settlers in the Jerome area were
staunch Presbyterians and Seceders; a faith formed by Presbyterians
seeking a
congregation free from governmental rules, sometimes even without
a minister as leader. The earliest religious body formed in
Jerome
Township was of the Presbyterian denomination. In 1807, the
Lower Liberty Presbyterian church was organized near Plain City.
The
counterpart of this church was the Upper Liberty
Congregation situated at Milford Center. Their meetings were held
together
allowing them to function as one worship group. Early services
took place in private houses, then in a small school house.”
“The first church building in Jerome Township was erected in
1815 just west of Plain City on Post Rd. It was a large frame
building
without heat that housed the Presbyterian group. Men sat on one
side of the church, women on the other during the service. There
were
prayers and an hour-long sermon. After a half hour
dinner, intermission and socializing, another long sermon was
preached to the
congregation. Singing was usually led by the Elders of the church
as there were only a few hymn books available. The church day
lasted
until 2 p.m. and had an overflowing congregation drawn from miles away.”
“The Session was the governing body of the church and records
show that they had remarkable influence over members’ activities.
Church
trials were frequent and served to investigate reports of
improper moral conduct among members. On Oct. 10, 1829, the Session
convened
and addressed the conduct of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson.
Excerpts from these records explained that the Robinsons
were commanded to appear at the trial but did not show. The
indictment was
as follows: absence from the church, using unchristian
language bordering on profanity, intemperance, dancing in his house
and
himself playing the fiddle for the dance. Witnesses testified
about their reported behavior and the Session concluded that their
conduct
was highly criminal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were suspended
from attending the church until they repented.
“In the church history, note is also made of the trial of
Mrs.Annis Donalson. On Oct. 24, 1845, she was asked to explain why
she
refused to live with her husband. Her reasons included a loss
of confidence in him, loss of his affection and she felt he treated
her
with indifference, coldness and neglect. Her final accusation
was that he had not treated her with sympathy and kindness during
a
recent illness. The Session concluded that even though separation
of husband and wife is a scandalous and grievous sin, Mrs. Donalson
was
justified in refusing to live with her husband and that he
should repent. She did not receive church censure for her
behavior.”
“As the Lower Liberty membership grew, internal dissension
became obvious in the congregation. This Presbyterian denomination
soon
divided into two groups, the old school and the new school
branches.
The new school consisted of believers that were open to revivals
and emotional teachings. The conservative Presbyterians would not
go
along with this new school of thinking. The congregations split
and with neither group being strong enough to survive
independently, in
1853 the church was disorganized and the building abandoned.”
“According to its history books, the Jerome Presbyterian church
was organized in 1853 by the Rev. William Brinkerhoff. Their house
of
worship was built on Jerome Road. The story is told that
during completion of the interior of the church, an epidemic broke
out among
the children. So many died, the carpenters stopped work on the
church to build coffins for the victims. This congregation also
struggled
with the division between the old school and new school branches
of the religion. In 1898 it is reported that this Presbyterian
Society
was abandoned and merged with a local Methodist group.”
“The Seceder church now called the United Presbyterian Church
was first organized in 1826 near Darby Creek and was originated
in
Scotland. It left the mainstream Presbyterian Church and
they believed that government’s control of the church was contrary
to
scripture. For the first five years, members met in private
homes with the first log cabin church erected in 1833. This served
a large
parish spanning Unionville Center through the New California area.”
“In 1835, driven by the desire to start another parish, some of
the Seceders moved from Darby to New California. Among some of
the
original members, the nucleus of the congregation included
the McCampbells, Beards and Liggetts. At that time, the small
church’s
membership numbered 32. Around 1841 a house of worship was erected
on what was known as the Woodburn farm near the intersection of
route 42 and Industrial Parkway and was designated as the Sugar
Run Presbyterian congregation. The pastor’s salary was
approximately $300
per year which he supplemented with work as a farmer and teacher.”
“In 1852, a larger frame church was built at the sight of
that first log building and the congregation grew steadily. The
membership
was large and services lasted all day. In 1861, the Civil War dealt
a significant blow to the church worshipers. They were
staunchly
opposed to slavery and felt compelled to hold the first local
meeting for enlistment at the church. Many of the best young men
volunteered
to go, as the monument on the corner of Rt. 42 and Industrial
Parkway gives testimony. The pastor’s oldest son was killed in that
war and
many mourned. Jerome township sent over 350 men to serve and 75
of them died. Many churches have been built on this site but the
present
church building that stands on the northwest corner of
this intersection was erected in 1904.”
Jackie has given us another interesting story. Next week we
will talk about other congregations in that area.
3/21/08
Important African mission
He is a 1990 graduate of Jonathan Alder High School in Plain
City.
There he excelled in football, baseball and wrestling (just ask
my son Mike about the wrestling), but Lanny Greenbaum was certain
to
have a military career. Several members of his family have been
part of the military, and his uncle, retired Master Sgt. Andy
Greenbaum,
U.S. Air Force, was the one who convinced him he should consider
a career with the Air Force.
Lanny said, “While at Wright State, I decided to join the
military after watching Desert Shield and Desert Storm unfold on TV
from
August, 1990 through February, 1991, and then I signed up for
a Middle East studies course and Air Force ROTC the next month.”
While at Wright State, he met future wife, Heather, and they
have been married 11 years. They have one 3-year-old daughter,
Libby.
After Lanny graduated with a bachelor of science in
management information systems he was commissioned as an officer
and off to his
first assignment. All of his career in the military has been spent
in communications and information dissemination.
Lanny is currently stationed at Camp Lemonier, an old
French outpost in a tiny east African country called Djibouti
(pronounced
Juh-booty). It is located at the bottom of the Red Sea near
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. If all goes as planned, Maj.
Greenbaum is
scheduled to return to the U.S. from this assignment later this month.
Lanny then discussed some of his mission:
“The joint military team here includes members from all
four services - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines - working
together to
make the Horn of Africa a better place for the people who live
in this region of the world. The United States team is not here
alone.
We work together with partners from the surrounding countries.
Additional aid from outside of the region includes France,
Germany, Great Britain, Korea and Pakistan, to name a few.”
“Some examples of what we do here include: provide medical
supplies and treatment for the sick, construction of schools,
bridge repair,
drilling wells for fresh drinking water, and helping the leaders
of countries work together to solve their problems. There is a lot
of
potential here in Africa and we are helping to shape the future.”
“In short, we hope to help east Africa develop and enhance
their government and infrastructure and create partnerships to
improve
regional stability. Our mission is a completely new application
of military options.”
“It is very hot in Djibouti. In fact I’ve been told it is
the hottest continuously inhabited place on earth, meaning there
may be
hotter places around, but no one is crazy enough to live there.
In September the thermometer read 128 degrees. A buddy of mine said
it
was 134 degrees in August. Yes, we sweat a lot and drink a ton
of water and Gatorade every day. Fortunately there’s plenty to eat
and
air conditioning inside to help keep us cool.”
“When we are able to leave base, the people are friendly but
you can see poverty, dirt and trash all around. There are not very
many
trees or green grass. The trash burning plant nearby doesn’t
help with the smell either. Some people live near the sides of the
street
in makeshift cardboard shacks or broken down abandoned vehicles
and have little if any of their own possessions. It is very sad to
see
little boys and girls not smiling, but rather staring ahead
looking hopeless with little to do.”
“There are also many volunteer opportunities here as well. Once
a week I visit one of the baby orphanages, where a group of us go
to
help feed babies their bottles and toddlers hot food. The kids are
so grateful and crave the extra attention. For me personally, it
has
been a way to give back and help others in need. I look forward to
my visits each week.”
Lanny’s story is a refreshing tale of help for people in
this emerging, poor, country where many seem to be deprived of
basics that
we take so much for granted. Usually we think of those in
the military as fighting a war for our country with ammunition and
a
rifle. But look at all the good our military is doing in fighting
a different kind of war. It is one armed with the ammunition
of
education and compassion.
