The following stories are the products of the First Semester

Lantern
The
Features Edition
The following stories are the products of the
First Semester Journalism students. Their
assignment was to find a newsworthy topic,
compile extensive research, interview a
variety of sources, and design a
well-balanced layout.
Enjoy.
Inside this issue:
In Sickness and In Health
- Sarah Tuckowski
Read on Ride Warriors
- Jen Lash
Broken Arms, Bloody Noses, Fat Lips, and It’s Only Dancing
- Nick Strunk
The Subculture of Sports Radio
- Kristen Zeszut
The Supernatural In Medina Steakhouse
- Marisa Mindyas
Cheating Death
- Larissa Fisher
How To Train a Pitcher: Past vs Present
- Dan Kasian
More Than Just an Army
- Alyssa McDannel
Behind Every Great Man Is a Great Woman
- Emmie Donelan
The Izzey Pirl Music Project
- Jen Taggart
Finding Your Inner Homer
- Caitlyn Raymond
Seeing Is Not Always Believing - Sarah Fravel
Show Them the Money
- Elijah Mwase
The Catan Family
- Megan Largent
Read Between the Lines
- James Williamson
Christmas Trees: Real vs Fake Holiday Cheer
- Taylor Grahl
Cutting Life Short - Sean Alexander
Journey To America
- Aziz Ahmad
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6
9
11
13
14
16
18
21
23
25
26
27
29
31
33
35
36
3
In Sickness and In Health
P
By Sarah Tuckowski
Photography by Angelo Merendino
ictures are sometimes worth a
thousand words, but for Angelo Merendino, some
pictures tell the harsh reality of cancer.
In September of 2007, after a six-month
long-distance relationship, Angelo Merendino
finally married the girl of his dreams;
Jennifer Wise. As the preacher muttered the vow,
“in sickness and in health,” little did
Angelo Merendino know that this vow would
be put to the test five months later on February
11th, 2008.
While out delivering packages for a
design company, Angelo received a call that
would dramatically alter his life.
Unable to comprehend the words
stumbling from his wife’s lips, Angelo pulled
the delivery truck to the side of the road.
The words that rolled off of Jennifer’s
tongue were the words telling Angelo that she
was diagnosed with Stage 3B breast cancer. “At
that moment I was numb, and had no idea what
lay in front of us,” said Angelo
Merendino after learning his wife’s diagnosis,
“It didn’t even seem real.”
In a state of shock and disbelief, Angelo
rushed back to work and told his boss that he
needed to see Jennifer. From that day forward,
Angelo would never leave his wife’s side
during her battle.
Although the diagnosis came as a complete shock to the newlyweds, Jennifer had a feeling that
it was cancer this time.“Jennifer had a history of finding
lumps on her body, but nothing had become of it,” said
Angelo, “but Jen had a bad feeling.”
Jennifer recalled the devastating day of February
11th, 2008. “I remember my stomach just sunk,” Jennifer
said in a YouTube video made to tell her story, “and I was
shaking.”
As Jennifer found herself clinging onto life, she
found other women going through the same battle as her.
Jennifer had mentioned how relationships and support
groups are the most important part of her journey. JenniJennifer staring at her doctor with fear and uncertainty in her eyes
fer said her relationships with cancer survivors and women
battle cancer are, “beautifully and sisterly.” Although she had gained some knowledge from the other
women fighting cancer, Jennifer took matters into her own hands.
Entering the obscure world of cancer, Jennifer was prepared to have cancer finally meet its match.
“She took this on head first,” said Angelo, about Jennifer’s determination that developed in the beginning.
Once she learned her harsh diagnosis, Jennifer researched the best diet, and also researched medications
that would be prescribed to her.
After the removal of 15 tumors, three tumors in her right breast and 12 lymph nodes infected with
cancerous tumors, a double mastectomy, four months of chemotherapy, and five weeks of daily radiation,
cancer met its match.
Just after the Merendino’s first year anniversary, Jennifer’s oncologists told her that her cancer was
in remission, but for the Merendino’s, Jennifer’s remission
would be short lived.
Jennifer’s cancer returned two and a half years
later, bringing with it more cancer. Cancer had spread to
her liver, hip, and sacrum. Not only did her cancer spread,
but her breast cancer reappeared. In her YouTube video explaining her diagnosis, Jennifer said she’s “devastated to be
a Stage 4 [breast cancer patient] at 38-years-old.”
As Jennifer’s cancer progressed so did the support
from family, friends, and even strangers, but some of that
support is dwindling as Jennifer’s battle continues.
Friends Jennifer met in a breast cancer support group that have been by her side
Angelo Merendino mentioned how some of their
supporters stop showing support for Jennifer due to the fact that it was too hard for them to see Jennifer
in this condition. “People come and go, but they have a life as well,” Angelo said, but he also had another
feeling for those people that said it was too hard to see Jennifer like this, “This is everyday for us. Come walk in our
shoes.”
Jennifer and Angelo Merendino undoubtedly have supporters that would love to come visit Jennifer, but can’t
due to the distance between them.
In an attempt to show her supporters how serious her cancer had become, Angelo combined his two passions together, his wife and photography, in order to tell his wife’s
story/
Angelo’s photographs of Jennifer were intended for famLeft to right: Colleen Dangerfield, Beth Finley Alunni, Jennifer Merendino, and Heidi Lingg
ily and friends at first, but after a friend suggested to Angelo the idea of entering a photography contest, his photographs became viral, and were even on display at
78th Street Studios in Cleveland.
Matthew Fehrmann, the curator of Angelo Merendino’s photographs, mentioned how being in the
presence of these pictures reminded him what is really important in life. “[The pictures] remind me how
important family is,” Fehrmann said, “And to take nothing for granted.”
4
Not only is Matthew Fehrmann affected by the photographs when working with them everyday, but so are those
people that come to catch a glimpse at a fighter’s battle against cancer.
“Tears have been shed in the gallery, myself included,” said Fehrmannn mentioning that, “We’ve all been touched
by cancer in some way,” Fehrmann added.
For some viewers of these pictures, they were the ones touched
directly by cancer. Fehrmann said how cancer survivors come to view the
pictures and, “[feel] proud to look at these pictures.”
Since the unveiling of his exhibit at 78th Street Studios, Angelo’s photographs also came to life on the internet. Angelo mentioned how
strangers have reached out to them over Facebook and e-mails, sending
thoughtful and sincere messages.
Some messages from friends on Facebook tell Angelo and Jennifer how their story has touched their lives, and how Jennifer is their hero.
Angelo said, “We should look up to her, instead of the role models today.”
One woman wrote to Angelo on Facebook, that Jennifer’s story
inspired her to schedule her first mammogram. Another woman, Lauren
A young girl staring as Jennifer Merendino passes her on the sidewalk
Gries, took to her blog to mention how her friendship with the Merendinos
impacted her life in a positive way.
In a post titled, Cancer: A Different Perspective, Gries described the impact Jennifer had in her life. “Skip
ahead to shortly after they believed Jen overcame breast cancer, we were having dinner and she opened my world up to the
knowledge of such harsh chemicals as parabeans,” Lauren Gries wrote in her blog, adding, “parabeans and breast cancer
have been linked.”
Jennifer’s willingness to tell others the harsh affects of chemicals, inspired Lauren Gries to change her cosmetics,
the products she uses to clean, and even the food she eats.Angelo mentioned how he and Jennifer have songs that inspire them and move them,
and for people to say these photographs and their story moves them, is a
humbling experience.
While some people were moved by Jennifer in photographs, others were
moved by her appearance in the streets of New York City. Some strangers flash a smile in Jennifer’s direction, while others simply stare blankly at the woman passing by. “We don’t know why people stare, or if they
are trying to make a connection,” Angelo said.
Although these strangers only caught a glimpse of Jennifer’s body for a
few seconds, Jennifer has to deal with watching her appearance change
daily. “She’s aware of what is going on outside of
Another stranger catching a glimpse at Jennifer in the streets of New York City
her body,” said Angelo, but what the strangers
don’t see, are the changes that have occurred on the inside.
As Jennifer’s cancer metastasized, doctors saw one solution; removing Jennifer’s ovaries.
Doctors told Angelo and Jennifer Merendino that her ovaries were secreting large amounts of estrogen, ultimately creating more cancer cells.
Jennifer had already suffered the emotions that accompany losing your hair, but losing
the ability to have children is something that no one can prepare. Not only did Jennifer feel disappointment and sadness upon receiving the news that she could not bear a child, but her husband
experienced the same strong emotions. “I wanted to have kids,” Angelo said, “I’m definitely disappointed.”
Angelo’s disappointment, however, soon shifted to Jennifer’s health after her doctors dis- Jennifer holding her mask worn for
brain radiation blog
treatments
covered cancer’s new target in her body; her brain. On September 30th, 2011, Jennifer mentioned in a detailed
post
that nurses and family members had ordered an MRI of her brain. The MRI was scheduled after her caretakers noticed that
Jennifer was somewhat confused.
Much to everyone’s dismay, the MRI revealed that Jennifer had two lesions causing pressure on her brain. After
doctors ruled out surgery, radiation seemed to be the only option. With surgery no longer a possibility, Jennifer would be
hanging onto life by a thread for the next few months.
For one woman, Kim Perry, the story of Jennifer Merendino’s battle with cancer seemed all too familiar. “The
pictures most definitely bring back a flood of memories, both good and bad,” said Kim Perry.
After discovering a suspicious lump, Kim fled to the doctors to receive some answers. The answer, to
her dismay, was that she had breast cancer. Learning of his wife’s diagnosis, Rusty Perry vowed to be by his
wife’s side during her battle against breast cancer, just as Angelo Merendino did for his wife.
Accompanying his wife’s diagnosis, were the mixed emotions Rusty felt. “I was scared, angry, sad, and stunned with
disbelief,” said Rusty Perry regarding his wife’s diagnosis, “My
mother had died the year before from breast cancer and now
my beautiful wife had been diagnosed with the same disease,”
Rusty added.
As the Perry’s focus shifted to Kim’s fight that was beginning, the Perrys were also dealing with another family member’s ill-health. Kim and Rusty’s son, Reid, was dealing with his
own health issues at the time of his mother’s diagnosis. At just a
young age, Reid had two major surgeries on his intestines.
Jennifer pointing her nails in the windowsill
“I refused to allow my cancer diagnosis to make me any less of
a mother,” Kim said, “My children needed me and I needed
them,” she added.
Vowing to never let her cancer stand in the way of her
being a mother, Kim decided that her son needed her more than
her chemotherapy. “Kim actually skipped one chemo therapy
because Reid was having surgery,” her husband recalled.
Kim accredits some of her success against cancer to
the support shown to her by her family. “Smelling the top
of my baby boy’s head and holding my beautiful daughter’s
hand helped me get thru the whole process,” Kim said.
Family was an essential part to her success, but Kim
also mentioned that she used some humor to get thru her
Jennifer and her rowing teammates
battle. After losing her hair due to chemotherapy treatments, Kim decided to attend a program put on by the
American Cancer Center called, “Look Good Feel Better.”
While in attendance at the program that taught women battling cancer beauty tips, Kim had to leave.
“I actually got giggly and had to leave because all I could
think of was that we all looked like eggheads dressing up like
clowns,” Kim said, “Everyone copes in their own way,” she
added.
Feeling comfortable enough to be seen around town with
a hairless head, Kim just wanted others to feel comfortable,
too, but that wasn’t always the case. “Most people didn’t
know how to react and at times we had awkward interactions,” Rusty said, “ She is way tougher than me and wanted
Empire Dragon Boat Team
no pity from anyone,” he added.
Unlike Kim Perry, who said she kept her battle pretty private and shied away from support groups,
Jennifer Merendino helped to create a support group.
Deemed as one of the only rowing teams in New York City for women with cancer, or survivors, the
Empire Dragon Boat Team was cofounded by Jennifer Merendino.
At the time when the Empire Dragon Boat Team began, there were only a dozen members. Now, a few
years later, the Empire Dragon Boat Team consists of 50+ members. For these members, rowing allows them
to exert some of that determination used during their fight against cancer, into rowing.
Rowing for these survivors and fighters, according to Angelo Merendino, allows the women to, “regain
their sense of themselves, regain accomplishments, and regain confidence.”
Angelo recalled the time when he rode along in the Dragon Boat powered by the cancer survivors and
fighters. He said that being on the boat with these strong women was, “one of the most powerful experiences.”
5
On December 22nd, 2011, the source of inspiration for many to continue on their journey against breast
cancer, lost her battle, after deciding to end her chemotherapy treatments as her health declined. That thread of life
that Jennifer once held, slipped from her fingers.
Angelo took to his Facebook to notify their supporters of Jennifer’s passing. The message read:
“Jennifer has taken her beauty, grace and Love to a higher place. I can not begin to explain how numb and completely
hollow I am feeling. In Jennifer’s honor I will be starting a foundation in her name. Details will be made available
after the New Year. Thank you all for your incredible amount of support, encouragement and kindness. Jennifer and
I gathered so much strength from all of the posts and likes. I am still amazed that what begun as a means of showing
family and friends what we are going through has in turn inspired one woman to schedule her first mammogram, others to not take life for granted and others to smile at a large cat guarding his mama. Jennifer touched so many people
and I promised her that the world will know who she is. She is a hero, a friend, a catalyst, a fighter and much more.
She saved me from a life heading nowhere and my heart is full of love like I never dreamed could exist.”
When Kim Perry first learned of her diagnosis, she made something clear to herself. “In this day in age cancer in and of itself is not a death sentence,” Kim said. Unfortunately, for Jennifer Merendino, her cancer proved to
be a death sentence no human should ever have to endure.
“[She’s] optimistic,” Angelo once said of his wife during her battle, “You can see it in her eyes,” he added.
The optimism that once sparkled brightly in the eyes of Jennifer Merendino, became dull as Jennifer closed her eyes
to enter a life of eternal peace.
In Memory of
Jennifer Merendino
1971-2011
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From being drawn up in the
board rooms, to ordering the
parts, to putting the roller
coaster together, to test running it, to allowing people to
ride it, to fixing it everyday it
brakes, to taking it all down
for the winter then starting
this all again when summer
comes, there is a lot that goes
into making a roller coaster
run and be successful.
The process from an idea
for a roller coaster being proposed from an engineering
firm to when a customer is
actually on the ride lasts
about 2-3 years, according to Bill
Spahn General Manager
of Cedar
Point
IO
RS
.
7
Roller Coasters at Cedar Point including the Millenium Force and The Top Thrill Dragster
There are many people and groups involved in this process. “There are not
as many people as you would think.
First, you have you’re company who
provides the coaster. Then, you have
another company who focuses on the
engineering of it. Then, there is another company who makes the steel
and columns for the roller coaster.
Next, you have the company who
makes the trains and the parts of the
trains. Then, there is the company
who makes and develops the electrical control system. Lastly, you have
a company with the stations load and
unload, this is a big component in this
process,” according to Bill Spahn.
Roller coasters break down everyday,
but how do the rides managers know
when they are about to? I asked Kara,
manager of rides at Cedar Point this
question and she said, “The ride tells
us if something is wrong. The safety
system of the rides is so intricate it
knows and alerts the workers when
a ride is about to brake.” “There are
many different ways a roller coaster
could break down. The electrical
system of a ride sometimes can blow
a fuse because it is overloaded, the
weight is over capacitated, the electrical portion fails or is too hot. The
electrical system is run by computers and sometimes computers act up
which causes them to close down. So,
when this does happen the computer
technicians look it over and try to figure out what is wrong. Sometimes the
reason a roller coaster can shut down
has nothing to do with the electricals
of it. Sometimes, it just means there
is a loose part or wheel, or maybe
the seat belt, lap bar, or restraint system has broke. Either way, the system always communicates with the
computer to keep track of when and
where the roller coaster is broken,”
stated August Lococo, corporate director of maintenance at Cedar Fair
Entertainment Company.
“It’s hard to say why exactly a ride
breaks down and which ride breaks
down the most because its all based
on how well the roller coaster is running that day, which can change from
hour to hour. One hour a ride could
be running very swiftly and smoothly. The next hour the same ride can
be broken down. So, there is not
one certain ride that is guaranteed to
break down at least once a day,” said
Kara, manager of rides.
After closing a park, there is a lot
to be done in order to maintain and
preserve the roller coasters during the
winter season.
“The maintenance department overhauls every ride,” according to Kara,
manager of rides at Cedar Point.
First, everything comes off the roller
coasters’ track, mostly just the actual
roller coaster cars or trains. “Once the
vehicles are taken off the ride they are
brought into a shop to be inspected in
what is called NDT Non-destructive
testing,” August Lococo stated.
During this process, every piece
of the roller coaster goes through a
rehabilitation process. The wheels,
seat belts, lap bars, the framework
and shape of the cars, and seats are
all inspected thoroughly. If anything seems wrong or is broken it is
replaced. Typically the cars are repainted, some seats are replaced and
some wheels may need more air, but,
usually there is not too many major
problems wrong with these.
When all the pieces are put back together the roller coaster is ready to be
ridden.
Roller Coasters are very complex in
how they work. They are run all by
computers but gravity and the chains
play a big role in making them run.
To make the train of a roller coaster
reach the top of a hill takes lots of cables and chains. The further you get
to the top the more energy is needed
in order for the roller coaster to make
it all the way up and then be able to
fall back down. The fall down is all
gravity and energy built up. “The
main component that makes a roller
coaster run is gravity, no motors just
gravity,” stated August Lococo.
Many people don’t think into the
actual science of these roller coasters and how much is put into making
them work.
Something that is very interesting
and crazy to think about is how key
the lap bar is to keeping riders safe.
Many people just think that the lap
bar is there just to keep them from
flying off the ride sideways. The crazy thing is the lap bar is what keeps
the person in the car at the top of the
hill. “When you’re on a ride, you’re
weightlessness at negative gravity.
When you’re at the top of the hill,
about to go down, it is not you going
down it is the lap bar pulling you to
go down,” said Bill Spahn.
Another thing most people don’t
think about is how much mechanics and workings that go into a ride.
“Most people go on a roller coaster
for the thrill they get but when they
are actually on the ride, most people
don’t know about the mechanics of
the ride. Also, most people don’t
think about how detailed the safety
systems and mechanical systems of
the ride are,” stated Kara.
As many people know Cedar Point
has the most roller coasters of any
amusement park in the world. So
maintaining this park and trying to
keep all rides running would probably
be quite difficult at times. By going
to Cedar Point one day the chances of
seeing a ride broken down is highly
likely. Usually, the ride that breaks
Flags in New Jersey standing at 456
feet. The second tallest roller coaster
is The Top Thrill Dragster standing
at 420 feet. But where can this stop?
How high can a roller coaster be with
it being safe and without the fear of it
falling down at any time?
The fastest roller coaster in the world
is called Formula Rossa at Ferrari
World in Abu Dhabi, it is 149 miles
per hour. The Top Thrill Dragster at
Cedar Point is just fourth on this list
at 120 miles per hour and The Millennium Force is 9th on this list at 93
miles per hour. How much faster can
a roller coaster be without the fear of
the train running off the track at any
time? “The limit of a roller coaster is
not necessarily how fast it can go its
how it stops. This limits the height
and speed it can be. Also, the cost one
is willing to pay limits a roller coaster. It wouldn’t necessarily be a good
investment to buy something that is
500 feet tall due to the amount of land
it will take up and the cost it is to buy
it. This is why you haven’t seen to
many roller coasters exceed the speed
of Top Thrill Dragster or Millennium
Force,” stated Bill Spahn.
Cedar Point is the Roller Coaster
Capitol of the world and they have
down the most daily is The Top
Thrill Dragster, according to August
Lococo. “The Dragster is one of the
most difficult rides to maintain and
deal with on a daily basis. It is so
complicated and it breaks down so
much because the computers that
are used to run it are very sophisticated,” August Lococo stated.
The question people may ask is if
there is a limit a roller coaster can go.
How high or fast can a roller coaster
be in order for a human to be able to
handle it? The highest roller coaster
in the world is Kingda Ka at Six
broken many records with their
coasters. First they have the most
roller coasters of any park at 17 roller
coasters, both steel and wooden roller
coasters. Including, Blue Streak, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Corkscrew, Disaster Transport, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Jr. Gemini, Magnum XL-200,
Mantis, Maverick, Mean Streak,
Millennium Force, Raptor, Top Thrill
Dragster, Wicked Twister, Wildcat
and Woodstock Express.
Out of these 17 roller coasters, there
are many of them that have broken
multiple records.
“If the lap bar was not there then as the
car of the ride was going down the hill
you would stay at the top,”
Bill Spahn, General Manager
Cedar Point
First, in 1964, the oldest operating
roller coaster at Cedar Point today,
the Blue Streak opened. It is a wooden Roller Coaster and is still running
smoothly today, but even though the
coaster itself may be running smoothly, it is a very bumpy ride.
The Cedar Creek Mine Ride, opening in 1969 was one of the first roller
coasters to utilize steel tubular track.
The Magnum XL-200, opening in
1990 was the first roller coaster to exceed heights of 200 feet and speeds
over 70 miles per hour.
The Mean Streak, opening in 1991,
broke records for being the fastest
wooden roller coaster at 65 miles per
hour. Also, the Mean Streak broke a
record for being the tallest wooden
roller coaster at 161 feet.
In 1996, the Mantis opened up as
being the tallest and fastest stand-up
roller coaster in the world.
In 2000, the Millennium Force was
built breaking many records. It was
the first giga roller coaster built in the
world. When it first opened, it was
the tallest and fastest complete circuit coaster in the world. It reached
speeds of 93 miles per hour, as well
as, a height of 310 feet. Since 2001,
Millennium Force has been voted the
number one steel roller coaster by
Amusement Today six times.
In 2003, the Top Thrill Dragster was
built, which shocked thrill seekers yet
again. This ride went on to be one of
the most record breaking roller coasters at Cedar Point and in the world.
When it opened it was the tallest roller coaster in the world at 420 feet tall,
but now the roller coaster Kingda Ka
holds this record of the tallest. Also
when Top Thrill Dragster opened, it
was the fastest roller coaster in the
world at 120 mph, but now it is the
fourth tallest behind the fastest called
Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi which
reaches a speed of 149 mph.
In 2007, another new roller coaster
was introduced to cedar point. This
roller coaster was called Maverick
it wasn’t tall, and it wasn’t fast but
it still seeked thrill for many people.
The tallest hill was only at 105 feet,
but the thing that was most interest-
7
ing was this hills drop. The roller car
dropped from this hill at a 92 degree
angle, so while going down you tuck
under the original hill and you can
not see the track so it looks like you
are heading towards the ground. This
roller coaster was named the “Best
New Ride of 2007” by Amusement
Today, a famous amusement park
magazine.
Cedar Point is the second oldest roller park in the world so how do you
keep the park updated and new so it is
still appealing to the public? They try
and do a new attraction every year, so
people will come back from year to
year.
In 1988, Cedar Point introduced the
Soak City water park, offering another thing to do. Therefore, when families plan a trip to Cedar Point they
spend a day at the water park and a
day in the actual park.
The past few years Cedar Point has
tried to offer a new ride each year.
In 2007, they introduced a new roller
coaster called Maverick.
In 2010, they introduced a new water
ride called Shoot The Rapids, which
is like a roller coaster, featuring two
hills and a splashy grand finale.
Last year, in 2011 they unveiled a
new thrill ride called Wind Seeker,
it is a 30-story-tall swing ride that
over looks Lake Erie and Cedar Point
Beach. It also offers riders a breathtaking view of the whole park.
The new attraction they are offering next year is dinosaurs. They are
putting mechanical dinosaurs into the
park.
They are making a new area called
Adventure Land and are adding different types of dinosaurs to it. Some
kinds of dinosaurs that they are adding are Baryonyx dinosaurs, Chasmosaurus dinosaurs, Anhanguera
dinosaurs, Spinosaurus dinosaurs and
Monolophosaurus dinosaurs. This
new attraction is to appeal to more
little kids but as well as history junkies who may not like riding the rides
as much but enjoy looking at all the
different types of dinosaurs.
With all these new attractions, they
try and offer a variety of types because if they kept adding new attractions that are almost the same then
a lot of people would get sick of it.
An example of this is how different
types of roller coasters are in types of
parks, like Cedar Point.
Cedar Point offers a wide variety
The Maverick is another roller
coaster at Cedar Point that offers
thrill seekers a different type of coaster. It has a drop at a 92 degree angle
so it gives riders the feeling that they
are heading straight for the concrete
while suspending from a 105 feet
drop. It also comes to almost a complete stop then offers a sudden burst
of acceleration while in a tunnel that
The View of the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster
at Cedar Point, while sitting besides it.
of rides and coasters. They have an
indoor roller coaster called Disaster
Transport. In hot summer days it is
nice to be able to go on a roller coaster in the cool air conditioning. This
ride is also in the dark so it is exciting in the fact that you can not see the
track in front of you, so it offers lots
of surprise dips and turns.
Another unique roller coaster at Cedar Point is The Mantis which is a
roller coaster where riders experience
it while in a standing position. This is
a way different feeling then going on
a roller coaster sitting down.
is completely dark.
Another type of roller coaster at
Cedar Point is the Raptor which is a
roller coaster with floorless coaches
suspended beneath an overhead track.
While on the ride, it steeps really
close to the ground and the fact that it
is floorless it gives riders the feeling
that they are almost able to touch the
ground.
The Wicked Twister is another type
of roller coaster with floorless coaches suspended beneath an overhead
track, but this coaster just goes forward and backwards. While on the
ride, since it uses such high speeds of
72 miles per hour, when it is going up
and in reverse, it seems like the ride
will never stop and will just continue
on to the clouds.
The Top Thrill Dragster is a roller
coaster that is different then your
average roller coaster. It accelerates
from 0 to 120 mph in just four seconds. This ride offers riders the sense
of a quick adrenal rush, but, if you do
not keep you’re head back then it can
give you a severe case of whiplash.
A different type of roller coaster
that is not offered at Cedar Point but
offered at various other amusement
park, such as, The Invertigo at Kings
Island in Cincinnati, Oh and The
Manta at Sea World in Orlando, Fl.
After you are placed in you’re seats,
the track immediately flips backward so you are sitting facing the
sky, it takes you up a hill then down
and through many loops and turns.
It offers a different type of thrill in
one where you feel like you are going to fall off the ride. Also it gives
you the feeling that you will skid the
ground with you’re face.
Some new technology that has
been added to roller coasters has to
do with their brakes. Now, newer
roller coasters use magnetic brakes
which make them able to run trains
in the rain.
“Before this new technology it was
impossible to brake multiple trains at
the same time in just a sprinkle. So,
once it began to rain it would take a
while for trains to get on and off the
track. Thanks to the new brake system, the rain is not such a big threat to
the coaster trains,” said Bill Spahn.
Thinking about how many people
attend Cedar Point a day let alone
all season the numbers are probably
pretty high. But a question is how
have so many people found out about
Cedar Point and its roller coasters?
Cedar Point has become so popular
and so well-known by mostly word of
mouth and the media. Once a new
attraction is added almost everyone
The Millenium Force
roller Coaster, at Cedar
Point, lit up at night
knows about it instantly because of
how fast the media gets things out.
Not only that, but once you go somewhere and you like it you want to tell
everyone about it, which is another
way people spread the word.
When Cedar Point was first built,
being the “Roller Coaster Capitol of
The World” wasn’t always their main
goal. But in 1989 when the first steel
roller coaster was built, the Magnum
XL, this all began. “The Magnum
was the start of coaster wars. Every
amusement park was trying to out-do
the others by making a taller and faster roller coaster. That’s when Cedar
Point had planned to try and make the
park’s main focus to be Roller Coasters,” said Bill Spahn.
