gazette 01-11-12

Senior center remembers Elvis — See page 5A

THE GAZETTEVol. No. 136, No. 2 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012 Periodical’s Postage Paid 75¢

A-Tech grads offer advice — See page 10A

BY SADIE PORTMANGazette Newspapers

ASHTABULA - Lucille Hensleyis now executive director of theAshtabula Senior Center, takingover for Troy Bailey, who retiredthis past December.

“She came and volunteered fora short time while Troy was stillhere,” Judy Witt said.

Hensley volunteered side byside with Bailey and observed thejob’s details.

Hensley said it was great tolearn from the best.

“Troy Bailey did a wonderful jobin helping me transition,” Hensleysaid. “I can’t thank him enough.”

The senior center is alsotransitioning well with the newdirector, and Hensley said she al-ready feels pretty comfortable andin her element.

From employees to the seniorsthemselves, they have openedtheir hearts to Hensley.

“Everyone’s working together tomake her feel welcomed,” Wittsaid.

Hensley said she is happy to beable to take over and sees greatopportunity with the position.

PHOTO BY SADIE PORTMANLucille Hensley started off as avolunteer at the Ashtabula SeniorCenter but has now taken over asexecutive director for Troy Bailey.

Ashtabula SeniorCenter has newexecutive director

BY CAROLYN BEHR-JEROMEGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - Auditions wereheld recently at the Jefferson AreaHigh School Auditorium for theJefferson Players Spring Production,“The Trials of Robin Hood,” a full-length comedy written by Will Averillwith a cast of up to 56 actors.

“We read a lot of scripts and thiswas hilarious,” director SeannaButler said.

Butler’s husband, Jim, who is co-directing, explained, “We knew wewanted something funny and to getas much involvement as possible.”

According to the website forPlayscripts Inc., the company thatprints the script, the comedy exploresthe question, Is Robin Hood a lustyhero, hopeless lover or evil criminal?

“Upon his return from the Cru-sades, King Richard is forced to tryand figure out what happened inhis kingdom during hisabsence...told from the perspec-tives of Robin himself, MaidMarian and Prince John, this hi-larious tale combines three differ-ent stories into one—with threedifferent endings, (leaving) it up tothe audience to decide which oneis true,” the website describes.

JeffersonCouncil passesfirst reading ofmeth-labordinanceBY STEFANIE WESSELLGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - Jefferson Vil-lage Council passed the first read-ing of an ordinance dealing withthe clean up of clandestine druglabs and assessing costs to land-owners during its meeting on Tues-day, Jan. 4.

With this ordinance, JeffersonCouncil wishes to follow in the foot-steps of Geneva-on-the-Lake Vil-lage Council, the members ofwhich passed legislation last yearthat makes the property ownersresponsible for the clean-up costsof a meth lab, not the municipal-ity.

The need for such legislationbegan when the Jefferson PoliceDepartment took down a metham-phetamine lab on Elliot Avenue inthe Village of Jefferson on Fridayevening, Dec. 2. The Jefferson Po-lice Department had to contact theBureau of Criminal Investigationto assist with the cleanup of thelab. Mayor Judy Maloney said thecleanup will cost the village be-tween $4,000 to $6,000.

Small municipalities are re-sponsible for the clean up of methlabs, unless they have ordinancesshifting the responsibility else-where, thus the ordinance beingconsidered by council.

See CLEANUP page 2AJefferson Players hold auditions

PHOTOS BY CAROLYN BEHR-JEROMEJefferson Area High School seniors Rachel Edge, Aubri Bowling and Brad Weisbarth take a break fromCalculus to review their audition lines for The Trials of Robinhood. Weisbarth and Edge are the onlyseniors who have been in all eight productions during their four years at JAHS.See AUDITIONS page 8A

See DIRECTOR page 2A

PHOTO BY JAN PERALA FOR GENEVA SCHOOLSThree Geneva High School Students have advanced to district competition in the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsored Patriotic Art Contest.GHS senior Lindsey Adams (third from right) was the blue ribbon winner. Brandon Ball (third from left) and Nate Volanski were the second-and third-place winners respectively. They are pictured with Sandra Roach (left) and Kathy Merrill (right), VFW Post 6846 Contest Chairpersons,and GHS Art teacher Gina Monahan.

Expressions of Patriotism

PHOTO BY JAN PERALA FOR GENEVA SCHOOLSGeneva High School senior Kayleena Brashear has qualified for state-level competition in the annualVoice of Democracy Speech Contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, garnering third placein Ohio District 7, which encompasses a four-county region, including the entire greater Clevelandarea. Brashear is pictured with Sandra Roach and Kathy Merrill of the VFW Post 6846 and GHS teacherMary Ann Svagerko (second from right), speech contest advisor.

BY JAN PERALAGeneva Area City Schools

GENEVA - Kayleena Brashear,a senior at Geneva High School,has advanced to state-level compe-tition in the annual Voice of De-mocracy Speech Contest sponsoredby the Veterans of Foreign Warsand its Ladies’ Auxiliary.

The nationwide speech Con-test, established in 1947, is de-signed to foster patriotism and af-fords high school students ingrades 9 through 12 the opportu-nity to express their viewpointregarding a preselected patriotictheme.

This year ’s topic, “Is TherePride in Serving in our Military?”was addressed by more than100,000 young speechwriters.Contest entrants compete formore than $2.5 million dollars inscholarships and incentives at thelocal, state and national levels.The national winner of the Voiceof Democracy Speech Contest willreceive a $30,000 scholarship.

A compelling writer and a char-

Brashear is State Qualifier in Voice of Democracy Speech Contest

See SPEECH page 9A

Year in Review— See page 6-7A

2A • GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS WEDNESDAY, January 11, 2012

CLEANUP From page 1A

With this new ordinance,council makes clear its in-tent to have the owner of theproperty where the drug labis located be responsible forthe costs of clean up.

For the purposes of the or-dinance, “clandestine druglab” means the unlawfulmanufacture or attempt tomanufacture controlled sub-stances. It also means anyplace or area where law en-forcement has determinedthat conditions associatedwith the operation of a clan-destine drug lab exist. Thelab may include industrial,commercial and residentialbuildings and dwellings, in-cluding accessory buildings,accessory structures, motorvehicles, a chemicaldumpsite or any land.

These drug labs, whenidentified by law enforce-ment authorities, will be de-clared to be public healthnuisances. When the villageadministrator receives no-tice of the lab, he willpromptly issue a Declarationof Public Health Nuisancefor the affected property andpost a copy of the declarationat the entrance to the dwell-ing, according to the ordi-nance.

When the administratoror police chief determinesthere is an immediate threatof human exposure or injury,the village may conductemergency dismantling anddisposal of drug processingapparatus and/or chemicals.

“To the extent permittedby law, the individual or en-tity responsible, and/or theowner of the property wherethe site is found, shall be li-able to the village for itscosts incurred in conductingthe emergency dismantlingand disposal,” the ordinancereads.

The administrator alsowill notify the owner of theproperty by mail, as well asnotify the occupants of thepremises, all adjacent prop-erty owners and any otherneighbors at probable riskand the primary and second-ary mortgage holders.

The proposed ordinancealso allows the administra-tor to order the owner of theproperty to do the following:

DIRECTOR From page 1A

“It feels wonderful to behere,” Hensley said.

Hensley said she wants totake the basics she learnedfrom Bailey and mold theminto her own.

She would like to seemore seniors at the centerand a wide array of activi-ties for them to choose from.

“We’re trying to come upwith some new activities toget the seniors involved,”Hensley said.

Hensley said she’s beenworking for 42 years, start-ing off in retail and then get-ting her license for socialwork and eventually work-ing directly with area nurs-ing homes.

“I have 33 years of expe-rience working with seniors.I worked in administrationwith nursing homes,”Hensley said.

Hensley has lots of newprojects planned and she ishoping to see the senior cen-ter move to a more conve-nient space by 2015, whichwill provide more space to

• Cause the immediatevacation of all portions of theproperty which may placethe occupants or visitors atrisk.

• Contract with appropri-ate environmental testingand cleaning firms to con-duct an on-site assessment,complete clean-up andremediation testing and fol-low-up testing and deter-mine that the property risksare sufficiently reduced toallow safe human occupa-tion of the dwelling.

• Provide the administra-tor with written documenta-tion of the cleanup process,including a signed writtenstatement from the environ-mental testing and cleaningfirm that the property is safefor human occupancy andthat the clean up was con-ducted. The owner mustcomplete the remediationand post-remediation as-sessment within 90 daysfrom the date of the Decla-ration of Public Nuisance.

“The property ownershall be responsible for allcosts of cleanup of the site,including contractor fees,”the ordinance reads.

If the property owner failsto make arrangements, theadministrator is allowed toinitiate the cleanup. If thevillage cannot locate theproperty owner within 14days of the declaration, theadministrator is authorizedto proceed with the clean up.

“The village shall be en-titled to recover all costs ofabatement of the public nui-sance. The village may re-cover costs by civil actionagainst the person or per-sons who own the property,or by assessing such costs asa special assessment pursu-ant to the Ohio RevisedCode,” the ordinance reads.

Anyone found violatingthe ordinance is guilty of afirst-degree misdemeanor.

Council passed the firstreading of the ordinance,with two more readings yetto go before it becomes offi-cial.

Stefanie Wessell, senioreditor for Gazette Newspa-pers, may be reached [email protected].

work with.“We hope to make the se-

nior center grow,” Hensleysaid.

Hensley would also like tosee more exercise classes of-fered to the seniors, but theywill have to have a biggerspace in order to make theclasses possible.

“We want to get a newdance floor so we can createsome new exercises for ourseniors,” Hensley said.

Witt said the senior cen-ter was sad to lose Bailey butis happy to see his shoes be-ing filled with someone likeHensley, who has the expe-rience and friendly person-ality to do just as good of ajob.

“She thinks outside thebox, and she’s just very se-nior oriented and she’s justvery good,” Witt said. “She’sjust very good.”

Sadie Portman, reporterfor the Gazette, may bereached at [email protected].

PHOTO BY JAN PERALAThe Geneva Track Conditioning Team is raising funds forthe squad by raffling off a new iPad 2. Tickets are $5each or five tickets for $20. The winner will be drawn whenall tickets are sold, on or before Feb. 29. Displaying theiPad 2 are Laurisa Rosado, Alyssa Nieset, Coach BobbyMcQuoid, Gabe McLeod and Erik Braun. For informationcontact Robert McQuoid at [email protected] David Yost at [email protected].

Who doesn’t want an iPad?!Morgan Township trustees lookinto emergency response fee

BY SUE LUTZGazette Newspapers

MORGAN TOWNSHIP – Duringits first meeting of the new year onWednesday, the Morgan TownshipBoard of Trustees staked its claim onthe committees on which members willserve and discussed a possible emer-gency response fee for property own-ers with faulty alarms.

Chairman Brett Bellas retainedhis position at the head of the board.Bellas, who was appointed to theBoard in 2010 to replace DonaldRowland who resigned in 2010, willset the agendas and conduct otherduties related to all board meetings.He will also be the primary repre-sentative for South Central Ambu-lance District (SCAD) and continueto oversee the affairs of the cem-etery.

Trustee Don Dietrich, who previ-ously served numerous terms on theboard, was reelected to replace outgo-ing Trustee Virgil Martin, whose termended in 2011. Dietrich will also as-sume the role of vice chairman of theboard and be the alternate SCAD rep-resentative.

Newly elected Board TrusteeRodney Truckey replaced Mike Jones,who was appointed in 2010 to servethe remainder of the term vacated byBradley Nicholson in 2010. Truckeywill supervise the roads and bridgesdepartment.

Each trustee will receive $10,288annual compensation for their serviceto the board.

Shaun Buehner, assistant fire chiefof Morgan Hose Volunteer Fire De-partment, addressed the board regard-ing the possibility of charging a ser-vice fee to businesses and residents

that have malfunctioning fire alarms.Buehner, who also keeps the sta-

tistics for the fire department, re-ported that in 2011 volunteerfirefighters responded to nearly adozen false alarms at the former RockCreek Elementary School. Multipleprior requests to have the alarm sys-tem fixed have already been made toRedstone Schoolhouse directors.Buehner said he has personally re-quested that the daycare install a keylockbox, or knoxbox, so emergency re-sponders can gain immediate accessto the building, rather than wait for akey holder to arrive and unlock thebuilding.

“We’ve already spoken to them(Redstone Schoolhouse directors) andthe alarm company, so if they don’twant to address the problems withtheir alarm system, then the boardshould send something to them inwriting,” he said. “I’ve looked into itand Ohio Revised Code says that af-ter three false alarms the fire depart-ment can assess a fee.”

Board members agreed that a feefor repeated false alarms was a lastresort option, but then tabled the dis-cussion. Following the meetingBuehner said he’s anxious to see whereit goes from that point. His main con-cern is the firefighters who have lefttheir jobs and families to respond tothe calls at the school house during all

hours of the day and night.Following the fire fee discussion,

the floor was opened to the public.Several meeting attendees re-

quested that the “No UnauthorizedAdmittance” sign above the townshipgarage door be removed. Besides thefact that it is a public building, theycited the inconvenience caused to themby inclement weather, as residentshave to wait outside to pick up theirbuilding permits.

