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Pumpernickel’s Deli eyes return to Old West End

By
Toledo Free Press
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The owner of a former Old West End deli is bringing the sandwich shop back after a 10-year absence.

Noticing a lack of eateries in the neighborhood, Dennis Lange opened Pumpernickel’s Deli & Café in 1995 at 2499 Collingwood Blvd., which is now the home of Black Kite Coffee.

After a 10-year run at the sandwich shop known for its hearty sandwiches and homemade soups, Lange sold the business when he had an opportunity to work for Lucas County. Within several months of the sale, the business had closed.

Now the semi-retired Lange is bringing Pumpernickel’s Deli back to the neighborhood, working on renovations to 2489 Collingwood Blvd., two doors down from Black Kite.

He hopes to open the lunch establishment in mid-January.

“There’s still a need,” Lange said when explaining his return to the dining scene. “I’ve had so many people say, ‘I wish you were still open.’ After a while, I got to thinking, ‘Maybe this could be my retirement project now.’”

Lange previously ran another business in the same building, a Victorian tea room.

“The money I spent there 15 years ago is still there,” he said. “It just needed a good sprucing up.”

Lange has a clear vision of what Pumpernickel’s strengths were in the past and what he sees them being in the future.

“I’m not a huge foo-foo food person,” he said. “Everybody’s trying to make something that’s different for everybody. I’m looking at the person who says to me, ‘Gosh, I just want a good corned beef sandwich’ or ‘I just want a good Reuben.’ … So many of the new places people go in and you see the plate and it’s like, ‘Where’s the food?’ I want to give them a good hearty lunch, a salad that’s got something in it and a soup that’s got a lot of hearty and healthy things in it also.”

The deli will cater to its customers’ individual tastes, Lange said. They can customize their sandwiches with a choice of breads, cheeses and toppings.

“You tell me what you want on it, that’s what’s going to be on it,” he said. “It’s quite an extensive menu, but yet it’s a lot of the same ingredients just put together differently.”

It’s no coincidence Lange is returning to the Old West End for Pumpernickel’s second go-around.

“I hope the neighborhood and community come back to support us,” he said. “It’s going to be great to see folks I haven’t seen in a long time and be able to serve them again. …  We’re hoping we can bring in some new business to the area, so we can help grow the area again. Over the last 8-10 years, the business community there has taken quite a hit. We’re hoping this is going to spark getting more people in.”

Pumpernickel’s hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and a breakfast-only menu from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Delivery will be available to locations in the Old West End and Downtown.

Pounds: Solidarity

By
Tom Pounds
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On Nov. 25, about 100 Jeep workers and supporters gathered outside One Government Center to express support for a proposed land purchase near the Jeep plant that city officials and union leaders hoped would woo Chrysler into keeping Wrangler production in Toledo.

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Wearing red shirts reading “Solidarity on Stickney,” they chanted and carried signs reading “Keep Jeep,” “This is Home” and “Sergio Promised.”

Like the former Southwyck Mall site, the former Textileather site has potential but no committed end-user. Unlike the Southwyck purchase, however, which divided Toledo City Council and passed by a narrow 7-5 vote, the Textileather site elicited only one response: support. On Dec. 2, Council moved to purchase the property with a unanimous vote.

Councilman Tom Waniewski, who was among those critical of the Southwyck purchase, calling it too expensive a gamble once The Andersons dropped out of consideration, said he supported the Textileather purchase.

“With Jeep, we have a viable tenant already there that has been looking for more room,” Waniewski told Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Sarah Ottney. “We have to be at the table to play with Chrysler. By not passing this land deal, we would have in essence taken our cards and said we’re done for the night. But with this land purchase at least we’re still at the table, we’re still playing with them … and hopefully convince them this is still the best place to continue to build Wrangler.”

Although the city is focused on Chrysler, City Development Director Matt Sapara told Ottney officials have also talked to other potential end-users with the goal being to land the biggest economic driver possible for the city.