If you are someone who really enjoys roller coasters and want a way
to spend a summer day, then try and
take a trip to Sandusky, Oh to experience the Roller Coaster Capitol of the
World, first-hand and be able to say,
“I am a ride warrior!”
The First steel Roller Coaster at Cedar Point, Magnum Xl 200
9 Broken Arms, Bloody
Noses, Fat Lips and It’s
Only a Dance
By Nick Strunk
he day has finally come. You
have been waiting for this concert for months. You are standing outside of the venue. The cold winter air combined with the breeze makes
your whole body shiver.
After standing in line for what feels
like an hour, the line begins to move.
The cold weather suddenly becomes a
distant memory, as you begin to warm
up with excitement.
T
You hand the man your ticket and he
says “Enjoy the show” but you hardly
notice that he even exists.
The smell of old spilled beer and
sweat fills your nostrils, but you are
so excited for this show you forget
what fresh air smells like.
You look towards the stage, and see
the headlining band scurrying off
stage after their sound check. You are
excited to see them, but disappointed
when you realize that it will be well
over two hours before you see them
again.
You get a drink from the bar, but
can’t steady your hand to drink it.
After a few minutes, the first opening
band comes on. The music distracts
you enough so that you can finally sip
your cold beverage.
You are so excited to see the headlining band, the few opening bands
go by in a blur.
Between the final opener and the
headliner, you try to move closer to
the stage, anxious just to see your favorite band live.
The lights suddenly go out, and the
few hundred people surrounding you
scream. Strobe lights are flashing,
temporarily blinding you, and making you see things in short clips, like
looking at pictures.
Through the flashes, you can see
shadows. Three are holding guitars,
and one is sitting behind the drums.
Your heart is pounding with excitement. The crowd begins chanting
the band’s name, practically begging
them to play.
Dim lights focus on the stage as the
front man introduces the band. The
crowd is making so much noise, all
you can hear is a blur of the band’s
name and song requests for the first
song.
The drummer bellows out the beat.
“1, 2, 3, 4!” He come crashing in
with the opening rhythm, the cymbals crashing and the steady “boom,
tap, boom, boom, tap” from the kick
drum and the snare drum. On the next
down beat, the bass player comes in,
laying down a thick rhythm. The two
are perfectly in sync.
The guitar comes screeching in with
a pick slide that sounds like a jet engine. He hits the first power chord
and a wall of sound hits you feel like
you just got punched in the face.
The singer bellows out the first few
words of the first song, and the entire
crowd screams. The music is loud,
hard, and fast with a distorted overtone from the amplifier and the PA.
The low notes of the bass guitar and
the bass drum make your whole body
feel like its vibrating. You get so into
the beat and the song you want to
move. You want to dance to it.
Out of the corner of your eye, you
see a circle of the floor occupied by
only a few people. You move closer,
and the small group of people is doing something that resembles dancing, but they are running into each
other.
You still have the urge to move to
the music and decide to join them.
You realize that you are having a
great time.
The song ends and so does the move-
ment. What you have just taken part
of is not just a dance or a ritual, but a
part of history. You have just participated in a mosh pit.
Slam dancing, the precursor to moshing, was created in the 1970s in New
York with bands like the Ramones,
Blondie, and the Pixies. The kids doing the dance would get so lost in the
beat and continue their dancing, despite the fact that they were slamming
into each other.
American and British punk rock in
the late 1970s was characterized by
the pogo, jumping up and down to the
beat, and stage dives, which is jumping off the stage and into the crowd.
As the music got faster and harder
with the birth of bands like Minor
Threat and Black Flag and Social
Distortion, the dancing sped up as
well and turned into pushing and
shoving that was with the beat.
The first wave of slam dancing turning into moshing can be traced to
Costa Mesa, California during the
first wave of American Hardcore
punk bands.
According to author Steven Blush
and former Southern California punk
rocker Steven Blush “Mike Marine,
a former U.S. Marine and the star of
The Decline of Western Civilization,
performed the first slam dance turn
mosh in 1979. Marine created a vicious version of punk dancing. He’d
smash the face of anyone who would
get near him-especially some Hippie,
who’d get pulverized.”
This more violent form of slamming
soon made its way to the San Francisco and Bay Area punk scene where
all the kids were still doing the pogo.
Today, slam dancing is no more.
At almost any concert, you will see
exclusively moshing. Moshing is
a form of dance where participants
push, slam, or run into each other.
Modern moshing was made popular
in Washington DC in the 1980s during
the hardcore punk rock movement. It
was originally called “mashing” in
record liner notes but with the “band
that put moshing on the map” Bad
Brains’ front man HR pronounced it
as “mosh” with his Jamaican accent
and the crowd adopted it.
Moshing got its name from the
steady, fast beat of the bass and drums
where the dancer builds up energy
during the first few moments of the
song, and the energy inside them explodes, thus “moshing” with others.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s
with the rising success of thrash metal bands like Slayer and Anthrax and
the grunge bands like Nirvana and the
Melvins, the term came into popular
vernacular.
Moshing made its way into other
heavy genres like grunge and heavy
metal. John Linnell of They Might
Be Giants, “it didn’t matter what kind
of music you were playing or what
kind of band you were; everybody
moshed to everything. It was just
kind of the enforced rule of going to
concerts.”
On November 26th, I went to see
Social Distortion live at the Omni in
Toledo. Social Distortion is a punk
rock band from Orange County, California since the late 70’s. They have
covered almost all aspects of punk
10
rock but have always been defined as
pure rock and roll.
As expected, the crowd was full
of energy and made up of all different age groups. During the first few
songs, “Road Zombie” and “Bad
Luck”, center of the crowd of about
1,500 people started moving to the
music.
Normally being in the pit, I was fine
with this. I danced for a few songs
and made a few new friends and everything was fine. For the third song,
“So Far Away”, I decided to step out
of the pit and watch the show for a
few songs.
two beats per second. For those not
fluent in music lingo, that is a very
noticeable difference.
The older punks in the audience and
I started talking and voicing our disgust with the members of the crowd
and how they were running into people from behind and throwing punches in the middle of the pit and were
dancing to a song like “Bakersfield”
like it was “So Far Away”.
On October 27th, I saw the Misfits at
Peabody’s in Cleveland. This show
would be the third time that I have
seen them live, but I had never been
right next to the stage.
Minutes before they came on, I
snuck in between people and made
my way to center stage, practically
on top of the monitors.
The band came on and instantly went
into the first song “The Devil’s Rain”.
Through the ten rows of people behind me, I was thrust into the stage
with so much force that I was almost
laying on the stage.
The crowd eventually settled slightly, but there was no chance of me
moving from my position, no matter
what happened.
About mid way through the set, the
band is playing some of their older
Mike Ness of Social Distortion performing in 2011
There was a family of three next to
me. A mom and dad, probably in
their mid-40s, and a child, probably
about 12 years old, and all of them
professed their love for Social Distortion to me. I told them I felt the
same way and they made sure I was
not going to “explode into psycho
mode” when the next song started. I
told them I was going to sit the next
few songs out and watch the band.
They thanked me and the next song
started.
About 25 seconds in, the father, who
had his arms around his son, was
pulled into the pit and down onto the
ground, on top of his son. I jumped
into the middle of the pit and tried to
grab them and help them up, but was
unable because of all of the feet stepping on my hands and their bodies.
All of the surrounding older punk
rockers proceeded to help my cause
and get the grown man off of his
child.
Suddenly, the music stops, but the
dancing continues. Over the PA,
Mike Ness, the lead singer and lead
guitar player, tells the crowd to stop
and get everybody up on their feet.
The crowd, however, acts like the
song never stopped and ignores Ness’
commands.
Fed up, Ness shouts into the microphone and demands that the crowd
stops what they are doing. The pit
stops on a dime and looks up at the
stage like lost puppies.
He proceeds to go on a five minute
rant about how the kids in the punk
scene today are too rough and do not
under stand the point of slam dancing, and instructs the crowd to be
more careful or the band will walk
off the stage.
A few songs later, the crowd had
worked up the courage to begin dancing again. The song was “Don’t Drag
Me Down” and everything seemed to
be back to normal.
The following song was “Bakersfield,” a slower song about being
home sick and being close to your
family, but not actually with them.
To not only my surprise, but all of
the older punk rockers in the crowd,
the mosh pit opens up again and is
just as rough as the beginning of the
concert.
“So Far Away” has a tempo of about
175 beats per minute, or about 3 beats
per second. “Bakersfield” has a tempo of about 120 beats per minute, or
I have always been very tolerant of
moshing, often participating in the
pit or being one of the few brave bystanders who stands on the edge and
gets slammed into.
I was in the pit for the opening
bands, Cleveland natives and crowd
favorites Hostile Omish and American Werewolves, but for the main
act, I wanted to be right in front of
the stage, right in front of one of my
favorite bands.
trolled way.”
“I can definitely see why somebody
would think that moshing is violent.
When you have kids in the pit who
don’t know what they’re doing orkids
who are going in there trying to hurt
somebody, it can get very dangerous
very fast.”
When asked who should and should
not mosh, the general consensus is
that people who are experienced in
the scene and are not going in and
songs and I feel a force push down on
my head and neck. When the force is
relieved, I look at the stage and see
that a crowd surfer has made his way
to the band via my skull.
He proceeds to wave to his friends
and when he sees the stage manager
heading his way, he jumps off but
does not secure his footing, thus exiting the same way he entered, right on
top of my head.
This happened several more times
through out the night, much to my
dismay, but I understood the risk I
took being at the front of the stage.
When asked why he slam dances,
junior Ben Grossi said “It’s just a way
to release all these aggressions and all
this energy in a safe, organized, con-
throwing punches belong in the pit.
For people who are going to their first
concert where there may be moshing,
stay out and observe. Just because it
looks violent, does not mean that ev
erybody who can throw a punch can
do it.
“I’m not really thinking about anything when I’m in the middle of the
pit. I’m just kind of moving to the
music. After awhile you can tell who
does and doesn’t want to mosh and
you try your best to not run into the
people who want to stand back and
watch the band,” said Grossi.
Some clubs have even gone as far as
to ban moshing from the shows thatthey put on.
Local clubs like Peabody’s Down
Under has a sign next to the dance
floor that prohibits moshing and the
House of Blues will play a message
before the performers come on stage,
both welcoming the crows but warning them that slam dancing will not
be permitted.
Even bands like the Smashing
Pumpkins, Fugazi, and Lamb of God
have very openly expressed their dis
approval of moshing both at shows
and during interviews.
The main counterpoint to slam dancing is the violent nature turning into
actual violence causing injuries.
In a 1996 Smashing Pumpkins concert in Dublin, Ireland, a 17 year old
fan was crushed by the slam dancers
and later died in the hospital, despite
warnings from the band that people
were getting hurt.
At another Smashing Pumpkins concert in 2007 in Vancouver, Canada, a
20 year old fan was dragged out of
the pit unconscious, and later died at
a hospital despite the best efforts of
first aid specialists.
“I remember I was at this one show
and a kid kept running into the people
standing on the edge of the pit full
force and this girl’s boyfriend ended
up giving him a black eye.” Grossi
continues, “I really haven’t seen anybad injuries like broken bones come
from moshing, just people slipping
on a wet floor and their head bouncing off the ground.”
In this worst case scenario, who
should be considered at fault? Some
point to the venue saying that the security force should be more aware
and alert to potential injuries.
Others say that the moshers are at
fault because they are the ones actually doing the damage. However does
the victim assume the responsibility
of their own well being when they
purchase the ticket?
A small group points to the band,
saying that the music they are playing
is to blame for injuries and inciting
the riot-like dancing.
For those interested in slam dancing
or moshing, here are a few basic rules
to follow:
removed from the dance floor, and
not by the club’s security.
Finally, just like at Cedar Point,
those wishing to ride the coaster that
is crowd surfing must comply with
height and weight restrictions. A 6’3”
325 pound man should keep both feet
on the floor. The cracking sound
heard underneath you just might be
someone’s neck.
Just the same, a 5’2” 98 pound girl
should probably stay clear of the
mosh pit to avoid accidental injuries.
Further, surf is a metaphorical term.
There is no indoor pool at the venue,
so there is no need to kick.
There are also unspoken rules for
those not wanting to be involved with
the moshers.
1.
Keep all ice in the cup.
Nobody wants to take a cup load of
ice to the face while they are running around a crowded room. It also
makes the floor wet, making it easier
for slammers to slip and get stepped
on. Plus, why would you want to
waste your $5 cup of Coke?
2.
Moshers may occasionally
bump into observers, but no offense
should be taken. Bystanders should
be on their guard for projectile peoplejust as moshers should be aware of
their position in relation to the rest of
the crowd.
3.
Enjoy the show, and let others enjoy the show. If moshing is not
your idea of enjoying a concert, then
do not get mad at those slamming.
You will never have somebody get in
your face for not moshing.
No matter which part of the crowd
you belong to, one thing is for certain: everybody is there to have a
good time.
All crowd members need to be tolerant of each other whether you agree
with their actions or not.
The fact is, slam dancing is just what
the name implies, a dance. It was
never intended to hurt somebody or
cause so much controversy.
It was created as a burst of energy
and a way to release aggressions, but
perhaps with the decline of the punk
rock movement and increasing age
Jerry Only of the Misfits
1.
No targeted rushes towards
specific individuals. If they are in the
pit, they are there to dance and get out
their energy. If they are outside of the
pit, they do not want to participate.
Their idea of having a good time is
watching the show. Not being ran
into.
2.
Man-down assistance. If
somebody falls, help them up. It does
not matter if the band is in the middle
of playing your favorite song or if
you are on the outside of the dance
floor. Help them get off the ground
so they do not get trampled.
3.
No intentional attempts to
inflict pain. At most shows, the kids
throwing punches and doing kicks in
the middle of the circle are forcibly
of punks, the energy and aggressions
died as well.
The Subculture
of
Sports Radio
By Kristen Zeszut
Fans, hosts, and producers of sports
talk radio, in a sense, form their own
subculture. Every single one of those
people have at least one essential
thing in common: they are all crazy
for sports. Whether the station is local or national, sports fans want to
know what is going on in the world
of sports. It does not matter where
someone lives or what team someone may root for, in the end, they are
all fanatics. Because of this “subculture,” sports talk radio was able to
spread like a wild fire.
History
Believe it or not, sports talk radio stations are fairly new. Radio
stations finally began adding legitimate sports talk segments in
the 1970s and 80s. The first full
sports talk radio station, WFAN,
was born in 1987 in New York.
On January 2, 1992, ESPN Radio
hit the airwaves. All-sports radio
station formats became extremely
popular, and in 1996, it was reported by Sports Illustrated that
there were 157 all-sports radio
stations in the United States. And
by 1999, that number grew to over
200 all-sports radio stations.
One of the most popular sports
talk shows of all time was The
Fabulous Sports Babe. Originally,
Nanci Donnellan started hosting
The Fabulous Sports Babe in Seattle, Washington. Donnellan then
went national on July 4, 1994 on
ESPN radio. The Fabulous Sports
Babe was the first call-in show on
ESPN radio which became a phenomenon. The show started with
an insignificant number of 30 local affiliates. Two years later, this
number grew to a compelling 215
affiliates.
The Fabulous Sports Babe is a
show that forever changed sports
talk radio. Being able to have a
call-in show is easily one of the
most dynamic game changers in
the business. The Fabulous Sports
Babe led to other great shows such
as The Jungle, Mike and Mike in
the Morning, and the Scott Van
Pelt Show.
Munch in the Morning
4:30am-6:00am
Mark Bishop, TJ Zuppe
Ratings and
Demographics
Overall, all-sports talk radio stations have never rated very well.
If someone were to look at a list
radio ratings for a city, all-sports
talk formats would be toward the
bottom. With that being said, how
do sports talk radio stations survive?
Radio stations, such as ESPN
850 and 92.3 The Fan, target
males between the ages of 18 and
54 who enjoy spending money.
Therefore, advertisements, contests, and giveaways that appeals
to the eyes of those specific demographics. “If we can do well
in that demographic, and make
our advertising partners happy,
then we’re going to be very successful,” said Kenny Roda, cohost
of “Cleveland Sports Night” on
ESPN 850.
Yes, there are certainly those
floater fans that may be older,
younger, or even female, but statistically speaking; those certain
males are the general fan base to
sports talk radio stations. “Don’t
get me wrong, you’d love to do
well with all listeners, men and
women of all ages, but you have
to know your audience,” said
Roda.
WKRK Studio
Cohost of The Hooligans on
ESPN Cleveland, Chris Fedor,
said that one thing that keeps
WKNR going strong is passion. “I
would say that from the very top
there is a passion to make the station and the company as a whole
successful. I think that’s what
keeps us going is passion.” Fedor
also said that, “It’s a very family
oriented environment. And I think
that’s what really drives [ESPN
Cleveland].”
Effects of Internet and
Social Media
The Internet has easily had one
of the, if not the most monumental impact on sports talk radio. To
make sports talk more interactive
for the fans, stations began setting
up e-mail newsletters to inform
their fans about upcoming shows
and guests. Instant messaging also
helped fans stay in touch with the
world of sports 24/7. Bulletin
boards and chat rooms helped
fans be updated and talk with other fans and even hosts. Fans are
also able to listen to their favorite shows through their computer
when they are at home or (even if
they are not supposed to) in their
office.
Modern day fans stay connected with their favorite shows and
hosts via Facebook and Twitter.
On Facebook, stations will have a
page that fans can “like” to stay
up to date with news, events, and
even contests.
Twitter allows fans to have instantaneous
access
to the sporting
news throughout
the country and
even the world.
“[Twitter
has]
been monumental,” said WKRK
20/20
Updater,
Chris Fillar. “It’s
almost been a
new era because
everything is just
instantly available.’
Fans can “follow” different team
pages and beat writers for up-todate information on their favorite
teams. In the case of ESPN and
The Fan, sports talk listeners can
also “follow” their favorite hosts
and read their tweets about what
is going on in the world of sports.
If you follow the right hosts and
say the right thing, you even have
the opportunity to get a response
from that person.
Stations also have Twitter accounts so they can talk to fans and
hear their opinions. If a fan tweets
something notable to the account
of the station, the tweet has the
potential to be read on air for all
to hear.
Twitter may even be more essential and benefit those who work
in sports talk more than it does
the fans. “You have to do Twitter,” said J.G. Spooner, producer
of Kiley and Booms on The Fan.
Fillar’s reasoning may be the best
to support Spooner’s statement. “I
am always, always, always checking the wire, Twitter. I am one of
those guys where if I don’t know
exactly what is happening right
now I feel like I’m missing out on
something.”
Not only is Twitter great for hosts
and producers to get information
for their show, it also helps get the
word out about their show. “[Twitter] a way to build an audience
quickly,” said Bruce Hooley, host
of ESPN Cleveland’s The Hooligans. “If you have one person that
likes your product and they make
it known to their friends or to their
‘followers,’ then you can certainly
Adam “The Bull”
Gerstenhaber
multiply your audience in a short
amount of time.” Chris Fillar ultimately said that, “[Twitter] is
one of the most terrific marketing
tools that has been ever been developed for radio.”
Web sites such as Facebook and
Twitter, modern sports talk has
become more fan friendly than
ever before.
How to get a Guest
Having good guests is essential
to any show. But just how do stations get a hold of their upcoming
guests? “A lot of times you just
have to dig,” said J.G. Spooner.
“You have to look under rocks a
lot of times.”
What Spooner means by that is
someone really has to look and
work hard to get a good guest.
“You Google, you search, you
Twitter.” Also, if you want to get a
hold of certain athletes, Chris Fedor said, “Either you go through
the Public Relations staff for the
team they play or you go through
their agents.”
Even after the producers and
hosts do search the web or go
through other people to get contact information for the person
they have interest in interview-
11
ing, they still may not get that
lucky. As disappointing as it may
be, many people are simply just
not willing to write or call back.
“Just because you have someone’s
contact information, doesn’t mean
they want to do [an interview],”
said Spooner.
“I think a market like
Cleveland deserves to
have more than one
sports talk station,”
Chris Fedor, cohost
of ESPN Cleveland’s
The Hooligans
What it Takes to Get Into
Sports Talk
Getting into the sports talk business is surely no easy task. Sports
talk is a very limited business
with very few jobs per city. Overall, WKRK The Fan only has a total of seven weekday hosts. ESPN
Cleveland WKNR has double that
number of weekday hosts with
fourteen, but that number is still
not significant.
With such few jobs in sports
talk radio, how did these twentyone people get their jobs here in
Cleveland?
Bruce Hooley began hosting in
sports talk radio on a show on The
Fan in Columbus in January 2005.
Hooley and The Fan had a mutual
agreement to part ways this past
March after a controversial show.
Not long after, Hooley was contacted by ESPN Cleveland. “I
was just very flattered this past
summer when [Keith Williams
and Jason Gibbs] called me and
asked if they could come down
to Columbus to have lunch.” said
Hooley. “I was really impressed
with the dynamic in [ESPN Cleveland’s] organization and their core
values.”
J.G. Spooner started off hosting
his very own show, The Really
Big Show, in Wyoming in 2009.
In 2010, J.G. made Wyoming
broadcasting history by being the
first person to ever to win five
awards at the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters banquet.
In June of 2011, Spooner was
contacted by WKZA to go and
work for them. Spooner instantly
took the job because he, “Just felt
like it was time to move on. I had
already accomplished things that
had never been done before in
the history of [Wyoming]... and I
wanted a new challenge.” Spooner
then left Wyoming and began his
new job in mid-August.
Daily WKNR ESPN Cleveland 850am Lineup
The Really Big Show
9:00am-1:00pm
Tony Rizzo,
Aaron Goldhammer
The Hooligans
3:00pm-6:00pm
Bruce Hooley, Greg Brida,
Chris Fedor
3-Deep
7:00pm-9:00pm
Je’Rod Cherry, Will Burge,
Emmett Golden
Cleveland Sports Night
9:00pm-12:00am
Mike Reghi, Kenny Roda,
Dave Denatale
12
Before J.G. went to work in New
York, he applied online at CBS
Radio for a producer position at
The Fan. He soon heard the news
that he was hired by The Fan,
merely weeks after starting his
job at WKZA. Although he felt
bad about leaving after so little
time, Spooner said, “When someone’s dream job comes up, you
can’t pass it up.” The main reason
he got into sports radio was to
work in Cleveland. Spooner did
not hesitate to pack up and go to
Cleveland.
be the best in the sports talk business, you have to be persistent and
never say “no.” One always have
to strive to be at the top by doing
whatever may be asked. Eventually, dedication and being persistent will pay off in the end.
The final quality that is 100%
necessary in sports talk radio is
to simply love sports. “I think everyone should have a passion for
sports. Passion and strong opinion are what I think makes a great
sports broadcaster,” said Chris
Fillar.
“The Bull” Gerstenhaber, “to decide what angle(s) we are going to
take, organize the show and plan
ahead as well.”
Thereafter, there may be some
time to update Twitter and Facebook about the upcoming show.
But either way, “From there, it’s
show time,” said Britton.
Preparing for a Day in
“I felt like all my
Sports Talk Radio
hard work paid off. I
had my dream job,”
“There really is no typical day in The Battle for the Top
J.G. Spooner,
the media,” said Keith Britton, Sports Talk Station in
producer at 92.3
producer of The Bull and the Fox
Cleveland
on WKRK The Fan. “While there
The Fan
are certain procedures and schedChris Fillar got his professional
start in Parkersburg, West Virginia
working for several Clear Channel stations. Fillar had a lot on his
plate being the sports director, and
doing play-by-play for local high
school sports teams. Due to all he
had to do, Chris was able to put up
a pretty impressive resume.
Growing up in Michigan, Fillar had always been a fan of CBS
Radio. Chris said that he, “Heard
rumors swirling that a new station was going to be opening up
in Cleveland.” Needless to say, he
was interested in a position at the
new CBS Radio station, The Fan.
“When I heard it was opening I
kept a close look on the web site.
Eventually I saw a ‘help wanted’
sign put up in the window and I
sent in my materials.” Fillar was
soon contacted by Program Director, Andy Roth, and quickly
landed the job at WKRK. “I, with
no hesitation what-so-ever, took
that job.”
Not only does one have to put in
hard work to land a job in sports
talk radio, they also have to have
the right qualities and personality.
One trait that one may possess is
being unbiased, even if you have
to tell the horrible truth about
your favorite team. Chris Fedor
said, “I try and do my best to not
get caught up in fandom.
I’m not a homer; I’m never going
to be a homer.” Sometimes, fans
Les Levine, Jeff Thomas, and J.G.
Spooner at the WKRK studio
need a harsh reality check about
their team, so an unbiased perspective is always needed sometime during the day.
According to J.G. Spooner, another essential quality is, “You
have to be dedicated and driven
to be the best at what you do.” To
Good Karma Broadcasting’s
ules that remain the same from ESPN Cleveland 850am, WKNR,
day to day, news is always cycling has been the dominate and only
in and changing making every day true sports talk station in Clevedifferent than the last.”
land since the 2001s. But now,
One may wonder what the key to there is a new all-sports talk station
having a successful show may be. in Cleveland that is ready to battle
Vice President and General Man- for the number one spot. CBS Raager, Keith Williams, of ESPN dio’s 92.3 The Fan, WKRK, hit
Cleveland said, “Internal com- the airwaves on August 29, 2011.
munication is
Nonkey to presports
paring for a
fans are
good show.”
frustrated
With inthat their
ternal comalternamunication
tive rock
comes much
station is
preparation.
gone, but
Hosts and
the “subproducers
culture”
arrive early Jeff Thomas and 20/20 Updater, Josh Sabo of sports
each day to befans are genuinely excited that
gin research. (Some guys go into there is a station other than ESPN
work four or five hours early to Cleveland. Some fans are happy
get themselves organized for the they can switch to a different staday.) Everyone searches through tion and still hear talk about sports
newspapers or the internet to find if they do not like a particular
major sports topics in the city show or person on ESPN Cleveof Cleveland and around the na- land. “I think this town needed antion. “It’s a lot of the behind the other opinion based station,” said
scenes stuff that requires reading Keith Britton. “They only had one
the newspaper, web site, printing place to go.”
out any articles or stats that I may
need for the show,” said Fedor.
Hosts and producers are constantly communicating before the
show to talk about the different
subject areas they want to hit and
to make sure everything will go
in the right direction. Keith Williams said, “Some shows prepare
throughout the day in a number of
phone, e-mail or text conversations.”
Proceeding that research and
communication, there are meetDustin Fox
ings held amongst the staff to
also talk about the main topics of
A non-sports fan may wonder
the day and to layout the show. why Cleveland would have two
“I meet with my boss (sports di- sports stations. It is all the same
rector) and we not only go over thing, right? Wrong. “A lot of peoways to improve the show(s), but ple think that because they watch
what the plan for the day is as far sports, they can host a sports talk
as news, topics, and guests,” said show,” said Spooner. “I think peoBritton.
ple really don’t realize that it’s not
Following that meeting Keith just ‘Hey we talk for four hours.’”
Britton, like all hosts and pro- Britton said, “What we do at 92.3
ducers, meets with the hosts of is unique.”
the show, Dustin Fox and Adam
Each station, and even each host,
brings their own personality into
their shows. Kenny Roda said that,
“Every host has their own unique
way or style of doing their show
and a lot have been successful.”
Fedor said, “The main thing that
I bring is an unbiased perspective
of Cleveland sports. I try to be as
honest and realistic as possible.”
With the arising of a new station,
one must wonder, what was going
through the minds of the guys on
ESPN Cleveland? “I wasn’t surprised by it,” said Roda. “Cleveland is a huge sports town with
passionate fans. And with the success of WKNR, I figured it was
just a matter of time before someone else tried to get it on that format and try and capitalize.”