Trustee Dietrich reported that thesign had been installed at the requestof the insurance company for liabilityreasons and to prevent visitors from“wandering.” Dietrich also stated hisconcern that a reception area could en-courage some residents to circumventthe board’s authority by going to thegarage to discuss township mattersand grievances with employees whenthey should be directing their inquir-ies to the board.

The board tabled the discussion butsaid it would request additional infor-mation and explore the possibility ofdesignating a small area located im-mediately inside the door. One pro-posed idea was to use colored mark-ing tape on the floor to restrict visi-tors.

Morgan Township Board of Trust-ees will meet again Wednesday, Jan.18, at 7 p.m. at Morgan Hose Volun-teer Fire Department in Rock Creek.

Jan. 29 Geneva:Pancake and sausage breakfast

The Geneva-Madison Knights of Columbus Hall, located at 6113 N. RidgeRd., Geneva, will hold a pancake and sausage breakfast from 8:30 a.m. tonoon Sunday, Jan. 29. The cost is $5 each for adults; children three-10, $3;and under three, free.

Bring your mom, sister, daughter or friend, and help us celebrate the special bond that women share – while learning how to

stay heart healthy. And don’t forget to wear red!

Heart Heart

ACMC’s Women’s Heart Health Awareness

Luncheon & Fashion Show

7th Annual

to

Exhibitors include: • ACMC Cardiac Services

• ACMC Diagnostic Imaging

• ACMC Foundation

• ACMC Gift Shop

• ACMC Premiere Fitness

• American Heart Association

• A Touch of Glass

• Bead Traders

• Beauti-Control Cosmetics

• Bonnie’s Baskets & Wreaths

• Bridge Street Boutique

• Celestial Designs

• Christopher & Banks

• Cookie Lee Jewelry

• Crystal’s Cakes and More

• Desserts by Marie

• EB Brown & Company

• Elaine’s Felted Treasures

• Fashion Bug

• JC Penney

• Lia Sophia

• Marcy’s Originals

• Michi Purses

• PartyLite Candles

• Sandpiper Gallery

• Scentsy

• Storybook Acres

• Scarves by Madelon

• Uppercase Living

• Walmart

• Walmart Vision

• Zonta

• And more!

Schedule10:30 a.m.-Noon Shopping, exhibits

and mingling

Noon Lunch, table prizes

and fashion show

12:30 - 1 p.m. Speaker: Cleveland

Clinic Cardiologist

Perry Fleisher, MD

1 to 1:30 p.m. Door prize drawings

TicketsTickets are $15 each or two for $25. Please RSVP

and prepay by Feb. 3 by calling (440) 997-6555.

Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012Mount Carmel Community Center • 1200 E. 21st St. • Ashtabula, OH 44004

WEDNESDAY, January 11, 2012 GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS • 3ACOMMUNITY

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BY CAROLYN BEHR-JEROMEGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - JeffersonArea High School offersmany athletic opportunitiesfor its students, some moreknown than others.

Most residents are famil-iar with the football pro-gram, for example. Notmany know, however, thatJAHS has a team that com-petes in the pool.

When Michael Phelpswon eight Olympic gold med-als in Beijing in 2008, NickKobernik was only begin-ning his career as a memberof the Falcon swim team.His goals were not as loftyas Phelps, though: no goldmedals, just good times anddropped times, as he calls it.

“And to beat Edgewood,”he said.

Kobernik is team captainfor the boys’ squad, whileKelly Hartman is captainfor the girls’. Both have

BY STEFANIE WESSELLGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - JeffersonVillage Administrator TerryFinger gave hisadministrator ’s report toJefferson Village Council onTuesday, Jan. 3.

During his report, Fingernoted that Christmas treepick up will occur duringJanuary. Because the treeswill be put through a shred-der, he said the trees mustbe bare, meaning free ofdecorations, tree stands andplastic bags.

In other tree news, Fin-ger said the village employ-ees who have been trained in

Village administrator gives project updatestree care also will be trim-ming shade trees in the vil-lage tree lawns.

The Street Departmentalso is cleaning all road-sideditches, Finger said.

Although the winter hasbeen mild so far, Finger saidthe Street Department alsois fully ready in the event ofsnow accumulation.

Finger also told councilthat the repair to the VillageHall roof has been com-pleted, minus a four-footpiece of ridge metal. Thispiece had to be back ordered,he said.

“Ceiling repairs will becompleted after the VillageHall roof is finished and we

are sure everything is driedout,” Finger said.

In other matters, Fingersaid all changes to theJefferson Police Departmentare on hold pending the out-come of the referendum ac-tion against council trying topurchase the old elementaryschool property. The matterof whether the referendumcan go on the ballot is beingdecided in court.

He did note that, as a re-sult of income-tax pay-ments from lottery win-ners, the village may nothave to borrow the$150,000 in cash to pur-chase the property, al-though the $150,000 of in-

kind work to the JeffersonArea Local Schools districtwould still be necessary,should the sale go through.

“We will be able to paycash from our on-handfunds,” Finger said.

Finger also shared thatthe first quote to purchase anew senior transportationvehicle came in at $51,231.

Since this quote washigher than the village’s es-timate of about $43,000, noaction is planned for now,Finger said.


Village Adminstrator’s report for the period ending Dec. 30, 2011. Projects update:

Swim Team seniors look toward new season

PHOTOS BY CAROLYN BEHR-JEROME

Senior Garrett Puzio hopeshe and his fellow “A”-RelayTeam will qualify for Districtsthis season.

Kelly Hartman, Nicole Stapelton, Becca Banks, Nick Kobernik and Cody Magda areseniors on the JAHS swim team.

been swimming since theywere very young at theAshtabula YMCA with theStingrays.

“Kelly and I both got ourstart there,” Kobernik said.

Coached by their fathers,Claude Kobernik and JimHartman, the team captainstry to inspire their team-mates to work hard and stickwith it.

“Swimming can be tough.There are days when youdon’t want to do it,”Kobernik said.

“And always listen toyour coaches,” Hartmanadded with a smile.

Joining Kobernik andHartman in the water arefellow seniors Cody Magda,Garrett Puzio, NicoleStapleton and Becca Banks.

Stapelton is a veteran

swimmer, having been onthe team since her freshmanyear.

“I plan to swim in collegeat Hiram,” Stapelton ex-plained.

Magda, who also playsgolf, has been swimmingsince ninth grade, too.

“They were looking forpeople to swim my fresh-man year, so I tried out,” hesaid.

When comparing golf toswimming, Magda admitsthey aren’t even close.

“We don’t condition forgolf,” he explained, whilePuzio nodded in agreement.

Puzio and Banks are onthe team for the first time.Banks admits she didn’tplan to be on the swimteam. Stapelton said shehad tried for years to get

Banks to join.“She finally talked me

into it this year. I’m glad shedid. It’s a lot of fun,” Bankssaid.

Puzio explained he justfell into swimming and nowhe’s happy to be a part of the“A” relay team that hopes tomake districts this year.Magda and Kobernik arealso a part of that relayteam.

Because JAHS doesn’thave a pool of its own, theteam must go to the SpireInstitute in Geneva. Theseniors don’t seem to mind.

“It’s great swimmingthere,” Kobernik said.

“It’s so fast,” Puzio added.All the seniors agreed

that no matter what poolthey are in, the 500’s are notfun. That’s 20 laps!


JEFFERSON - JeffersonVillage Council welcomed anew council member onTuesday, Jan. 3, as JudgeRobert Wynn swore in newcouncilor Frank Snyder, whoreplaces outgoing council

New council member sworn inmember Ken Fertig, who didnot seek re-election.

Wynn also swore in Coun-cilor Lon Damon and MayorJudy Maloney, who were re-elected in November.

During the meeting,council also named RickHoyson as president pro-temfor the year 2012.

PHOTOS BY STEFANIE WESSELLJudge Robert Wynn swore in new councilor Frank Snyder.

In this photo, Judge Robert Wynn swears in CouncilorLon Damon, who was re-elected to his position.

In this photo, Judge Robert Wynn swears in CouncilorMayor Judy Maloney, who was re-elected to her position.


JEFFERSON - JeffersonVillage Council will hold apublic hearing on proposedchanges to an ordinancedealing with multiple-familydwellings in the village inlate January.

The hearing will dealwith the PlanningCommission’s proposal tomodify an ordinance to allowmultiple-family dwellingswithin planned unit develop-ments in the village.

The hearing will be heldduring a special meeting ofcouncil at 7:30 p.m. Monday,Jan. 23, at village hall.

The village does not cur-rently permit these mul-tiple-family dwellings to beconstructed within plannedunit developments, some-thing council wishes tochange.

The proposed changemodifies the ordinance in afew ways, namely by speci-fying that the planned unitdevelopments may containboth single-family detacheddwellings and multiple -fam-ily dwellings, provided thatno single building containsmore than three dwelling

units, instead of just thesingle-family dwellings.

The changes also involvespecifying that the districtcannot exceed a gross den-sity of five dwelling units peracre, instead of just four.

Language about the de-sign of the multiple-familydwellings is asked to beadded as well, specificallythat the massing, materials,shape and scale of multiplefamily dwellings shall createa unified and visually com-patible design.

“Blank building walls inpublic view are prohibited,”the proposed change reads.“Roofline changes, materialor color changes, horizontaland vertical wall offsets, pro-jections, recesses, true orfaux windows and othersimilar features are ex-amples of elements that maybe utilized to break up thehorizontal emphasis of theelevation.”

The public hearing willallow citizens to make anycomments they desire aboutthe proposed change.


Council to holdpublic hearing


JEFFERSON - Village ofJefferson Clerk/TreasurerPatty Fisher had some goodnews to share with villagecouncil during its meeting onTuesday, Jan. 3.

During her report tocouncil, Fisher said that hermonth-end reconciliationsheets/revenue comparisonsheets for November showthat income-tax collectionsare up $92,871.90 comparedto last year in the village.

The collections include$424,660.84 in the generalfund, $425,497 in the safety-services fund and$424,661.16 in the capital-improvement fund, for ayear-to-date total of$1,274,819.

Fisher ’s report alsoshowed that the ending fundbalance for the village forNovember was $856,865.55.

Her report also detailedwastewater treatment col-lections for the end of No-vember, with the sewer de-

partment fees up $30,808.38compared to last year. Thesenumbers include$205,222.43 in the sewerimprovement fund,$46,833.32 in the capitalimprovements fund and$397,805 in the wastewatertreatment fund, plus$34,657.07 in other revenue,putting the year-to-date to-tal at $684,517.95.

Fisher also noted, how-ever, that the recreation de-partment is down $5,378.63in village recreation com-pared to last year, and thevillage senior center is down$11,471.82 compared to lastyear.

The Recreation Depart-ment collections is at a year-to-date total of $192,828.32,adding in $105,166.13 forvillage recreation; $55,000for transfers-in general; and$32,662.19 for the seniorcenter.


Income-tax collectionsup in Jefferson



ASHTABULA - Thispast December marked theone-year anniversary ofthe Ashtabula concertvenue, West End 2153.

The venue was startedas a place where everyonecould be exposed to music.With no alcohol or ciga-rettes allowed in the build-ing, there is no age limit.

“I had been doing showssince I was 17 or 16, andI’d have to go through barsand they either wantedway too much money foradmission or wouldn’t letanyone under 18 in,” MattBarnum said. “It was justtoo big of a hassle.”

Barnum is currently go-ing to college as well assupporting the venturewith his two friends.

Barnum feels the venueis positive asset to the city,providing a place for teensto go and enjoy music with-out the influence of sub-stances.

“We wanted youngerkids to be able to listen tomusic,” Barnum said.

Over the past year,many bands have comethrough West End 2153.

“We’ve had acoustic,metal, punk, pop, ska, rap.Basically everything andeverything,” Barnum said.

The venue even spon-sored a band from theUnited Kingdom, an expe-rience they fully enjoyed.

“It was really cool andthey really l ike it ,”Barnum said. “They wereobsessed with fast food,

West End 2153 celebrates a year of music

but they were really nice.”West End gets help from

a booking agent in Cleve-land who gathers up bandsthat are interested in theperformance space.

“My friends JasonHartett is in Cleveland,and he’s a booking agentand he works with otherbooking agents from acrossthe country,” Barnum said.

When a band is bookedthat may not be known tothe area, West End makessure to gather crowds byalso promoting a localband.

“I find locals to draw out

people if the headliningband isn’t as well knownaround here,” Barnumsaid.

When a band comesfrom out of town, the venueprovides the members withas comfortable accommo-dations as possible.

“We give them a place tostay so they can showerand have a nice place tosleep,” Barnum said.

Barnum hopes they cancreate bonds with other lo-cal restaurants and busi-nesses by having them do-nate items such as food forbands, giving not only a

helping hand to the venuebut free publicity.

When West End 2153first opened, curiositybrought in large crowds.

“The first couple ofshows, there were over 100people at each show be-cause it was a new venue,”Barnum said.

Barnum said as they be-came less of a commodityand the hard wintermonths hit, they saw somesmaller crowds, but theyalways managed to makeenough to keep the lightson and the bands happy.