When Lanny leaves this assignment he will be returning to the
U.S. and will be part of the new Air Force Cyber Space command. Not
only
is it part of Homeland Security, but also it allows us to stay
one step ahead of the enemy who seeks to destroy and disrupt our
way of
life.
Interesting facts about Easter
Easter, which this year is March 23, is always the first
Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is
March
20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that
Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves
around on our
Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one
day earlier, March 22, but that is pretty rare.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the
rest of our lives and only the most elderly of our population have
ever
seen it this early. They would be 95 years old or older.
Here are the facts: 1) The next time Easter will be this
early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The
last time
it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are
the only ones who were around for that!). 2) The next time it will
be a
day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from
now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive
today has
or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
Oddly enough, the last time Easter was this early, in
1913, Marysville was the scene of one of the worst floods in
its history.
Just two weeks ago, Marysville had a record snowfall of 15.5
inches. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself on the flooding.
3/14/08
More about stay in Holland
Mark Miller (MHS class of ‘76) is now a visiting professor of
sorts at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is
teaching
American Studies and is also the author of several books dealing
with the law. Here is what Mark had to say this time.
“Over the past several weeks, I’ve been very busy. I promised my
book publisher that I would get a revised manuscript to them by
March 1. I
never expected to be working on a book manuscript here in Leiden,
but the surroundings are so pleasant that it has worked out. So I
have
one book hitting the streets very soon, and another coming
sometime in the next year.”
“Even though I’ve been working a lot lately, I have taken some
time to see some of the surrounding towns. I visited Delft last
Saturday,
and Haarlem this past Sunday. Delft is home of that beautiful
blue and white ceramics. The town has an amazing central square.”
“We have been having a lot of very cold weather at night, but
it warms up nicely in the day because of bright sunshine. There are
a
lot of cafes in the central square in Delft with outdoor seating,
and they were all full. They also have a Saturday open air market,
like
the one in Leiden only smaller. There were many tourist
shops, including one with a giant wooden shoe for tourists to
photograph. I
found a very nice shop with great pieces of glass.”
“Also, at another shop in Delft the store clerk immediately
greeted me in English. It was the first time since I’ve been here
that
someone greeted me in English without me speaking first. When I
asked her why she chose to greet me in English, she stated that
since I had
a tourist map in my hand she assumed that I spoke English. No
more tourist maps for me. Everywhere else people have waited for me
to
talk, and then they respond in my language. I asked my students,
and all of them speak Dutch, English, German, and French. A few
speak
Spanish or Italian or Russian or Arabic in addition for good
measure. I’ve got to love the Dutch linguistic skills!”
“Yesterday, I visited Haarlem. I assume you all know that New
York was originally New Amsterdam, and that Brooklyn, Harlem, and
other
location names come from the Dutch. I’m only guessing, but I think
a lot of words in English that have double vowels (like school) or
end
in en (like spoken) have Dutch roots. For Harlem, we just dropped
the second a. But Dutch Haarlem is quite lovely. I went to a
wonderful
art museum with Dutch masters. I also went to a historical
museum that told about the historical role of Haarlem in the
printing world.”
“I guess Haarlem is known for linen, book printing, and beer.
The tulip fields are also between Leiden and Haarlem, but it is too
early
for them yet. I also visited what I thought was an art gallery
with contemporary art. Instead, it turned out to be full of videos
made
about other museums around the world, all in English. The film
about the art museum in Philadelphia was the most pretentious thing
I have
ever seen in my life. It must have been staged, because it was so
bad that I burst out laughing at the idea that any one would make a
film
like that one about a real museum.”
“They even showed the door to the men’s room and said how
squalid life was for some, but that the beautiful art in the rest
of the
museum made life livable for the miserable masses. Maybe there was
a political message in there somewhere, but it was lost on me. I
will
try in the future to figure out what kind of strange museum
I’m entering before I go in. On the other hand, it does make for
great
stories to tell.”
“When I returned to Leiden, the Dutch had filled all the
outdoor cafes as they drank their afternoon coffee. It was only in
the
mid-40s, but very bright. My Dutch friends have said that they
must take advantage of what little bright sunshine they get. I
guess some
winters are dreary for weeks on end. I’ve been very lucky that it
has been fairly warm for here, with many bright but cold days. One
of my
Polish housemates rode her bike to the seaside (about 30 minutes
by bike) yesterday. She said there were many people walking along
the
beaches with their dogs, horses, etc. I love the beach, and I love
an outdoor cafe, but mid-40s is just too cold for me to be outside
when
I’m not moving around. I like walking in the sunshine, but I need
to pop into an indoor cafe for lunch or into various museums just
to get
warm again. The Dutch are a hearty people in general.”
“One more amusing note — I have been having dinner on occasion
with colleagues at the university. It is a good way to explore the
many
restaurants here in Leiden. I have a British colleague whose wife
is spending the academic year in D.C. We went to find dinner at
about 6
p.m. on Feb. 14. All of the restaurants were booked solid
with reservations. Neither of us realized that it was Valentine’s
Day.
After trying three or four places, we finally found one willing
to take us at 6:30 p.m. But they said that we would have to vacate
the
table by 7:45 p.m. The service was amazingly fast, and the
food arrived very quickly. We were quite happy that they were
willing to
accommodate us.”
“Since the Dutch tend to eat lunch so very, very quickly, I am
always surprised at how long they take for dinners in restaurants.
But my
British colleague and I had a great dinner, even though the
Dutch thought they were rushing us. It just shows how generous the
Dutch
can be with foreigners who don’t remember such things such
as Valentine’s Day.”
Then Mark added this note. “This week I have a meeting in
Amsterdam on Thursday, and the Dutch Association of American
Studies programs
is meeting in Nijmegen on Friday. I’m spending Friday night
in Nijmegen so that I can see a bit of the city on Saturday.
I’m
teaching about the role of media in politics on Monday. I guess
we will have to discuss how an American Internet blogger revealed
the
secret that British Prince Harry was fighting in Afghanistan.
I’m amazed that the British press and media kept that secret for
over 10
weeks. Of course it was an American journalist, if that term
is appropriate for the political blogger, who leaked the secret.
The BBC
had some especially harsh words for the Internet journalist in the U.S.”
We’ll have more from Mark in the future.
Some ways to tell you are a grownup
There is more food than beer in the refrigerator.
You watch the weather channel.
About 90 percent of the time you spend on the computer is for real work.
You actually eat breakfast food for breakfast instead of during the day.
Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 a.m. would severely upset your
stomach.
Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
And finally, you are the one calling the police when those kids
next door won’t turn down the music!
3/7/08
Of presses, travel and experiences
His name is Dave Moreland and his profession involves the sales
of printing presses in all corners of our planet. He mostly
visits
emerging nations. His stories are varied and many tell of
extreme conditions in these countries — some not that far away.
I met Dave recently at the Inland Press Association meeting
I attended in Estero, Florida, and he proved to have a very
interesting
story. When I first met him, he told me that he traveled all over
the world, including South America, Saudi Arabia and the
Philippines. I
knew that I had to hear more.
His company, DGM Inc., recently merged with a company also
producing printing presses in Mumbai, India. Now the company is
called
Manugraph DGM Inc. He is VP in charge of marketing and sales and
is away from his home in Pennsylvania about six months a year. Some
of
his experiences have been remarkable.
When selling to wealthy companies in Saudi Arabia, Dave pointed
out that one has to be careful not to mention the term “interest.”
He
said that the Muslim religion does not recognize that concept,
nor will they pay it. So in figuring the price of presses for their
giant
printing companies, the $12 million cost, if not paid in cash,
might become $13 million if paid over time. The important thing is
not to
call it interest or the deal is over!
There are no women in Saudi businesses. That is the only
country where he saw this occur. Women there still wear all black
garb over
their heads and even face, except the eyes. It is hot there.
That can’t be comfortable. Alcohol is also forbidden by law. Some
who want
to gamble and enjoy a cocktail go to nearby Dubai, where that sort
of fun is allowed. There is also no income tax in Saudi Arabia —
oil
profits must take care of that.
Dave was told that the royal family controls 90 percent of the
wealth in Saudi Arabia and there is strict security in that country
because
of an emerging Al Qaeda problem.