That would seem to be Chrysler. The company employs more than 6,000 people locally, not to mention those employed by local parts suppliers and other related businesses.

“It matters where you make it and we make it better here than anywhere on this planet,” Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins told Council after the vote.

That’s not just empty praise. Toledo’s assembly complex has submitted to productivity test after productivity test and continuously comes up on top, UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower told Council last week. Toledo builds 240,000 Wranglers per year, working seven days a week, 20-24 hours a day, including holidays — the best production output in the world — and still can’t keep up with demand, he said. Between Cherokee and Wrangler, Toledo produced 50,000 vehicles in October, more than any other North American location has in years, he said.

Despite all that, we still might lose Wrangler. But of course we never go down without a fight. Tuesday’s vote shows Chrysler this city is standing in solidarity with Jeep workers and Toledo’s long history with the brand.

Although Chrysler has indicated it would build another vehicle in Toledo if it pulls Wrangler, the loss would be devastating, Baumhower told Council, pointing to Chrysler’s ambitious five-year plan of expanding Wrangler’s market globally.

“Do we want to play in that sandbox that we built? That’s gonna get a whole lot bigger?” Baumhower asked Council on Nov. 25. “Hell yes, we do. That’s the one we want to build.”

Yes, we do. Go big or go home. This is home. We’re going all in.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press.

Residents, Swancreek Twp. trustees voice concern over pipeline

By
Don Lee
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A group of Swanton-area residents opposed to a planned natural-gas pipeline found a receptive audience in the Swancreek Township trustees.

Though the trustees stopped short of a resolution against the pipeline, they expressed frustration at their Dec. 1 meeting at getting information from the people planning the NEXUS Gas Transmission project.

Trustee Pamela Moore said she has asked for information since Nov. 11 from Mark Wagoner, the Toledo lawyer representing NEXUS locally, but she said he suggested meeting privately. Moore told the audience of about 30 people at Monday night’s trustee meeting she did not want a meeting that was not public.

A resolution may be proposed for a vote at the start of the township’s annual budget meeting, 7 p.m. Dec. 8 at the township hall, Fulton County Roads D and 5-2 near Delta.

Though she said she was likely to side with the property owners, Moore said she wanted to “do my due diligence” before formally opposing the project.

Wagoner, responding to a phone message, referred all questions to NEXUS spokesman Arthur Diestel.

Diestel, responding by e-mail to a series of questions, pointed out Nexus hosted nine informational meetings along the study corridor “for for affected landowners, local and state officials” and is conducting an economic impact study with Ohio State University which it plans to share with local officials. The project is in its early stages and “there will be multiple other opportunities … for impacted landowners and stakeholders to … identify any potential concerns stemming from the project.”

He also said eminent domain, the process by which a government can take private property for the public good after fair compensation, would be a “last resort” and not a negotiating tool. He did not, however, respond to a question of how a private company could use eminent domain.

The pipeline would provide long-term local jobs “in the areas of construction, security, engineering, planning, maintenance, retail, transportation/public utilities and other support services,” as well as “temporary jobs during the design and construction period and ongoing positions for the operation and maintenance,” Diestel said in his e-mail.

Responding to a question about residents’ proposal of a “utility corridor” in which a right-of-way is set aside for all utility lines through a given area, Diestel said: “Where practicable, NEXUS has located the proposed study corridor adjacent to existing utility corridors – either electric transmission lines or underground pipelines/utilities which substantially limits the environmental impacts and effects to landowners.”

(See full Q&A with Diestel below.)

Neighbors organized in opposition, though, say that transparency is sometimes cloudy.

Township resident Liz Athaide-Victor, the chief spokesperson for the opposition group now calling itself Neighbors against Nexus, said notice of public meetings is often at the last minute and not everyone potentially affected gets notified. She said she asked for a map of the study corridor at one of the public sessions and was told that was not possible.