“We usually make just

PHOTO BY MARTHA SOROHANWho says librarians don’t have fun? Five Ashtabula County librarians gathered for their monthly luncheon meetingJan. 5 in Jefferson are (seated, left) Hannah Laing, Director-in-Training, Rock Creek Public Library; Mariana Branch,Director, Kingsville Public Library; and Kathy Pape, Director, Conneaut Public Library; and (standing) Ed Worso,Director, Henderson Memorial Public Library, Jefferson; Susan Hill, Director, Andover Public Library; and Joe Zappitello,Director, Harbor-Topky Memorial Library, Ashtabula Harbor. The libraries are linked by “ican,” or “IndependentCooperating Ashtabula Network.”

BY MARTHA SOROHANGazette Newspaper

JEFFERSON – Librarycard-holders in AshtabulaCounty now have the op-tion of downloading audiosof their favorite books ontoelectronic devices at sixcounty libraries linked by“ican,” or Independent Co-operating Ashtabula Net-work.

Directors of HendersonMemorial, Andover, RockCreek, Conneaut, Kingsvilleand Harbor Topky PublicLibraries gathered last weekto talk about the new offer-ing, which has really takenoff since Christmas.

The libraries arepartnering with “RecordedBooks,” which touts itselfas a “one-click digital” ser-vice linking readers tothousands of books com-patible to PCs, MP3 Play-ers and iPods.

Audio “borrowers” cre-ate accounts using their li-brary cards.

“Each library has a ‘oneclick’ system to RecordedBooks on the web page,”said Kathy Pape, director ofConneaut Public Library.

Once onto the page, pa-trons have some 3,000titles to choose from – fic-tion, non-fiction, children’sbooks. About 30 more titlesare being added thismonth.

“You can search by genreif you want,” Pape said.

Recorded Books comesfrom Maryland, said EdWorso, Director ofHenderson Memorial Pub-lic Library in Jefferson. Hecalled it the “Cadillac” ofthe audio book industry.

“They have very good

Local libraries introduce downloadable audioreaders, and some are ac-tors and actresses,” he said.“You can even search bynarrators because somepeople like to hear storiesread by certain people.”

RecordedBooks has ex-clusive rights to some au-thors, such as Jodi Picoult,Rita Mae Brown andCharlaine Harris.

Pape, Worso and LibraryDirectors Mariana Branchof Kingsville, Susan Hill ofAndover, Joe Zappitello ofHarbor-Topky in AshtabulaHarbor, and Director-in-Training Hannah Laing ofRock Creek agree that of-fering downloadable audiois a good use of publicfunds. It is not only a goodinvestment, but adds an-other component to libraryservices.

“Books are very expen-sive – say $50 to $100 – andat some point, you pass thethreshold of how many cop-ies are economical,” Worsosaid.

Pape said that truckdrivers, and spouses whoride with them, are heavyusers of audio books as areothers who do a lot of trav-eling on the road.

“There is really a big de-mand,” said Branch. “Butpeople have to rememberthat this is audio, not e-reading,” she said.

Currently, onlyHenderson Memorial Pub-lic Library in Jefferson of-fers e-reading, due to sev-eral recent bequests thathave lightened the finan-cial strain felt by most pub-lic libraries.

“Under the prior direc-tor, Henderson had a siz-able donation earmarked touse for technology, so that’s

what we did,” Worso said.Other county libraries

hope to have e-reading upand running sometime thisyear. Until then, readersthroughout the county mayvisit Henderson Memorialfor e-books.

Branch reminds the pub-lic that e-readers are for e-books and nothing more.

“I’m excited about the

“Kindle is exclusive toAmazon,” she said. “Ama-zon just began offering itsprogram to libraries a fewmonths ago.”

Last week’s luncheonwas the librarians’ Januarymeeting, where they col-laborated, shared ideas anddiscussed issues. The groupis loosely organized, with-out officers.

PHOTO BY SADIE PORTMANThe front of West End 2153 was decorated for the holidays this season as the venue celebrated a year of concerts.The venue is a substance-free zone and is open to everyone offering a variety of music genres.

downloadable audio,” saidHill. “I think it’s really go-ing to mature. We’re able tooffer unique authors. Welike to be in on the edge oftechnology. Libraries arenot all about books.”

Worso added that thosewith questions about usingthe electronic gadgets re-ceived for Christmas – “ourdemand for e-books jumped

the day after Christmas be-cause people got them aspresents,” he said – shouldask a librarian.

“That’s what we’re herefor,” he said.

As an aside, Papewarned that people who re-ceived Kindles for Christ-mas may not understandthat not all titles are avail-able on Kindle.

enough to pay the bands anthat’s our number one pri-ority,” Barnum said. “If wecan at least make somemoney for rent and stillpay all the bands thenwe’re happy with that.”

Originally West End2153 was located in thesame plaza but a few storefronts over.

When they first boughtthey property they had tomake many repairs andfound copper wiring andpipes had been stolen.

“We built it fromscratch. We painted thewalls. We put up dry wall,”

Barnum said.In February of last year,

the fire marshal shut themdown due to regulations,as they were only allowedto have 15 people sincethey only had one bath-room in the facility.

“We had to cancel all ourMarch shows, but it’s allbeen fixed now,” Barnumsaid.

Barnum worked hand inhand with the fire depart-ment and said they built agreat relationship with thefire marshal.

“I was working with RonDeemer, who is a reallynice guy and he really likesthe place and he wanted towork with me so we coulddo everything correct,”Barnum said.

Barnum said being asubstance-free zone hasnot been a problem so far.

“Sometimes people tryto bring stuff in, but we tellthem they can’t bring it inand they either throw itaway or put in back intheir car,” Barnum said.“People really have re-spected the policy.”

Throughout 2011, WestEnd 2153 has had theirups and downs and theyhave learned a lot. In theend, they hope to stay openfor quite some time andprovide quality perfor-mances for all ages.

“We enjoy putting on theshows and we have greatfeedback,” Barnum said. “Ithink West End is a reallygreat thing for Ashtabula.”


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WEDNESDAY, January 11, 2012 GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS • 5A


ASHTABULA - TheAshtabula Senior Center cel-ebrated Elvis Presley lastFriday at its EverythingElvis party.

“We’re going to do someElvis trivia and give away

A group of seniors stand with Elvis memorabilia hanging in the background. They also had a chance to win prizesif they guessed Elvis trivia correctly.

A group of women share stories of their parents being upset over Elvis’ performance on the Ed Sullivan show, whileothers said they remember dancing to the music.

Senior Center enjoys remembering Elvis

Executive Director of the Senior Center Lucille Hensleyshows a book of Elvis brought in. They talked about thedifferent images of Elvis through the years, with hisgreased back sleek look of the 1950s and the white jumpsuit of the 1960s.

Elvis prizes,” LucilleHensley, executive directorof the center, said.

A table was placed in themiddle of the room filledwith Elvis memorabilia, in-cluding an Elvis action fig-ure. All items on the tablewere given out as prizes.

Around 20 seniors

showed up for the event, ea-ger to talk about memories.

Hensley just began work-ing at the center in Decem-ber, and she is excited tobring in new ideas and ac-tivities for the seniors, in-cluding the Everything Elvisevent.

Hensley was happy to see

the seniors respond to thenew activities at the center.

“This is a really goodturnout,” Hensley said.

A book of Elvis waspassed around, and the se-niors shared stories of theirfirst glimpses of Elvis.

One woman stated herfather was horrified by the

thought of Elvis, and an-other said it was her motherwho got her into Elvis asthey would dance to his mu-sic.

Many remembered hisfirst appearance on the EdSullivan Show and, ofcourse, his shaking hips.

The seniors enjoyed their

stroll down memory lane asthey smiled and laughed attheir thoughts and memo-ries on the icon once knownas The King.


PHOTOS BY SADIE PORTMANJudy Witt smile as the seniors share stories of Elvis at theirEverything Elvis party on Friday.

Judy Witt hands out the Elvis trivia game to the seniors. A list of questions were printedand handed out, and it was up to the seniors to see who could guess the most correctly.

The seniors share a book full of Elvis trivia with Lucille Hensley. Hensley thought of theidea of the Everything Elvis party.

City of Geneva to send outincome-tax packets this weekBY SADIE PORTMANGazette Newspapers

GENEVA - The City ofGeneva is preparing for taxseason and is trying to getincome-tax packets out assoon as possible.

“We do have our incometax information packets go-ing out hopefully thisweek,” Shelly Huff said.

The city officials werehoping to have the packetsin the mail sooner, but af-ter hearing about postagerates increasing, they arewaiting to hear the finalprice they will pay for theirmailings.

“We do have some con-troversy with our mail,”Huff said. “The UnitedStates Post Office nowwants to change our rates.”

The city has previouslysent its mail through stan-dard bulk ratings, whichare considerably lower thanthe regular price of stamps.“The postal service wantsto change our status froma standard bulk mail rate

to a 40 cent rate,” Huff said.Huff said they do not un-

derstand why they are notreceiving the standard bulkmail rate.

If the city does pay the 40cents per letter, it will beadding another five cents toevery mailing mailed. Fivecents may seem like a smallnumber, but with multipleletters being mailed, it eas-ily adds up.

A rate should be final-ized this week and incometax information packetswill be sent as soon as pos-sible.

“So we’re going to checkon the rates first before wego ahead with the mailing,but overall the income taxpackets should go out laterthis week,” Huff said.

Huff also reported on thetax department’s year end-budget report.

“We have the year-endreport tonight for all the in-come tax recorded,” Huffsaid.

The report showed alltaxes collected, but it ran a

little low for the collectionof taxes under the JointEconomic DevelopmentDistrict agreement.

“I wanted to explain thenumbers on the JEDD IIbecause the numbers arevery low,” Huff said.

Huff said not all JEDDtaxes were collected in 2011due to a clerical error, butthe money has been col-lected and will be includedunder next year ’s budgetreport.

“There was an error insome of the payments thatwere received and somewere not received until2012. They cannot be pre-sented until this next year,”Huff said. “So they are notin the financial statementfor this past year.”

Huff said the overall re-port shows improvementsin the City of Geneva’s fi-nances.

“Overall for the city wewere up four percent for thebudget number, so we’revery pleased with that,”Huff said.


JEFFERSON - TheJefferson Emergency RescueDistrict is once again offer-ing residents an opportunityto enroll in or renew theirambulance membership.

Residents may have re-ceived a letter in the mail re-cently about the opportunity,as well as their two-partmembership card. Member-ship costs a donation of atleast $20.

A membership in theJefferson Emergency RescueDistrict entitles familymembers living at thesigned-up address emer-gency ambulance servicesfor the 2012 calendar year atno out-of-pocket expense tothe member after their in-surance has been billed, orif they have no insurancecoverage at all, EMS ChiefDirector Jim Brueggemansaid.

Should people elect not toenroll in the membership,the JERD will provide emer-gency service to them at itsregular fees, and they will be

Jefferson Emergency RescueDistrict starts up membership drive

responsible for any balanceafter their insurance haspaid, Brueggeman said.

“Funds raised from themembership drive providefor equipment and trainingand assist the district inmaintaining the most ad-vanced, professional carepossible for us to bring you,”Brueggeman said.

The Jefferson EmergencyRescue District servesJefferson Village andJefferson Township and hasdone so for the past 33 years.

“We, the members of theJefferson Emergency RescueDistrict, take great pride inserving (the community),”

Brueggeman said.Should residents have

any questions, or would liketo become an EmergencyMedical Technician and jointhe team, they can contactJERD anytime at 576-4EMS(4367).

People also can stop in atthe facilities at 11 S. MarketSt. for a free blood pressurecheck or Vial of Life, or signup for a CPR class.

For more info, visitwww.jerd.us.


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COMPILED BY STEFANIE WESSELLGazette Newspapers

Throughout January, the Gazette will present“A Year in Review,” detailing the highlights ofthe year in the newspaper’s Jefferson coveragearea.

This week’s review will cover April throughJune 2011.

Hornung named Jefferson PDdispatcher/secretary

April 6, 2011

JEFFERSON - Sarah Hornung, who began work as thenew Jefferson Police Department dispatcher/secretaryMarch 28, was one of 125 applicants for the position.

“I learned of the job from a person who works in thepolice department. I stopped by and dropped off a resume,”Hornung said last week.

Hornung replaces Diane Tressler, who officially retiredlast Thursday.

Law enforcement experience is in her background,which is an asset for the dispatcher/secretary job.

“I worked at the Ashtabula County Prosecutor ’s Officefor three years. I was the grand jury secretary. I did thetyping of indictments, subpoenas, summonses, warrantrequests and record requests,” she said.

Jefferson Village instituteswastewater change

April 13, 2011

JEFFERSON - Jefferson Village residents will see theirbill increase by just over $4.50 per month when they gettheir sewer bill in the mail.

Jefferson Village Council members approved ordinancenumber 11-O-2862 at their April 4 meeting as an emer-gency measure, which calls for, among other things, a capi-tal improvement charge of $4.52 per month.

Residents using a minimum amount each month, 100cubic feet or less, will not be charged the $4.52 per month.

