Christopher Stoll, owner of Audioflare Recording Studio (formerly Zeta Recording) has 30 years of recording and education experience on his résumé. Toledo Free Press photo by Joseph Herr
Christopher Stoll, owner of Audioflare Recording Studio (formerly Zeta Recording), has 30 years of recording and education experience in his résumé. This summer, he intends to use his passion for music and teaching to provide hands-on summer camps for teenagers and young adults interested in music recording, vocals and songwriting.
“I’m starting these summer recording camps for younger people who have never seen the recording process or have been able to participate with it hands-on,” said Stoll, who studied percussion at the University of Toledo and earned his master’s degree in music composition from Bowling Green State University. “I want them to see things for themselves and see how sound works. It’s not going to be real intensive, just laid-back.”
The week-long summer camps will meet at Audioflare Recording Studio from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. There will be several camps throughout the summer and the cost to participate is $250 for the week. A list of offerings can be found at www.audioflare.com. On Friday, parents are invited to come see what their children have learned.
“These are geared toward beginners in junior high, high school or maybe early college. Like everything else, if you have no experience with it, music can get overwhelming. I’ve been teaching a long time, and I think I can keep the lessons relevant and real for young musicians,” said Stoll, who taught various music and recording technique courses at Owens Community College for 10 years.
Stoll will head up the recording and songwriting camps, and the vocal camps will be taught by local vocalist and Owens choir professor Jodi Jobuck. Stoll also offers more in depth evening classes for adults. The camps will give attendees a chance to write songs, play instruments, experiment with stacking and explore new voices and sounds.
“My experience with kids and teaching has shown me there really isn’t anything like this in the area,” Stoll said. “I asked around when I was coming up with the idea, and a lot of musicians told me ‘I wish there was something like that when I was growing up.’ There certainly wasn’t anything like this when I was starting out, but recording was just starting to make its way into music education back when I was in college. I enjoy music so much, and I want to help others enjoy it too.”
For more information visit www.audioflare.com or call (419) 360-2800.
Friends and family of Brandi Gonyer-Boaston will host a spaghetti dinner April 19 to raise money for her six children.
Gonyer-Boaston, 28, was found dead Feb. 15 and her ex-husband, Ronald Boaston, 41, is accused of killing her.
Brandi Gonyer-Boaston
Some of the money raised will cover funeral costs, but the majority will go toward supporting the couple’s blended family, said April Reidling, a friend of the family. The kids are currently staying with family, Reidling said. They range in age from 6 years old to teens.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of support to help the kids and take care of the kids and get them what they need in their lives and that is what Brandi has done — she’s done for the kids,” Reidling said. “And we want to keep that going even if she’s not here in name.”
Hunters found Gonyer-Boaston’s body in a running vehicle parked in a Fulton County field. She had died of asphyxiation.
Boaston, of 1126 Amanda Circle, is accused of strangling his ex-wife at the Amanda Circle residence on Feb. 14.
“Various forms of forensic evidence implicate the defendant,” according to court documents.
Boaston was arraigned this month and bond set at $1 million. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 21.
The spaghetti dinner costs $8 and will take place at Holland Gardens Banquet Hall, 6530 Angola Road, Holland. Doors open at 3 p.m and dinner is at 4 p.m.
Donations can be dropped off at the banquet hall from noon to 3 p.m.
A silent auction will take place from 4-7 p.m and a live auction starts at 6 p.m.
Gonyer-Boaston was a registered nurse with Arbors at Waterville. She loved to read, according to her obituary, but the loves of her life were her children, Reidling said.
“Her kids were her life,” she said. “All six of them. Everything she did she did for her kids.”
“It’s a shocking situation. [The family is] doing the best that they can in the situation. The big question is ‘Why?’ That’s the big question.”
Donations can be made to the Brandi Gonyer-Boaston Benefit Account at any PNC Bank branch.
Shermaine Hutchins during a visit to Yale University. Photo by Paola Guardado.
Shermaine Hutchins is not what you would call an average student. Currently in his second year at Owens Community College, the 38-year-old has some hefty goals.
It began when Hutchins felt his career as a radio DJ coming to a close.
“Urban radio has an expiration date. I didn’t want to become the ‘old guy,’” he said.
As he examined his life, Hutchins said the health care field was a natural fit because he had spent time as a medic in the military. He decided to pursue a nursing career.
“Different individuals asked me why I was limiting myself with nursing, no offense to nurses,” he said. “The answer was that it’s easier.”
Yet the idea of pushing himself further with medical school got into his head. Why not consider it?
“Unfortunately, because there’s such a lack of African-American physicians out there, most African-Americans look at it as impossible,” he said.
Not Hutchins. He sat down with his wife to discuss it, and he came up with a plan. His first step was to get any job at a hospital. When he couldn’t land a position at ProMedica St. Luke’s, he became a volunteer. He volunteered in the emergency room, where he observed procedures and developed relationships with doctors, nurses and administrators. He continued to turn in job applications each month, and was eventually hired as a cardiac technician.
As for education, Hutchins chose Owens because it was the least expensive option for him. His plan there was to get the best grades possible and earn scholarships.
So far, so good. He received the Granting Access in Math & Science Scholarship, which pays for his Owens education as well as for Bowling Green State University, where he has been accepted to attend next year.
Next came research. Hutchins said in order to get into med school, students need to participate in research and enrichment programs. Owens doesn’t offer the ones he needs so he applied to programs in the area: The Ohio State University, University of Toledo, University of Michigan. But once again, someone was there to ask him, “Why are you limiting yourself?”