However, a company representative showed her a map on a computer screen, which she photographed. Those photos show the study corridor entering Fulton County at the southeast corner and heading north, largely following the route of a high-tension power line. It continues north until turning northeast near Palmyra, Mich, and continuing to Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti, where according to the Nexus web site, it will join another pipeline to carry natural gas to Ontario, Canada.

The NEXUS pipeline is planned to deliver about 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day, linking the Marcellus and Utica shale fields with a pipeline grid in southeast Michigan, according to the project’s web site, nexusgastransmission.com.

The site identifies Spectra Energy Corp. and Detroit-based DTE Energy, formerly Detroit Edison, as the “lead developers” for the NEXUS project. Also involved is a company called Vector PIpeline LP, a partnership between DTE Energy and Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Below is an emailed Q&A between reporter Don Lee and NEXUS spokesman Arthur Diestel.

1) Swancreek Township (Fulton County) Trustees mention not being able to get answers to questions, and not being able to get a public meeting. Trustee Pam Moore said attorney Mark Wagoner (representing NEXUS locally) are NEXUS officials or representatives willing to meet in public with township officials?

NEXUS has engaged federal, state and local officials to inform them of initial planned work in the study corridor areas and has shared information about initial survey plans in their area. As you may be aware, NEXUS recently held nine informational meetings along the proposed 250 mile study corridor for affected landowners, local and state officials. Furthermore, NEXUS is in the process of conducting an economic impact study with The Ohio State University and we look forward to sharing that information with local officials as soon as it becomes available. There will be multiple other opportunities throughout the lengthy evaluation process for impacted landowners and stakeholders to work with NEXUS’s experienced team to identify any potential concerns stemming from the project. NEXUS is in the early developmental stage and the proposed project is several years away from the start of construction.

2) Landowners mention threat of “eminent domain.” How do you intend to use this, and how can a private company use eminent domain in the first place without getting a government to invoke it?

NEXUS begins each and every easement negotiation with the expectation that a mutual agreement can be reached with the landowner. In the unlikely event that NEXUS cannot reach an agreement with a landowner and must obtain the easement interests through the eminent domain process, a court will determine the appropriate compensation in a valuation proceeding.

Please be assured that NEXUS does not and will not use the eminent domain authority as a negotiating tool. We will only exercise that right as a means of last resort.

For further information, please refer to the FERC brochure “An Interstate Natural Gas Facility on My Land? What Do I Need to Know?” which can be found on the FERC’s website at http://www.ferc.gov.

3) As this is a transport line with no local hookups, how does this benefit local property owners? What local jobs will be provided?

NEXUS is currently exploring opportunities to bring the benefits of natural gas to local communities along the proposed route. We will work with any interested local distributors, to help supply natural gas to residents of Ohio and Michigan. NEXUS will also work with any industrial areas that may need natural gas to help develop local industrial parks. When an area shows an interest in having access to natural gas, NEXUS will explore opportunities to install a section of pipe called a “T-Tap”, which would allow a portion of the natural gas supply to be redirected towards the area that is requesting access.

The proposed pipeline will bring job opportunities to the region in the areas of construction, security, engineering, planning, maintenance, retail, transportation/public utilities and other support services. The NEXUS pipeline will create temporary jobs during the design and construction period and ongoing positions for the operation and maintenance of the pipeline.

4) What is your opinion of the landowners’ idea of a “utility corridor” in which land would be acquired and set aside for pipeline and other utilities, for ease of inspection and regulation?

Where practicable, NEXUS has located the proposed study corridor adjacent to existing utility corridors – either electric transmission lines or underground pipelines/utilities which substantially limits the environmental impacts and effects to landowners.

 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, plays a key role in the development of new U.S. pipeline projects. Under direction from the U.S. Congress, FERC regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas. FERC is charged with determining whether proposed projects are needed and in the public interest, and ultimately authorizing projects. Their efforts continue by monitoring compliance through construction and operational commissioning.