This capital improvement charge will end July 1, 2016,when the Ohio Water Development Authority Sewer Im-provement loan is scheduled to be paid in full. The an-nual payment to the state authority is $151,000.

Administrator Terry Finger said that the treatment feeper consumption of water remains unchanged from 2010.

Rev. Fred Grimm chosen as 2010Citizen of the Year

April 20, 2011

JEFFERSON - Rev. Fred Grimm’s face broke out intoa big, wide grin as it was announced Tuesday night thathe is the Jefferson Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2010Citizen of the Year.

“Wow, what a pleasure you all are. I may work untilI’m 70. We’re not sure yet. We want to retire here. You arerascals. Thank you, so much,” Reverend Grimm said Tues-day night.

Reverend Grimm has devoted his life to serving oth-ers. His entire life has been spent serving God, his coun-try and mankind. As a young man, he was confirmed andhis service to God began at that point.

He served his country in the United States MarineCorps after graduating from high school. His career thenstarted as he received his degree from Capital Universityin secondary education with a history major. He was thena history teacher, as well as a coach.

Grimm once again chose to serve his country on activeduty in the United States Navy. This experience led himon tours of duty in San Diego, Calif., Sasibo, Japan,Charleston, S.C. and in Columbus. He served the Lordthroughout his naval career in each community as a LayLeader, Elder, and through his involvement in variousChancel choirs.

Toward the end of his active duty, he earned hismaster’s degree from the University of Dayton in guid-ance and counseling. After this educational milestone,Grimm went on to serve in the United States Navy Re-serves for another 10 years.

In 1998, after earning his master’s of divinity degreefrom the Trinity Theological Seminary, he was ordainedas a Lutheran minister. Shortly thereafter, he was calledto St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Jefferson as their pas-tor.

Sigma 2010 applies to JeffersonVillage’s economic development

incentive programApril 27, 2011

JEFFERSON - Sigma 2010, a manufacturer located inthe industrial area of Jefferson Village, is the first com-pany to take advantage of an economic incentive program.

Terry Finger, Jefferson Village administrator, an-nounced at the April 18th council meeting that Sigma 2010has applied for the economic development cash incentiveprogram passed by village council in (year) or next yearto 56 employees,” Finger said.

The village administrator said the new economic de-velopment program, which is only a couple months old, isavailable to any business in Jefferson Village that intendsto grow.

The program is income tax based.“The income tax that new employees contribute to the

Village of Jefferson can earn the company credit towardits village corporate income tax. That credit will be up to75 percent of the increased corporate income tax,” Fingersaid.

Sigma 2010 applied for the economic development cashincentive program on April 12.

Jefferson 2011 Year in ReviewFinger reiterated that Sigma 2010’s application is the

first. He said hopefully many other companies in the vil-lage will follow suit in the coming months and years. “Theordinance is intended solely to encourage growth of com-panies

Design Review Board begins worktoward Jefferson historicpreservation

May 4, 2011

JEFFERSON - The Jefferson Village Design ReviewBoard, charged with protecting historic structures withinthe village’s boundaries, met for the first time last monthto begin its task.

Pat Bradek, appointed to the post of Design ReviewBoard chairwoman by Mayor Judy Maloney, said the taskis not an easy one, but she and fellow board membersBrian Diehl, Norma Waters, Jim Janson and Frank Snyderwill do their best.

“The purpose of the Design Review Board is to helppeople owning commercial or even residential buildingsmaintain the historical nature and value of the building,”Bradek said.

The board convened its first meeting April 13. Discus-sions to preserve historic structure began a few years ago.

The village received input from Cleveland State Uni-versity, which provided the village with its study.

Otto to retire from JeffersonCommunity Center

May 11, 2011

JEFFERSON - Visitors to the Jefferson CommunityRecreation Center later this month will not be greetedwith that infectious smile and personable manner of PeggyOtto, administrative assistant.

Otto has announced her intention to retire to MayorJudy Maloney, Jefferson Village Administrator Terry Fin-ger and Jefferson Village Council.

Finger noted in his administrator ’s report to councilat the May 2 meeting that Otto is retiring.

“My last day is Thursday, May 26. I’m saddened by it.There are so many people I’ve come in contact with, friendsand acquaintances. I’ve worked here for five years,” Ottosaid recently.

Jefferson Courtyard IIconstruction proposed

May 18, 2011

JEFFERSON - A development organization is planningto construct some new housing units in the Village ofJefferson for a specific group of people.

Material included in the packets of Jefferson VillageCouncil members for Monday night’s meeting showed thatNeighborhood Development Services, Inc. of Ravenna,Ohio, is applying for a federal Housing and Urban Devel-opment (HUD) 202 grant for the new construction projectcalled Jefferson Courtyard II

According to the project description in members’ pack-ets, the Jefferson Courtyard II project will consist of 20units in three single-story buildings. These units will be100 percent reserved for the elderly.

The units will be approximately 540 to 600 square feetand will be identical to the existing Jefferson Courtyard(USDA 515) units that adjoin the site on East JeffersonStreet.

The units of Jefferson Courtyard II would be served bythe already existing common drive of the adjoining apart-ment complex (Jefferson Courtyard), and will have freeaccess to the existing community room and laundry.

The project will reportedly have very similar ameni-ties to Jefferson Courtyard.

According to the description of the project, the HUD202 program is one of the award-winning federal housingprograms that help to expand the supply of affordablehousing with supportive services for elderly citizens.

Residents questionMeloro retire/rehire

May 25, 2011

JEFFERSON – Jefferson area residents, some of themformer educators, gathered in the Jefferson High Schoolmedia center (library) May 17 for a public hearing to voicetheir opposition to the retire/rehire of Larry Meloro, RockCreek Elementary School principal.

Two months ago, the Jefferson-Area Local School Dis-trict Board of Education scheduled the hearing after itlearned that Meloro wished to retire but then be rehiredas the principal at a reduced salary.

Ohio State law requires a public hearing to hear fromthe public when the retire/rehire situation is put beforethe school board.

Area resident Pat Reuschling spoke at the hearing anditemized several reasons why the rehiring of Meloro shouldnot happen.

Reusching said the point of retirement is not to enrichthe retiree and double their income. She said the point ofretirement is to sustain the retiree once he or she is nolonger working.

“Double-dipping is an issue of principle and morality.Just because you can, does that make it right? In otherwords, it’s all about you and your personal enrichment,while you choose to ignore the bigger moral issue,”Reuschling said May 17.

Jefferson UMC youth, adults travelto nation’s capital in July

June 1, 2011

JEFFERSON – Ten teenagers and five adults fromJefferson United Methodist Church will go to Washing-

ton, D.C. in July to help and learn about the homeless.“Washington, D.C. has one of the highest homeless

rates in the nation,” said John Roden, Jefferson UnitedMethodist Church youth pastor.

To this end, the church has completed somefundraisers and others continue right up until they leaveon July 10. They will return on July 15.

“We are having car washes right here at the churchfrom 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. We will have the lastone July 9. We will have a rummage sale during VillageDays. The sale will be June 23-25,” Roden said.

Other fundraisers they have done include a pancakesupper, gingerbread houses and pumpkin decorating, afamily event during Halloween.

“The teenagers picked this trip. It was close to theirheart,” he said.

The young people and adults are teaming up with anorganization, the Youth Service Opportunities Project(YSOP).

“What YSOP does different is they truly educate youon the situation. We’ll be doing some one-onone with thehomeless, getting to know them and hearing their sto-ries. We’ll be showing the homeless how Christ is in theyoung people’s lives and hopefully bring Christ into theirlives,” Roden said. “Jesus spent his whole life servingothers. That is what he wanted for our lives.”

Roden said that helping others will give the teenag-ers a different world view.

Eight people retire fromJefferson Elementary

June 8, 2011

JEFFERSON – Jefferson Elementary School admin-istrators, staff and teacher gathered in the school caf-eteria to say goodbye and good luck to seven teachersand one custodian who put in their retirement papersthis year.

The teachers going on to other things are Janie Brad-ley, Chris Bailey, Kathryn Fassett, Vickie Schupska, CarolWilgus, Laurie Reese and Janice Russell.

Joan Fleming has worked as a custodian at JeffersonElementary School for 30 years.

Presrite asks forMulberry Street vacation

June 15, 2011

JEFFERSON - Jefferson Village Council takes up thematter of a vacation at its June 20th meeting, but it isnot what one would normally associate with that word.

Presrite Corporation has asked council members to va-cate a portion of East Mulberry Street that would allow itto move forward with expansion plans.

“About 360 feet by 66 feet wide of East Mulberry iswhat Presrite would like vacated,” Terry Finger, JeffersonVillage administrator, said Monday afternoon.

Finger noted that a part of East Mulberry Street offSouth Cucumber Street has already been vacated, whichallowed Presrite to build an addition the way it wanted.

The present road vacation being requested of the vil-lage would enable the company to further expand.

Meloro rehired as Rock CreekElementary principal

June 22, 2011

JEFFERSON - The Jefferson Area Local School Dis-trict Board of Education will continue to rely on theadministrative expertise of Larry Meloro at Rock CreekElementary School.

The board approved a resolution at its June 14 meet-ing to rehire Meloro, taking into consideration all com-ments from a public hearing held May 17 concerningthe retire/rehire matter.

Written comments submitted to the board were alsoconsidered.

The school board in March had originally approveda new threeyear contract with Meloro, but then a fewdays later, it learned that Meloro wanted to retire andbe rehired on a one-year agreement and a reduced sal-ary.

Ohio law permits this scenario.

Post 152 hangs on for winJune 29, 2011

JEFFERSON – Jefferson Post 152 hosted AshtabulaPost 103 this past summer. Post 152 led 4-0 headinginto the top of the sixth inning and held on for a 4-3win. Post 152 won in dramatic fashion as the game ty-ing run was tagged out at home plate after a passedball in the top of the seventh inning.

Mac Thurber was on the mound for Post 152 and wasin command for the majority of the game. BuckySchubert took the ball for Post 103 and pitched effec-tively in the loss.

Thurber tripled in Mitchell Lake in the bottom ofthe second inning and later scored on a passed ball help-ing Post 152 jump out to a 2-0 lead. Jefferson Post 152tacked on two more runs in the third inning to lead 4-0.

Post 103 made it a one run game in the top of theseventh after Frank Clayman singled. Nick Senita andDwight Thompson each walked to load the bases.Thurber would then walk in a run after giving up a freepass to Kovach, making it 4-3. Mitchell Lake would re-lieve Thurber with two outs and the bases loaded inthe top of the seventh.

Lake would let the first pitch get away from him asthe runner from third base tried to score to tie the game.Nick Stranman hustled back for the ball and flipped itto Lake who tagged the runner out at the plate to endthe game.

Thurber struck out two batters, while giving up twohits in the game for the win. Lake picked up the saveand went two for three at the plate. Thurber and KyleKiser each had RBI triples in the game for Post 152.

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Ashtabula/Geneva Year in ReviewCOMPILED BY STEFANIE WESSELL AND BYRON WESSELLGazette Newspapers

Throughout the next few weeks, the AshtabulaCounty Gazette will present “A Year in Review,”detailing the highlights of the year in thenewspaper’s Ashtabula and Geneva coverage area.

This week’s review will cover April throughJune 2011.

Ashtabula is coming for unpaidpayroll taxes

April 6, 2011

ASHTABULA - Income tax collection is coming down onsome local Ashtabula businesses for unpaid payroll taxes.

“At the request of the income tax administrator, our of-fice has stepped up collection activities,” Ashtabula CitySolicitor Michael Franklin said at the Ashtabula City Coun-cil meeting on Monday.

For the past few months, letters have been written andsent to those with past due taxes, primarily local businessowners.

“In the last couple of months, we’ve sent out a couple ofdozen collection letters, suit pending or threatening let-ters, to primarily business owners who haven’t submittedtheir payroll withholding tax as they should have” Franklinsaid.

GaREAT 12U elite volleyball teambrings home the gold

April 13, 2011

GENEVA - The GaREAT 12U elite volleyball team com-peted against 16 teams from the Ohio Valley Region inColumbiana at Crestview High School on March 13, 2011.The Girls won all their matches, taking the gold net. The12U elite volleyball team consists of Lexi Hraga, HunterBrashear, Megan Adams, Taylor Nelson, Abby Triskett,Elizabeth Selleny, Jordan Schultz, Molly Barber, EmilyCorlwe and Kaylee Getz. The team is coached by AnneCorlew and Tracy Nelson.

Ashtabula down in numbersApril 20, 2011

ASHTABULA - The State of Ohio recently sent out Cen-sus Bureau population results to the City of Ashtabula.The results show the city has lost over 2,000 residents sincethe last census.

“The Secretary of the State of Ohio by proclamation ad-vised me that the population of the City of Ashtabula isnow 19,124 people, which means we lost 2,300 plus peoplesince the year 2000,” Ashtabula City Manager AnthonyCantagallo said at Monday night’s city council meeting.

Cantagallo said the loss only has one bright side, whichis a loan available to low-populated areas within the UnitedStates.

“The only good thing about dropping below 20,000 peopleis that the United States Department of Agriculture willloan us money because they think we live in the woods,”Cantagallo said.