This time it was Owens Honors Program Director Russell Bodi. Bodi asked Hutchins why he wasn’t applying to summer programs at Yale or Harvard.
“Don’t you realize how hard the road is already?” Hutchins said.
But he applied to a Yale enrichment program, just so he could tell Bodi he had.
“I grew up between two projects, in a single-parent household,” he said. “I’m not the kind of guy that’s supposed to be in those situations. They don’t want me.”
He did, however, get accepted into a summer program at BGSU. Two weeks into it, he was working and taking summer courses at Owens when he got the call from Yale. They said he had been on the waitlist, but a spot opened up.
“Everybody was 100 percent supportive,” Hutchins said. “I knew I was doing the right thing, but finance was the biggest aspect to overcome.”
He worked every day for the next three weeks, asking for as much overtime as possible until he would leave for Yale. Leaving his wife and child home while not working for two months was not a responsibility he could just shrug off.
He made it to Yale, and just like everything else up to that point, Hutchins went in with a strategy. He decided the biggest thing he wanted to get out of the program was networking. He wanted to be able to get a letter of recommendation from a Yale professor. He decided to make a good impression by wearing a jacket and tie every day, even though the dress code was casual.
“As an African-American male, I get judged before I open my mouth,” he said. “The suit reminds me and everyone that I’m here about business.”
He did make an impression. He was asked to give a presentation on appearance and presenting yourself during a workshop. He told the other students that he bought his jackets and ties at a Goodwill back home in Toledo before he left. That week, Hutchins took about 25 students to a local Goodwill, because they had never been to one before.
Hutchins took the required prep classes, as well as genetics, physics and organic chemistry in order to get the most out of the program.
Program administrators only require students to take two of the three classes; Hutchins was the first person in the program’s 25-year history to take all three.
“Because I’m older, I have a different insight,” he said. “My job is to go to school, get good grades, get the most out of class by interacting.”
He eventually was presented with the outstanding participant award for the program.
But he wasn’t done yet.
Hutchins took one day while at Yale to visit the med school at Harvard. With nothing but persistence and a bit of happenstance, he met with the multicultural affairs director, the assistant dean of admissions and eventually the director of enrollment on his visit. He told them his personal story and exchanged contact information with all three.
“With Harvard and Yale, what started becoming apparent is that I actually could fit in,” he said. “There were a lot of people who just wanted to achieve and had higher expectations for themselves. … It was one of those defining moments for me that showed, ‘You know what? I can do this.’”
With what he learned at Yale and Harvard, Hutchins founded the Pre-Health Professionals Association back at Owens. The organization helps students find information on research programs and how to get the most out of them.
He is also vice president of Honors Club, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and has been selected for the 2014 All-Ohio Academic Team.
He is now applying for more summer programs, with a goal to do research at the National Institute of Health, which Hutchins said is the most prestigious program for undergraduate students in the country.
And his top choices for med school now? Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins.
“I wish we could bottle him and use that, because he is so charismatic and such a positive individual,” Bodi said. “It really does speak well for our school. … He’s fun to talk to, extremely articulate and his experiences are unbelievable.”
Bodi said the Honors Program at Owens allows Hutchins and other students to go beyond the usual course requirements to explore particular areas of interest.
Hutchins believes he also has many advantages due to his age. He said being older has meant his priorities are aligned differently and his networking capabilities are much stronger.
His advice for others: “The first thing you have to know is that we create our own limits,” he said. “Anything is attainable with the right strategy. If it’s something you want to do, do it. Don’t say you can’t just because you haven’t seen someone else do it.”
His story is far from over and Hutchins said he has great momentum and feels like he was destined to be on this path.
“I’ve been blessed with a lot of great opportunities. The best thing I can do is reciprocate and try to be a positive image and role model, be that entity I didn’t have growing up. … I’m definitely excited. I’m looking forward to the future.”
“Petra” by Lino Tagliapieta. Photo courtesy Toledo Museum of Art
Birds become the stars each spring in Northwest Ohio during the Biggest Week in American Birding, an annual migration of birdwatchers who flock to the area to witness the annual migration of warblers.
Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) will put out a welcome mat for visitors and area residents alike with two free bird-themed exhibits.
“In Fine Feather: Birds, Art & Science,” on display April 25 through July 6 in TMA’s Gallery 18, will explore the intersection of natural science and art, featuring illustrations by John James Audubon, John Gould, Roger Tory Peterson, David Allen Sibley and more.
“Venetian Glass Birds: Lino Tagliapietra,” which opened March 28 at the Glass Pavilion and runs through June 22, features blown-glass birds in the distinctive style of the Italian master artist.
The Biggest Week in American Birding is set for May 6-15. For more information, visit biggestweekinamericanbirding.com.
In Fine Feather
“In Fine Feather” will feature 45 works, including hand-colored engravings, etchings, lithographs, watercolors and books. The oldest is a reproduction of a 13th–century manuscript on falconry often cited as the earliest illustrated book about birds, said curator Paula Reich, TMA’s head of interpretative projects and managing editor. There are also illustrations from the late Renaissance and the 17th and 18th centuries as well as field guides produced in the 19th century.
“The exhibit shows the importance of art to the field of ornithology,” Reich said. “The artwork was created so people could see what these birds looked like, but they’ve really kind of transcended that scientific purpose to become these beautiful works of art.”
Seven of the pieces are from TMA’s collection. The rest are loans from local collectors, libraries and organizations, including The Toledo Club, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Bowling Green State University and the Ohio Historical Society.