In Mexico, newspaper owners are also adding new presses. One
in particular had some of what we might call major problems in the
past.
He is quite wealthy and was kidnapped and held for ransom.
This appears to be a growing problem in many of the places Dave
has
visited and is his major concern when in these countries.
Americans are desired targets.
The Mexican owner was freed after the ransom was paid and now
has initiated security measures to be sure it doesn’t happen to
him
again. He showed Dave a false panel in the wall behind his desk. If
a security breach occurs, he can enter the safe room behind the
panel
and hide in a very well appointed place as long as necessary.
His drivers all carry submachine guns.
Dave mentioned nearly all the printing plants in these nations
have armed security guards outside them. Then there were the
Colombians.
When he talked about his visit to Bogota, Colombia, his comment
was that it is beautiful, quite lush and green, but the degree
of
violence is something very foreign to Americans.
It seems the Colombian government has been cracking down on
drug cartels and one newspaper printed stories about the action.
Someone
didn't like that, so the newspaper printing plant was blown up.
The presses were the only thing that survived.
In the printing facility, Dave noticed a large amount of
newsprint stored four rolls high and four rolls deep all around the
inside
walls of the facility. He asked if they always kept that much on
hand — it seemed excessive. The reply was, “Oh, we don't use that.
It's
our bomb buffer.”
He also noticed there were flak jackets next to the desk in
the office and the agent who took him around the area had armed
drivers.
When I asked about selling in other Middle East countries,
Dave pointed out there are some like Iran and Lebanon that U.S.
companies
are not permitted to deal with, since that technology can’t be
sold to enemies of the state.
Dave’s business in the U.S. is slowing since many newspapers
have already purchased the state-of-the-art equipment his company
sells.
Emerging nations are at the point the U.S. was in maybe the 1960s
and 1970s.
So Dave has seen the world, courtesy of his company — about
300,000 flying miles each year.
Manugraph DGM has two production facilities, one in Pennsylvania
and one in Mumbai, India. Dave frequents both sites. Mumbai is a
city of
many smells and traffic jams. It takes hours to go anywhere. It is
a city of great luxury yet sugar cane is still hauled down the
street
by ox or cow drawn cart.
It is a city which is now home to technology unsurpassed in
the printing industry. It has a production facility with
educated
engineers and is part of a country with rising literacy rates.
2/29/08
What is Fasching?
She graduated from Marysville High School in 2003 and went on
to Wittenberg University. There, Kayti McCarthy majored in
education as
an early childhood and intervention specialist with a German minor.
After college Kayti headed to Austria to teach English to
students who speak a German dialect that is different than the
German she
studied in college, so that has been a challenge. Kayti has sent
us an update on her latest encounters in the world of education.
Kayti begins, “Fasching here is like Carnival or Mardi Gras, but
it is a four-day long celebration, and everyone wears costumes.
Fasching
(Carnival) in Austria has now come to an end and life is back
to normal. Living in the Salzkammergut area provided me with
many
opportunities to celebrate, and school was even let out early
on Fasching Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) to give students and teachers a
little
extra time to celebrate. This is not so common in other parts
of Austria, like Vienna or Graz. Here, Fasching is four-day
celebration,
(Friday through Tuesday, not Sunday of course, we have to
rest sometime), where there are no rules, just fun. Everyone wears
a
costume — a different one for each day. Some imitate famous
people, while others just dress crazily — the whole idea is for no
one to
know who you are. On Fasching Monday, it is practically a
requirement to travel to a town called Ebensee, wearing Fettsen
(the oldest
clothes you possibly own, but commonly rags sewn onto a dress)
and staying out until the early morning hours — since the first
train
home is at 5 a.m.”
“Although feeling slightly ridiculous, wearing Fettsen has
its advantages — the train ride to Ebensee and back is free. I was
a
little apprehensive to join in the festivities, but all in all it
was a great experience and I even surprised and impressed my
Austrian
friends when I showed up wearing Fettsen. Fasching is taken to
such an extreme in Ebensee that on Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) there
is a
funeral for Fasching, and people show up wearing black.”
“Fasching in Austria wouldn’t be complete without a parade. It
was similar to ours in that there were bands, floats, and musical
acts,
but rather than throwing candy, the Austrians enjoy a good shot
of schnapps. No kidding — the first “float” in the parade was a
wooden
cart pulled down the middle of the street, loaded up with
various kinds of schnapps. Someone pulled the cart while a few
others, all in
costumes of course, poured shots and handed them out to
spectators along the street. And, in case this cart missed you,
there was
another one about halfway through for a second round.”
“I was in complete shock when the first cart came by, but when
the second one came, I got my free shot of schnapps. The children
of
course were given useful things, like pencils. For once it was
better to be an adult at a parade.”
Kayti continues, “The weather here has been unusually warm for
an Austrian winter, but it’s starting to get colder. We haven’t had
much
snow since December, but more may be on its way. (It may even
be there in my town now, I’m writing this from Vienna, which
doesn’t
usually have much snow anyway.) I haven’t taken up skiing yet —
it’s been on my list, but there just hasn’t been enough snow,
unless I go
way up in the mountains. There are plenty of places nearby, but
I have to wait on the snow.”
“My mom and step-dad are coming to visit me on Tuesday and my step-dad
is looking forward to skiing, so hopefully we will have some snow
by then.”
“In the last month, I have found myself teaching a lot about the
U.S. election system and the American school system. The Austrians
now
know of the existence of McCain, but everyone here is still
leaning toward Hillary and Obama. The American school system has
become a
growing interest because Austria is contemplating changing its
own school system and changing it to be more like that of America
and
England — a comprehensive system.”
“The students are all opposed because they simply can’t
imagine everyone going to the same school. Here, they have to
choose whether
they want to go to a trade school or a grammar school at the age
of 14 or 15. So, at this age they decide whether they will go on to
the
university or learn a special trade. I tried my best to explain
the American school system and to show them it is not what they
imagine,
and that there are several options. It’s actually a very
complex system to explain, especially when the American and
Austrian systems
are so different.”
“The students often find scheduling to be very interesting,
and couldn’t believe that in America, students are able to choose
their
classes, and if they should happen to fail a class, they only have
to repeat that one class, whereas here, when a student fails 10th
grade
math, they have to repeat the entire 10th grade year.”
More from Kayti later, as spring comes to Austria.
2/22/08
Dodging bullets
Some days you can just feel a little blessed and this day was one
of those. I have been privileged to spend some time in
Florida during
this somewhat ugly winter in Ohio.
As you may know, it seems that things of a somewhat ugly nature
come in threes. That was the situation here on this particular day.
While in Florida, my car is kept in a carport and when I came
home about 8 p.m. one evening, after unloading the rear hatch I
apparently
neglected to close it. What was I thinking? The worst part was
I didn’t know it until 10 a.m. the next day — 14 hours later — when
I
returned to my car!
My neighbors had noticed it, but thought I had just gone inside for
a moment. Exposed in that trunk were golf clubs and my much
valued
tennis racket, all things dear to me.
All I can say is I must live in a very safe place, because all
items were still in my car when I saw with horror the next day what
I had
done. Then I thought, oh no, the battery will be dead. But the
lights apparently had shut off by themselves. The value of a Buick
Rendezvous!
So the contents were safe and the car started right up. One
bullet dodged! As I drove away I thought what a dumb thing to do
and how
lucky I was.
I headed out to the home of my friends Tim and Helen Norris. We
were planning lunch at Everglades City, 30 miles away, the grouper
fish
there is fresh right out of the boat and it was a warm and sunny day.
My trip was soon halted. Traffic in all three lanes was at a
dead stop as I approached a very busy intersection. After sitting
there,
not moving, for about 10 minutes, I was finally able to see
flashing lights ahead. It was a bad accident and I thought if I had
been 10
minutes sooner that could have been me.
Fortunately, I was just next to a turnaround and was able to make
the U-turn and head out to Tim and Helen’s by another direction. I
was
about a half hour late, but there was no harm and the fact that
I wasn’t involved in the accident I realized later was dodging
bullet
number two!