 

5) What is your response to landowner accusations of decline in property values and inability to use/enjoy their land as a result of the pipeline?

 

NEXUS wants to assure you that there is no evidence demonstrating that natural gas pipelines affect property value. FERC, the lead federal agency regarding the construction of pipelines, researched this issue and reported the results in a recent Environmental Impact Statement issued in October, 2014 (FERC Docket No. CP13-499-000, pages 4-152 to 4-156).

 

Additionally, a natural gas pipeline impact study conducted at the request of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation (INGAA Foundation) examined possible price and non-price impacts to locations along the route of a natural gas pipeline. The study determined that there is no significant impact on the sales price of properties located along natural gas pipelines and that pipeline size and product made no difference.  It also concluded that there is no apparent impact on the marketability of properties located along a natural gas pipeline’s path and that a pipeline did not impede development of the surrounding properties.  The study concluded that the results and conclusions of this study are very likely transferable to other situations involving natural gas pipelines in other regions of the country.

 

For more information about the existing US pipeline network, please visit

https://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/Documents/NPMS_Pipelines_Map.pdf.

Toledo strengthens hate crime law to include transgender people

By
Erin Holden
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Toledo City Council voted unanimously Dec. 2 to strengthen the city’s hate crime law, adding language that makes it clear crimes against transgender people are considered hate crimes.

The decision comes after the robbery and assault of transgender woman Candice Milligan in Downtown Toledo last month.

RELATED: Event pays tribute to transgender violence victims

Candice Milligan

Milligan, whose jaw is still wired shut, was in attendance at the meeting and said she was happy Council addressed the issue.

“I was here to make sure the hate crimes ordinance passed as it should have been, just to make sure people here could feel safe when they walk down the street and go about their lives,” Milligan said. “It’s important to help people who live here who are a member of this community feel safe and also to send a message that hate crimes are not going to be tolerated here, that that kind of behavior isn’t going to be tolerated here and this is a place where that’s not welcome.”

The former ordinance, Toledo Municipal Code Section 554.06, read: “‘Intimidation’ under this section means committing a specified crime against an individual, or group, exclusively or in part, because of that victim’s race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, handicap, age or sexual orientation.”

In the new language, the word “intimidation” is replaced by “hate crime” and the phrase “sexual orientation” is replaced by a broader description that includes transgender people: “a person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity, by orientation or practice.”

Milligan told police she heard homophobic and transphobic comments before being attacked by three men near near 13th Street and Madison Avenue at 2:50 p.m. Nov. 3. One suspect, Christopher Temple, has been charged with aggravated robbery and felonious assault. He has pleaded not guilty and has a trial set for later this month. The other two alleged attackers have not been identified.

Girl Scout cookies to be sold online — but not in Northwest Ohio

By
Toledo Free Press
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Yes, Girl Scout cookies will now be available to order online — but not in Toledo.

Eighty-nine of the 112 Girl Scout councils in the U.S. are participating in the new Digital Cookie option, according to the Girl Scouts website.

However, Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, which encompasses 32 counties in western Ohio and southeast Indiana, including Lucas County, opted out of participating this year, said communications and marketing manager Amanda Aldrich.

Photo Courtesy Girl Scouts of Western Ohio

“While Digital Cookie represents an exciting enhancement of the iconic Girl Scout Cookie Program, the virtual sales platform that launches in the 2014–2015 cookie season is simply phase one of what will become a much broader and more robust program, and Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is not among the councils participating in this initial phase of the program,” Aldrich wrote in an email to Toledo Free Press.

“Girls from our council will still be participating in traditional booth and door-to-door sales of Girl Scout Cookies this coming year, and hungry cookie customers will still be able to buy all their favorite treats in the usual varieties from local girls. Selling cookies teaches girls valuable skills like goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics — aspects essential to leadership, success, and life. We will evaluate phase one of the Digital Cookie platform at the end of the cookie season and make a decision about its implementation in our council for the following year.”