After receiving the population results, Cantagallo de-cided to look at further census numbers.

“Based on [the decline in numbers], I’ve decided to get ahold of the Census Bureau. It was not a pleasant experi-ence, and I want to give you some more numbers,”Cantagallo said.

The total housing units in the city is 9,309, of whichonly 8,095 are occupied houses.

“Which means we have 1,214 vacant houses. This is af-ter I have taken down 104,” Cantagallo said.

Televised Ashtabula City Councilmeetings once again made possible

April 27, 2011

ASHTABULA - Starting May 2, the Ashtabula CityCouncil will once again televise its meetings. However,there will be a few changes made to the televised broad-cast.

“TimeWarner changed some of their cable channellineup, therefore the meetings will be aired on Channel 19rather than 21, at 7 p.m.,” Ashtabula City Clerk of CouncilLaVette E. Hennigan wrote in an email.

The last televised meeting was held on March 7 of thisyear. Ever since this date, council has been discussing howto get the meetings back on air.

With the help of two local citizens, the taping and tele-vised viewings will now once again be made possible. EarlTucker and Joseph Tredent, who is associated withAshtabula Area City Schools (AACS), will tape the meet-ings for Channel 19.

“Mr. Earl Tucker (citizen), Mr. Joseph Tredent(Ashtabula Area City Schools), and I met this morning[April 25], went over the system and are confident Mondayis a go,” Hennigan wrote.

Trendent is the AACS band and music director and fixedthe city’s camera, which was previously not working.

“Mr. Tredent (AACS band and music director) got thecity’s camera working, thus saving us from having to pur-chase a new [one],” Hennigan said.

Geneva wins battle against LakesideMay 4, 2011

SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP - The Lakeside Dragons gave

the Geneva Eagles all they could handle in their recenttennis match. Lakeside would lose 3-2, but got big wins infirst singles and second doubles.

Justin Shinault, of Lakeside, defeated Jake McMahan6-1, 6-1, in first singles.

“I felt like this was a big win not just for myself, but forLakeside. After all the years, Jake and I have played againsteach other it was nice to get a change of pace,” Shinault

said on his win.“I’m happy that we got the chance to come out and play

today with the weather not being that great,” Shinault con-tinued.

Jacob Groce (G) played close to perfection in defeatingLogan Stowell (L), 6-0, 6-0, in second singles.

“I just tried to be consistent and tried to get the matchdone as quickly as possible before it started raining. Coachsaid to come out strong and I tried to do just that. I justwant to continue playing solid through the season and grindout the tough matches,” Groce said.

The big question of the day was how the third singlesmatch between Chase Brown (L) and Garrhett Via (G)would turn out. Via went on to win 6-0, 6-4.

Stuart Jackson and Brandon Privitera (G) bestedFrankie Pugliese and Kyle Downs in first doubles, 6-0, 6-2.

“I give Lakeside credit for fighting tough,” Jackson saidon the match.

In second doubles Tyler Fernberg and Reno Dannels (L)shook of a first set loss of 0-6 and came back to win thenext two sets 6-4 and 6-2. Alex Lillie and Ryan Huang com-bined to win the first set 6-0 for Geneva, but Fernberg andDannels then figured things out and went on to win thematch.

Reader’s Digest hears AshtabulaMay 11, 2011

ASHTABULA - The Reader’s Digest’s “We Hear You,America” tour stopped by the Ashtabula Municipal Build-ing last Wednesday morning, May 4, giving the city a checkfor $1,000.

The city received the money by community memberscheering for Ashtabula via the website, http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com. By people daily placing inthe zip code of the city, Ashtabula received a cheer everytime. Ashtabula received the check in person as a rewardfor its high number of votes.

“In the first round, we were number 34 in this wholecountry with over 78,000 cheers,” Ward 3 City CouncilorAnn Stranman said. “I’m just grateful for everybody whowent on the site every day religiously to make this hap-pen.”

Stranman said Ashtabula was the only Ohio city to bein the top 100.

GHS’s Via namedFranklin B. Walter Award winner

May 18, 2011

GENEVA - Garrhett Via, a senior at Geneva High School,has been named the 2011 winner of the prestigious FranklinB. Walter All Scholastic Award. Each year since the awardwas created in 1990, a single student in each county inOhio has been feted with the award. The award honorsFranklin B. Walter, past Superintendent of Public Instruc-tion in Ohio who served as state superintendent from March1977 until August 1991 and is presented by the Ohio Edu-cational Service Center Association (OESCA).

Via recently joined the 87 Ohio honorees at the annualFranklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Award Banquet in Co-lumbus. Also in attendance at the awards banquet wereAshtabula County Educational Service Center Superinten-dent John Rubesich and Geneva High School PrincipalDouglas Wetherholt.

Crawford named both firefighterand employee of the year

May 25, 2011

GENEVA - Firefighter Dennis Crawford was distin-guished as both the firefighter of the year as well as em-ployee of the year at Monday night’s Geneva City Councilmeeting.

“Dennis Crawford has worked at the Geneva City FireDepartment since 1978,” Geneva City Council PresidentWilliam Buskirk read from the proclamation.

Crawford has assisted with the department as well asschool programs.

“Dennis Crawford has been a role model at the fire de-partment as he has served with honor in dignity in all ofhis roles at the station,” Buskirk said.

Buskirk said Crawford is a dedicated city employee.“Dennis Crawford has continued to perform with the

highest degree of professionalism, leads by example andhas demonstrated his enthusiasm,” Buskirk said.

Geneva City Manager Jim Pearson also wanted to rec-ognize Crawford’s hard work.

“Denny [Crawford] is an old timer like I am. We’veworked for the city for a long time,” Pearson said.

Plans for monument movecontinue to progress

June 1, 2011

GENEVA - The moving of the Civil War Soldiers andSailors Monument is moving ahead fast as the City ofGeneva plans for the monument’s new home located atSouth Broadway and Park Street.

The monument will be a part of the Geneva City CivilWar Monument Memorial Park. The park has been in theplans for over a year now.

With recent weather bringing the city rain, the planshave created an issue in the initial time table.

“The weather’s been a little bit of a challenge for us,”City of Geneva Manager Jim Pearson said.

However, Geneva is beginning to look for bidders to pricethe moving of the monument.

“The actual bid will be opened for the move itself. Wehope to get some good qualified men,” Pearson said.

Pearson said with the statue being of historical signifi-cance and value, the city wants to ensure the right bidderis chosen to complete the job.

“It’s a huge challenge, and [it’s] not so much the physi-cal move, but it’s a 150-year-old monument. Everybody hasto take a great deal of care,” Pearson said.

The city is going to be looking into the background ofevery bidder who applies.

Ashtabula passes property-taxincrease to keep city lit

June 8, 2011

ASHTABULA - Ashtabula City Council debated andvoted on the ordinance to raise the property taxes by $36 ayear.

“The problem is that there’s not a way to pay for theincrease of the street lighting bill that is assessed everyyear,” Ward 2 Councilor August Pugliese said.

In the months of June through November, a $5,000 dis-count is given to the city from First Energy, but the sav-ings is not enough to balance the energy budget.

“We do need street lighting. There’s no doubt about it, buthow do we pay for it? That’s a good question,” Pugliese said.

A few options have been brought forth, including turn-ing off city lights and the $36 a year increase.

“This issue was brought to us last year and it was puton hold so that we could look at other options, turning offlights, etc.,” Ward 3 Councilor Ann Stranman said.

Stranman said nothing was done about the issue untilrecently. After a discussion was had at a recent city councilmeeting, phone calls have been made to city council withopposition to the increase. “If someone supports something,they’re not neccesarily going to call you and say, ‘hey, goodjob. I support that raise on my taxes.’ They’re just going tolet you know if they have a problem with it,” Stranmansaid.

Stranman said some of the people who have complainedalso say to run the city government like a business.

“Our costs have gone up. It’s time to raise the prices,”Stranman said. “It is what it is. We have to do something.”

Stranman strongly opposed turning off lights.“All of the incidents in the last year or so involving shoot-

ing of police officers have been in ward three,” Stranmansaid. “As a woman, I don’t want to see any street lights go.”

Robert Phillips recognized fordisplay of bravery during fire

June 15, 2011

GENEVA - Robert Phillips was awarded special recog-nition at Monday night’s Geneva City Council meeting forheroics during a fire.

“We had responded to a garage fire/barn fire down onAustinburg Road and as we pulled up, we had heavy blacksmoke coming out of the barn. At that point it looked likewe had a pretty severe situation going on,” Geneva FireDepartment Chief Doug Starkey said.

Phillips had been in the building with his stepfather,Roger Smith, when the fire broke.

“As we showed up, we realized that Robert [Phillips]had pulled his stepfather out from underneath the vehicle,”Starkey said.

Starkey said they have determined the cause of the firewas fuel dripping down on a hot light.

“It was fuel that had dripped down and hit the light,and [the stepfather] was engulfed in flames at that point,”Starkey said. “They had already transported him to thehospital.”

Starkey was proud of his men who helped put the fire out.“The guys did a great job on the fire. They got a quick

[fire] knocked down and saved the barn, and it actuallyended up being a car fire inside the barn,” Starkey said.

United Storm finish undefeatedJune 22, 2011

GENEVA – The United Storm baseball team finished 15-0 in the major-league division of the United Little League.The team captured the championship in the league, whichis made up of teams from Geneva, Austinburg and Cork.

The team consists of Miki Shuttleworth, Jacob Naftzger,Tyler Starkweather, Seth Goodrick, Aidan Cardaman, JoshNuyen, Timmy Stamper, Lucas Loeber, Logan Hurst, KyleStark and Collin Deering.

The Storm is coached by Mike Fowler, MikeShuttleworth, Matt Deering and Guy Loeber.

The United Storm was 13-0 heading into match-upsagainst the Madison Red Sox and United Sand Gnats. Ear-lier in the season the United Storm edged the United SandGnats with a score of 3-2.

As the season winded down the Storm talked about hav-ing a perfect season, but they kept their heads in the gamethroughout the entire season.

“The boys were so into it these last couple of games. Icould see this meant a lot to them all. When we finally gotthere you could see on their faces just how much it meantto them. I believe this will help them in the future provingthat hard work pays off,” Coach Shuttleworth said.

Three policemen honoredafter saving man’s life

June 29, 2011

ASHTABULA - Three City of Ashtabula policemenwere honored at last Monday’s Ashtabula city councilmeeting.

Patrolmen James Hildebrand and Tom Clemens andLt. William Parkomaki all responded to a report of ahouse fire on May 27.

“We received a call that there was a fire in a house,”City of Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell said. “Uponarrival we had found an individual who had doused him-self in gasoline and he had a lighter.”

The unnamed suspect had history with the police.“Upon arrival it was found that the residence containedan emotionally disturbed suspect who was known to beviolent to the police,” Lt. John Koski said.

According to Stell, the officers were able to calm thesuspect down and take him into custody without endan-gering anyone in the process.

“These officers were able to prevent this individualfrom setting himself on fire and more than likely savedhis life,” Stell said.

Stell said the men’s actions prevented the already in-tense situation from escalating.

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Vaughn promoted in rankJulie A. Vaughn has been promoted to the rank of tech-

nical sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.Vaughn is a noncommissioned officer in charge of the

medical retention standards branch assigned to the 502ndAir Base Wing Operating Location Bravo at Randolph AirForce Base, Texas. The technical sergeant has served inthe military for 10 years.

She is the daughter of Kathleen Marie Lazor and FrankieLee Vance of Jefferson.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in 2010 from WaylandBaptist University, San Antonio, Texas.

Jefferson native named toHocking College dean’s list

Hocking College is pleased to announce that the follow-ing students from your area have been named to our Dean’sList for fall quarter 2011. Each achieved at least a 3.3 gradepoint average and completed 12 or more credit hours. Please contact me with any questions.

• Nicholas Potts, Jefferson

In TheMilitary

Safe Routes to School gets feedback from ODOTBY SADIE PORTMANGazette Newspapers

ASHTABULA - The AshtabulaArea City Schools Safe Routes toSchool (SRTS) Committee met forits regular monthly meeting re-cently.

The committee is developing aplan for kids to safely walk or biketo and from school each day to theWade Avenue Elementary Campus.

The SRTS committee is usinggrant funding from the Ohio De-partment of Transportation(ODOT) to help support their plan.

“A draft of our Safe Travel Planwas submitted to ODOT for pre-liminary review where it receiveda positive response,” the minutesof the recent meeting read.

ODOT had a few items of con-structive criticism for the commit-tee.

“ODOT shared a few concernswith our effort to date; namely, theconflict regarding a ‘no walking’policy for the new elementary cam-pus must be addressed through aresolution from the school board,”the minutes said.

ODOT also suggested a shorterplan, but those were ODOT’s big-gest suggestions.

“That said, the plan is completeenough to trigger ODOT assigningto our group a task-order engineer-ing firm to assist with the nextphases of developing a request forimplementation funding,” the min-utes read.

The SRTS committee will also bereviewing students’ artwork thisweek and picking a winner for thelogo contest.