When I finally reached Tim and Helen, I told them about event one
and two and we laughed about what would be number three.
The highways of South Florida are extremely overloaded and
thus treacherous this time of the year. Defensive driving is
crucial. We
reached our lunch destination and all was good except the service
was slow and so was the arrival of the food. This was actually
doing us a
favor we learned later. Tim even wanted to go inside the fish
market, where we ate to see what the fresh catch was for the day.
That
delayed us a bit, too, thankfully.
We began our 30-minute ride back on route 41, a desolate
two-lane road going from Naples to Miami but very heavily traveled.
About 15
minutes into our journey we spotted black smoke ahead about 30
feet in the air. As we got closer the flames became clear and we
saw a
large dump truck on its side.
This happened just three cars in front of us. I immediately
called 911 on my cell phone and the operator had all kinds of
questions I
couldn’t answer. It seems someone had just reported the
accident before me, but they wanted more details, like did the
truck driver
get out and how many people were involved, etc.
Luckily we stayed back about 100 yards expecting another
explosion that never occurred. It was a remote location and help
didn’t arrive
for a very long 15 minutes. With the black smoke in the air, the
road was blocked and then finally the squad and fire trucks arrived
down
the wrong side of the road, plus lifeflight appeared.
We watched the helicopter with much trepidation. What if the
vehicles exploded as the craft hovered overhead? It took the
helicopter about
15 minutes to find a relatively safe place to set down in the
heavy black smoke being emitted by the crash scene.
Finally, we were able to turn around and take the very long way
back to Naples, but we had seen what we were sure was a very sad
accident.
Later we learned the giant dump truck had been approaching from
the opposite direction, then crossed the two lane road hitting the
car
with four young people inside, just three vehicles in front of
us, head on. Of the five people involved, four died and one teenage
girl
was still alive in the hospital. What a sad event. It was also
one where we said things like, there but for the Grace of God goes
us. We
were safe in our car and I was sure glad the service in
the restaurant was slow.
It was a day when I luckily dodged a bullet three times. I guess
it wasn’t my day to have any kind of tragedy from small, beginning
with
my car, to life threatening, missing both accidents. Believe me,
I also didn't forget get to say thank you to our God who is in
charge
of this stuff.
2/15/08
The Netherlands and Mark
Miller
A few weeks ago I told you that Mark Miller (MHS class of ‘76)
had just received the Fulbright Distinguished Chair award which
resulted
in his teaching in a college in the Netherlands this spring
semester. Precisely, he will be teaching American Studies at the
University of
Leiden.
He has arrived there and sent a note about his rather
rocky beginnings in getting settled in a foreign country. Here is
we had to
say:
“I arrived in Amsterdam midmorning on Monday but with only one
of my bags. I filed all the paperwork for lost bags and it was
finally
delivered to my house on Tuesday afternoon.
“I met my sponsor, the head of the American Studies program at
my apartment at noon on Monday. She knew my flight was late but not
that
I was also delayed with the lost luggage. She had purchased
tulips for my apartment which was very kind and has helped me with
a lot of
things already as you will learn soon. In addition she found
my apartment for me.
“Right after I arrived, and I mean immediately upon my arrival,
she took me to the history department to get a key to my office.
The next
day she took me to many different banks until we found one that
would let me open an account. At the one bank in Leiden that my
sponsor
recommended they said that in protest to a change in U.S.
banking laws effective Nov. 1, 2007, they would not open an account
for a
U.S. citizen. (That sounds so unlike the Dutch!)
“So I went to Amsterdam to meet with the Fulbright people, who
had said they could get me a bank account there. But it was the
same
brand of bank that won’t let us citizens open an account.
“I returned to Leiden and my sponsor and I searched for a bank
that would take me. The next bank said “no” because I don’t have a
Dutch
social security number. My money is taxed in the U.S. but not
in Holland. The next bank also said “no” because of a lack of a
Social
Security number. Then finally a bank said “yes,” but the
application would take two weeks.
“Finally we went to the bank where the university has an
agreement for their international students. They piggybacked me on
to the
student agreement. I can’t get any written bank statements and
they were strange about how to close the account when I leave, but
at
least now I have some way to get my salary and my pay my rent.
I never knew it to be so difficult to open a bank account. And I
need
my salary so that I can pay the alien police for my residency permit.
“My apartment is what someone in the U.S. would term a
large studio. It is where the crown prince lived when he was a
student at
the university. It is so secluded that my sponsor had to write
out directions for me in Dutch to give to the taxi driver at the
train
station. It has a couch, two chairs, two coffee tables and the
TV with the BBC and CNN and a lot of Dutch channels that mostly run
old
U.S. TV shows with Dutch subtitles.
“I share a kitchen with the two others living in the
house, currently a Norwegian astronomer and an Irish
microbiologist. I think
they’re both leaving soon. I do have a private bath, however.
There is a small refrigerator in my room with a teapot on top and
there is
also a large wood closet thing that has room for hanging clothes
and drawers for folded ones. The apartment is really quite
beautiful with
a small canal and the university botanical garden across the
street. It is a delightful place to live.
Then Mark talked about his experiences with transportation
system. He said, “So I went to the visitor center and asked how to
pay to
ride the bus. They sold me the strips that I gave to the bus
driver and he stamped the strip with the right number of boxes for
the ride.
They use the same strip system on the trams in Amsterdam. I guess
the strips are used nationwide on buses and trams, but not on
trains.
That’s good because I had already purchased my train discount card
in Amsterdam.
“Then I went to the phone store and bought a phone, but
the directions were only in Dutch and French. I read enough French
to
find out how to change the phone settings to English but not
enough to figure out the voice mail.
On the subject of shopping in Holland, Mark said, “I still
haven’t figured out the shopping thing yet, because there are lots
of small
shops but no Target or anything where I can do one-stop shopping.
So it’s one store for the pocket calculator I forgot and another
for the
laundry basket I needed. I did find a great cheese store, but I
still don’t know where to buy laundry detergent. It’s good that I
brought
so many suitcases full of clean clothes.
“There is enormous interest in the U.S. elections here.
Yesterday, I attended and spoke briefly at a breakfast sponsored by
the U.S.
Embassy in The Hague concerning the Super Tuesday elections. Over
600 people attended the breakfast. It was covered extensively by
Dutch
TV, radio, and print press. I was interviewed by Dutch
Radio Worldwide, which is aimed mostly at the Dutch who are living
abroad.
Most of the attendees were Dutch, although there were some
Americans living abroad and some students from the U.S. who are
studying
abroad. The novelty for the Dutch were American doughnuts and
bagels, which are only available in some specialty shops here but
are not
widely known among those older than university students.
“Then yesterday afternoon I took my students to the U.S. Embassy
in The Hague for a videoconference with an American professor
concerning
the U.S. elections. Although my classes at Leiden University had
met only once, the students asked some great questions about
the
elections during the videoconference. Leiden University is a short
15 minute train ride from The Hague. Since I teach classes on
U.S.
politics and government, I am getting quite a few questions
from academic colleagues about the elections. It has been a
wonderful
experience so far.
It sounds like Mark is off to an interesting start and I hope
to update you at a later time on his days in what is a very
beautiful
country.
A lesson learned
She has lived in Marysville for many years and maybe that has
made her a trusting person. Helen Poling recently had a wake-up
moment in
Mesa, Ariz. while visiting her daughter Jeanne (MHS class of ‘64).
Jeanne lives in Marysville during the summer months but in the
winter goes to Mesa for a better climate and a teaching opportunity
there.
Helen was visiting her and the two ladies went out for
breakfast one morning. They entered the restaurant and noticed
another two
people come in behind them, but didn’t really pay attention to
them. One of them bumped into Helen and she felt that, but didn’t
notice
her take her purse away.
In fact, it wasn’t until Helen and Jeanne were ready to leave
the restaurant that Helen realized her purse was gone. She had
been
holding it very loosely in her hand at the same time that the
lady bumped her. Of course, this was an hour later and those people
were
long gone.