Five watercolors by Peterson recently acquired by TMA will be on display for the first time. Peterson is widely considered “the father of the modern field guide” and has had a major influence on the fields of ornithology and ecology, Reich said. Also featured will be three watercolors on loan from Sibley, author of “The Sibley Guide to Birds.”
The exhibit will also include a videotaped interview with internationally renowned birding expert Kenn Kaufman, who lives in Northwest Ohio, talking about Peterson’s impact on the study of birds and his influence on Kaufman’s own life.
The sole overlap between “In Fine Feather” and TMA’s last bird exhibit, 2012’s “For the Birds,” will be Audubon’s illustration “The Passenger Pigeon,” Reich said.
“The first one was largely from the museum’s collection and it was more of a general celebration of images of birds,” Reich said. “This one is taking a little more historical approach, looking at the study of birds and images made with a purpose in mind.”
Venetian Glass Birds
The 21 pieces featured in “Venetian Glass Birds” showcase examples from three of Tagliapietra’s recent bird-themed series, said Jutta-Annette Page, TMA’s curator of glass and decorative arts.
A large installation in the center of the gallery called “Ala” explores the stylized shapes of birds in flight. “Petra” depicts birds perching or roosting while “Fenice” showcases the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, symbolizing rebirth.
“The birds are very abstract, very beautiful and very colorful,” Page said. “The techniques he’s using are centuries old.”
Tagliapietra, 80, who grew up in Venice and still lives there, began learning the traditional Venetian method when he was 11. He was one of the first artists to bring the technique to the United States, where he has been influential to generations of artists, Page said.
“He’s very much adored as a master of art. There are very elaborate techniques only he knows how to do,” she said. “He’s really unsurpassed in his ability.”
The idea for the show came last fall when Page noticed one of Tagliapietra’s glass birds in the back room of a Chicago gallery.
“He’s working now more intently on the theme of birds, which fit very nicely with our celebration of the songbird migration in our area,” Page said. “It was a great opportunity and the timing was just right.”
Visitors don’t need to be bird lovers or glass artists to enjoy the exhibition, Page said.
“They are inherently beautiful, each one,” she said. “But of course the artists in the studio are mesmerized by the sheer craftsmanship and tremendous skill that goes into making each one of these.”
Inside/Outside Tour
TMA has also partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Ohio to offer a free Inside/Outside Birding and Nature Tour at 1 p.m. May 18. Participants will explore birds seen in the exhibition with Kaufman and then explore the plants and birdlife in TMA’s sculpture garden with Terry Seidel, director of land acquisition for the Nature Conservancy. The tour is free, but space is limited and registration is required. Register by calling (419) 255-8000, ext. 7432.
The museum is located at 2445 Monroe St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and closed Monday and major holidays. Admission is free. Parking is free for members and $5 for nonmembers.
For more information, call (419) 255-8000 or visit toledomuseum.org.
As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The Toledo LGBT community is undergoing some major changes within its social scene at three local bars.
Toledo’s only lesbian bar, OUTSKiRTS, will close for good May 17, leaving a void in Toledo and the surrounding area. The next closest lesbian bar is Stilettos, in Inkster, Mich. OUTSKiRTS opened July 19, 2008, on Laskey Road in the building that once housed Gilda’s lesbian bar. Gilda’s had a three-and-a-half year run before OUTSKiRTS moved in. In July of 2011 OUTSKiRTS moved to its current location at 5040 Lewis Ave. in West Toledo. Owners Lexi Staples and her mother, Johanna Staples, said they are proud of their six-year run with OUTSKiRTS but they are ready to move onto other ventures.
Lexi and her partner are planning to get married and want to have a baby this year. Recently, Lexi was hired by the Collingwood Arts Center as office manager and events coordinator and she still serves as the president for Toledo Pride Foundation and is director of Pride Center 419. Best of luck to Lexi as she continues to serve the local LGBT community with a spirit that is unmatched. We thank you for OUTSKiRTS and all the fun times that created many memories and friendships.
Back in February, the Ripcord bar at 115 N. Erie St. and connecting Blush Showbar were sold by owner Terry Hymore. New management is now in place until all the legalities are finalized and the new management takes ownership.
Major changes are underway to revamp and rename both bars as they remain gay establishments.
On March 29, Blush Showbar threw a farewell party ending its four-year run as Toledo’s only drag club. It was announced at the closing that the new name will be Legends Showclub and it will continue on as a drag performer venue.
Many exciting things are planned for this new contemporary club, which is upscale, inviting and warm. The club is decorated in hot pink against a black background, with all new tables with black leather padded seats, chrome accent lighting focused on the new stone bar top, new dressing rooms for the performers, newly remodeled restrooms and updated sound and lighting systems.
New bartenders Brent Rabie and J.R. Jones are young and energetic faces ready to welcome the new customers who will make this the premier drag venue in Northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The showclub also features new televisions, allowing video enhancement capabilities for the performers, club TV and movie nights plus a house DJ.
Once a month Legends will offer Racy, Raunchy Drag Queen Bingo with all proceeds going to a local charity. A new selection of draft craft beers and margaritas “on tap” have been added, plus specialty cocktails inspired by the legendary Marilyn Monroe. Legends Showclub opened to the public April 10 with a big grand opening weekend featuring entertainers from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” TV show. Legends will be open Thursday through Saturday evenings from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. with shows starting at 11 p.m. presenting national, regional and local drag entertainers. Sunday evenings will feature an early show at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. Reservations are accepted for large groups by calling (567) 315-8333 and there is usually no cover charge except for special events and fundraisers.