“They will meet on Wednesday,Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. at the board of-fice to review artwork. First-, sec-ond- and third-place winners willbe announced at the Jan. 18 schoolboard meeting,” the minutesstated. “Logos selected for awardswill be used prominently as part ofthe Safe Routes to Schools initia-tive for Ashtabula Area CitySchools.”

The elementary campus will alsohave to get directly involved withthe effort.

“Kevin [Grippi] will prepare andforward surveys to elementaryschool principals in February fordistribution to parents,” the min-utes stated. “This was completedlast year. However, it is no longerapplicable since school configura-tion has changed from neighbor-hood to campus style.”

The committee was also hopingto receive outside help with thesnow removal, but with budgetcuts, this does not seem plausible.

“Richard Quaranta contactedthe senior services programlocated...on Route 20 regardingsnow removal and found out helpwill not be available due to recentfunding cuts,” the minutes said.

There was concern from AACSSuperintendent Joseph Donatoneabout the SRTS walking area be-ing located in both the City ofAshtabula and Saybrook Township.

“Joe Donatone is concerned,rightfully so, about how final de-sign engineering for the proposedimprovements will be managedsince the project is to be located inboth the city and Saybrook Town-ship,” the minutes said. “Unlike thecity, the township may engage thecounty engineer to perform engi-neering tasks at no cost.”

The SRTS committee’s monthlymeetings will now be on hold untilFebruary when it receives an as-signed engineering consultant fromODOT.

Sadie Portman, reporter for theGazette, may be reached [email protected].

Students seem to be ex-cited about being a part ofthis hilarious adventure.Nearly 63 kids signed up toaudition with a providedmonologue and then impro-visation. Before auditioning,Patrick Martin, JustinBrown, Bobby Collins andGarrett Puzio were review-ing their lines.

Brown explained the au-dition process.

“We signed up for audi-tion times before Christmasbreak,” he said.

“Mrs. Butler gave us thepart to read for her. All theboys are reading the samepart, and all the girls havetheir own part to read,” saidBrown.

Brown, who is a junior,said he loves theatre.

“This is my fifth auditionhere, and I’ve done stuff atStraw Hat (Ashtabula ArtsCenter), too,” Brown said.

Collins made his debut onthe stage last spring and ex-plained, since he’s not wres-tling or on the track teamthis year, “I would love to dosomething my senior year.My back problems have keptme out of sports.”

Puzio, who is also a seniorwho made his debut lastschool year, is looking for-ward to his final productionat JAHS.

“Being on stage is a wholenew perspective and it’s coolto see the other side. I wishI would’ve tried out sooner,”

AUDITIONS From page 1A

Patrick Martin, Garrett Puzio (front) and Bobby Collins and Justin Brown(back) rehearse their lines before auditioning for The Trials of Robinhood.

he said.The Butlers are directing

their first Jefferson Playersproduction but have plentyof experience producing theFalcon Follies, which runsthe end of March.

“It was going to be toughto do them both,” SeannaButler explained. “So the ad-ministration gave us the op-portunity to change theoriginal performance dates.They’ve been really helpful.”

Performances for “TheTrials of Robin Hood” will beFeb. 24-25.

The Bulters announcedthe cast list on Monday. Thecast includes Jon Hubler,Brown, and Corey Jones allplaying Robin Hood at vari-ous stages in his life. PaigeBeach and Emily Baker werecast as Maid Marian. Puziowas cast as King Richard.

Filling out the cast in vari-ous parts are Clayton Ketola,Josh Hollon, NatashaLaGrance, Ariann Barile,Abby Kovacs, NicoleMacKeller, Aubri Bowling,Rachel Francis, Patrick Mar-tin, Aubrianna Knight,

Rachel Edge, Kyle Dunford,Aaron Painter, Ben Sapatka,Cody Fetters, Co9oper Cleve-land, Dominic Prosser,Hannah Horn, Briyanna Fun-nel, Guilia Giancola, KirstynSmith, Britney Moyer,Kayleen Altman, MikaylaMcMinn, Alexa Lamber,Cheyenne Spellman,AudraFranley, Mikayla Lingo,Bernadette Geraghty, LoganKincaid, Allyson Simon,Connar Lesko, Boddy Collins,Becca Pontoni, Shelby Potter,Brad Weisbarth, MichaelWelby and Brady Olsen.


GENEVA - The City ofGeneva is preparing to sellland on D-TerminationDrive to Cleveland Mu-seum of Natural History sothe museum can expandthe existing GenevaSwamp nature preserve.

“In my manager’s memoI talked about the Cleve-land Museum of NaturalHistory having interest inour 10-acre site in the in-dustrial park, which hasbeen determined to be wet-lands,” Geneva City Man-ager Jim Pearson said.

The property is about9.3 acres and is known tocontain a large wetlandhabitat and was describedin the 2006 National Wet-lands inventory.

“I think it will be a re-ally great thing. It will re-ally connect the dots to en-large the Geneva Swampand not only that, theywould be willing to takeover the easement that we

City of Geneva prepare to sell wetlandsto Cleveland Museum of Natural History

currently have,” Pearsonsaid.

The museum sent a pro-posal to the city last Marchto purchase the land for$10,230 with a $1,000down payment.

“This equates to approxi-mately $1,100 per acre,”Garrett Ormiston wrote inhis proposal to the city.

The museum have along standing record ofsaving the natural wet-lands.

“The Cleveland Mu-seum of Natural Historyhas been protecting land innortheast Ohio for morethan 50 years and has astrong track record as itpertains to the responsiblemanagement of wetlandsand other natural areas,”Ormiston said. “Addition-ally, the museum has anactive stewardship pro-gram which will ensurethat this designated areawill remain well cared-forand free of invasive spe-cies.”

Pearson asked for the

council’s approval to getdocuments ready for aseller’s agreement.

“If council so desires, Iwill prepare the docu-ments to transfer the landto the CIC for sale andhave that for council attheir next regular meet-ing,” Pearson said.

If the Cleveland Mu-seum of Natural Historydoes purchase the land, thecity is hopeful to see somepublic access to the areabut they are aware it willbe limited.

“In some areas they areabsolutely opened to hav-ing public access, but thereare a couple of very rareand unique species thatthey’re a little concernedabout,” Pearson said.

Some of the wetlandproperty currently ownedby the museum has beenused by the local schoolsfor hands-on learning.

“I know currently on theAttley property, they arepreparing to close back lotsto give access to the

Geneva Elementary Schoolso students can have out-door classrooms,” Pearsonsaid.

The Museum of NaturalHistory has a plan to ex-pand the wetland pre-serves as far as possibleand keep the natural habi-tat protected.

“They’re still pushingahead to obtain as manyproperties as they can,”Pearson said.

The City of GenevaCouncil was in full supportof preparing the docu-ments for the selling of theland, as members see it asa great opportunity notonly for the Cleveland Mu-seum of Natural Historybut for the city as well.

“I definitely support itand think it’s a great thingfor the community,”Howard Anderson, citycouncil member, said.


Hutchinson named to Dean’s ListStephanie Hutchinson, a student at Edinboro Uni-

versity of Pennsylvania, is on the Dean’s List for Fall2011. She is dual majoring in Elementary and SpecialEducation and is an active member of Sigma Alpha Iota. Proud parents are Tom and Kim Hutchinson and brotherZach.

Patterson receives master degree

Jan. 11 Cherry Valley: Clothing driveFree clothing, shoes and coats will be offered Jan.

11, 12, 13; 26, 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at theCherry Valley First Church of God, 2983 Sentinel Rd.,Dorset. Come put some bags and get many blessings.Next time is being planned for Aug. All dates areweather permitting.

Jan. 13 Kingsville: Soup lunchThe Kingsville Presbyterian Church will be serving a

soup lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13. Choice ofvegetable beef or ham and bean. Homemade desserts,bread, and beverages. Donation only. Questions? Please callthe Church Office at (440) 224-1023.

Upcoming Church EventsFeb. 3 Jefferson: Spaghetti and Meatballs

A spaghetti and meatballs dinner, plus salad, rolls, bev-erage and cake, will be served Friday, Feb. 3, from 4 to 7p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 89 E. Satin St.,Jefferson. Adults cost $6, children 12 and under $3.Carryouts and baked goods will be available. Proceeds tobenefit world, national and local needs.

Feb. 24 Geneva: Wild Game DinnerMen, are you hungry for some wild game? The Peoples

Church of Geneva invites all men to participate in the WildGame Dinner on Feb. 24. Tickets are $15 and will not besold at the door. Call the church office (440-466-2020) tobuy your tickets. Everyone is invited to come and be fed byGod’s Word on Sundays at 10:45 a.m. We are located at 300South Ridge Rd. East, Geneva.

UW-Whitewater announcesFall 2011 Dean’s List

WHITEWATER - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater announced more than 2,900 students werenamed to the fall 2011 Dean’s List. To be eligible for thehonor, students must have a 3.4 semester grade pointaverage with a minimum of 12 semester credits and nogrades lower than a “C.”

Local students include:• Gregory R Cook, Ashtabula.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, founded in1868, is the fourth largest campus in the 26-campus UWSystem.

Local residents named toHeidelberg University dean’s list

TIFFIN, Ohio - Heidelberg University has released thenames of 367 students named to the fall semester dean’slist. To be named to the dean’s list, students must be en-rolled full time and meet academic criteria set forth by theUniversity. Local/area students are listed below by theirhometown and class year.

Local students include:• Brian Haytcher, junior, of Ashtabula.• Krista Blake, junior, of Geneva.

Jeremiah Pattersoncompleted degree re-quirements fromAmerican Universityon Aug. 4, 2011, and re-ceived a master of artsdegree in journalismand public policy.

He is currentlyworking for the Wild-life Society as its pro-gram manager andweb resource special-ist.

A 2006 graduate ofJefferson Area HighSchool and a 2010graduate ofWestminster College,Patterson is the son ofJohn and Nancy Patterson of Jefferson.

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Is there pride in servingin our military?

By Kayleena BrashearGeneva High School

Imagine it is your calling to volunteer and sac-

rifice your own well-being for the protection ofpeople you have never met. Imagine that your jobis to stand in harm’s way to provide your peers theright to protest the very thing that you do everyday. Try to comprehend that an early part of yourinitiation to a new position could be to write “theletter” for your loved ones in the event that you donot survive the day. Now imagine someone tryingto question your pride in the brave souls that ven-ture into this chaos or the pride of those that choosethis path.

Chazray Clark was 24 years old when he diedthis September in Kandahar Province, Afghani-stan. In the darkest part of night his platoon wasstruck by an explosion. Face down in the mud withan arm and both legs gone he still had the pres-ence of mind, fortitude and concern for his fellowsoldiers to respond that he was okay when his Pla-toon Sergeant called out his name. Try to imaginesomeone questioning my pride in him or his pridein serving in our military.

Since April of this year, the USNS Comfort hasbeen in the Caribbean Basin participating in Op-eration Promise 2011. Doctors and staff saw nearly70,000 patients and performed more than 1,100 sur-geries in nine countries of Central and SouthAmerica. How could I question the pride and honorof those who provided training for the “helping ba-bies breathe” program for doctors in Jamaica or themen and women that built two classrooms in Co-lumbia and rehabilitated a medical clinic in Nica-ragua? The humanitarian missions by our militarymay be the best peace keeping actions in the world.

As a young American, I can say without hesita-tion, our military is one of the aspects of our coun-try that I take the most pride in. Our soldiers, bothpast and present have been instrumental in mak-ing the United States the greatest country in theworld. There is more to be proud of for serving theUnited States than for any other occupation in theworld. No other job is made up of volunteers whoso willingly sacrifice their individual life for therights and beliefs of an entire nation. To protect acountry’s principles and way of life selflessly is thehighest level of stewardship.

Last year I had the honor to volunteer at a localsoldier’s funeral and witnessed hundreds of peoplethat share my sense of nationalism and respect forour military. During this tribute, was the first timeI had experienced the Patriot Guard Riders. Theyare a group of motorcyclists that attend soldier’sfunerals with the sole mission of a clear and vis-ible show of respect for our fallen heroes while pro-tecting the grieving family and friends from pro-testing bystanders. The profound irony being thatthe fallen soldier made the ultimate sacrifice sothat those who wish to protest have the right andprivilege to do so. Try to imagine someone ques-tioning the pride of the man who gives all so thatothers may have the right to the peaceful protestof what he gave all for.

I am compelled to emphasize that our militaryis an all-volunteer force. There is a conscious choicemade by a dedicated few to follow this path. Thesemen and women display an amazing sense of pa-triotism and unfaltering courage as they becomean extremely bonded national family. Over 150years ago French political thinker, Alex deTocqueville, referred to this pride as almost a na-tional religion. This virtue has only grown stron-ger with time. I am blessed to know this first handas my grandfather and father have both served andare veterans of combat. My grandfather was a sur-geon during Vietnam and my father a frontlinescout during Desert Storm. Not only do I respectthem for serving but also for the dedication andpride they held well after which has never faded.