Chris Fedor said, “I think a market like Cleveland deserves to
have more than one sports talk
station.” Fedor also said, “When
92.3 The Fan came in, I was excited, I was thrilled. I’m always
up for a challenge.”
Having total confidence in a company absolutely helps it
to strive. Kenny Roda
said, “I believe ESPN
Cleveland WKNR is
the best sports talk station in town and one of
the best in the country.”
From the standpoint of
The Fan, Keith Britton
said, “We feel that we
offer the best sports radio in the city.”
In Cleveland, it seems
like we are only about
“rebuilding.”
Some
may feel as if the battle for the number one
sports station can somewhat relate to Cleveland in its “rebuilding”
years. Put it this way,
ESPN Cleveland is the
2008-2010 Indians, or
current Browns and
Cavs. People get tired
of seeing the same
thing over and over
again. A fresh face is
wanted in players and
staff. In this case, the
players and staff would
be the hosts and staff
on ESPN 850.
Then, let’s say the
Indians, Browns, and
Cavs all trade for a new
team. In this case, that
would be 92.3 The Fan.
In a rebuilding team,
you find some young
guys (Dustin Fox, cohost of The Bull and
the Fox), some old guys
(Kevin Kiley, cohost of
Kiley and Booms), and
some familiar faces
(Lindsey
“Baseball”
Foltin, former producer WKNR’s The Really
Big Show, currently
producing
WKRK’s
Talking Heads). That,
indeed, may be exactly
what The Fan represents.
Both ESPN Cleveland
and The Fan without a
doubt believe they provide the best
station in Cleveland. For ESPN
Cleveland, Bruce Hooley said,
“I certainly feel confident in our
product and the ESPN brand.” For
opposing station, The Fan, Keith
Britton said, “We really just feel
like we’re here for the long haul.”
Only time will tell whether ESPN
Cleveland or The Fan will end up
the top all-sports talk radio station
in Cleveland. May the best sports
talk station win.
FOLLOW
J.G. Spooner
@JSpoons1
Chris Fillar
@ItsFillar
Bruce Hooley
@BHOOLZ
Kenny Roda
@roadmanwknr
Keith Britton
@KeithBritton86
Chris Fedor
@ChrisFedor
Keith Williams
@keithgwilliams
Daily WKRK 92.3 The Fan Lineup
Kiley and Booms
6:00am-10:00am
Kevin Kiley,
Chuck Booms
Cleveland’s Talking Heads
10:00am-2:00pm
Andy Baskin,
Jeff Phelps
The Bull and the Fox
2:00pm-7:00pm
Adam Gerstenhaber,
Dustin Fox
The Ken Carman Show
7:00pm-12:00am
Ken Carman
The Supernatural in Medina Steakhouse
by Marisa Mindyas
Many do not believe in ghosts,
spirits, the supernatural, whatever
you want to call it. What people
don’t realize is some of the most
popular places around are in fact
haunted in some way. Many know
of these two restaurants and might
go to them often, but probably
don’t know the past behind them.
This first restaurant is certainly
known for its interesting past
and the spirits that never leave.
The Pomeroy House started back
in 1835. A young man by the name
of Alanson Pomeroy was active
in Strongsville’s public affairs.
He was Justice of the Peace, a
trustee of Strongsville and was
often known as “Judge Pomeroy.”
He was an enterprising man and
his connections with the National
City Bank of Cleveland led to his
organizing of the Bank of Berea.
In 1847, he built the large
mansion home which he named
“The Homestead”, now known as
Don’s Pomeroy House. In 1850,
he built the General Store next to
“The Homestead” in the same style
of architecture, and the Patio is
now located adjacent to that site.
President Lincoln and the Union
Army were popular with the citizens
of Strongsville. In fact many of those
citizens, including the Pomeroys,
were Abolitionists. The Pomeroys’
steadfast belief in hospitality and
equality led them to set up “The
Homestead” as a station of the
Underground
Railroad.
Harlan Pomeroy, one of six children
of Alanson and Keziah, frequently
told of catching brief glimpses of
slaves when the cellar door would
be opened. He would frequently
see his mother going down the cellar
steps with trays of fresh steaming food.
The Underground Railroad was a
very secret society. Its operations
were never written or recorded and,
of course, kept from the children.
Years later, Harlan relayed a story told
to him by his father that slaves would
be brought in from Oberlin by night
concealed in a load of hay.
They
were hidden in the Pomeroy House
cellar until word was received from
Rocky River that the next boat would
be leaving for Canada. Alanson, in the
dark, would then hide the slaves in his
wagons and make the long journey to
Rocky River leading to freedom.
Eventually
Harlan
became
a
prominent physician in Cleveland
and
bought-out
the
other
heirs
of
“The
Homestead.”
The Pomeroy House then became
the summer home of Dr. Harlan
Pomeroy’s family. Harlan and
Frances Pomeroy had two children;
Lawrence and Gertrude. Gertrude
never married. She became a
freelance writer and lived in the
Pomeroy House until 1963, when she
retired to Florida. Gertrude
left the house vacant and it
quickly began to decline.
The house took on
the persona of “the old
creepy place on the
corner.”
Neighborhood
kids
would
often
dare each other to sneak
into the house to find “the
Pomeroy House Ghost”
which still exists today.
Nobody knows for sure
who this ghost is but it is
predicted to be Gertrude.
The children that used to
be scared of this place are
said to still live there and also slaves
from the Undergound Railroad.
These ghosts though, do not affect
business unlike Medina Steakhouse.
Even though Medina Steakhouse
is known for having great food and
service, many don’t feel a comfortable
presence while being there and some
don’t come back because of that.
Harrison Blake is credited with
having the building built in 1858
for use as a stagecoach stop. Blake,
a former Colonel with the Union
Army in the Civil War, became a
U.S. Representative and also founded
the Old Phoenix Bank, the
Republican Party in Medina, and
brought the first railroad to town.
This building is 153 years old
and there are also stories that the
building was also used as a stop
for the Underground Railroad.
Over the years the building not
only changed ownership, but so
did the services provided. From
hotel to a brothel which is place
where men visit prostitutes,
a bookie joint, a place where
bookmakers do business, to a
grocery store, and a saloon to what is
now a steakhouse.
Some believe that the path
from Medina Steakhouse for the
Underground Railroad leads to
Don’s Pomeroy House since that, as
stated earlier, was also a stop for the
railroad.
There are no sources saying that
Medina Steakhouses’ path for the
Underground Railroad led to Don’s
Pomeroy House but both were busy
helping slaves to freedom even if
they took different paths. They would
both treat the slaves well by giving
them good hospitality and providing
food and drink to get ready for their
wagon ride to freedom.
There have been many ghost sightings
in Medina Steakhouse. Many have
seen ghostly figures walking through
the restaurant and some have felt the
presence of a large dog rubbing up
against their legs. Some people are
scared to come back because of the
amount of activity that goes on in this
restaurant, many feel uncomfortable.
When employees come in to open
up the restaurant and get ready for
their shift they said they do feel a
strange presence, like all eyes are on
you and the coldness that they feel
are the ghosts around them, many
of the employees aren’t scared of
this presence but in fact, used to it.
“During closing time is when the
man that lives in the attic likes to
come out and sometimes when we
come in in the morning there seems
to be plates or other things in the
kitchen that are sometimes out of
order that can’t be explained,” says
Nancy, a waitress at the restaurant.
Previous owner Frank Colabianchi
also comments saying “They freaked
me out a little but you can’t let
them scare you.” That’s the trouble
with some customers, especially
because they don’t understand
why these spirits do what they do.
The man that haunts the upstairs
is apparently looking for a ring or
some sort. Nobody knows if it is a
wedding ring or just any old ring,
but he is definitely looking for one.
Back then he was an older man, and
a disturbed man. He came to stay
there when it used to be a hotel. His
room was upstairs, which is now an
attic, where he lost the ring. Nancy
says “It had to be a very valuable ring
if he continues to disturb the upstairs
looking for it every night because
he never quits.” He is also the main
ghost and the most well known ghost
of this restaurant.
Everyone ends up
knowing about him
first since he causes
the most disturbances
and he’s not afraid to
make himself known.
Some also wonder if
the ring really is up
there somewhere but
it has been checked
and no ring seems
to be up there.
The most frequent
questions that the employees get at
Medina Steakhouse is, are these spirits
friendly? Or are they looking for
trouble? There are different answers
from different employees, but the main
answer turns out to be is that it varies.
Some say the man upstairs is
angry with everyone because he can
never find the ring, and he is also
uncomfortable with all the people
always around since he was used to a
quiet hotel. He haunts people if they
stay late at the restaurant to make
them feel what he feels which is anger,
discomfort and loneliness. He is the
main reason why some customers
are not comfortable being in that
restaurant to the point where they
never come back. Colabianchi says
“I’ve never noticed a change in how
busy it got, but that was years ago. I
think today, they struggle a little more.”
Other ghosts that haunt this place
include, people who died in a
fire there many years ago, a
man that hung himself in a
closet, and some say a few
slaves from the Underground
Railroad have also passed
away in that building.
The fire that happened many
years ago burned down half
the building. It is unknown
who caused this fire and
what business was running
in there at the time but this
fire killed a group of people.
The fire is said to have been
an accident but many do not
believe that. The people that
lost their lives in the fire still
stick around in Medina Steakhouse
today. They are supposedly upset about
their deaths because the fire shouldn’t
have happened and could’ve possibly
been preventable. These are the spirits
that customers report seeing walking
around the whole entire restaurant.
“When I used to be the owner, it
was scary how many reports I’ve
received from customers saying that
they just saw ghostly figures walking
around,” says Guy James, past owner.
Another graphic death that happened
in this building is a man hanging
himself in a closet right by the
stairs going up to the second floor.
Nobody knows much about
this death other than he
was a depressed man with
problems and he came to
this building when it was
a place where men visited
prostitutes. He would come
here to apparently push
away his issues and to feel
pleasure in his life again.
His depression couldn’t be
stopped, considering the
low amounts of medicine
those days were supplied
with. He couldn’t take
himself
anymore
and
thought killing himself
was the only way to end his pain.
He now haunts the restaurant
because he doesn’t like the fact that
it is a restaurant. He is still seeking
his pleasure and wants the prostitute
home back.The slaves that died in the
Underground Railroad died because
of what we all assume they died from,
bad health. These slaves were all bone
but they were thankful this building
opened up a path to help them escape.
Paths slowly started to open up
across the United States because
in 1793, the first parliament of the
province of Ontario passed “An Act
to Prevent the Further Introduction
of Slaves and to Limit the Term
of Forced Servitude within This
Province.” This statute confirmed the
ownership of slaves then held, but
provided that the children of slaves,
upon reaching the age of twenty-five
years, automatically would be set free.
This legislation remained in force
until 1834 when, by power of the
Imperial Parliament’s Emancipation
Act, slavery was abolished in all parts
of the British Empire, so Canada was
the closest place for slaves to escape.
The fact that this place has been a
stop for the Underground Railroad
is what people are most interested in
when coming to this restaurant, and
13
some customers wonder if evidence
of this path is still intact today.
The path is gone for renovation
purposes but all it became was a
dirt path under the whole building.
John B. Kachuba wrote a book called
“Ghost Hunting Ohio” detailing his
experience at Medina Steakhouse
so if you don’t believe this story,
his story should insure you on the
activity that happens at this restaurant
both during the day and at night.
His
experience
though,
happened
almost
accidently.
He and his wife were traveling when
they were having car trouble near the
restaurant. This was the closest place
to find help with their car. When they
went it they also decided to get a bite
to eat before their car was fixed and
back on the road again. Kachuba asked
about the history of the restaurant so
their waitress told them all about it.
After learning what he was told he
decided to stay longer and discover
more about the activity. The employees
let him stay till after hours to catch
any disturbances of these spirits.
He heard the man upstairs, felt
the presence of people around him,
and also felt the drastic change
of temperature in certain areas of
the restaurant. Their waitress also
stayed with them and gave them
a tour of the attic where the man
from many years ago still lives
spiritually to look for his ring.
He thought this experience was
worth sharing with the public so when
his book came out and the story of his
freaky ride at Medina Steakhouse
was in there, citizens of Ohio
became more interested in this place.
He is a ghost hunter always looking
for places to go investigate and at
Medina Steakhouse, he definitely
found what he needed for proof
about this restaurant being haunted.
Does having spirits in this restaurant
that lived many years ago make
business difficult? Many would like to
think so, but it seems to the employees
that they hold up okay. “The present
owner doesn’t like to share info about
these ghosts because to him, it can
be a business killer,” says bartender
Linda Williams.” If you want to know
about this history the restaurant or the
spirits that live here, the employees
are willing to tell you but some
ask not to go spreading it around.
Even though this restaurant, and
Don’s Pomeroy House has great food
and service are you willing to spend
some time with the ghosts that walk
around you? Don’t say you haven’t
been warned.
14
Cheating Death
Jaime was around 3 years old when
her parents went to adopt her and her
sister Jessie from Russia. After arriving in the US, with just a few minor
complications with doctors, Jaime
0sure she was healthy. An echocardiogram is a test that uses sound
waves to create a moving picture of
the heart to make an image more detailed than a plain x-ray image.
What was found in the echocardiogram gave Jaime a 50/50 chance of
survival.
lungs increased and she couldn’t run
around easily anymore. She stopped
much of her physical activity, like
playing basketball, and it was then
that her parents told her what she suffered from.
“It was sad but it answered a lot of
unanswered questions” Jaime stated
“but it brought me to the Lord so it
was a blessing in disguise”
As time went on, the symptoms
began to worsen at a quick rate. She
moved her locker to the downstairs
Jaime was then diagnosed with
pulmonary hypertension, which was
somewhat rare to have at that age.
“Pulmonary hypertension occurs
when there is a high resistance to the
blood flow through the lungs. Any
process inside the lungs that blocks
the normal blood flow from the right
side to the left side of the heart will
create pulmonary hypertension. The
higher the pressure is inside the vessels of the lung, will block the blood
to flow normally, and will also cause
heart failure, because the heart cannot
pump against a high resistance,” described Manual Caceres, a physician
at Southwest and Parma hospital.
Jaime described it as “it’s not that
you “feel” it but I just would get out
of breath all the time and wait for my
heart rate to go down. It was like I
had an 80 year olds lungs and heart
inside of my teenage body.”
At first Mrs. Bradford said she
didn’t understand the magnitude of
the news, but it was soon clear to
her. “We met up with the surgeon,
and when he said it was about 50/50
whether Jaime would live or not, at
that point I just about lost it,” said her
mother, Kathy Bradford.
But Jaime was able to continue her
life, with no symptoms showing of
the complications in her lungs and
heart. She lived a normal life, went to
school, played basketball, ran around
during recess, and had no effects.
She didn’t even know that she was in
any condition.
It was around seventh grade when
she started to show the effects of the
hypertension. The pressure in her
floor during sophomore year among
the freshman, couldn’t do sports or
any physical activities, and eventually
had to give up her job at an ice cream
shop, and was also homeschooled to
adjust to her condition.
Toward the end of last year in June,
4 days after school let out, she was
put on a 24/7 medication tube that she
described as being a “constant nuisance.” “Imagine carrying around a
shoe sized rock all the time” she said
“I had a bag to carry it in, but there
still was a lot of tubing that got in the
way of things.”
But the pump was not working out
for her, and she kept getting worse
She became extremely ill. She
couldn’t eat, and she was throwing
up often. She was as sick as could
be and was losing weight at an unhealthy rate.
She felt like she was going to die, it
was inevitable. But her attitude towards this fact was unlike so many
other people’s reaction to this feeling.
Her general feeling towards this was
just disappointment. “It was more
like, ‘Oh man I really don’t want to
die tomorrow’ than anything,” she
said “What are you going to do; you
can’t sit around and bawl your eyes
out. I wanted to stay strong for everyone else- I didn’t really tell anyone
this. I guess you can I can say that I
“bottled it up inside” but the only really stupid thing I did was blow $400
in the summer because I didn’t think
I was living to Christmas anyways so
I spent it all.”
And as she got sicker, and sicker,
her brave attitude kept going. Eventually it got to the point where she
could barely walk and function correctly. “My dad had to carry me up
the stairs, to bed a few nights before
my birthday.” She recounted.
As faithful Christians, her mother
was putting her trust in God to handle
the situation. “When it was becoming life threatening, we really wondered what God was going to do,”
her mother said “she had already
been through a lot and so we
put her in God’s hands.”
Eventually it got to the
point, where going to the
hospital was necessary.
“It was her 17th birthday the night before [she
was hospitalized] and it
was awful. We were all
trying to be fun and have
a good attitude and I can
only speak for myself
but I did not know how
bad she had gotten at the
time.” Said her brother, Joe
Bradford “All I knew is that
Jaime was not herself and she
couldn’t eat or talk and it was
really miserable.”
She was hospitalized on the 16th
of September, and later on found out
she needed a heart and lung transplant. “When I got to the Cleveland
Clinic and was placed on life support, it was then when the doctors
told my parents that I either needed
new lungs or new lungs and a heart.”
Jaime said.
“It was the saddest I have ever felt.
I thought that of all the people I have
ever met that she was the least deserving to have this disease because she is
so young and is one of the best people
I know.” Joe also stated. “I definitely
thought at times she was going to
die. My main thoughts from the time
I heard she needed a transplant until
she was in recovery were prayers.”
On September 18th, Jaime was
placed number one on the heart and
lung transplant list, and was waiting
for a donor to come by. “The priority on the list depends on the severity
of the condition. However, to receive
an organ depends on multiple factors;
for example, to find the right match,
the geographic area, blood type, cross
match tests between the donor and
the recipient to minimize the risk of
rejection, the size of the donor and
recipient, etc. There is a formula used
to allocate the organs that attempts to
prioritize the donor organs to the recipients in critical conditions, as long
as the match has a good probability of
being successful.” said Caceres.
Within thirty six hours of being
placed on the lists, they were able
to find a donor, and it was a perfect
match. The fact she was able to find a
donor that was a match in such a short
amount of time in itself is a miracle,
because it normally
takes
much
longer.
Since Jaime went into the transplant
on such short notice, she and her parents didn’t really have time to prepare
and be educated until afterwards.
“The transplant team at the Cleveland Clinic is phenomenal, they had
everything in place to educate and
emotionally support us” said Mrs.
Bradford
The following Wednesday, Jaime
went in for surgery. The process itself can be time consuming and complicated. “Once the chest is open,
the patient must be put on something
called cardiopulmonary bypass pump,
which is just a big machine that oxygenates and pumps the blood. After
that is done, the surgeon can remove
the recipient’s heart and lungs. Following the removal of the old organs,
the new lungs and heart are placed as
a whole unit inside the chest of the
patient and sutured in place. After all the organs are sutured,
the cardiopulmonary bypass machine is weaned
off as the transplanted
heart and lungs start
working. If needed,
the heart can be
stimulated with
a pacemaker to
start working,”
stated Caceres
“But the risks
are
multiple.
The major risk
is death. Approximately 5-10
% of patients may
die after the operation. Another major
risk is the failure of
the transplanted organ,
the heart or the lung, or
both. The failure of the organ can occur secondary to
immediate rejection, poor preservation of the organ prior to the transplant, long ischemic time (ischemic
time is the time that takes from the
point when the organs are harvested,
until the point when the organs are
implanted). In general, transplants
are big complex surgeries in frail and
sick patients, thus, any major complication can occur, such as infections,
failure of any major organ system, including the heart, the lungs, the kidney, the liver, the brain, etc”
Nervously, the Bradford’s awaited
their daughter to come out of the surgery. They were told to expect Jaime to come out within six to twelve
hours, but came out in three. Upon
hearing the news that the surgery was
a success, Mrs. Bradford said that she
was “Amazed, and praising God, crying and had a whole gambit of emotions.”
When Jaime woke up, which took
a couple days, she was alerted to the
news that her heart and lungs were
not her own. “Nurses in the intensive
care unit always are speaking to their
patients, even when they are sedated
and are telling them how the surgery
went, and reinforcing the idea they
just went through major surgery to
have a transplant.
Following the surgery, the surgeon
comes out to discuss with the family how the surgery went, and if need
be, the complications that occurred
during the transplant.” Said Jessica
Tuckowski, one nurse at the Cleveland Clinic.
“There were so many emotions. She
was still not herself and she was still
asleep from all the medications. It
was one of the happiest moments of
my life but at the same time I could
tell her body was in a lot of pain and
discomfort and it was really hard to
see her like that but overall it was
great to see her” said her brother Joe,
one of the people who saw her after
the surgery. “I wasn’t really in any
pain, but I was in some discomfort.
I could finally breathe which was
something completely new to me!
When they put me into the transplant
recovery unit and when I was finally
allowed in the hallway to walk with
my IV pole- I was practically sprinting down the hall and having a blast! I
could breathe heavy and it would feel
like nothing! Then the nurses told me
I shouldn’t be doing that, only days
after the operation so I went back to
my room and chilled. I personally
think it’s funny that I did that because the looks on those nurses’ faces
were hilarious! They were like ‘this
girl just had a double lung and heart
transplant and she’s running down
the hallway with an IV pole in her
hand like a million miles per hour,
she’s nuts.”
When Jaime opened her eyes and
realized that the heart keeping her
alive belonged to a stranger that was
no longer alive, new thoughts filled
her mind about her donor. “I feel
very blessed because it saved my life,
but I feel bad for the donor’s family
because they must be going through
the exact opposite of me.” Jaime said
“It’s like you really want a transplant,
but you don’t want to take away their
life.” “I feel extreme gratitude for
them, I know it’s sad but if I was in
their position and my child died, I
would have joy in doing that.” Mrs.
Bradford said. “The emotional toll
the transplants take on a patient varies. For a majority of patients, it is a
joyous occasion because they have
an extra chance at life. But soon after, the thoughts turn to the donor
and their family, and the struggles
they are current going through. The
transplant process if something that
is very emotionally taxing on not
only the patient, but the people that
surround them,” stated Nurse Jessica
Tuckowski.
“I saw Jaime in the hospital about
5 days after her surgery. I was concerned that I not give her any germs
so I didn’t hug her or touch her. She
looked so good it was hard to imagine
that she had been through so much.
I was so thankful that she was able
to have the transplant and that I was
seeing her alive and not going to her
funeral.” Said Linda Chae, a good
friend of the Bradford’s.
Now that she has a new and working heart and lungs inside of her,
Jaime no longer has pulmonary hypertension. But there are still some
concerns and worries for the future.
There are two big worries, of what
could happen to Jaime; infection or
rejection. .
Jaime takes some precautions to
lessen any chance of getting infections, such as wearing masks in public places, and stays away from very
germ filled places, such as SHS. But
if she got a rejection, there’s nothing
you can do to stop it.
In case of rejection, Jaime would
have to return to the hospital, and go
through another process. “Patients
normally receive immunosuppression medications, but, if the rejection
is severe, the patient will need to have
more intense treatments to depress
the immune system, which can also
make the patient more susceptible to
develop infections or cancer.” Said
Caceres.
There are still many risks for the
future. “The survival in heart-lung
transplants is approximately 50 % in
5 years. Patients normally reject the
transplanted organs and receive the
immunosuppressive medications to
slow this process. “I think I have
a pretty good chance because I am
so young for this kind of operation
whereas most of the patients that have
this done are old and cant really do
all the exercise that is required. I’ve
got age on my side and I’m relatively
fit- I’m just a bit underweight but I’m
working on that and I’m slowly gaining it back.” She said.
However, the rejection eventually
damages the organs and if the patient
survives long enough, may need a
new organ transplanted. Every patient
reacts different and may not reject the
organs at the same rate as other patients do.” Stated Caceres.
Even though there are many worries
with rejection and/or infection, the
Bradford’s trust their God to pull her
through the next couple years, just as
he had the past couple months. The
prayer support for Jaime was enormous, stretching through several different churches and people. “There
was a whole group of people at Grace
Church who were praying. Mrs.
Bradford has been part of several
women’s Bible studies at our church
through the years and her family
is well known to many in Strongsville through their former churches,
Strongsville United Methodist, Pathway Church, current church, Strongsville Bible Fellowship, and schools.”
Said Mrs. Chae “I’m sure that everyone who knew what was going on
was praying. I had asked my sisters
(who live in IL) to pray along with
other Christian family members.
With the internet connections, I have
no doubt that people all over the US
and maybe around the world was
praying for Jaime.” Jaime said that
the prayer felt very good, and she felt
very blessed to have so many people
praying and supporting her. “Jaime
was continually on my mind during
that time and I prayed all the time
about anything that God brought to
mind. Except when I was sleeping,
I was always thinking of them and
praying as often as I could.” Mrs.
Chae also said. “I was being prayed
for in all across Europe, China, even
Hawaii,” stated Jaime “I think I was
the most prayed for person in the
world those couple of days and I feel
extremely blessed and happy”
Mrs. Bradford firmly believes that
the numerous prayers that were
made for her daughter played a huge
role in her daughter’s transplant.
“The medical people can only go so
far, and they did awesome, but the
miracles that happened could only
by orchestrated by God.” She said.
As of now, Jaime is recovering
from her surgery, being cautious of
infection, and trying to lead a normal
life. The list of things she couldn’t
eat or do is surprisingly short; she
cannot eat sushi, go into hot tubs, or
the ocean, and cannot go skydiving,
and rollercoaster’s.
“That’s totally AOK because I don’t
like seafood, I don’t like pools or
the ocean, and I’m afraid of heights
so I’m not missing out on anything
really,” Jaime said “Going on a rollercoaster would be cool but that’s
life.” Other than that, and staying
away from germ-filled areas, and
taking a lot of medicine, Jaime is recovering, and living her life. “The
quality of life will be better than not
having received the organs, but the
medications needed and the side effects will always have an impact in
her future life.” Said Caceres, the
physician. “Now that she seems
to be doing better and better every
time I see her and it seems her body
is accepting the organs it is the best
feeling I have ever had to have her in
such a condition”
Her brother, Joe stated “I hope that
she can live a long and normal life.
I do hope that her medications never
react badly with her. I know that this
has and will happen but I hate seeing her suffer she has already been
through a lot.”
Surrounded by prayers and support,
Jaime will go about her life, being
careful of her condition. She takes
her medicine, watches out for potentially germ infested places, and
is careful about the list of things she
can do, but is still living her life as
anyone else can. She stated her feelings the best in just a couple words;
“I thank God that I’m alive and I
want to live it to the full.”
15
Organ
Donors
Needed
According to the United
Network for Organ Sharing,
over 352,860 transplants
have been performed in the
U.S. Each day around 74
transplants are preformed.
But there are not enough
organ donors to match the
number of people that need
them. On average, around
11,100-12,700 people wait
five or more years to get a
matching organ, and around
18 people die per day because they cannot get them
in time. There are stories
all over America that begin
like Jaime’s, but they cannot have the same ending
without people being willing to become organ donors. Becoming an organ
donor will not impact the
quality of medical care that
you receive, and you’ll still
have the option of having an
open casket funeral service.
To become a donor, all that
one needs to do is say ‘yes’
when asked if you want to
be a donor, when renewing their driver’s license
or state identification card,
and they must be over 18 to
do so. But the impact that
that little action could have
is enormous. Out there is
another Jaime, another person that is sick and needs a
donor, another person that
is surrounded by people that
love them and are hoping
and praying for their survival, and just by saying ‘yes’
could potentially save their
life. Just by saying ‘yes’
could be giving someone
else a future.
How to Train a Pitcher: 16
Past vs. Present
By Daniel Kasian
Look back several decades ago and
you’ll find some of the best baseball pitchers to ever play the game.