Now that Blush has been revamped into Legends, the new management will start to focus on transforming Ripcord into a new bar named Mojo. The next phase of the renovation will concentrate on the patio area, giving it a face-lift just in time for summer.
Both bars will receive new fronts, giving them much-needed curb appeal that they currently lack. By midsummer they plan to close the Ripcord side and start a heavy renovation to update the dark and outdated bar. Once completed, the new complex will be the hot spot in Toledo for the LGBT community and allies.
With growing mainstream acceptance of LGBT people, gay bars not only in Toledo but around the world are quickly vanishing from a culture that once heavily depended on them as their only social outlet with other LGBT people. A sluggish economy and smoking bans have hurt the gay bar scene. The Internet, cellphones and all the other social media outlets today have also contributed to the gay bar slump. Young gays and lesbians today feel less threatened going into straight bars with allies and socializing beyond the gay bar scene.
Besides Legends Showclub and Ripcord becoming Mojo, Toledo currently has two other bars serving the LGBT community. Bretz at 2012 Adams St. opened in 1987 and is Toledo’s oldest gay bar still in operation. R House bar at 5534 Secor Road in West Toledo opened in 1995 and operates seven days a week.
Uptown in Bowling Green goes gay every Tuesday night with drag performances.
The number of Toledo gay bars peaked in the early 1970s and many have come and gone over the years, including Caesar’s, Box Office, Key West, Scaramouche, Old Plantation, Silver Slipper, Westgate Lounge, Joshua’s, Gay Pussy Cat, Pendulum, Scenic, Copacabana, Twilight Zone, Club 1901, Blendz, Club Distractions, Warehouse, Club Escape, Blu Jeans, Hooterville, Ivanhoe, Rustler, Club Bable’on, Fascination, Madison Bistro, Camelot, Seahorse and the very short-lived Adamz Lounge that opened last year and closed within three months.
Legends Showclub and Mojo will be a breath of fresh air for the local LGBT community and we welcome you! For the latest news on Legends Showclub and the progress of Mojo, follow them on Facebook.
Rick Cornett is a historian, activist and promoter of the Toledo LGBT community serving on the Holiday with Heart Charity and Toledo Pride committees.
Editor’s Note:This show was originally scheduled for April 26, but has been postponed to June 27.
By Ashley Streichert, Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
Mixing fashion and beauty with environmental awareness, the Paul Mitchell The School Toledo in Sylvania is gearing up for its first community outreach program.
Lauren O’Neill
The beauty school will host an Eco-Fun Fashion Show on June 27, displaying its students’ creative abilities using a plethora of recycled goods in an effort to inform guests about the importance of going green.
As for the school, the trendy spot sits on Monroe Street in Sylvania and houses an aesthetically appealing set of classrooms, beauty stations and merchandise for prospective stylists to hone their crafts.
It opened in September and offers students a 1,500-hour cosmetology program covering instruction for hair, skin and nails design. In addition, Paul Mitchell School offers services to clients in the community ranging from haircuts to manicures at a fraction of the cost offered at professional salons.
The eco-friendly fashion show directly reflects Paul Mitchell’s company initiative in going green, which is represented in its products and practices.
“Our CEO John Paul DeJoria believes that we need to pay rent for our place on Earth,” Ashlee Harris, the school’s admissions leader, explained.
Everything used in the exhibit is created from reusable goods. For example, a group of students is working on a dress created from recycled soda bottles.
“Preparation for the Eco-FUN Fashion Show has been a lot of fun, but also challenging,” said Corey Robinson, a future professional at Paul Mitchell. “I have enjoyed stretching my creative limits and discovering how I can marry my craft of hairdressing with a Go Green initiative behind it.”
In addition, to prevent waste the team will not use paper programs or tickets. All of the information for the show will be displayed on the school’s television monitors located around the building.
“Our goal is to have zero overhead,” Harris said. “We are not buying anything new for the show.”
Harris explained that a number of local businesses donated items for the show including plants, moss and plastic.
The school’s staff is also looking forward to teaching guests ways to incorporate the green initiative into their own lives, by providing tips and tricks to cut down on their carbon footprints.
Furthermore, Harris hopes the upcoming fashion show will inform the community about the school’s offerings and open the door for partnerships.
One way community businesses and individuals can get involved with the fashion show is through the vendors’ room. Interested vendors may rent a table and two chairs for $25, allowing locals to sell their products and promote their services. This opportunity is open to everyone.
If interested, contact the school at (419) 885-5191.
Meanwhile, Lauren O’Neill, director of business development and marketing for Findley Wise Wealth Management, will host the night’s activities.
As owner of fashion blog mypinmoneyfashion.com, O’Neill, a Toledo Free Press contributor, will use her style prowess to highlight the students’ unique designs. And as an added bonus, she is a Sylvania native and Bowling Green State University graduate.
The Eco-Fun Fashion Show takes place at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at Paul Mitchell The School Toledo, 5549 Monroe St., in Sylvania. Doors open at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are available for $10, with $15 tickets available at the door.
For your spot on the runway and more information about the night’s festivities, contact Ashlee Harris at (419) 885-5191 ext. 1003 or [email protected].
North Toledo elevator company Wurtec ceremonially broke ground April 14 for a new expansion, which will more than double the size of its current facility. As reported by Toledo Free Press Staff Writer Tom Konecny, Wurtec’s primary work involves designing and building the tools, parts and products contractors use to install elevators; the firm also builds elevators for residential use.