If you have never experienced this way of living,watch a veteran during our national anthem. Try tosee their eyes and feel what this song represents tothem. Watch as they display their pride and honorto one of the greatest symbols they know. Try toimagine the emotion. Is this the homage and respectwe all should know? Anytime the Star SpangledBanner is sung or the Pledge of Allegiance is re-cited, it is to remind us of the liberties we enjoy andthe men and women that maintain them for us. Itis for the purpose that we never forget we live inthe land of the free and the home of the brave.America is indivisible with liberty and justice forall because of the dedicated service of our military.

Try to imagine for a moment our country with-out our military. Consider the events of Septem-ber 11th when terrorists attempted to destroyAmerica. Instead of falling into despair, we becamemore united, more patriotic, and more proud thanwe had been for some time. Our pride in our mili-tary was defined again as they went to war againstterrorism. My generation is sacrificing still todayso that we may have the quality of life that we sooften take for granted. They proudly serve and Iwill never dishonor them by allowing my pride inthem to waiver.

The men and women in our military know thestrongest sense of pride. A pride that cannot be de-scribed in words but that is observed in the emo-tions brought on by a patriotic song, the achieve-ments of incredibly rewarding humanitarian ef-forts, and the knowledge that they are a part ofthe force which makes and maintains the greatestcountry in the world.

ismatic speaker, Brashear’sstirring and thoughtfullycomposed speech earned thejudge’s nod for third place atthe district level.

“It is a great honor tohave my speech go on tostate competition,” saidBrashear. “This achieve-ment means a great deal tome as I have been partici-pating in speech contestsmy entire high school ca-reer and feel so stronglyabout the topic of this par-ticular speech; pride in ourservice men and women.”

Brashear has also beena winner in the highly com-petitive Rotary 4-WaySpeech Contest.

At the local, district,state and national levels,judges evaluate Voice ofDemocracy speechwriter’s

SPEECH From page 1A

recorded essays usingthree criteria: originality,content and delivery. Ac-cording to Sandra Roach,Voice of Democracy SpeechContest Chairperson forPost 6846, competition atthe local level of the con-test is rigorous and in-creases exponentially atthe district and state lev-els.

Twenty-eight local win-ners representing publicand private high schoolsthroughout a four countyregion earned the right toadvance to the districtlevel where Brashear ’sspeech garnered thirdplace. Last year only adozen speechwriters inOhio reached the state fi-nals culled from a field ofmore than 3,000.

Samantha O’Donnell spells herway to the county spelling bee

Health Smart ForumUniversity Hospitals Conneaut Medical Center will

offer a free luncheon on Friday, Jan. 20, from 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m. at UH Conneaut Medical Center, 158 WestMain Road, Conneaut. Speech Therapist Ken Kozloskywill present a talk on swallowing problems. For moreinformation, log on to UHConneaut.org/Community. Call 440-593-0364 for reservations.

Senior Health ForumUniversity Hospitals Geneva Medical Center will of-

fer a free luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 11:30a.m. to 1 p.m. at Geneva Community Center, 72 WestMain Street, Geneva. Maureen Ordman-Fike from theAlzheimer Association will present a talk on partneringwith your doctor. For more information, log on toUHGeneva.org/Community. Call 440-415-0180 for res-ervations.

Free Health ScreeningsUniversity Hospitals Geneva Medical Center will

conduct free health screenings on Wednesday, Jan. 18,from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Spire Institute, 1822 SouthBroadway, Geneva. Screenings include blood pressure,blood sugar and random total cholesterol. Eight-hourfasting is recommended, no reservations necessary. Formore information, log on to UHGeneva.org/Community.

Monthly Mammogram ClinicUniversity Hospitals offers a no-cost mammogram pro-

gram, courtesy of the Susan G. Komen grant at UH GenevaMedical Center, 870 West Main Street, Geneva. For moreinformation, log on to UHGeneva.org/Community. Toqualify for a complimentary testing, call 440-998-0695.

Free UpcomingHealth Events

PHOTOS BY SADIE PORTMANThe spellers anxiously wait for the spelling bee to begin as the instructions arebeing explained.

Samantha O’Donnell spellsa word while she is a partof the top five spellers in thedistrict. O’Donnell would goon to win the wholecompetition by spelling“defiantly” correctly.


ASHTABULA - TheAshtabula Area City Schoolsdeclared SamanthaO’Donnell of Saybrook Inter-mediate School’s sixth-gradeclass, the district spellingbee champion after spellingthe word “defiantly” cor-rectly.

O’Donnell was up against12 other students fromLakeside Junior HighSchool, Lakeside Intermedi-ate and two other studentsfrom her school, Saybrook.

The judges were all prin-cipals, Valerie Harper,Rebecca Evanson and JanieCarey, with the pronouncerbeing Dr. Judith Poluga.

O’Donnell went throughseveral rounds and ended inthe final two with NathanReese, a sixth grader fromLakeside Intermediate.

Cristine Rutz, principalof Lakeside Intermediate,gave O’Donnell a congratu-lations and good luck asO’Donnell will representAACS in the county spellingbee, with Reese being herreplacement if she is unableto attend.

“You’re not done yet,”Rutz told O’Donnell. “Thecounty spelling bee is next.”


SuperintendentJoseph

Donatonegives

SamanthaO’Donnell the

winning trophyafter she

spelled theword

“defiantly.”

Superintendent JosephDonatone gives NathanReese his second-placetrophy during thepresentation of the awardsduring Tuesday’s districtspelling bee.

Benjamin Luoma, a fourthgrader at LakesideIntermediate, is the first tospell a word during thepractice round.

Danny Costa, sixth graderfrom Lakeside Intermediate,spells a word during thethird round of thecompetition.

Kayleigh Baumgartnerspells correctly in the firstround. Baumgartner wouldlast two more rounds beforebeing eliminated.

Caleb Reese, a seventhgrader from LakesideJunior High School, wouldmake it to the top fivespellers before beingeliminated.

Megan McCluskey has herchance to spell duringTuesday morning’sAshtabula Area CitySchools district spelling bee.

D’Vonte Thornton thinkshow to spell “lobby” duringthe first round of the districtspelling bee.

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BY JAN PERALAA-Tech

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP- The Theodor Geisel (Dr.Seuss) classic, Oh, the PlacesYou’ll Go, a popular gift forhigh school grads, containsmotivational words geared toinspire those setting off to seektheir place in the world.

Geisel wrote, “You havebrains in your head. You havefeet in your shoes. You cansteer yourself in any directionyou choose. You’re on yourown. And you know what youknow. You are the guy who’lldecide where to go.”

If only it were that easy.Deciding on a college or ca-

reer path is a process that canbe fraught with anxiety for stu-dents. Choosing the right col-lege or technical school, acourse of study, locating the re-sources to defray tuition ex-penses and how to surviveleaving the nest are pressingdilemmas in the minds of stu-dents poised to enter the realworld. But thanks to a groupof enthusiastic alumni who re-turned to their alma mater toshare advice and their per-sonal experiences regardingpost secondary education op-tions, Ashtabula County Tech-nical and Career Campus (A-Tech) students are better pre-pared to take the next step.Alumni Day, coordinated byJackie Peck, A-Tech’sAshtabula County ContinuedEducation Support Services(ACCESS) advisor, broughtten successful grads back tothe school they credit with giv-ing them the impetus to enrollin college and the determina-tion to pursue their dreams.

Cassie Eldred graduatedfrom A-Tech in 2005, earned aBA, Magna Cum Laude, fromCanisius College in Commu-nications and Broadcast Jour-nalism and is a now video jour-

A-Tech grads offer advice on Alumni Visit Day

PHOTO BY JAN PERALA FOR A-TECHAshtabula County Technical and Career Campus grads who returned to their alma mater to share information about their respective collegesand careers on Alumni Visit Day are (from left) Josh Cool, Cassie Eldred, Kayla Webber, Becky Cortright, Stephanie Bruno, R. J. DiGiacomo, ErinAkos and Courtney Stroeter. Also attending were Mandy Weed and Justin Eldred. The alums answered questions about careers and collegeadmissions and offered advice about adjusting to college life when they visited A-Tech English classrooms. Alumni Visit Day was coordinatedby Jackie Peck, A-Tech Ashtabula County Continued Education Support Services (ACCESS) Advisor.

nalist for CNN Headline Newsin Atlanta.

“Networking is the mostimportant thing. I learned thathere (at A-Tech). Everyone youmeet can be a contact who canhelp you. Don’t be afraid to askthe VIP’s for advice. They wereonce where you are today.When a CNN Bureau Chiefvisited my college, I ap-proached her and asked if theyoffered internships. She said Iwas the only student to comeforward to ask and she gaveme a foot in the door,” she said.

“My education at A-Techhelped me get a scholarship toa great art school,” said ErinAkos, who graduated last yearfrom A-Tech’s Graphic Com-munications program.

Akos received a $32,000Dean’s Scholarship to attendthe Cleveland Institute of Art.

“I am just in my foundationyear and am already seeingnew directions I can take.

Knowledge changes you,” saidAkos. “Just get started and seewhere it takes you.”

Mandy Weed, a 2006 A-Tech grad, earned a BA in Spe-cial Education at EdinboroUniversity and now works asan Early Intervention Special-ist for the Ashtabula CountyBoard of Developmental Dis-abilities.

“I was just determined toget my degree and I applied forevery scholarship I could findand I also worked as an Resi-dent Assistant which gave mefree room and board,” she said.

“I took a roundabout way,but am studying Radio andTelevision Communications atKent State Ashtabula,” ex-plained R.J. DiGiacomo, a2010 A-Tech grad. “A-Techgave me the tools, and aftergraduation I made a cold calland got an internship as avideographer filming outdoorsadventures for the TV show

Predator Nation. You go to col-lege to gain opportunities. Ihave now been commissionedto create a logo and t-shirt de-signs for the Miami Heat,” ex-plained DiGiacomo.

Kayla Webber, 2011 A-TechHealth Care Tech graduate, isstudying to be a Dental Hy-gienist at Lakeland Commu-nity College.

“Coming here (A-Tech) wasmy boost. It gave me a big headstart,” said Webber. “I am thefirst in my family to attend col-lege, and I am going to get mydegree. I didn’t listen as wellas I should have at this ses-sion last year, but reality hitsyou after you graduate. Justkeep focused and don’t losesight of your goals. If I can doit, so can you.”

“We have lots of great stu-dents who graduate A-Techwell prepared to enter theworkforce,” said ACCESS ad-visor Jackie Peck. “But our

Tech Prep courses launchmany into advanced educationat colleges and universities aswell as art, culinary and tech-nical schools. And we helpthem find the resources to getthere.”

ACCESS is a free programfor all Ashtabula County resi-dents which provides servicesat all nine county high schoolsand operates resource centersat county libraries. The pro-

gram places advisorsin secondary schoolswho provide insightand information geared toelucidate the college searchand application process as wellas financial aid and scholar-ship advisement.

“I think programs likeAlumni Day really do helpease the transition from highschool to college for our stu-dents,” said Peck.

Jefferson Rotary to hold raffleThe Jefferson Rotary Club is holding a Valentine’s

Day fundraising raffle.The prize is a 14K white gold diamond pendant

valued at $3,200 – a perfect gift for your Valentine.Jefferson Village Mayor Judy Maloney will draw

the prize-winning ticket at the regular Jefferson Ro-tary Club meeting on Feb. 9, 2012.

The raffle is called a “penny” raffle because thecost of each ticket is determined by the ticket num-

ber multiplied by $.01. A ticket can cost anywherefrom a penny to a maximum of $10.

The Jefferson Rotary Club would like to thank theJ. R. Hofstetter family for their generous support ofthis fundraising event. All proceeds will benefitJefferson Rotary Club projects.

Tickets are available from any Jefferson RotaryClub member, or at J. R. Hofstetter, the Family Jew-eler.


JEFFERSON - With itsnew children’s librarian inplace, the Henderson Me-morial Public Library isplanning events through-out the winter, including amovie night and storytimes for children.

HMPL Children’s Li-brarian DeeAnnaCulbertson invites fami-lies to attend the library’sfirst free Family MovieNight of 2012.

The library will beshowing “Dolphin Tale” onWednesday, Jan. 18. ThePG-rated movie will start

Henderson Memorial Public Library plans eventsSession times include:After school Fun Stuff

For ages: K-5th grade; Mondays, 4-5 p.m.Join Miss Dee for stories, games, activities and crafts.

Mother Goose TimeFor ages: 1-24 months; Wednesdays, 10:30-11 a.m.Enjoy nursery rhymes, fingerplays and music for baby

and care-giver.

Toddler StorytimeFor ages: 2-3; Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.Enjoy short stories, music, fingerplays and easy crafts

or activities.

PJ Sleepy StorytimeFor ages: 1-6; Thursdays, 7-7:45 p.m.Get ready for bed with stories and soft music; wear

your PJ’s.

Preschool StorytimeFor ages: 4-5; Thursdays, 1-2 p.m.Stories, music, activities or crafts.

at 6 p.m. and will run for113 minutes.

The staff will be servingfree popcorn and bever-ages, Culbertson said. Sherequests that people pleasecall 576-3761 or stop bythe library to sign-up to at-tend.

Culbertson also an-nounced that the storytimedates and times for thewinter session, which runsfrom Jan. 9 through Feb.16, have been finalized.Parents are asked to call orvisit the library for moredetails and to sign up theirchild. They also can emailMiss Dee at [email protected].