I mean they could flat out play and
throw for days. Back then they
didn’t have those flashy cars, hundred million dollar contracts, and
endorsement deals that could give
them enough money to send five
generations of their grandchildren
through college.
They played for the love of the
game, and made do with what they
had. They didn’t have all of the information that pitchers have now
about mobility and range of motion.
And there was not much structure or
routine to the workouts they had.
Back then if you wanted to be a
good pitcher you had to have a great
work ethic and pretty much go at it
alone. Just imagine if they had back
then, what pitchers have at their disposal now, imagine Nolan Ryan, one
of the greatest pitchers, if not the
best, to ever live, with as many specialists as he wanted, his own trainer,
and the workouts that pitchers get
put through now.
Imagine what more he could do,
scary isn’t it? It’s safe to say that the
game has changed drastically over
the last few decades, which seems to
be such a short amount of time.
Pitching has evolved from being
another part of the game of baseball
to the headline matchups of games.
It’s become not only a much more
star-studded position, but a position
in which a team’s success is directly
related to how well off their pitching
staff is.
Go back several decades and you
might see some pitchers you recognize, but not nearly as many as today. That’s because pitching got a
whole lot less attention compared
to how much publicity pitchers get
now. The position wasn’t as glorified
as it is now as well. Everyone wants
to pitch now because pitchers get the
majority of the attention from trainers and specialists because they carry
the heaviest workload and perform at
a higher capacity.
Everything was simpler back then,
from how the game was played, to
how they trained for their season.
The offseason back in the day was
the polar opposite of what it is now.
“We didn’t do a whole lot in the offseason,” says Myles Shoda, a sports
agent who pitched at Bowling Green.
“We didn’t really do a whole lot of
maintenance either. Basically anything you did during the offseason
you did on your own, like I would
lift a little on my own.”
Over the past few decades offseason
training has become more important
in preparation for the season. “In the
fall, we now have a fourty-five day
window to fit in thirty practices. Then
we have a six week strength training
course that’s six hours a week. And
on top of that pitchers will throw for
a few hours during the week.” says
Coach Birkbeck. It’s obvious that
the focus for pitchers has completely
shifted. Weight lifting and explosive
training has now become synonymous with pitching.
The weight training has taken on a
whole new persona as of late. We’ve
almost completely thrown out the
old, traditional ways of lifting, such
as benching and standard lifts, and
begun the new era of revamped, high
intensity work outs.
“All we had were some dumbbells
and barbells,” remembers Shoda.
“We had a universal machine too,
but we hardly ever lifted. We didn’t
do any push-pull types of things either.”
Now, we have full body workouts
that emphasize mobility and range of
motion, two things that were virtually unheard of in the eighties, and
trainers dedicated to working out every part of the body, and not just the
mirror muscles.
Back during the traditional model
of how to train a pitcher, workouts
didn’t incorporate the full body.
They were just simple and used only
to bulk up muscles. Now we have
high intesinty workouts that do more
than just create muscle. “There are
links and chains in your body, and
our workouts are designed to get all
those links working together and get
the heart rate up.” said Steve Pritchard, athletic trainer at Strongsville
High School. “We do these junkyards, kettle bell lifts, and these full
body exercises to make our players’
body more athletically strong, and to
increase their range of motion,” said
Steve.
Back then they didn’t have kettle
bells, strength trainers, and orthopedic specialists, all they had was
dumbbells, and a team doctor. Coach
Mike Birkbeck, Kent State University’s Associate Head Coach and
Pitching Coach, pitched for 14 years
in the majors back when everything
was simpler. After talking to Coach
Birkbeck the main difference with
today’s pitching and the pitching of
the past was clear.
This difference was best said by
Myles Shoda, “The biggest key differences are how range of motion
was a big issue back then. Nobody
ever mentioned or touched mobility.
Explosive power is another thing we
never touched on. And in between
start routines. Now they are more
organized and structured instead of
more along the lines of feel. Basically you don’t fly by the seat of your
pants now.”
There was a lot of babying of the
arm, pitchers wouldn’t throw aggressively everyday due to the fact that
everyone thought they would hurt
their arms if they did. They believed
that they only had “so many bullets”,
meaning that they only had so many
pitches in their arms, so basically they
didn’t want to use them up throwing
outside of the games.
Also, pitchers had a very basic five
day routine that they would follow
if they were starters. “Day one was
when you would start, then after
you pitched you would ice. The next
day you would take a half hour run,
Now, a five day routine is still
similar, but the focus is on different things. “If I started on Monday,
then Tuesday I would do a lot of
band work, heavy core work, and
some light catch, but no long toss.
On Wednesday I would play longer
catch, still no long toss, have a heavy
workout, working out everything,
and do more band work. Then on
Thursday I would play long toss and
throw as far as I could, do some ab
stretch, ice, and play a little catch.
Day three was when you would throw
your bullpen, and run, and stretch,
and run some more. And Day four
was the same, play some catch, play a
little long toss, run, stretch, run more,
and ice. Then you would start again
on the fifth day,” explained Coach
Birkbeck.
work, and do more band work again.
But on Friday I wouldn’t do much
because it’s the day before my next
start, so I would typically just play
some light catch,” said Ryan Bores.
Bores is a current starter at Kent State
University, and was drafted this past
year by the Texas Rangers.
“There was no focus on weight training back then because they didn’t
want guys getting too bulky,” said
Coach Birkbeck. Back then pitchers
would stretch, do their Jobe exercises,
do some resistance training, and run
poles. “We would just stretch, throw,
play a little long toss, and run,” said
Coach Birkbeck. “It was about as basic back then as you think it is.”
Nowadays, weight training is a
huge part of a pitcher’s training.
Today, with all the advancements in
knowledge and medicine, we know
that weight training is very beneficial to pitchers. Now, when pitchers
C.C. Sabatia
train, they end up lifting weights
two to three days a week in order to
strengthen the necessary muscles to
get better and throw harder.
They still run, but it’s a different
kind of running. The focus has shifted
from long runs, or poles, where they
would just go out and run from foul
pole to foul pole, to more explosive,
shorter sprints and types of running.
Running long distances uses more
aerobic exercise, which is a whole
different type of energy that you use
when you pitch.
Rather than the short, quick energy
needed when you pitch because you
aren’t pitching for a minute at a time,
its small seven to ten second intervals.
This paradigm shift in how pitchers train has been nothing short of
miraculous. Pitchers longevity has
increase, velocity is way up, endurance and stamina are up, and mental
toughness has increased all due to the
shift.
All of those grueling workouts that
pitchers go through nowadays aren’t
just for physical gain. They are also
for mental gain. How a player approaches the game mentally is as
important if not more important than
how they physically prepare.
One thing Coach Sorge, head
baseball coach at Strongsville High
School says is that you have to be
“comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Meaning that you have to learn how
to be calm in tough, high pressure
situations, and that’s one key element
to these new workouts that pitchers
go through.
The whole mental game approach
has come on pretty strong over the
past few decades and has become just
as vital to a pitcher’s training as anything else. Coaches try to incorporate
as much high pressure and chaotic
things as they can into their practices
just to make their players better at
dealing with adversity.
This goes the same way for today’s
pitchers. If you train at a high level
of stress and intensity, then when you
are out on the mound during the game
in a high stress situation, then you
will be able to handle it better and
perform to the best of your ability.
Still, most of the programs around
the country today do not emphasize
the mental approach to the game
of baseball. At Strongsville High
School, players go through high intensity practices, and practices that
can be very chaotic at sometimes
just so they can begin to learn how
to deal with pressure and deal with
adversity. How coaches and organizations, whether it professional or
little league, approach mental game
is completely different. Some simply
ignore it and don’t do much to help
make their players more mentally
tough, while others are very active in
the mental game, like Coach Sorge at
Strongsville High School.
Here the players have high intensity, full body workouts on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays, and on
Fridays they have a “classroom.” In
this “classroom” Coach Sorge shows
powerpoint presentations of the mental side of the game. From stressing
the importance of routine and having
a focal point, to how to calm yourself
back down when you seem to be getting in a little bit of trouble and how
to recognize when you begin to see
signs of you struggling.
Pitchers that played during the traditional model of pitching did not
get this kind of help because nobody
really knew about it. Coaches didn’t
have seminars they could go to and
listen to orthopedic specialists and
physiologists from prestige universities talk about the rotator cuff, and
the biomechanics of the shoulder. Or
psychologists and other coaches talk
about how they prepare their players
mentally and how the mental game is
bigger and more important than ever.
They were in the dark about a lot of
things, they played off of their natural
talent, and how well they developed
their mental game on their own, and
that was it. They didn’t know some of
the things that have now been proven
to help you, such as finding a focal
point to look at when you need to
refocus, and they didn’t have highly
stressful practices to help prepare
them for adversity and being uncomfortable.
“Mental game is a huge part of how I
play,” said Ryan Bores. Bores pitched
for four years at Strongsville High
School where mental game is highly
stressed before playing at Ohio University, Cuyahoga Community College, and now Kent State University.
Ryan was also drafted last year by the
Texas Rangers Organization.
Weight training has become such a
key component to how a pitcher trains
since the late nineties, how they run is
virtually the opposite, and how they
stretch is different as well.
One of the key new ways of stretching is the new style of crossover
stretching. Crossover stretching takes
care of the “non-mirror” muscles.
17
Alan Jaeger
Those muscles of course being the
ones you don’t see when you look at
yourself in the mirror. The key is to
strengthen those in order to maintain
a healthy arm and to prevent injury
to those areas. Keeping the scapula
healthy is a tremendous necessity for
pitching. Back in the older days of
pitching, there was little to no information about arm care and there certainly was no crossover stretching.
Everywhere you go, you will see
a different way to do something or
a different way to prepare. Nobody
does the same thing. “There were a lot
of differences about how we prepared
at the schools I played at,” said Ryan
Bores, “At Ohio University we didn’t
really have a pitching coach, so it was
a lot less structured. We did the basic
things with our bands, throwing, running, and lifting, but that was pretty
much it. Then at Tri-C we just lifted,
threw, did band work, and ran. But at
Kent State, We actually have a pitching coach, and with Birkbeck, we do
a lot of things that other programs
don’t do.” He went on to say that the
amount they lift, and how they lift is
different than any other college he
had played at. The running was more
structured, as well as the throwing.
Everything was more structured and
more routine.
Ohio University and Cuyahoga Community College are a good representation of the traditional way to train a
pitcher, not a lot of structure, simple
stretches and long distance running,
not too aggressive long toss, and
basic lifting, while Kent State is the
perfect model for the “new school”
ways to train a pitcher. At Kent State,
pitchers have a strict routine to what
they do, better said by Ryan Bores,
“We do a lot of band work, how we
lift is different. We will do a light lift
one day, then just ab work the next,
then maybe a heavy leg lift, and then
we’ll do a full body workout. As far
as throwing, it all depends on where
you are in your week, whether you
just pitched or are supposed to pitch
the next day.”
Ryan stressed that they do a lot of
band work, and their running isn’t
just running poles, they do a lot of
quick sprints and drills. Just the idea
of band work and its implements into
the game of baseball have made a
huge impact. “We did a lot of band
work when I was at Ohio University,” said Kevin Memotowski. Kevin
pitched at OU for 4 years and since
has been working in the ACE baseball organization, and is also the
pitching coach and assistant coach
forthe Strongsville Dirtbags.
Bands have been nothing but a huge
help for loosening up and strengthening pitchers arms. Bands allow you to
activate your muscles in your shoulder and upper arm, and get them firing at high capacity before you throw,
making for optimum velocity on the
mound.
Aside from the addition of mental
game to the preparation of today’s
pitchers, long toss has changed for
the better.
“It’s almost one-eighty from what we
did when I pitched,” said Coach Birkbeck. And it truly is. Long toss used to
be pitchers would go and throw as far
as they wanted, with no real purpose.
Alan Jaeger has since changed that.
Alan Jaeger is considered the “long
toss guru.” He has worked with many
professional pitchers and many collegiate pitchers as well, one of his most
recent being Trevor Bauer, who is the
perfect model of the “new school.”
If you look at Bauer, you see almost
nothing that resembles what was the
norm back in the sixties, seventies,
and so forth. What he does is even
a lot different from what most pitchers do nowadays. He does short and
explosive running since pitching is
short and explosive bursts of energy,
and he throws a ton. He throws heavily before a game, and after a game.
He even throws in between innings
when he is pitching. If an inning is
starting to last too long he will go
down to the bullpen and throw more
pitches to keep his arm loose.
Back in the day nobody would have
done this because they would have
been afraid that they would overwork their arm and end up causing a
lot more harm than good. Still today
you don’t see pitchers going out and
throwing more in between innings,
because they don’t know how much
more they are going to need to pitch
in that game. The reason Bauer can
do this is because he has been going
against the grain since say one. By
Working with Jaeger, he has been
given a tremendous advantage over a
lot of other players.
Jaeger’s philosophy on long toss is
simply to long toss. What this means
is that the normal, by the book way
to long toss is supposed to be throw
one hundred and twenty feet. While
Jaeger challenges you to throw even
further, maybe three hundred feet.
So that you can actually strengthen,
stretch, loosen, and increase the endurance of your arm. “Qualities that
are hard to attain when we're shortening, rather than, lengthening our
arms.” said Alan Jaeger.
So why if Alan Jaeger has proven
that throwing further than the normal
one hundred and twenty feet is more
beneficial to your arm, why didn’t
they do this in the past? It’s simple,
they didn’t have the information that
we know have. That is the ultimate
driving factor behind this paradigm
shift. The amount of information that
we now have at our fingertips is the
cause for all these new ways to train.
Because of advances in medical
studies we now know why certain
things are bad for pitchers arms and
can now do different stretches, lifts,
and throw differently to surpass the
problems of the past, and prolong the
careers of today’s pitchers.
More Then Just An “Army ”
By;
Alyssa
McDannel turns out to be a purely religious organization founded
“Ring ring ring! Ring ring by a Minister in England
ring!” Shopping during the back in 1865. After he was
holiday season can be very invited to hold a series of
hectic for many people, but evangelistic meetings in
while they are busy running the east end of London, he
in and out of stores, the one slowly began to convert
thing they never miss is the thieves, prostitutes, gamringing of the Red Kettle blers, and drunkards into
bell for the Salvation Army. Christians. From there, the
As the shoppers Salvation Army was born.
go about they never re- “ I was raised in a
ally take the time to think Salvation Army Family”
“Whoa, what actually goes said Cleveland major Luinto all that and what is ac- rune Johnson. “Both my
tually behind it?” Little, mother and father were ofdo they know, it is a lot ficers in it and growing up
more than they really think. watching them made me
“A lot more then people want to become apart of it”.
really realize goes into As churches began to deny
putting on the Red Kettle his quest to make a change,
fund raiser each year.” it encouraged Minister Wil
The Salvation Army liam Booth to try harder
and gain more followers.
People
volunteer
for various reasons, to feel
better about themselves
and for service hours. Everyone from teenagers,
to parents, and even elderly people volunteer.
In
1867,
William Booth only had ten
full time workers, but
by 1874 the number had
grown to about a thousand.
“ I love working
for the organization because they do both social
services, and volunteer
services all for free to help
everyone in need out,” said
Sienna Jackson, head of
Medians Corps Salvation
Army, “because of this I
began at a very young age.”
At
that
time
they were serving under the name “The Christian Mission” and Booth
was called the General.
The name Salvation Army came to be
when Booth was reading that his organization
was a “volunteer army”
and he penned out volunteer and inserted salvation.
From that point on,
the volunteers were known
as Salvationists. In spite
of violence and persecution more then two hundred fifty thousand people
were converted because
of the Salvation Army between 1881 and 1885.
“During the Christmas season we have around
two hundred volunteers,
but throughout the year we
have about
four hundred volunteers in the
Cleveland
area” Johnson
said
Each year
the Medina
branch of the
Salvation
Army has
18
over a hundred volunteers
throughout the year and between thirty and forty just to
help out with the Red Kettles.
In 1879 William
Booth took the leap of
faith and sent Lieutenant
Eliza Shirley over to the
United States to hold the
first meeting of the Salvation Army in Philadelphia.
By 1880, the Salvation Army in the United
States expanded to California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan,
Missouri, New Jersey, New
York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. By this time the Salvation Army was spreading all over the world.
When William Booth
died in 1912 the Salvation
Army suffered a great loss.
From his death the Salvation
Army had a foundation to
set them off to a great future.
Although it may
be shocking to some people, the history of the Red
Kettle is a whole different
story then the history of
how this world renowned
organization
started.
In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph
McFee
was
bothered by
the amount of
individuals in
San Francisco
that were going
hungry
during the holiday season.
H
e
wanted to begin providing
a free holiday
meal for all of
these starving
people, but the
only issue he
had was where
to get the
money from.
H
e
thought back
to his days
as a sailor in
London, and
remembered
how at one of
the ports he
would often
go to had a
large iron kettle called the
“ S i m p s o n ’s
Pot,” where
passer
bys
would throw
in a coin or
two to help
out
the
poor.
The next day he went
to Ferry Landing in Oakland and placed a pot out
with a sign that said “Keep
The Pot Boiling”. Soon
after that, he had enough
money to feed the poor.
Last year the Medina Salvation Army brought
in around seventy two thousand dollars through the
six Red Kettles they have
at two Walmart stores,
two Buhler’s, a Hawkins, and a Giant Eagle.
They expect the money to
be even greater this year.
Within the next six years
the idea spread all the way
across the country to the
east coast. That year, across
the nation one hundred fifty
thousand Christmas dinners
were made for the needy.
“The Red Kettles
are our biggest fund raiser
each year,” said Major Lurune Jackson “ it supports
all of our Christmas programs, and year-long
programs such as tutoring, providing social
services, hot meals, and
an open gym for teenagers, along with helping less privileged people
with home owning costs.”
Captain
McFee’s kettle idea launched
a holiday tradition not
just across the country,
but around the world.
Kettles are now in Korea, Japan, Chile, and many
other European countries.
This holiday tradition enables the Salvation
Army to assist more then
four-and-a-half million people during the Thanksgiving
and Christmas time periods.
Just as a normal
“army” used for defense
for a country, the Salvation
Army has officers, majors,
and corporals. Each of
them is a higher up ranking in the army, the more
time you spend in the army
as a leader, the higher
the rank that you can get.
All of these officers are trained and commissioned. They proclaim
the gospel and serve as
many other roles in the
community, besides just
officers. These men and
women have dedicated
their lives to serving God.
In order to earn a beginning ranking they must
go through a two year course
at one of the Salvation Army
Colleges. They are located
in Chicago, Suffern, New
York, Atlanta, and Rancho
Palos Verdes, California.
The
curriculum
combines theory and field
practice, including Salvation
Army doctrine, sociology
and social work, psychology,
Salvation Army regulations,
homiletics, public speaking,
Bible studies, church history, composition, community
relations, business administration, accounting, and vocal and instrumental music.
After they complete
their two years of training,
the cadets are commissioned as lieutenants, ordained as ministers, and assigned to active duty while
continuing their education.
As officers want
to practice more specific
fields of training, more
education
opportunities
are available, and this also
enables them to earn a
Higher up ranking in the
army. However, lieutenants are required to continue their educational studies for another five years.
Lieutenants in the
much, and spend all of their
time serving the unfortunate
people of the United States
and the world, the Salvation Army does a little bit
to give back to its officers.
They provide them with living quarters, furnishings,
and official transportation.
As you can see
Salvation Army officers
do more than just volunteer, they devote their lives
to this organizations, and
work hard to earn their
spot in the Salvation Army.
Each year different units of
the Salvation Army help out
in their own way, and help
out a different number of
people in different ways.
Robert Sears, of
Elyria, said “The Salvation
Army in Elyria provided
food for three days to 663
families and toys to 1400
children. The Lorain Salvation Army, of which I’m the
County Coordinator, provided the same amount of
food to 466 families and
toys to 600 children.”
“Besides these
families both of our pantries were open the three
weeks prior to our Christmas
distributions passing out
food to families throughout
the month. Coats, gloves,
and other clothing articles
are distributed as they are
given to us throughout
the year,” continued Sears
Before
becoming apart of the Salvation
Army, first and foremost a
person has to make a decision to give up their normal, everyday life, to give
to others. And everyone
has their own unique story
behind joining the army.
For Captain Rob-
“Not many people
give up their lives,
to give back”
Salvation Army are not just
handed promotions, they
must earn them. Promotions
are earned based on length of
service, character, efficiency, capacity for increased
responsibility, and devotion
to the services that they do.
The specific ranks
a lieutenants can work up
to are captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel,
and commissioner.
The
international leader holds
the rank of general, and is
selected by a high-counsel
of active duty members
of the Salvation Army.
Once a person has
decided to become a Salvation Army officer, they must
come to the realization that
they have now devoted all
of their time to this organization. It is a full-time job.
Just like in a church,
a Salvation Army officer
who marries must marry
someone who is also an
officer, or member of the
Salvation Army.
Married captains, and majors
will individually carry that
rank, if they get promoted,
it does not mean that their
spouse also gets promoted.
Since
Salvation
Army officers are ordained
ministers, they can perform
wedding ceremonies, funeral services, and infant
dedications.
They may
also serve as counselors.
After giving up so
ert Sears, of the
Elyria branch of
Salvation Army,
the decision to
become apart of
the army, began
when he was
a young boy,
and built up to
become a life
long decision.
“When
I was a young
boy my oldest
brother took me
to a Salvation
Army
Youth
Program event.
It as there that
I remember enjoying the other
youth.
This
was my first
encounter with
The Salvation
Army. I didn’t
return until much later. As
a young adult my mother
who was attending Church
there invited my wife and
I to bring our children to
Sunday School and church.
I again was impressed with
the fellowship and joy of the
congregation and we were
made very welcome again.
This time we stayed and became a part of the church.
After several years of being involved and joining the
leadership, my wife and I
were called by the Lord to
officer ship. We are now
both pastors in The Salvation Army church.”
Some members of
the Salvation Army may
have an inspiring story behind their reasoning for
joining the army, just as
Sears did, or they may
have joined just to make
a difference in the world.
As more and more people
see the bell ringers, they may
be curious of how a person
goes about to becoming one,
and what all goes into it.
In order to become a
volunteer you must sign up on
Salvation Army’s web site.
From there you sign
up for a date, and location
that are most convenient
for you. You take over for
the previous bell ringer and
just start to smile, ringing, wishing people “Merry Christmas” and thank
people for their donations.
As a ringer, you are
required to ring for at least
two hours, and then you can
decide how much longer
you want to ring from there.
The Salvation Army encourages people to ring for
four hours to help the process move more smoothly.
Because of the
Salvation Army being built
of such courageous and
giving people, bell ringing is rarely cancelled
because of the weather.
As many people
may be wondering, volunteering for the Red Kettle
does count as service hours.
Many teenagers do it for
service hours for National
Honors Society, Key Club,
and any other service group.
If you indicate on your form,
you will earn your hours.
Any age is permitted to volunteer for the Red
Kettle, but youth under the
age of sixteen must have
their parents’ permission to
do it, and anyone fourteen or
younger must be under adult
supervision the entire time.
Being the giving
people that volunteers for
the Salvation Army are,
many of them want to give
out treats to shoppers, and
donators.
Even though
many people want to do this,
the Salvation Army asks’
that they don’t. The stores
are already being gracious
enough to allow their kettles
in front of their stores to receive donations, but as a part
of the agreement with the
stores, they are not allowed
to give out items or promotional materials at the kettle.
Lastly, volunteers
at the Red Kettle are not allowed to play music. This
is because of the fact that a
majority of the stores that
the Red Kettles are at already have Christmas music playing. The only exception may be if you have
a group playing, the only
thing you need to insure
is that the store is aware
of it, and that they are not
19
Caleb Stokes and
Leilan McNally rang for
past midnight to reach
for just over sixty hours.
Along with other
contestants, two of the
many things that these two
men endured were hunger, and sleep deprivation.
When interviewed
by their local news stations both men said that
they were so tired that
they honestly had no idea
how many hours they
were ringing or even saying. In the end they said
the lack of food and sleep
was worth it because they
knew that they were doing it for a good cause.
Besides the world
record for bell ringing being broke, after this holiday
season, more exciting news
for the Salvation Army and
the Red Kettles came out.
The
Salvation
Army corps under Majors
Lee, and Glades announced
on January 12, 2012 that
with their Red Kettles
this years they have raise
over six-hundred thousand dollars, established
in just thirty two days.
For the Salvation Army this is a big
step in the way to feeding
the hungry and providing
for the less fortunate during the holiday season.
Along with record
breaking Red Kettle totals,
record breaking donations.
On Saturday December
17, 2011 somebody made
a anonymous donation to a
Red Kettle of $25,500.42.
The
Salvation
Army is so much more then
just thrift stores, and people standing outside in the
freezing cold ringing a bell.
This army is one
of the most giving organizations in the world,
with millions of people
doing as much as they
possibly can to help out.
Giving up your
entire life just to help others in need takes a lot of
courage for one to do.
Next time you hear
the bell ringing outside
your favorite store, or see
a kettle or even a Salvation
Army logo, take a minute
to stop, and think about all
the good these men and
women are putting into
the world, and even thank
them. With the fascinating
history behind this organization and all they do,
they truly do deserve it.
20
blocking the store entrance.
Each year the Salvation Army tries to gather
more and more volunteers
for the Red Kettle fund raising, just one person, can
make a world of difference.
Each year different
units of Salvation Army
do different things to
help out the community.
Throughout the country a person will find many
different ways, which are relatable in one way or another.
“This year we are creating Christmas baskets that
people sign up for, the contain food which help out with
Christmas meals, and toys to
put under the tree,” said Sienna Jackson, “also, we have
angel trees which is where
people take an angel and
buy a toy for a child listed”.
Major Lurune Johnson, head of the Cleveland area
Salvation Army said “During
this holiday season our volunteers are out bell ringing,
out shopping for toys, sorting them, and packing them.
They also work in our food
pantries, getting ready for distribution which was during the
week of December 12, 2011.”
In order to get food
during distribution a family must sign up when signing up for one of their many
wonderful services that
they offer to families during the holiday season.
Most offices in areas
of the country do the same
things as other units in the
area. Their differences come
with their own specific needs
in their communities. They
may each provide their own
mentoring to school districts in their area, or homeless shelters in their areas.
In Elyria, the local
Salvation Army provides
special mentoring instructors
to the Elyria and Lorain local schools. They will work
with both school systems
weekly, and their instructors go to the schools at set
times to work with the students that the schools have
set aside to get special help.
Salvation Army isn’t always about all serious
business. Over the years,
bell ringers have found
ways to make it fun for everyone. One of the ways
was to start The Salvation
Army’s Red Kettle Campaign and support the Mission of the Salvation Army
in serving people in need.
On Thursday December 15, 2011 Salvation
Army bell ringers across the
country began a competition
to set the world record for
the longest continuous hand
bell ringing an individual.
All of the contestants are in this to raise
awareness for
The Salvation
Army’s 120th
Red
Kettle
Campaign
and support
the Mission
of The Salvation Army in
serving people in need.
T h e
current record before this
even occurred was thirtysix hours, which was set in
2010, and in 2011 many bell
ringers were hoping to ring
for as many as sixty hours.
“The world record
attempt is truly unified effort
by The Salvation Army to
raise awareness of the Red
Kettle Campaign and encourage Americans to ring
a bell or give this Christmas to help their neighbor,” said Major George
Hood, National Community Relations Secretary
for The Salvation Army.
“For the past several years, we’ve seen increased demand for assistance due to the recession,
and we hope this sacrifice
by our volunteers will in-
spire others to dig deep.”