Digital Cookie offers two sales platforms: Via email, which invites users to visit a personalized cookie website to order online or via in-person orders using a mobile app that allows for credit card processing and direct shipping.

Among regional councils offering digital sales are Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan and Girl Scouts of North East Ohio.

Northwest Ohioans who know a Girl Scout from a council participating in online selling can receive an emailed invitation from that scout and have their cookies shipped for a fee. For safety reasons, online sales are only available via invitation to a personalized cookie website to someone the scout knows, according to the Girl Scouts website. As with the traditional cookie sales, funds raised from online cookie sales with stay with the local council operating the sale.

Digital sales start in mid-December. Traditional sales start mid-January.

For more information or to find a local location selling Girl Scout cookies, visit girlscouts.org.

Shineology juice, raw food shop now open Downtown

By
Joel Sensenig
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After months of delays, Downtown juice and raw food shop Shineology has finally opened at 130 10th St. at Jefferson Avenue.

Originally set to open in July, the shop ran into some permit problems with the city’s building inspection department. Shineology hosted a soft opening at the end of November.

Open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Shineology offers 13 different juices, depending on the season. The juices are prepared daily and sold for $7 in 13-ounce glass bottles. Current seasonal juices include Sweet Dreamz, a blend of sweet potato, pineapple, carrot and apple; as well as Rocket Berry Bliss, which contains organic pomegranate, cranberry and honey crisp apple.

In addition to juices, the shop offers three different cleanse programs available in one-, three-, five- or seven-day plans, with each day costing $43. A 48-hour advance notice is required for the cleanses. Each day includes six bottles of vegetable and fruit juices and one bottle of vanilla bean nut milk.

“We make everything daily and absolutely fresh,” said owner Ashima Rae. “It’s as fresh as it gets. … We want to keep it as fresh and alive as possible.”

For more information, visit shineologyjuice. com or on Facebook, call (419) 386-1059 or email [email protected].

Making BG Memories

By
Matt Liasse
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Former Bowling Green State University roommates Ryan Fowler and Kevin Goldner have turned being proud alumni into a profession.

On Sept. 13, their online store of BGSU apparel, BG Memories, launched. The company was founded in response to the lack of apparel options for alumni no longer in the area. BG Memories makes it easier for anyone in the United States to purchase Falcon memorabilia.

Fowler and Goldner, who currently live in the Cincinnati area, realized the demand for BG apparel was higher than the supply outside of Northwest Ohio.

“What we realized in the last month is that alumni have been craving [opportunities] to buy not only merchandise but one-of-a-kind designs,” Fowler said.

The online store will create familiar memories for any BGSU alumni: the un-falcon-believable shirt designs include Brathaus, Campus Quarters, Myle’s Pizza and The Battle of the Peace Pipe.

Fowler said his fondest memories from attending the university involved Campus Pollyeyes.

“That was the staple of the weekly diet for the last two years at least,” he said.

BG Memories partnered with Campus Polleyes to create a t-shirt with the restaurant’s logo.

These designs are featured in The Memory Collection, created with the culture of Bowling Green in mind. The store features two other collections, Fanwear and Vintage, which use official logos of the university. Goldner created all the designs on the website.

Fowler said the product is of top quality. Not only are the clothes printed on demand, made as the orders are placed, they are made with better material, he said.

“It breathes a little bit more,” he said. “I know it’s us marketing ourselves, but our hooded sweatshirts are beyond the most comfortable sweatshirts that I’ve owned in the past.”

The biggest response has been for the hockey apparel, Fowler said. Less than a decade ago, the hockey program was on the verge of collapsing.

“The fan base of BGSU hockey is so passionate,” Fowler said.

Since the launch of the hockey apparel, BG Memories has received orders from as far as California and  Florida.  