Helen went to the police station to file a report and realized
that not only were her credit cards missing, which she had just
canceled,
but also her driver’s license was gone. She had to have that
to travel home on the plane. The police report came in very
handy
because the airport authorities took that as her ID so she could
fly home when she was ready to return to Marysville.
Helen says this has been an extremely difficult time trying to
re-establish all of her credit cards and her ID and then there was
the
cash that she lost. But she soon told me she had experience with
this kind of thing before.
It seems this was not the first time to lose her wallet. In
fact, the first time was when Helen and Jeanne had traveled to
Paris and
were in the Louvre museum viewing the Mona Lisa. Helen removed
her camera from her purse to photograph the famous painting and did
not
close her purse after she placed the camera inside. Someone
reached in and took her wallet. By the time she realized it and was
able to
cancel the credit cards, someone had already charged $1,200 on one
of them.
That time she lost $100 and her driver’s license, but
fortunately she had kept her passport safe in a hiding place which
made her able
to return to the U.S. on time.
But now, look out — Helen is issuing a warning to all thieves
that she will not have this happen to her again. She no longer
loosely
carries her purse. It is now over her head around her neck and
across her chest and under her arm. She keeps a close look out on
it and
hopefully it will never happen to her again!
Helen is almost 90 years old and sometimes senior citizens
will look like an easy mark. Anyone attempting to steal her purse
the next
time will have a rude awakening.
2/8/08
The heart of it all
At this time of year I always look for a good love
story. Valentine’s day is coming soon you know. The story this year
just
fell into my lap!
I recently met Ruthann Rausch, a newly married lady in
her seventies, and a person who likes the city life but is now
married to
a retired farmer. She’s quite full of life and I wanted to learn
more about how she got to this point with her new husband, Ned
Rausch.
As I sat down to talk with them I learned more about their new
life together. Ruthann spent her first 12 years in Unionville
Center and
then her family moved to Radnor in Delaware County. There
she graduated from high school in 1951. By 1953 she was married and
later
had two children who grew up in Sidney.
After 32 years of marriage, she decided to go it alone. Nine
years later upon retiring after 30 years with Banc One, she
remarried and
moved to Winter Haven, Fla. Her husband became ill and they
then moved back to Troy, Ohio. He had a terminal illness, and their
desire
wa to get her settled in a secure environment before his death
That was in 2003. She was widowed living in Troy and dating only
occasionally.
The other half of this story is retired dairy farmer Ned Rausch.
He grew up on a farm on Rt. 36 and now lives on what was part of
his
grandfather’s farm on Rt. 31 just north of Mill Valley.
Ned attended Trinity Lutheran School and graduated from
Marysville High School in 1950. These were the days of the Korean
War and so he
entered the Naval Reserve and was stationed in Columbus (not bad duty).
He married MHS classmate Leona Wallace in 1952 and they had
six children. Their life was spent close to home since 65 cows had
to be
milked two times a day. It was a good life, but after 54 years
of marriage Leona passed away. Ned’s world fell apart. He loved her
and
he loved being married.
This was a lonely time and he wanted his life back. That’s
where the computer and Match.com came in.
Ned decided to investigate the possibilities. The entry fee
was small so what did he have to lose? He loaded his picture onto
the
website and said a few things about himself plus what he was
looking for in a woman.
He said he wanted someone who was a Christian and
someone interested in marriage close to his age and in proximity to
Marysville.
And about the same time Ruthann living in Troy was urged by her
son to see what Match.com had to offer her - maybe a good guy! She
hadn’t
seen much of that since her husband's death.
She, too, loaded her picture and the application and said
she wanted someone her age, a Christian, a family man and someone
who
liked to travel.
Well, most of that matched Ned, but his traveling had been
limited. Apparently once a person signs up for this service the
pictures and
resumes begin arriving quickly. There are soon 20 to 32 to
choose from. No e-mail addresses or last names are given out.
E-mail
messages go through Match.com until the couple wants to
exchange addresses or bravely meet.
Ruthann is an attractive lady and Ned saw that right away. She
was interested in his information, too, so they agreed to meet. But
just
before the meeting Ruthann called her cousin in Union County who
knew of Ned so she would be sure he was OK. Ruthann then proceeded
with
the meeting.
A restaurant in Troy, where she lived, seemed like a safe
place. Ned said he was coming to Troy to see his grandchildren show
their
animals at that fair. What a coincidence!
She and Ned spent that day together at the fair and the next
day and the next. Soon they were quite an item. There was lots
of
laughter and they both said it was really good to do that again.
When the time came, Ned even proposed on his knees. It was August
of 2006
when they met and by Dec. 10 that year they were married. After
all, no one should spend this life alone and they had places to go
and
things to do.
This was quite a change for Ned. He had always stayed close
to Marysville because his cows need to be milked and he just
didn’t
realize that he enjoyed traveling. Ruthann, on the other hand, was
an experienced traveler and has shown Ned a whole new world.
He has introduced her to camping and western square dancing and
his six children. All eight of their children are fortunately
very
supportive of their marriage.
Ruthann is quick to say she has made all the changes in her
life. She has moved to Marysville, joined a new church and met new
friends.
Ned has stayed in his comfort zone. On the other hand, it is
like coming home for her after starting her life in Union County.
Even
with all the changes, they agree their lives are so much better
now. She says she’s never known such a wonderful caring husband who
is
never angry and so very polite. He blushes at that accolade but
one can see Ned truly admires his wife of a little over a year.
Retirement can be such a great time. The Rauschs cook
together, play euchre on the internet with people all over the
world and pray
together. Generally they just enjoy each other’s company. She
still learning that square dancing technique, however.
Ruthann and Ned are in their seventies, still quite active and
both feel lucky to have found each other at this important time in
their
lives!
2/1/08
Reporter is news story
Natalie Troyer graduated from Fairbanks High School in 2002,
then later Bluffton College and served as a valued reporter at the
Journal-
Tribune about two years ago. Then she went west to work for
her church and now lives in Oregon. Recently she sent an account of
a
purse snatching. I want to share her story with you now.
Natalie said, “I am currently in Bend, Ore. (central Oregon). I
moved down from Seattle about two months ago to be closer to my
boyfriend
of two years. Before this move, our relationship had been long-distance.
I moved down to Bend without a job, car, or any friends in
this city besides Christopher. Crazy, right? But God has provided.”
“I am living with three women who all go to Antioch Church, where
I have become involved as well. I purchased a car (you might recall
my
J-T column about the “Blue Bonnet,” the 1994 Buick Regal I’d
had since I was 16). Well, my 2002 Oldsmobile Alero is a few steps
up from that.”
“I am currently working as a publicist for a self-published author
in town. Sam Carpenter’s book, “Work the
System,” (www.workthesystem.com),
comes out in February. I am in charge of generating all public
relations efforts for his book and
developing media packets.”
“And wow am I loving the city of Bend! I’m becoming an
outdoors enthusiast by the day, as I’ve taken up cross-country
skiing and
tubing at Mt. Bachelor as my weekend recreational activities.”
“When I was in Seattle for my purse-snatching incident, I
was visiting friends and assisting with a public hearing for
the
environmental non-profit, Heart of America Northwest, I worked for
last year.”
“As I write this e-mail, I must admit that I’m still a bit shaken
up. This entire week has been so surreal. I literally woke up
Tuesday
morning and thought, did yesterday seriously happen? Let me back
up. I went to Seattle this past weekend to help out with a Hanford
Clean-
Up meeting for the non-profit I worked for last year. It was 10
a.m. Monday morning and I was waiting at a bus stop on 23rd and S.
King in
the Central district, known for gang activity and drugs. That’s
where the day from hell began.”
“A young man came up and appeared to be waiting at the bus stop
with me. All of a sudden, he lunged at me, grabbed my purse on the
bench
beside me, and started running off with it! For some odd reason,
I had left my purse open, so when he grabbed it, my cell phone
ended up
flying out and into the middle of the street. I ran into
oncoming traffic, grabbed my cell phone, uttered a few curse words,
then
started chasing after this guy. Probably not the smartest idea, but
I was beyond upset and it seemed like the best idea at the time.”