The bell ringers for
this event included Salvation Army Officers, staff
and community members
who volunteer their time as
they ring a bell for the onehundred and twentieth annual Red Kettle Campaign.
The bell ringers
participating in the world
record contest were stationed from coast to coast,
as well as in Alaska and
Hawaii, at a Red Kettle
location of their choice.
Each
participant had to follow several ruled that could push
them mentally and physically during their attempt.
As with any other typical challenge the Red Kettle one has specific rules at
ringers must abide by.
In 2010 the winner
of the Red Kettle challenge
set a benchmark of thirty six
hours with no food or sleep.
“This is an exciting
challenge that not only tests
participants, but also challenges the American public
to support people in need.
Each bell ringer has already
become a part of something
bug, hat will have a lasting
impact in their local communities,” said Major Hood.
Over twenty five
salvation
majors
participated in this event.
On Sunday December 18, 2011 two volunteer bell ringers from
Indianapolis Indiana broke
the world record for bell
ringing and set a new one.
Behind Every Great Man is a Great Woman 21
By Emmie Donelan
East 4th Street is one area of Cleveland that people are always drawn
too. There are so many cool places
to eat on the street, and it gives off a
New York City vibe.
East 4th is located blocks from
Quicken Loans Area and Progressive
Field and around the corner from the
House of Blues. The area has always
been one of the most visited in Cleveland.
One popular place on
the street is a newer
restaurant called The
Greenhouse
Tavern,
owned by well-known
Chef Jonathon Sawyer
and his wife Amelia.
Jonathon is known to
some as the next big chef
to hit the country, and he
picked his hometown of
Cleveland to open his
first two restaurants in.
His business partner
and wife, Amelia, have
known each other since
high school and make a
great team. Amelia also
does a great amount of
work for both the restaurants, a fact little people
know.
When people think
of the restaurant scene
in Cleveland, Michael
Symon’s name is usually the first to come
to mind. However, few
people realize that there
is more than one nationally recognized chef in
Cleveland.
Jonathon Sawyer is
also a big contributor to
the dining scene in downtown Cleveland. He is known to some
as the next big chef to hit America,
let alone
Cleveland.
He has
appeared
on numerous
televis i o n
shows on
the Food
N e t work,
and has
also been
in many
magazines.
Jonathon has
a great
start to
his career too,
by working with
w e l l
known
chefs,
such as
Charlie Palmer, and Michael Symon,
who also happens to be a friend of
Sawyers.
Jonathon’s first job was at the Mad
Cactus in Strongsville. He did it for
the spending money, but did it for the
cooking aspect of it too.
Jonathon didn’t always want to be
a chef growing up. He had always
been a good math student. Being so
good at it, he thought he wanted to
be an engineer when he grew up. He
enrolled at the University of Dayton
in Dayton Ohio, and planned on going to school to do just that.
worked for Chef Charlie Palmer’s
Kitchen 22 in New York City, Lolita
in Tremont, and Parea, a restaurant
owned by Michael Symon in New
York City.
The saying “behind every great man
is a great woman” is very true in Jonathon’s case.
While living in New York City and
working at Charlie Palmer’s Kitchen
22, Jonathon need to find someone to
room with in the city.
Jonathon ended up calling his old
the Sawyers gave birth to their first
child, a son named Catcher.
The birth had Amelia and Jonathon
packing up and moving back home to
Cleveland. When they moved back,
Jonathon opened Lolita with Michael
Symon.
Michael Symon is a friend
of Jonathon’s, and they were also coworkers. Jonathon was
Michael’s
Chef de Cuisine for Michael at his
new restaurant new restaurant in the
trendy Tremont area.
However, during his time at the University of Dayton, Jonathan realized
he couldn’t be an engineer for the rest
high school friend and girlfriend,
Amelia. The two were Strongsville
High School Graduates, briefly dat-
of his life.
ing in high school, and remaining
friends after they graduated.
“I was a year older than him so when
I went to college we ended it,” said
Amelia, not knowing that was definitely not the end for their relationship.
Amelia moved in with Jonathon in
New York City, and the two became
roommates. They were going to remain friends while living together in
NYC. However, that didn’t happen
and Jonathon and Amelia ended up
getting married.
While living together in New York
City, Amelia and Jonathon both had
very similar schedules. “When we
were in New York we had the same
lifestyle, we were both single and we
worked,” Amelia said.
Amelia worked at a night club and
Jonathon worked at a restaurant. After living together for about a year,
After being Michael’s Chef de Cuisine for quite some time, Symon
offered Jonathon an opportunity to
open a new restaurant in New York
City with him called Parea.
Jonathon agreed, so he, Amelia, and
their son moved back to
the city. He was Executive Chef at Parea until
2007 when the Sawyers
decided to move back to
Cleveland.
While living in New
York City and working
with Symon at Parea,
Amelia got pregnant for
the second time. They
decided that it would be
hard to raise a family in
Manhattan, especially
with rent being so high.
Also, the Sawyers
wanted to open a restaurant of their own
and they knew it would
be easier in Cleveland.
They could move back
to Cleveland and open
a restaurant right away,
or stay in New York City
and wait many years to
open one.
“We had always
planned on going back
to Cleveland because
that’s where our families
were,” Jonathon said.
Jonathon and Amelia
had big plans for their
first restaurant in Cleveland. “We opened it with
the intention to reduce,
reuse, and recycle,” said
Amelia.
The Greenhouse Tavern
was opened in April of 2009, located on East 4th Street in Downtown
Cleveland. The Green Restaurant Association declared The Greenhouse
Tavern the first certified green restaurant in Ohio, a fact that the Sawyers
are very proud of.
“We opened a restaurant different than any other in the state,” said
Amelia about what she liked the best
about The Greenhouse Tavern.
Being a green restaurant means that
“My boss at the
time told me
I was a pretty
good cook, so
I decided to enroll in culinary
school,” said
Jonathon. He
then enrolled at
the Pennsylvania Institute of
Culinary Arts,
where he later
graduated.
After he graduated,
Jonathon’s career
started off in
Miami Florida
at a restaurant
in The Biltmore
Hotel. Then, he
everything in the building, everything that’s used inside of it, and all
of the littlest things are environmentally friendly.
“Restaurants are very wasteful,”
said Amelia, and now she and Jonathon wanted to show everyone it was
possible to have a successful restaurant, yet not to be wasteful with everything.
One of the things that make The
Greenhouse Tavern a green restaurant is the fact that the Sawyers didn’t
build the restaurant itself.
They renovated a building
that once was known as
Cort’s Building.
Renovating instead of
building helps not only
reduce cost, but also the
use of materials needed to
build. Another plus, is that
keeping the original building helps keep the neighborhood like it once was,
instead of changing the historic value.
There was a lot of thought
put into the building materials for The Greenhouse
Tavern also. Things like
old floors, barn wood, doors
and hardware were all collected and used in the making of the restaurant. All the
materials collected are also
from local neighborhoods.
Another thing that makes
The Tavern a green restaurant is what the Sawyers did
to preserve energy and not
use more than is necessary.
They have top-rated energy
saving appliances, and try
to save as much water as
they can. Also, they don’t
use as much electricity as
most restaurants do, due to
the Compact Florescent and LED
lights.
Even the light fixtures alone prove
the dedication the Sawyers have to
making the Tavern a green restaurant.
They are made from bicycle rims and
have LED lights mounted on them.
Another plus side to the bicycle lights
is that they are unlike any other light
fixtures.
Amelia said her favorite part about
The Greenhouse Tavern was that it is
unlike any other in the state.
The only sources the Sawyers use
for the Greenhouse Tavern are local
ones. Staying local for everything
they need for the restaurant helps
eliminate waste from gas used by
transportation distances.
The sawyers also try to get as much
food as the can from local farms in
Ohio. However, not everything can
come from Ohio, but the Sawyers try
to get everything they can from here.
The Greenhouse Tavern turned out
to be a very successful restaurant, and
the Sawyers decided to try their luck
out again.
Jonathon and Amelia opened their
second restaurant, called Noodlecat,
in July of 2011
Noodlecat is also a certified green
restaurant, and is located just down
the street and around the corner from
The Greenhouse Tavern on Euclid
Avenue.
Sawyer’s new restaurant is
a Japanese-American noodle house,
which is inspired by restaurants on
New York City and in Tokyo. All the
noodles that go into meals at Noodlecat are made by Ohio City Pasta, a
local company that has been around
since 1990. This is just another fact
that proves the Sawyers want to help
out local businesses.
Amelia and Jonathon both put a lot
of thought in the opening of their two
restaurants. They wanted the food
that they were going to serve to go
straight from the farms that supplied
the food to the table. They also wanted
to support local businesses and have
their restaurants
be environmentally friendly.
By working
together
and
using the local
recourses within their reach,
the
Sawyers
opened
two
very successful
restaurants.
Jonathon Sawyer won Food
& Wine magazines Best New
Chef award in
2010,
which
is a very wellknown award.
C l e v e l a n d ’s
Michael
Symon won the
award in 1998,
and has had a
booming career
ever since.
The Greenhouse Tavern
also was named
one of the Top
10 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetite magazine. The Tavern received
this award in 2009, shortly after the
grand opening.
The Greenhouse has also been
awarded Best of Metromix Cleveland:
New Restaurant 2010 and Cleveland
Magazine 2010 To Ten New Restaurants. Jonathon also won 2010 Best
New Chef, an award he worked very
hard to win.
Even though Jonathon has received
well deserved awards and also national attention, he is still very down
to earth.
“I look at it like how can we get
positive attention for our restaurants
and turn around negative attention
that Cleveland has,” said Jonathon,
proving that he wants all of the focus
on him to be turned towards Cleveland and his two restaurants, not just
himself.
Owning two restaurants and cooking
for both of them seems like it would
be a really hectic lifestyle, however,
Jonathon said, “I get bored easily, so
I can go be busy with the other restaurant.”
Also add in the fact that there are
over 100 people who work for Jonathon at both restaurants and Jonathon
also said he enjoys getting to know
them.
Jonathon says they don’t want to
overdo it with them in the downtown
Cleveland dining scene, but that they
are working on opening one more
restaurant.
Considering the success of the other
two restaurants, this one is sure to be
loved by all of Cleveland, and recognized by many more around the
country.
Amelia and Jonathon make an awesome team. “They make it look easy,”
said Bridget Rehner, Jonathon’s assistant. “There’s a lot of stress that
goes into everything, and they also
have two kids which doesn’t make
things easier.”
Jonathon and Amelia’s days begin
with getting Catcher, who’s 6 and
Louisiana, who’s 4, up and ready for
school. Jonathon makes them their
lunches while Amelia cooks breakfast.
After taking the kids to school, Jonathon goes into work and Amelia stays
home, because she works from there.
Amelia then picks up Louisiana from
school and they go hangout at one of
the restaurants until it’s time to pick
up Catcher. They then do homework
and Jonathon usually comes home at
around ten o’clock.
With everything being so busy at the
Sawyer household, it seems like there
would be nothing more for Amelia
to do. But there is. Amelia is also in
charge of the marketing and the P.R.
for both Noodlecat and The Greenhouse Tavern.
“Jonathon’s a very, very good chef,
and Amelia is awesome at what she
does too,” said Bridget, who has been
working with the Sawyers for almost
two years, about Jonathon and Amelia. She also said they work perfectly
together and are a wonderful team.
Jonathon knows that he wouldn’t be
where he is today without the help of
his wife and business partner. “We
would have had great restaurants, but
not be close to what they are today,”
he said.
The success of the restaurants has
put Jonathon in the spotlight of many
magazines and TV shows many
times. “It’s great but at the same time
the restaurants success in a city like
Cleveland is what matters the most to
me,’ Amelia said.
This train of thought shows how
much Amelia cares about the restaurants and that she isn’t in the business
for the fame.
Because of the fact that Jonathon
is featured on TV shows and is busy
with the restaurants, Amelia is often
at home without him. To cope with
this fact, Amelia started a blog called
The Chef’s Widow.
Amelia’s blog started off as her way
of dealing with the crazy life of a new
mom living in New York City with a
Chef as a husband.
When Amelia and Jonathon moved
back home
to Cleveland,
the
Chef’s
Widow became more
about Cleveland and the
things in it.
Also, Amelia
added parenting
factors
to it, due to
the fact that
she has two
young children.
As Jonathon’s career
expanded, so
did Amelia’s
blog. What he
did directly
affected her.
Amelia has
played a big
part in Jonathons success, and he in hers. But, it
seems that he couldn’t have done it
without her, or at least had as much
success as he has had.
It seems for Jonathon and Amelia; it has always been about family.
They help each other out, and work
together, even though it must be hard
to have your spouse as your business
partner. This is an amazing family,
and they are doing great things for
the city of Cleveland.
22
23
Izzey Pirl Bridges
Rainbow of Music
from Northeast Ohio
to Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
By:Jen Taggart
Children at Holt Elementary in
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama play
a game where they walk around
in time to music. When the music
stops, they freeze one at a time and
pose for their teacher. At the end of
the game, the students have created a giant musical statue. Many
Americans can picture this scene
easily, playing similar games in
their own elementary school music
classes.
The students at Holt, however, will never
take these carefree memories for granted.
Just months earlier, their community had
been plagued by natural disaster, and these
students were blessed by a new music program this school year.
Izzey Pirl, Senior Girl Scout Troop 758 and junior at Strongsville High
School completed her Girl Scout Gold Award in October. She held a
benefit concert on August 7th, 2011 to sponsor a music program in an
elementary school in Tuscaloosa County, AL.
In the spring of 2011, there were many tornadoes across the country,
including one that hit Tuscaloosa County on April 27th, destroying many
buildings and homes. According to city officials, 53 people died in Tuscaloosa alone. School was already closed that day due to a power outage,
but a few teachers, including the principal Debbie Crawford, were working at the school that day. It had hit right on 15th Street, where current
music teacher Meredith Reaves had been residing at the time before
being employed by Tuscaloosa County Schools.
In a moment of panic after seeing the tornado outside, she hid under a
desk in an office at the apartment complex. She said that Holt Elementary had become something of a haven immediately following the tornado, with families staying in the gym and people handing out supplies,
such as food and clothing. Debbie Crawford, the principal of the school,
was a major help and was there almost 24/7 for two days following the
tornado, after going to her father’s house in Northport and coming back
with the school nurse.
The tornado had severely damaged the school building, and classes
are currently being held at the vacant Lloyd Wood Middle School building, but will hopefully return to the Holt Elementary School building during the 2012-2013 school year. WSV Architects Inc. is currently working
on phase one of repairs for the school, which includes structural repairs
and a new roof. Phase 2 will begin in February: internal repairs, as well
as a renovated
front of the school. This will be funded through a 1 cent tax as well as
possible federal funding.
“I talked with her [Izzey] about
what it would be like to lose your
home, and lose your school, and
lose your church, and basically
your whole town, and your toys,
and how scary it must be.” Vera
Pirl,her mother, said.
Izzey had originally planned to
restore the music program, but
had later found out they did not
have a music program to begin
with, as the Tuscaloosa County
School District could not afford
funding.
They are a Title I school, meaning they only receive funding for
their music program through the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which considers art and music as required
subjects. Before Izzey Pirl's donations arrived three weeks before
the holidays, the music program
relied on the limited supplies on
hand as well as the materials Miss
Reaves would order herself.
Tuscaloosa County has an extremely poor school district, but
the teachers are very dedicated
to helping their students. There
are numerous programs to help
the district, including the "Adopt
a School" program which over 90
companies and organizations in
the Tuscaloosa area are involved
closer together.”
The Pirl family had a family
friend in the area, and this encouraged Izzey to e-mail Andrea
Hamner, the guidance and testing
coordinator for grades Kindergarten through eight, to raise funds
to create a music program in
Tuscaloosa County Schools, specifically Holt Elementary School,
which received nearly all of her
donations.
She invited nine local bands to
play at her Benefit Concert including the Knickers, Morir es Vivir, and
Lower 13. She also had acoustic
sets in between, and paid each
of the bands and acoustic sets in
pizza. She even held a bake sale
for concert attendees. Izzey advertised for her concert by speaking in front of Strongsville's Rotary
Club, putting articles in newspapers, and passing out fliers.
“It seemed like an interesting
concert,” Eric Kruger, drummer
for Lower 13,said, “[we] saw it as
a chance to play with some new
bands, for a potential new crowd,
and meet some new people (such
as Izzey for the first time.) But I
liked the idea of the cause too, of
course.”
Izzey had put 159 hours all together into the Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest
award a Girl Scout can receive, and
is currently only possible for 10th
to 12th grade Scouts to earn.
The current guidelines for the
Gold Award project were introduced to Girl Scouts of Northeast
Ohio in 2004. Some of the steps
along with the project itself include earning the Girl Scout Gold
Leadership Award charm, the Girl
Scout Gold Career Award charm,
Izzey Pirl with Morir es Vivir and the Girl Scout Gold 4Bs Challenge Award Charm. The Girl
in. As part of the "Adopt a School"Scout Gold 4Bs Award Charm inprogram, the Tuscaloosa Juniorcludes taking steps to plan the
League has brought music therapy toproject using the 4 Bs: Become,
the Holt Elementary students as well,Belong, Believe, and Build. These
having designed a special class forsteps are all a part of the “Go for
third through fifth graders in whichIt! Girl Scout Gold Award” insert.
they share a phrase that describes Izzey's Gold Award advisor, Linda
how they feel,and the instructor, JohnDe Marco, a member of the Gold
Scalici, turns it into a drum beat.
Council was chosen to be her ad“We are like brothers and sisters,"visor when Izzey proposed her
Scalici told Alabama's channel 13project idea in July.
news station, “We may even talk Mrs. De Marco believes she was
about that a little bit about you know,chosen to be Izzey's advisor based
what has brought us closer together?on the fact she is a retired organSometimes those tragic events thatist, and therefore has expertise in
happen have a way of bringing usIzzey's subject area.
One of Izzey’s steps after completing her actual project included
putting on a music workshop at
the library in Middleburg Heights
for Brownie Girl Scouts.
“A girl came up to me after and
told me I inspired her to stay in
Girl Scouts and play a musical instrument someday,” Izzey smiled
as she described the Brownie
workshop. Her advisor, Mrs. De
Marco, was especially able to
help her with this part of the Gold
Award, by giving her the name of
a resource to use if she wanted
to. Demarco said she loves watching girls grow through their Gold
Award projects and believes
Izzey's project will make a huge
difference in Alabama.
"I think music's important," Mrs.
De Marco said, "you can express
all kinds of moods, or sometimes
it's a way to get out frustration.
She will be able to give it to kids
who don't have it."
The new materials have helped
Meredith Reaves to better employ
the curriculum. Before the donations arrived, the students would
do the same activities over and
over again, with only a few hand
drums and rhythm sticks for everyone. Now, the students can play
their instruments all at once and
combine sounds. This new music
program had been a surprise for
all of the students, as well as their
teacher, Meredith Reaves.
“The principal didn’t tell me it
was coming, she knew, but she
wanted to keep it a surprise,”
Miss Reaves said,” I remember
one morning before music class
was started, one of the custodians was storing these three huge
boxes and other containers and
I was like ‘Are you sure you’re in
the right place? I didn’t order this.
They said ‘Take it to the music
room’ and so lo and behold, and
it was all this stuff!”
Izzey says music has always
been a universal therapy throughout her life. Even as a baby, her
mom played her everything from
Metallica to banjos to Ricky Martin.
“She would always hum to her
toys,” Vera Pirl added.
Izzey Pirl has played the violin for
the past six years, and is a member of the Baldwin Wallace youth
orchestra. She plans to double
24
Holt Elementary School shaker projects
major in Music education and Music therapy, a goal she says was
inspired by her Gold Award project.
Music therapy has been around
since time began, but started to
be more widely recognized after
World War I and World War II
when musicians played for physically and emotionally injured veterans. The current American Music
Therapy Association was formed
in 1998, merging the National Association for Music Therapy and
American Association for Music
Therapy.
Baldwin Wallace was one of the
first universities to have a music therapy degree in January
of 1976, along with the college
of Wooster and Cleveland State
University. The Cleveland Music
Therapy Consortium was formed
throw a grant from the Cleveland
Foundation.
Music therapists can be found
in schools, hospitals and private
homes, doing everything from
helping a child with Autism learn
how to communicate to helping an
elderly person with an emotional
problem such as depression.
Many of Izzey's donations were
timely and perfect for Holt Elementary, as she donated a guitar,
and Meredith Reaves plays guitar,
while must music teachers play
piano. Creating instruments was
another major part of the curriculum, and Izzey provided the
materials for the students to create paper plate shakers. Meredith
Reaves plans to use the lesson
plans written by Izzey Pirl herself,
including a synthesis lesson next
semester to assess what the students have learned.
The students are extremely
grateful for the music program.
When Meredith Reaves told them
Izzey held a benefit concert and
raised money to give instruments
to kids, she asked the students
who they thought the instruments
were for.
“The older kids said ‘Us?’ and I
told them, ‘Yeah’ and they were
like ‘Wow! Why would somebody
in Ohio want to raise money for
kids at Holt Elementary? Why did
she do that?’ But they were so appreciative.” Reaves recalled,
“With the little kids, they had no
idea. They had no idea where I
was going, so I told them that she
had [done] this all just for them,
so they could have a better time
in music, and they were just as
appreciative, and they were a little bit more excited, and showed
their excitement better, a whole
lot more than the older kids, and
the kids starting playing with the
shakers and loved that. “
A study shows that students
involved in music score higher on
their SATS.
“Students in music performance
scored 57 points higher on the
verbal and 41 points higher on
the math,” a study done by the
The College Entrance Examination
Board in 2001 said,” and students
in music appreciation scored
63 points higher on verbal and
44 points higher on the math,
than did students with no arts
participation."
Nina Kraus, director of the
Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory in Northwestern’s School
of Communication, has been
measuring the recognition of
sounds of musicians compared
to non-musicians.
“Music training is not only
beneficial for processing music
stimuli,” Kraus told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in February 2010, "We’ve found that
years of music training may
also improve how sounds are
processed for language and
emotion.”
According to a study done by
Stanford, music with a strong
beat can stimulate brain waves.
Slow beats put the brain in a
relaxing, meditative state, and
fast beats encourage concentration.
focus on science and Math after
the launch of Sputnik in 1957.
The National Standards for Music
Education were created in 1994,
followed by some states, and ignored by other states.
Some
states decided to write their own
standards instead. Alabama follows the national standards for
music education.
Izzey believes that her music
therapy program in Tuscaloosa
will give the students an outlet to
express themselves.
“Kids need to be able to express
themselves. They can talk to a
school guidance counselor, but
music isn’t going to judge you,
music’s going to be there and help
you,” She said, “If you’re sad, you
can play a sad song. If you’re happy, you can play a happy song.”
Izzey said that music had always
been there for her in life, even
when people hadn’t always been
and that she has always looked
forward to music class every week
in elementary school. Meredith
Reaves pointed out how music is
Students at Holt work on their shaker project
Harold Russel, a clinical psychologist and research professor
at Department of Gerontology
and Health Promotion at the University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston, tested sound simulation to heal elementary and middle school boys with ADHD. As a
result, the boys scored higher on
IQ tests than they have before
Music education has been in the
United States since the 1700s,
when Boston began to create
schools to improve singing in the
church. Music was first introduced
to public schools was in 1838, also
in Boston.
The Music Supervisor's National
Conference(now called the National Association for Music Education) was founded in 1907 in
Keok, Iowa. In 1950, this organization wrote “the Child’s Bill of
Rights in Music.” Since then, music education has evolved through
many decades, with both support
and opposition, including a shifted
already a major part of her students’ lives.
"Music is not just something you
hear in the classroom, you’re actually surrounded by it.. It's something they can not only learn and
experience, but can take home.
And not that it's distraction from
what's happened, “she said, “but
it's something else they can do
at home, they can do with their
friends, I mean, when I come in
the morning, I see them playing
"Patty Cake" or "Miss Mary Mack"
and they don't know that they're
practicing keeping a steady beat,
and they're practicing the things
they've learning in music, and the
materials are something I can use
to teach them more and teach
them better, and it's something
that they can take with them."
Among Izzey’s donations were
instruments, lesson plans that she
wrote with her mother's help, and
books, all together costing $500.
She hopes to help more music
programs closer to home in North-
east Ohio for years to come.
One business that assisted
Izzey's project after hearing
about was Royalton Music Center, which gave her a "sizeable
discount" as she purchased materials from the kazoos, a music
stand, and some music books
from the money she fundraised.
Many programs are struggling
in Northeast Ohio, including the
one in Garfield Heights. It had
to cut its music program beginning January 17th for grades kindergarten through fifth, as well
as limit the music arts program
in the middle school. Garfield
Heights has not had funding
from a passed levy since 1992. School music programs across
the country have suffered this
decade as well. According to a
study done by SRI International
in 2006, 89% of schools did not
have school music programs in
California that met state standards.
Micheal Bloomberg, mayor of
New York City, has required arts
in all the schools in New York City,
but according to a study done by
New York City Department of Education, in the 2007-2008 school
year, "only 45 percent of elementary schools and 33 percent of
middle schools had programs in
all four required art forms." According to the same study, only
34% of high schools in New
York City offered arts electives
that were above minimum high
school requirements.
With its own failed levies,
Strongsville has had the threat
of their music program being
cut many times. Just two years
ago, the Strongsville Marching
Mustangs relied on the financial
assistance of an anonymous donor to be able to travel to away
games.
This year, they have had the
fortune of receiving "bus money"
from many anonymous donors,
and have even performed at a
Browns game this season, with
the Browns' management paying
for their roundtrip from the high
school to the stadium and back.
The Cantorum and Mustang Express have suffered from busing
cuts as well, but have been fortunate enough to receive donations to be able to go to many
events. Strongsville junior Rachel
Wells is a member of all three
of these groups, as well as the
Wind Ensemble and Symphony
Orchestra.
"Once you walk into the band
room or the choir room, all of the
stress from your day just slips
away because you are free to
lose yourself in the music,” she
said,
"Don't get me wrong, being a
part of the Symphony Orchestra,
Wind Ensemble, Cantorum, and
Mustang Express is not easy. It
comes with a lot of hard work,
responsibility, and discipline,
three key skills to get somewhere in life. Being in a group
(any of the music groups) begins
to develop a family that you will
never forget."
The Strongsville Music Boosters is an organization that helps
to fund the music program at the
high school,middle school,and
elementary school levels in our
school district
Music is a crucial aspect of
education, whether you are an
elementary schooler in Alabama
or a high schooler in Northeast
Ohio. It is a universal language
that enriches the human spirit,
and awakens the mind.
Izzey Pirl encourages people
in the community to help support music in the schools by attending local school orchestra,
choir, and band concerts, or her
next benefit concert. She hopes
to support music for the rest of
her life, whether it be through
benefit concerts or her own music therapy practice.
To learn more about
how Izzey Pirl is helping bring
music back into schools, visit
her facebook page: "Rainbow
of Music: Bringing Therapy
and Hope to All.” Help with
advertising is especially
needed for her next benefit
concert.
Finding Your Inner
By Caite Raymond
As a high school senior, getting into college is
a huge accomplishment that took thirteen years
of hard work and preparation. The application
process takes weeks, even months, for all the
transcripts, fees, resumes, and test scores to finally be mailed out and approved.
Meanwhile, the average senior is stuck in between two phases: trying to pass classes and
slacking off. Each student tries to fend off senioritis just enough to stop it from ruining their
graduation and college plans, but not so much
that they can’t enjoy hanging with friends and
going to prom.
Every student waits in panic and anxiety for
that big, white envelope to appear in their mailbox with those four magical, little words.
“You have been accepted!”