The website is currently offering T-shirts, long-sleeve shirts and hoodies. Prices range from $25-48. For more information, visit bowlinggreenmemories.com.

Mustang’s 50th anniversary celebrated at Manor House

By
Toledo Free Press
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Anyone who has slid behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang, revved up the thundering engine and felt the thrill of being thrown back in the bucket seat when accelerating knows the power of the pony.

“Holiday Horsepower” is a small part of Holidays at the Manor House at Wildwood Preserve Metropark running Dec. 6-14 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

All you’ll want to do, as Wilson Pickett sang on the 1966 hit, is ride around; Sally is optional.

It’s been 50 years since Mustangmania first galloped across America. Coupes, ragtop convertibles, fastbacks, GTs, Cobras and Shelbys have rumbled down the road over the years.

That silver steed gleaming on the grille first caught my attention at age 4 when a neighbor drove home her new blue beauty. Shortly after that, Santa brought me my own Mustang; it was orange and came in a Hot Wheels set.

Fast-forward to when I took the reins of a new pony car. My 2011 Mustang has a 305-horsepower, 3.7- liter V6 engine and is a smooth, sweet ride. The auto with the iconic logo continues to captivate me — and car fans everywhere.

Thoroughly smitten, I wanted to pay tribute to that lifelong love as the stylish legend celebrates its 50th anniversary. How perfect that 2014 is the Year of the Horse, according to the Chinese zodiac.

So, giddyup and take a gander! Mustang décor and more will be parked in the Manor House’s basement appropriately by the iron horse aka the train display.

Other themes featured in the Georgia Colonial mansion include Peanuts, “A Christmas Story,” “Star Wars,” Elf on the Shelf, sock monkeys, owls and ugly Christmas sweaters.

This is the 39th year for the event, which draws 15,000-18,000 visitors annually and is made possible by more than 500 volunteers, according to Angela Metcalf, program production specialist with the Metroparks of Toledo Area.

“I think people come back every year for that sense of home that we create in the Manor House and the inspiration to kick off their holiday season and to bring the holidays into their own home,” Metcalf said.

Visitors are asked to add to that warmth by bringing mittens, gloves, hats and scarves to decorate a tree in the basement. Everything on the mitten tree will be donated to Toledo Public Schools and given to children in need, Metcalf said.

The holiday café and craft show will take place in the nearby Metroparks Hall and a minibus will circle the park to give visitors a lift from the parking lots to the Manor House.

The Manor House is located at Wildwood Preserve Metropark, 5100 W. Central Ave.

Lucas County sues City of Toledo for $1.3 million in jail costs

By
Danielle Stanton
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The Lucas County Commissioners filed a lawsuit Dec. 2 against the City of Toledo for a breach of contract for services at the county jail.

The lawsuit, filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, demands payment of a fourth-quarter 2014 debt of $1.3 million the county says the city owes for inmates booked into the jail by Toledo Police.

“It’s not a palatable option,” said Carol Contrada, president of the Lucas County Commissioners. “We have a longstanding partnership [with the city] on a number of issues that are important to this region and we need to resolve these differences and move forward. But when one party in the contract breaches the contract sometimes you’re forced to take legal action. But we will continue to work with the city.”

As part of a budget-cutting strategy, Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins decided in October to have inmates booked under state law rather than city municipal code. The shift is expected to save the city $4 million, while costing the county the same amount. The county could also face an additional $5 million in costs for city inmates transported and housed at the regional jail near Stryker in Williams County due to overcrowding issues at Lucas County’s jail.

“We have a contract for services, but the contract trumps the revision to Ohio code,” Contrada said. “Those are contract services which we continue to provide.”

The city has offered to pay the county $516,123 for the fourth quarter, according to an Oct. 23 letter from Collins’ Chief of Staff Robert Reinbolt, which stated the city’s obligation is “not defined in any valid contract” and feels that amount is “equitable and reasonable” for the services provided.