“He turned the corner, so I turned the corner. Then I see this
deep maroon Bonneville parked on the curb with the passenger side
door
open. He hopped in and he and his accomplice drove off into
the sunset with my purse and my identity.”
“I stopped running-cried-called my mom who advised me to call
the police. So I called 911 and asked them to send out a patrol
officer
as soon as possible. I waited in front of Starbucks for over
45 minutes and no police officer showed up to take me into the
station.”
“At that point, my faith in the Seattle police department was
dismal.
I called back three times, and finally, the lady said, ‘We don’t
have an officer available right now, ma’am. You need to sit
tight until
we can send someone.”
“Wow! So I called a former co-worker who was there in about
two minutes. He drove me into the police station and I filed a
police
report, where I gave the officer a fairly good description of
the robber and the getaway car. Before I got to the police
station,
however, I got a message on my cell phone from Bank of America
saying they suspected fraud on my debit card. Sure enough, the guys
had
racked up money at four different gas stations in less than
20 minutes and had overdrawn my account.”
“I left the police station depressed and astonished that I’d lived
in Seattle for over a year and never anything like this happened to
me.
But no more than fifteen minutes after filing the police report,
I get a call that the suspects may have been found. Two guys
were
caught stealing another lady’s purse on 15th Avenue (my old
street) on Capitol Hill. They were being brought in for questioning
and the
car was being searched. The car and the guy both matched
my description.”
“My old boss drove me down to the station again and, sure enough,
my license, debit card, digital camera and car keys were found in
one of
the guy’s pockets! I never got my purse or wallet back, but when
the officer questioned the guys, they admitted to the crimes and
said
they’d dumped my purse in a Dumpster somewhere after they’d
gotten what they wanted out of it.”
“I’m convinced that I’m supposed to learn something from
every experience I go through. So I’m still trying to figure out
what to
learn from this. Maybe that I don’t need to keep so much stuff in
my purse. Do I really need my digital camera when I’m going into
work?
Or, that I underestimate the power of prayer (My mom said as soon
as I called her, she went into the bathroom at work and started
praying
that I’d get everything back ... and I basically did). Or, maybe —
forgiveness.”
“Regardless, I’m thankful I wasn’t hurt and that I got most of
my things back. And I’m continually amazed at God’s provision.”
It is amazing the things one will do in the heat of the moment,
such as chasing the robbers! However, if Natalie hadn’t done that
she
wouldn’t have that very good description of them. We are glad
she’s safe and hopefully her credit (from the loss of her credit
cards) is
OK too.
One of these days maybe Natalie will return to the safety of
Union County and we will be glad to have her back at the JT!
Gentle thoughts for today
A penny saved is a government oversight. The older you get,
the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and
your fat
have gotten to be really good friends. The easiest way to
find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. If
you think
there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.
The sole purpose of a child’s middle name is so he can tell when
he’s really in trouble. There’s always a lot to be thankful for if
you
take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking
how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt. Did you ever notice: When
you
put the two words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “Theirs?”
The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line
for. And finally — Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground
with
sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it’s called golf.
1/25/08
Kayti, Austria and the holidays
She graduated from Marysville High School in 2003 and went on
to Wittenberg University. There, Kayti McCarthy majored in
education as
an early childhood and intervention specialist with a German minor.
This helped prepare her for her first job out of college.
Soon after graduating (cum laude) in May of 2007 Kayti headed to
Austria
to teach English to students who speak a German dialect that
is different than the German she studied in college. That was her
first challenge.
This is an update on Kayti’s recent adventures in Austria.
“In October we had our fall break, and I decided to take a trip
to France. I was excited to visit a friend from college who is
teaching
English in Caen, in Normandy. After traveling through Japan on
the night train, I figured I knew what I was in for — but I was
wrong. In
an effort to save money, I had only reserved a seat on the
night train from Munich to Paris, rather than a bed to sleep in.”
“It started out okay, with just two of us in our six-person
cabin, but as the night went on, more and more people joined us
until we had
reached full capacity — me plus five men. The last man to join
us, around 3 a.m. entered the cabin and immediately began
rummaging
through his belongings, pulling out a beer. He then managed to
wake us all up, asking if any of us had a bottle opener. Eventually
he
managed to open it himself, with the help of his armrest, and
then sat, slouching, with his light on, drinking his beer through
the side
of his mouth, barely opening his lips.”
“I made it to Caen, and on the way home, saw Paris on my own and
in a matter of hours. Needless to say, I wasn’t so frugal on the
way
home. I spent the extra money on a place to sleep on the train,
and only had to share a cabin with three other people — an Austrian
and two Russians.”
“As you can imagine, November was spent trying to explain
the traditional American Thanksgiving to Austrians. They knew that
we eat
turkey, but had absolutely no idea as to why. The teachers found
the Thanksgiving story so interesting and important to American
history
that it is now a topic for the senior student’s final exam, called
the ‘Matura.’”
“Christmas time is probably one of the most enjoyable times to
be in Austria. Beginning the first weekend of December, each town
has a
Christmas market on the town square. Some markets are small, like
in Traunkirchen and some are fairly large, like in Vienna.
Regardless of
size, each Christmas market has the same basic staples —
cookies, spiced wine, alcoholic and non alcoholic hot punch and my
personal
favorite, Raclette toast. Raclette is a type of cheese that is
heated up and melted onto a special kind of bread. It has a very
distinct flavor.”
“At the bigger markets, there are many gift items also available
to purchase. In Vienna, the windows of the town hall are used as
an
Advent calendar. Each day a new window is opened and displays a
new hand-painted Christmas scene. The outside of homes are
not
extravagantly decorated, but each family has an Advent wreath and
a Nativity scene. The Nativity scenes range in size, but can have
up to
100 pieces, and some even have more. Each family has a live
Christmas tree, and almost seemed offended when I explained that at
home, my
family uses an artificial tree (even though I assured them, it
really does look real).”
“Austrians buy their tree a day or two before Christmas, and
then the ‘Christkind’ comes and decorates the tree while the family
waits
in another room. There is no ‘Santa,’ but there is Nikolaus.
He dresses like a bishop in red and white, and makes an appearance
in
the town square on the sixth of December. He rides into town on
a horse-drawn sleigh, with a man using a microphone announcing
his presence.”
“He comes with a giant book, and after asking each child’s name,
he checks his book to make sure they were good before handing them
a
gift. Instead of coal for the naughty children, the Austrians
have Krampus. Krampus is the opposite of Nikolaus, and is basically
a
devil, or evil creature. There is a Krampus day in the town square
as well, and parents bring their children to see all of the
Krampuses,
to try to scare their children into being good.”
“The Krampuses parade down the main street in town, screaming
and carrying lit torches. They are dressed in black fur with scary
masks
and carry whips made of horse hair. The whips are not just a prop
— they use them. One saw me taking pictures, and came straight
towards
me, hitting me with his whip. Parents can even hire a Nikolaus or
a Krampus to come to their homes to greet their children. The
students
were shocked when I told them that we do not have Krampuses in America.”
“Often as a teaching assistant, I am expected to be an expert
on the U.S. This should be easy, since I’ve lived there my whole
life,
right? One teacher I work with (out of 13) tells me the topic of
that day’s discussion moments before class, or sometimes even on
the way
to class. One day he said to me, ‘Today we are talking about
the Civil Rights movement and the effect it had on blacks in
America. You
can lead a discussion about that, right?’ I froze for a moment …
then said, ‘Sure.’ Thankfully names started running through my head
and
all went well.”
“Recently this has started happening again, only now with
more teachers, and dealing with the U.S. Presidential Election.
However
here, it seems like the race for the White House is only between
two candidates — Hillary and Obama.”
Kayti will be in Austria for the rest of the school year and
we will stay in touch with her.
Where are they now?
Mark Miller (MHS class of ‘76) has just received the
Fulbright
Distinguished Chair award. He is currently an associate professor
of government and international relations and director of
Clark
University’s law and society program. Clark is a private liberal
arts research university with 2,100 undergraduate and 900
graduate
students and is located in Worcester, Mass.
Mark received his B.A. from Ohio Northern University and his
Juris Doctor from the National Law Center at George Washington
University.