Of course almost every senior has applied to
that over-the-top school, just in case there was
the slightest chance that they might possibly get
in. More often than not, this impossibly hard
to get into school happens to be The Harvard
University.
But for Matt Warburton, 33, his success goes
much farther than just getting accepted.
Born in 1978, Warburton grew up in the
“cross-roads of America,” otherwise known as
Strongsville, Ohio, as an only child and son of
a minister.
After attending Muraski Elementary and Center Middle School, Warburton became a freshman at Strongsville High School in 1992.
His senior year he took a class called comedy in literature taught that year by Mrs.. Linda
Lackey, who is still teaching English at the
school today. She talked about how he would
sit in the back of the room reading the comic
textbook and after class would ask her if they
would cover comics that most people in his
class would have found to be the most obscure.
“He was too smart for his age and his sense of
humor was almost too sophisticated,” she says
as she remembers her days with him.
His senior year was coincidentally the year
that Mrs. Lackey was an advisor of the student
council. Looking back she recalls his presidential candidate speech. She says that he was only
running for a resume builder, but his speech was
really original, incorporating a samurai sword
and a gong to win over the constituents sitting
in the auditorium that year.
“He could make fun of you in a way that made
you feel as though you were laughing with him,
when really he was laughing at you,” she says.
“He was both popular and misunderstood.”
After graduating from high school in 1996,
Warburton went off to Harvard to please his
parents, like a good majority of teenagers tend
to do. His only objective for going to Massachusetts was originally the profound Harvard
Lampoon, which he practically knew, would
hopefully one day lead him towards screen
writing for The Simpsons.
He passed the three tryouts needed to be on
staff for the Lampoon and by 1999 Warburton
accomplished his goal of being editor of The
Harvard Lampoon, which was first published in
1876 by founder John Tyler Wheelwright.
The Lampoon is the world’s longest continually produced sardonic magazine, publishing an
average of five issues annually. It also publishes
other parodies that mock books and other publications, such as The Hunger Pains and Bored
of the Rings.
One of Matt’s editorials happens to be The
Guide to College Admissions, which is a parody
that mocks the success and obsession needed to
get into a thriving university, frequently men-
tioned are the Ivy League schools and more private institutions.
“What is the big deal? You know and I know
that getting into college is not hard. Every year,
millions upon millions of astoundingly dumb
people get into college.” This passage along
with each and every passage in this book, and
every other publication produced by The Lampoon, proves two objectives to its readers.
One: This book is going to be hilarious if taken
the time to read through it. This can be shown
through the following passage:
“With the waning importance of standardized tests
and the increasing number
of students with immaculate
academic records, the importance of high school extracurricular activities is growing. It’s a way of separating
yourself from the thousands
of other students applying to
the same schools that you’re
looking at. ‘Hey,’ you can
say, via your activities, ‘Look
at me admissions officer! It’s
me, Phil, I was editor of my
school newspaper!’ If your
name isn’t Phil, then you
won’t really be separating
yourself from the other applicants, because everybody
else was the editor of their
high school newspaper as
well. So you should probably
change your name to Phil.”
A typical reader might likely not entirely understand every pun and rhetoric purposefully
set in place by the writers, who work on getting
a wide variety of jokes that are able to entertain
a large range of people.
The following year, in 2000, he graduated and
acquired a major in Cognitive Neuroscience.
This would have probably lead him down a road
towards psychology, for cognitive neuroscientists work on finding ways to improve learning
and study the development of the brain and its
functions.
Right after graduation Warburton left the east
and traveled to West Hollywood with another
Lampoon writer. Six months after arriving he
acquired an agent with the William Morris
Agency and found himself recruited full-time to
write for the Simpsons.
More than half of the Simpsons’ writers and
staff are Harvard Lampoon alumni, including
Conan O’Brien and Harry Shearer, so Warburton felt right at home with his colleagues.
Warburton has been with the Simpsons for
about ten years now and finally knows all the
ins and outs and how things work.
One of the first things that will happen takes
place at the drawing board. All the writers sit
around a large table bouncing ideas back and
forth off of each other like a slinky. Being on
air for the last two decades makes getting these
ideas a pretty rough process.
Once a few ideas are set in ink, a sole writer
is assigned to initially write the script. That
doesn’t mean that everything is set in stone
though. After the first draft is written, the writers will all go back through it changing a few
things here and there, sometimes altering the
story line almost completely.
By the time the final script is printed, the plot
and character list from the final draft are usually
altered quite a lot making the final copy more
of a group effort than a solo job. Warburton explains to a reporter that once it airs no one points
fingers if something doesn’t go as planned.
Warburton also explains that he’s happier writing for an animated series than for a sitcom. He
shares that he can use more creativity with his
writing because of the fact that nothing is limited by the laws of physics or reality.
Warburton suggests that his favorite character
to write for is most likely Moe Szyslak, bartender of Moe’s Tavern. Moe is often found participating in illegal activities such as smuggling
pandas and holding unlicensed casinos. Moe
is also repeatedly prank called by Bart, unbeknownst to him, and threatens to inflict unusual
tortures on the caller.
Unless a reader actually takes the time to read
through the entire passage, the full humor will
not fully be acknowledged.
And two: The humor in this book is not geared
towards the immature or ignorant who aren’t
willing to actually take the time and think about
the play on words and puns being made. For
instance:
“Playing football at Interlachen has not been easy.
We only have 4 players,
we never get past the first
half in our games, and the
band members regularly
pick on us: ‘I’ll break you
like a dried-up clarinet
reed!’ or ‘If you were Mozart and I was Chopin, I’d
compose symphonies 3-9
and end up being considered a much more accomplished pianist! Dork!’ If I
had a nickel for every time
I heard that one, I might
have enough money to buy
myself some pride.”
Moe Szyslak, bartender from The Simpsons.
After winning an Emmy and the Best Writing
in an Animated Television Production for the
episode Three Gays of the Congo, Warburton
started taking higher roles at the Simpsons, such
as supervising producer, and has now become
one of the co-executive producers on most of
the newer shows that are being released these
past few years.
His first co-executive produced episode being
Take My Life, Please aired in 2009. Since then
he has been co-executive producer of nineteen
episodes; the last being The Food Wife, which
was aired this past November.
Warburton’s success is hopefully an example
to all senior students showing them that they
can reach their goals if they just push themselves and shoot for their own personal Simpsons episode.
Warburton’s influence has already begun, especially once a current Harvard student had the
privilege of meeting and talking with him. This
Strongsville High School alumnus is currently a
sophomore at Harvard.
His name is Jeff Hajdin and he is majoring in
film studies and minoring in economics.
25
Matt Warburton at the Comic-Con in 2011.
He discussed that he never really prepared
that much to go to Harvard, besides those occasional honors or AP classes. Hajdin also had
the pleasure of having Mrs.. Lackey for English
11, who then encouraged him to pursue taking
AP English with her the following year.
Lucky for him, he was accepted into Harvard
based on his grades, test scores, and his batting
average.
As a student athlete, his admissions process
was quite different than most. Harvard only
looked at his cumulative grade point average
and his standardized test scores, like the ACT,
SAT, and SAT subject tests.
Harvard told him to just write an essay that
made him stand out; even though it was clear he
would be admitted.
Hajdin admits, “I don’t even remember it, but
I know it wasn’t that memorable.” Although,
he does encourage students to think outside the
box when writing essays for future applications,
both to colleges and for possible scholarships.
While trying to balance school work and baseball, Hajdin had an unrealistic opportunity to
meet Warburton this past November, after having found out he had also attended Strongsville
High School from Mrs. Terri Harbart, the high
school’s art teacher.
Warburton is not the only one who has been influencing Hajdin, whose favorite book is Catch
22 by Joseph Heller.
Catch 22 is a satirical novel that takes place
during World War II that describes the life of
Captain John Yossarian, a B-25 bombardier in
the United States Air Force.
The most influential authors in his life are Graham Greene, writer of The Heart of the Matter
and No Man’s Land, and George Orwell, writer
of 1984 and Animal Farm. Both of whom have
slipped into his writing during frustrating times
and writers’ blocks.
Hajdin hopes to be employed in the film business and work in the entertainment industry
within the first few years after graduation. He
would really prefer to be a writer for a television sitcom or cartoon show.
Just like Warburton and Hajdin, every senior
needs to figure what they dream to do later in
life and push themselves until their dreams finally do come true or they win that Emmy.
Jeff Hajdin in his Harvard baseball jersey.
Seeing Is Not Always Believing 26
By: Sarah Fravel
In this world many people
have talents and gifts, some in
which we do not obtain. Mary
Ann Winkowski has a gift that
no person could even imagine
having, she can see earthbound
spirits.
Earthbound spirits are just like people, except
they cannot talk or interact with us in a normal
way. These spirits are people who have died,
but have not crossed over into the “white light,”
usually because they have unfinished business
here on Earth.
Mary Ann uses her gift in ways not only to
help the earthbound spirits, but to help people
dealing with spirits in their homes as well. She
starts by answering a land-line call from a person feeling that they have a presence in their
house.
People usually believe that there is a presence
work.
The Quince is a fruit related to the apple and
pear. It has been cultivated since the early Roman times and has been grown on her grandma’s
old Italian farm for a very long time. Her family in Italy every so often sends them to her.
The only Quince seeds that work to keep spirits out are the ones from Italy. Mary Ann is not
sure how they work or why that is, but the seeds
are energized to offer that specific protection
from spirits. Mary Ann continues to have faith
in the power of the Quince seed. It is her preference because the power of it has never failed
her or any of her clients.
Earthbound spirits do not just stay in houses,
they are everywhere. Although the graveyard
stories of spirits are intriguing, they are very
unrealistic. Earthbound spirits go where there
is a lot of energy.
Mary Ann explained, “Earthbound spirits are
found anywhere that there is a lot of human energy. Sporting events, theatres, hospitals, and
college campuses to name just a few.” In Mary
Ann’s book, When Ghosts Speak, she goes
into more detail about why spirits choose these
“ Hardly a day goes by that I do not learn
something from a spirit,”
Mary Ann Winkowski
if they feel that their physical and mental health
deteriorates, if they have trouble sleeping and
are fatigued, if objects in their home keep moving around or disappearing, if they feel temperature changes, or if there are many electrical and
mechanical malfunctions in their home. There
can be many scientific explanations for these
occurrences, but that is not always the case.
When Mary Ann is on a land-line phone call she
is able to picture if there are any spirits in their
house and what the inside of the house looks
like. She asks people not to use cell phones
while calling her because usually when people
use cell phones they are not in their homes.
If the situation seems severe, Mary Ann will
take a trip to the house. While in the house,
Mary Ann is able to communicate and bring the
white light to the spirit. Her goal is to get the
spirit to go into the white light and to create a
healthy environment for the family again. The
white light comes to people who die to serve a
purpose. Usually spirits will say that they see
their loved ones who have already passed on
waiting for them in the light. Although Mary
Ann sees the light, she does not see what is in it
or what is past the light.
“That is the limit of my gift. Other mediums
can see spirits that have crossed over, but not
ones that have remained earthbound. The one
thing I have learned over the years is that no one
person can do everything,” she said.
After sending the spirit into the white light,
Mary Ann places Quince seeds above all of the
doors in the house. Mary Ann’s cousins from
Italy, Rose and Ralph, are the ones who started
producing the Quince seeds that she uses in her
places.
Spirits are in emergency rooms because doctors, nurses, and paramedics have a lot of energy. Nursing homes are particularly crowded
with the ghosts of elderly men, usually waiting for their wives to pass. Bars are crowded
with spirits, the rowdier, the better, because the
spirits thrive on the high energy. Police stations
attract spirits usually because spirits almost always attach themselves to a police officer.
Those spirits usually have unfinished business,
most of the time having something to do with
how they ended up dead. Antique dealers are
usually home to several ghosts at any given
time because many earth bound spirits like to
stay with their treasured possessions when they
die.
When Mary Ann cleans out a house she does
not just help the spirit, she also helps the homeowner. Heidi Berghaus had the honor to experience Mary Ann’s gift first hand.
“When Mary Ann arrived at the house she said
that there were two children, Sophie and Max.
They were around the ages of fourteen and five,
and both appeared to have been dead for about
one hundred years. Sophie followed my daughter home from school and Max came home with
my son from a petting zoo. They were very
lonely and just wanted to find their families, but
they caused some problems in our house doing
so,” said Heidi Berghaus.
While reading about Mary Ann and other paranormal investigators, it is easy and understandable to be skeptical about their gifts. It can be
hard to believe something that seems so unrealistic, but Mary Ann has a reputation of being
Mary Ann Winkowski (consultant) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (lead actress) for the hit t.v. show, Ghost Whisperer.
Mary Ann Winkowski, paranormal investigator, who has the ability to
communicate with Earthbound spirits.
sensitive to the situation and taking it very seriously.
“When I first called Mary Ann she was very
quiet and just asked general questions, but when
she came to the house she was very intuitive and
talked with the spirits. Mary Ann knew things
about our family that was private and not accessible to the public,” said Heidi. “She cared very
much about what she was doing. She was not
an imposter or a fake; she was just gifted and is
doing this for a greater cause.”
Mary Ann’s gift helps many people, impacts
their lives, and removes all negativity.
“My home now feels marvelous. It is so much
lighter and there is not any more negativity. After Mary Ann left, all of the strange occurrences
stopped,” said Heidi.
Mary Ann has such a wonderful gift, but really
does not know how it works or how she even
received it in the first place.
“I do not know why I am intuitive with spirits.
This is almost like asking a concert pianist why
can you play the piano so well. It is a gift,” said
Mary Ann. Mary Ann’s gift was never a secret
to her family, but it was a secret kept from most
of the world.
When she was seven she started to realize that
not everybody could see or do what she could
do, which was a lot for a first grader to handle.
This is why Mary Ann was always grateful for
her grandmother, who was always there to support her, because she too had a gift of interacting with spirits.
Mary Ann’s “Nonna”, was born in the small village, Caramanica, in Italy. Once moving into a
small town in America, she was known as the
lady with the gift, being able to get a feeling
of when someone’s family member had died,
whether it would have been in Italy or America.
“My grandmother was my mentor. She made
sure that very few people knew what I could do.
When I was a young girl the gift I had was not
understood or accepted by many people. She
was always afraid that I would get my parents in
trouble, so very few people knew what I could
do,” she said.
Once she had learned how to use her gift to her
advantage and felt more comfortable with other
people knowing about it, she decided to share
her knowledge with the world, including law
enforcement.
After informing the law enforcement about one
case, she now has a file of over 200 cold cases
to help solve. Since Mary Ann encounters many
spirits who are victims of murder, she has developed many work relationships with law enforcement officials locally and nationally.
The first time Mary Ann encountered a spirit
who was violently murdered, she passed on the
murder details that the spirit shared with her
to detectives who were willing to listen. As a
result of this, the police were able to use the
information to solve an open case. Since then,
officers now come to her asking to keep certain
victims in mind in case she ever runs across
them to help them solve a case.
Although Mary Ann has a loving supportive
husband, Ted, fosters children, has her own
children, and even owns her own pet grooming business, she has had time to publish many
books and be a correspondent in the show Ghost
Whisperer. Ghost Whisperer, is a dramatized
show about a lady, Melinda Gordon, who can
see earthbound spirits. Even though the main
character in the show is based off of Mary Ann,
the ideas of the program do not reflect real-life
events. Most of it was just created to make the
show more entertaining.
Mary Ann said, “Being a consultant for Ghost
Whisperer was the most amazing five years that
anyone could imagine. I still stay in touch with
many of the cast and crew. What an amazing
group of talented people!”
The cast on the show was also very fond of
Mary Ann. In Mary Ann’s book, When Ghosts
Speak, Jennifer Love Hewitt is quoted saying,
“Mary Ann is so inspiring! Her gift and light
make you feel as if you’ve met an angel.”
In Ghost Whisperer Mary Ann stated, “Each
week about four sentences in the script were accurate. The stories were “Hollywoodized” for
entertainment purposes. Ghost Whisperer was
not a ghost documentary, it was purely entertainment.”
Mary Ann’s gift contains hardships and struggles; it is something that she even says she can
learn from.
“Hardly a day goes by that I do not learn something from a spirit,” she says. Her gift has been
a growing experience to her and to everyone she
has inspired.
She is living proof that there is truth out there,
and no matter how hard a struggle may be, anyone can overcome it. Mary Ann’s gift truly represents that seeing is not always believing.
SHOW THEM
THE MONEY?
27
By Elija Mwase
R
EGGIE BUSH was
without a doubt the best
college football player in
the country.
He was as skillful, explosive, and electric as any
running back we have ever seen. He
put fans on the edge of their seats and
was the most exciting player in col-
After a six year investigation into the
scandal, the NCAA finally deemed
that Bush was ineligible for parts of
the 2004 season and the entire 2005
season, therefore vacating their entire
2005 season, which led them to the
Rose Bowl, and their 2004 National
championship.
Along with this, USC was banned
History Repeating ITself While Some people believe the current scandels
porove that there is an ongoing epidemic on college sports today, the
scandals involving SMU and the Fab Five at Michigan prove otherwise.
lege football in years.
As a sophomore at the University of
Southern California, he totaled over
2000 all-purpose yards, finished fifth
in the Heisman trophy voting, and
helped lead Southern Cal to the National Championship.
His junior campaign was ever better.
In his third and final year as a Trojan, he was an All-American, finished
with almost 3000 all-purpose yards,
and won the Heisman. Even more incredibly, he did all of this while sharing time with LenDale White in the
backfield.
While these are all great accomplishments, according to the NCAA, none
of these things happened.
Bush lost all of his accomplishments
and awards that he gained in college because of NCAA violations
that occurred while at USC. Allegedly, Bush’s family was receiving
gifts from a booster throughout his
junior year. These gifts included
a house and thousands of dollars in
merchandise that was not paid for by
the Bush’s.
The scandal not only forever stained
Reggie Bush’s college career, but it
also left USC vulnerable to be punished by the NCAA, and it is safe to
say that the NCAA hammered them.
from bowl play in 2010 and 2011 and
lost over 30 scholarships.
Bush would be nailed even more. The
2005 Heisman trophy winner was the
winner no-more. He was stripped of
this and had to return his trophy.
have had the most decorated career in
the school’s history.
Now Bush would go on to be drafted
high in the next NFL Draft, play in
the Pro Bowl, would sign several endorsement deals, and even win a Super Bowl, so the blows he took from
the sanctions would turn out to not
hamper him in the long run. But not
every Heisman trophy winner goes
on to have success in the NFL. What
if Bush did not get drafted and these
sanctions took place? Bush would
have nothing to his name.
The incredible thing about the sanctions against Bush was that none of
the things he did were illegal. Players who get arrested for crimes that
could get someone in the workforce
fired get a slap on the wrist and are
allowed to continue playing as an eligible player.
But why is it that Bush, who has never broken a law, was never academically ineligible, faces the most severe
of consequences, and is basically no
longer a part of the NCAA or USC
family?
The Bush scandal was only the beginning of an explosion of scandals sanctions handed down by the NCAA that
have taken place over the past year.
Whether players trading memorabilia
for tattoos, boosters spending money
on players for outrageous gifts such
as dinners and VIP passes to Miami
nightclubs and Miami Heat games,
or even fathers allegedly auctioning
Newton’s Law? If the idea of paying players does become a reality, supporters should thank Cam Newton and his father for bringing the issue
to life indirectly.
If you go to the University of Southern California today, there will be no
mention of Reggie Bush anywhere
on the campus, even though he may
Heis-Man Down Reggie Bush paid the price for the violations . But did the
punishment really fit the crime.
their players to the highest bidding
team, the scandals keep on pouring
out, and there is no end in sight to the
“madness”.
How can you fix these problems?
Some say bring out harsher penalties.
This might work, but others argue that
the only way to solve this issue once
and for all is to do what the NCAA
has so strongly stood against: Paying
their Student-athletes.
Some say this is outlandish and
would be crazy. But if you really
do your homework on how paying
student-athletes would work, it really
isn’t the worst idea, and, if handled
the right way, might actually fix the
problem.
Before we ask how to fix the problem, let’s ask why there is a problem
in the first place.
In the NCAA, a student-athlete is
considered an “amateur athlete” and
is not paid. These athletes, according to the NCAA rulebook, cannot
receive benefits or gifts of any kind
worth enough to fill out a full scholarship. For example, if a softball play-
er’s receives a half scholarship, and
the scholarship is worth $7,000, this
would mean the athlete can receive
up to $7,000 in benefits to equal out
to a full scholarship, which, in this
case, would be worth $14,000.
The problem with this is that this
never happens because most college
athletes, especially on the Division I
level, receive full scholarships.
In the NCAA, according to the official
rulebook of the National Collegiate
Athletic Association, each institution
is responsible for determining eligi-
cases, the administrators, unfortunately, are just as guilty as the players are.
By now, most people already know
about the Ohio State scandal that
ended with long-time coach Jim Tressel losing his job, the suspension of
five players including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and starting wide
receiver DeVrier Posey, and banishment from bowl competition in the
2012 season. This was the result of
several reports coming out of these
five players trading team memora-
Change in our future? NCAA President Mark Emmert has been firm on his
stance against paying players. But how he is affected by public opinion
may determine whether he stays this way.
bility for future and current studentathletes. The people in charge of this
are the directors of compliance. This
job goes overlooked and many do not
even know that it exists, but it is one
of the most complicated and important jobs in the each NCAA institution. Greg Glaus, director of compliance at Kent State University, says
of the job, “Directors of compliance,
such as I, are required to manage all
things regarding student eligibility.
This ranges from managing financial
aid, to enforcing rules, to ensuring the
amateurism of each student-athlete.”
Their job is not easy, and they are
not perfect, so there have been cir-
bilia, ranging from game uniforms to
Rose Bowl rings, to a tattoo parlor in
exchange for free tattoos.
As this story would begin to unravel, it would soon come out that
these players were receiving perks
from several different outlets. These
“gifts” included free golfing at a golfing range and courtesy cars from car
dealerships. But the players were not
the only ones who were the benefiters
of all of this hospitality.
It would also be revealed that several
administrators, including the compliance director Doug Archie and athletic director Gene Smith were receiving
courtesy cars from the car dealership.
Terrelle Pyror alledgedly received serval more gifts other than free tattoos during his tenure at Ohio State, including cars like the one pictured
to the right.
cumstances where either the players
failed to abide by the policy, or the
institution failed to enforce the rules.
Even the compliance directors themselves have been accused of trying to
push the envelope when it comes to
abiding by the NCAA rules. In these
As a matter of fact, the car salesman,
Aaron Kniffin, stated to the Sporting
News that Archie called him “over 50
times” to discuss these sales. Kniffin claimed that Archie directed the
players and family members to come
to that dealership. He even claims to
have records of Archie signing affidavits verifying that the car deals were
cleared by compliance, contrary to
what Ohio State administration says.
Archie denies having ever cleared
any of the car deals.
As more and more details would continue to be revealed about the entire
scandal, it became very clear that
it was not just the athletes who had
dropped the ball, but all parties involved, including those at the top.
“(The Ohio State scandal) was definitely a failure in judgment and decision-making at all levels, and it did
show flaws in the system, but this is
not the case in every institution,” said
Rob Heuer, director of compliance at
the University of Akron, “at the University of Akron, we try our best to
educate more than just the studentathlete about the rules and standards.
We also work on keeping our coaches
down extremely hard on the University, until the university decided to
impose sanctions on its own program,
softening the blow that the NCAA
would give out. As a result, the University of Michigan, who could have
faced even worse sanctions, including the Death Penalty, faced hard, but
recoverable, sanctions from the higher powers. (Death Penalty is the term
used to describe the sanctions leveled
against a repeat offender of major
NCAA violations. When a program
is handed the death penalty, the guilty
athletic program is eliminated from
competition completely for at least
two years. Death Penalty, according
to the NCAA, is not an official name
for the punishment, but is used by the
media to describe the seriousness and
intensity of the sanctions leveled by
the NCAA in these situations.)
The Southern Methodist University
Mustangs were not so lucky.
The Ohio State Scandal revealed to the public that the problem in college
sports went way beyond the players and coaches.
and administrators up-to-date on what
is right and wrong. Everybody is educated before, during, and after each
athletic year. Even with the length of
time I have been doing this, even I am
still learning on the job.”
Because Heuer works for
the NCAA and enforces the system,
he may not be too desirous to change
the system. But he does notice
flaws.
“The current system is not
perfect, and there will be those who
break the rules. But as far as whether the system should be changed,
I would say that it would be a very
change and would be earth-shattering
for college sports, and that is as much
as I will comment on that.”
With all the violations and scandals
coming out recently, some are calling it an epidemic when it comes to
schools breaking the rules, but, in
fact, this is not the case.
Go back to the early 90’s, when
Michigan’s “Fab Five” was at its peak
and on top of the college basketball
world. This team, which included
future NBA stars Chris Webber, Juwon Howard, and Jalen Rose, went
on to become one of the most polarizing teams in college sports history;
a team that went against the grain
and was loved by many, and hated
by many as well. But no one could
deny that they were good. They won
games and went to final fours. With
all that great talent came great connections, something the University of
Miami could relate to.
Team boosters seem to be the people
who have almost as big an impact on
where a player goes as do coaches.
The Wolverine’s basketball team was
no different. The Wolverine’s may
have had the scandal of the 90’s when
team booster Ed Martin’s relationship
with basketball players on the team
became public. Martin was accused
of paying players, including Webber, to launder money from an illegal
gambling ring. Payments allegedly
reached into six figures, some approaching $300,000 over the course
of the players’ tenures.
The NCAA was prepared to come
Go all the way back to the early
1980’s. The SMU Mustangs football
team at the top of college football and
rolling with stars like Eric Dickerson
and Craig James. But what lay under
the covers was a scandal among scandals. Numerous violations, which included paying players to decommit
from their original schools to join
the program at SMU, led to several
probations over the course of over a
decade, and when that didn’t work,
the NCAA handed down the stiffest
penalty it has given to date: the Death
Penalty.
SMU would lose its football team for
one year, but the effects of the death
penalty would cripple the program
for over 20 years.
If you look into the history of college
sports, especially the profiting sports
known as basketball and football,
you will realize that the occurrence
of NCAA teams and their studentathletes breaking rules is nothing
new. What also is not new is the fact
that the NCAA has refused to change
its stance on the case of paying players, even though it has become pretty
clear that this can be a final solution to
this ongoing problem for the NCAA.
We’ve delved into the facts, looked at
the history, and discussed who is involved. Now it is time to argue.
Many may ask, “What is so bad about
paying players?”
Paying players is a trending topic
which can become very touchy, especially within the NCAA and the
NCAA rule enforcers, “It’s hard for
me to say much about it, but if you
are going to pay the student-athletes,
there is going to be conflict between
them and the student body,” says
Glaus, “it’s hard to imagine both
sides being perfectly happy with
student-athletes getting more benefits
than they already have.
Glaus brings up a very interesting
point. In a perfect world, studentathletes would be given the same
amount of opportunities to make
money and would never have to
worry about sanctions or resentment
and envy from the student body about
being paid to play. But we all know
28
The recent scandal involving the Fiesta Bowl and CEO John Junker
(left) just added more fuel to those who argue that the NCAA is, in fact, a
profiting organization and should pay players.
it doesn’t work that way. Not everybody agrees that student-athletes
should be paid, and by paying players, you risk a backlash from many in
the student body.
“I am a huge fan of (Ohio University)
sports, but I just don’t think it would
work,” said Ohio University student
Evan Benoinis, “I personally do not
mind them paying players, but paying players would cause people to be
very jealous of them. Not to mention some sports might not be paid as
much as others. It really depends on
how they spread the wealth.”