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The company has added 10 jobs in the past year, and as we do with any business that invests in our region, we extend a warm thank you to them for not just maintaining their presence but also growing it.
Steve Wurth, company founder and president, said, “A lot of the opportunities we’re finding are international-based. It’s probably our biggest growth sector. We’re just going through a really busy time here. It’s exciting for us as a small company to be able to do things like this.”
The Wurtec news came the same day as keynote speaker Tom Murphy told attendees at the 12th annual State of the Region Conference that, “Globalization is changing the way we do business today. Toledo, you’re in a revolution here whether you know it or not.”
As reported in an online story by Toledo Free Press Senior Business Writer Duane Ramsey, Murphy, a former mayor of Pittsburgh, said, “You need to think of Toledo, not as it is today, but as it can be in the future. You have to understand what your strengths are and use them to compete.”
Murphy said Pittsburgh invested in its cultural community and reclaimed the waterfront. Those are both lessons we should well heed.
Bowling Green State University’s Center for Regional Development reported on the state of the region’s economy in 2014, saying that 6,600 new jobs have been created in the region since 2009 for 1.18 percent employment growth. However, that figure is still well below the national average growth of 4.66 percent.
It’s a complicated recipe but it is not a secret. We have the ingredients. We just need more kitchens like Wurtec feeding the region’s local — and global — future.
Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at [email protected].
From left, Jon Hawker, Aaron Harwell (Seated), Ron Durbin and Julia Johnston of local startup Twine.it. Toledo Free Press photo and cover photo by Michael Nemeth
Several years ago, Toledo native Aaron Harwell had an epiphany while running a traditional photobooth business.
“What I noticed was people would take their print, put it on the table, take a picture of it and put it on Facebook,” Harwell said. “I also saw everybody was taking pictures with their phones, but the bride and groom probably didn’t get to see any of them.
From left, Jon Hawker, Aaron Harwell (Seated), Ron Durbin and Julia Johnston of local startup Twine.it. Toledo Free Press photo and cover photo by Michael Nemeth
“The thought was, ‘Let’s create an app and see if we can capture all those pictures and put them in one spot for everybody to enjoy and do it automatically, as opposed to the whole ‘Send me an email’ or ‘Text it to me,’ which never happens,” Harwell said. “Our idea was to create something very portable and marry the two, the photobooth and the digital app.”
The result is twine.it, a local technology startup poised to revolutionize the photobooth industry with an innovative new setup that integrates social media, photo-sharing and branding opportunities. The business’s corporate name is twineLABS.
“We’re looking to do full commercialization here in another month or two,” including launching franchises nationwide, said Harwell, a University of Toledo graduate who now lives in Perrysburg.
Twine.it’s self-serve photo stations are popular at fundraisers, weddings, sporting events, parties, corporate gatherings and other events, Harwell said, and have already been used at more than 180 events throughout the country.
Users operate the system via an iPad on the side of the photo station. By tapping the “Snap It!” button on the touch-screen, a 3, 2, 1 countdown begins and a photo is taken.
What sets twine.it apart from other photobooths is that guests can download the free twineLIVE app. They scan a QR code or enter an alphanumeric code to access an album of event photos, which are uploaded as they are taken. From there, photos can be saved or shared on any social media platform and other group members can comment on the photos. A “like” feature is coming soon. Users also have the option of uploading their own photos into the event feed. Each user’s events are saved as albums in their app to browse through or share anytime. Photos can also be viewed online or sent via email for those without smartphones.
“We’re creating a temporary social network for an event,” said business partner Jon Hawker, a Perrysburg native. “What we do is create an access point for people to come into our social network without being connected any other way in advance. The idea is you get to interact with each other just for that night of the event. You don’t have to be friends before, during or after that event.”
“It’s a little tongue in cheek, but someone once told us we’re like the one-night stand of social networks,” Harwell added. “You don’t have to get up tomorrow and have another friend or follower. You just enjoy the night and the next day all your memories are on your phone.”
Les Lipski of Perrysburg had two daughters get married in 2013 and used a twine.it photo station at both receptions.
“It’s definitely 10 steps above a regular photobooth,” Lipski said. “The design is very welcoming, it’s really easy to take pictures and it’s neat because everybody gets to see all the different pictures. We wouldn’t have had a lot of the pictures we got if it wasn’t for using Twine.”
The best part was that those who couldn’t be at the wedding, including the family’s former exchange student, who lives in Poland, were able to follow along through photos via twine.it.
“She felt like part of it and really felt like she was there,” Lipski said.
Innovative branding
Twine.it’s business model is unique, Hawker said.
“We’re not just creating access to social networks. We’ve created a social network ourselves,” he said. “We’re not competing with Facebook or Twitter or Instagram; we are in between a gap in what they can provide. It’s embracing what the current technology allows us to do in a very experiential way, where people can have fun and also create value.”
The photo station is simple to set up and take down — a twisting motion folds the lighted 80-inch column into an 11-inch suitcase in a matter of seconds.It can also be personalized or branded for each event.
Each photo can also be “branded” with a business logo, sponsor logo, message or hashtag, which is retained when the photos are saved or shared.
“Event sponsors usually get their name on a banner or website, but once the party’s over their name isn’t anywhere,” Harwell said. “Now their name is always going to be synonymous with that event. It’s going to be living in tons of people’s phones and pushed out to other social media as people share those photos.”
Harwell tested the photo station for the first time at his high school class reunion.
“I was really nervous, thinking, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t seen these people in 20 years’ and I’m bringing this thing, hoping people would like it,” Harwell said.