After law school he served as a legislative assistant for
several members of Congress and then went on to get his master’s
and Ph.D. in
American politics from Ohio State University. He has also served as
a judicial fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States and as
a
congressional fellow for the late Senator Paul Wellstone.
The Fulbright award results in an invitation to teach this
spring semester at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He
will be
in charge of the American Studies program, the largest of its kind
in Europe.
Mark is also a published author.
1/18/08
More schools of Jerome Township
This is the second in a series of articles featuring the work
of Jackie Russell. She was commissioned by the Jerome Village
Co.,
builders of the Jerome Village community which will have around
2,200 living units in the planned community to be built soon.
The company has been very interested in preserving the heritage
of Jerome Township and Jackie has done considerable research about
the
township in the southern part of Union County. Here is more of
her story about the schools and how they developed beginning in the
early 1800s.
Last week I mentioned the one-room school houses and how they
began plus some of the requirements for teachers of that time. The
students
and their teachers were much the same as our children with just a
few changesPunishment in the one room schoolhouses — there were 10
of them in the early 1800s — was unlike today. There was no such
thing as a time-out corner to punish bad behavior and a switch was used
frequently
across the backside for any number of offenses. It has been a
long time, I suspect, since there was any paddling in the schools
of Union County.
The worst disgrace for a child was being sent out to pick from a
tree their own switch for the whipping. One story told of the young
boy
that tricked another one into biting off a piece of Indian
turnip root also known as Jack in the Pulpit. This plant had been
used by
the Indians to settle the stomach, but the raw root was
considered toxic to the mouth.
Biting into this plant resulted in a serious burn to the inside
of the mouth and quite a severe use of the switch to the young man
that
played the trick! Even though punishment was prevalent,
teachers frequently rewarded the good students with raisins, nuts
and apples
so that the well behaved scholars were shown great appreciation. The
early school houses in Jerome Township were not just used for
educational purposes. Township meetings and elections were also
held there. Since there was no other public hall in the village, it
was
used for political, religious and public meetings as well as
Sunday school. To obtain this privilege, the township donated $50
to the
school’s building fund.
The Village of Jerome was platted in 1846, and was also known
as Beachtown, Pleasant Hill or Frankfort. New California soon
followed
in 1853. Businesses prospered and villages became more populated
and educational needs increased.
In 1852 the first Select School was erected in the northeast
corner of New California. Initially the teacher was Llewellyn
Curry. Select
schools were designed to provide and elevate the standard
of education, preparing students for college work and teaching
careers.
The curriculum embraced higher levels of math, languages and
science.
Teachers for the most part were college educated.
The Village of Jerome soon followed New California by building
its first Select School in 1860 on Jerome Rd. These buildings
were
spacious when compared to the log school houses which were only
30 sq. ft. The newer buildings had a trademark brick exterior, with
a
coat room, an election room and a school room that could easily
hold 75 students.
Due to the high quality of the faculty, high academic standards
and large student population, Jerome Township ultimately educated
a
sufficient number of teachers to supply most of the schools in
Union County. The schools were supported by generous donations from
farmers
and led by an active school board. Some of the
well-known contributors were members of the Gill, Liggett,
Woodburn, Curry,
Mitchell, Buck, and Dodge families. The carefree days of
education for many local farm boys ended in the fall of 1860 when
the Civil War
called them to duty and patriotism ran high.
In 1887 the first centralized school in New California was built
on U.S. 42. This advance into higher education was in the form of
a
large school for the community. It contained grades one through
12 and boasted its first graduating class in 1887 with three
graduates.
In 1911 the second centralized school in the community was built
at the intersection of Jerome and Brock roads at a cost of
$11,000.
Reports on the construction said that nothing had been spared
that might add to the comfort of the pupils. About 196
students attended
this school and there were three main teachers. In 1953 an
addition to the Jerome School was constructed, adding more
classrooms. Then as
the years passed and enrollment declined it became Jerome
Elementary School.
After a heated community debate about what to do with the building
in the 1980s, it was finally torn down. The last class to graduate
from
New California High School was in 1951, and later students
were transferred to Watkins, Plain City and Marysville. The old
school
building was sold in 1950 to local resident, Keith Strayer, who
used the building as a chicken farm. In 1956 it burned to the
ground in
the middle of the night. Hmm.
Many of the graduates of Jerome High School later called
New California High School have stayed in the community after
graduation
to support Jerome Township as farmers, teachers and businessmen.
There were many marriages among the high school classmates in
these tiny classes of 10 to 15 students. There was Loran Faulk
class of
1943 who married Marie McCabe of the class of 1945. These two
high school sweethearts continue to be active in the Jerome
community to this day.
Loran was part of the 1942 basketball county championship team.
Their team upset Broadway High School for the big win. Fellow
teammates
were Mel and Joe Dodge, Lloyd Cosgray, James McKitrick and Thad
Seely Jr. Many of the same teammates went on that year to also win
the
county softball championship.
Joe Dodge had four brothers and one sister and they lived in an
old one-room school house on Industrial Parkway that was on the
Dodge
farm land. Joe’s father, Homer Dodge, bought the district number
six school house where he attended the first six years of his
formal
education. Homer paid $380 for the building and with some
minor additions, made it their home.
Joe recalls sleeping on the floor with his brothers in the main
room.
The family was large and the house was small. He said he never
slept in a bed until the entered the military. Joe remembers rarely
being
disciplined, but he said that his buddies were punished at
school with the crack of a ruler against their knuckles or paddled
as they
leaned over a desk.
Joe earned $3 per week working on the school bus as the lookout
for trains. The tracks on U.S. 42 had a severe curve that made
it
difficult for the driver to see the trains approaching. So Joe
would get out of the bus, stand on the tracks and look both ways to
make
sure the tracks were clear for the bus to cross. Imagine relying on
a child for such an important task.
The lives of pioneers, farm families and businesses in the
Jerome area were all affected by the wonderful schools that were
offered there.
Thanks to Jackie Russell for sharing her work with us. More
stories of Jerome will follow soon.
01/11/08
The schools of Jerome Township
In southern Union County there is an area inside Jerome
Township which will soon become Jerome Village. It’s a 1,350-acre
parcel
currently being developed by the Highland Management Group.
The property is bounded by U.S. 42, Jerome Road, Brock Road and
Home
Road. The 2,200 housing units planned for this parcel range in
price from $175,000 to a median price of around $375,000.
The owners of the Jerome Village company have become quite
involved with the history of Jerome Township and asked Jackie
Russell, nurse
turned historian and storyteller, to research the history of
Jerome
Township in order to get a better understanding of the area and
help preserve its heritage.
Her many hours of research have been compiled into three
lovely booklets. They contain information about the schools of
Jerome
Township, the churches and the Seely Store, which was a hub
of activity for many years. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing
with
you excerpts from Jackie’s hard work. I hope you will enjoy this
bit of history as much as I have enjoyed learning about the early
years
in that community.
It was nearly 200 years ago that hardworking families came to
the quiet community which would later be Jerome Township. The
first
settlers were Joshua and James Ewing. They had discovered an
area along the Big Darby Creek in 1798 that they felt was perfect
for
hunting and farming. They built a log cabin and became
permanent residents of this land.
About the year 1802 Ohio was developing its first constitution
and grants of land were made available for public schools. The
early
school boards were made up of local pioneer families and they
oversaw the operation of the school and the hiring of the teachers.
Teachers from this era only completed schooling through the
eighth grade. But as time went on qualifications became stricter,
of course.
As more education was required for their jobs, teachers were
elevated to the social status of physicians and ministers.
In fact, whenever a teacher visited the farm household of
the student, it was quite an event, involving great preparation by
the
parents. Farm families were very interested in their child’s education.
The very first school house in Jerome Township was a one-room
log house located at the corner of Industrial Parkway and Taylor
Road and
was on the property of Perry Buck, a local farmer. Reports differ
on the exact year that it was built, but it is considered to be
sometime
between 1810 and 1820. Approximately six students, all children
from farms closest to the school, were in attendance. A school
district at
the time was defined by a grouping of 20 families from
adjacent farms. This district of children attended the same
one-room school.