Also, among issues that would uphold a move happening in the near future is spreading the wealth; there has
be much debate as to how the money
should be distributed among players:
should it be like the professionals,
where the better performers are paid
more, or should it be evenly distributed, in a matter that would resemble
a sort of equal-for-all, socialist look?
Glaus says it is better that the NCAA
let the individual institutions handle
the issue concerning how to pay players.
“As to how players should be paid so
that it is fair for everyone; that should
be up to the conferences and universities to decide. To make the NCAA
handle all of this would get way out
of hand.”
Heuer took a similar stand on the issue.
“It would depend on how much each
institution values their programs. Are
they going to be willing to pay the
smaller revenue sports as much as the
large ones like football? It depends
on how each institution wants to do
it, and it would be essential for them
to do it in a way that avoids backlash
from any party.”
But with this issue raises another
question: If you’re going to pay players, would this not be considered professional sports?
The NCAA claims on theirwebsite,
“Student-athletes are students first
and athletes second. They are not
university employees who are paid
for their labor.”
NCAA president Mark Emmert made
the same claim last year, "They are
student-athletes. They are not our
employees, they don't work for us,"
he said. "They are our students, so we
don't pay them."
Some stats may prove what the
NCAA and Emmert are saying
as incorrect, according to several
sources. In 2010, the NCAA had a
tax-exempt income of over $600 million. Coming from several different
outlets, including sponsership deals
with companies such as Coca-Cola,
CapitalOne, and AT&T, and contracts
with Fox, ESPN, and ABC for Bowl
Games, CBS for the Final Four, the
NCAA has reeled in cash recently.
And the pot is getting bigger.
Just last year, the NCAA signed a
14-year contract with CBS and Turner Sports worth over $11 billion to
carry coverage of the NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament.
The NCAA makes more money based
on the more teams that in playing.
The NCAA was considering expanding the tournament to 96 teams.
Billions of dollars would be coming in. All of this money was theirs.
How much would be going to the
student-athletes?
Zero dollars and zero cents.
Now some may argue that with all the
scholarship money student-athlete’s
get, that that should be enough to keep
these players content. But why is it
that anybody else on campus can get
a job but if a student-athlete is caught
receiving a gift as small as a Big Mac
from McDonald’s, then he or she is
in violation of NCAA rules and is
capable of facing sanctions from the
institution and/or the NCAA?
Sure, one could say that
these players are amateurs and should
be playing for the love of the game
and for their teammates, and they
would be correct. But no one is arguing this. Just because they are
amateurs does not make it necessary
to keep players out of the money that
they earned.
If one wants reason as to
why paying players is the right way
to go, they need look no further than
the country that they live in. The
United States of America has long
been dependant and has thrived off
of its capitalistic mentality. People
paid based on their worth. Now if
you seriously look at college athletes
and really try to figure out how much
their worth, you find out their worth
a lot more money than they are getting.
Hundreds of thousands of
dollars more.
A recent report, “The Price
of Poverty in Big Time College
Sport,” revealed that if college sports
shared revenue the way pro sports
do, that the average division I football player would be worth $121,000
per year. The amount for the average
basketball player was even greater, at
about $265,000 a year.
“It’s crazy to think that we
could be worth that much money,”
says current Iowa Hawykeyes basketball star Aaron White, “But until
that day comes that college athletes
get paid, we’ll just have to work with
what we got.”
And it doesn’t appear as if
that day will come any time soon, as
Mark Emmert appears to stand strong
in his case against paying players.
But there is hope, as the NCAA has
Supporters for paying student-athletes say argue that advertisements
and large contracts for events such as the Final Four should reward the
players who worked to earn the NCAA these perks.
It is safe to say that the NCAA does
profit off of these student-athletes,
even though they say that they are a
non-profit organization. Just look at
the amount of money that the Fiesta
Bowl brought in as a result of the
2007 game.
Sports Illustrated reported
that in 2007, the Fiesta Bowl brought
in an $11.6 million profit. For one
game, that sounds like a lot of money
to make off football players for football to be considered a non-profit organization, doesn’t it?
Along with this, it was also
reported that the then-Fiesta Bowl
CEO John Junker was earning an annual salary of about $600,000. Compare this to the annual scholarship
of Oklahoma State Wide Receiver
Justin Blackmon, which is worth
about $20,000. Blackmon was quite
possibly the best player on the field
the night that his OSU Cowboys defeated Stanford in this year’s Fiesta
Bowl, yet for all his hard work-the
practice hours, the injuries, the film
study- Blackmon and his teammates
were some of the smallest beneficiaries of their own victory. The greatest beneficiaries were the ones sitting
up in the suites, watching the game in
hundred-dollar Armani suites.
recently begun to discuss increasing
grants to student-athletes by $2,000.
It will be interesting to see if the
NCAA changes its approach. But
only time will tell to see if this will
lead to great changes in the NCAA.
But until that point, and
if history proves correct, it is very
likely we will see more scandals like
the one at Ohio State, the one at the
University of Miami, the one at University of Michigan and elsewhere
unfold, more once-glorified athletes
like Reggie Bush and Chris Webber
will be punished and forgotten on
their campuses, and more people will
ask, is it time to start paying players?
To some, that question was
answered a long time ago.
Would paying players
work?
Only time will tell.
The Catan Family
29
The History Behind The Local Family’s Craft Empire
By Megan Largent
Walt Disney once warned
business owners that, “A
man should never neglect
his family for business.”
Though many business
owners of today can find it
hard to put their family as
a top priority in their lives,
local business owner Pat
Catan never did.
The late craft business pioneer found a way to put the
two most important parts of
his life; his family and his
business, together and created a craft empire that is
still family owned and operated today.
Start of the Pat Catans
After a split with a business partner in 1951, Pat
Catan decided to start his
own company. During 1954
in Cleveland, Ohio Pat Catan took all of his savings
and purchased a small 1,000
square foot store located off
W25 on Colburn Ave. for
200.00 dollars.
The first store under the
Catan name sold artificial
flowers. Though Catan began with simple plastic
flower arrangements, he
had bigger ideas. During
1954 Pat Catan combined
his flower supply store with
other craft supplies.
The craft industry was
undeveloped in North East
Ohio up until this time, and
Pat Catan became the first
craft supplier in the area
with his 600-square-foot
store in Cleveland, Ohio. In
1962 Pat Catan moved his
business, as well as his family, to the city of Strongsville. There he purchased a
plaza which today is known
as Crafters Square. Craft retail store Pat Catan’s is still
located here, much to the
convenience of craft lovers
and school-project creators
alike.
The relocation to Strongsville also enabled the growth
of the family’s bridal store
Catan Bridal. During 1988
Pat Catan’s daughter Patrice Catan-Alberty developed the idea of a bridal
salon. With her design skills
and father’s support Patrice opened Catan Bridal
in 1990 and later grew into
Catan Fashions.
Today, Pat Catan’s is run
Current Artificial Flower Section at Pat Catan’s in
Strongsville
by son Mike Catan and his
family. There are now over
20 Catan locations throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Very much expanded from
the early days of flower arrangements, the stores products included, but are not
limited to, products for scrap
booking, jewelry making,
doll making, special occasion supplies, holiday items
and other mediums of art.
Catan Fashions
Catan Fashions is now the
largest full service bridal
salon in America. With their
corner-stone store beginning at 2,000 square feet,
the bridal boutique has expanded into a vast 54,000
square foot store containing
a runway, multiple salons,
sixty-five dressing rooms
and 27 seamstresses.
Catan Fashions also carries
hundreds of dresses, many
by well-known designers
such as Allure Bridals and
David Tutera Weddings.
With such a vast selection of
all bridal must-haves Catan
Fashions has become a major stop for brides-to-be.
Mary Hearns, a new employee at Catan Fashions, is
just getting into the bridal
business and has nothing but
praise for the company. “I
always worked in accounting so working in retail is
totally different for me. It’s
pretty exciting and upbeat.”
she said.
With such a large store it
is a lot of work to be part
of every aspect of the business, but owner Patrice
Catan-Alberty handles everything with grace and her
ever increasing wisdom of
the fashion industry.
“Patrice is very, very
hands-on; she’s up to date
on everything. If you have
a problem she is the one to
ask.” said Mary Hearns.
Bride Karen Collins also
gives praise to Catan Fashions. Like many other brides
Karen made a stop at Catan
Fashions to begin the search
for her perfect dress, “Catans is known for having one
of the biggest selections
and a lot of the affordable,
major wedding designers.”
Karen said.
Though the store was a
bit overwhelming at first,
Karen was eventually put at
ease, “It is an inviting building from the outside, and
it is very elegant on the inside.” she said.
Catan Fashions does not
only sell bridal gowns
though, they also have a
wide selection of bridesmaid, flower girl and mother-of-the-bride
dresses
and other special occasion
dresses.
Shoes, veils, headpieces
and jewelry are also available to complete the looks.
Another branch of Catan
Fashions is the event planning sector. Headed by
Brenda Kucinski, an event
planner of over 25 years, the
event planning part of Catan
Fashions helps ensure that
brides have a stress-free special day. Brenda has worked
with Catan Fashions for 15
years and has planned and
directed hundreds of weddings.
Darice Inc.
In 1971 Pat Catan decided to advance even further
with his craft company. He
bought his first warehouse
in 1971 in Strongsville on
Foltz Parkway and the same
year Darice Inc was created.
Considered the parent company of Pat Catan’s, Darice
is the largest craft wholesale company in the United
States.
With a promise to “exceed
customer
expectations”,
Darice has thousands of
craft supplies including various art supplies, bridal and
floral supplies ,home decor
and kids crafts.
With some many products, Darice has a multitude
of customers such as craft
retailers, e-stores, fabric
stores, toy stores, drug and
grocery stores, dollar stores,
florist shops, and hardware
stores.
One of the most recognized
companies that Darice Inc.
supplies is Walmart.
Darice also hosts
various trade shows and
events in order to expand
their customers base. However, not only does this help
Darice grow as a company,
it also helps Strongsville as
well.
Effects on the City of
Strongsville
The Catan companies have
been a vital partner in the
growth of Strongsville since
1962; just two years after
Strongsville officially became a city in 1960.
From a humble beginning
to now being one of the top
five employers in Strongsville, the Catan companies
have positively benefited
Strongsville for over 50
years.
The Catan world headquarters is based here in
Strongsville on Darice Parkway. The craft companies of
Darice Inc., Pat Catan’s and
Catan Fashions, which are
Catan Fashions: America’s largest bridal boutique
30
Strongsville High School’s Pat Catan Stadium
also located in Strongsville,
are a huge asset to Strongsville in many ways.
Financially speaking, they
are a major contributor of
income tax revenue to the
city. This means that the
taxes collected from these
companies pay for the salaries of Police and Fire forces
as well as salt for the streets
in the winter and any other
services Strongsville provides.
Not only has the Catan
family developed their own
companies in Strongsville,
they have aided in the development of other companies as well.
Brent Painter, the Economic developer of Strongsville,
explained that, “Lamrite
West Inc. President Mike
Catan continuously works
with the City to assist in
economic
development.
Mr. Catan works with the
Economic
Development
Department in providing
testimonials for prospective
companies and alerting the
City of potential suppliers
who may need additional
space.”
The Catanzarite Investment
Group also is active in bring
new businesses to Strongsville such as Aldi’s, Dunkin’
Donuts, Malley’s etc. All of
these developments have
made the City a very probusiness environment.
Philanthropy
Though perhaps most wellknown for their craft stores,
the Catan family is also acknowledged for their giving
and helpful attitudes.
The Catan’s philanthropic
contributions are endless.
The Pat Catan foundation
was created in 1988 by Pat
and Beatrice Catan. This
foundation, which is still organized by the Catan family
today, was created for the
benefit of all children.
The Pat Catan foundation
has generously contributed
to numerous organizations
throughout northeast Ohio
and throughout America.
Strongsville High School
has been a recipient of their
generosity with not only the
football field being donated
but also the baseball fields
behind the school.
Pat Catan’s Stadium is
home to the high school
and pee-wee football games
as well as physical education classes and track meets
among other events. The stadium was in high demand,
but there was no way to start
the project until Mike Catan, along with several other
Strongsville business men,
got involved.
When Strongsville High
School was moved out of
Center Middle School in
1968, the football field did
not come with it. Instead,
games were still held at
Center’s Taliak Field which
was built over 50 years ago.
Not only was Taliak field
at an inconvenient location
for the Mustangs, it also had
worn-out turf and unstable
bleachers.
To make matters worse,
800 bleacher seats had also
been removed because they
were declared unsafe. It was
plain to see that these conditions were not even close to
acceptable.
After Strongsville residents
voted against a five million
dollar stadium, Catan decid-
ed to take action.
The project began in summer 2002 and was run
on donated money alone.
Catan started the building
process with an initial donation of $400,000. This was
about one-fourth of the total cost of the $1.85 million
stadium. In just 83 summer
days, Pat Catan Stadium,
which was named in honor
of Mike Catan’s father, was
officially up and running.
The state-of-the-art field
contained an electronic
scoreboard, two press boxes,
two locker rooms, rest room
facilities, and a concession
stand. A small area was also
set aside for Strongsville
High School boosters to
sell Strongsville products.
While most people would
be hesitant to donate such a
large amount of money to a
high school football stadium
Mike Catan and his family
were more than willing to
help.
“Life is all about what you
can give and who you can
help…we are fortunate for
what we have and feel very
strongly that we need to
give back.” he said.
The Pat Catan’s Foundation is also partnered with
Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital with the
likes of other donors such
as the American Cancer Society and Lance Armstrong
Foundation. The partnership
has not only helped many
children, but has also aided
research and development
in the hospital as a whole.
The Pat Catan Foundation
has also been a part of the
Warm Up America Foundation which creates and
distributes items such as
afghans to the needy during
cold winter months.
The Catan family has also
donated to foundations such
as Make a Wish Foundation, The American Cancer
Society, The Susan G. Komen Foundation and the
Red Cross. The list could go
on and on.
Not only is the monetary
value of their donations
very admirable, but the endless love and readiness the
Catan family gives with is
also worth recognizing.
When asked about their
philanthropy, Sharon Kilbane, daughter of Pat and
Beatrice Catan, replied,
“My parents were very giving people and we grew up
in a Christian home. We felt
we were blessed and wanted
to share those blessing with
other people.”
The Future
As for the future of the
Catan companies, the possibilities are endless. Susan
Kilbane believes that, “The
future looks bright. The next
generation is striving to do
bigger and better things than
the generation before.”
With the craft business
ever-growing and changing
this is most certainly true.
Mike Catan also agrees with
the notation of a bright future, but also realizes that it
can be tough to keep up with
all the advances, “The future is bright, but the world
is changing fast so you better keep up or you will be
run over.” he said.
The Catan Companies are
working hard to stay the top
contender in this race. As
for the companies to continue through the family, it is
definitely looking positive.
Susan Kilbane reveals, “We
hope it will continue through
the family, it’s what my dad
would have wanted.”
The Catan Companies
have been based on hard
work and dedication ever
since their humble beginning in 1954. These two lessons, along with the importance of giving back to the
community are messages
from Pat and Beatrice Catan
that will live on through the
companies and the Catan
family in years to come.
Pat Catan’s donated $6,897 to the American Cancer Society through funds
raised from the sale of VIP customer memberships
31
The Rock and Roll Roller Coaster:
Read Between the Lines
By James Williamson
As a child, as you ride in your parents
car you hear the music on the radio and
hum along. As you grow older you begin
to become familiar and remember certain
songs and sing along. As you become your
own individual you start to form your own
opinions, including what type of music you
like. If you enjoy the sound or feeling music brings you, you decide to learn to play
an instrument. After endless hours of lessons and practice you begin to get comfortable playing and are ready to perform. In
your first performance you play “Mary Had
a Little Lamb” to perfection and are overwhelmed with the joy it brings you. From
this point you are determined to play music
for the rest of your life with performances
like your first for millions of admiring fans.
Years roll on, and your passion for music
as well as your ability to play it grows
rapidly. You are ready for the next big
step; you are ready to start your very own
record an album with them for a few million dollars. The album is a success and
your band becomes a global phenomenon.
The first album goes platinum and is followed by three more, several world tours
and appearances on several award and talk
shows.
Thirty years out of high school, and you
decide that you are through with being a
musician and reside to your California
beach home where you will only play the
guitar for simple pleasure. At age 65, your
band is inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and you
are forever remembered as a musical icon.
So maybe this is not the case for every
person that has ever picked up an instrument, but it is what every child musician
dreams of. This dream is no different than
what Josh Chirilla, Ben Tomek, Luis Herrera and Jay Hall dreamt of as children.
Together they make the band Read Between the Lines, and are on their way to
band. Luckily for you, three of your best
friends also share a passion for music and
you have to do no searching. All through
middle school and high school you practice
and hang out with your friends and grow
as a band. Throughout your years of playing together you play many concerts and
record a few demos. Right as you graduate high school, you are approached by a
major record label, and they want you to
chase this musical dream.
Music has been a large part of the band
members lives for many years but the
band’s origin dates back to 2008.
In 2008, guitarist Gunnar Mikula and
drummer Ben Tomek began practicing for
the Albion middle school talent show.
“We would just play music when we got
bored of video games,” Mikula said. At
the show they played a rendition of a few
classic 80’s rock tunes, and the crowd took
very well to them.
It was after this performance that the two
were committed to being in a band. Given
that the two were good friends they had
frequent jam sessions and aspired to be
in a full band. During that same year, the
band had played a little with Luis Herrera,
whom Gunnar had known from basketball.
Luis also played guitar, adding to the band
which still lacked a voice. It was until the
following year; that the three young rockers
met Josh Chirila and all became friends.
When first introduced, the boys were unaware they had just met the future voice of
their band. A little while into their friendship, the three became aware of Josh’s talent. Josh could sing and play the guitar and
had been playing for years. Chirila also
shared the ambition to be in a rock band,
his childhood idol was the lead singer of
the band Greenday, Billy Joe Armstrong.
“We would just play music when we got
bored of video games.”
Now the band was on its way, four members who all got along and loved to play
music. They began writing their own songs
in addition to covering famous musicians’
works. Their audience consisted of friends
either going to full band practice or secret
acoustic previews of pieces in the making.
At this point the band has had many lineup changes. Within a year since the bands
beginning, Luis left the band and was re-
placed by Grant Vraja. The same year, the
band added guitarist/ bassist Kevin Monahan, who was two years younger than the
rest of the boys, but was an extremely talented musician for his age. The next year
brought the departure of Gunnar and Grant
and the reunion of Luis and the band. Later
that year Kevin left and was replaced by
Jay Hall who was primarily a bassist. After this addition the band stood at a quartet
which they remained until this year with
the readmission of Gunnar. Throughout
the many additions of departures, one thing
has remained the music.
In addition to many different members, the
band has also cycled through many different names. The band originally was named
Scarlet, and has had many other names including Sing the Sorrow, Yearbook Loser
and their current name Read Between the
Lines.
It only took the band a few months after
beginning to fully practice to get their very
first show. On August 14th 2009 the band
opened for The Blue Pages at the HiFi in
Lakewood, Ohio. This show turned to be a
very large stepping stone for the boys. The
Blue Pages really liked the band and have
kept in contact and served as mentors.
31
Left to Right: Luis Herrera, Jay Hall, Josh Chirila, Ben Tomek
The next big step for RBTL was to showcase their talents in a competition. They
auditioned for Peabodys Downunder’s
Battle of the Bands, and were granted a
spot in the competition. Their set list consisted of four original works, one of which
was a ballad performed by Chirilla alone.
The crowd liked the band a fair amount,
but the band wasn’t given a fair chance in
the competition because all of the other
bands were a heavier genre.
“It felt like we were the Backstreet Boys
playing with ACDC,” Chirilla explained.
In his opinion the show went well for them,
but just wasn’t exactly their venue.
Since their first two shows, the band has
played in many other concerts including the
Battle of the Bands again, several shows at
the HiFi, the Outpost and charity concerts
at Ernfelt Recreational Center.
Shortly after the first public showcase
of the band, they took their talents to the
studio to record and mix their first original
song “Get Out.” They recorded this track
at Spider Studios, and Chirilla explains it
as “a song that we would like to bury down
deep.” Since recording this song, the band
has recorded five other cut and mixed
songs at the Jungle Studio and other demos
and acoustic renditions.
The band is managed by Kevin Kontorchik, who met the band because he is a
friend of Chillira’s older brother and heard
them practicing one afternoon. Kontorchik
studied management and music production in college and was eager to take on
managing the band for both enjoyment
and experience. Given that the band is in
high school and has played a few shows,
one could think minimal management is
needed. But Kontorchik serves a large
part in the bands activity, he is responsible
for finding and getting the boys opportunity to play shows that fit into all of their
busy schedules. Also he helps them with
their sound and pitches in when writing
new material. With his knowledge in both
music and management, Kevin Kontorchik
serves as a great complement to the four
young rockers.
In addition to providing this world with
music, the band has also leant out a hand to
those in need, especially their close friends.
When the band’s friend Austin Bostwick
was sick and needed a kidney transplant
they wrote him a song and collected money
for his family. The band designed a t-shirt
and sold it, raising 400 dollars and donated
all of the profits to the Bostwick family.
The money that was raised helped pay for
all of the medical expenses and make the
lives easier for the family. Also the band
has recently begun a CD sale, all of the
profits from the CD’s will go to another
friend of the band’s family, Chad Hagan,
Chad’s dad recently was involved in a
hunting accident and was critically injured.
The band said that helping out their friends
“seemed like something we should do, everyone always cares about our music, the
least we could do is lend a hand.”
The band has enjoyed the past four years
of being a band but now face the toughest
question thus far. What now? Now that
three of the band mates are seniors in high
school and one graduated last spring, they
all face the dilemma of college. Can they
all stay together and continue the band, or
will they have to call it quits and take a step
into the real world?
Lead singer Josh Chirilla stated that he
wants to pursue music for the rest of his
life, and hopes that the band will stick with
him. Music is his one passion in life and
he sees no other career path that would
better suit him than being a musician and
performing for others. Josh believes that if
the band were to stay together, they would
have a legitimate chance at making it as
professional musicians.
An important question the band must ask
themselves is what makes them think they
could make it? What separates them from
any other high school garage band?
Alan Bise, a talent director for Thunderbird Records said that when looking for
talent the first and foremost thing desired
is talent. Although Bise is the founder of
a classical music label, he has worked in
many parts of the music industry, worked at
performing arts schools and has produced
music that has received Grammy nominations and made appearances on Billboard
Charts.
“Obviously, we’re going to look for talent,
that is a given with all professions, you
want someone who knows what they’re
doing,” Bise stated. Because there is so
much talent in the world, the second thing
he looks for in an artist is personality.
“Everyone you see on TV or hear on the
radio has a high level of talent and is very
well schooled. What separates them from
any other performer is their look or personality.” Bise stated that he looks for a little
spark of confidence or something that separates them from the norm. Mr. Bise said
that it could take anything from a certain
outfit one wears that makes them appear
interesting to a twinkle in their smile.
The third and final thing Bise said that
he looks for in aspiring talent is their stage
presence or performing power. “What I
look for is how they can relate to an audience, how they look on stage or just how
they carry themselves when performing.”
Bise said that it takes a lot of nerve to perform in front of live crowds or in front talent
agents, that any one could record a demo in
their basement without any pressure, and
anyone who can do so with confidence and
enjoyment is meant to be a performer.
Now that the band has been together for
around four years, they face the challenge
that haunts all adolescent bands, “what
comes next?” All bands start with the idea
that they will play music forever and are
like the bands they see on MTV, but as
the end of high school approaches, reality
starts to kick in. All bands in this situation
have a few options. They can commit and
try to take on being a professional musician, they can focus on another career path
and keep music in their back pocket or they
could put all their efforts in to another career path.
Singer/writer Josh Chirilla said that he
wants and feels he can live his life with
music, and no other life would be satisfying to him. Ever since he was a boy and
discovered rock music, he has been determined to follow the footsteps of those who
he admires. “I would be happier playing
music with an empty pocket than sitting in
an office all day long,” Chirilla shared.
After thinking and discussing together,
it appears that the band will no longer be
together next fall unless something drastic
happens. Although the boys will be going
their separate ways to different colleges,
front man Josh Chirilla is still committed
to music and hopes his friends will come
around, if not he still plans on doing so
alone. Undoubtedly, all of the boys have
enjoyed the ride and sure will never forget each other and their shared passion for
music.
33
Christmas Trees: Real vs.
Fake Holiday Cheer
“How often has the Christmas tree afforded me the greatest glee?
O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree! Much pleasure thou can’st give me.”
That line from the famous song leaves a great question; Was this
great Christmas tree real, or fake?
When Christmas time rolls around, the number one thing that you
need to do to celebrate the holiday cheer is by putting up a Christmas tree
in your home. But going into different households, you will either see a
real Christmas tree, or a fake one. Why is that?
The tradition of Christmas trees started long before the entrance
of Christianity into the world, where the holiday was started.
While most trees have a color change in their features, Christmas
trees stay green all year round.
Ancient cultures believed that there was a sun god, and that winter was the time of year where the sun god got sick. So the trees staying
green had a great meaning of health life to cultures during the winter
time.
These people would hang the green plants and put trees that they
had around their house on December 21, which is the winter solstice, the
longest day of the winter. After that day they thought that the sun god
would get better.
That is known to be the first records of people using trees to celebrate a festivity, or a holiday.
The arrival of the Christmas tree in America is credited to German settlers in the late 1700’s and the early 1800’s. They were using trees
known as Douglas Firs and Virginia Pines to decorate their homes.
Of course back then, the only source for a Christmas tree was to
go into a forest and cut down a tree yourself. There was no such thing as
a fake Christmas tree.
That all changed in the 1800’s where there began to be a
mass destruction of Fir trees because people were just cutting
off the top of the tree to
get that ‘perfect’ look and
leaving the remainder of
the cut tree to die.
Because of all the
trees that were destroyed,
people began to brainstorm a way to still have
a Christmas tree, but not
harm some of those trees. This introduced
the first type of artificial
tree that was made out of
goose feathers, which originated from Germany.
In the early 1900’s, a company known as the Addis Brush
Company came up with a much better way to have a fake
Christmas tree. This company is one of the first companies to
make a toilet bowl brush. They figured out how to make an
artificial tree by using their same methods to make a toilet bowl brush.
So essentially, a fake Christmas tree is just a giant toilet bowl brush.
The outbreak of fake Christmas trees happened in the 1960’s
where one silver aluminum tree was manufactured which people started
to take notice of.
Later on, companies started to produce more of these trees and even put
a revolving light under them that made the tree change colors.
As that began to grow more popular, companies decided to start
making trees that looked identical to real trees. Fake pine and spruce
trees skyrocketed into popularity and people were fascinated in them.
Some people find that fake Christmas trees are a quick easy way
to begin the holiday season. They don’t have to go out in the cold weather to pick one out; they don’t have to deal with watering it or collecting any fallen needles. Maybe that is because people these days are just
lazier than they use to be.
With the way the world is today, people always want the quickest and easiest way to get things done. And if you celebrate Christmas,
it seems mandatory to put a Christmas tree up in your home. So many
people think that buying a fake tree is the best and easiest way to go.
Since lots of people have become this way, it seems that the
Christmas tree industry could be put in the hurt locker. According to a
Christmas tree salesperson, “People just aren’t buying them like they
used to.”
Other than fake Christmas trees being a quick fix, there many
other reasons why fake trees have become so popular.
If you are an environmentalist, you would maybe choose to use
fake Christmas tree if you think that using a real one would put a hazard
By Taylor Grahl
on the natural world. This is actually quite the opposite.