“I put it on and it was insane. I said, ‘I think we’ve got something here.’”
Seventy-two people downloaded the app and, within three days, the 300 photos taken were seen or shared 40,000 times. Guests at a UT sorority formal took 983 photos in four hours — one photo every 11 seconds — that were seen or shared 118,000 times, Hawker said. The grand opening of Bar 145 in Columbus had 409 photos viewed 12,747 times.
“There’s so many neat opportunities for branding externally — we can make it look like anything the client wants, but the real power ultimately I think is the ability to brand the mobile experience,” Hawker said. “This is a game-changer for fundraisers. It’s amazing the spread of our pictures the night of and then a day or two after.”
Launch Pad
TwineLABS won a business plan competition held at UT in January 2013, earning them business development assistance from University of Toledo Innovation Enterprises. That summer, they were asked to join UT’s Launch Pad Incubation Program.
Only about 10 percent of startups are successful, said Launch Pad Program Director Molly Reams Thompson.
“That’s like Startup 101,” she said. “But we looked at Twine and thought that was a business venture that was worth the risk.
“What they are doing is really cool and we’re very excited about the idea. They shift the paradigm of what a photobooth experience is all about and take social media and the photobooth to an entirely different level. But what makes us stand up and take notice of them is something far less tangible. People want to be around them. It’s inspiring. That’s what we look for in the companies we bring into our program.”
Hawker said people are sometimes surprised to find out twineLABS is based in Northwest Ohio.
“There’s a really neat tech scene that’s going on that people don’t know about much yet,” Hawker said. “There’s just a lot of creative things coming out of Toledo and people don’t think of Toledo that way.”
“It’s kind of a Silicon Valley startup in Northwest Ohio, which is pretty cool,” Harwell said.
The business currently employs six people and expects to hire more soon, Hawker said. In keeping with the startup’s fun-loving atmosphere, Harwell’s business card lists his title as “prime minister of party.” Hawker is “facilitator of fun.” Julia Johnston is “princess of partytown,” Ron Durbin is “executive of events,” Mico Cordero is “chief of campaigns” and Ashley Duvendack is “primadonna of photos.”
“There is so much good stuff happening in our region,” Reams Thompson said. “Just because you’re in Toledo doesn’t mean the ideas that come out are any less valid than anywhere else. They can be just as impactful as any of the coastal cities. … We’re starting to get some traction and that’s pretty great for us. People are starting to notice.”
The beginning
After recognizing the need to intertwine the photobooth experience with social media — that’s where the name comes from — Harwell, a firefighter and paramedic with the Perrysburg Fire Department, started experimenting. Later, he enlisted Hawker, a stay-at-home-dad with a background in sales, to help him improve the app and write a better business plan.
Durbin, a Toledo native and self-described “serial entrepreneur,” was so impressed after talking with Hawker that he sold his corporate events business and invested in twineLABS.
“It was the most innovative thing I’d seen in our industry in probably 10 years,” Durbin said.
Johnston, owner of a mural painting business and former Face of FOX Toledo, joined the team after answering a call for an event host.
“When I received an email about the training I ignored it at first, but I really felt something say, ‘Tap, tap, go back to that email,’” Johnston said.
Cordero and Duvendack are both seniors at UT majoring in sales and marketing.
The team believes in keeping its business as homegrown as possible, partnering with Toledo-area companies, including Metzgers, Hanson, Elite Events and Madhouse as well as companies in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. A former Perrysburg resident now living in North Carolina developed the mobile app.
Coming soon
During April and May, twine.it plans to offer a special price of $499 for the basic photo station package. Add-ons like a slide show, extra iPads, digital uploading and more are also available.
Franchises will be available soon, Harwell said.
“It’s basically a business in a box that people can buy into and make a living from, which I think is crazy unique,” he said.
Last year, twine.it partnered with Rocket Sports Properties, the sports marketing arm for UT athletics, to set up photo stations at UT men’s and women’s home basketball games. They plan to add football games this fall, Durbin said.
Other upcoming plans include installing permanent photo stations at local bars and restaurants.
“My vision is by the end of year the majority of people in Toledo will have this app on their phone,” Durbin said. “There’s no one on the planet doing what we’re doing.”
Nicholas Thompson is escorted from the courtroom on April 15 after being found guilty of selling alcohol to a minor. He was sentenced to six months in jail. Toledo Free Press Photo by Sarah Ottney
An eight-person jury deliberated for about two hours April 15 before finding liquor store clerk Nicholas Thompson guilty of selling alcohol to an Ottawa Hills teen whose friend was killed in an alcohol-related crash later that night.
Lucas County Court of Common Pleas Judge James Bates sentenced Thompson, 38, to six months in jail, the maximum penalty possible for the misdemeanor charge.
Over the course of the two-day trial, Thompson was found to have sold a bottle of vodka to Blake Pappas, a 17-year-old friend of Brian Hoeflinger, on Feb. 1, 2013, at Foxx Liquor Store on Dorr Street.
Pappas, now a student at the University of Cincinnati, and another teen, Michael Geiger, now a student-athlete at Michigan State University, testified April 14 that the three friends met at Hoeflinger’s house after school, where they pooled their money and drove to Foxx Liquor to buy alcohol.
All three boys, who were seniors at Ottawa Hills High School, entered the store and chose a 1.75-liter bottle of Belvedere vodka. Pappas then purchased the liquor for about $50 without being asked for identification while Hoeflinger and Geiger browsed nearby.