All students walked to school in those days and in fact it was
often quite a hike (literally) since there were no roads. The path
to
school was marked on trees through the woods making for a
rather muddy, treacherous and long journey.
In the winter if a family could not afford warm heavy clothing
the children would skip school because the walk was too lengthy in
the
cold. I can see that excuse being used even to this day.
A “snow day” or one where it was too difficult to get to
school didn’t mean the children had a day off, but that they would
help with
the work on the farm. At that time, in the early 1800s, attending
school was not mandatory and education was viewed more as a
privilege then something everyone needed.
The log school which was the first site of education in
Jerome Township was a room about 30 sq. ft. The desks were one long
board
with a narrow bench behind it without a back. Heating the
building was taken care of by a heavy iron box stove and the room
was lit
primarily by sunlight from the side windows. There were a
few kerosene lamps available.
A bucket of water with a dipper served as the drinking fountain
for the 60 children that were crammed into the small room to learn
to
read and write. It was uncomfortable and overcrowded, but that
was all they knew.
Eventually 10 one-room log schools were built in the township in
the early 1800s. They were named for the farmer’s property or road
of
their location. Some of the names included Ketch, Lamb, Dodge
and Kile. This was the beginning of Jerome’s reputation for
quality
education. Unfortunately, none of these logs schools remain
standing in Jerome today.
Schools have changed considerably from those days. The teacher in
the class, usually a woman, had to prepare lessons for all levels
of
students in the room. She was paid roughly $30 per month and
really earned her pay. She started the fire in the stove, made and
repaired
quilt pens used for writing, kept progress reports on all
students and taught lessons including spelling, arithmetic, grammar
rules and writing.
She also was expected to instruct in manners, morals and
patriotism and sometimes even taught Sunday school. She was usually
only a bit
older than her oldest student and was a product of the school
in which she taught. After the Civil War, stricter requirements
were
created for teachers and certain states began to charter
teacher training schools, known as Normal schools. The schools
provided two
years of educational training to prospective teachers and
graduates obtained a teaching certificate. Normal schools
eventually evolved
into four year colleges and universities.
Here’s a list of some of the rules for teachers who were doing
their job in the 1800s: Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean
chimneys.
Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and scuttle of coal for
the day’s session. Man teachers may take one evening each week
for
courting purposes or two evenings a week if they go to
church regularly. After 10 hours in school the teachers may spend
the
remaining time reading the Bible or other good books. Women
teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
(Marrying
is unseemly conduct?)
The rules continued: Every teacher should lay aside from each
days pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his
declining
years, so that he will not become a burden on society. Any
teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form or frequents the pool
hall or
public halls or gets shaved in a barbershop will give a good
reason to suspect his worth intention, integrity and honesty. And
finally
the teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault
for five years will be given an increase of 25¢ per week in his
pay,
providing the Board of Education approves.
Children of the 1800s also thought recess was an important part
of their school day as our students do today. Some of their
favorite
activities included racing through the woods, fox and geese
and playing “town ball.” The ball for this game was made when one
student
unraveled his socks — I’ll bet his mother was happy about that —
then wound the thread around a cork and covered it with sheepskin.
There
was a pitcher, batter, catcher and outfielders in this game.
Marbles was a favorite recess pastime with the boys, but the
boys were also known to wrestle and box. I’m sure this would never
go over
today. It would probably go too far and the parents would
definitely have to get involved in that. Some gangs even existed
back then and
real fistfights often occurred in recess.
As you can see, Jackie Russell has put together some great
stories and we will hear more in the future from her outstanding
work on the
history of Jerome Township.
1/4/08
Good karma can help
Sometimes you should just listen to that karma around you, but our
son, Mike (MHS class of '88) has always been an optimist and one to
barrel
ahead anyway. This story began one evening after a Bengals game in
Cincinnati, where Mike lives.
He often goes to the games and usually parks across the Ohio
River, then takes a cab to the stadium because of parking difficulty.
After the
game that night he returned back to his car, paid the cab driver and
went home as usual.
On Monday morning the trouble began. While preparing to leave for
work he searched frantically for his wallet containing credit cards,
driver's
license and a small amount of money. It was gone!
A minor amount of panic took hold because Mike was leaving in two
days to drive to Philadelphia for the holiday. He needed his driver's
license
and probably his credit cards as he, Jenn, Cole and Margie were to spend
a long weekend with Jenn's brother and family.
Since his license was gone, he immediately went to the local
registrar with a copy of his license in hand that he'd made previously,
but that
was no good in obtaining a new one. He even tried another registrar's
office and got the same answer - "You must have a copy of your birth
certificate!"
That's where I came in. About 9:30 a.m. I received an anxious
phone call from Mike. "Mom, could you overnight my birth certificate to
me?" I
agreed to do it of course - that's what moms are for.
I even found out that the post office could guarantee that it
would be delivered by 3 p.m. the next day and it was, but first there
was a
second phone call.
About 4 p.m. the same day, Mike informed me he had good karma and
that's why he had his license and credit cards back. Through all these
anxious moments he had also called the cab company, thinking he might
have left the wallet in the cab after the football game.
The cab company contacted the driver and he located the wallet on
the floor of the back seat. But now the problem was to find Mike. The
driver
tried to call him using his name from the driver's license, but Mike has
an unlisted number. I'll never understand that.
Then the man found a medical insurance card inside the wallet and
called that company to have them contact Mike. Blue Cross did that and
Mike was able to meet the driver and recover all his lost possessions
just in time for his trip.
You might think, what a nice story - but there's more. After this
minor setback the Behrens family headed out driving on the eight-hour
trip to
Philadelphia. They were pleased all went smoothly with the children in
the car. Then the problem began.
They were only about 30 miles from their destination when the car
came to a grinding halt. Mike was able to get the car off the road,
waited a
few minutes, and the car started again. He traveled just a few more
miles with the same thing happening.
It was cold and dark and only 15 miles to go. Then they saw a
police station in the middle of nowhere. Soon after pulling in there,
the
police arranged for a tow truck, arriving in just five minutes. Guess
they have a special arrangement with the police, thankfully.
Mike called next day telling us what happened, confident it would
be fixed the following day and he could return to Ohio on time for work
and
school for the children. I knew that wouldn't happen on time, it was a
holiday for heaven's sake. Sometimes mothers just know this stuff, but
Mike was so sure.
The problem turned out to be with the transmission, still under
warranty, thankfully, but it wouldn't be repaired for about five days
because of a holiday.
But Mike is in the mortgage business, it was the end of the month
and always their busiest time. He had to get back to his office in Ohio.
The
loaner car from the dealership made that trip all the way back to Ohio
in eight hours. Two days later Mike returned to get his car - repaired
and working fine.
I don't know much about karma, or what it really is, but even
though this trip didn't start well and was rough in the middle, it all
ended
well after 32 hours total on the road.
More good karma for Zimmermans
Marysville School Supt. Larry Zimmerman must also have good karma.
His story began in 2006 at the Michigan-OSU football game. He went with
his son, Chase. It was a wonderful home win for the Buckeyes and after
the game, Chase took off from their seats in "C" deck to go down on the
field.
Larry left quickly behind him not wanting to lose sight of him in
that huge crowd. And that's why he left behind a very nice headset that
he
had used to listen to the game on radio. You know you can always use a
second opinion from those announcers!
Once Larry realized he left the headset behind it was too late to
go back, and surely it wouldn't be there anyway. Then came the 2007
football season and he and son, Chase, were not able to go to a game
until early in November, sitting in the same seats as the year before.
Larry must have been thinking he sure would like to have that headset
back. Minor miracles do happen. Soon after he sat down the man
behind him handed Larry his headset. It was his from the year before.
The man found it after the Michigan game, took the headset home and
brought it back each game hoping Larry would return. What a guy!
When Larry came back to the following home game with son, Evan,
they smuggled in some homemade Buckeyes for that man with a big heart
and
obviously another great OSU fan! Go Bucks!
Marysville Journal Tribune
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