But the county’s complaint states it agreed to offer pretrial/presentence services for the city for $865,071 annually, booking and custody services for $2.9 million annually, 35 reserved pretrial beds for $1.083 million annually and work release supervision services for $550,000 annually. All those fees are less than actual costs, the complaint states.

City Law Director Adam Loukx declined to comment, except to say, “We have a copy of the filing and will defend it and take appropriate actions to defend the city’s interest.”

Adult education center opens at former Macomber school

By
Tom Konecny
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Facing the staggering statistic that 60,000 Lucas County residents over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma or equivalent, Cherry Street Mission Ministries and Penta Career Center have teamed up to lower that number.

Headquartered on 17th street in Downtown Toledo, Cherry Street Mission Ministries purchased the former Macomber High School on Monroe Street in 2013 and has spent the last year readying it to become its new Life Revitalization Center. Now through its new collaboration with Penta Career Center, it will offer GED/ABLE services at this location, as was announced at its ribbon cutting on Thursday, Dec. 4.

Classes already began this past Monday with 15-20 in attendance.

“We know how to transform and stabilize lives, and we know how to stay with them and bring them to the fullness of healing,” said Rev. Dan Rogers, president & CEO, Cherry Street Mission Ministries. “Conversely, we don’t have any idea how to vocationally train, so the partnership of holistically reaching someone under the same roof is key. Every time you move somebody or ask them to move that creates a barrier. One roof systems are just key.”

Also in the works is the potential expansion of Toledo Public Schools’ adult education programs, the first step in a series of movies which Cherry Street hopes will eventually become a full-blown residential vocational and career center.

There has also been talk from Toledo Public Schools of a reborn Macomber concept nearby that would bring vocational training back to high school students.

[Insert Dr. Durant quote here]

The ribbon cutting was attended by several local dignitaries – including Toledo Mayor Michael Collins – validating Rogers’ assertion that this new partnership is “a top five economic development story for our region.”

Penta Superintendent Ron Matter believes that with this new affiliation, further adult training coming soon, and a possible new Macomber High School, this particular area is primed for good things.

“What a corridor that could be to have adult options, and to get this up and running with the other programs,” Matter said. “This really could be quite a hub.”

Rogers said that the former DeVilbiss High School currently offers adult training, and they are in very early discussions with Toledo Public Schools about those programs potentially moving to the new Macomber site, in an effort to consolidate efforts all under one roof.

Both Cherry Street and Penta expect their efforts will increase access to those who are experiencing homelessness and are in poverty.

“It’s amazing how things come together with just a conversation,” said Matter. “We struck up a conversation with Dan (Rogers), he explained how he wanted to revitalize Macomber High School, and it all fell into place.”

Matter said Cherry Street clients remain their initial priority, and soon they want to open it up to all Toledo residents.


“It’s something that’s very exciting and going to be a big piece of the City of Toledo,” Matter said. “Partnering with Cherry Street to help others life themselves up, that’s good stuff to be involved with.”

Cherry Street has steadily been making behind-the-scenes renovations as funds became available. Users of the former Macomber High School will benefit from a new parking lot, roof and heating system. All the while, Cherry Street has been working in sections of the building, such as the auto shop, to repair their own fleet and practice how things might look if vocational services were to return to the 76-year old structure that closed its doors to high school students in 1991.

The University of Toledo donated classroom furniture to aid the cause.

“We’re looking for other partners to get on board with us to get these services on the old Macomber site,” Matter said. “It has such a rich tradition at Macomber. It just makes too much sense.”

Founded in 1947, Cherry Street Mission Ministries is best known for providing food, clothing and shelter to the poor and homeless of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. On average it serves 900 meals a day and provides shelter and programming to more than 250 every night.

Cherry Street is privately funded and does not receive government funding.

Penta Career Center is a vocational public high school and adult education center in northern Wood County serving 16 school districts in five different counties:  Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood.

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