FalconsJanuary Menus

Jefferson/Rock Creek ElementaryLunch

1/11 Footlong Hot Dog on Bun, Oven BakedFrench Fries, Broccoli & Dip, Petite Banana

1/12 Stromboli, Tomato Soup, Applesauce Cup,Chocolate Pudding Cup

1/13 French Bread Pizza, Green Beans, DicedPeaches

1/16 No School1/17 Chicken Strips & Dip, Hot Carrots, Mixed

Fruit, Cherry Apple Crunch Bar1/18 Cheeseburger on Bun, Waffle Fries, Apricot

Slices1/19 Pepperoni Pizza, Garden Fresh Salad, Diced

Pears1/23 No School1/24 Popcorn Chicken & Dip, Corn Cobbettes,

Fruit Crisp

Breakfast1/11 Egg, Sausage, & Cheese On English Muffin,

Fruit Juice or Fruit1/12 Breakfast Pizza, Fruit Juice or Fruit1/13 Scrambled Eggs with Ham & Cheese, Fruit

Juice or Fruit1/16 No School1/17 Choice of Cereal, Snack-N-Square, Fruit Juice

or Fruit1/18 Apple Bosco Stick, Fruit Juice or Fruit1/19 Sausage Bagel Pizza, Fruit Juice or Fruit1/20 Warm Cinnamon Roll, Fruit Juice or Fruit

Jefferson Area Junior/Senior High SchoolLunch

1/11 Taco Salad w/Lettuce, Meat, Cheese, & Chips,Refried Beans, Cinnamon Applesauce

1/12 Beefy Cheesy Sauce With Nacho Chips, WholeKernel Corn, Breadstick,Fruit Cup

1/13 Sausage Pizza, Fried Rice, Broccoli & Cheese,Frozen Fruit Cup

1/16 No School1/17 Popcorn Chicken & Dip, Mashed Potatoes,

Golden Corn, Roll Diced Peaches1/18 Chef ’s Salad w/Lettuce, Meat, & Cheese, Soft

Pretzel, Diced Pears1/19 Meatball & Cheese Sub, Green Beans, Fresh

Apple1/20 Pizza Pocket, Vegetable Medley, Applesauce

Cup

READ ALL ABOUT IT...Every Week in Your Local Community Newspaper

Local Features, High School Sports, Features, Headline Stories and Editorials! ~ There is something to suit every taste!AWARD-WINNING COMMUNITY NEWS

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SUBMITTED PHOTODr. David Perusek, associate professor of anthropology, is pictured in a classroom.

ASHTABULA - Dr. David Perusek, associate professor of anthropology at Kent StateUniversity at Ashtabula, will be a regular contributor on the Western Reserve PublicMedia PBS program NEOtropolis beginning this month. Perusek will share his thoughtsregarding the various ways that people work, learn, live and play in our region.

NEOtropolis is a weekly half-hour program airing on the Kent/Akron/Youngstown PBSstations and is focused exclusively on the business and economy of Northeast Ohio.

Perusek will contribute to a section called Culture Mark, a segment that tries to an-swer two questions. What’s making its mark on northeast Ohio culture? What is shaping,impacting and illuminating the way we live and the stories we tell?

During this segment, Perusek and the host will look at how people are working, learn-ing, living and playing in the region, expressed in business, art, politics and many of thearenas where we live our lives.

NEOtropolis returns for its third season on PBS with an expansive content scope fo-cused on methods of assisting Northeast Ohioans as we attempt to understand and copewith the changes that impact our lives. The program will air live on Tuesdays at 9 p.m.beginning Jan. 10, 2012, and will also stream live at www.NEOtropolis.org and on thefacebook fan page.

JEFFERSON TOWN-SHIP - December started thevisitation and recruiting pro-cess for associate schoolsophomores at the A-Techcampus. Sophomores whowant to attend were askedto choose three programs tovisit. They had a chance tovisit with Career Technicalinstructors, current studentsand staff and participate inhands-on activities to learn

JEFFERSON TOWN-SHIP - This past December,A-Tech students receivedcertificates from JerryPalfry, an Industrial SafetyConsultant for the Ohio Bu-reau of Worker’s Compensa-tion. He presented certifi-cates to students in theBuildings and GroundsMaintenance, Carpentry,Electricity, and Masonryprograms for completing the10-hour Occupational Safetyand Health Administration(OSHA) training program.

The program is offeredeach year to students inthese programs, to teach stu-dents to the proper way towork safely on a construc-tion site.

A-Tech is currently work-ing with Mr. Palfry to de-velop safety programs simi-lar to this one for other ca-reer technical programs.“Since many of these stu-dents will continue their ca-reers in the building andconstruction industry afterthey graduate having the 10hour safety card will defi-nitely help them be moreemployable and work saferin the construction indus-try,” said Jerry Palfry.

A-Tech students earn safety certificates

SUBMITTED PHOTOMasonry students, left to right, Cody Mason, David Vandervort, Jolene Goroncy, Robert Fink, Robert McTrusty, Chris Norman, and DakotaDeMarco receive OSHA Certificates from Jerry Palfry.

A-Tech hosts area high school sophomores

KSUA faculty member joinsPBS television program

more about the programs.Students are encouraged

to submit their enrollmentapplications as soon as pos-sible. This year they can alsoenroll on-line by visitingwww.atech.edu and complet-ing an on-line enrollmentintent form.

For students who did notvisit in December or want tovisit other programs, addi-tional visitation days are

scheduled for January 24,February 22, March 20 andby appointment on May 1. Tosign up for these visitationstudents should talk to theirassociate school guidancecounselor. For more informa-tion or questions about thecareer technical programsoffered at A-Tech or enroll-ing at A-Tech contactAmanda Wight at 440-576-6015, extension 1115.

SUBMITTED PHOTOA-Tech Early Childhood Education student Katie Bogdan works with sophomore visitors.

Upcoming EventsJan. 12 Geneva on the Lake:Committee Meeting

There will be a Downtown Tier 1 Steer-ing Committee meeting on Thursday, Jan.12, at 7 p.m. The topic is ComprehensivePlan. Meetings are held at the Safety Ser-vice Center. Any interested parties are wel-come to attend.

Jan. 13-15 Ashtabula:Into the Woods

G.B. Community Theatre presents “Intothe Woods” at the Ashtabula Arts CenteronJan. 13-15. The Arts Center is located at2928 West 13th, Ashtabula. Friday and Sat-urday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. For tick-ets: (440) 964-3396. Walk-ins welcome ifseating is available. Advance sale ticketssave $2 per ticket!

Jan. 13 Pierpont:Homemade Pizza Sales

The Pierpont Volunteer Fire Depart-ment will hold its Friday pizza sales at itslocation at 6006 Marcy Rd., Pierpont. An-nual Friday homemade pizza sales startJan. 13 and will run until the last Fridayin February. Orders will be taken from 5-7p.m. Please call the fire department’s non-emergency number at (440) 577-1190.

Jan. 16 Ashtabula:No School Skate

No School Skate at the Roller DenAshtabula Family Roller Den, 2255West Ave., Ashtabula, on Monday, Jan.16, from 1-4 p.m. The cost is only $2 ifyou have your own skates. Skate rentalis extra. $2 more for Quads or $3 morefor Inlines/Rollerblades. Come out for afun afternoon with Skating, CrazyMaze, Bounce House, Extreme Skatepark and Indoor arcade. Full line of foodat the snack bar.

Jan. 27 Rome Township:Fish and shrimp dinner

Don’t miss it, the Rome Fire Depart-ment Fish and Shrimp Dinner hosted bythe Roman Candles Auxiliary! Fish,shrimp or combo, French fries or bakedpotato, coleslaw, applesauce and bread.Date is 4-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. Adultdinners $8. Children ages 4-11, $4. Chil-dren three and under are free. RomeFire Department is located on the cor-ners of Routes 6 and 45 in Rome. Eat-inor carry outs available. Proceeds ben-efit Rome Fire Department/RomanCandles Auxiliary. Also enter the raffleto win two free fish dinners at a futureFish Dinner!

1565 State Route 167, Jefferson, Ohio 44047 . 440-576-6015 . WWW.ACJVS.EDU

Follow these easy steps to prepare for college, technical school, or a

rewarding job through Career-Technical Education at A-Tech!

Participate in one of our student visitation days and view some of the programs offered at A-Tech.

Ask for an A-Tech Enrollment Intent form from your guidance counselor or access an on-line application at wwwwww.atech.edu.

Complete your application to choose from 21 exciting programs.

Have your parents or guardians sign the application (on-line applicants will be mailed a copy for their parent/guardian’s signature.

Return your signed application in to your guidance counselor or submit on-line at wwwwww.atech.edu.

A-Tech Carpentry student Zachary Grien

The Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School Board of Education and its staff are dedicated to providing equal opportunities and equal employment

opportunities without regard to sex, race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, pregnancy, handicap, or disability.

EARLY ADMISSION FOR 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR

HAS BEGUN! See your school counselor to get an enrollment intent form or visit us on-line at

www.atech.edu to complete form on-line.


Jefferson Merchants

Isn’t It Time For You to Meet Your

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& PHARMACY

344 S. Chestnut Street, Jefferson

Open 7am-9pm • 7 Days A Week

Store 576-9122 Pharmacy 576-6258 Video 576-7557

JEFFERSON - Forover 16 years, ClassyConsignments has beenserving Jefferson with avariety of items fromclothing to housewaresand books, movies andgames.

Classy Consign-ments is located at 26North Chestnut St. andis opened six days,Monday, Tuesday,Thursday and Fridayfrom 10 a.m. until 5p.m., Wednesday from6 a.m. until 6 p.m. andSaturdays from 9 a.m.until 4 p.m.

“We have everythingfrom dishes to jeans,dresses and blazers,”Suzie Cheney said.

Classy Consign-ments has two floorswith six rooms fullwith consignmentitems ready for a newowner, including aback upstairs roomwhich Cheney callsthe five o’clock roomfilled with eveninggowns and even awide selection of wed-ding gowns.

“Some of the dressesstill have their tags on,”Cheney said.

The store doesn’tjust serve the Jeffersoncommunity, as custom-ers and items comefrom people aroundnortheast Ohio.

“We have consign-ors from Concord,Warren, from Madi-son to Conneaut,”Cheney said.

An appointmentmust be made for con-signors to come inwith their items tosell, which helps thestore stay organized.

“Everything isbrought in and weprice it and if it sells,they get a percent,”

Classy Consignmentshappy to serveJefferson forover 16 years

✔ Complete Auto Repair✔ Tune-Ups ✔ Brakes ✔ Shocks✔ Exhaust Repair or Replacement✔ Cooper Tires and Deka Batteries✔ Transmission Service

BP of Jefferson, Inc.4 S. Chestnut St. • Jefferson, OH 576-1931

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.Sat. 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. • Sun. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Your

Full-Service

Station

Larry BagleyOwner

Lawrence (Larry) Bottoms

Cheney said.Cheney said it is

hard to say what itemswill sell fast, with ev-ery season bringing innew fads in the con-signment area.

“If you bring in goodstuff, it sells fast so theturnover’s good andwe like quick turn-overs,” Cheney said.

Classy Consignmentwill only take current,gently used and cleanproducts. Cheney saidif she would not buy it,she will not take it.

Classy Consignmentis also proud of itshometown of Jeffersonand the store evengives back to the com-munity by donatingsome of the unsolditems to local charities.

“If an item doesn’tsell, the consignor hasthe option of havingthe item returned tothem or we donate itto a local charity,”Cheney said. “We do-nate to a local churchright now.”

Whether it is a con-signor or a customer,Classy Consignmentsaim to keep everyone100-percent satisfied.

“We try to keep ev-erybody happy,”Cheney said.

Classy Consignmenthas deals throughoutthe month from 25 to 50percent off the originalprice and dollar specials.

“Every month oursales change,” Cheneysaid.

Classy Consignmenttries to keep the pricesdown and value itscustomers.

“We want to giveyou the best quality atthe best price,” Cheneysaid.

WELCOMING NEW PATIENTS

Contracted With Aetna PPO, Cigna PPO, Delta Dental Premier, And Guardian

Other Locations To Serve YouPainesville Dental Group

128 Mentor Avenue, Painesville, OH(440) 354-2183

Dental Group of JeffersonDr. Christopher Phillips • Dr. Casey Hammond

78 North Chestnut Street, Jefferson, Ohio

(440) 576-7040

Chardon Smile Center301 Center Street, Chardon, OH

(440) 286-2474

ACCEPTING MOST INSURANCES

Custom Quality Collision

1496 St. Rt. 46 North, Jefferson, OH440-576-1900

vehiclestatus.com • customqualitycollision.com

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Proudly Announces That We Are Now Ashtabula County’s Exclusive Dealer For

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PHOTO BY SADIE PORTMANDonna Button and Maureen Riley shop for clothes andjewelry at Classy Consignments on Tuesday afternoon.


gazette 01-11-12

Documents

troy bailey

village of jefferson

jefferson policedepartment

sadie portmanlucille

director seannabutler

asexecutive director

ashtabula seniorcenter

trials of robin hood