Hoeflinger, 18, died from injuries sustained in an alcohol-related crash later that night. Bates asked the jury to disregard any references in testimony to the accident or Hoeflinger’s death and focus only on the sale of the liquor.
However, in comments to the jury after sentencing, Bates referenced Hoeflinger’s fatal crash and said some judges don’t seem to take the crime of underage sales seriously, noting that he felt the $150 fine Thompson received for a prior offense was inadequate.
“It’s not much of a deterrent,” Bates said. “That’s one of the reasons I imposed this pretty harsh sentence as it relates to this case.”
“This man is the source of a leak,” Lucas County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald told jurors during closing remarks, referring to Thompson’s September 2012 conviction for the same offense. “The defendant is a gatekeeper in our community, [or] should be. He’s the last line of defense. … He said yes when he should have said no.”
“He seems to have developed a bad habit,” fellow assistant prosecutor Louis Kountouris said.
The prosecutors showed jurors photos of the five employees who were working at Foxx Liquor on Feb. 1, 2013, concluding that “by process of elimination” the clerk who sold Pappas the alcohol had to have been Thompson. Only two employees matched the white male description given by the teens and the other man, Adam Meglitsch, had testified April 14 his job was to stock shelves and he never worked the register. Meglitsch is also shorter and more than 10 years younger than Thompson.
“One by one it becomes obvious, irrefutably, that the conclusion is the defendant matches the witness description. Nobody comes close,” Kountouris said.
Thompson’s attorney Rick Kerger argued that someone else bought the alcohol and gave it to the teens.
“Records show Nick Thompson worked that night, records show he sold a bottle of Balvadere, but no records show as to whom he sold it to,” Kerger said.
The buyer paid cash and surveillance footage from the store is recorded over every 10 days, so the footage from Feb. 1 was gone by the time investigators seized the shop’s DVR machine on April 16, 2013.
Kerger also referenced the purchase of a $1.29 mini bottle of wine that appeared on the receipt with the vodka, which neither teen mentioned.
“Blake tell you about that? Michael tell you about that? Nobody told you about that. Because they didn’t buy it. Somebody they gave the money to bought it,” Kerger told the jury.
McDonald scoffed at the explanation of someone else purchasing the liquor for the teens, telling jurors they had no reason to lie since investigators promised they would not be charged if they cooperated in the investigation.
“Mr. Kerger has mentioned Person X — this mystery person who has never been mentioned until just now — who he claims bought the alcohol,” McDonald said during closing remarks. “Why would these two young men, bright, futures ahead of them, risk everything to fabricate a story for some unknown mystery person?”
A written statement made by Thompson during the April 16, 2013, search of Foxx Liquor indicated he didn’t remember the specific Feb. 1 transaction but could have sold alcohol to Pappas without carding him because he recognized him as a regular customer. That’s “not a defense,” McDonald said.
“The law in Ohio is that … if a defendant checks for an ID on a certain date and that person comes in again and that person asks for alcohol and if that person is a minor, regardless of how many times before he’s asked for his ID, the defendant is guilty,” he said.
Thompson’s statement that he could have made the sale is “not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Kerger argued.
The state called five witnesses on the first day of trial, including the two teens. Two witnesses were called by the defense on the second day: Earl Mack, a retired Ohio Department of Public Safety agent who worked in alcohol enforcement for 26 years, and Foxx Liquor part owner Andy Jarbou.
Jarbou, who was among the five employees working Feb 1, 2013, testified that Thompson always wore a hat and glasses, facts Kerger noted the two teens did not mention in their initial descriptions of the clerk. Jarbou also testified that after the September 2012 Foxx Liquor sting in which Thompson sold alcohol to an underage patron working undercover, he was suspended for four weeks and retrained on checking IDs. Reminders to check IDs were also posted by all registers, Jarbou said.
“I don’t care how many signs Mr. Jarbou [posts],” Kountouris said during his closing remarks. “There’s signs everywhere [on the road, but] does everybody follow the signs? No.”
Mack testified that when he worked as an agent he was not permitted to wear a mask during store searches or interviews as Agent Michael Hakeos did at Foxx Liquor during the April 16, 2013, search. Thompson’s lawyers had questioned whether Hakeos, who testified April 14, had intimidated Thompson by leaving his mask on while interviewing him. McDonald noted that Mack’s boss at the hotel where he now works as a part-time security officer is one of the part owners of Foxx Liquor.
Reactions
Kerger said he accepted the verdict, but questioned the judge’s sentence.
“The jury didn’t accept our explanation. Their verdict is their verdict,” Kerger said. “The thing that’s odd is during the trial [Judge Bates] kept out all references to the Brian Hoeflinger crash and then he used that as the fact to enhance the sentence. Seems like if it was in for that it ought to have been in for the trial.”
Even though the accident wasn’t the focus of the case, Kountouris said he hopes the verdict will bring the Hoeflinger family some closure and also set a precedent for other cases involving the sale of alcohol to minors.
“It’s a huge problem and this unfortunate incident brought the whole thing to light. It was magnified by the loss of the Hoeflinger youth,” Kountouris said.
Hoeflinger’s parents, Brian and Cindy Hoeflinger, were in the courtroom both days along with their children. Brian said that although nothing will bring back their son, they hope the sentence will send a strong message “that institutions that sell alcohol can’t sell to minors and expect to get away with it without having consequences.”
“For us it was important because it’s a first step in a chain of events that have to keep happening to stop kids from gaining access to alcohol,” Brian said. “Our son died and it was alcohol-related and we can never bring that back, but we can certainly try to stop it for the future.