Many people believe that you are taking a tree away from a forest
and hurting its habitat by using a real tree. But the thing is, Christmas
trees don’t even come from the forest. That’s what Christmas tree farms
are for!
Farmers get special permits so that they are allowed to grow trees
in their fields. No harm is being done to the environment because for
every tree that is cut, farmers plant 2 to 3 more tree seeds in its place, so
that there is more plant life being added to the natural world. By planting
all these trees gives the environment extra power since there are about
half a billion trees that are grown every year on farms in the United
States.
Once Christmas is over and people start getting rid of their trees,
doesn’t that cause more issues with waste and landfills?
The answer to that is NO. Christmas trees are 100% biodegradable and there are many tree recycling programs around the country. So
when those Christmas trees are put to the curb and the holiday season
is over, they are actually waiting to be taken to one of the tree recycling
programs.
Besides, when your artificial tree is ready to be thrown away, you
have to throw that in the trash, and it doesn’t get recycled.
When the trees are recycled, they can be turned into many things.
Some get chopped up and become firewood to heat houses. And some
get mulched to be used as erosion control.
So in a sense, using real trees for your Christmas tree can actually save the environment by the aspect of recycling.
A main reason that people use fake Christmas trees is because
they say that they can use it over again and they don’t have to go
out and get a new one each year.
But in reality, just
like everything else in this
world, a fake tree is going
to get worn down at some
point. You’ll end up having
to get a new one, and buying a fake Christmas takes
a hefty toll on your bank
account.
An average size
fake Christmas tree can
cost from $300 dollars up
to $800 dollars, and sometimes even more. Christmas trees get worn down after about six to nine years. So that’s
about $100 dollars for each year to have your fake Christmas
tree.
Real, average size, Christmas trees range from $15 dol-
lars to $150 dollars, depending on where you purchase your tree at. When
you have to buy a real tree every year, you are actually saving money
instead of having to buy a fake Christmas tree every so many years for a
big amount of money.
People use fake Christmas trees because they get wrong ideas and
thoughts fed to them. One of the biggest thoughts that people get wrong
about real Christmas trees are that they are a giant fire hazard.
Every once in awhile you will see in the media that there was a
fire in a house, and the cause seemed to be because of the Christmas tree.
Of course that is big news, but if that happened all the time, it wouldn’t
be making headlines on the news.
The truth is that fires due to a Christmas tree only happen in a
0.0004% chance, according to the National Christmas Tree Association,
or the NCTA. So the thought that fake Christmas trees are fire proof can
be thrown out the door with that.
The National Fire Protection Association made a report that 28
percent of house fires that were claimed to have started because of a
Christmas tree; were actually fake Christmas trees.
So even though both real and fake Christmas trees can lead to a
fire, there’s no real truth to real Christmas trees being more of a hazard
than fake ones.
With fake Christmas trees being made out of different kinds of
plastic and metals, it is at a very high risk to contain highly toxic particles.
The main component in a artificial tree is what is called Polyvinyl
Chloride or PVC, which is a flexible light plastic. PVC can release
34
chemicals
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o
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risten
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irkwood
world where it can be
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accumulated in the fatty
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These chemicals can do some pretty serious
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immune
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increase, and possibly putting impairments on the
development of the human body. This is from claims made
by the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition.
Another big health risk with the containment of fake
Christmas trees are that there is a possibility that it could be full of
lead, resulting in lead poisoning.
According to a study done by students at the
University of North Carolina-Asheville, when artificial trees were put by a
great exposure of heat, the plastic in the trees can dissolve into a dust, which
can turn into a high content of lead.
This can lead to having lead poisoning. It is extremely dangerous to
young children by it affecting their growth and health. You
wouldn’t want to ruin a child’s favorite holiday by them
obtaining lead poisoning from something that’s supposed to
bring you holiday cheer.
Because of trees having issues with contamination of lead, fake
Christmas trees that were made in China are now required to have a
warning label by what is known as
California Prop 65.
The reasons that people use fake Christmas trees are not as real as they
seem to be, or real as in a REAL Christmas tree.
Since real Christmas trees are all natural and are grown for the sole purpose of
bringing holiday cheer, how much work goes into growing them?
The process of growing a Christmas tree starts long before the year that the tree is ready to be sold
and put into a home.
The most a tree takes to grow to its complete height is about 15 years and the least it can take
is 4 years. But the average a tree takes to grow is 7 years. Currently there 350
million trees
growing across the country, preparing for Christmas seasons in the future.
This is happening on over 15,000 farms in the United States. Christmas farm
owners take pride in their farms and put a lot of work.
Assistant of the Medina Tree Farms in Medina, Ohio, Chris Lawson, says they
grow acres and acres of trees to supply the best trees to their loyal clients. He feels
that real Christmas trees are the way to go because “Why have the same old Christmas tree with
the same smell every year? Nothing compares to the smell of a real tree.”
You can choose from all sorts of types of tree, like Scotch Pine, White Pine, Blue Spruce, Douglas Firs and many more. Fake trees don’t have that kind of selection as real
Christmas trees do.
No matter what people hear or what is proven to be true and not true, people will choose their preference
of trees, whether it be artificial or fake. Some think that their artificial tree is the right fit for them and that a real
Christmas tree is too much work, but many think that the only way to truly celebrate the holiday season is to have a
real Christmas tree.
With your choice, the most important thing is that you celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with your decision of the biggest and most enjoyable decoration that you can have.
e?
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Real
Real or Fake?
Hannah Smith
“Real because
my mom loves
tradition.
Going to get a
Christmas tree
and decorating
it is one of the
staples of the
Smith household.”
or Fa
ke?
Sarah To
rok
“Fake,
because real
ones smell
like sap!”
Cutting Life Short
35
By Sean Alexander
Most people in today’s society have
been taught from a very young age
that it is important to respect their
elders. Seniors carry a source of wisdom, which they possess thanks to all
of the experiences that they have encountered throughout their long lives.
As the senior’s health decreases, their
need for the care of people around
increases a result of their aging. But
now that Governor Ted Strickland
allowed budget cuts for social services in Ohio, seniors who need care
the most they won't receive it. The
cuts are affecting many seniors and
the agencies that provide the PASSPORT program for them. It also hurts
the families of the seniors, the social
workers, and the nurses who provide
home care.
Governor Strickland proposed that
in order to balance the state budget
in the face of declining revenues, he
must make more than $2.43 billion in
cuts to government services. To make
matters worse, this was following the
$2 billion in cuts made in the last two
years. Strickland’s reason for making such cuts was that eliminating the
safety net services was bad because
Ohioans need it more than ever. But,
advocates for older and disabled
Ohioans argue that this is what this
budget cut is doing.
PASSPORT, an acronym for Preadmission Screening System Providing Options and Resources Today,
is a Medicaid waiver program that
provides information to any person
or family that has questions about
long-term care services. PASSPORT
offers comprehensive in-person assessments by registered nurses and
licensed social workers in order to
help older persons, their family members, which allow caregivers to determine what services they need and
want. PASSPORT is the cornerstone
of the Western Reserve Area Agency
on Aging’s community based long
term care initiative. This initiative is
designed to provide long term care
options at a lower cost then institutional care.
Seniors prefer to live independently
in their own homes, in their communities, surrounded by family and
friends for as long as they can but due
to these cuts it is making it almost
next to impossible to accomplish. In
five Northeast Ohio counties including Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain,
and Medina, PASSPORT supports
mores than 3,000 seniors to remain
where they want to be, which is in
their homes with the independence
and dignity they deserve. It is their
belief that no older person should be
forced to accept nursing home placement because of the lack of and available homecare services. And who are
we to take this away from the people
that taught us what we know?
The cuts created a long
waiting list the essential services,
such as PASSPORT. This now creates a major problem for Ohio senior
citizens. It takes away any choice that
he or she may have in whether they
would receive long-term care. The
quality of work as well as the desire
to enable individuals an option to remain at home in the community as
to a nursing home has not changed.
There is uncertainty as to the future
direction of program.
Through PASSPORT seniors receive
a lot of in-home care services that
allow their stay at home to be comfortable and safe; They get an Adult
Day services where a nurse comes
to the seniors home and makes sure
that the senior gets bathed, fed, and
the proper attention for their medical needs; Chore Services where a
nurse makes sure the seniors house
is properly maintained; Emergency
Response Systems, which gives immediate help to seniors who need it;
Home Delivered Meals, which provide a hot cooked meal for those seniors that are not able to prepare their
own meal; Home Medical Equipment
and Supplies that give seniors who
enough reserve resources (assets) to
meet their financial obligations to
remain in there home. For example,
consumers who own their home complain that by decreasing their assets
to the Medicaid guideline, they have
no reserve money to pay there home
taxes or to make provisions for emergencies such as the replacement of a
water heater or a clothes dryer. These
consumers are typically of lower
income and their monthly income
barely meets their monthly expense,
so saving for aforementioned emergencies are usually not feasible. As
a result, unfortunately, consumers
have to worry about their finances
along with their failing health, resulting in the need for in-home services,
while dealing with the prospect of not
having enough services to remain in
their home. With the current priority to decrease the amount of dollars
provide a monitoring system that will
alert medical personal in the event
of a in home fall or
other emergency.
Decreased funding
for Medicaid services has the potential to eliminate or
drastically reduce
monies available
for seniors who are
stricken with the
cognitive
limitations of Dementia
(memory impairment) or Alzheimer’s Disease, from
being able to attend Adult Day Services, a services that would help to
keep them safe and maintain a level
of dignity through there aging years.
have a medical condition more medical assistance for their condition; Independent Living Assistance, which
allows seniors to stay in their own
homes; Minor Home Modifications,
Maintenance, and Repairs to enhance
the independence and accessibility
and improve the health and safety
of the clients’ home environment;
Social work/Counseling that give
families the opportunity to work with
a licensed social worker to help provide good assistance for the senior.
Transportation lastly which provides
accommodation to the seniors disabled or not able to drive.
State funded services for consumers
(seniors aged 60 and over) have been
designed to help maintain seniors in
their own home rather than having
these seniors prematurely placed into
a nursing home. To be eligible for
these state funds services, consumers have to decrease their assets to
$1500 or less. For consumers who
own a home, decreasing their assets
to meet that criteria for receiving services to remain in there own home
can put them at risk of not having
paid out for services to seniors for in
home services, consumers have to get
by with fewer services than they had
been receiving in the past. Consumers must now depend on informal
supports as well as family members.
Many of these family members give
up their jobs and home to take care of
their loved ones. The issue with this
at times is that family members, who
must assist their loved ones, must
work full time. The very frail consumers who need a large amount of
services to remain in the home safety
often end up in a nursing home because working families need a number of services that are not immediately available due to Medicaid cuts
as well as lack of agencies to provide
the increasing need of services.
Without adequate in-home-based care
services, seniors are at risk of premature institutionalization in nursing
homes. This comes at the time in the
life of a senior, who has worked hard
all their life, who have no option but
to remain in their own home, resulting in decrease dignity. Decreased
funding for Medicaid services will
affect the overall health of seniors,
as many low income seniors depend
on medical transportation paid for by
Medicaid dollars to maintain wellness trips to the doctor as well, as to
cover the cost of daily medications
and the pricey hospital cost.
Decreased funding under Medicaid funds affects the health and safety
of vulnerable seniors who live alone
and have limited to no informal or
family support, who depend on additional supportive services like Meals
on Wheels and devices like Emergency Response Systems that help seniors to maintain good nutrition and
Cuts to Medicaid funded services,
like those for Assisted Living, would
limit or eliminate services that would
help seniors maintain a level of independence with assistance for daily
living activities i.e. bathing, homemaking, medication management,
etc. at a cost far lower (60% of what
it would cost) to be maintained in a
nursing home.
Sarah McFall, a social
worker for the Western Reserve Area
Agency on Aging, has been affected
in strong ways due to the funding
cuts. She is responsible for assessing 9 consumers per week which is
an increase in her case load just prior
to the decrease in the funding. When
funding is decreased, she sates, “We
as workers have an innate feeling that
we must work even harder to produce
good results and service more people
within the same time from that we
have in the past.” This social worker
states that she is on a salary which
means that she is paid for working
37.5 hours per week. However, on
average, she must work 10-12 hours
a day to maintain her work load. She
states that, “It seems a social worker’s job is never done and you have
to have a love for the job as well
as special commitment to the consumer to continue working at such a
high demand on your time. My family time is often cut into in order to
maintain work demands.” Since the
cut in funding, Mrs. McFall has also
endured a cut to her own retirement.
The agency has had to discontinue
its matching contributions to the employee’s retirement fund in order to
maintain a workable agency budget.
While this prevented the agency from
having to do any massive lay-offs, it
still places a strain on “my own retirement fund,” according to McFall.
The irony behind this is that when
“I become a senior and consumer
of long term care services, I will be
facing some of the same issues that
my current consumer’s are facing:
limited monthly income and lack of
adequate assts to meet ongoing and
high-rising medical expenses,” Mcfall states, “I have to ask myself, will
there be services to meet my needs
when I am old?”
In the PASSPORT program, nurses play one of the most essential roles involved in the program.
They are the ones who provide the
home-care services for the seniors,
which means that they come up with
the health-care plan for the seniors.
But due to the cuts, their job is affected greatly.
When working in the
homes, there is more tension between
nurses and the families because the
families are trying to make sure that
their loved ones are given the proper
care needed to stay in their homes.
Due to the cuts, the nurses now make
less money than they would if they
were working in the hospitals. Even
though these nurses care for their
patients and sometimes develop an
emotional attachment for these elders, they also need to take care of
themselves first and foremost, which
means that they will do what is best
for them and leave the work field to
go work in hospitals, where they now
pay more than they do in the work
field. And quite honestly, who can
blame them?
In addition to the decreased
pay, the nurses have to work more
at home than before, and they have
to use their own time to create care
plans. The nurses have to change
their way of thinking, the nurses are
switching from being clinical handson nurses to providing home-care
services. What this means is instead
of being the ones who take the blood
pressure, give the patients their pills,
and cater to the patient, they now set
up the plan for other people to take
care of the patient.
So as we look upon the
current bill passed by Strickland, we
must think about who this really affects behind the scenes. We are told
to respect and care our elders, but
does cutting services for these elders
really show how much we value them
and their wisdom? It is inevitable
that many of us end up be in their
situation, and will have to face the
same problems they do because of
this bill. With the current outlook, it
appears that the situation is not getting any better, very bad news for
our generation and generations of the
future. While it may seem that these
politicians are making these laws for
the betterment of the people, who is
really being helped out by this?
36
By Aziz Ahmad
People stealing food from men,
women, children, and families
alike. Men working countless
hours to buy bread for their families. Working all day to barely
make a meal at night. Men, women, and children dying of starvation, not getting enough nutrients
to survive. Mother’s trying to
make a dinner out of the little food
they have. Turning little pieces of
cloth into semi-suitable outfits for
their families. Lack of education.
Classrooms based on the simplest
knowledge, mainly reading and
basic math. Boys working at young
ages. Girls getting married at as
young as 15, if not younger. Children playing with sticks and rocks,
trying to preserve the little bit of
childhood they may have left. All
of these horrific aspects are common factors in a typical Kenyan
village.
A refugee is a person who flees
their country in search of freedom.
They may be looking for freedom
from an oppressing government,
religious restriction, war, or any
other event that causes an unsuitable, undesirable living atmosphere
for a person.
Many villagers strive to get themselves and their families out of
Map of Somalia
these poor conditions and into a
land with equal opportunities and
freedom.
The United States takes in more
refugees each year than any other
country. About 80,000 refugees are
allowed to be taken in and resettled
JOURNEY TO AMERICA
in America for the year of 2011.
The process of getting yourself
out of an oppressing country is
not an easy task to achieve. There
are many steps and requirements
needed just to get the opportunity
to possibly create a better future
for yourself.
Their application is reviewed by
a special board in the Center of
Immigration to make sure they
comply with the legal definition
of a refugee, which is basically a
person who is persecuted in the
current land they are in.
It is taken into consideration if the
resettlement into America would
actually be a benefit to the person
or people who are persecuted.
Also, domestic politics, foreign
policy, and many other details are
taken into consideration.
For many people, the mix of emotions that are felt when undergoing
a process such as this is hard and
undesirable to imagine, but they
make good plot lines for movies
and books. However, for families
such as the Mayingwas, the emotions are real, the struggle is real,
the journey is real, and the triumph
is ever so real.
The Somali-Bantu refugees are
not originally from Somalia at all,
according to Mark Krikorian, the
executive director of the Center of
Immigration Studies.
A long time ago, the Arabic people
kidnapped these Africans to use as
slaves. They viewed the Somalians
as“sub-human”, and treated them
very poorly. The Africans were
later released with the abolition of
slavery, but had no place to go to.
The people of Tanzania offered to
take the former slaves as refugees
into their country.
“This would have been perfect because the refugees are ethnic cousins to the Tanzanians. There would
have been no language barrier and
little to no cultural complications,”
Krikorian said.
However, there were a few problems, one of them being that, even
in the refugee camps near their
homes, the Somali-Bantu were
still not treated equally. Also, the
Tanzanian people needed sufficient
funds to host the refugees, funds
they asked America to loan them.
But, instead of the United States
providing the money, they decided
to take the refugees in themselves.
VolAg, which stands for Volun-
tary Agency and is supported by
the State Department, provides
reception and placement services
for refugees arriving in America.
siblings.
Kamar has a lot of memories of
growing up in Kenya. “Life was
simple,” she said, “We went to
Refugee camp at Jijiga, a country in Eastern Ethiopoia.
This camp is a good representation of most of the refugee
camps in Africa
They help provide initial support of
housing, food, clothing, job placement and orientation to the American way of life.
Nonprofit organizations, mainly
run by churches, are given money
to make accommodations for the
families. They are required to
match the amount of money they
are given by the government,
mainly through donations.
The Mayingwas came to America
in 2005. Mr. and Mrs. Mayingwa
were born in Somalia. Their oldest
children Kamar, 15; Halima, 14;
and Abdi, 12; were born in Kenya.
The youngest kids, Hassan, 10; and
Jumale, 8; were born in a different
village. The Mayingwa family also
school, came home, went to Arabic
school to learn about our culture
and religion, and then we spent the
rest of the free time we had playing.”
For a child growing up in a Kenyan village, life may have seemed
simple and fun. However, they
would soon need to face the realities of the real world and are forced
to mature quickly.
Kamar remembers, “My sister and
I were walking home from school
one day. Every day at school we
would get oatmeal and a cookie.
For some reason, we decided to
save our cookies for later. As we
were walking, a man we didn’t
know ran up and stole the cookies
right from our hands, we were only
5 and 6 years old.”
Mr, and Mrs. Mayingwa
included Mrs. Mayingwas three
This is an example of just how desperate some people got for food.
37
Kamar and Halima
Living in a poor country caused
even more desperate acts such as
this. There was not just a lack of
food, but a lack of utilities, shelter,
clothing, and ultimately, structure.
Kamar’s village consisted of
houses built out of blocks of mud.
Each house was uncarpeted, and
had no electricity, no water system,
and no plumbing.
When a villager had to use the
bathroom, he or she would use the
village outhouse, shared by all. For
water, they would have to bucket
the water from the village well
and carry it to their small house. If
you just wanted a quick drink, you
could use the community water
fountain.
Since there were no bathrooms,
people would shower outside.
“Usually, we would wait until it
got really dark out,” said Kamar,
“Then we would go behind our
house and rinse off,” said Kamar.
According to Kamar, none of the
family really knew that they were
moving until the day of the move.
“My parents filled out this long application form. They turned it and
then they would check this wooden
board everyday, where important
news was posted daily.”
On the board was a list of families
whose refugee application has been
accepted. When my parents saw
our name on the board, we had to
go. We were rushed to this place to
get our picture taken for our passports. Then we went quickly to the
airport, boarded the plane, and left
for America.
We made a few stops in some
different states before we got to
America. When we got off at our
first stop, we saw snow for the first
time. It was amazing, and confusing at the same time. These people
at the airport gave us jackets,
because we weren’t dressed for
the cold weather. It never got this
cold in Africa , that is mainly what
made it so confusing.”
The fast change of pace that would
come at the Mayingwa family
would be more confusing, life
changing, and amazing than they
could have ever imagined.
As soon as they landed at their
final destination, the Mayingwas
were assigned to go with a woman
named Lisa Moser.
Lisa and her husband volunteered
with their catholic churches Migration Refugee Services, and Youth
and Young Adult Services. Their
original plan was to support the
refugees with donations of supplies
and money. They soon learned that
a family was arriving too early,
and the church didn't have enough
time to find them a home, a job,
or match the amount of money
the government has given them to
provide support.
The Mosers agreed to host the
family, even though they had six
kids of their own. But, they soon
learned that they will be hosting a
family of ten people. The Mosers
had little time to double the space
of their house to accommodate
Mr. and Mrs. Mayingwa, Mrs. Moser and baby Lisa
everybody.
When the Mayingwas first came to
the Mosers door, there were immediate signs that these people were
emaciated. “The second child, who
was about three at the time, looked
about nine months old too,” Lisa
said. The younger kids were crying, and Lisa was not sure if it was
due to the trauma of the sudden
move or the malnutrition, which
may cause sensitive skin.
The refugees had nothing with
them except the clothes on their
backs, and even those clothes were
given to them at the airport.
The children of the family were
very happy to learn that Lisa had
children. “I was happy that I had
more kids to play with,” Kamar
recalled. Lisa immediately treated
the refugee kids as they were her
own. They were put in a schedule
and had a time to watch TV, a time
to eat, and a time to play. The children would read bed time stories,
play in the snow, and learn many
things that were new to them.
The kids were introduced to many
things that they didn’t have in their
own country. For instance, the beds
in their old village were hard and
handmade. Sleeping in the soft,
comfortable beds was a pleasant change. They also finally had
indoor plumbing, carpeting, and
electricity, something they have
lived without for so long.
It was hard to overcome the language barrier at first. Neither family could speak the others language.
When the Mayingwas first arrived
at the Moser’s home, they were
accompanied with a translator.
However, the translator never came
back to the house, leaving both
families to communicate mainly
through gestures.
The cultural barrier was just as
difficult for both families, making
things just more confusing for the
Mayingwas to understand, and for
the Mosers to teach.
Lisa received a list of the family’s
names and approximated ages,
since none of the refugees knew
any of their birthdays, except for
the two youngest boys. Lisa knew
she had to find a way to break the
barriers, and find a way to teach
the Mayingwa family everything
they would need to know to live on
their own.
Lisa called Ms. Barba, a Strongsville High School Spanish teacher.
She asked if Barba could recruit a
few of her students to come help
Mr. Mayingwa and Jumale
teach the Mayingwa family anything they could, including information about money, food, common household appliances, and
any other information that may be
useful.
“In the matter of twenty-four
hours, Ms. Barba was able to get
a list of 30 students who wanted
to help. They would come to my
house and help me with teaching
the refugees, as well as watching
the kids, and interacting with the
whole family,” said Lisa.
The extra support itself was a huge
help, but there was more help to
come. One of the students who
came to help, happened to speak
Swahili, the same language Mr.
and Mrs. Mayingwa spoke. This
was the huge relief for Lisa could
have had. She now had a way to
break the language barrier. The
student became Lisa's go to guy,
acting as the new translator.
The whole community soon became involved by giving donations
of clothes and supplies necessary
for Lisa to support the family in a
more financial way. With resources
coming in, some stress from this
whole situation began to alleviate.
Through the whole journey, the
Mosers were being introduced
to people in the community they
never knew, each person offering
a new skill to help in adapting the
family to this new way of life.
Schooling was also a nice change.
There are some minor differences
such as, in the village, if you were
late to school, you had to pay a fine
to get in.
Also, the education system was
very different. Kamar remembered,
“When we were in school, all we
did was read books. Some of the
books were in our language and
some were in English.”
Detention was a new concept, and
form of punishment in school. In
Kenya, they had this form of “pencil torture” to punish their children.
The torture consisted of having the
child weave the pencil around their
fingers. Then, the teacher would
press the fingers together, causing intense pain to the child. Also,
hitting the childs hands with a ruler
was used as a way of discipline.
After the Mayingwas left the Mosers home, they moved to a small
house in Cleveland. Luckily, some
friends from their old country also
came to America and were neighbors to the Mayingwas, and also
38
spoke English, and it was hard
to make friends at school. They
spent most of elementary school in
Cleveland City Schools, but when
Kamar was in sixth grade, she and
her family moved to Strongsville.
For the family, Strongsville was a
much nicer and safer environment.
The parents didn't worry as much
when their kids played outside,
away from the house, because they
knew that they were in a friendly
place.
The education was also better, with
Strongsville having an 11 year Excellency rating. The switch to the
structured school system was difficult for the children, however. Mrs.
Moser understood this, and started
a program that would provide support for the kids, educationally as
well as personally.
The Somali-Bantu Refugee program was started in about 2008.
Students from the Strongsville
would meet at the library to help
the Mayingwa children with their
homework, get help with projects,
and to ask questions about things
they don’t understand.
Many students came to volunteer.
There are at least one or two students that meet at the library every
week day to help the children.
Mary Hess, a senior, has become a
major contributor to this program,
as well as to the children’s lives.
Mary met the children through the
program, which she heard about
through Key Club when she was a
freshman. She gradually became
more and more involved with the
children as the years went by.
“When I first met them, the kids
Refugee Camp
classmates to the children. This
was fortunate because they hardly
knew English pretty well; they
were very quick learners when it
Kenya Map
came to the language. But they
dressed in their traditional clothing
and still practiced a lot of the same
customs,” Mary remembers.
Mary hit it off with the girls pretty
quickly, and had a great relationship with them from the start.
“Mary was always like a sister to
us,” said Halima.
The boys took longer to open up,
but they too became very close
to Mary.
Mary helped the kids become
more accustomed to American culture and introduced the
children to many things such as
kickball, books, and music.
“Kamar became obsessed with
Justin Bieber. Halima loves Enrique Iglesias. Abdi likes rap, and
he’s and amazing artist. Jumale
and Hassan like to watch cartoons, and they are fascinated by
animals, especially dinosaurs,”
Mary explained.
Mary also met the Mayingwa
parents, who don’t speak English
very well, and also met cousins,
uncles, and aunts of the family.
All of the family agrees that
their lives have changed for the
better since arriving in America.
“My parents told me that if we
were back in our old country, I
would most likely be married by
now,” Kamar said, “I want to go
into the medical field, and the
education here is giving me that
opportunity.”
“I like it better here; we have more
freedom and more to do. We can
actually walk to the library, or to
[a restaurant] and our parents don’t
worry as much as they did when
we were in Cleveland,” Halima
said, “ In Africa, we didn’t even
have a library, or anywhere to go.”
The Mayingwa parents find work
where they can, and work long
hours to provide for their families, but the benefits far outweigh
the turmoil. They had two more
children since coming to America,
one child named Bishara, and the
other who they named Lisa, after
the lady who helped them establish
their new lives and continues to
support the family.
They are currently in search of
a bigger house somewhere in
Strongsville, and hope to be moved
out soon. They also have their
green cards and are working on
getting a green card for each of
their children.
From a small refugee camp in Africa, to the Moser household, to their
own home here in Strongsville,
the Mayingwa family definitely
had a great journey throughout
their lives. All of the changes and
struggle were worth it, with the end
result being a new, better life.
It’s hard to come from an oppressing country into a land that speaks
a different language, and lives a
different way of life. It takes a lot
of support to make a better life for
a family, which luckily the Mayingwas had. Through the help of
the Mosers, as well as the rest of
the Strongsville community, the
refugees were able to create a better life, and were able to use the
opportunity that this country has
given.