“It does send a message and I think the judge did want to send a message and I think the prosecutor’s office wants to send a message that this won’t be tolerated,” Brian said.
Cindy said she is frustrated and heartbroken that her son and his friends were able to obtain liquor so easily.
“If they would have checked IDs or whatever and found out they weren’t old enough, we would have then found out, and then we could have taken steps as his parents to discipline him or take care of it,” Cindy said. “I have a right to believe my children are not allowed to buy alcohol until they are 21. That is a law. So I should have a reasonable expectation that my son can’t walk into a state liquor store and buy alcohol.
Although noting his son was still the one who chose to drink the alcohol, Brian said he agreed with McDonald’s description of liquor store clerks as gatekeepers.
“That source that provided that alcohol was the first step in a whole chain reaction that led to our son’s death,” Brian said.
“We have no way of predicting, but if they wouldn’t have gotten that alcohol that night I think it’s reasonable to assume that perhaps he would not have gotten in that accident that night,” Cindy agreed. “At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, but at least the message was sent out today that it’s not acceptable.”
Since the accident, the couple have founded an organization Brian Matters, www.brianmatters.com, and become national advocates against teen alcohol use and abuse.
Foxx Liquor had its liquor license revoked in August 2013, but still sells beer and wine.
Thompson still faces two additional counts of selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor stemming from separate incidents allegedly occurring at Foxx Liquor on April 12, 2013.
The Rev. Robert McGrath — “Father Bob” to his legions of friends and relatives — was born to be a Catholic priest. As early as third grade, he remembers using crayons to draw a cross on the back of a sheet that had a hole cut for his head to fit through. With that homemade vestment, he would celebrate pretend Mass. He was an altar boy around that time, and was struck by a particular experience with his mother, who was stricken with multiple sclerosis.
“In 1949, we drove to Canton, Ohio, to see a woman named Mrs. Wise who was thought to have stigmata,” McGrath said. “My mother had a long interview with her and she told my mother she would live a long time even with the disease. She lived until 1967. Hearing about this experience throughout my growing up years has helped me to have a great faith in both mystery and miracle.”
On Sept. 11, McGrath celebrated the exact 40th anniversary of his ordination. A Mass of Celebration took place at Servant Church of St. Alexander in Farmington Hills, Mich. McGrath is a distant relation of mine by marriage; he presided over the blessing of our wedding and baptized both of our sons.
Sept. 11 was a beautiful day, and that was fortuitous; so many people attended the Mass that it was moved outside to accommodate the hundreds in attendance. Chairs were moved and the elements of the Mass took place under a stately gazebo.
The Mass began with the acknowledgement that McGrath’s Sept. 11 anniversary was shared with the somber anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The theme for the Mass was forgiveness.
Fighting Irish
McGrath never left behind his childhood aspirations. He attended Central Catholic High School in Livonia. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Detroit Mercy and eventually became a member of the Holy Cross Fathers at the University of Notre Dame.
“After receiving my master’s degree in theology from Notre Dame, a new decision had to be made,” McGrath said. “The phenomenon of the day was that a great many men were leaving the priesthood after ordination and the leadership of the community became very cautious before granting final vows and ordination.
“Rather than waiting for an unknown amount of time to be approved, I decided to transfer to the Archdiocese of Detroit because that was where I grew up. I was eventually ordained on Sept. 11, 1971, in St. Frances De Sales Church.”
After a five-year stay at St. Rita’s in Holly, Mich., McGrath served as pastor to St. Frances De Sales Church in Detroit for 20 years. He then moved to St. Benedict’s in Highland Park for more than 10 years and is now in his fifth year at St. Alexander.
Clear skies
On Sept. 11, we participated in the outdoor Mass celebrating McGrath’s 40th anniversary under the bluest skies I have seen all summer. A light cloud cover drifted above us, but the blue was clear and seemed to extend to the heavens. As the service, through readings, psalms, prayers and songs, focused on forgiveness, the ties to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks ran through my mind. In the Toledo Free Press special edition last week, Myrta Gaschaar, who lost her husband in the World Trade Center collapse, talked about forgiving and the closure the process brought her. How many of us, even those of us with no direct human loss, can say we forgive those who carried out the radical suicide (homicide) mission?
McGrath
Listening to examples of Jesus Christ and his teachings of forgiveness certainly softened my heart and inspired me to strive for some personal, small-scale forgiveness, but I’m not ready to say I forgive the perpetrators of the attacks.
During the Prayers of the Faithful, an airliner, descending to Detroit Metro Airport, flew over our heads, low enough to see its underbelly with mechanical clarity.
I was not the only one to see that plane and have chills of déjà vu, especially after a week of seeing 10-year-old footage of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 flying into the North and South Trade Center Towers. At that moment, tempted by the irrational impulse to grab my family and pull them to the ground to cover them, forgiveness was the last emotion on my checklist. It was just a moment, and it illustrates a great weakness on my part, but for those few seconds, nothing McGrath or Saint Peter or Jesus himself could say would have persuaded me to forgive the murderers who so efficiently changed our country and our mindset.
The Communion song “On Eagle’s Wings” and the Recessional song “Let There Be Peace on Earth” helped wash away the intense, negative emotions.
“Let there be peace on Earth/And let it begin with me.
Let us walk with each other, in perfect harmony.”
There are great men like Father Bob who sing those words with great conviction, and there are flawed men like me who are always just a bit out of tune. For 40 years, Father Bob has embodied the teachings, so he has a head start. I may not catch up, but I will never be able to claim I lacked the proper model.
Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at [email protected].
